aere 𝜗ৎ

“Flameo Hotman, huh?”

Your voice was heard through the quiet bedroom as you now leaned against the closed door, keeping your eyes on your husband's back while he was reading through the letter again.

“Don't start with that too.” Zuko wasn't really amused, biting his lip while his fingers curled around the right corner of the paper.

No matter how many times he read through it, the feeling didn't leave him. Something was going to happen, and it wasn't going to end well.

At least Aang still found the time to joke around, as he had asked for some firecracker buns.

While your husband was completely engrossed, you had walked up to him, waiting a couple of seconds for him to realise that you were standing behind him.

If someone had told you that Zuko was going to become that tall, you wouldn't have believed them, but after all, you two had met when you were still teenagers.

The tall male still not noticing his lover, he sighed heavily, which made you slowly put your arms around his waist.

For a second, Zuko stopped breathing, and then a soft, too-quiet-to-hear gasp made its way out of his parted lips.

No matter how many times you would touch him and show your affection, it would still have an effect on him, a good one.

Feeling your skin on his always made him realise that he wasn't alone. Maybe back then he had enjoyed the loneliness, not having enjoyed the company of others, as they always looked at him as if he were a monster, but it changed over time.

Zuko needed someone to calm him down. Someone who felt safe, someone who wouldn't leave him, and he found that in you. You never looked at him as if he were a monster. Sure, at first you didn't get along, but that still never made you say anything hurtful about him.

Your thumb lightly stroked over the fabric of his top, the feeling of his abs beneath your finger. “Remember to breathe,” you whispered against his back, hearing him breathe in slowly before exhaling.

Without a word, Zuko dropped the letter onto the small bedside table to now hold your right hand in his. His hand was calloused and bigger than yours, yet he held you as if you could break any second.

You gently laid a kiss on his back, slowly moving your arms away from him to sit down on the bed, and before Zuko could make a sound, you put your hand on his arm to pull him down so that he was sitting next to you.

The expression on his face had relaxed a fraction, but the frown was still visible in his eyebrows. His normally picture-perfect posture now hunched slightly forward, his elbows resting on his knees while his long hair was held up in a bun, only two strands left out.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Zuko heard your question and only responded with a slight shake of his head.

It's not like he hadn't missed them, he really did. Even though everything started out badly, he still learned to like them. Aang had not really changed, still beaming with happiness and finding ways to joke around. Katara was just as stubborn as she was when she was a teenager, but also gentle with everyone around her. Toph was chaos through and through, but in the best way possible, and Sokka would always find a way to be sarcastic but also overprotective, even without the bending abilities.

But it's been a while now. Though they did send letters to each other, meeting them would mean another adventure. The start of something that they might never be able to finish.

And honestly, Zuko was scared.

While your husband was deep in thought, you had gotten out a small hairbrush from the bedside table, quietly shuffling to sit behind him on the bed as your hands pulled his hair out of the bun.

Only then did Zuko snap out of his thoughts. His long dark hair now free from the restraint. “Can I?”

He didn't even need to know what you were asking about because he knew that you wanted to brush his hair, so he gave you a quiet “yes.”

You softly brushed his hair, trying not to accidentally hurt him as Zuko slowly closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the brush.

“Your hair has gotten so long,” you murmured, making Zuko smile slightly. He knew how much you loved his hair, but wearing it down was probably your favourite.

“Sometimes I feel like you only started liking me when my hair grew long.” Zuko jokingly said while leaning slightly back so that you could brush through his hair easier.

That made you chuckle softly, making your husband realise what you were thinking about. “Don't even dare say a word.”

And you stayed quiet, knowing how much he hated being reminded of his old hairstyle.

After a couple of minutes, you put the hairbrush on the bed and gently ran your fingers through his hair, making Zuko lean back even further just to feel your touch.

“Starving for my touch?” you cooed, a grin making its way onto your face as he chuckled. “Was it that easy to tell?”

“Very easy.” You whispered into his ear before gently turning his face to you with your hand on his cheek.

Not wasting another second, you leaned forward, pressing your lips gently against his. Just the slightest feeling of your plush lips always made him crave more as he tilted his head slightly to the side so that he was able to press his lips properly against yours.

None of it was rushed, taking your time as Zuko relaxed into the kiss even further, but before it could get heated, he slowly pulled back, his eyes searching for yours as you opened them.

“I love you,” he breathlessly whispered, now touching your forehead against his as you responded back with an “I love you too.”

"Why are we here again?" Sokka didn't put any effort into hiding his disdain. In the very land of the Earth Kingdom, the team had docked once again in Makapu Village. Their original reason? A mini-vacation.

And who chose this one in particular?

Katara.

Toph and the others uttered no complaint about her decision. Asides from Sokka. But his attempt to protest against this destination was quickly shut off by the others. It was like talking to a wall. Toph had teased earlier again: "Three on three, plus Sokka." At this point he was convinced Momo and Appa were better listeners than the rest. Which was painfully false, and he knew it. 

"Seriously—Katara, this place is filled with crazy people! You remember what happened last tim—"

"Sokka, that was ages ago," Katara snorted.

"And besides, they probably know better by now. It's really not that easy to forget about a whole eruption," she added.

Aang nodded his little head. A simple gesture of agreement followed by another smitten look towards the waterbender. His memories here stood between learning his potential romantic fate with Katara and completely fumbling his chance with a goofy grin and papaya.

"What happened here?" Toph quipped. Her bare feet planted themselves with a grip on the ground. From her seismic vision, she could feel the harsh surface of Earth and what seemed to be the lingering wall of volcanic rock. So there was an eruption here. To be fair, it was hard to miss a looming volcano up ahead. Not that she could feel it erupting anytime soon. That would be a disaster.

"Clever," Aang pondered. His eyes scanned the village; he could vividly remember the whole thing. It was hot and stressful. From forming makeshift clouds to trying his very best to make sure that no one in the village was cooked alive.

His earlier statement came from the fact that the pit surrounding the place was deeper and the volcano rocks and obsidian from the tragedy had been used to stabilize the walls and to add more resistance from any foreseeable eruptions.

"Everyone look! It's the Avatar!"

In the center of the village, a crowd of people had formed. They whisper and point. And their quiet murmurs soon erupt into a large cheer (no pun intended).

The people wave in his direction. Aang felt welcomed. He raised a hand in acknowledgement of their cheers, and after a while, the crowd began to disperse.

"Look who's famous." Aang stumbled back a few steps as Sokka and Toph nudged against him. Two elbows hitting both his sides at once.

"Come on, Toph, you have to meet Aunt Wu."

The two girls tread together, their arms linked tightly. In the middle of the village was situated a prominent building. It was rustic and, thankfully, untouched by the Fire Nation. Its hidden location had spared it from the cruelty of those people. The whole team silently breathed to themselves. After weeks of witnessing the violence of the Fire Nation and personally being on the receiving end, they were relieved. Somewhere in this world, people still lived with hope and faith, even though their faith lied entirely towards a fortune teller who reads palms and clouds for a living.

Aunt Wu's building retained its serene atmosphere from inside. Toph and Katara were already inside the room with her. Sokka perked at this. He was curious. After all, the last time he got his fortune told; no palms were read, no room was entered. And he felt quite offended to know that his destiny was written all over his face.

He left Aang in the waiting room, his excuse was a bathroom break. As always. But there was some truth in it as well. Long travels equals almost no time for a bathroom break.

He pressed his ears against the thin walls of the room. Sokka could hear his sister's giggles and Toph's awkward chuckles. He'd never heard her this soft before.

"Aunt Wu, can you read Toph's future love life?" Katara chimed.

From where Sokka was standing, their voices were a little muffled. He could hear Aunt Wu fake a cough. Like somehow she's still a little fed up from all the questions. Katara just had the tendency to be a little excited—to the point it was nearly suffocating. Sokka would know.

"Hmm…Interesting," the fortune teller seemed to hum to herself.

"Your heart lines are closer to your pinky, but they are deep and stable. Be patient, and you'll be rewarded with an everlasting relationship—" She paused. "I can also see that you'll have to be very patient with your lover…He seems to be full of anguish. Most of it—self-inflicted."

Aunt Wu squinted. "This seems familiar," she trailed off.

The three ladies paused. From outside the room they could hear muffled screaming. Though it was hard to discern whether or not it was a scream or just a squeaky mouse.

"Momo! You're eating all our rations—" Sokka shrieked. "Get out of the bathroom—"

Momo, who was caught red-handed, decided his best route to escaping was jumping on Sokka's face before flying to Aang.

The boy stumbled backwards. His rear hitting against the clutter on the floor. "I swear if there's no food left," he paused, pointing a finger towards the lemur. "You're dinner," Sokka's voice drops an octave.

Their trip after that was pretty irrelevant to Sokka. Excluding the baskets of food they received from the village. He was thankful for that at least.

Sokka had no idea where they were headed. And in his arms clung Toph as they rode in Appa's saddle again. He got used to it at this point—being her handle and all. Not that it bothered him.

He dozed on and off, often waking back up to any sudden noise in the air and catching the tail end of someone's conversation.

"… can't believe I'll be marrying an elephant!" Toph exclaimed, making elaborate hand gestures in the air to express her wonder.

"Big ears and a ponytail? Well, isn't that a combination," Katara sneered.

Sokka peeked an eye at this. "What's wrong with that, huh? I personally think that it's very manly and awesome."

"Look who's bitter. If the shoe fits, wear it," his sister snickered. Sokka could feel Toph shaking against his arms too; what an insult.

"What if Aunt Wu was talking about Sokka?" Aang quipped.

Katara perked at his question as well. She gave the two a glance, looking up and down before shrugging. There's no way these two will end up together… right? She wouldn't mind either way.

With a sharp exhale, Toph pulled away from Sokka. She turned to a view she couldn't see, gripping tightly onto the saddle like a vice instead of him. In the depths of her thoughts was denial, and maybe even some semblance of hope. Maybe.

"Do you have a fever or something?" Sokka poked her reddened cheek. Out of concern, but mostly out of curiosity. The last time he'd seen red this shade was with Aang. Particularly while he was hanging out with Katara.

Seeing Toph stammer through her words and gestures, Sokka found it kind of amusing. But concern soon brewed in his chest.

"Seriously though, you alright?" he repeated.

"I'm fine," Toph blurted, burying her face in her curled-up knees. To hide her blushing face, of course. But a sudden mid-air bison turbulence shook up the saddle. When it ended, Toph was lying face-flat on Sokka's chest.

"Ugh, my bad," she grumbled. But before she could even pull her head an inch away, Sokka's hand had pressed her back.

"You're clearly sick, and Appa's clearly grumpy—"

Appa wailed at this, grunting under his breath, eliciting a chuckle from Katara and a glare from Aang.

"What I'm saying is that you should stay by my side. I get it, you're like strong and all, but you can't really see right now," Sokka rambled.

"I get it, Elephant," she teased.

"I am NOT an elephant. Will you quit poking fun at my ears?" He lifted a hand to cup an ear before resting it back on her head.

"It can't be that huge; have you seen elephants before? Well, I haven't—but some drawings suggested it was way bigger."

"It's called a joke, Snoozles—J-O-K-E," Toph smirked.

"Did you really need to spell it out for me?!" Sokka's voice raises in crescendo.

"Didn't you say you were dyslexic?"

"Wha—NO! When have I ever said that? And that is not how it works!"

"Oh well." The Earthbender against his chest only shrugged.

"You are insufferable," Sokka sighed. But not a single bone in his body minded her antics. He couldn't bring himself to be annoyed. Which was surprising because when was he never on the edge of losing it?

Not with Toph. That's for sure.

"I'm exhausted," she dragged.

"Sleep tight then," Sokka hummed. His palm had absentmindedly traced along her back, his head tossed towards the saddle.

"You too, Snoozles."

And when his heart thumped a second too short? Sokka knew he was screwed.

Notes: They're so cute man, and also why is Sokka the most shippable character in the group😭

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