SneezyMinniejo

"Wow," breathed Katara. "These soirées get more impressive every year."

Sokka tilted his head and squinted at the sculptures. "There's a sky bison, a badgermole, a dragon, and... a wheel of cheese?"

"I think they're supposed to be the original benders," Aang offered. "That must be the moon. But... it does look pretty cheesy. Maybe if I just..." Aang assumed a waterbending stance, about to subtly improve the sculpture, when he sensed a disturbance in the air. "Look out!"

Katara and Aang ducked, as a pebble hit Sokka in the side of the head. "Ow!"

The source of the pebble made herself known as Toph stepped out from behind a crowd of socialites to greet her friends, a smirk on her lips. "Thought I felt your dainty steps, twinkle-toes."

"Toph!" Katara said, wrapping the earthbender in a hug. "It's so good to see you."

"No, it isn't!" Sokka cried. He rubbed a hand against his left temple, which was noticeably more red. "She just shot a rock at my head."

Toph crossed her arms. "I was aiming for Aang. You gotta work on your reflexes, Sokka."

"You gotta work on not throwing rocks at innocent people!" he shot back. "I'm gonna get a drink... and some ice for my wound." He pointed dramatically at his head and stalked off, ignoring Katara as she hid a laugh behind her hand.

As Sokka approached the bar, still grumbling, he spotted a figure in elegant red and gold robes lurking on the edges of the room.

Fire Lord Zuko.

Sokka's face lit up at the sight up a friend who wasn't actively attacking him with rocks, and he made his way through the crowd over to where he'd seen Zuko. When he emerged on the other side of the room, however, Zuko had already managed to slip away. Sokka scanned the sea of refined guests, trying to catch a glimpse of the Fire Lord, when he noticed a flicker of red cloth sneaking out onto a balcony. Sokka followed Zuko to a corner of the wrap-around balcony where he now stood alone, free from the din of the crowd, with his back to the party.

"Zuko!" called Sokka. "Are you brooding in darkness already? The party just started!"

Zuko said nothing and continued to stare out at the city skyline. Sokka came over to join Zuko and leaned on the balcony railing, arching a quizzical eyebrow as Zuko took a step away from him.

"You might want to keep your distance," Zuko said, not meeting Sokka's eye.

Sokka's brow furrowed. "Is everything okay?"

Zuko's lips parted with a quivering inhale, and his eyelashes fluttered. Nose twitching, he spun away from Sokka and tented his hands over his face as he doubled over with the force of the sneeze. "AtshhHiiuhhh!"

Despite Zuko's attempt at covering, flames spilled out through the gaps in his fingers. Sighing, Zuko casually batted out an ember on the sleeve of his robe while Sokka looked on curiously.

"Uh… bless you?" Sokka had a clear view of Zuko now, illuminated by a mix of moonlight and fading flames: his eyes were sunken and tired, his nostrils were a furious shade of red, and judging by how his mouth hung slightly open, he must have been thoroughly congested. "Hey, Zuko, you look…"

"I look like what?" Zuko spat. He put on his best menacing-Fire-Lord voice, but any authority he might have possessed was undermined as he punctuated the sentence with a sniffle and ran a finger under his nose to wipe up errant mess.

"You look…" Sokka put aside the words that initially came to mind like "terrible" and "disgusting," and opted for a kinder phrasing. "…like you could use a nap. And maybe some soup."

"Yeah? And what am I supposed to do about that?" Zuko said, crossing his arms.

"…take a nap and eat some soup? I know you face a lot of complicated dilemmas as the Fire Lord, but this one's pretty straight forward."

Zuko sighed. "It's not like I can just leave. I have to come to these events. If I don't go to the Foundation Day Festival, it looks like I don't support Republic City, and if people think I don't support Republic City, they'll worry the Fire Nation is reverting back to its old ways."

"Hm… but you don't really have to participate in this stuff to keep up appearances. As long as people see that you were here and know that Foundation Day has the Fire Lord seal of approval, you're golden. If anyone tries to deny you were here, I can vouch for you." Sokka slapped an encouraging hand on Zuko's back.

The moment his hand made contact, Sokka could feel the silk of the Fire Lord's robes pressing against his fingers as Zuko's lungs expanded. "S-Sokka, I'm going to — !" The sentence hung unfinished in the air, but it was very clear what Zuko was going to do: breath hitching, nostrils flaring, Zuko's hands flew over his face again, and he snapped forward in a sneezing fit. "hah-ah… hah'tsShhioo! hih'ITSshiuhh! hiiiih? ih-hih… ATSHhhiioo!"

Flames licked his palms, but he seemed to have avoided setting anyone or anything on fire. Zuko stood there for a moment with his hands still covering his face just in case another sneeze tried to sneak out; with a tentative sniff, he decided his nose was cooperating for the moment and lowered his hands.

"Wow," said Sokka. "Bless you." He realized belatedly that his hand was still pressed against Zuko's back, rubbing a soothing circle. He withdrew it as Zuko turned aside, searching through his robes for a handkerchief.

Angled away from Sokka, Zuko dabbed at his nose, not allowing himself the real blow he sorely needed. "Thanks." He wiped at his nose again, then apparently decided this was a fruitless endeavor and shoved his handkerchief back in his robes, resigning himself to either sniffling incessantly or allowing his nose to run freely. In this moment, he chose the latter.

"I hate feeling like this," Zuko grumbled. "Not being able to control my bending… it makes me feel like a kid."

Sokka refrained from mentioning that as Zuko stood there pouting with snot dribbling down his lip, he looked like a kid, too. Still, there was something endearing in the childish tableau that activated Sokka's protective instincts and tugged at his heartstrings. "Let's get you home before you light any world leaders on fire."

Zuko nodded and followed Sokka's lead back toward the reception hall. "I gotta say," said Sokka, "I think this is another win for non-benders. I've never sneezed so hard I caused property damage."

Sokka looked back with a grin, expecting to see Zuko's (presumably annoyed) reaction, but instead he saw Zuko stopped in his tracks, his eyelids drooping and his jaw slack. Zuko buried his face in his hands once again.

"AkSHHhooo!"

Over his tented hands, Zuko's eyes widened in horror and regret as he realized he should've actually blown his nose earlier. "Sokka," Zuko said urgently, "there's a pocket inside my robe on the left with a handkerchief in it. Can you reach it?"

A deep blush rose in Sokka's cheeks — he wasn't sure if it was from secondhand embarrassment, discomfort at the intimacy of being asked to pat down the Fire Lord, or some combination of the two — but he soldiered on nonetheless. His hand hovered near Zuko's chest, trying to find the best opening to reach in and search for the handkerchief, but Zuko's refusal to lower his arms made it difficult to locate a point of entry.

Sokka's face suddenly lit up as he was struck by an idea. "Wait, I've got it." Sokka unwrapped the cloth belt around his midsection and held it up in front of Zuko's face, beaming at his own ingenuity.

With impossibly quick reflexes, Zuko snatched the belt from Sokka with one hand and turned around to clean himself up. Though Zuko tried to be discreet, Sokka caught a glimpse of the messy situation Zuko found himself in; the lower half of his face and his hands were drenched. Zuko mopped himself up, then stared at the now sodden piece of fabric in his hands.

"I'll, uh, wash this before I give it back to you."

"You know what? You can keep that," Sokka said with a hint of disgust. "Consider it a Foundation Day present from the Water Tribe." He bowed generously, as though he had bestowed Zuko with his finest possession.

"Thanks," Zuko said. Knowing that Sokka didn't want the belt back, Zuko finally allowed himself a real nose blow, clearing out some of the deep congestion that had been plaguing him all night. When he finished, he tucked the belt in his robe alongside his handkerchief.

"Okay, now before we try to navigate through a crowd of highly important people, I want to confirm that you've got your nose in check. Are you ready?"

Zuko narrowed his eyes, looking as serious as if Sokka had asked him to prepare for battle. "I'm ready."

They crossed the threshold back into the reception hall, and Sokka positioned himself behind Zuko, using the Fire Lord as a shield to push their way through the crowd. The guests parted as Zuko approached, either because they recognized the insignia of Fire Nation royalty in his hair or because no one wanted to block the path of a wall of a muscle. (What does he even need those muscles for? thought Sokka. He can shoot fireballs from his hands.) Or, possibly, the guests distanced themselves from Zuko because with his raw nose and chapped lips, he might as well have been carrying a sign that said "I'm contagious."

Regardless, Zuko and Sokka's path was clear, and they had almost reached the exit when a voice behind them called out, "Sifu Hotman!"

Aang leapt twelve feet in the air over a group of Earth Kingdom women — who yelped at the sudden appearance of a flying man over their heads — then floated down next to Sokka and Zuko. Katara and Toph walked over a moment later.

"Fire Lord Zuko," Aang said with a bow.

Zuko rolled his eyes but returned the bow nonetheless. "Avatar Aang."

"Are you leaving already?" Katara asked. "They're bringing out dessert soon. I still think about the plum tart from last year."

"I, uh…" While Zuko appreciated the opportunity to catch up with his friends, he wanted nothing more at that moment than to disappear back to his apartment and sleep off this illness in peace. He shot Sokka a pleading glance, and Sokka immediately jumped to his aid.

"Hey, is that a troupe of dancing hogmonkeys?" Sokka asked, pointing to the opposite side of the hall.

Aang and Katara spun around. "Where?" Aang asked excitedly as Zuko started to slink off toward the exit.

Toph, however, was immune to visual misdirection. "Sokka, are you trying to distract us so Zuko can sneak off?"

"Uh…" Sokka knew the charade had fallen apart immediately, and yet he couldn't help replying, "No?"

Toph folded her arms over her chest. "I know you're lying."

Zuko paused in his tracks, having only made it about three steps, and Aang and Katara turned back around. "Wow," Aang said, shaking his head. "I can't believe you lied about the dancing hogmonkeys."

"Why is Zuko trying to sneak out anyway?" Katara asked, hands on her hips. "And why are you helping him?"

Zuko's back was still to his friends, and Sokka watched as his shoulders tensed. Pinching his nose with his thumb and forefinger, Zuko bobbed forward. He stifled a series of sneezes to the best of his ability, but even so, the power behind each one was audible. "h'NgXxT! ghShhT! k'tTChh!"

Though Zuko succeeded in preventing a fiery outburst, as he turned to face his friends, he exhaled steam from his nostrils.

"Oh, Zuko…" Katara's voice softened. "I can help, if you want." She bent some water out of the bag she kept on her hip, ready to apply healing energy. "I can't cure the common cold, but I should be able to relieve some of your congestion."

"I'b fide," Zuko said, so stuffed up he was almost unintelligible.

"We just went over this," Toph groaned. "I can tell when you're lying, remember? And even if I couldn't, it doesn't take an earthbending master to know that that's a lie. You sound awful."

Zuko felt around in his robe for his handkerchief (ignoring Sokka's disgustingly wet belt), pulled it out, and blew his nose.

"I am fine," he enunciated. "Or…" He deflated. "I mean, I'm not fine, but I will be."

"You should go home and get some rest," Aang suggested.

Zuko looked ready to strangle Aang. "That's what I was trying tih... to…" The urgent need to sneeze overtook Zuko so quickly that he wasn't able to stifle. With nowhere convenient to turn, he threw his hands haphazardly over his face and directed the fiery expulsion at the ground. "AKSsHhhiiuh!"

Though Zuko's companions were able to jump out of his literal line of fire, a nearby tablecloth was not so lucky and ignited. Katara, fortunately, still had her water accessible and splashed out the flames immediately, leaving only small scorch marks along the tablecloth's bottom hem. A few guests gaped at the scene, but it had happened so quickly and the reception hall was so large that Zuko had managed to draw minimal attention to himself. Still, he felt his cheeks burning at the shameful loss of control, and he wanted to leave, now. Were there any high-level bending techniques he could use to turn himself invisible? He would have to ask his uncle.

For the time being, at least he had Sokka, who gripped him by the arm and started dragging him toward the exit, saying, "Okay, you're going straight to bed, mister."

"Feel better, Zuko!" Aang called after them.

"Let me know if you change your mind on the healing session!" Katara added.

Hearing their concern, Zuko felt his face turn an even deeper shade of red, and he was grateful when he and Sokka finally exited the venue a moment later.

Zuko let out a heavy sigh as they turned down a side street. "I can't believe I did that."

"Eh, barely anyone noticed," Sokka said with a shrug. "Besides, all this Foundation Day stuff is about harmony between the four nations, right? Respecting differences, that kind of thing? Maybe the rest of us just have to accept that flaming sneezes are a fun, firebender quirk."

Zuko made a sound halfway between a huff and a laugh. "I think we have different definitions of 'fun'."

The pair paused as they came to an intersection. "You don't have to walk all the way to my apartment with me," Zuko said. "You should go back and enjoy the party."

Sokka waved a dismissive hand. "No way. I want to make sure you don't burn down a building by accident. And between you and me…" He leaned in conspiratorially. "Those plum tarts Katara loves are overrated."

A smile tugged at Zuko's lips, and they carried on down the cobbled streets. Though Zuko could never articulate it, there was something about Sokka that made him feel at ease. "This way," said Zuko, grabbing Sokka by his shirt collar as he started to make a wrong turn. "It's faster to cut through the park."

When they came across a small, stone bridge over the lazy stream which ran through the park, they paused to take in the nighttime cityscape. Foundation Day lanterns twinkled along the banks, their reflections sparkling in the water. Sokka leaned on the bridge's railing, his chin resting in his hands. "It's beautiful."

Zuko didn't respond. Instead, he braced himself against the railing and leaned over it, staring at the stream below. Sokka had come to recognize the telltale signs that Zuko was about to sneeze: he drew in an uneven breath, his upper lip curled, and his nose twitched dangerously. Zuko sneezed uncovered, straight down at the water. "hih-ih-HEH'tSHhhhiuh! ATShhiihooo! hah'AKShhiiuuhh!"

The flames fizzled and dissipated when they hit the water's surface. That, too, had its own kind of beauty, Sokka noted. But since he wasn't sure how to express "your sneezes are beautiful," he simply said, "Bless you" and hoped the message got across.

Zuko sniffled and unceremoniously wiped his nose along the length of his sleeve.

That should've been less beautiful, and yet… Why is that also attractive? Sokka wondered. Was it the unexpected thrill of seeing the refined Fire Lord do something so lowly? The confidence he must possess to disregard appearances in a public place? The way his arm now glimmered in the lantern light?

Sokka shoved down whatever these thoughts were and continued his mission to return Zuko safely home. The rest of their walk was quiet save for some sniffles, and Zuko managed not to set anything else on fire.

They stopped outside Zuko's building. "Well, congratulations," said Sokka. "You made it home in one piece."

A hint of a smile played on Zuko's lips. "Thank you, Sokka."

"For what?" Sokka cocked his head. "I didn't do anything."

"For, uh…" Zuko cleared his throat and patted the left side of his robe. "…the belt—"

"Oh, that's nothing—"

"No, and, um… staying with me, tonight. I really appreciate it."

Sokka blinked, surprised at the sincerity. Was Zuko running a fever? "Oh, yeah. Of course. Any time. I'll always be there if you need anything."

Zuko smiled again. "Thanks." He stifled a yawn. "I should probably get some rest. Have a good night."

"You too. I'll stop by tomorrow with five-flavor soup."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Zuko protested.

"But I will," Sokka replied. "It's a traditional Southern Water Tribe dish. What better way to celebrate Republic City's Foundation Day than with a little cultural exchange, huh?"

"It's not an 'exchange' if I don't give you something in return."

Sokka hummed in contemplation. "You're giving me company right now. That's something. And you're probably giving me this cold."

Zuko sucked in through his teeth. "Yeah, sorry about that…"