I do NOT own Avatar, or any of it’s characters..

‘Just take him along, Sokka..’ Katara’s voice sounded from the kitchen. She was preparing dinner, like she always did. ‘But I don’t wannaaaa!’ Sokka whined to his sister as he stood in the doorway. ‘Why me?’ He crossed his arm over his chest and glared at his sister. ‘Because you are both boys.. And you are about the same age.. And just because I say so! Now stop complaining and just do it!’ The waterbender slightly raised her voice as she turned towards her brother. Did he always have to make such a big thing out of these small matters?
Sokka snorted, but he knew arguing with his sister was a bad idea. For some reason, she always knew a way to win. A good argument or just brute force; either way he’d loose. ‘Now go tell Zuko..’ Katara turned back to continue the cooking.

‘Just ask him..’ Sokka mumbled to himself, imitating Katara’s voice. ‘A boys night out..’ He couldn’t imagine anything worse then spending time with Zuko. Oh yes, he could; spending time with Zuko Alone. The boy strolled slowly down the corridor and gazes at the ground. As if he would even be interested in anything else then meditating and being locked up in his room..
As the door of Zuko’s room came into view, he paused for a moment, undecided what to do next; facing Zuko’s temper, or facing his sister’s. Easy.. He took another few steps and faced Zuko’s door.

The water tribe boy raised his hand to knock on the door, but before he could do so, the door already opened. Zuko’s eyes rounded a bit in surprise as he saw the dark skinned boy. ‘What are you doing here?’
Sokka frowned. ‘Hey!’ He clenched his fists and stepped forwards, forcing Zuko to take a step back. ‘I didn’t come here for myself, it’s my sister, okay?!’
Zuko raised his only eyebrow. ‘Why?..' What would she want?..
Sokka shrugged and scratched his back uninterested. ‘She wants me to take you along tonight..’
‘Tonight?’ Zuko’s expression showed more surprise, but also a little curiosity. Ever since he joined the group, the others had been trying to get him involved in their ‘businesses’, but Sokka was an exception. He mostly tried to stay away from the prince as far as he could. ‘What’s up with tonight?’
‘Oh.. Nothing much..’ Sokka’s features stayed as uninterested as they were. He didn’t want Zuko to know what he was up to tonight, but since Katara messed his plans up already, he had to think of something.
‘There’s this party tonight down town.. And I thought I might drop by.. Just to see.’
He glanced at Zuko to see the prince’s face turn back to it’s normal state. ‘How.. interesting.. But I think I’ll stay here.’
Sokka smirked. ‘Oh, really? What a shame.. I was rather looking forward to it..’ Yeah, right!
Zuko made a half smirk himself. I could think of a million other things to do.. And they most likely not contain him..
‘Oh well..’ Sokka turned on his heels and took a step back in the direction he came from. But soon he paused and his eyes rounded a little.
Katara stood a few feet away in the corridor. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she smirked widely. ‘Hello, boys..’
Sokka opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out, so he closed it again. ‘So..’ Katara stepped closer to them. ‘Are you guys ready for your night out?..’ She lowered her hands and placed them on her hips as she stopped in front of her brother.
‘Um..’ Sokka rubbed the back of his head. ‘We’re not really going..’ Katara furrowed her eyebrows slightly. ‘You’re not going..’ She turned her gaze towards Zuko and saw him shake his head a little. ‘Oh, really?..’
Sokka swallowed hard as her heard a change in his sisters voice. He immediately pointed at Zuko. ‘He didn’t want to!’
The eyes of the banished prince went wide. ‘I.. But he..’ He noticed Katara had now completely turned towards him. And he also knew her temper. ‘You?’ she asked, raising her eyebrow.
‘I..’ Zuko sighed softly and gazed at the ground. ‘Just give me a moment to change..’ Slowly Katara’s lips curled up into a smile and as she turned away from the boys, the smile changed into a smirk. ‘Sure thing..’

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‘I can’t believe how easy you gave into her!’ Sokka’s laugh sounded loudly through the alley the two boys were walking through. Zuko just frowned. He couldn’t let that boy to get under his skin. Not tonight. He had to just sit it out.
He was so scared, he couldn’t even say a thing! And he is her brother..
‘Let’s just.. stop talking about it, okay?’ the scarred prince asked softly, but Sokka wasn’t done yet. ‘Oh no! You’re not getting away with it that easy!’ He smirked.
Zuko felt his body heating up. Don’t let him get to you.. But instead of snapping at the water tribe boy, the firebender grinned back. ‘I should’ve known..’ He forced the words out of his mouth.
Sokka frowned lightly as he didn’t get the reaction he hoped for.

The streets got more crowded and the boys looked at each other as they reached a square. ‘Is this the place?’ Zuko frowned as the crowd got larger.
‘Well, yeah.. I was supposed to meet he..’ Sokka stopped in the middle of his sentence and glanced to the side. ‘You were supposed to meet who?’
Zuko’s eyebrow rose. ‘Something tells me you already had plans for tonight..’
‘No!’ Sokka’s eyes glanced at the ground. Think! Think! ‘I meant I’d.. really.. like a drink! Yes, that’s it!’ The boy breathed a relieved sigh and grinned, but the grin soon faded as a voice came from behind them.

‘Sokka!!’ A girl dressed in green suddenly came out from behind a group of people. She laughed hysterically as she almost literally jumped around Sokka’s neck. Sokka’s eyes went wide with panic. No!
Zuko blinked his eyes slowly. ‘Did I miss something here?..’
‘Nao!’ Another voice sounded from the crowd. ‘Nao, where are you?!’
‘Someone’s looking for you..’ Sokka rubbed the back of his head nervously and he pushed the girl away slowly.
‘It’s just my friend.. She’ll find us.’ The girl smiled widely at Sokka. ‘I’m so glad you came!’
‘Yeah!’ Sokka backed away a little, sweat slowly dripping down the side of his face. He forced an awkward laugh as Nao came closer to him again.
‘Noa!’ Another girl pushed her way through the mass of people. ‘Go away! Geez, don’t you people have a life?!’ she spat at the people around her. ‘And you!’ She pointed directly at her friend. ‘Don’t you ever dare leaving me in there alone again!’ She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
The two boys looked at each other and before Sokka realized it, Nao was back around his neck. ‘Akemi! Look who’s here too!’ She seemed to not even care about her friends anger. ‘It’s Sokka!’
The other girl rolled her eyes a little, but a smile appeared on her face anyway. ‘Oh.. Sokka..’

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The four walked down the square slowly, struggling their way through the mass. Nao clinged closely around Sokka’s arm and they lead the way. Zuko and Akemi followed not too far away.
‘Excuse my friend..’ Akemi whispered at Zuko, making him turn his head towards her. ‘She’s always like this when she likes someone..’ The girl smirked. ‘And she just forgets about everything around her.’
Zuko made a half smile. He actually didn’t mind that he didn’t have to deal with Sokka for the entire night. As a matter of fact, he found it quite amusing to see the water tribe boy struggle because of the girl.
As she saw his smile turn into a grin, Akemi laughed a little. ‘Your friend can be quite annoying too, eh?’ Her eyes tried to catch his gaze.
Zuko smirked widely, but as soon as he realized it, he made it fade again. ‘Sometimes, yes..’
‘I’ve experienced that..’ The girl rolled her eyes. ‘He’s such a..’ She paused for a second to think. ‘Such a..’
‘Pig?..’ Zuko bit his lip to hold back a laugh as he whispered the word. Akemi glanced at him and her eyes narrowed, before she bursted into laughter. ‘That wasn’t the word I was looking for, but.. You’ve got a point there.’
‘You’re funny, Lee.’ Akemi smiled widely as she finally caught Zuko’s gaze. The prince felt his lips curl up into one of his rare, real smiles. I am?..
‘We’d better speed up..’ Zuko snapped out of his thoughts and saw Akemi already looking straight ahead again. ‘I can’t loose Nao again in this crowd.. I’ll never find her again!’ After a short laugh, she took Zuko’s wrist and ran after the other two.

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The group decided to go and eat something, since the night was still young. Both Zuko and Akemi leaned their elbows heavily on the table as Nao kept rattling on about how many children Sokka and herself would be having.
‘What do you think of.. Katsumi? What do you think of that name, my love?’ Nao clinged to Sokka’s arm again. ‘I.. uh.. D.. Yeah..’ Sokka could only stutter the words out of his mouth as he stared blankly at the other side of the table.
As the firebender glanced to the girl sitting next to him, he noticed she was already smirking at him. She hinted towards the other two and rolled her eyes, making Zuko turn his head away to hide his own smirk.
‘Let’s go dancing!’ As Nao jumped up, the rest of the group stared at her wide eyed. ‘Nao.. Slow down a little, will you?..’ Akemi forced a smile on her features. ‘You’re scaring us a little..’
As if the girl hadn’t even heard the last comment, she pulled Sokka onto his feet and dragged  him towards a group of dancing people. The dark skinned boy tried to struggle, but soon gave up as he couldn’t escape the firm hold of Nao.
‘Hate to admit it..’ Zuko started softly. ‘But I think I feel sorry for him..’
‘I know I do..’ Akemi’s eyes were still wide as she gazed after the two lovebirds. ‘But don’t worry.. Nao never has a crush for a long time.’ She gave Zuko a reassuring smile. ‘It mostly goes downhill after they name the children..’
They both gave a short laugh and got up from the table.

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I wish this moment would never pass.. Zuko could only smirk widely as he watched Sokka’s awkward moves on the dance floor. He crossed his arms. Turns out that the waterbender has good ideas after all..
‘Moments like this make everything worth it..’ Akemi smirked widely. ‘I didn’t even want to come here.. And look at me now.. I’m even enjoying myself!’
‘I.. wasn’t really looking forward to coming here either..’ Zuko’s smirk faded and he looked down at the ground.
‘But you’re glad you did?..’ As he looked to the side, he gazed straight into Akemi’s dark eyes. She smiled warmly; a way a girl had never smiled at him before, accept maybe the waterbender. The prince felt a light blush spreading across his cheeks and he answered with a small smile. I think I am..