As promised, here's that "Zuko gets raised by dragons" AU I promised in my last update of kintsugi. I went back and forth as to how I wanted to write this one for awhile and where I wanted to start it, but I decided to just drop us right in with Zuko joining the Gaang and expand on his backstory and how he ended up where he was in the first place along the way! So of course, I start us out with a Sokka POV, because when you need someone to react to something absolutely absurd... Sokka's your guy.

Thanks for reading!

heart of a dragon

chapter one

in which team avatar gets a new member

"Well," Sokka began, if for no other reason than to break the tense silence that had fallen over the group since they'd left Crescent Island behind, "-that could have gone worse."

"Really, Sokka?" Katara asked. "You think it could have gone worse?"

"I mean, we got out of there, didn't we?" Sokka asked. "And seeing as it was pretty touch and go there for awhile, yeah, I'd say things could have gone worse."

"Sokka does have a point." Aang admitted, glancing behind him from where he sat on Appa's head. "At least we know about the comet now."

"And we're not dead." Sokka added. "Don't forget that."

"Still, let's maybe not do that again anytime soon." Katara said. "I think I'm through with the Fire Nation for the time being."

Sokka snorted in agreement. "You can say that again. Then again, I didn't exactly expect the nation filled with people trying to kill us to give us a warm welcome."

Katara glanced over towards him, giving him that squint she always got when she wasn't sure if something was meant to be a pun or not. Well, the joke was on her- everything was always meant to be a pun. Always.

Aang chuckled a little, which he had to admit, heartened him to hear. He knew the news he'd gotten about Sozin's Comet was weighing heavily on him, even more so than it did on them. After all, they weren't the ones who had to master three entirely different forms of bending in just under a year, which even to his non-bending self sounded like a serious time crunch.

"So what should we do next?" Katara asked. "Avatar Roku didn't make it sound like we have a lot of time."

And the good mood he'd brought back was ruined now. Thanks, Katara.

"Well, I for one, say we find somewhere to camp out for the night." Sokka said. "I think we're all pretty exhausted. Not to mention hungry."

As if to agree, Appa rumbled lowly. Poor guy had to be pooped, flying almost non-stop only to have to break through a Fire Nation blockade. Which, by the way, he was never doing again. There was nothing fun about having giant, flaming rocks hurled at you.

"Yeah, I think Appa's voting for that plan too." Aang agreed, reaching out to ruffle the sky bison's fur. "Aren't you, buddy?"

Appa rumbled again, this time lower. If he didn't know any better, he almost sounded kind of... distressed? Glancing up towards Aang for confirmation, he sat up a bit straighter as he took note of the furrow of his brow. He guessed that wasn't just a rumble of agreement then.

"Aang?" Katara asked, sensing the mood. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Aang frowned. "I think Appa senses something, but..."

Glancing around, Sokka confirmed for himself just what put the doubt in Aang's voice. There were no ships following them- they'd thankfully lost Commander Zhao and his fleet of ships back on Crescent Island. And considering they were still flying over water, ships were pretty much the only thing they had to worry about.

"I don't see anything." Katara observed. "Maybe Appa's just tired."

"I don't know..." Aang frowned, almost anxiously ruffling Appa's fur. "Everything okay there, buddy? We should be able to find a place to set down soon."

Exchanging a glance with Katara, Sokka just shrugged. Maybe Appa was just tired. It wasn't like there was anything-

...wait. What was that?

Squinting, Sokka turned his gaze upward. There almost seemed to be some kind of... long shadow moving within the clouds. And if he didn't know any better, it almost seemed to be following them.

"Uh, guys...?"

That was all Sokka could get out before the creature burst through the cloud cover, revealing itself. Sokka lurched to his feet, his eyes blown wide and his mouth agape at the sight. The creature easily dwarfed Appa in size, its wingspan alone nearly as long as the sky bison. Long, curled horns protruded from its head, and the scales that coated its great body gleamed a deep purple in the moonlight.

Even without having seen one before, he knew the stories. This was a...

"Dragon!" Aang cried, hastily jerking on Appa's reins to get it out of the way of the massive creature. Sokka was thrown back on his rear, colliding with the edge of the saddle as the dragon flew past them, down towards the sea.

"It's coming back around!" Katara cried, staring down over the edge of the saddle at the beast.

Leaning over the saddle, Sokka realized she was right. The dragon had turned around and was now surging upwards again. Squinting, Sokka made out a pinprick of red by the great beast's horns, realizing abruptly that the dragon hadn't come here alone.

"Guys," he said slowly, "-I think there's someone on the dragon."

"What?" Katara asked, leaning over for a better look.

Sure enough, when the dragon shot past them again, they realized there was, in fact, someone riding it. They stood fearlessly on the dragon's head, one hand grasping its horns, the only thing keeping them from plummeting to their watery doom. Suddenly, every thought he'd ever had about feeling unsafe on Appa flew out the window, replaced by the realization that compared to riding a dragon bareback, Appa was practically the safest thing in the world.

And then the dragon's rider jumped.

Sokka swore underneath his breath, wondering if this was really happening. Maybe he'd actually passed out from exhaustion on their way back from Crescent Island, and this was all one big, crazy stress-induced dream. That seemed way more logical than well... any of this, really. Especially once the dragon's rider landed right in the middle of Appa's saddle, in a neat little crouch and everything.

They stood up, and Sokka immediately remembered that dragons were Fire Nation creatures.

The dragon's rider was young, maybe not that much older than him, but he had gleaming gold eyes and too pale skin that marked him as Fire Nation in a way that even his red clothing couldn't. He couldn't tell if his hair was actually that dark, or if it was just the dim light that made it look that way, but either way, it looked pretty wild, long enough to just barely touch the small of his back. There was a sword strapped to his back, and a pouch slung over one shoulder. He was also completely barefoot, which was... weird, but he guessed no weirder than the fact that the guy had just jumped out of the sky off a dragon.

Honestly, compared to that, anything else would be almost normal.

Immediately, everyone was on guard. Sokka was back on his feet, as was Katara, one hand hovering over her water skin. His own hand hovered over his bone club, ready to use it if this weird, obviously Fire Nation kid proved that he needed to. Honestly, if it hadn't been for Shyu helping them back at the Fire Sage's Temple, he might already be attacking, but as it was, right now he was just waiting to see what would happen next.

Maybe this wasn't an enemy. After all, he could have just had his dragon shoot them out of the sky, couldn't he? But he hadn't done that.

(Said dragon was now flying just beside Appa, and Sokka had to swallow back his fear. It was even bigger up close. At least Appa wasn't freaking out.)

"Who are you?" Katara demanded. "If you've come for Aang, I'll-"

The boy jerked, as if startled out of a reverie. Glancing over towards Katara, he squinted at her, before he turned his gaze towards him, squinting further.

"Neither of you are the Avatar." He concluded, like it was some kind of brilliant observation. He turned on his heel, prompting Katara to make a choked sound of protest- whether it was because he'd completely ignored her, or because he'd just casually turned his back on them, he couldn't tell.

"That would be me?" Aang said awkwardly, now having the weird kid's full attention. "Um, and you are...?"

The weird kid tilted his head, taking several seconds before he spoke again. "Oh. Right."

He muttered something underneath his breath about uncle and introductions, before shifting on his feet, his gold eyes darting between the three of them. Sokka felt his hand drifting back towards his bone club again, briefly wondering when he'd moved it. It wasn't like he'd stopped thinking this kid could be a threat, but he just seemed... well, more awkward than he did threatening.

"Zuko," the weird kid finally blurted out, "-I'm Zuko. That's my name."

There was an awkward silence for a moment, Aang peering out from behind Zuko's back to look at him and Katara. Katara slowly nodded, moving her hands hesitantly away from her water skin. If he was going to attack, he probably would have done it already.

That didn't mean they necessarily trusted him, but well... fighting on Appa's saddle while still in the air didn't exactly sound appealing to either him or his sister. Aang would probably be fine, and he got the feeling Zuko would be too- given that he had a whole dragon to catch him if he fell- but he'd rather avoid that situation if he could help it.

"I'm Katara," his sister began, "-that's my brother, Sokka. Behind you is Aang."

"The Avatar." Zuko sagely nodded.

"He prefers Aang." Katara said, almost, but not quite glaring.

"So, Zuko," Sokka began, not missing how weird it felt to say a Fire Nation name so casually, "-what uh... what brings you here?"

"I'm supposed to teach the Avatar firebending." Zuko said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Like that was just what firebending teachers did- drop out of the sky off of dragons. Then again, for all he knew, maybe that was what they did. It seemed exactly like the kind of hardcore Fire Nation-y thing he imagined whenever he thought about them.

"You are?" Aang asked, practically lighting up. "That's great! We were just talking about finding me some teachers!"

"Aang," Katara began, caution in her tone, "-I know we're looking for teachers and all, but don't you think this is a little too convenient? We just got away from the Fire Nation, remember?"

"Yeah, how do we know this isn't a trick?" Sokka asked.

Zuko tilted his head, finally blinking. He hadn't up until now, which was weird in and of itself. "Why would it be a trick?"

Sokka exchanged a glance with Katara, who just frowned. "Because you're Fire Nation? You know, the nation of people that's trying to kill us?"

"But I'm not." Zuko said.

"How did you even find us?" Katara asked, then squinted suspiciously. "Have you been following us?"

Zuko shook his head vigorously. "Mom knew that you would have to go to Crescent Island to speak with Avatar Roku on the solstice. She tracked your sky bison's scent from there. We would have come earlier, but it's safer for her travel at night."

"Wait, hold up," Sokka said, holding up his hands, because only part of that made sense, "-your mom did what?"

"Tracked your sky bison's scent?" Zuko asked, tilting his head the other way this time. "It's not like it's hard. They give off a pretty strong one."

Behind him, Aang bristled. "Appa does not smell!"

Sokka bit back a remark that well... Appa kind of did. It wasn't an awful smell, but Zuko definitely had a point. Which didn't make his statement about his mom tracking Appa's scent make any more sense- nor the part where he talked about her only being able to travel at night. As far as he could see, the only thing that had accompanied Zuko was that dragon, and-

Oh. No. No way.

"Is uh," Sokka began, his eyes darting over towards the dragon that was steadily following them, "-is your mom the dragon?"

"Of course." Zuko said, like it was supposed to be obvious. "What else would she be?"

Not a dragon, Sokka wanted to shout, but somehow- somehow- managed to bite it back. Instead he just turned to helplessly gape at the dragon, only to realize with a start that it was watching them all. There was something almost vaguely maternal in its gaze, in a way that suggested if one of them even tried to harm a single hair on Zuko's head, she would shoot them all down from the sky with no hesitation.

"Oh," Zuko said suddenly, snapping everyone's attention back towards him, "-I should introduce you to my brother too."

Before any of them could question what he meant, something wriggled out from within Zuko's tunic, wrapping itself around his upper arm and settling its head in the crux of his elbow. He almost mistook it for some kind of snake, but a closer look revealed that it had wings and horns, if only on a vastly smaller scale than the massive dragon still flying alongside Appa.

"This is Druk." Zuko said, almost seeming to smile. "He was just born this fall. Mom found his egg hidden away in a cave, but I'm the one who named him."

"Wait, okay, so let me get this straight." Sokka began, exchanging a glance with Katara, who just gave him a helpless shrug. "Your mom's a dragon."

Zuko nodded wordlessly.

"And so is your brother?" Sokka continued.

Zuko frowned, like he didn't understand what the problem was. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Yeah, you did." Sokka said. "But aren't you, uh... aren't you human?"

Was he? They had just dealt with some freaky spirit world stuff like, barely even two days ago. Maybe those same spirits had figured that they'd never find a human firebending teacher for Aang, so they'd just gone and turned a dragon into a human. Those were some alarmingly gold eyes, now that he thought about it.

He glanced over towards Aang, but the bridge between the worlds just gave him a helpless shrug, the same as his sister. He could tell the kid was just barely holding back from blurting out a million questions of his own- which was probably for the best. He wasn't sure how Zuko would react to the sudden onslaught. He seemed kind of... well, not properly socialized? Awkward? He sure as heck didn't seem to understand the proper flow of conversation, at any rate.

"Of course I'm human." Zuko stated bluntly. "What else would I be?"

"Wait so," Aang piped up, unable to bite it back any longer, "-you were raised by dragons?"

Zuko squinted at Aang, like he didn't understand why anyone was confused. "Yeah? I thought that was obvious."

Sokka had to bite down on his tongue again to keep himself from saying anything else. Instead, he took a long, deep breath, trying to steady his thoughts. Because somehow, even though he'd grown up with a sister who had magic water powers and had later gone on to find the Avatar- who by the way was just a twelve year old kid- the idea of someone being raised by dragons just seemed so... insane to him. And now they were supposed to believe that this guy- this firebender- was supposed to be on their side, and was here to teach Aang firebending?

And he thought this day couldn't get any crazier. The universe just loved proving him wrong.

"You know what," Sokka began, "-I think this is maybe something we should discuss on solid ground."

Zuko turned his gaze on him, staring at him in that eerie, unblinking way of his. "What's there to discuss? I'm joining you."

Sokka rubbed his temples. Ah, there it was, his old friend- the headache. Somehow he got the feeling he'd be having a lot of those in the next few days.

Somehow, he wasn't sure how, they got Zuko to agree to continue the discussion somewhere that wasn't on Appa's saddle in the middle of the sky. Aang had been no help- leave it to the airbender to not see any issues with having important discussions with strange people mid-flight- but he and Katara had eventually managed to make him see sense. Which all would have been great, if Zuko hadn't proceeded to then jump off Appa's saddle, catching one of his dragon mom's horns on the way down in a stunt that still had Sokka's heart pounding.

Were all people from the Fire Nation this crazy, he wondered, or was it just the ones raised by dragons? Because he was seriously hoping for the latter.

Said dragon mom's name was Fen, as it turned out. It was still unclear if Fen would be joining them, or how she knew that they would be at Crescent Island- or why she was so convinced that Zuko was meant to be Aang's firebending teacher, a fact which Zuko himself appeared to be very insistent on. It was weird hearing someone who had been raised by an animal go on about destiny, but Sokka guessed this was just his life now.

Anyways, they'd managed to somehow find a place to camp that wouldn't attract too much attention, a task made infinitely harder now by the presence of a dragon. Or well, two dragons, he guessed- but Druk was way too small to attract the same kind of attention as Fen. The little guy was actually pretty cute, Sokka had to admit, all coiled up in Zuko's lap. It was only when he remembered that Zuko viewed said tiny dragon as his brother that things got a little weird.

As if this whole day hadn't been weird enough already.

At least Zuko had helped with the campfire. He'd turned around to say something Katara, and by the time he turned back, the fire was already lit. Guess there was some benefit to having a firebender around- or at least, a firebender that wasn't (currently) trying to kill you.

Thankfully the supplies the villagers had given them hadn't been damaged when they'd run that Fire Nation blockade. Katara had some kind of stew going, which he wished would just hurry up and be done already. It had been a long day, and he was hungry enough that the patch of mushrooms near the campsite was starting to look pretty appetizing.

"So," Aang began, staring across the campfire at Zuko, "-you said it's Zuko, right?"

Zuko peered up at him, his gold eyes reflecting almost eerily in the firelight. "Yeah."

"And you want to teach me firebending." Aang said.

Zuko nodded. "It's my destiny."

"Yeah, about that." Sokka said, cutting in. "You've been saying that for awhile now. How can you be so sure?"

Zuko opened his mouth to reply.

"And don't say it's because your dragon mom said so."

Zuko closed his mouth.

"Maybe you should just explain from the beginning." Katara suggested, glancing up from the stew.

Now that things had calmed down a bit, and Zuko hadn't shown any obvious signs of trying to kill them, she'd become a bit more comfortable with his presence. That said, she didn't trust him fully yet- not based on the fact that she still had her water skin on her, she didn't. They'd chosen a campsite close to a creek, just in case, but with any luck, they wouldn't need it.

Sokka still kept his boomerang close.

"Okay," Zuko said slowly, sparing a glance behind him towards where Fen lay, nearly invisible in the dark, "-where do you want me to start?"

"How about we start with the fact that you were raised by a dragon?" Sokka asked. "How does that even happen?"

Zuko just shrugged unhelpfully. "Don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?!" Sokka blurted out, staring at the firebender. "How could you possibly not know?!"

"It's always been like this." Zuko said. "I've just never questioned it. Never saw any reason to."

"I mean, there used to be old Fire Nation legends about people being raised by dragons." Aang said. "But I thought they were all just stories."

"Well, apparently not." Sokka said, rubbing his forehead.

Katara shot him a sympathetic look, before smiling at Zuko. "How did your mom know we would be on Crescent Island?"

She said your mom so easily, like she was talking about a human woman and not a humongous dragon. Truly, his sister was a force to be reckoned with.

"Fang told her he would be there on the solstice." Zuko said, as if that somehow explained everything.

Aang, at least, perked right up. "You mean Roku's dragon?"

"Roku's what now?" Sokka asked.

"Roku's dragon!" Aang said. "He's the one who lead me to the Fire Sage's Temple while I was in the spirit world. But why would Roku's dragon tell your mom about it?"

"Because Fang is mom's father." Zuko said, then added, almost as an afterthought, "-and Avatar Roku is my great-grandfather."

"He's your what?!" Sokka blurted out.

"You're who!?" Aang blurted out at the same time. "Roku didn't tell me anything about a great-grandson!"

Even Katara let the stew she was starting to ladle into bowls spill a little, though she somehow avoiding joining them in blurting out incomplete sentences. She hastily bent the broth before it touched the forest floor, though she was unable to save an unfortunate morsel of meat. As if lured by the smell, Druk's head perked up, the tiny dragon darting out of Zuko's lap to grab at the chunk, bringing it back like it was some kind of prize.

Zuko just chuckled, watching as Druk scorched the meat further before swallowing it whole. Something in his expression softened for just a moment, the firebender reaching out to lightly stroke just underneath Druk's chin with a finger. The tiny dragon curled around his forearm, shutting its golden eyes and drifting back off to sleep. Only then did Zuko finally return his unblinking stare back to the three of them.

"I don't know why he didn't tell you." Zuko admitted. "But he's been dead for over a hundred years. Maybe he just didn't know."

"He knew about that comet thing." Sokka pointed out.

Zuko's expression darkened. "Sozin's comet."

"Yup, that's the one." Sokka nodded. "Also, wait- if Avatar Roku is your great-grandfather, does that make Aang your great-grandfather?"

Zuko just stared blankly at him, like he'd said something deeply stupid. "I don't think that's how it works."

"Coming from the guy who calls a dragon his mom, that doesn't exactly mean much." Sokka pointed out.

Narrowing his eyes, Zuko bared his teeth in a flash of white. "She is my mom."

Sokka flinched, sinking in slightly on himself. Was he- was he growling?

"I'm sorry about my brother. He doesn't mean anything by it." Katara quickly said, cutting in before the situation could get any worse. "He just has a habit of shoving his foot in his mouth."

The low growl broke off, Zuko turning towards Katara with a confused blink. "What does that have to do with anything? Both his feet are on the ground."

In spite of himself, Sokka let out a snort. It proved to be a mistake, because he only earned Zuko's ire again, the fire suddenly flickering almost menacingly in response. He saw Katara's hand twitch toward her water skin, before Aang wisely decided to cut in an attempt to clear the air.

"Maybe we should all eat something first." He said. "I think the hunger's making us a little tense."

Zuko huffed, a puff of smoke escaping from his nose. "He insulted my mom."

"Sokka wasn't insulting your mom." Aang reassured him. "We're just not used to your kind of... family dynamic?"

Zuko blinked again, which was already becoming a noteworthy event in his head. "Aren't you the same? I mean, a sky bison is no dragon, but-"

"Wha- Appa's not my dad!" Aang blurted out, his eyes wide. The sky bison in question rumbled something in response, though he had no idea what.

"He's not?" Zuko asked, scrunching up his nose. "I thought for sure..."

"No." Aang said. "He's family, yeah, but not- not like that."

"How about we all just eat, like Aang said?" Katara chimed in, thrusting a bowl of stew at Zuko before he could start suggesting Katara had been raised by the moon or something. "Here. I made a bowl for you too."

Zuko frowned, carefully accepting it. He gave it a quick sniff, but any comment Katara might have wanted to make in response to that died in her throat as the firebender blew out a small puff of fire into the bowl. The contents now charred and blackened, Zuko set to work, picking the ingredients out of the bowl one by one and popping them into his mouth, using the arm that Druk wasn't wrapped around.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Katara take a deep, calming breath. Right. Figures the kid raised by dragons would like his food charred and crispy.

Katara let her protests die, instead focusing on passing out bowls to the rest of them, briefly using the fire to reheat the broth in the bowl she'd set aside for Aang before she'd started adding the meat. They ate quietly, each of them stealing the occasional glance at Zuko. None of them quite knew what to make of him yet- you know, other than the fact that he was a total weirdo. Then again, he guessed being raised by dragons didn't exactly lend itself to normalcy, so he couldn't exactly blame the guy.

Once he'd finished picking out each ingredient from the bowl, Zuko guzzled the broth. He set the bowl down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before getting up without a word. They all watched him make his way towards Fen, the dragon lifting her head at his appearance. Zuko rested a hand on her muzzle, leaning close until his forehead touched it. Fen closed her eyes, letting out a puff of smoke that almost seemed to wrap around her tiny human child like an embrace.

Okay. He'd admit it. That was sweet.

Weird, but sweet. Definitely made the whole mother son thing they had going on obvious as daylight.

It made him think about his own mother. Her face in his memories was blurry, almost indistinct, but he could still remember the sound of her voice as she sang him lullabies. He wondered about Zuko's human mother, and how exactly he'd ended up living with a dragon one instead. It was too easy for him to think that she hadn't wanted him- she would have been Fire Nation, after all, and therefore wicked- but found that he couldn't. Maybe leaving her son to be raised in isolation was still a better alternative than one day letting him become part of their country's war machine.

It was a sobering thought.

"So," Aang broke the silence that had descended over their small group, "-what do you think?"

"I don't know, Aang." Katara said with a soft frown. "I want to believe he's telling the truth, but-"

"He does need a firebending teacher." Sokka pointed out. "And I don't think we're exactly in much of a position to look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth either. I say we accept his offer."

Katara's frown deepened, her gaze flickering over towards Zuko. He was still busy with Fen, paying no mind to their conversation. If Sokka didn't know any better, he was talking to the dragon, bringing up the question of how exactly the two even managed to understand one another. Probably more mystic spirit mumbo-jumbo or something along those lines, Sokka decided.

"I guess you're right." Katara admitted. "And for a trap, this does seem a little..."

"-strange?" Sokka finished for her.

Katara just nodded, staring at the campfire. Maybe she'd been thinking about mom too. More than the fact that they had been chasing them ever since they'd freed those earthbender prisoners, it was the fact that it was firebenders who had killed their mother that made him- and by extension, Katara- wary of letting one join them.

But Zuko didn't seem... well, okay, he still seemed dangerous. But not dangerous in a way that made it feel like he was out to kill them. Or capture Aang to drag him before his Fire Lord. He actually seemed kind of... sincere?

Yeah, thinking about a firebender this way was weird for him too. But Shyu had been on their side too, so maybe... maybe not everyone from the Fire Nation was bad.

(Just most of them.)

"I think we can trust him." Aang said. "I have a good feeling about him."

Sokka bit back a remark that Aang had a lot of good feelings, and that they didn't necessarily always pan out. Still, this one seemed a little more reliable than the time he'd had a good feeling about those purple berries they'd found while foraging that one time. He'd had stomach cramps for days afterwards.

"Have you thought about my offer?"

Sokka yelped, nearly jumping out of his skin at Zuko's sudden reappearance. He hadn't even noticed him move. At least he could take comfort in the fact that no one else seemed to have either- Aang and Katara had both been startled just as badly as he had. Okay, so he was the only who had yelped, but- look, it had been a long, stressful day. Of course he was going to react badly to someone sneaking up on them in the dark.

Zuko just blinked at him, staring at them blankly like he'd done nothing wrong.

"We have." Katara said, managing to compose herself. "And we're considering it."

"You need to do more than just consider it." Zuko said, sounding more than a little frustrated. "Like I told you, this is my destiny."

"Yeah, you keep saying that." Sokka said. "But how do you actually feel about that?"

Zuko blinked, tilting his head. "What do you mean?"

"It means that if you join us, you'll be fighting against your own people." Katara said, the corners of her lips tugging downwards in a not-quite frown. "That's not something that's easy to do."

Zuko's expression darkened, his gold eyes seeming to glint unnaturally in the firelight. "That won't be a problem."

The trio exchanged a glance amongst themselves, before Aang almost hesitantly asked, "-do you have something against the Fire Nation?"

"Not the Fire Nation." Zuko said, narrowing his eyes. Sokka swore there was an undercurrent of a growl to his words. "Just the royal family."

They waited a few seconds, but it didn't seem like Zuko intended to elaborate. And frankly... none of them really felt comfortable asking, not when the campfire had gone back to flickering dangerously. They all edged away from it a bit, but it made no move to leap out towards them and ignite any bit of clothing too close to it.

Whatever Zuko's problem with the Fire Lord and his family was, it clearly ran deep.

"Well, that's good enough for me." Sokka finally shrugged. "Seeing as we are trying to defeat the Fire Lord and all. Katara?"

Katara slowly nodded, breathing a little easier when the campfire died back down. Glancing over towards the monk at her side, she gave him a considering look. "Aang? You're the Avatar. You should have the final say."

Despite Zuko's still present mood, Aang somehow managed to beam brightly, leaping to his feet and thrusting out a hand. "Welcome to the team, Sifu Hotman!"

Zuko's anger instantly dissipated, staring at Aang's outstretched hand in confusion. "I-"

"What, do dragons not know how to do handshakes?" Sokka asked.

"I know how to shake hands!" Zuko protested, grabbing Aang's hand as if to prove a point. "I just don't- what's a Hotman?"

"Oh," Aang's face fell a bit, "-do they not use that slang anymore?"

Zuko just stared at the monk, squinting. "What's slang?"

In spite of himself, Sokka let out a bark of laughter. It looked like Aang wasn't the only one who was going to need lessons around here. Someone clearly needed to teach Zuko how to you know, be a regular human.

"What is he laughing at?" Zuko asked, turning that suspicious squint towards him.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Katara just rolled her eyes. "Sokka can be weird sometimes."

Sokka's laughter abruptly died. "Hey! I am not weird!"

"I don't know, Sokka. I think she's got you there." Aang said.

Sokka shot Aang a very ineffectual glare, folding his arms in front of his chest. He was surrounded by a sister with magic water powers, a one hundred and twelve year old spirit bridge, and a firebender raised by dragons. If anything, he was the normal one here.

How exactly had his life gotten to this point again?

Socks. This was all because he'd never washed his own socks, wasn't it? Damn his past self for being so lazy. Not having to deal with his own foot stench was nowhere near worth all this trouble.

(He had to wash his own socks now anyways. Katara made them all share the chores.)

"If you're all just going to make fun of me, then I'm going to bed." Sokka said resolutely, already getting to his feet. "And so should everyone else for that matter. We've all had a long day and we have a lot of ground to catch up on if we want to make it to the North Pole any time soon."

"Sokka's right." Katara said, getting to her feet. "We should sleep."

She turned, glancing briefly at Zuko. "We only have bedrolls for the three of us. Will you be okay? We can always pitch a tent if you need one."

"I think I'll be fine." Zuko said. "I'm pretty used to sleeping outside."

Yeah, he would be, Sokka thought to himself. Oh well. Maybe being raised by dragons meant Zuko was good at hunting. Not that he was bad at it! He just wasn't used to all this dirt, that's all. He was more of an ice and snow guy.

(And no matter what Aang said, they could definitely use some more meat in their diet. They couldn't just depend on handouts from the villages they saved forever.)

They didn't stay awake for much longer than that. Katara doused the fire, making sure not to leave behind any embers that might reignite. Sokka yawned, all but collapsing in his own bedroll. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zuko returning to Fen's side, leaning against the dragon's body. In return, she nestled her head closer, moving her tail so that its feathered tip shielded him from the chill of the early winter air. Druk slithered up from Zuko's forearm, draping himself around the back of his neck like the world's tiniest and most ineffectual scarf.

It should have been harder to fall asleep with a firebender right there, but he was drifting off before he even knew what hit him.

Ah well. Zuko looked too comfy to kill them all in their sleep anyways. They'd probably be fine.