Hello everyone! I'm Asterixa, and this is my first A:TLA fanfic. This will be a ZukoSokka yaoi mpreg, and if you don't like any of that, there's a back button up there.

I don't own Avatar, and never will...

For clarification, in this fic there's no time pressure on the gang. There is no comet to avoid, because pregnancy takes a while. So lots of time will pass, okay?

Well, here we go!

Need

°

Sokka rubbed at his stomach, full and warm from the big meal that Aang had gotten them. The harbor town they were in was a sprawling expanse of low rectangular houses, and now at night it was asleep, few lights still burning and a couple of people on their way home. Sokka glanced behind himself to make sure he was alone; Katara, Aang and Toph should all be asleep by now, in the warehouse that they had snuck themselves into earlier in the evening.

Feeling pretty sure that he was alone, he stretched and pulled out his hairband, letting his hair fall around his face. He wandered to the bar district, the hard-packed dirt of the streets glowing in the moonlight. The bars were lit up brightly, and men sat in groups on the ground, gambling on dice.

Sokka felt his insides roil in longing. He needed it again.

This had been going on for almost the whole trip, this need. It was frightening but satisfying, and the pleasure after he had gotten it was amazing.

The others had no idea, and Sokka wasn't planning on telling them. Hell, Toph and Aang were twelve. He couldn't do that to them!

"Hey, want to play?"

He had reached one of the knots of men that were busy with dice. One of the three sitting in front of him was smiling at him, offering him the dice.

Sokka shook his head. "No thanks."

The man shrugged. "Suit yourself. Take a seat, you can watch and reconsider."

Sokka grinned and sat down next to him. It was an Earth Kingdom soldier, one of those bulky guys that looked as if they would be able to crush rocks even without Earthbending. He had the swarthiness of most of the mountain people, and thick dark hair.

Sokka's body ached for it, his whole self felt somehow... empty...

He knew what he needed and what would fill him, but he needed to be patient.

So he watched them play at the dice, and even joined in for a round or two. One of the men disappeared for a few minutes and then returned with glasses of cool beer.

Sokka watched the people come and go on the street, the pale golden wood of the bar walls and the raucous laughter from inside... the men fighting about the bottle of rum in the middle of the street, blood mixing with dust and turning the whole area into muddy sludge.

The tea-drinking men leaning against the wooden walls, their eyes alighting on Sokka and beckoning, but the Earth soldier had his arm around Sokka's waist and prior claim so he stayed there, watching the dice roll and the coins change hands.

He ached for it.

°

He woke up in the warm darkness of the soldier's bed, his body aching deliciously from it. He felt complete, the sickening feeling of emptiness gone. Slipping out from under the covers, he bent down to search for his clothes.

"Wait, kid."

Sokka started and turned. A candle flickered on, illuminating the paneled room and the tatami mats. The window's shutters were closed.

The soldier sat up in bed and beckoned to him.

Sokka shook his head. "I've got to go."

The soldier smiled. "Oh come on, one more time won't hurt. It won't take that long, you're too pretty for me to last long."

Sokka laughed softly despite himself and gave in.

The soldier was gentler than Sokka was used to from these encounters, his hands careful and sliding over all the right places. His eyes were dark with lust when he entered Sokka for the second time, and his groans and snarls were loud in the warm gloom of the room.

Sokka lay beneath him and watched the light of the candle flicker over the ceiling, feeling pleasure build slowly within him.

Afterwards he left feeling sated and warm inside, and when he reached the warehouse and his sleeping bag he didn't even worry whether Toph noticed his entrance as he usually did.

°(this is a few months later)°

"Hey Sokka, are you all right?"

Sokka smiled wanly and nodded, straightening from his crouch. "Yeah... I must have eaten something wrong."

His sister looked at him worriedly. "You sure you're okay?"

Sokka grinned. "Of course I am, Katara. Must have just overdone the eating--" his eyes widened and he froze.

Katara bent down. "Hey, Sokka? What---"

Sokka smiled slowly, jumped up and ran to where Aang was sitting at the campfire. "I smell... FOOD!"

Katara watched him go and shook her head. Crazy kid. She glanced back at the bushes, her eyebrows furrowing. The sour smell of vomit hung heavy in the air.

Toph, carrying a pail of water, walked past. "You know, princess, if I have to start helping you guys, you might want to stick to your job, too."

Katara jumped and glared. "Yeah, yeah." She muttered, and went back to setting up the tent.

What was wrong with her brother? He had been sickly for months now, and it was totally unlike him. She had no idea what was going on, really.

They were too busy running from the Fire Nation and getting Aang versed in Water- and Earthbending to pay much attention to Sokka, who really didn't have anything to contribute to their Bending and usually disappeared whenever the girls started drilling Aang. Katara had noticed his disappearances and their lack of attention to him, but what could she do? Aang needed to learn, and she couldn't help that teaching him to Bend took a lot of attention and work.

And besides, Sokka hadn't ever spoken up. She doubted he minded; he got annoyed with all their Bending talk anyway.

She finished the tent and went to where Sokka was avidly watching Aang ladle stew into four bowls. Appa was lying on its massive side to one side of the camp, and Momo chittered and chattered in the tall trees that bordered on the clearing they were in. The moon was a dim sliver behind thick clouds.

Toph sat down next to the boys, her green clothing glowing in the firelight. Aang was deeply absorbed in serving out the food, making sure every bowl had the same amount of soup in it; it looked very irritating, and Katara could see Sokka's face scrunch up in annoyance as he watched the other boy peer into the bowls.

Finally they ate, and after the banking the flames and reviewing a bit of Earthbending with Aang, everyone went to sleep.

Or, tried to.

Sokka had been feeling... off... for a while, and though his need still came sometimes, especially when the others were absorbed in their Bending and he was unoccupied and feeling lonely, it was much less frequently and with less intensity. It was a different kind of emptiness than before, and he found himself feeling happier when his... acquaintances held him after it than during the act itself. Before, he had needed only the sweat and the panting of the sex.

And this puking was getting on his nerves. Sokka had always had a strong stomach; he'd gotten it from his father. They were both able to eat anything, and Sokka had never had food poisoning in his life. But it seemed like his stomach was losing its defenses, because he'd been puking his guts out for almost three months now. It would be freaking him out, but he refused to think much about it.

All that wouldn't matter, if he'd be able to sleep when he wanted to! He glared up at the moon through the wreath of clouds that hid it. Yuei was beautiful tonight, hidden behind that veil...

He was finding himself asleep at the weirdest times—when he was out fishing, in the middle of an argument with Katara—and at night he simply couldn't get his closed for longer than half an hour at a time. It was driving him nuts.

He squeezed his eyes shut and turned on his side, pulling his sleeping bag tight around him.

Ugh.

HE WANTED TO SLEEP, dammit...

°

They were making their leisurely way through the forest towards the sea, where Aang wanted to try out some of the larger-scale Waterbending moves. It was taking them days to move ten miles, and Appa was getting suspiciously fat.

Whenever they reached a village, they'd rummage in their pockets and end up either begging Toph for some of her hoarded gold coins, or sending Sokka to get a job. Aang and Katara were debating which choice to go with as they looked down onto a little woody valley where a small cluster of huts nestled into the trees.

Sokka was feeling empty and lonely again, and he decided to 'sacrifice himself', turning to the deliberating pair and saying, "I'll go find some work, it's okay."

Aang whooped. "Cool! We'll go down and find somewhere to wait for you."

Sokka nodded and started off. Behind him the others unlashed what they needed from Appa's saddle and shooed the bison into the shelter of the trees. It was an Earth Kingdom town, but you could never be too careful.

Sokka rubbed at his eyes and followed the dusty little trail down to the town. It was a really sad and tired little place, with children sitting around listlessly. The men were almost all gone, only a few younger ones working on their chores or jobs and the older ones sitting around in the shadow of their doorsteps drinking tea—all others were off at war. The women were inside, soft chatter and laughter drifting through the narrow streets.

The pine trees towered high around the town, impenetrable. Sokka gazed up at them, wondering where to look for work.

The decision was taken out of his hands when a cracked old voice to his right called, "Hey, boy, would you like to help me with my loads?"

Sokka looked down at the wrinkly old lady that had asked him. She was a real gnome, cracked and pinched and tiny. Half her teeth were missing and her skin had the consistence of old leather.

"Will you get me and my friends some free food?"

The lady cackled. "Your friends? I don't see anyone else."

"There's four of us."

She peered up at him. "All right."

He spent the afternoon hauling baskets and bundles of fragrant herbs and flowers from a wooden cart into the lady's hut. The house was a rickety thing, filled to bursting with plants in pots and hanging bundles of drying leaves, fruits, little jars of powder, flasks of mysterious dark liquids--

"Are you a healer?" he asked, once he'd dragged the last sack of prickly pine cones over her door step and sat down at her scroll-cluttered table to a cup of fragrant tea.

The old woman, busily sorting the massive basket of red berries he'd just had the honor to carry in into two piles—one smooth, one bruised—grinned toothlessly. "You could say that."

Sokka's eyes widened. "Good! Could you heal me?"

The lady stared at him. "Of what? You seem healthy to me, and besides, a healing would cancel out one of those free meals."

"That's a hard bargain. Couldn't you just look at me, and if I need a healing I'll get you the money for it?"

"I'm looking at you right now. There's nothing wrong with you."

Sokka gritted his teeth. "I've been puking for three months now, constantly. I've never had anything like that before."

The woman threw a berry at him. "That's just the pregnancy. It's not a sickness, it's a blessing."

Sokka stared at her. "Lady. I'm a boy."

"I know. More tea?"

She was insane. He bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed and let her refill his cup.

"You're Water tribe, after all. Those men have always had some extra things. I knew one once, he had webbed feet and hands! Living in the ice and being ruled by the femaleness of the moon changes a man in ways others wouldn't be able to understand. Just like the Fire Nation's women, influenced by the masculine strength of the Sun, are sometimes infertile, the Water men gain some female abilities from their guardian spirits."

Sokka's eye was twitching. "So... you mean it. That I'm pregnant."

She grinned at him. "Yeah."

°

Well, that was chapter 1.

Was it any good?

Sokka is not a slut, he just... needs... sex... Oh my god I'm bad at explaining this. Whatever.

Please review, people!!!