Chapter Text
"Two more orders of jasmine!"
"Right away!"
That was probably the first time Sokka felt blessed by the fall of an angel. Katara was in front of him, fiddling with her phone and talking about things Sokka couldn’t care less about with the orange-haired bald guy beside her. Sokka was waiting for Suki, which could have been the perfect double date if the girl wasn’t already 20 minutes late and the basket of small pastries in the center of the table hadn’t been consumed by an anxious man within the first 5 minutes of its existence.
Ultimately, Sokka wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The aroma of tea and herbs, which actually smelled more like a balm Grandma would enjoy putting on her complaints, was pleasant despite everything. Aang was trying to strike up a friendly and respectful conversation as if they hadn’t spent evenings in their teens watching cat videos with zero brain activity, playing video games, and leaving the living room covered in popcorn and soda stains to the great annoyance of Katara and Dad. Sokka smiled at the memory; now that damn cultural bald guy was actually his brother-in-law and his sister’s future husband—yeah, maybe he should skip that part.
"Suki will be here in 5 minutes. Order yourself a cup of tea and leave that damn basket alone," Katara murmured without looking up from her phone, her mysterious expression being spoiled only by the soft smile that only Aang could bring out of her. Anyway, love-struck idiots.
"Okay, okay, keep going with the ugui while I get some leaf juice." He raised his hand and rolled his eyes with disinterest. Sokka glanced at the menu as if he hadn’t been doing that for the past 15 minutes. "H-Hey, you! Waiter?"
"Great, Sokka, you’re making a great impression on the cute guy." Suki murmured, appearing right behind the dark-haired man with a triumphant smile and some sweat on her forehead. She chuckled softly at her boyfriend’s look and leaned over his shoulder to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Sorry, honey, it was a really bad day at work."
"Suki!" Before Sokka could stand up to reciprocate the actually quite affectionate greeting, Katara had already jumped from her seat to hug the reddish-brown girl. None of the men present allowed themselves to say anything; the two hadn’t seen each other in quite some time, to be honest. "How’s my favorite warrior?"
"Oh Katara! You can’t even imagine." Suki murmured, bowing her head slightly accompanied by a soft defeated sigh. "I can’t wait to catch up with you, but today I’m here for my man, sorry."
"And I’m the one with the ugui." Katara huffed, shrugging as she returned to her place next to her favorite bald guy. Sokka saw her smile at him, which made his cheeks color because Suki was still behind him, smelling like herself and definitely feeling like his girlfriend. He loved her so much. "How are you, darling?"
"I could be better." The dark-haired man puffed, slightly puffing out his cheeks. "You might have found me in better shape 20 minutes ago."
Suki didn’t try to hide her expression, but contrary to what one might think, after a few moments of pure seriousness, she simply smiled slightly and leaned over the older brother to give him another kiss. "Am I forgiven?"
"Of course!" He smiled, his eyes shining like a puppy who’s just been petted.
"Have you ordered yet?"
"I was about to..." He murmured, suddenly remembering the previous conversation. "Ah—"
"Zuko?" Suki raised her voice toward one of the waiters, and of course, the thorn of uncertainty pierced Sokka. "Hey, you!" The waiter glanced slightly toward them, and as soon as his girlfriend’s gaze appeared, he quickly turned around, covered his face with the menu, and his cheeks turned a bright pink.
He’s actually cute.
"Hey, you!" Sokka raised his voice, ignoring that he was in a public place. The guy didn’t stop and quickly disappeared into the kitchen, ignoring the shouts of the water tribe inhabitant. "What’s wrong with him?" He mumbled before getting elbowed in his side.
"Don’t be mean to him!" Suki muttered. "He’s very shy."
"I wasn’t being mean!"
"Whatever you say." She sighed. "When you’re done, you’ll have to come with me to talk to him."
"New boyfriend?" Katara joked.
"Don’t mess with me."
......................
In retrospect, the boy is cute and Sokka should punish himself for those thoughts. The pinkish tone has not yet completely disappeared from his cheeks and in fact, now he seems more tense and serious than shy, he is probably socially inept. His hair is dark, but in a nice way, his skin is pale which only makes him look more feminine, he is thin and his eyes are golden. Sokka probably should have looked away from the large scar that covers half of his face, but it's inevitable and the stranger seems to notice it quickly. The water boy's gaze moves and in a second he uses one of his hands to cover it while his eyes crystallize in rivulets of liquid gold.
Sokka feels guilty.
Suki is angry on the way home. "His name is Zuko, please be kind, he's been through a lot."
............
He is in fact, by chance, Suki and Sokka's third roommate, he arrives accompanied by an elderly and short man with a smiling smile on his face, he is the guy from the tea shop.
"Take care, prince."
The nickname sounds too sugar-coated to be uttered from what appears to be his father, Sokka is probably letting his prejudices get the better of him again, but if he were a worried mother those would definitely be the words they would give when letting their chick go to the wild. real world.
Sokka feels that he has seen and known enough of the horrible world they live in.
Zuko seems naïve and Suki's words repeat over and over in his head.
"She's been through a lot" Well, Sokka is going to make her have a lot of better things to replace the miserable memories.
"Does it have to do with the scar?" His girlfriend doesn't respond.
....................
On the third day of settling in, Zuko invites what Sokka assumes is his partner. She is great! She is a somber and dark girl with a hairstyle that is too adorable for her dark personality, she introduces herself as Mai and the next hour Sokka gets a full overview of the dynamic they have.
Zuko is cooking a dessert for everyone and it's not that Sokka has been watching what he's doing, they just don't talk much and when Suki comes out, the situation is awkward, at least it comforts him to know that classes will start soon. Zuko cuts his finger when chopping apples and stains a slice, Mai instantly arrives and recites a couple of curse words too mild to be intended to offend, she disappears into the bathroom for a moment and returns with the first aid kit, Zuko looks at her. like a sad puppy and Sokka can't hear the rest of the conversation simply out of respect.
The apple pie is ready after an hour and the only death is Zuko's finger, Sokka can live with that. Suki arrives 10 minutes later, respecting her own schedule but no one seems to care, they share, laugh (Mai just sighs) and in the end the lovebirds say goodbye with a hug.
Mai waves them goodbye and whispers something to Zuko that makes him pale. She gives him one last hug and leaves him at the door with a blank face, glassy eyes and a constant tremor.
Sokka worries.
............
The guy from the tea shop was actually his uncle, it's no big surprise at this point given that Zuko is of average height, thin body and much yellower eyes than the older man's, for a moment, Sokka allows himself to wish. that he was the father of his friend? Who knows.
"They are going to release him next month." He babbles while pulling his hair nervously, it's a shame, Sokka really thought it was cool. "Azula..., w-where is she?"
"Zuko..., hey, breathe, look at me." Suki puts it in front of her and Sokka runs to the kitchen to get a glass of water and a blanket from the shelves, he wasn't the first person with a panic attack he had faced, at least he could be prepared this time.
"You can do it." He hears his girlfriend murmur and suddenly coming back feels like interrupting a moment that is too intimate for his position, he almost allows himself to be jealous but the feeling never comes, that feels much worse. Anyway, come back, at least you can have the satisfaction of bothering them if Zuko is planning to stay with his girlfriend.
...........
Zuko isn't planning on staying with his girlfriend, which is a relief. Suki has made it clear that they should talk about this matter later with an absolutely serious expression, and Sokka feels a little fearful for the fate of the little intruder in their lives and the next future in their relationship.
Zuko is sleeping on the couch with a cup of tranquilizing tea placed on the table, so Suki takes advantage of the knocked-out beast.
"I like him a lot, but you do too." The words are raw and incinerate his tender heart, is this some kind of joke?
"You can't be serious."
"I wanted to be honest with you."
"You said he was your best friend."
"It is"
"It doesn't look like it!"
"Calm down Sokka, you're going to wake him up."
"Oh sure..." He stammers, fixing his powerful blue irises on the warrior's face. "Now it's like this! As if it's not me who's heartbroken, it's him you really care about!"
"You know that's not what I meant!" Sokka hits the wall next to him hard, so hard that some of the structure's material caves in, and Suki frowns. "I'm not going to repeat it, calm down."
"I'm not your dog, you can't give me orders."
"I'm asking you, please-"
"I want him to leave." Suki's gaze wanders to the door for a moment.
"Sokka..., we can't-"
"I want him to go away!" The warrior's gaze returns for a moment to her boyfriend and then slides towards the door again. "I'm not asking you, I want you to go and tell him he's no longer welcome here."
"This isn't just your house!" Massage the bridge of your nose. "Please can we calm down-"
"It's him or me."
"That?"
"HE OR ME."
"You're an idiot."
Sokka grits his teeth until they grind and clenches his fists until his knuckles shine, feeling sad, angry, betrayed and most of all, hurt. "ME? IDIOT!?"
Suki opens her mouth but the words don't come because once again, her gaze is focused on the door. The brunette is fed up. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S PLANNING TO LEAVE ME FOR A GUY I MET JUST 3 MONTHS AGO! WHAT THE FUCK DOES ONE HAVE THAT I DON'T!? Please tell me." Tears flow but still she doesn't pay the slightest attention.
Sokka crosses the limit.
He didn't know that his heart wouldn't be the only one to break.
"It's horrible, him. He's so quiet, as silent as a ghost and I hate him, I wish he'd go away..."
"Sokka!"
"It's the truth, I'm being honest. He's a useless bag of bones and the scar on his face is disgusting and silly... maybe his father is in prison because of him."
Dry noise.
Sokka raises his hand to his own cheek after feeling the heat of Suki's palm on it, he feels the redness and sees the tears on his girlfriend's face as she leaves the room, furious, crying and sobbing tears of anguish. .
Sokka isn't sure if he regrets it.
.................
He leaves and that doesn't make him feel any more victorious, it only increases the pile of guilt slowly burning in his consciousness, as if the smoke he emits isn't enough to intoxicate him. Suki doesn't speak to him, she just leaves her room to say goodbye to the boy and Sokka's heart brutally crushes.
I hadn't noticed how truly broken Zuko looked as they completed the moving process, his hair is greasy, his face much paler than usual (which makes the scar only stand out even more burning and painful), he is thin and His eyes look dead.
"Take care, I'll come visit you soon." He is picked up by the chubby man who is his uncle, Sokka just waves goodbye and even so, Zuko makes the effort to try to smile at him, even if it just makes him look that much more pathetic.
Maybe in another situation, he would have walked in holding Suki's waist while she made jokes 20 times funnier than his and he would just genuinely laugh because his girlfriend is the coolest person he's ever had the joy of knowing, now she just looks at him. With his cold and raw eyes, there is still affection there, but it is so agonizing that it is almost imperceptible.
"I'm sorry..." He murmurs.
"Me too."
.........
Sokka tries not to think too much about those golden eyes, the pale skin marked only by scars, the smiles more radiant than the sun. The effort he put into each cup of tea, as he always tried to be pleasant despite his terrible upbringing and the adversity that surrounded such a noble heart.
Sokka tries not to think about Zuko.
..................
When they see him again, Sokka wishes he were buried 30 meters underground.
The guy from his nightmares, the monster in his memories. The former leader of Sozin Industries, his father. He broke into his house, hit Zuko in the head and tried to kill his uncle. They are both alive, at least they have that on their side.
It's probably the only thing.
Suki enters the room upset, with labored breathing and her heart beating a thousand per minute, with her eyes soaked with tears and dressed in a way that only denotes desperation. He tries to calm her down but she blurts out the soup too quickly. "Zuko's in the hospital." Sokka is in the car in a minute. His hands shake as he pathetically tries to hold the keys and the gray wolf keychain he has seems to mock him as he finally gets the car to move, because if by God he didn't do it in the next 20 seconds, it was going to take his girlfriend and run to the hospital, ignoring that it was at least 30 minutes away by car and many more minutes walking.
When they arrive, Sokka stands stunned outside the institution and wonders a thousand times if he has the right to go and worry about his friend after what he did, what he said, what he thought and what finally happened to Zuko. Because of him, Suki doesn't care and drags him by the hand, babbling about how it's not important now and that he'll worry about apologizing later.
That's why he loves her.
Zuko is fine, as far as that goes. A thick bandage surrounds his head and he looks even more lost than before, he smells brutally of antiseptic and he has one or another band-aid spread over his body, apart from that, he will get out of this. As soon as they cross the door, the old man Iroh at his side raises his head at the same time as his nephew, Zuko's eyes shine with sadness and shame.
Before Suki can say anything, Sokka approaches and leans slightly towards Zuko as if asking permission, the boy shudders but lets it be shortly after. Sokka wraps him in a tight hug and it takes Zuko a couple of seconds to tighten around him only to start sobbing into his shoulder. "I'm sorry"
"Don't apologize, it was my fault." Sokka inhales. "I shouldn't have let you leave."