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Sokka knew he was going too fast as he crossed campus on his skateboard. He knew from the way his foot could barely land on the ground to push without him falling off. He knew from the way the wind whipped the edges of his windbreaker around his waist. Perhaps most obviously, though, was the way everyone yelled at him to slow down as he passed them.
He knew all of this, however, he was already going to be late to Advanced Aerospace Engineering Design and he could not be any later for so many reasons; the first being that not only was this his favorite class, but it was also with his favorite professor, Piandao, who was his personal mentor, and he couldn’t let him down by being late. The second was that his midterm was today, and he was always early to tests- it got him in the right mindset, meant he got his lucky seat at the front right near Piandao’s desk, and no one would sit next to him once he had everything set up across the two desks on either side of him.
But Katara had gotten home late last night from her internship at the hospital, and he had wanted to do something nice for her by making them breakfast, nearly burning down the kitchen and waking up Katara in the process. He’d had to clean everything up and by the time he finished, it was time to leave. His sister had squawked when he tried to leave without eating anything, ( “It’s the most important meal of the day, Sokka! You can’t just skip it or you’ll do poorly on your test!” ) and made him wait while she made him a smoothie.
Said smoothie was now clutched tightly in his left hand while his right held his phone so he could quickly check the time as he practically flew across Ba Sing Se University’s campus. He glanced down, dying inside when he saw that it was already 9:03 and he was still two minutes away. He looked up just in time to see he was headed straight for a boy wearing headphones and a dark blazer, clearly not aware that a skateboarder traveling way too fast was careening towards him. Sokka, in a panic, did the best thing he could think to do: he jumped off his skateboard.
His board crashed straight into the heels of the boy, while he went flying off to the right, landing on his hands and knees. His smoothie slipped out of his hand and his phone landed on the screen, cracking as it collided with a rock. He took a quick moment to mourn the loss of his sea prune and banana smoothie, then hissed as he stood up quickly, looking down to see that he had scraped up his knees through the rips in his black jeans. His palms weren’t faring much better, blood already beginning to trickle as he brushed off the bits of gravel stuck in them. He glanced towards the stranger who was now holding his skateboard, headphones around his neck and worry making the skin between his eyes wrinkle.
Sokka (naturally, as a man with very clear priorities) couldn’t help but notice those eyes were very beautiful, a shade of amber so bright they sparkled like gold in the bright morning sun. Only after he had been staring for a few seconds did he realize it seemed like he was being a total asshole, because the other guy’s left eye was encased in an angry looking red scar that spread up into his temple and part way down his cheek. Sokka rushed towards him with words tumbling out of his mouth as he shoved his ruined phone in his back pocket.
“I am so sorry, dude, that was totally my fault. I was going way too fast and I didn’t see you, and the only thing I could think to do was to just jump off my skateboard so that only your heels got clipped instead of me full on body slamming you. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
The dude blinked, clearly surprised, and just held out his skateboard. “No… I’m fine. It didn’t even hurt. Are you okay?” He looked at Sokka’s palms awkwardly, then used one hand to rub at his neck. “That was a stupid question, clearly you’re not okay if you’re bleeding.”
Sokka couldn’t help but find the boy’s raspy voice incredibly hot, his awkwardness extremely cute, and his concern equally endearing, and responded, “Oh no, I’m fine too. Doesn’t even hurt!”
“Oh. Good. Well, uh, here’s your board back.” He shoved the board out towards Sokka, who took it with a wide grin.
“Sorry again, dude! I have to go right now, I’m late for a test, but I hope I’ll see you around,” he said with a wink before hopping on his board and taking off again with a small wave. If anyone had asked Sokka, he would have sworn the boy was blushing as he waved back.
He was ten minutes late to class, but he walked in with a smile despite the blood on his hands and knees, his shattered phone screen, and the raised eyebrow Piandao sent his way.
-
Sokka didn’t realistically think he’d ever see Mystery Boy, as he’d taken to calling him, ever again. Ba Sing Se University was a big place, in a big city, with a lot of people who came and went everyday. For all Sokka knew, Mystery Boy might not even be a student- he could have been someone visiting a family member, or even someone living in Ba Sing Se who was crossing campus just to get to the other side of the city. There were a lot of possibilities, so he didn’t hold his breath, but it didn’t stop his brain from drifting away from homework to think about shaggy black hair and amber eyes, about a red scar and an awkward wave. It didn’t stop him from laying in bed at night for the past week, thinking about his own blue eyes meeting golden amber across the coffee shop or turning into an aisle in the library only to see that same small smile greeting him. It didn’t stop him from replaying crashing into him, only this time he rushed over to help Sokka up, kissing his bleeding palms gently before kissing him smack dab on his mouth.
It didn’t stop him from developing a silly, childish infatuation with Mystery Boy that was quickly taking over his life.
“Snoozles, you better not be thinking about Mystery Boy again,” a voice cut through his thoughts. He jolted, and turned to Toph next to him, her short hair tucked under a yellow baseball cap and a green crop top under black overalls. Her bare feet slapped against the ground as they walked across campus, headed to their weekly study session with Katara and Aang.
“Huh?” He grunted dumbly.
She just sighed and punched his left arm, hard. “I should have known,” she grinned. “You’re just as obsessed with him as you were with Suki. I never thought I’d see the day you moved on from her.”
Sokka rolled his eyes and knocked her shoulder with his arm. “Oh shut up, Toph. Suki and I have been over since senior year. Of high school ! We’re both juniors, and we’re mature adults who are still best friends.”
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t still easy to tease you, though!” She cackled.
“Anyways-“ Sokka interrupted her maniacal laughter before the disturbed looking couple on the sidewalk called the Dai Li on them, “-where are we going, exactly?”
“We’re meeting Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen at my favorite tea shop. I think Suki and Yue are gonna come later.”
Sokka nodded, humming. “New tea shop huh? What happened to Pao’s?”
“This place is better. Trust me. They actually have boba, too.”
Sokka perked up, walking faster and dragging her behind him. “Why didn’t you say that earlier, Toph! We could have been there already!”
She huffed. “I did! But you were so busy thinking about Mystery Boy that you didn’t hear me!”
Sokka was saved from having to dignify that with a response by the sight of a sign a few doors down that read The Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop. A green and gold dragon was drawn above the white font, and Sokka could already smell the tea coming from the door that was propped open, alongside the voices of other college students chatting. It was definitely an upgrade from the dingy tea shop they had called their hangout spot before, and he told Toph as much.
“I thought you’d like it! Come on, I’m sure Katara and Aang are already inside and I want you to meet the owner! Uncle is super cool.”
The inside of the shop was just as nice as the outside, with the gold, green, and white carried through it. The walls were green, and the right one had a mural of a cherry blossom grove spread across it in soft whites and pinks while the left was draped in various flags from all four nations as well as every pride flag imaginable (Sokka liked the shop as soon as he saw the Air Nomad’s flag, but the sight of the bisexual flag hung next to the rainbow flag solidified it in his mind). The lights hanging from the ceiling were all on, and cast the room in a soft golden glow. There were a few groups seated at some of the tables around the shop, studying or hanging out with friends.
Katara and Aang were at a table off to the side, near the counter in front of a wall covered in shelves with clear jars showing off the different types of tea. Sokka grinned as he approached his sister and her boyfriend. The tattooed boy smiled just as wide and leapt up, holding his hand out to do their super-duper-ultra-top-secret handshake. Katara rolled her eyes fondly while Toph slumped into a seat, already kicking her feet up.
“This place is great, Toph!” Katara beamed.
“Duh, I found it! But yeah, Uncle makes the best tea in Ba Sing Se. Probably in the world!”
“You flatter me, Miss Beifong!” a man called from behind Sokka. He turned in his seat to see an old man with a round belly and a jovial smile across his face approaching them, a simple white cardigan over his green shirt and a black apron tied around his waist.
“Hey Uncle. How’re things today?”
“Oh you know, the usual. My nephew is tearing his hair out about his play, so Jin is here instead. It doesn’t seem to be a normal day for you, however. I take it, these are your friends?”
“Yep! These are them! That’s Katara, Aang, and Sokka. Suki and her girlfriend, Yue, should be coming later, they just have a thing right now. Guys, this is Iroh, the owner.”
Iroh gave them a small Fire Nation bow. “Please, call me Uncle. Or Uncle Iroh, if you wish. It is a pleasure to finally meet Toph’s friends. I have heard so much about you all. Welcome to The Jasmine Dragon.”
Katara leaned forward curiously. “How do you know Toph so well, Uncle Iroh?”
There was a twinkle in the man’s eye as he looked down at Toph. “Miss Beifong came into my shop several months ago following a fight with her parents. We started talking about it, I offered her some help, and she has kept coming since. We have become quite good friends, if I do say so myself!”
She nodded and reached up to sock him in the arm (Sokka noticed it was much lighter than she ever punched any of them and thought it was very unfair, but Uncle seemed too nice to really be mad about it), and responded, “Yeah yeah, old man, say whatever you want.” She paused briefly then added, “But yeah. We are pretty good friends. His shop is leagues above Pao’s, too.”
“Well, friends of Toph… What can I get you? Our jasmine tea is our specialty-”
“Ha! Special-TEA!” Sokka burst out, slapping his knee and cracking up. Katara, Aang, and Toph all groaned, but Iroh joined him in laughing, a loud boisterous sound that made the other customers look over to see what was happening.
“That was a good one! I will have to remember that. My nephew will hate it, I’m sure, but it is quite clever!”
“Thank you very much, Uncle Iroh. I think you and I will get along splendidly if you appreciate that joke!”
“I’m sure we will, Sokka! Now, what was I saying before…? Ah! Yes! Our jasmine is our specialty, but we also have boba, milk tea, hot tea, cold tea… Anything you want!”
Iroh finished taking their orders before he headed behind the counter to fix them their drinks, and the group of four got to work on their homework and projects.
Suki and Yue joined them after about an hour and after that, the evening passed quickly. Before long, it was dark out and they packed up to go home. Sokka looked back towards the counter, where Uncle Iroh gave him a jolly wave, and thought he’d definitely be coming back often.
-
Sure enough, Sokka found himself at The Jasmine Dragon most days, either on his own or joined by the Gaang (Sokka had come up with the name his senior year of high school- it was perfect since it had Aang in it, but it hadn’t seemed to catch on with the rest of the group yet). Uncle had even given him a punch card, he was there so often- significant due to the fact that he didn’t even have punch cards.
He had tried nearly every flavor of tea, figuring out which ones he liked and which ones he didn’t. The jasmine tea was really good, but Sokka liked the cactus juice milk tea the best; add in mango popping boba and it was perfect. The worst by far was the Snapping Dragon- an homage to the Fire Nation that Uncle hailed from, it was so spicy Sokka had to down about six cups of jasmine tea before he could feel his tongue again. He was usually there to study, cracking open his engineering textbooks and drafting blueprints while he listened to music and sipped his tea, but when he wasn’t he sat at the counter and talked to Iroh. The old man talked a lot about his nephew who was Sokka’s age, but his shifts never seemed to line up with when he was there, so he never got to meet him.
Instead, he got to meet some of the other employees- there was Jin, a sweet Earth Kingdom girl who was quick to bring Sokka a refill when he was studying or talk to him excitedly about her psychology courses. Jet was a shaggy haired boy who was also from the Earth Kingdom and always had a stupid little yellow stir straw hanging out of his mouth. He was nice enough, but everytime Sokka started talking to him he went off on a long tangent about social activism and the inequality perpetuated by the monarchy of Ba Sing Se- not that Sokka had an issue with that (it was true, after all), it was just inconvenient when he had about seven hours of homework to do that night. Ty Lee was a bubbly Fire Nation girl who was always decked out in pink, gave him an update on his aura every time he saw her, and always made sure to offer to read his horoscope for him. She was usually scheduled to work with Mai, her girlfriend, who was the exact opposite of Ty Lee- she was gloomy, sighed a lot, wore all black everything, and had winged eyeliner sharp enough to kill- but Sokka caught the edge of a smile tugging at her lips whenever he told them a stupid joke that made Ty Lee laugh so hard she had to lean on the counter.
And finally was Zuko, the mysterious nephew he had never met but heard so much about. Iroh talked about him fondly, a soft smile on his face and pride gleaming in his eyes, while Jin just mentioned that he was a good friend and a hard worker. Jet spoke about him with a wild gleam in his eyes and mixed signals of admiration and loathing, but Sokka didn’t place much weight on what he said- he got the impression they had a complicated history of being ex friends with benefits and something about a sword fight in the street outside the shop.
Mai and Ty Lee, however, were his best source of information about this Zuko guy. He was a year older than Sokka and was currently working on writing a play for his senior capstone project, which was why he was never around. They had been his best friends since childhood, and Mai and Zuko had dated briefly in middle school and high school before she realized she was lesbian and super into her best friend. They made him sound like a cool guy, if a little bit awkward, and Sokka wanted to meet him to put a face to the name but it never worked out with their conflicting schedules (if he was harboring a small crush on someone he’d never met while still thinking about Mystery Boy, well… that was his business).
Still, the tea shop was a good place to come and work on his homework for hours, Chong and the Nomads blaring through his headphones, and Sokka became a regular sight in the shop.
-
It was a rainy day when he finally met Zuko. He was heading to the Jasmine Dragon after a grueling class, only to walk out of the engineering building and straight into pouring rain. The streets were already flooding and there was no sign of it slowing down, so he spared one last sad look at his skateboard before tucking it under his arm and beginning to walk. Not for the first time, he wished he was Katara, able to bend the water above him to make an umbrella… or even just bothered to carry an umbrella in his backpack.
Luckily, the tea shop was only a block away from campus, but the engineering building was smack dab in the middle of campus so he still had a long way to go. By the time the warm golden glow of the lights could be seen shining out of the windows, Sokka was soaked. His hair drooped down in front of his eyes, his blue hoodie clung to him uncomfortably, his jeans were glued to his legs, and his socks and shoes squelched as he walked.
When he walked in, Uncle Iroh looked up from his spot behind the counter curiously and his expression quickly morphed into one of concern. He set down the tea pot he was holding and rushed over, already fussing over him. “Sokka, what in Agni’s name were you doing out there? You’ll catch your death in weather like this! Come, come, I’ll get you dried off in no time, as long as you don’t mind being blasted by some firebending, of course?”
Sokka thought about saying no and insisting he was fine, but he suddenly shivered and decided to nod his head. “You know what, that sounds lovely Uncle Iroh.”
The old man led Sokka behind the counter to the partition that kept the kitchen separate from the shop and they ducked behind it, into a large room filled with shining silver appliances and a large white counter. Seated at the counter was a boy with long black hair falling in front of his face, a binder open in front of him and the tip of a red pen pinched between his teeth. He looked up when they entered, and Sokka stopped in his tracks to stare.
Staring right back at him were amber eyes, lit up with recognition, and the unfairly beautiful face of Mystery Boy. Sokka was suddenly very aware that he probably looked like a drowned cat owl, and grimaced.
“Ah, yes!” Iroh said happily, ignoring the staring competition going on between the two boys. “Sokka, this is my nephew!”
“Hello. Zuko here,” the dark haired boy muttered awkwardly, left hand coming up to scratch the back of his head. His voice was just as raspy as he remembered and Sokka’s traitorous heart beat a little bit faster.
“Hello again,” Sokka responded with a small laugh.
“You two know each other?” Iroh asked in surprise, looking between the boys.
“I uh, accidentally crashed into him on my skateboard a month ago.”
Zuko snorted. “You didn’t crash into me, you flung yourself onto the ground and your skateboard crashed into me.”
“Well, yes. I suppose that’s true. I was late for a test!” Sokka defended himself, raising his free hand up to shrug.
“Hm. Well… I was going to dry Sokka off, but perhaps you’d like to do it instead, nephew? I really must be getting back to my customers.”
Zuko raised an eyebrow ( which was unfairly hot , Sokka’s brain supplied unhelpfully before he could smother it) at his uncle but sighed. “Yeah, okay.”
“Very well then! I’ll see you in a bit, Sokka!” With that, he turned and walked back into the shop, leaving Zuko and Sokka in uncomfortable silence.
“So… Pretty cool kitchen,” Sokka said after a minute, gesturing around the room uselessly.
“Yeah…” Zuko blinked and looked around slowly. “...Shiny.”
He resisted the urge to face palm and instead just sighed. “That was so lame. I’m sorry.”
Zuko just laughed and got to his feet gracefully to approach him. “It’s okay. I didn’t know what to say either. So, it looks like you got caught in the rain, huh?”
“Yeah… I wasn’t expecting it to rain so I walked out of the engineering building and straight into a downpour.”
“That's rough buddy." Sokka snorted, and Zuko just blushed again and moved on. "Uh, well, if you’re okay with it I can dry you off? With firebending and all that,” he said with a little double hand wave.
“Yeah, sure. It’s a little bit chilly.”
Zuko nodded and stepped close, holding his hands out so they hovered about four inches away from Sokka’s chest. He took a deep breath, and on the exhale Sokka felt a burst of heat radiate outward towards him. He began moving his hands around his torso, slowly drying him off. “So… you were heading to a test that day right? How’d it go?”
“I aced it!” Sokka said proudly. “You’ve been working on writing a play, right?”
He looked up sharply, and this close Sokka could see the flecks of gold and orange within his amber eyes, as well as the uneven skin where the scar met the unmarked flesh around his left eye. “Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Your uncle talks about it alot. Also, Mai and Ty Lee had mentioned you haven’t been working here much because of it.”
“Wow. Seems like you come here a lot, huh.”
“Yeah. My friend Toph is all buddy-buddy with your uncle, and she brought us here a month ago. I’ve been coming almost everyday since then. It has a good vibe, you know?”
Zuko hummed in agreement with a small smile, moving his hands to hover above his arms. “Yeah. I wrote most of my play here, actually.”
“That’s cool! What’s it about?”
His smile quickly slipped off his face. “Uh, well-”
“Hey, no pressure dude. This is like... the first time we’ve officially met. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“Thanks. I haven’t really shared it with anyone yet, so it’s not that I don’t want to, it's just…”
“A part of you that you don’t want to share until you’re ready. I get that. I’m the same way with my blueprints for engineering.”
Zuko smiled and lowered his hands. “Yeah. Um, how do your torso and arms feel?”
Sokka patted them and grinned. “Pretty good! Thanks!”
“No problem, really. Uh, I don’t want to… I can just hit you with some hot air for your legs?”
Sokka grinned at the pink spreading across Zuko’s face. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind you getting close and personal...” Zuko’s pink flush turned into a bright red and he stammered, looking away. “But yeah, a blast of hot air is perfectly fine,” he amended.
Zuko nodded, cleared his throat, and stepped away. He leaned back onto his hind leg, pulled his arms back, then pushed forwards with a strong step. A wall of hot air rushed at Sokka, drying the rest of him off and enveloping him in a warm haze.
“Oh, that was nice,” he said smiling. “Thanks so much dude, I would cry if I had to sit and do homework in wet underwear.”
Zuko barked out a laugh, and Sokka’s heart did a ridiculous little flutter in his chest. “Yeah, I can imagine that wouldn’t be conducive to concentration.”
“Yeah. If I was my sister, I could just bend the water away from me, but…”
“You’re from the water tribe?”
“Yeah! The Southern Water Tribe, specifically. My dad is chieftain.”
Zuko smiled. “Oh that’s super cool! How’d you end up in Ba Sing Se?”
“They have a crazy good engineering program at BSSU, so it was kind of a given that I was going to come here. It sucks that it’s so far away from home, but Katara is here and Dad is around a lot to talk about trade negotiations and stuff so we actually see him more than you’d think.”
Zuko nodded. “Yeah I get that. Uncle has lived here for years, so when I moved in with him it was a given that I would stay here. Plus, they have a good theatre program.”
Sokka wanted to ask why he lived with his uncle- wanted to know everything about him, really- but he saw the way Zuko’s face twisted slightly when he said it, and figured it wasn’t important now anyways.
“That’s really great, Zuko. Your uncle is a cool dude.”
“Yeah, he’s… He’s the best.” Zuko chuckled softly, then looked towards his binder. “Agni… I’m sorry, Sokka, I should probably get back to work on this play.”
“Hey no worries, I feel you. I have a ton of engineering homework all the time. Don’t let me stop you. But if you need a break or something, you know where I’ll be!”
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Sokka gave a small salute as he backed out of the door, smiling at Zuko warmly. When Iroh saw him he didn’t say anything- he just handed Sokka his cactus juice milk tea with an eyebrow and the corners of his lips lifted into a knowing look.
Sokka gave him an embarrassed smile back, positive that his cheeks were bright red, and sat down to begin working. He lost himself in the flow of flipping through his textbooks, taking careful notes, and meticulously drafting out his latest project for Aerospace Design. Papers, books, pens, and pencils were spread all around the table he had claimed for himself, and he had just finished the sketch of a gear when a figure appeared in his periphery. He looked up to see Zuko, a hesitant smile on his face and a cup of familiar green tea in his hand.
Sokka took off his headphones, pausing the lo-fi he had been listening to, and smiled broadly. “Zuko! Hey, let me clear some room!”
“Oh, no, I don’t want to disturb you, I just…” Zuko waved a hand, but Sokka was already closing and moving his textbooks to clear the space across from him so he could sit.
“No! Here I’ll just stack these and push them to the side, and then… bam! There you go! Go ahead and sit, please! I should take a break anyways, I’ve been going for…” he looked at the clock and blinked in surprise. “...two and a half hours? Tui, that’s surprising.”
Zuko laughed slightly and held out the tea. “Yeah, that’s a long time. Here. This is for you.”
“Is that-”
“Cactus juice milk tea with mango popping boba. Uncle told me it was your favorite,” Zuko brought his free hand up to rub and the back of his neck, something Sokka was quickly noticing he did when he was embarrassed.
“You’re the best,” he said, grabbing the cup and taking an eager sip with an appreciative hum. “Thank you so much, Zuko.”
He just nodded and cleared his throat, cheeks dusted with pink. “Of course. So, uh… What are you working on?”
“Oh! Yeah. This is a draft of a blueprint for an airship motor. Right now a lot of airships still rely on firebending, coal, or gas to run, so I’m designing one that doesn’t rely on any of those since they can produce a lot of greenhouse gases. It’s just a rough sketch right now, so it’s not in full detail, but… you can get the idea.”
Zuko looked down at the blueprint with a peculiar face. “Do you mind if I- Can I pick it up?”
“Yeah of course. It’s just rough, after all.”
Zuko picked the paper up curiously and peered at it closely. Sokka shifted in his seat as he watched his face, wondering what it was making him wrinkle his forehead like that. Was it that bad? He knew it was kind of messy, but he thought it was a good idea and that his drawing was clear, even if it was marred by eraser lines and hastily scribbled notes.
“Sokka, I don’t understand,” Zuko said finally, setting the blueprint down, and Sokka’s heart sunk.
“It’s that bad, huh? Piandao always says sometimes my ideas are too...” he waved his hand, “...out there, but I really thought I was on to something.”
“What? No, Sokka this is incredible. I’ve never seen anything like this. I meant I don’t understand how this is just a rough draft.”
He flushed. “Oh. Uh- Well, yeah. It’s pretty messy and stuff, and there are some problems with my idea still. I did some calculations wrong, so…”
“Wow. I would never know. Your attention to detail is astounding. I mean, the gears and the fine lines and… It’s just amazing. I’m sure the end result will be beautiful.”
Sokka grinned. “Thank you. I’m not very good at art- once I tried to draw Toph and it looked like she was a porcupine bear- but somehow, this comes naturally to me, so I get pretty into it.”
Zuko laughed and leaned back comfortably in his chair. “I guess that means you’re in the right field then.”
He shrugged. “I guess so. I’ve always liked building stuff and working on mechanical objects, so it was kind of an obvious choice for me. What about you? It seems like you’re in the right place too.”
“My mom was in an acting troupe before she married my father, so I’ve always been a theatre kid. But I prefer the directing and writing sides of it over the acting or design sides.”
Sokka nodded, enraptured by the way Zuko smiled when he mentioned his mother and started talking about writing.
“Well, if someday you wanted to share your work with someone, I’d love to read it.”
Zuko’s eyes were soft as he gazed at Sokka with that same shy smile. “Yeah. Maybe someday.”
They stayed there talking until it was dark and Sokka had to run to get home for dinner with Katara. He didn’t get as much done as he normally would have, but he decided he didn’t care. He’d pick Zuko’s smile over homework any day.
-
The next couple months found Sokka at the tea shop even more than usual, the same thing happening everyday. He’d come in, order his tea for that day, get some work done, and then a figure, usually clad in black and maroon, would show up in his periphery- Zuko, holding a refill of whatever drink he’d gotten when he arrived. Zuko would sit, and they’d talk about everything and anything for hours. They had also started hanging out outside of the tea shop, going to walk around the parks or watching movers in the apartment Sokka shared with his sister. They had delved their deepest secrets to each other- Sokka about the death of his mother and how hard it sometimes was to grow up with a waterbending prodigy for a sister when he just a normal guy, Zuko about how he got his scar and his mother’s disappearance (saying Sokka had been so livid that not even strangling Zuko’s father could have helped him feel better). They had even hung out a few times with the rest of the Gaang, and Sokka was extremely pleased by how well they all got along.
And if before he’d been infatuated with Zuko, now he was practically head over heels. He was constantly thinking about him, constantly wondering what it would be like to do what he had wanted to do since day one and just grab him and kiss him soundly. His crush was all consuming, and the months passed by in a daze of engineering homework and thinking about golden eyes and a honey sweet smile.
He had spent so much time with Zuko and he now knew so much about him that everything reminded him of him.
(“I have a tessenjutsu competition this weekend, you guys should come!” Suki would say.
Sokka would respond with “You know, Zuko knows how to use dual swords,” a dreamy smile upon his face.)
(“The jasmine tea here is so good,” Toph would sigh, kicking her feet up on the chair next to her.
“Zuko says that the ginseng is actually his favorite.”)
(“Sokka, can you pick up some ash bananas from the store on your way back?” Katara would ask.
“That's Zuko’s favorite food, did you know that?”)
(“Check out this video of this polar dog puppy! It’s so cute!” Aang would text.
“Oh yeah! Zuko sent it to me! It’s hilarious.” Sokka would beam.”)
(“Suki’s taking me on a date tonight. We’re going to go to the zoo,” Yue would tell him, a sappy smile on her face.
“Oh that sounds fun! Zuko’s never been to the zoo,” Sokka would mention.)
Several months into this, Sokka was at The Jasmine Dragon yet again when simultaneously, five chairs were pulled out and filled. He looked up to find Aang, Katara, Toph, Suki, and Yue all staring at him expectantly. Suki had what he called her murder face on, her eyes narrow and burning into his soul. He took his earbuds out cautiously, looking around the table nervously.
“Uh, hey guys. What’s… What’s up? I didn’t know we were meeting today. I was going to hang out with Zuko,” he greeted.
“Sorry Snoozles, but Sparky isn’t coming today,” came Toph’s blunt response.
Sokka blinked in surprise. “What? What do you mean? He always works Wednesday’s.”
“Not today,” Katara supplied unhelpfully.
“How do you know that?”
“Ty Lee told me, obviously.” Suki said it as if it was the most transparent thing ever, but Sokka blinked in surprise.
“Why did Ty Lee tell you? How do you even know her well enough that she’d tell you that?”
“Sokka… She’s in my tessenjutsu class.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah… Sokka, that’s kind of why we’re here?” Aang muttered nervously.
“We’re staging an intervention,” Yue interrupted bluntly.
An intervention? Why?
“What? I’m fine. What do you need to intervene for? I’m not doing anything bad. I just go to class, come here, and hang out with Zuko and you guys.”
Toph snorted. “Yeah that’s the problem, Snoozles. You haven’t been hanging out with us at all. You spend all your time with Sparky. I never would have brought you here if I knew he was Mystery Boy.”
“Hey! What does that even mean? Besides, I have hung out with you guys! We had our study session a few days ago!”
“What Toph means to say,” Katara said with a pointed glare towards Toph that went unnoticed by the girl currently leaning back so that only two of the legs on her chair were on the ground, “is that we’re just feeling a little… neglected. We know you like Zuko- we like him too and we’re happy for you, of course- but you’ve been blowing us off a little bit. You pretty much ignore us whenever he’s around and when he’s not, all you talk about is him.”
Sokka sat in silence, letting his sister’s words sink in. He looked at Yue, who was usually the most reasonable one, and she shrugged.
“It’s true, Sokka. You missed my birthday because you were here with Zuko,” the white haired girl said softly. Suki placed an arm around her shoulder protectively and pressed a kiss to her cheek, a pointed glare thrown Sokka’s way.
His eyes widened and he felt vaguely like throwing up. He didn’t want to believe it, but he knew deep down it was true. “Oh Tui, I’ve been so awful, haven’t I?”
“Just a bit,” Suki agreed frankly.
“I’m so sorry,” he groaned, pressing his forehead into the table. “I just… I like him so much that I wanted to spend time with him, but I didn’t realize I’ve been completely ignoring you. I’m so so so sorry!”
“Sokka it’s okay,” Aang reassured him with a pat on his hand. “You just need to tell him how you feel, and then it’ll be okay!”
“I can’t do that!” his shriek drew the gaze of everyone else in the shop, even the unflappable Jet, who was behind the counter.
“Sokka, be quiet!” Katara shushed him. “Besides, why not?”
“Because! What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”
Toph snorted. “Please, Snoozles, that boy is whipped. I’ve felt his heart rate around you. It’s like an antelope-hare, it’s so fast.”
Sokka shook his head. “No. No, I can’t. I don’t want to ruin anything.”
“I told you guys it wouldn’t work,” Suki sighed. “This boy is so oblivious and so lacking in game that I had to ask him out because he thought I kissed him since we were just that close of friends.”
Yue giggled softly. “He also didn’t realize asking me to ‘do an activity’ wasn’t good flirting.”
Sokka glared half heartedly at his two ex-girlfriends. “Have I ever told you how much I hate that my exes are dating each other?”
“Shut up, Sokka, you know you love us,” Suki said, throwing her legs across Yue’s lap triumphantly as she burst out laughing.
“Anyways, we just think that you two have been dancing around each other long enough. He obviously likes you, Sokka, just… go for it,” his sister steered the conversation back to their original topic.
“I’m just… nervous. I really, really , like him. I mean… He’s so smart, and he’s funny without trying to be, and he’s like… The hottest person I’ve ever seen- no offense, Suki and Yue.”
“None taken!” the girls said simultaneously.
“And he’s so kind and makes such good tea and he’s a good listener and just… I really like him. I want to tell him, I really do. But I’d rather be his friend and pine for a while than tell him and lose him altogether.”
“Sokka, he’d be a fool not to like you. We know we make fun of you for lacking game, but he could do so much worse than you. I’m pretty sure he knows that, too,” Yue said.
Sokka was silent, picking at the loose sheet of paper in front of him in doubt. “I guess. Fine. I’ll do it, okay?”
-
Sokka quickly found that telling Zuko was easier said than done. It just never seemed to come up naturally, and he didn’t really want to interrupt a conversation about Zuko’s cat or Sokka’s own frustrations with his classes just to say ‘ Hi I think I’m well on my way to being in love with you, want to go out sometime? ’
Plus, everytime he tried to bring it up or lean into it slowly or even use a pickup line, Zuko seemed to steer it elsewhere.
( “Hey Zuko! You look really good today,” he’d say.
Zuko would look down at himself and simply shrug. “I guess. What do you think about this line?” )
( “Hey, you want to go out tomorrow night?”
“I can’t, sorry. Production is really picking up.”
“Oh. Okay. That’s fine.” )
( “Are you Broadway tickets? Cause I’d do anything to make you mine,” he even tried in a last ditch attempt.
Zuko looked up in confusion. “If you want tickets for my show, Sokka, you can just ask me. I’ll put them down under your name.” )
He got it, he really did- Zuko had turned his script in a few months back and had been preparing for production ever since. Now, with the show opening in a week, it was hard to keep his attention from drifting back to the play. His entire grade rested on it after all, and would determine if he could graduate or not. It was an important time for him, but it didn’t stop Sokka from feeling dejected.
When Zuko had run out of the tea shop to go back to rehearsal for the third time this week after Sokka tried to ask him out yet again, he stayed at the table and leaned back in his chair to pout. He knew it wasn’t dignified, but he was too busy being miserable to care. He knew he was bad at flirting- Suki and Yue made that clear every single day, but he thought he was getting better. And he thought he was being obvious, both with his words and his actions- half the time, he didn’t hear what Zuko said, he was so distracted by his expression as he spoke or the gestures his hands made or simply him in general. He felt hopeless, in all honesty.
He sighed, then jumped as a voice behind him startled him out of his pity party.
“You know,” Iroh said as he picked up the tea set that had been left on the table by the group that had just left, “if you’re trying to woe my nephew, you need to be clear.”
“Huh?” he asked, turning in his chair to look at the old man. They were alone in the shop, everyone else having left already, and Iroh spoke loudly as he continued moving around the room, cleaning up to close for the day.
“He is not always the most observant when it comes to matters of the heart. Vulnerability is hard for him, even after so many years away from that horrid man. You just need to make it clear how you feel, and everything will fall into place.”
Sokka frowned. “The right moment just… hasn’t come up yet. And I thought I’ve been perfectly clear.” He paused, Iroh’s words tumbling around in his head. “Wait a minute, do you know something?”
Iroh looked over his shoulder at him with an innocent smile. “Me? No, I am just an old man. No one tells me anything. I just know what I see.”
Sokka leaped to his feet and practically ran across the room to where he stood. “What does that mean?”
Iroh just tapped his nose with a smirk and a glimmer in his eye. “My nephew’s show opens next Friday night. I heard he saved you the best seat in the house.”
He blushed. “Uh, yeah. He said he put it under my name."
He hummed. “Perhaps that is your opportunity, then.”
Sokka blinked at him, then it clicked. Oh. “Oh! Iroh, you’re a genius. Thank you so much!” He turned to leave, packing up his stuff in his excitement. As he walked through the door, Iroh’s voice stopped him.
“Oh, and Sokka? His favorite flowers are fire lilies.”
He grinned and walked out of the Jasmine Dragon with a bounce in his step, whistling merrily.
-
Friday arrived simultaneously too quickly and too slowly. Every day, he checked the date about a thousand times, as if looking at it this time would make the date and time change to Friday at seven p.m. He was an antsy, distracted mess, and he knew Piandao could tell something was up as soon as he offered to let Sokka have an extension on his project (one that he gladly took- he was about three days behind on it, and it was only getting worse as the week progressed).
And then Friday night arrived and he was standing in line at the box office, a bouquet of fire lilies clutched in his hand, and he thought he might throw up. The poster for Zuko’s play hung on the wall next to him, two dragons circled around a couple embracing tightly, the silhouette of a young man rising up behind them, and the title Love Amongst the Dragons sprawled across the top. Pride burst in his heart when he spotted ‘Written and Directed by Zuko Huo’ underneath it. After getting his ticket from the box office, he found his seat quickly. He was in the middle seat of the top row, right beneath the booth, and he could see why Iroh called it the best seat in the house. He had an unobstructed view and it was slightly elevated for wheelchair accessibility, so no one’s head would be in his way.
He set the flowers down carefully, and settled in to watch the show.
-
Sokka didn’t pretend to be a theatre expert- the extent of knowledge was the Ember Island Players production of The Boy in the Iceberg, which he personally had loved, but Zuko had revealed was actually terrible theatre and teased him mercilessly for liking it- but even he knew that what Zuko had written was amazing. When it was over, Sokka whipped the tears from his eyes and stood up to join in the standing ovation.
He had ended up writing a sort of biography, putting into words on stage what was often so hard for him to say himself. It was in a sort of dystopia from their own world, so Sokka doubted anyone would know it was actually about him, but he recognized the story- the Blue Spirit’s disappearance, the Dragon King’s wrath, the exiled son, the exalted princess... It was a beautiful story that ended with the son defeating his father, and Sokka was grateful to Iroh for encouraging him to confess tonight so that he wouldn’t feel shy telling Zuko how proud of him he was. For all of the pain Zuko had experienced, he had managed to turn it around and make it into a breathtaking piece of art. Sokka fell just a little deeper in love with him at the thought.
Alongside the rest of the audience, he filed out into the lobby to wait eagerly for Zuko next to a windowsill. After about fifteen minutes, the doors burst open and the cast came streaming out of the doors to wide applause and cheers. Sokka stood on his tiptoes, craning to see Zuko despite his height, but he couldn’t see him, until there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned, seeing Zuko standing in front of him in tight black slacks, a maroon button up, and half his long hair pulled up into a top knot while the rest fell down his back. He looked beautiful.
“Hey,” he greeted shyly. “So…?”
“Zuko… That was amazing. I am so proud of you, Zuko. It was beautiful, and all your work paid off.”
“You really liked it?”
He grasped Zuko’s hand with his one free one, looking him dead in the eyes. “Yes. I loved it. I cried, you know.”
Zuko beamed and his cheeks flushed deeply. “I’m glad. I mean, not that you cried, but that you really did like it. Thank you for coming, Sokka.” He finally noticed the flowers and blinked. “Are those for someone in the cast? Am I keeping you from seeing anyone? I’m so sorry.”
“No, you’re the only person I came to see. These are for you.”
Zuko’s flush deepened and Sokka could see it creeping down his neck and chest through the few open buttons of his shirt. “I- You got me fire lilies?”
“Yeah. I know they’re your favorite, so…”
He took the flowers gently and smelled them, sighing at the scent. “Thank you, Sokka. This means the world to me.”
At his words, he knew, deep in his bones, that this was his moment. The world fell away and he could only see Zuko, amber eyes shining with unrestrained happiness. “That’s good. Because you mean the world to me.”
“What?”
Sokka took the bouquet from his hands and placed it on the windowsill next to him once again so that he could grab both of Zuko’s hands in his own. They were soft and warm and trembling slightly, so he swiped his thumbs across the back of them soothingly.
“I’ve uh… I’ve been working on telling you this for awhile now, but I haven’t been doing the best job, so… I just want you to know, Zuko, that I meant what I said. I am so proud of you. You have worked so hard on this play for so long, and it turned out beautifully.” He took a deep breath. Here goes nothing . “And I think it makes sense that such a beautiful show came from someone just as beautiful. Inside and out.” He laughed slightly. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, Zuko, but I’m… I’m head over heels for you. I mean, really, really head over heels. I really like you, Zuko. And if you feel the same, I’d really like to-”
“Yes,” Zuko interrupted eagerly, squeezing Sokka’s hands tightly.
“You didn’t let me finish,” he laughed, squeezing back as his heart hammered against his ribs.
“I don’t care. Whatever it is, yes. I like you so much, Sokka, I don’t even know what to do with myself.”
Sokka was so happy he was tearing up against his will, and he sniffled a little as he laughed. “Good to know. In that case, I was going to ask you to be my boyfriend.” Zuko scrunched his nose up in excitement, and Sokka just about passed out, it was so cute. “You’re adorable,” he said, just because he could, because he’d told Zuko how he felt, and because Zuko liked him too.
“Yes. I’d like that very much.”
“Good. That’s good.”
They stood there in the lobby, hands clasped between them, simply smiling at each other, until Zuko giggled.
“What?”
“It’s just… I just realized why you said what you did the other day about the show tickets. You were trying to hit on me, weren’t you?”
Sokka snorted and looked up at the ceiling briefly. “Yeah. Not my finest moment, I’ll admit, but I was getting a little bit desperate.”
Zuko stepped up close, dropping Sokka’s arms so that he could wrap his arms around him and lean his head against his chest in a warm hug. “I’m sorry I was so oblivious.”
Sokka wrapped his arms around Zuko as well and placed his chin on top of his head. He could smell his soap, something citrusy and smoky, and he sighed happily. “That’s okay. It was worth it if it got us here.”
His boyfriend ( his boyfriend! his brain repeated in excitement) laughed softly. “You’re such a sap.”
“Only for you, baby.” Zuko’s arms tightened around Sokka and he buried his face deeper into his chest. “I take it, that's a good pet name then?”
He gave a shy nod.
“Hm. Alright. I’ll keep that in mind, then.”
Zuko pulled slightly so he could look up at him, cheeks as red as the fire lilies he loved so much. “Sokka?” he asked.
“Hm?”
“I might die if you don’t kiss me right now.”
“Well I can’t have that happening, not right after I successfully made you my boyfriend,” he teased, tilting his head down.
Zuko met him halfway, and the kiss felt like coming home.
When they broke apart, breathless and dizzy with happiness, Sokka just grinned and pecked Zuko’s nose. “Who knew crashing into you on my skateboard would end like this?” he mused.
“Who knew Toph stumbling upon our tea shop would end like this?”
“Who knew forgetting an umbrella would end like this?” he countered.
Zuko grinned and kissed Sokka, just to get him to shut up. “Who knew?”
Sokka kissed him back, hardly remembering that they were in the lobby of their school’s theatre.
Who knew, indeed.