Chapter Text
They continued hunting for an hour or two afterwards, but nothing else made itself available for the catching. Maybe Zuko’s scuffle with the jackalope earlier had scared everything off, though Sokka was hardly about to voice that thought.
The walk back to the temple was slightly awkward. Sokka wasn’t really sure whether he should make a point of staying on Zuko’s right or if he should walk in front or behind or even bother with paying attention to where he was standing at all.
After considering the problem for a few minutes, Sokka ultimately decided that since it was Zuko’s ear, he might as well let Zuko pick where he wanted to stand.
Zuko seemed to be in a similar state of uncertainty, but after a moment or two of fidgeting at Sokka’s side, he sighed and took a few steps to position himself in his customary spot just ahead of Sokka and a little to the left.
Sokka relaxed, and made a mental note to fall into this position automatically next time they were walking together. And since he now knew that Zuko was in his optimal listening position—
“Sooo, how do you want to go about this?”
Zuko glanced back at him. “How do I want to go about what?”
”You know, the whole…” he circled a finger around his head. “Ear thingy.”
Zuko raised an eyebrow. “The ear thingy.”
Sokka had a feeling he was being made fun of, and he drew himself up indignantly. “Yes.”
”I thought I was leaving the ‘ear thingy’ up to you.”
”You are!” Sokka yelped. “I am! But…I just…it’d be nice to know how much I should tell them, or whether you want to be there or not, and if you just want me to tell them what I already know and have that be the end of it or if you’re willing to answer questions, that sort of thing! These types of conversations require a delicate touch!”
Zuko snorted. “Tell them as much as you want, I guess. I don’t really care if I’m there or not, but, um. Maybe don’t tell them to ask me questions? I don’t mind answering if they do ask something, but I’d rather not invite questions myself.”
Sokka nodded. “Cool. Cool, cool, cool, that’s…cool. I can do that.”
He moved the conversation on to other topics after that, and they arrived back at the Western Air Temple a little while later.
As they approached the group area where everyone gathered for dinners and meetings and stuff, Sokka brought it up again. “So! I’m thinking we should probably just get it over with, tell ‘em as soon as everyone’s here.”
Zuko grunted. “Whatever you say.”
Sokka peered at him suspiciously. “You don’t sound very enthused.”
Zuko stared at him incredulously. “Was I supposed to be? This is going to be embarrassing no matter how you approach it!”
Sokka blinked. “Uh. Zuko, buddy, are you sure you want me to be the one to do this? You seem a little…apprehensive.”
Zuko sighed, running a hand down over his face. “No, no, it’s…it’s fine, I swear. You’re right that the others need to know, and I’m…not very good at explaining things. I’m just. Nervous, I guess.”
”Right.” Sokka beamed at him. “Well that’s exactly why we should do it sooner rather than later! Rip the bandage off so you’re not sitting there dreading it, you know?”
Zuko rolled his eyes, but headed further on into the group area proper.
Sokka was going to take that as a “Sure thing, Sokka, you’re always right so I will bow to your superior judgment.”
Stepping towards the fire pit himself, he paused to see Katara in the middle of cooking dinner. She turned to him as he approached. “Oh hey, Sokka! You’re back! Did you guys catch anything?”
Sokka made a face. “No. We almost did but-“ he locked eyes with Zuko for a second, and decided that some details wait to be revealed until a later time. “I wasn’t quite clear about what I needed Zuko to do, and the jackalope got away.”
Katara’s form stiffened slightly at the mention of Zuko, but she sighed and let it go. “Would’ve been nice to have something more substantial than just veggie soup again, but I suppose Aang will be happy. And anyway, I would’ve needed to take his portion out early if you had brought something, so it’s probably easier this way.
Sokka sighed. “Yeah. Probably.” He settled in to wait for the food to cook.
Later, when the rest of the gang had arrived and they were getting ready to eat, Sokka perked up. This was it! Everyone was here! Now was the best- he frowned to himself as a bowl of hot soup was placed in his hands. Hm. Maybe he should wait…until after dinner. Because…because Katara might get upset, and he didn’t want her throwing hot soup at Zuko just because they were talking about him! Yes! That was…totally why he didn’t want to bring it up just yet!
Ten minutes later, with a full belly and the comfort of the fire, Sokka lay contentedly on his back, and smiled. Then it occurred to him that this was the perfect moment! The golden opportunity! He quickly sat up and opened his mouth to speak.
Unfortunately, Aang got there first. “Hey guys, did I tell you about what I saw Momo doing this afternoon?”
The Duke sat up straight. He liked Momo. “No, you didn’t! What did he do?”
As Aang went on to detail the way Momo had somehow managed to get himself completely covered in honey, and had spent a good ten minutes trying to escape from a swarm of beeflies before he finally dived into the water in an effort to get away, Sokka crossed his arms and pursed his lips, a little miffed to have his Epic Moment stolen from him. Admittedly though, the story was pretty funny, and he laughed along with everyone else.
As he looked around the fire, his eyes caught on Zuko, who was staring off to one side as the story went on, just like he always did.
Making sure his good ear is pointed toward the person speaking, he noted to himself. It’s obvious what he’s doing, now that Sokka knew to look for it.
The sooner they know, the better. I can’t be the only one who thought that he just wasn’t interested in what we had to say.
From the looks of things, the way Zuko was concentrating, nothing could be further from the truth. Unfortunately, Aang’s story led into another, which led to yet another, and before Sokka knew it, it was time for everyone to head for bed.
I’m beginning to see Zuko’s point about it being difficult to find a good time to mention things like this, he thought as he snuggled into his bedroll. Oh well, he yawned. I’ll just have to find a time tomorrow.
The next morning, Sokka honestly forgot about the whole thing, right up until he’d settled in to watch Zuko’s firebending training with Aang.
Dammit, I had a perfect opportunity at breakfast.
Ah, well. He’d missed his chance, and now he was just going to have to find another one.
A couple hours into the lesson, Aang asked for a break. Zuko reluctantly agreed, so long as Aang came back within ten minutes.
While he waited for Aang’s return, Zuko began running through a few forms of his own. Sokka wasn’t sure what each of the forms was for, but it was interesting to watch either way.
Suddenly, Teo’s voice called from somewhere in the temple. “Help!”
It sounded pretty frantic. He must be in trouble. Forgetting all about firebending lessons and stray Avatars, Sokka jumped up and ran out of the training grounds.
A few moments later, he realized Zuko wasn’t following behind him, but he pushed it out of his mind as Teo cried out again. That was a problem for later; Teo was a problem for right now.
Following the sound of his voice, Sokka darted into a partially enclosed area that he’d seen in passing but never bothered to enter before. Teo sat in his wheelchair with one wheel dangling off the edge of the cliff, the other tipped over in a dangerous and unnatural angle. His arms clutching onto a narrow stone pillar were the only things keeping him from…a really nasty fall.
The others arrived half a second behind him, and as Sokka darted forward to catch hold of the chair, Aang leapt off of the cliff to land on the other side of Teo and push, while Toph stood at the ready in case they needed an earthbender’s assistance. Within moments, they had the kid back on solid ground, and Teo shot them all a rueful grin even as he sat shaking from the leftover adrenaline of the moment.
”Thanks, guys. Guess I should’ve remembered not to go too close to the edge, huh? This isn’t like home where I know all the locations of the vents.”
Katara smiled. “It’s alright, Teo. What matters now is that you’re okay, and you won’t get too close to the edge again, right?”
”Uh, yeah, right.”
”And even if you do,” Aang chimed in, “we’ll be right there to catch you!…again.”
Teo grinned. “Thanks, Aang.”
A throat cleared behind them. “Um. What’s going on?”
Everyone turned around to face Zuko, who had apparently only just arrived.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Katara’s expression grew stormy, and she crossed her arms, glowering. “Well maybe you’d know if you’d come here when Teo was screaming for help.”
Zuko’s eyes (eye?) went wide. “Teo was screaming?”
Katara’s eyes flashed. “Oh come on, the training area’s not that far away, don’t tell me you didn’t hear it.”
Sokka grimaced. This was leading nowhere good. “Uh, Katara…”
Zuko, as usual, took the path of most resistance. ”But I didn’t-!”
”Didn’t what? Notice someone screaming from a few rooms away?”
Sokka winced. “Katara-“
”No, I-“
”Is that something they teach you in the Fire Nation? To ignore when people are in danger?”
”Katara!” Sokka shouted, finally managing to catch her attention. “This isn’t helping anybody.”
She turned her glare on him. “Are you seriously defending him? You came from the same place he did, and you got here first!”
Sokka groaned. “You don’t have the whole story, Katara. Just…I don’t know, let me explain? And if you don’t like the explanation, then you can yell at him all you want, okay?”
His sister stared at him for a long moment, trying to decide how serious he was. Seeming mollified by whatever she saw, she huffed, but quieted. “Fine. Go ahead. But he’d better be deaf or something if it’s gonna convince me to let this go.”
Both Sokka and Zuko winced at that. “Uh, actually-“ Sokka began.
”-You’re kind of half right?” Zuko finished.
Katara blinked. “I am?”
Sokka cleared his throat. “He can’t hear out of his left ear. At least, not very much.”
Katara blinked again. “He what?!”
Zuko shifted uncomfortably. “Uh. Yeah. I can hear a little bit, but…not very well. Because of, you know…the scar?”
Aang tilted his head at him. “You mean you’re actually deaf? But you hear me during lessons and everything!”
Zuko rolled his eyes. “It’s just in one ear. The other ear hears just fine!”
Katara frowned. “That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t hear Teo, especially if your other ear works.”
Zuko made a face. “Okay, look… I didn’t hear him at first because I was facing the wrong direction, but then when I did hear him, I came right away!”
“Then why were you so far behind us?” Aang asked. “You got here, like, five minutes after everyone else!”
Zuko wrinkled his nose and glanced away. “Uh. Well, see…”
Katara raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
He sighed. “I…don’t always…have the best sense of direction for where a sound is coming from, since I can only hear it in one ear. Especially in places like this temple, where the sounds are bouncing off the walls. I kind of…went the wrong way, at first. I only realized it was in the other direction when I heard more people yelling and realized it was coming from behind me.”
Teo spoke up. “It’s okay, Zuko. Sokka and Aang got here in time.”
Zuko frowned. “In time for what? I still don’t know what happened!”
Sokka cleared his throat. “Teo almost fell over the side. He managed to catch himself on a pole, but…”
“It was really close,” Aang finished for him.
Zuko stared. “Are you okay?! You could have died!”
Teo blinked. “Oh, I’m fine!”
”Are you sure? You- wait, you weren’t pushed, were you?”
Everyone stared at Zuko. Sokka coughed. “Um. Zuko? Buddy?”
”Yeah?”
”What, exactly, makes you think that anyone here would have tried to push him off a cliff?!”
”Oh, my sister did that once or twice.”
As everyone took a moment to absorb that piece of information, Katara shook her head. “You know what, I’m just gonna…go…start making lunch.”
Zuko brightened. “You want any help with that?”
”NO! No, you just…go finish your lesson with Aang, or…something. Away from me.”
Zuko blinked. “Oh, uh, alright.” He caught Aang’s arm. “Come on, Aang, break’s over.”
”Okay, Sifu Hotman. Oh wait, is that your bad side? OKAY SIFU-“
”You don’t have to shout! If I can’t hear you, I’ll let you kno-“
Their voices disappeared around the corner. Teo giggled at their antics, then followed in the direction that Katara had gone.
Toph and Sokka stood staring after them. After a few seconds, Toph said, “Huh. I think that went over pretty well!”
Sokka sputtered. “You knew?”
Toph grinned cheekily. “Well no, not exactly, but I knew you guys had something you wanted to say. It was written all over your face!”
Sokka groaned. “Was it really that obvious?”
”Plain as the mole in the middle of your chin.”
Sokka frowned. “But I don’t have a mole on my- HEY!”
Toph cackled as she left, leaving a trail of dirty footprints behind her.
Sokka rolled his eyes. “I hate it when she does that.”