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Sokka is tired - more than tired, he is exhausted. He feels like death warmed over, then frozen, then overheated in a cheap microwave. He feels like he’s been through three world wars only to die a worse death at the start of every single one. He feels like-
“Sokka!” Katara suddenly scolds, making him jump nearly out of his skin. “Stop making those whining noises! The medicine will kick in soon and you’ll feel better. Just wait, okay?”
Sokka sighs, rubs his eyes with his elbows resting on the dining table and nods. “Okay, okay.” The fact that he does not argue is proof enough of his illness, he thinks. Proof, too, that he is an amazing brother.
“Thank you. Anyways, Aang is trying to ask us for help.” She tugs at one of her hair loopies, looking tired; Sokka may feel bad, but only because he’s catching from Gran Gran and Dad, who Katara is now stuck taking care of nearly alone. Thank the Moon for Aang. “Sorry, Aang.”
“It’s okay, Katara,” the airbender smiles, a small concerned curve of his mouth, and it touches his big grey eyes like an overcast morning. “I’m still not sure I even want to give it to him…”
“Wait, give what to who?” Leave it to Sokka to get a cold when things start to get interesting. “Anything I can help with?”
Aang smiles even bigger at Sokka, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Well…” He brings his shoulders up around his ears, cheeks warming. “You know that goth guy that you’re friends with?”
It takes Sokka a minute. “Do you mean The Dark One? That guy that hangs around Toph?”
“No, not him…” Aang’s face is growing pinker by the minute. “I might be wrong, but I think the guy I’m thinking of is your lab partner?”
Sokka’s eyes grow wide. “You mean Zuko?”
Aang points with an excited finger-gun. “Yes! Him. Well, I, um…”
“...Well, you, um, what?”
“I…” He draws out the syllable, stalling. “Was thinking of writing him a letter. Kind of like a- a love letter. Or something.”
Sokka blinks once. Then twice. Then again. His infected brain seems to be fooling him, going slower than he requires it to. “Wait,” he hears himself saying. “Wait, wait.” He points at Aang. “You’re gay?”
Aang blinks, too, then smiles crookedly, his eyebrows quirked in amusement. “I’m pan. We’ve talked about this, Sokka. We started the Multisexual Benders-and-Nonbenders Alliance together.”
“Still think ‘Nonbenders’ should go before ‘Benders’.” He rubs his nose on his sleeve - he normally wouldn’t, but Katara and Aang are family. Manners don’t matter around family. Plus, he feels like garbage. “Okay, well, game plan . What are you thinking, like, mysterious? Suave? Sexy? What kind of letter is this gonna be.”
Aang laughs as Katara visibly face-palms. “Actually,” he says. “I was thinking more honest , but your ideas are good, too.”
Sokka looks pointedly at his sister, who half-heartedly glares back. “Thank you, Aang.” Katara cracks a smile, and Sokka grins back before coughing into his sleeve.
“I think it’s good to be honest, Aang.” Katara says, passing Sokka a tissue. “I mean, I’m not a big Zuko fan, but no one deserves to have their heart messed with.”
Sokka is uncomfortably reminded of Jet, who was in MBNA for a very charm-filled handful of meetings before going out with his sister, manipulating her, getting dumped by her, and then being banned from their club.
Sokka is not a fan of Jet.
“She’s right,” he feels suddenly serious, and, if he’s honest with himself, protective of Zuko. Zuko’s friendly with Jet and his gang, not to mention Fire Nation, but he’s a good lab partner, and he seems like a genuinely decent guy who’s just been through a lot. “Honest is good, Aang - especially with someone like Zuko.”
Aang’s round cheeks blush bright pink, and his smile makes Sokka a lot less worried. “I know. I can tell just by the few times I’ve managed to talk coherently to him…”
Sokka raises an eyebrow.
Blushing even harder, Aang shrugs defensively back. “What? I really like him!”
Sokka raises his other eyebrow. “Aang…” He leans forward a bit, staring his little brother in the eye. “That’s adorable.”
Aang groans, laughing, and protests, “It’s isn’t, but thank you, Sokka.”
“Any time, Aang.”
Katara has been quiet for a while, so Sokka turns to her to tease her, just to make her smile, only to close his mouth as soon as he opens it. She’s asleep, propped awkwardly in her chair. Hopefully Bato will be home soon to help her take care of everyone.
Sokka turns to Aang, whispering, “So, do you have a gameplan? For real, this time.”
Aang stops staring caringly at Katara to look wide-eyed at Sokka. He speaks just as quietly to avoid waking up Katara. “Oh! Yeah, I was thinking I’d write it anonymously… I’m not really ready for a relationship right now, I think, what with being the Avatar , but I want him to know he’s liked.”
Sokka can’t help but light up at the idea. “A secret admirer! That’s romantic AF!”
“...’Aye eff’?”
“Listen, Aang, slang is an important part of our language and how we communicate. Get hip, yo.”
“That’s fair.”
“Fair AF.”
Aang giggles into his hand, checking to make sure the sound doesn’t wake Katara. “Anyways, I was thinking I’ll put it in his locker at the end of the day, because I always see him there before he leaves for the bus. It’ll be a nice little end to his day!” Aang suddenly deflates. “I mean… hopefully.”
“ Definitely .” Sokka smiles at Aang, toothy and confident, and Aang returns it in full. “We’re going to make this the best love letter ever .”
-
Fast forward two hours and they’ve successfully created what Sokka is sure is the world’s finest declaration of love. The words are strung with care, held together by truth, given life by the sheer sincerity of them. The parchment is smooth and expensive - it will last far longer than any silly notebook paper, but not nearly as long as the sentiment writ upon it. Plus, it has super cool Appa stickers on it. That’s cute AF!
“Oh no,” says Aang, suddenly, which doesn’t suit the craft at all.
“Excuse me?” asks Sokka.
“Uh,” answers Aang.
“Uh?” asks Sokka, more nervous this time.
“I meant to sign it, ‘Love, Your Secret Admirer’, but I already put an ‘A’. I, uh,” He looks at Sokka with wide eyes, sheepish. “I almost wrote my name.”
Sokka sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, which is still stuffy and awful, even after the medicine. “Well… How about ‘Anonymous’? That’s a bit more foreboding than Secret Admirer, but it gets the job done.”
Aang smiles with visible relief. “Thanks, Sokka.”
Sokka smiles back, wide and tired and satisfied with their job well done. “Anytime, Aang.”
Together, they get some soup ready for Gran Gran and Dad, mostly with Aang preparing it and Sokka providing instructions, and when they have a little bit extra, they put it in front of katara for her to wake up to. Her eyelids flutter as she slowly comes awake, then fly open as she startles to full-consciousness.
“Oh my gosh, Aang,” She looks at him with sorry blue eyes. “I really didn’t mean to fall asleep, I just-”
Aang laughs kind-heartedly, smiling even bigger when Momo leaps onto his shoulder. “It’s okay,” he says as he scratches under the lemur’s chin. “Sokka and I made a pretty good letter on our own, and you definitely needed the rest. I’m glad you finally got a nap in.”
Katara smile is guilty, but wider than it has been for the last few exhausting days. “Yeah, me too.” She stretches, pointing her hands up to the ceiling like she’s practicing a new waterbending move. “Thank you for letting me sleep.”
Watching her stretch is making Sokka tired, too, and he yawns as he says, “Of course, Katara. Even you need to rest sometimes.”
Katara and Aang look at him with a strange, matching fondness, and he raises one eyebrow back at them both.
“What?” he says defensively.
“I think you should sleep, too,” Katara says with a laugh in her voice. “It’ll help you get over your cold faster. Maybe even stay home from school tomorrow.”
Aang nods. “Bato should be home tonight, right? So Katara can help me get the courage to put the letter in Zuko’s locker.”
“Oh?” Katara says. “Sure, I can do that!” She smiles, puts a hand on Aang’s orange-clad shoulder. “I believe in you, Aang!”
Sokka yawns again, smiling at them. “I believe in you, too, little brother. And little sister. And little lemur.” He rubs his eyes, then groans when he tries to breathe in through his nose and can’t . “Yeah, maybe I should sleep. Get all of this,” he gestures to his sinus area. “Over with.”
With her hands on her hips, Katara says, “Sounds like a plan,” before leading him to his bed. Sokka is more than grateful when his head meets the pillow, and he falls fast asleep before his sister can even finish taking off his boots.