Work Text:
Sokka was still asleep when Zuko’s phone started ringing. Loudly. Groaning he pulled a pillow over his head in an attempt to block out the offending noise. “Zukoooo!” he called out, vaguely wondering through his half-asleep mind where Zuko could have gone, and why he wouldn’t have taken his cell phone with him. That’s when he woke up enough to note the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. The sound of the shower was low enough that it had been drowned out by the much louder sound of the phone ringing.
Moodily accepting that he would not be getting back to sleep now, Sokka rolled over and sat up. As he yawned and stretched his eyes caught on the caller ID flashing on the screen of Zuko’s cell phone. *AZULA* Before he had much of a chance to puzzle over what she might want, or worse, worry himself sick over what she might want, the shower turned off in the bathroom. Zuko stepped into the room a couple minutes later, already half dressed in a pair of gray slacks. That meant he was still shirtless though, and Sokka certainly loved getting to wake up to THAT.
It was while he was towel drying his hair that Zuko looked up and noticed that not only was his boyfriend awake, but he seemed quite fixated on staring at his chest. Smirking, he stepped closer and spun around on his feet. “Like what you see?”
Sokka grinned up at him. “Very much so,” and pulled him down for a long, deep kiss.
After a few moments Zuko pulled back with a groan and stood up. “As much as I would love to stay here and continue with that I have a meeting first thing at work today and can’t be late.” He walked over to the closet and pulled out a deep burgundy button-down shirt and began pulling it on. He turned back towards Sokka as he fastened the buttons. “Why are you up already anyway? Normally you don’t wake up until much later on days you’re not scheduled to work.”
“Your phone,” Sokka said, indicated where it lay on the nightstand. “It rang. Quite loudly I may add. We also need to revisit that conversation about annoying ringtones, and how they need to be changed for the sanity of your loving boyfriend.”
Frowning, Zuko moved over to pick up the phone. “Was it work? Did they need to reach me for something?”
“Nah,” Sokka said casually. “I caught a glimpse of the caller ID and it was your sister.”
Zuko’s frown lessened a bit, but still didn’t leave his face entirely. “Odd. Normally Azula texts me. I’ll have to give her a call back on the way to work.” Zuko leaned down and gave Sokka another quick kiss before heading out.
“Make good choices!” Sokka called after him as he left the room, grinning at the exasperated eye-roll his boyfriend gave him. He flopped back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and vaguely wondering if maybe he could manage to fall back asleep. At that moment his stomach gave a loud grumble, forcing Sokka up and into the kitchen in search of sustenance. If he couldn’t indulge in his love of sleeping, he could at least indulge in his love of eating after all.
Sokka was back at his own apartment, doing some research on requirements for starting a small business in the state of Maine when Zuko called. “Hey gorgeous, how was work?” he chirped into the phone, still perusing the webpage he had pulled up on his computer.
“Work was good,” Zuko’s voice echoed through the phone. “We finally secured the necessary permits to begin construction on the new shelter.”
“Babe! That’s great!” Sokka exclaimed. “I know how hard you worked on that proposal.”
“Thank you! I thought for sure that one board member was gonna keep giving us hell, but he finally conceded. Anyway, I’m not calling to drone on about me-”
“Awww, but you’re my favorite subject!” That earned him a chuckle.
“Right back at you. But what I was actually gonna say before you so rudely interrupted me was that I talked to my sister.”
“Oh?” Sokka said. He had warmed up to Zuko’s sister more since their game night a month ago, but she was still far from being his favorite person. What could he say? There was a side of him that really didn’t want his car set on fire. Seriously, what was with that woman and fucking fire? The amount of stories Zuko had told him involving her setting fires was concerning, and his self preservation instinct was very much intact. However, she had now officially been receiving treatment since last summer, and was making extremely positive improvements according to her doctor. “What was she calling for?”
“Well,” Zuko said hesitantly. “She was actually calling to invite us to a movie night.” Sokka took in that information for a moment in silence. Sensing his boyfriend’s confusion Zuko continued. “She said she had enjoyed our last few nights of hanging out so much that she wanted to do so again. This time with her as the host. So we’ve been invited to a movie night at her house. Oh, and she also invited Katara and Aang to come along too.”
“Huh,” Sokka said. “I gotta admit I did not see that one coming.”
“Me either, but it’s the first time she’s invited me over to her house and-” A sigh came through the phone. “I’d really like to go,” he said in a quieter voice.
“Yeah,” Sokka replied instantly. “Of course we’ll go.”
“Really?” Zuko’s voice perked up.
“Yes, really, fucking weirdo. I’m not gonna demand for us not to go! I might not entirely trust her, but, I mean, how else am I gonna gain trust in her if we don’t spend any time together?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line and Sokka wondered if he had said something wrong. “Thank you.” Zuko said, smile evident in his voice even through the phone. “I’ll let her know.
Sokka smiled himself at that. “Plus, between the four of us I’m pretty sure we could take her anyway.” Zuko laughed, and Sokka felt his heart might burst right out of his chest at the sound. “Anyway, I’ll talk to Katara and Aang about it, though I’m sure they’ll agree to come.”
The two chatted a bit longer after that, before hanging up to call their respective sisters regarding movie night.
In hindsight Sokka didn’t know what he thought Azula’s house would be like. He guessed he figured it would have matched the homey, typical New England style that most of the area followed. He was not expecting the sleek, modern house looming over him and the others as they stood in the driveway. Looking over at Aang and Katara he saw his dumbstruck expression mirrored in their faces too. Though, thinking about it more now he was forced to conclude that Azula wasn’t exactly the warm and cozy type, so her home likely wouldn’t be either.
Zuko was completely unfazed, knowing his sister as well as he did, and walked up the path to ring the doorbell. The others quickly moved to stand behind him. A moment later Azula pulled open the door, a nervous smile on her face.
“Hello everyone. I’m so glad you could all make it.” She said, standing aside to let them in. As they shuffled in Sokka swore he heard her breath a sigh of relief.
“Sorry we’re a bit late,” Zuko said. “We had to stop and get gas because someone,” at this he shot a pointed look at Sokka, “didn’t do it when coming back from work.”
Sokka feigned outrage at this. “I told you I had plenty of gas when I left work! There must be a leak in the system somewhere!”
Katara snorted at her brother’s antics and pulled Aang forward towards Azula. “Thank you for having us over. This is my boyfriend, Aang. It was so nice of you to invite him as well.”
Azula looked deeply pleased by this. Despite having reformed her more devious ways she still had a tendency to look like the cat who just swallowed the canary when she smiled. “Of course!” she exclaimed. ‘I remembered you mentioning him at game night, and wanted to meet him. It’s- Well it’s nice being able to meet Zuzu’s friends.”
Aang bit back a small laugh at the nickname. Turning to Zuko he said under his breath, “Zuzu?”
“Tell Toph about this and you won’t live long enough to enjoy another blueberry smoothie.” Zuko shot back in a quiet voice that only made the threat sound that much more sinister.
Sokka silently watched Azula throughout her interactions with the others, trying to pinpoint what was different about the woman, and why she had seemed almost nervous when they first arrived. If anyone was going to cause grievous bodily harm to anyone else it would be her who was the perpetrator. It hit him with a jolt: They were late arriving by about twenty minutes. She had thought they weren’t going to show up.
Instantly he softened towards her. While it was true that she hadn’t been a good person in the past, she was actively working on being better now. He found himself feeling sad at the idea that she thought they had stood her up. Zuko had told him that she only had two friends, and that she was going through the process of repairing her relationships with them as well as him. As Sokka stood there, watching the others chat away happily, he was overcome with a surge of affection. Towards all of them.
Azula gave them a brief tour of the house before leading them back into the living room area. She had meticulously set out an array of snacks and drinks on the counter that sat between the living room and kitchen. “Food!” Sokka moaned and instantly made a beeline for the snacks.
“I apologize on behalf of my boyfriend,” Zuko said to Azula, rolling his eyes. She just smiled.
“No, no! Enjoy! That is what it’s here for after all,” she drawled. Shifting her attention she gestured to the large screen television mounted to the wall. “I have Netflix, Hulu, Prime,” she listed off idly. “Really, anything you could want.”
“Hmmm,” Katara mused thoughtfully, taking a seat in a large plush chair next to the couch. “Maybe we see what Netflix has to offer first?”
“Excellent!” Azula proclaimed. Maybe it was just due to the realization he had earlier, and the subsequent guilt he felt regarding his past treatment of her, but Sokka suddenly had the sense that the imperious tone of voice Azula often used was nothing more than a shield. Meant to project strength to others, and inwardly meant to protect Azula from her own feelings.
Sokka realized he’d been staring at Azula after Zuko cleared his throat and gave him a rather pointed look. His boyfriend probably thought he was planning on how to kill the woman and hide the body. He’d explain the real situation to him later.
Zuko had taken a seat on the couch, while Aang was keeping up a running commentary on different movie options as Azula scrolled through Netflix. She had a slightly pained expression on her face as though she was second guessing her own judgment in inviting the guy to come along. Katara looked delighted by the situation. She and Azula hadn’t started their acquaintance on the best of terms, and making the other woman put up with her enthusiastically talkative boyfriend seemed to be the best revenge she could imagine.
Sokka set his plate full of snacks down on the coffee table and took a seat next to Zuko. “I think we should watch something utterly fucking ridiculous!” he announced to the surprise of approximately no one.
“Of course you do,” Zuko said affectionately. “You’re utterly fucking ridiculous yourself after all.”
“Hey! I mean, I know, but hey!” he shot back.
“How ridiculous are we talking here?” Katara asked suspiciously.
“Ridiculous in a fun way, not in a ‘what the actual fuck did I just watch?’ way.” Sokka stated as though it should have been obvious.
“That is, unfortunately, not giving me much to go on here Sokka.” Azula put in huffily.
“Keep scrolling, I’ll know when I see it.” He leaned back and felt Zuko put an arm around him. He allowed himself to be distracted for just a moment, which it turned out was a moment too long.
“Sneak attack!” Aang yelled, and threw himself across Sokka and Zuko on the couch with a whoop.
“Ugh!”
“Aang!”
While before she had looked pleased with him, now Katara just looked exasperated with her boyfriend’s actions. She seemed to be gearing up to launch into a tirade when she was interrupted.
“What about this? Utterly fucking ridiculous enough for you Sokka?” Azula laughed, Netflix screen paused on a movie.
Sokka’s face lit up. “Oh, it’s PERFECT,” he breathed.
After Aang had gotten up and curled up with Katara on the large chair, and after Azula had joined Sokka and Zuko on the couch, the group started the movie.
“What the fuck did we just watch?” The question came from Katara, who still looked deeply confused as the final credits rolled.
“A cinematic and musical masterpiece that’s what!” Sokka burst out. “In fact, I don’t think one viewing was enough, we simply must watch it again right now!”
“Please,” Zuko said, “I am begging you, NO.”
“Are you kidding?” Aang exclaimed. “That was great! I’m with Sokka!”
“Of course you are!” Katara sighed, putting her head in her hands.
Aang and Sokka had by then stood up and were waltzing around the living room obnoxiously singing one of the songs from the movie, ‘I Think I’ve Got You Beat.’ Zuko and Katara sadly made eye contact with each other, commiserating over the childish antics of their boyfriends.
Abruptly Sokka stopped dancing and grinned at the others who were still seated. “Alright then, let’s put it to a vote to decide whether or not it was fantastic. Which it totally was by the way.”
“You’re on,” Katara said, staring down her brother. Her gaze travelled over to Azula, who hadn’t said anything yet and would serve as the tie-breaker. She didn’t appear particularly moved by the movie, so Katara felt certain of her and Zuko’s victory.
Sokka straightened up and adopted an imperious tone. “All in favor of it having been bad?” Zuko and Katara raised their hands. Sokka began to smirk, while they looked over at Azula in surprise.
“All in favor of it being good?” Both Aang’s and Sokka’s hands shot up right away, then, much more slowly as if she was deeply savoring the moment, Azula raised her hand as well.
“Yes!” Aang crowed as he and Sokka began jumping up and down in a circle. “We won! Take that!”
Katara and Zuko turned to stare at Azula incredulously. “What?” she asked defensively. “It was a fun movie.”
“Fuck yeah it was!” Sokka whooped, still jumping around with Aang. “Get over here Azula! This is the celebration circle for the winners!” A wide grin split Azula’s face, and she quickly bounded up off the couch to join Sokka and Aang.
As the three were jumping around, hollering and singing snippets from the musical off-key, Sokka caught Zuko’s eye. He looked so happy, and Sokka knew telepathically that it was because of their acceptance and inclusion of Azula. HIS acceptance and inclusion of Azula. He grinned over at the man, and in that moment vowed to spend the rest of his life seeking to make him happy.