Work Text:
It was a strange time of night for the doorbell to ring, but nobody told the doorbell that.
It was a strange time of night for Sokka to be awake, but nobody told his AP Chem homework that.
Sokka opened the door of his small ranch-style home to reveal his boyfriend, shivering in the rain while clinging desperately to a very upset five-year-old.
"Zuko?" Sokka called, bewildered. "Come in, for spirits' sake. It's freezing out there."
Zuko nodded and entered the warm haven that was the Qanik home. Getting through the door was a struggle, with the little girl in his arms kicking and screaming all the way, but he managed. Eyeing the angry Azula, Sokka locked the door behind them-- and then the mud room door beyond that; with Azula, you could take no chances.
"What's going on?"
Zuko looked terrified. He was clinging onto Azula for dear life, despite her pulling at his hair and screaming for him to put her down. He looked at his boyfriend with wide eyes, seemingly unable to speak.
"Babe, maybe you should put Azula down. She's not going anywhere," Sokka said softly. Zuko nodded but did not let go of Azula. Sokka could see a tear track down the right side of his face. "Zuko, what happened?"
"We're leaving," Zuko stated, and Azula wailed louder. "We just- can we stay here a while? Please? Just until we have a place to go."
"Zuko, of course," Sokka assured. "You guys are always welcome here." Sokka's mind was still stuck on We're leaving.
Sokka had tried many times to convince his boyfriend to leave that house, but he had refused to leave Azula. Now, here he was, finally leaving and, Sokka guessed, taking Azula with him.
Needless to say, Sokka had a lot of questions, but first, the problem at hand: the screeching girl who had undoubtedly woken up the rest of the house by now.
"Azula," he cooed softly, "do you want a Popsicle?"
"NO!" the little girl yelled, and Zuko flinched as she yelled in his good ear, "I wanna go home! I want Father!" Zuko looked at Sokka helplessly. Sokka figured that phrase had been a common theme on the way over; he marveled at how Zuko had managed to even get her in the car.
"Azula, you can't go home right now. Your dad is...." Sokka looked to Zuko before continuing, asking permission with his eyes to lie. Zuko nodded. "Busy. We're gonna have a sleepover, and you can go back home tomorrow, okay?"
Azula paused. "I can go back home tomorrow?"
Sokka winced. "Yeah."
Azula frowned, thinking over the offer. "And I get a Popsicle?"
"Only good girls get Popsicles," Sokka amended. "Are you gonna be a good girl?"
Azula nodded vigorously. Zuko hesitantly set her down and she immediately ran to the freezer, digging in the compartment where she knew the Popsicles were kept.
Sokka examined his boyfriend, able to see him fully now that there wasn't a flailing kindergartner in the way. Zuko was even paler than usual. His good eye was red and bloodshot, and he was shaking like a leaf.
"Baby," Sokka reached out an arm, and Zuko nodded. Having received permission, Sokka enveloped his boyfriend into his arms. "What happened?"
"He- he-" Zuko took a shaky breath, attempting to calm himself before continuing, "he was angry. And normally he takes it out on me, and it's fine-" It wasn't fine, but Sokka filed that away to deal with at a later time "-but he started yelling at Azula. And I was terrified- I thought he might- that he might hit her or something. I don't know. I took her and ran." Zuko released a breathy laugh. "I didn't even pack anything, I just... We aren't going back. Ever."
"Good," Sokka held his boyfriend tight. "You guys can stay here as long as you want, you know that, right?"
Zuko nodded, but his eyes were still unfocused. Azula ran back to the boys, Popsicle in hand.
"I wanna play a game!"
Zuko forced a smile for his little sister. "It's a little late, Azula. Why don't we go to bed, and we can play a game tomorrow?"
"Okay," the five-year-old said brightly, "but I'm still going home tomorrow, right?"
Zuko looked down. "Right."
As Azula got ready for bed, changing out of her school uniform-- which she seemed to wear all the time, unless she was at the Qanik's house-- and into one of Sokka's old shirts, Zuko laid out his half-baked plan.
"I turn eighteen next month," he said. For a moment, Sokka was confused on the relevance of that statement. Then-
"Oh." Oh. "Don't you have an uncle or something?"
Zuko shook his head. "Dead."
"That's gonna be a hell of a court case." Sokka pointed out, then regretted it, because Zuko knew that already.
"Yeah," Zuko sighed. "But maybe not. Maybe he'd just rather not draw more attention to it, and go down quietly."
That didn't seem likely, but Sokka wasn't going to say that. "Maybe."
Teeth brushed and ears washed, the three settled into Sokka's bed, Azula sandwiched between the two older boys. The little girl snuggled into the bed, laying her head on Sokka's shoulder, and reaching out to hold Zuko's hand.
Sokka smiled over at his boyfriend and Zuko gave him his first real smile of the evening. In the morning, they'd face a whole new set of problems, but for now it was just the three of them, laying together. For now, they were safe, and that was all that mattered.