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Zuko sniffed at the pot. “What is this, anyway?” he asked.
“Chef Sokka special,” said Sokka proudly. “Or Chief Sokka special? Chief Chef Sokka Special. Say that five times fast.”
That didn’t give Zuko much confidence. He still had no idea what was in the stew.
“Don’t take all the credit!” Suki called. She was on the other side of the room tucking Roakan in—Rana had passed out an hour ago—but was somehow able to follow both conversations in that odd way mothers seemed to do.
“I’m not, my most beautiful kickass amazing wife!” he called back. “Wouldn’t dare!” Then he turned back to Zuko. “As I was saying, it’s a Chief Chef Sokka Special that puts a new Water Tribe twist on an old and very important Kyoshi Island recipe”— he said this last part rather more loudly. Suki hummed in agreement. “It dates back hundreds of years, from a time when Kyoshi Island had strong ties to the Fire Nation. I had to hunt the ingredients myself. Took me ages.”
Zuko knit his brows together. “Why bother, if it’s so hard?”
“Because the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, as my lovely wife says, and you’re our guest, O Firelord. I wanted to make something that blended our cultures.”
Zuko blinked, touched. That was actually rather sweet. He himself had spent the last decade trying to broker peace and forgiveness between his own nation and the areas they’d invaded and had mostly met with failure. There was too much resentment still. The fact he could claim people like Sokka and Suki as close friends was something Zuko probably didn’t take enough time to appreciate.
“Oh, don’t let him give you that bullshit,” said a voice. Katara pulled aside one of the door skins and walked into the room with an armful of fresh bread. It smelled wonderful. “He just wanted to go on a hunt he could brag to his kids about.”
Sokka grinned and looked over at the two little bundles on the far side of the room. Suki ran her hand through Roakan’s hair, then shrugged, as if to say, You know it’s true.
“False,” said Sokka. “I wanted to impress all my family.” Out of the corner of his eye Zuko saw Suki smile.
Sokka bent over the pot and started ladling the stew into bowls as Suki and Katara joined them by the fire. Zuko had to admit, it smelled wonderful. The gravy looked thick and rich, and he could see chunks of some kind of pinkish meat alongside white and purple tubers. His mouth watered. Stew wasn’t a common dish back home.
“So are you going to tell me what it is or aren’t you?” he asked. He tore off a chunk of warm bread and dipped it into the bowl, then took a bite.
“Dragon foot meat stew,” Sokka said proudly. “Without thumb.”
Zuko gagged and started to choke. Suki burst out laughing.
“I never understood the thumb part,” Katara said. She chewed thoughtfully. “Zuko, do the thumbs taste bad or something? Or are they poisonous?”
Zuko continued to choke. His eyes burned.
“No. It’s because dragons don’t have thumbs,” said Sokka.
“But then why bother saying it? Dragon foot meat by definition is without thumbs.”
“Thumb,” Sokka said. “The recipe specifies a singular thumb.”
Suki only kept laughing. Tears ran from the corner of her eyes. She didn’t seem to be able to help it.
“You killed a dragon?!” Zuko finally managed to spit. “Sokka, how could you? They’re endangered! Nearly extinct! The Fire Nation has put hundreds of millions of ban into conservation and breeding programs and… and… and you’re still laughing,” he finished.
Suki wiped at her eyes. “It’s not really a dragon,” she giggled. “Spirits, Zuko, what would a dragon be doing at the south pole even if they weren’t super rare? It’s freezing here.”
“And Sokka may be a moron, but he’d never feed a dragon to the Firelord,” added Katara. Then she gave her brother a dubious look. “Probably.”
“That’s the Water Tribe spin!” Sokka confirmed. He took a bite of his own stew and smiled. “Mmm. It might not be real dragon foot meat anymore, with or without thumb, but it’s still good.”
Zuko eyed his friends, then shook his head. “You guys are terrible,” he said. “I really hate you all.” Then he dipped his bread in the stew again and took another savory bite. Sokka wasn’t wrong. It was very good.
“So seriously, Sokka, what’s in this then?” he asked. “I might see if the palace cooks can give the Chef Chief Sokka Special a try.”
Sokka grinned. “Turtleduck,” he said.