Chapter Text
Sokka wasn’t really sure when he first noticed. It wasn’t an immediate observation, but neither was there any one single moment that stood out to him above the others. It was more of a series of observations all piled on top of each other that he could tell would all pull together into one single conclusion.
…a conclusion for which he was missing the key central element that would allow him to put a name to what he had discovered.
First, there was the way that Zuko didn’t pay attention during some of their meetings. Or rather, didn’t seem to be paying attention, until the moment when he pitched in with a soft-spoken comment of his own, and it became apparent he’d been listening closely the whole time.
He would sit and stare off to the side, eyes locked onto a rock or a mural or a stray dish or even just the floor, his gaze portraying a focus that was somewhat disproportionate to how interesting the object actually was, only to glance forward again the moment he himself had something to say. How often he would do this was usually in direct proportion to where he was sitting, as if it mattered whether he was directly in front of someone or off to the side.
It was weird.
The second thing he noticed was that Zuko had a very particular spot he liked to walk whenever he was traveling with someone. He went hunting with Sokka once or twice, foraging and exploring the temple with Aang a couple times (with Sokka tagging along, to ease Katara’s tension about it), and he even hung out with Toph every so often, especially during the early days when he was carrying her around while her feet were still healing.
Wherever he was, whoever he was with, he always made sure to position himself in the same spot, just ahead of them and slightly to the left.
Sokka initially put it off as a coincidence, that Zuko was simply used to being all princely and having people stand slightly behind him and was unconsciously applying that position when he stood to walk with them…until one day when he watched as Zuko started out walking directly on Aang’s right, only to intentionally slip around behind Aang until he was on the left, and step forward until he was back in that familiar position just a little bit ahead of him. At that point, Sokka knew it had to be deliberate.
After this, strange behaviors seemed to start popping out of the woodwork. Aang would call to Zuko from one side, and Zuko would start out looking for him from the other before he would turn back around with an ear cocked, listening for Aang to call out a second time before actually heading in his direction.
Sometimes when they were sitting around the fire, it seemed like Zuko was only paying attention to half of the conversation, and he’d occasionally make a comment about something they’d already moved on from, or start to say something just after someone else started talking. He usually caught himself before he actually spoke over them, but there were one or two times where he took over the conversation without realizing he’d run over someone else. There were even moments during firebending lessons where he’d be demonstrating a kata, and Aang would ask something, and Zuko would pause for a second, turn his head, and ask him to repeat the question. (One of those times, Aang hadn’t even asked anything, he’d just made a general comment on the different feeling of firebending forms versus airbending)
All taken separately, these things could be simple coincidences—maybe there were just echoes coming off the walls that were muddling his understanding, or maybe he really was just…used to being a prince who stood in certain positions and talked over people as much as he wanted.
Put them all together? Well…
He could tell it all pointed to something, he just wasn’t sure what.
All these little observations came to a head one day during one of their joint hunting trips, as Sokka was sneaking up on an unsuspecting jackalope. As he was getting ready to sneak closer, he came up to Zuko’s left and whispered softly, “Okay, wait until I sneak around and give the signal, then you jump out and scare it my way with some fire, alright?”
Zuko shifted uncomfortably, but gave a hesitant nod.
Sokka grinned. “Great. Here I go.”
Creeping through the brush, he made his way towards the spot he’d been eyeing that was perfect for this catch. Grinning slightly at his own cleverness, he was about to settle into position when he heard the sound of a scuffle from behind him.
He spun around, and saw Zuko in the middle of the clearing, chasing after the jackalope with a swipe of his swords.
What the-? I thought I told him to wait!
Zuko and the jackalope both fought valiantly, but in the end, the animal got away, darting off through the forest and disappearing into a small cave, large enough for it to hide in but too small for the boys to go in after it.
Zuko groaned from where he lay flopped on the forest floor, his entire everything in disarray. Sokka walked up to him, clapping slowly as he went. “Nice work there, Zuko. Now if you’d just stuck to the plan and waited for my signal before you applied all that effort, we could be heading home right now with dinner!”
Zuko blinked up at him in confusion. “Plan? What plan?”
“You know, the plan I told you about before I started sneaking around in the bushes?”
Zuko just stared at him blankly. Sokka frowned. “Come on dude, I was right next to you, didn’t you hear m-..”
He froze, all the little pieces suddenly falling into place as the clues solidified into a single possibility. Sokka stared down at Zuko, the shock of understanding holding him in place even as Zuko grew more and more visibly uncomfortable under his scrutiny.
“…you can’t hear very well out of that side, can you?”
Zuko made a face and glared at a nearby tree. He huffed an irritated sigh, then nodded.
Sokka groaned and flopped to the ground beside him- on his right, this time. The two of them stared at the canopy of trees above them for awhile before the silence grew to be too much and Sokka asked softly, “Why didn’t you say something? I would’ve stayed on your right side if I knew I needed to.”
Zuko shifted uncomfortably beside him. “I wasn’t sure how to approach it. I mean, it’s not exactly something that comes up in everyday conversation, you know? ‘Hey, funny story about the time Monk Gyatso got in trouble for bringing home a baby spider-beaver, guess what? I’m mostly deaf on one side!’ Not really the best conversation opener.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Besides, it’s not really something I even think about, most of the time. It’s just…something I’ve been living with for the last few years, and I, well…I’ve gotten used to compensating for it. I didn’t really think about whether I should tell you or not, and the few times I did, I just decided that if I ever needed to mention it, I would.”
Sokka wrinkled his nose. “If you ever needed to mention it, huh?” He muttered sarcastically. “You mean like in the middle of a hunt where you might have vital information being passed on to you through whispering?”
Zuko winced. “I could feel you talking to me, and I heard you from my right ear, saying something about jumping out and scaring it. I…thought I caught enough of what you said to piece it together, I guess.” He huffed a wry laugh without any humor. “Guess I miscalculated.”
Sokka snorted. “Just a little.”
A few more minutes of quiet passed, and then Sokka sighed. “So, uh. How bad is it?”
Zuko looked over at him. “Huh? You mean…my ear?”
”Yeah.”
”Why do you want to know?”
“Well, you said you were, and I quote, ‘mostly deaf’ on one side. Presumably that means you can hear at least a little out of it, so-?”
Zuko shrugged. “It depends on the day, really. I can hear some sounds out of it, if they’re loud, and I can make out voices, but I can’t really hear people talking very well on that side, and I definitely can’t hear, um. Whispers.”
“Like with the hunting thing.”
Zuko nodded. “Like with the hunting thing.”
Sokka puffed his cheeks and blew out a harsh breath. “Well, that’s something, I guess.”
“Yeah.”
“…You know you should probably mention it to the others, right? This is kind of important information.”
Zuko dropped his arm over his eyes. “…Yeah.”
Sokka fidgeted for a second. “Uh. I could, maybe…tell them for you? If you want?”
Zuko turned his head to look over at him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah!”
Zuko blinked, then smiled slightly and gave him a nod. “Yeah. Okay.”