Work Text:
The plans for Fire Lord Zuko's annual diplomatic visit to the Southern Water Tribe had been finalized weeks ago and Hakoda couldn't wait to see Sokka again.
Of course, he is so proud that his son is serving as the tribe's ambassador in the Fire Nation. As much as it pains Hakoda to have him so far away, he knows Sokka is incredibly happy with the work he's doing. That's all Hakoda can ask for.
Well, he can also ask him to visit. He can definitely do that.
It's still odd to see the Fire Nation ships approach their harbor. Logically, he knows they're here to promote peace between their nations, that Zuko's last interest is to harm them but… The tribe hadn't questioned Hakoda when he rounded up every man older than his son and left to join the war effort for a reason.
Hakoda will take Sokka's face lighting up when he and Zuko clasp arms over the flood of tears streaking his son's war paint any day.
The visit goes about as well as it always does. The elders and warriors glare at Zuko and his delegation through every official meeting. Zuko stays calm through every barely disguised jab. The kids crowd his legs when Sokka shows him around the market. Zuko always looks a little uncomfortable, but never shakes them off and shows them small firebending party tricks at their request. At least the kids aren't terrified of him anymore. Their mothers still come to shoo them away, casting glances over their shoulder at Hakoda. He can never tell what their expressions are trying to say. Maybe that he's crazy for letting the enemy into their home, letting his only son get close to the Fire Lord himself.
Hakoda has a massive respect for Zuko.
Ahead of them, Zuko glances at Sokka, worrying his lip between his teeth. Sokka smiles at him and links their arms. He starts loudly going on about something Hakoda can't make out from here, and Zuko has a small smile as he listens.
Bato squeezes his hand. Hakoda squeezes back and lets the tension drain out of his body. If Bato wants him to stop worrying so much, he'll be waiting for a long time. It's his job as a father and a leader, as a protector of their home.
After dinner on the second day of the visit, Sokka, shifty eyed and wringing his hands, says he needs to tell him something. It's important.
Hakoda can't help but to briefly imagine the worst case scenario. The Fire Nation is abandoning the idea of peace. Sokka is being mistreated. He's unhappy. Some other terrible news.
He forces himself to take a breath give his son a reassuring smile. Sokka's anxious demeanor does not change. This does not help assuage Hakoda's worries, but his men don't trust him to lead them into battle because he lets fear get the better of him.
Bato (Hakoda's right hand man, Bato likes to joke. Hakoda doesn't find it very funny. Even though he knows the jokes help Bato cope with the loss of mobility in his left arm, he can't find it in himself to laugh. Thinking about the abbey makes him sick to his stomach. He didn't want to leave anyone else behind. He didn't want to lose anyone else to…) meets his eye as Sokka turns away to grab Zuko and head outside. They give each other a sort of shrug. Your guess is as good as mine.
Sokka takes them to the unlit bonfire pit near their home and begins to build up the nearby firewood. Hakoda and Bato join him, letting familiarity dissolve some of the awkward tension radiating off Sokka. Soon they have a gently roaring bonfire lit with the assistance of the Fire Lord's bending.
Bato leans into his side as he takes a place on one of the benches. As he slides a hand around Bato's back, Hakoda thanks the spirits that he still gets to hold him close.
Sokka and Zuko sit across from them. He can't help but wonder what they could possibly need to announce together. The two of them have had an interesting bond since the prison break at Boiling Rock. Hakoda knows they've only grown closer now that Sokka spends all his time at the palace.
"So, son," Hakoda starts, trying to keep it light, "what did you wanna tell me?"
Sokka's mouth twitches and he gets that look in his eye, a sort of quiet determination that he only gets when he's nervous about something but he's decided to barrel on through anyway.
It was similar to the look he'd worn through the end of the war.
There was a time before that, though, when Sokka was just a kid, not a kid who had saved the world, who had worn a less serious version of that look. A particular memory has always stuck with Hakoda. Some time before he left the village, Sokka had come up to him, Bato trailing behind him trying not to laugh, to tell him he'd messed up. Hakoda can't remember what it was about, the way Bato had been smirking letting him know that it wasn't a serious matter at all. But Sokka had planted his feet in the snow and declared that he'd messed up, probably dropped one of Hakoda's good poles in the water, and he couldn't help but be proud of Sokka for owning up to it. Sokka was a good kid like that.
It hadn't been long since Kya passed, and he knew that they all needed a reason to smile, so he told Sokka that it didn't matter, it was just a fishing pole, and pulled him into his chest and held him tight. Bato came up behind Sokka and hugged both of them, trapping Sokka further. They laughed as Sokka squirmed and protested, trying to break free. Katara found them a moment later and launched herself at the group hug, delighting in her brother's suffering.
The feeling of his family surrounding him and laughing, just a pure, peaceful moment of happiness, was a memory he held onto when he brought the men to the war front. One that kept him going, one that he only let himself soak in during the late hours of the night before he had to be the chief again the next morning.
Suffice to say, Hakoda's going to love Sokka no matter what he's about to tell him, of which he has no earthly idea—
Then, just a moment before Sokka opens his mouth to speak, he catches it. Zuko's hand holding Sokka's, squeezing Sokka's. It's not entirely out of place, Zuko and Sokka are usually attached at the hip whenever he sees them. He'd assumed Zuko was here for moral support or something, but the gesture tugs on something in his brain, saying hey, can't you see what's going on here? but Hakoda doesn't have time to connect the dots before Sokka speaks.
"Dad," Sokka says, glancing to Zuko, then making eye contact with Hakoda, "Zuko and I are together. We've been dating for a while now and we realized that this is going to be… a long term thing. And it's important to me that you know about this."
Every thought Hakoda might have had immediately leaves his brain as Sokka's words process.
That was, perhaps, one of the last things he'd expected to hear from Sokka. His brain is moving at a breakneck speed. Sokka's not asking for permission or a blessing, he's just telling Hakoda and obviously this isn't a problem, he loves Sokka, but he is getting a little caught up on the logistics of it being the Fire Lord—
Except he hasn't spoken for just a moment too long and he can see them tensing, so he tries to speak.
"Oh," is all he manages. "Okay."
"Okay?" Sokka asks, looking perplexed for some reason. Maybe he's looking for a bit more enthusiasm, or guidance, even.
"Well, are you two happy?"
"Extremely," Zuko answers immediately, looking serious. Zuko also has his own fierce, determined look (one that doesn't really ever go away), and Hakoda finds it fitting that Sokka loves someone just as stubborn as he is.
Sokka snorts and nods his agreement with Zuko. Hakoda can feel Bato's low laughter rumble against him.
He thinks that's that, but Zuko's looking wary again.
"You're fine with the whole… Fire… Lord… thing?" Zuko's voice gets smaller with every word and the Fire Lord exterior falls away to reveal the teenager who called him sir and wouldn't look him in the eye at the Western Air Temple.
Before he can even address that, Sokka speaks.
"And the whole… two guys thing?"
Hakoda latches on to that because while yes, technically he's fine with "the whole Fire Lord thing" it's because the Fire Lord is Zuko, but that's a whole can of worms and Sokka's question confuses him more.
"Sokka, why would I care about that?"
"I don't know!" Sokka throws his arms up in exasperation. "There wasn't really any talk of that down here and I just thought… I don't know."
"I still love you very much, Sokka." Hakoda chuckles and suddenly his mouth is moving before his brain can approve the words coming out. "You know, your boomerang is gay."
Everyone freezes and if the fire hadn't been flickering he might've thought time had stopped altogether.
Hakoda's eyes widen as his words register. Why did I say it like that?
Bato sits up and facepalms, groaning. "Hakoda…"
That's when he knows he's in trouble. He rarely gets the full name out of Bato.
Sokka has never looked more confused. "…What?"
"Ah, well. Um—" He looks to Bato, whose raised eyebrow says What, you think I'm going to help you with this?
Yes, he pleads silently. Bato smirks and Hakoda doesn't know why he keeps him around, actually.
Zuko and Sokka are both wearing looks of bewilderment, so he looks at Bato while he talks.
"When were 15? Bato actually made that boomerang. He ended up giving it to me because he loved me so much—"
"You joke flirted that I should gift it to you, and I knew you wanted it because you were jealous of my boomerang carving skills, so I told you you could have it if you could steal it from me," Bato interjects.
"I was not jealous—"
"So what did you do?" Bato prompts, smug. Hakoda sighs.
"I tried sneaking into your hut a few times, but I gave up on that when your dad almost took my head off in the middle of the night with his club."
Bato has the audacity to laugh at that, the asshole.
"I tried catching it when you would practice throwing it, I even tried tackling you in the middle of town in broad daylight." Hakoda grins. "My dad wasn't happy about that one."
Then, once he calms himself from laughing, Bato says, "And how did you get it?"
Hakoda softens. This is one of his favorite memories. He takes Bato's hand.
"We snuck out to see the aurora one night and went way too far out on the ice. That was honestly so stupid of us," he chuckles, shaking his head. "We watched the lights for a while and I remember thinking about how handsome you looked, and I realized that I never wanted to let you go. That's when we had our first kiss."
Bato's looking at him so fondly Hakoda thinks he might melt.
"I took the boomerang while you were distracted. Really, you should've known better." Hakoda laughs. "You were so head over heels, you didn't even notice it was gone until two days later!"
"We started shivering and you told me your mouth was cold," Bato says, but his smile doesn't falter. "Our mothers were furious that we almost got hypothermia. I thought Kanna was going to kill you."
"You're still the idiot that kissed me."
Bato laughs again and presses their foreheads together, nuzzling against his nose. It's… nice. Nice to just be happy. Nice to not worry about a war and the women and children he left behind. Nice to not be lost or alone in his grief. Nice to be with Bato.
Their giggles fizzle out, and Hakoda abruptly remembers they have company.
When he looks back at Sokka and Zuko they're so silent and still he's almost certain they'd become statues.
"Wait," Sokka says. "You and Bato?"
"Well, yes." Because what else can he say? Him and Bato for as long as he can remember.
"What about you and mom?"
Wait, what?
Hakoda feels his face pinch in confusion.
"Do you think Bato didn't love her too?"
"Wait, what?" Zuko seems to surprise himself, like he didn't mean to speak, and clamps his mouth shut.
Hakoda is getting a little fed up with all this confusion and incredulity.
"Sokka, did you not know that Bato and I both love your mother? And that your mother and I both love Bato?" He feels like this should've been obvious.
"And we both love you," Bato finishes, because as private as he likes to be, Hakoda knows he's a sap.
"No!" Sokka screeches.
They're all staring at each other again. Zuko's eyes flick rapidly between all of them.
"Well," Bato rumbles, "I guess I can't put the blame entirely on you, 'koda."
Hakoda clears his throat and straightens again. "I'm very glad you found each other, Sokka."
Sokka shoots to his feet. "You should be! And that is so not what this is about anymore!"
He's shouting, and all the sound has finally drawn Katara and Aang over. He guesses they were waiting for Sokka and Zuko to report back on how it went, but… Wait, if Sokka didn't know, then—
Sokka asks if Katara knew about him and Bato and their mom. She looks at him, and with great confusion says, "Yes?"
"Sokka…" Zuko says, audibly disappointed. Oh, Bato is going to love this boy, he's calling it now.
Sokka begins spluttering again and this time everyone, including Zuko and Aang, starts laughing. Bato actually laughs so hard he cries.
Hakoda has a new memory to hold onto.