Chapter Text
It’s parent-student conference week and Sokka is beyond excited. He attends a fancy private school that does all these extra things to make sure their students are advancing in their academics. One of those things is the required parent-student meetings. Every student is forced to attend with their guardian or parent so that teachers can inform them of their student’s progress. And honestly, Sokka loved attending them.
In previous conferences, his teachers loved talking to his dads about what an intelligent son they had. It not only helped with his ego but it put his mind at ease when his dads showed how proud they were of him. Of course Sokka knows they’re proud of him but sometimes he gets a little worried that he might be choosing the wrong future career plan or college choice. Seeing their pride confirms that he’s walking the right path.
This year, it is especially important since it is his senior year. It’s his last ever parent-student conference ever. Sokka was going to be an adult soon. A whole ass adult.
His appointment is only ten minutes away so he sits outside the school to wait for his dads to arrive. He chose an earlier appointment time since the evening appointments were always filled with parents who just got out of work. Plus his dads have to attend Katara’s meeting after his.
“Sokka!”
He looks up and smiles as Bato and his dad get out of their car. Bato had raised him and Katara for nearly half their life. He married his dad four years ago making him their official second dad.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Sokka rushes them into the school and down the many hallways. The students got to choose whichever one of their teachers to lead the meeting and of course he had to choose Mr. Piandao.
They made it outside of Piandao’s door exactly at 3pm, just as he finished up with another student.
“Hello, Sokka. Come in, right this way,” Piandao says leading them to his desk at the back of the room. They sit down, his fathers on either side of him. The teacher looks through his various files on the desk before finally finding Sokka’s and displaying it in front of them.
“So! Sokka has already sent his college applications off to these specific schools,” he points at a section on the paper, “and they will be sending their admission statuses in a few months from now. All Sokka has to do is keep his grades.
He’s doing an amazing job in all his STEM courses but he might need to put in a bit more effort in his AP English class. Right now he has a B- and it's extremely important to not let any grades fall,” Piandao says sternly.
Sokka nods. He knows he’s been doing a bit of a horrible job in the class but he couldn’t help it! It’s a boring class and he could care less about what the author means by a black sky and so on. He knew, however, that his grades were one of the reasons why he was offered scholarships and he had to maintain his GPA.
“Should we be worried? Will this impact his admissions?” Hakoda questions.
“No, no! These aren’t his official grades. He still has a few months to raise it up but it’s good that he’s getting the reminder now when he has a B- compared to later if he has an F.”
His dad exhales in relief and gives him a you better get that grade up look. He flashes him a thumbs up and they continue going over his file.
“So Sokka, I’ve heard it a few times, and I’m sure your fathers have as well, but it’d be a good refresher to hear what your career plan is just in case anything has changed,” Piandao continues.
“Only one thing has changed. I still hope I get accepted to the University of Washington since it's so close by. Hopefully the school of engineering will admit me as well. I’m just not sure if I want to continue down the marine engineering path but I definitely want to stay in the field,” Sokka says.
Piandao nods and writes it down on his notes.
“Knowing the type of student you are, they’ll definitely accept you!”
Sokka smiles and his dad pats him on the shoulder.
“Well that’s about everything! He needs a few more volunteer hours to reach 200, if that’s something you’re interested in, Sokka. But other than that and your AP English grade, everything looks amazing,” he smiles.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Piandao,” Sokka says.
“Of course. If you do get accepted to the University of Washington, you should definitely volunteer here whenever you have some free time to help guide other students.”
He nods. They all get up and his dads’ shake hands with Piandao. Sokka shakes his hand last and they say their goodbyes before exiting the classroom.
“We’re so proud of you, son,” Hakoda speaks. Bato nods and pulls him in for a hug.
“You really do make us proud. You’re doing such amazing things, kid,” and he is not going to cry, stop it Sokka.
“Thanks to you guys! I promise I’ll raise my grade up, don’t even worry about that,” he brushes it off. Hakoda points a finger at him, “You better!”
“Well we have to go find Katara and go to her appointment soon. Do you want to wait for us to get out?”
Sokka shakes his head. He doesn’t want to stay in this building any longer than he has to, thank you very much.
“I’ll see you guys at home,” he says and they walk the opposite way. He sits on one of the benches inside the building and texts Suki to see if she was still in the building. As he waits for a reply, he hears voices coming down the hall.
He wonders who it is and if it was someone in his grade. He hears footsteps getting closer and his smile fades as he sees the familiar face besides the tall man.
Zuko Sozin.
The guy was heir to Phoenix which was a billion dollar business that did about everything such as online stores, rented movies and music, and much more. It has come under much scrutiny over the years due to the CEO, Ozai Sozin, being a billionaire but paying his workers a barely living wage. Despite this, its popularity has never gone down.
He’s glad that none of the people he is close to use the service, especially since his family has a personal history with the company.
Ozai Sozin was a bit scary to look at. He’s tall and skinny and always wearing clean, expensive suits and shoes. He wears his hair long and in a top knot, his beard just as long but somehow it looked good. Despite his many “successes”, the man always seems to be in a bad mood. In interviews, he gives everyone cold looks and harsh answers. How people still support Ozai was beyond him.
Zuko, on the hand, was somewhat opposite to his father and sister. He was withdrawn and often in the company of his sister and her two friends. Even then he seemed to keep to himself. Considering his sister and her friends reputation, many stayed away from him anyways and formed negative opinions of him.
Now Sokka didn’t know what to think of him. Though he never actively bullied anyone like his sister did, he never stopped it either. Plus, if he grew up in the Sozin household, he’s sure Zuko has some similar viewpoints as his father who is proudly conservative.
Yet Sokka still had the biggest crush on him. It wasn’t his fault! Zuko is beautiful. He always wears dark colors which made his pale skin stand out which also caused his scar to stand out as well. Now, Sokka wasn’t trying to romanticize Zuko’s scar, he would never think to do so but he wouldn’t call the scar “ugly”. It made Zuko who he was considering that’s how he saw him on his first day of freshman year a few years ago.
But as he watches the father and son continue down the hall, he’s shocked to see an expression other than a scowl or boredom on Zuko’s face. Fear.
Sokka’s instinct was to go follow and stay close by, and so that’s what he did. He followed a few paces behind and hid around the corner of the empty hallway they stopped in.
“I did not raise an empty-headed, unintelligent son,” he hears a voice hiss out.
“I-I’m sorry, father. I’ll study harder, I promise,” Zuko’s voice comes out in a whisper.
“Speak up when you’re talking to me, Zuko,” Ozai loudly states.
“I’m sorry, father! I’ll study harder.”
“You should’ve studied hard months ago, not when you’re on the verge of failing!”
“I didn’t realize. I should’ve kept on top of my studies,” Zuko utters.
A slap echoes through the quiet hallway, a soft gasp following. Sokka’s blood turns cold. He was afraid to know what caused the loud sound.
“You know better than to disrespect me. Look me in the eye while speaking to me,” Zuko’s father jeers.
“I’m sorry, father. I meant no disrespect.”
He hears Ozai scoff and hears footsteps going down the hall.
“Go and wait for me at home. I’m going to Azula’s appointment now. I’m sure she won’t be a disappointment,” and the voice fades out.
There’s silence in the hall, the only sounds Sokka could hear is his own breathing. With a deep breath, he peaks around the corner. Zuko’s standing alone with two hands clenched beside him with his head down.
Sokka debates comforting him. It’s Zuko Sozin, we’ve never even had an actual conversation. But he was clearly upset and Sokka felt a protective instinct come up. Taking a risk, he walks away from his corner and towards the other boy. By the time Sokka stands beside him, he still has yet to raise his head.
He nervously reaches a hand towards Zuko’s shoulder but the moment his hand makes contact, Zuko shoots up and away from him. His right eye widens, clearly spooked from the touch. His right cheek is bright red and Sokka is sure it wasn’t a blush.
He feels anger simmering deep down but takes calming breaths.
“Hey, Zuko. Whatcha doing here?” he asks, trying to appear casual.
Zuko blinks at him and begins fidgeting with his oversized hoodie’s sleeves.
“Um… I just got out of my meeting,” he voices.
Sokka nods, “I just got out of mine too! Now I’m bored. And hungry. Hey do you want to go get lunch somewhere?”
Zuko’s eyebrows scrunch up as he stares at him.
“What, why? We’re not even friends,” he says with a frown.
Crap. Of course he’d find it weird! He needed an idea.
“Ah, yes. Yes, I know that. But it's senior year and I want to try and talk to all my classmates before the year ends and that includes you!” Genius.
Zuko’s frown deepens but after some moments, it disappears and he nods.
“Okay then… um, I might be able to spare half an hour,” he offers.
“Perfect! There’s this little tea shop called the Jasmine Dragon that sells really good food. They also have iced teas if hot tea isn’t your thing,” and he’s rambling. “But I’m assuming you might like it since I always see you with a thermal cup in class.”
Instead of Zuko appearing completely freaked out at the fact that he exposed his secret of sometimes staring at him in class, he let out a little laugh.
He made Zuko laugh. Sokka wants to keep that little smile on his face forever.
“I know which tea shop you’re talking about. My uncle actually owns it.” Then his smile melts away. “I actually haven’t seen or spoken to my uncle since junior year.”
“We don’t have to go there, there’s plenty of other places to eat,” Sokka reassures. He wants to get to know Zuko more and this might be his only chance. “Let’s figure it out in the car?”
Zuko nods and they walk towards the front entrance of the school.
“I actually brought my car… but I’m assuming you want to drive your car?” he asks.
“If you want to drive, that’s fine! But I really don’t mind driving somewhere and dropping you back off here after we’re done eating,” he informs.
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to waste your gas on me,” Zuko says quietly.
How did Sokka believe he was an asshole? Well, he didn’t think he was an asshole specifically but he didn’t think he was this pleasant either.
“Please, my dad gave me his Prius! I won’t be using much gas,” he says to put Zuko at ease. He hesitantly agrees and they continue their walk towards the dark blue Prius. Sokka opens the doors with the button and gets into the car, Zuko getting into the passenger seat.
It was odd seeing him in his car but Sokka found himself enjoying the sight. He clicks the start button and buckles up. He reverses out of the parking lot and remembers they still haven’t chosen a place on where to eat.
“So, any ideas on where to eat?”
“Um, no. I’m sorry, I probably won’t be much help. My father doesn’t let me eat out very often unless it's at a fancy restaurant,” Zuko winces. “Not that I think you can't afford it! I just don’t think fancy restaurant food is great for right now.”
“Yeah, that’s more for when we go on a date.”
They both pause. Sokka grips the steering wheel tight, afraid to look in Zuko’s direction. Spirits, did he really say that?!
“You would go on a date with me?”
Sokka loosens his grip on the wheel and stares at Zuko. He’s staring at him with wonder in his eye, his mouth open in shock. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem disgusted or angry.
“I- uh, yes?”
Zuko smiles, turning away to hide it. Sokka’s heart flutters because he still sees his smile and he wishes he could see it more often. He knows there’s lots of things to address before it reaches that point, however. Such as Zuko’s father.
They park near the pier and order some shrimp and chips along with two sodas, taking it back to the car to eat since it was a colder day.
They talk about Sokka’s family, his career plans, and other funny stories he has. But they don’t talk about the other boy. Zuko does his best to change subjects and it’s just making Sokka’s suspicions rise. He knows he has to come clean about what he heard in the hallway earlier.
“Zuko, there’s something I have to tell you,” he starts. Zuko puts his soda down and looks at Sokka with concern in his eyes.
“I heard what happened in the hallway earlier with your dad.” Zuko’s face goes blank, not displaying any emotion. “I didn’t mean to but I was worried for you, and I still am.”
Zuko stays silent for a few moments, deep in thought.
“So you only invited me to eat with you because you felt bad for me?”
Sokka raises his arms, waving them back and forth.
“What? No, no! Please, Zuko, this isn’t something I’m doing because I pity you. I really wanted to talk to you,” he pleads.
Zuko looks unconvinced and stares out the window to avoid looking at Sokka.
“Zuko, please,” he practically begs.
“I don’t know, Sokka. I have to go home, I really don’t have time to talk about it right now,” he whispers. Not wanting to keep Zuko hostage or get him in more trouble, he agrees.
As much as he didn’t want him to go home after what happened in the hallway, he has no official evidence that it was a continuous thing. Even then, he had no idea if Zuko even wanted to leave.
The drive back to the school is quiet, the parking lot a bit more busy than earlier. Zuko quietly directs him to his car, which was a black Audi. Just as Zuko was about to get out of the car, Sokka impulsively grabbed his wrist.
“Even if you don’t want to talk to me anymore, please take my number. Just in case,” he states, hoping Zuko will accept.
With a sigh, Zuko agrees and hands him his phone. Sokka put in his number and handed the phone back, watching Zuko get into his car and out of the school parking lot.
Sokka goes home feeling dejected. He knew it was best to be honest right from the start rather than keep it a secret for as long as possible, but sometimes doing the right thing hurt. He hopes Zuko will text him.
And he hopes Zuko will be okay.