Chapter Text
I.
The war had just ended. Of course, Avatar Aang and now Fire Lord Zuko still have some work to get to in order to restore the peace within the world.
Life is good for the Sokka-Suki duo. They rested in the Royal Palace, courtesy of Zuko, for the first week. The two spent their days lounging around, painting each other’s faces, ordering fruit baskets from servers, and their favorite activity was definitely having afternoon tea with Uncle Iroh. He insisted on having all the kids call him that.
It was a peaceful weekend and everyone in the Gaang was surprisingly free for the day. The bunch was currently having lunch in the enormous dining hall of the palace. The lovers suggested that they all go straight to the garden after their meals. Everyone agreed since Uncle Iroh brewed a big batch of Jasmine tea enough to go around for the group.
They made their way towards the hallway leading outside. Excited at the sight of the turtleducks in the pond, Aang jumped on his feet and quickly pulled Katara with him. Toph sighed knowing that she’s left to be the fifth wheel. She really wished for Iroh to be next to her so she could have some company, but he already rushed off to the garden five minutes before everyone finished their food.
They were nearing the end of the hallway when a voice called out for Zuko.
“Fire Lord! I’m so sorry to bother, but there’s an emergency meeting and your presence is needed.” The guard looked nervous while talking to the Fire Nation’s leader.
The message alarmed the five. What’s the emergency? Fire Nation and urgent meetings together isn’t a sign for a good outcome.
Zuko’s clutch on Mai’s waist tightened and Sokka felt the tension in Suki’s arm that was interlocked with his. On his other side, he felt Toph tense up as well.
“The headmaster of the nearby public school has to go on a vacation and classes start two days from now, Sir.” The guard kept his eyes down, feeling really intimated by the presence of the well known heroes.
“Okay, what’s the emergency?” Mai asked. Her monotonous tone sounded almost sarcastic which prompted Sokka to quietly chuckle. It died down immediately when Suki gently elbowed his side.
“U-uhm, Miss Mai, no one knows how classes and subjects will proceed because of the headmaster’s absence. As Fire Lord Zuko always said, education is a priority.”
The tension in the air cleared when they realized that the statement was just blown out of proportion. However, Zuko knows that he cannot ignore the situation.
“Alright. Prepare the throne room, you are right; education is a priority.” Zuko nodded, leaving the guard nearly skipping away.
“Phew! That was boring.” Toph sighed and decided to mimic the guard’s actions by skipping away to go to Aang and Katara.
“Do you need us with you?” Suki asked. Lately, Zuko has been hinting at hiring the Kyoshi Warriors as his personal guards.
Just because the hundred year has come to a close doesn’t guarantee that no new enemies will arise.
“No, it’s alright. Go have tea with Uncle.” Zuko smiled.
The two pairs turned their separate ways but another suggestion crossed Suki’s mind.
“Hey, Zuko! What if Sokka and I teach self defense classes at the school?” Suki giddily exclaimed.
“What?! I’m no teacher! I’m just a humble visitor of the Fire Lord, humbly eating fruit from baskets all day.” Sokka teased and he received another nudge to the ribs from his girlfriend.
“Actually, yeah, that would be nice.” Zuko smiled at the thought. He trusted Suki and yeah, Sokka may run into some problems teaching children but he believes in his friend.
“U-huh and I’ll teach knife throwing.” Mai butted in. Again, monotonous voice present but there’s a hint of humor in her eyes.
Suki giggled at this. Sokka felt his heart race when he heard her laugh.
“Let’s leave that to the advanced lessons, no?” Sokka tauntingly smiled. “Like for those who wanna hunt down the Avatar across the globe in the future.”
The Fire Nation couple just rolled their eyes at the comment and waved goodbye, having to leave to go to the meeting.
Sokka released their interlocked arms, causing Suki to pout. But the tiny smile that’s always on her face came back immediately when her boyfriend laced their hands together.
They headed towards Uncle Iroh, who was waving at them. There were two cups filled with tea on the table.
They sipped on their tea in comfortable silence, watching Aang do air bending tricks on the turtleducks for the past hour. The scenery was tranquil as the the afternoon breeze caressed their skin. Another thought crosses Suki’s mind. Gosh, knowing that there’s no ongoing war outside your doorstep just really gets one’s creative juices to flow.
“Oooh! You know what could be nice too?” She whispered to her Sokka. “You teaching some sort of like tactics class!”
Sokka’s heart warmed at the obvious excitement in his girlfriend’s voice, and he actually liked her ideas, but he decided to just tease her again for the fun of it.
“Ugh, Sukiii,” He dragged on, faking tiredness. “We’re perfectly fine here, livin’ the life!”
“Ugh,” Suki mimicked her boyfriend’s voice before clutching his biceps. “Just think about it! C’mon, it will be really fun!”
“What would be really fun?” Uncle Iroh asked beside them.
Suki immediately faced Iroh to tell him about the details. Sokka was just quiet but his eyes spoke a thousand words. His blue eyes filled with love and adoration as he stared at her. Wait-love? Does he- does Sokka--
“Well, I agree,” Uncle Iroh nodded after Suki’s rambling. “And I betcha my nephew is going to agree.”
And it’s as if Uncle Iroh’s words had some sort of manifesting powers, Zuko and Mai entered the garden.
At the sight of his nephew and nephew’s girlfriend, he immediately picked up the teapot and poured tea on two porcelain cups.
“Hey, Uncle.” Zuko and Mai greeted at the same time.
The presence of the two made Suki jump back, almost making her hit Sokka. This went past his head though since he was still trying to process his thoughts about Suki. Is he ready to truly say the three words? He feels it in heart that he is but—
“Yay!” Suki exclaimed and proceeded to shake Sokka’s shoulders.
“What? What is it?” He asked in confusion.
“Fire Lord here agreed and starting two days from now we are officially Master Suki and Master Sokka!” She answered in glee. It’s been only a few days without action but for Suki it feels like months have passed.
“Yup- I mean remember Suki capturing the warden in The Boiling Rock? No offense, babe,” Zuko playfully grinned at Mai. “There’s no one else I would trust in handling self-defense classes.”
The three remember it all too well. Especially, Sokka, his line of vision wouldn’t leave Suki and it’s a miracle his eyes didn’t turn into hearts shaped origamis.
“Hey! How ‘bout me?” Toph butted in. “Self-defense, huh? See if you can defend.. THIS!”
A small piece of the ground ascended and quickly hurled towards Suki’s direction. Of course, the warrior instinctively blocked this, causing everyone in the group to look towards the two Earth Nation ladies.
“Nice! C’mon, Suki! I can be your first student!” Aang called from his place by the pond. “I may have been Avatar Kyoshi herself in the past but nothing does it like the lead warrior!”
“Count me in!” Katara shouted too.
Suki set her teacup down on the table and held her hand out towards Sokka, “Are you joining me, my fellow teacher?”
“I’ll finish my tea first.” Suki pouted at this and of course, Sokka knew what to do and stood up from his seat to give her a kiss on the cheek. His eyes lingered on the blush that spread across Suki’s face.
He sat back down and watched his girlfriend start to teach basic poses to his sister. Eventually, Mai joined in and started teaching Suki some knife throwing tricks. Across the garden, Suki’s sweet, contagious laughter could be heard. It’s the music that Sokka would never want to stop listening to.
“Nephew, have you told Mai?” Sokka heard Uncle Iroh ask Zuko. But Sokka’s eyes were too fixated on his girlfriend, so his subconscious didn’t really comprehend the conversation occurring next to him.
It was kind of like an inside joke of sorts since Zuko could already define what his Uncle was hinting at just by the tone of his voice.
“Yes, I have, Uncle.” Zuko briefly nodded. And he opened his eyes, Iroh was meeting his stare with some sort of silent message. They both turned towards Sokka.
“Have you?” Uncle Iroh and Zuko asked in unison.
“H-huh?” Sokka had to force himself to tear his gaze away.
Oh, man, you are so whipped. Zuko thought to himself.
“Have I what?” Sokka asked, feeling conscious under the stares of the Fire Lord and the Dragon of the West.
“Told her.” Zuko pressed.
“Told her, who, what?!” Sokka gripped his hair in frustration and Zuko just chuckled at this.
“That you love her, son.” Uncle Iroh said and realization dawned upon Sokka.
He puts the pieces together and realizes that they were talking about Suki. Who else was around for him to ‘love’ huh? Well, there is someone that appears every night.
Sokka sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat. He took a big gulp out of his teacup, finishing the drink in just a second.
“I can see that you’re not confused about your feelings. You are conflicted on how you will let her know.”
“Well, flameo me, hotman! How do you always know what to say?” Sokka asked Uncle Iroh in despair and all Sokka received was a laugh as a reply.
“I can see it in your eyes, Sokka. You really love her,” Zuko said. “But if you say flameo hotman to her I feel that she wouldn’t feel the same.”
“Hey!”
“Just kidding,” Zuko chuckled. “But seriously, I can see it in your eyes but I can also see it in hers. Don’t be afraid to tell Suki that you love her.”
Sokka gently nodded and looked at the grass beneath his feet. He muttered a small thanks. He appreciated Zuko and Iroh’s advise, but he feels incomplete without talking to her. To the moon.
--
That night, Sokka had to muster all his stealth skills in order to sneak out of his and Suki’s shared bedroom. He really, really had to talk to her but unfortunately clouds dominated the night sky tonight.
Sokka sighed and waited for at least another two hours more in the garden, the place in the palace that offers a good view of the sky. But to no avail, the moon didn’t fully come to view. Stupid clouds, he thought.
He doesn’t get it. Does Yue not want to talk to him?
Sokka contemplated on staying for another hour but his sister’s voice echoed.
“Sokka! What are you doing? We have to get to the market early tomorrow morning, go to sleep!” Katara scolded him.
Stumped at the lack of presence of the moon, he just followed the orders and didn’t even question why his sister was up at the same time.
He really needed to vent about his feelings. Zuko and Uncle’s words really stirred a storm inside him. Sokka’s sure that he won’t be able to sleep early if he kept his confusing thoughts to himself. Defeated, he tiptoes back to his room, doing his best not to wake anyone up.
Sure, Sokka felt sad because he didn’t get to talk to Yue tonight, but coming back to bed with Suki unconsciously wrapping her arms around him made everything better. She made everything better.
Despite the sadness that clouded his mind for the past few hours, knowing that Suki is beside him made him fall asleep with a smile on his face.
“Get up, sleepy head!”
Sokka groaned as a bright stream of sunlight hit his tightly shut eyes.
Meanwhile, Suki was already dressed for the day. The only thing keeping herself from stepping outside into the world is her unkept hair. She waited for Sokka to wake up because they always settle on a semi-matching do, most of the time it’s a simple top knot but they like to match on the color of the hairtie.
“Today’s our first day and we can’t be late!” She exclaimed, forcefully grabbing Sokka’s arms in order to get him to sit up on the bed. “Zuko will kill you. Not me though, I’m on his good side.”
“Hey!” Sokka exclaimed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His girlfriend was right though, he’d get scolded by Zuko while she’ll receive an understanding sentiment.
No one in the Gaang has outright said it, but they all acknowledge the fact that Suki’s the alpha. Even the Fire Lord himself gets intimidated sometimes!
Sokka glances over to Suki and an admiring smile creeps on his face. She waited for me , he thought. They’ve done it ever since they got together, but it’s the small things in their everyday life that makes him fall even more. He really needs to tell her or else he’ll explode.
Their morning routine went smoothly with them leaving the palace just in time. Zuko was already at the school for some sort of speech so the two will just be meeting him there.
Upon their arrival at the classroom, a bunch of curious eyes looked in the lovers’ direction.
“Ah! Just in time.” Zuko smiled and proceeded to introduce Suki and Sokka to the class.
Introductions went by in a flash and before they even knew it, Suki was already starting to explain to the children the fundamentals of self defense. It was obvious that she’s a natural at teaching. Zuko, Mai, and Sokka watched in admiration from the side.
Cheers erupted when the children rushed over to one corner of the room in where the provided fans where situated.
“Thank you for doing this.” Zuko approached Suki.
“And what about me?” Sokka raised an eyebrow before wrapping his arm around his girlfriend’s waist.
“He woke up late didn’t he?” Mai said which left the little group chuckling.
A guard approached the fire lord, informing him of his appointments for the next hour. This prompted Zuko and Mai to bid their farewells, wishing them good luck for their first day at teaching.
Suki attended to the children that was waiting for her next instructions. She was very doting and again, her boyfriend can’t help but to let his heart pound in his chest.
“Oh and Sokka?” Zuko called. Sokka looked at him in confusion when all Zuko did was give him a nod and a pointed look before leaving.
Sokka sighed to himself, he wasn’t naïve.
It was around dusk when they got back to the palace. They weren’t tired per se so Suki decided to go take a trip to the palace library. She wanted to learn more about the fire nation fighting styles and then incorporate that to her teachings.
As much as Sokka wanted to accompany her, he saw it as an opportunity to sit by the palace garden and wait for Yue’s spirit to light up the night sky. Suki let him, knowing that she won’t be able to focus if Sokka was around to tease her. In which she knows will eventually lead to her heart racing.
Almost three hours had passed and if it weren’t for her growling stomach, she would’ve stayed longer at the library. She decided to look for Sokka so they could have dinner together.
He didn’t tell her of his whereabouts but Suki knew him well enough for her mind to tell her to go to the garden.
Her eyes lit up when she spotted Sokka under the moonlight, seated at a wooden bench, his toned back turned towards her. He wasn’t the same scrawny boy that she met at Kyoshi Island that made derogatory comments. She’s proud to say that she’s beside him on the journey towards becoming a respectful man.
They both help each other grow every step of the way and that’s how Suki knew that she is in love with Sokka. She just didn’t know when would be the proper time to tell him. Unbeknownst to her, the person on her mind, who’s also a few feet away, was thinking the same thing. But unlike Suki, he was thinking out loud.
Her stomach churned again so she figured that now’s the proper time to make her presence known and approach her boyfriend to invite him to dinner. However, the sound of Sokka’s voice made her stay frozen in place. Suki’s curiosity got the best of her so she stealthily moved behind a large cherry blossom tree.
“Hey, Yue.” She heard.
“Thought that you’d be hiding from me again,” Sokka half-heartedly chuckled. “But really, thank you for being here tonight—no, every night. I know you’re always there.”
Suki peeked from her position behind the tree and saw that Sokka was staring up at the night sky—at the moon. His face was somber.
She remembered that time watching the Ember Island players. During the midnight after the play, when everyone had retreated to their rooms in the beach house, Sokka told her the story of him and Yue. Suki didn’t say a thing, she saw the raw emotions in his eyes and that was enough for her to fully understand. They didn’t talk about the moon spirit or anything else after that night since Suki absolutely hates seeing Sokka sad.
“I wanna say that it’s Zuko and Uncle Iroh’s fault for making the past nights restless for me but I think they knew that I was already thinking what I’m thinking; if that makes sense,” He continued to speak and she continued to listen. “It was already on my mind and I guess they just picked up on it, you know? I guess?”
Huh, what did Zuko and his uncle do this time? At first you would think that an Uncle would be the first to scold his nephew, but in this case, the Uncle is the Nephew’s partner in committing mischief.
Sokka still wasn’t aware of her presence so Suki silently wished for her empty stomach not to make a sound. The garden was so quiet and serene.
“Being the moon spirit and all with your spirit powers, I know you know what I’m thinking but I just have to say it out loud or else I’ll, boom! Pssh, pew, explode into pieces! Mentally of course…”
Suki covered her mouth with her hand and tried her best not to giggle at her boyfriend’s dorkiness. One of the many things she surely loved about him.
“But I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m in love with Suki.”
This time, it was a gasp she struggled to hold in.
“But I don’t know how, when, where I’ll tell her!” Sokka exclaimed in obvious frustration. “Maybe… Maybe I’m scared that she doesn’t feel the same way?”
Suki frowned at this. Of course she loves him! She wants to let the whole world know that she, Suki of Kyoshi Island is in love with Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe!
She hears Sokka let out another heavy sigh so she peeked again. He doesn’t look tired, no. He looks very confused. All she wants to do is go and run to him and kiss him until they run out of air, but she refrains from doing so. Suki thinks that Sokka still has more to say to the moon.
A beat.
“Yeah, I know it’s my consciousness speaking but I know it’s you. You’re right,” She sees him nod to himself. “I’ll go the library now and tell her right there and then.”
Panic kicks in in Suki’s body and she scrambles her brain for ideas. Should she turn around, run back to the library before Sokka gets there? But knowing the marble floors of the palace, her shoes will make too much noise and she’ll catch him red handed! Ugh!
“I miss you so much, Yue,” Sokka gives one last longing look up at the night sky. “Thank you for listening. Thank you so much.”
Sokka gets up from where he’s seated. His heart feels lighter now knowing someone listened to his thoughts. And confidence rushes through his veins. He’s dead set on letting Suki know that he’s in love with her.
Suki watches her boyfriend’s movements and before a second thought tells her off, her body instinctively propels forward, as if having a mind of its own.
Sokka steps back in surprise when he sees her in front of him.
“Sokka…” She trails off. Great, just great, she thinks. She approaches him without knowing what to say.
But before she even gets the chance to do so, Sokka has the gut feeling that she’ll say something. He doesn’t know what, but it’s something.
So he grabs her by the waist and pulls her in for a breathtaking kiss.
When he pulls back, he looks into Suki’s blue eyes that looked absolutely ethereal under the moonlight.
“I love you, Suki.”
She felt his heartbeat race in between their embrace. Was he really scared that she didn’t feel the same? So, Suki just knows how to remedy his fear.
“And I love you, Sokka.”
They both lean in at the same time to connect their lips. Their stomach swirls with butterflies and their heads were clouded by the feeling of true love.
And in their mind, they both say their silent thank you’s to the moon.
To Yue.