okay that atla snippet KILLED me. want to share bits from any of your other atla wips? dealer's choice!
We'll go with something from Care & Keeping, which is an AU 5+1 fic (aka five times Zuko got Sokka to talk about Feelings like a functioning human person and one time Sokka didn't make Zuko talk about his) (aka the care and keeping of your emotionally stunted friend when youāre not used to having friends while learning how to run a country (is Zuko or Sokka the stunted one? (The answer is yes!!!!))) where Sokka stays in the Fire Nation after the war to be an advisor/bodyguard/catch-all trusted person while Zuko establishes his rule after the war.
I actually got pretty far in this one, but I don't anticipate finishing it. Regardless! This little snippet is from the first entry, when the Southern Water Tribe, Aang, and Katara are getting ready to leave. Picture the docks with all the people loading ships with stuff. The night before, Sokka told his dad about his plans to stay, which Hakoda (who was really looking forward to, y'know, being home with both his kids) doesn't take great. And scene:
Sokka opens his mouth like he might say something, but stops. Someone calls for Hakoda. Hakoda hesitates, and then walks away. Sokka sags, shoulders slumping, to lean heavily on his crutch.
Zuko frowns and elbows Aang. āWhatās going on with them?ā he asks.
āSokka and his dad got into a fight last night,ā Aang says, quietly, so only Zuko can hear. āIt was really bad. Hakoda yelled. I didnāt think that Hakoda ever yelled.ā
There is a barbed, hard thing that lives in Zukoās chest, and it sharpens every time one of his friends clashes with a parent. It wakes when Tophās face goes blank as sheās read a letter from the Beifongs, or when Maiās mother tells her she could be so pretty if only she smiled, or, like right now, when Aang says that Hakoda yelled. And Zuko knows, he knows, that not all fathers are like his father. He knows that Hakoda is as far from Ozai as a man can reasonably get.Ā
But Sokka stands on the dock, stiff-backed and uncertain among his own people, and Hakoda very deliberately coils a rope into a loop without turning to look at his son.
Aang smiles thinly and says, āGuess Kataraās temper doesnāt come from her mom,ā and the thing in Zukoās chest bares itās teeth and snarls.
yousharknotpass
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