parents!au, meet-cute, bakoda? <3!!
Idk if this is what you had in mind but this is what came out of my brain <3
“Sokka, can you take Katara and go pick out a cereal? I’ll meet you guys somewhere down there.” Hakoda gestured down to the other end of the store as he tucked a packet of rice in next to the bread, smiling gratefully when Sokka grabbed his little sister's hand and headed down towards the fresh produce section.
Pulling the colour-coded list his son had carefully written and then folded out of his pocket, Hakoda couldn’t stop the fond smile that slipped onto his face at the terribly drawn fruit in the corners.
According to the grocery-list-turned-art-project, he had to pick up dish detergent and fabric softener next.
He was still squinting at the different brands of cleaning supplies when Sokka suddenly appeared at the end of the aisle, looking frazzled and breathless and like he might cry when he finally spotted his dad.
“Dad! Dad I swear I didn’t mean to- she was right next to me but then we ran into Zuko and you know what I’m like when he’s around- but I swear I was holding her hand and she was bugging me about wanting fruit loops and then she just wasn’t holding my hand and me and Zuko didn’t see- I’m so sorry I swear it was an accident-” Sokka rambled, waving his hands around and tugging at his fingers the way he always did when he was scared, eyes wide and glassy.
“Wait, wait. Say that again, please.” Hakoda asked hurriedly, alarmed and confused, abandoning his search for dish soap. Sokka took a deep breath and steeled his features, something Hakoda wished he’d never had to learn how to do, before reattempting.
“I can’t find Katara.”
Hakoda felt a mounting panic in his chest, a parent's worst nightmare coming true right there in the middle of a grocery store, when there was an excited shout of “There they are!” and a sudden relief flooded through him, knee-weakening in it’s intensity.
Katara was bouncing down the cleaning aisle from the other end, in one piece and smiling brightly, a colourful box of Fruit Loops hugged to her chest. With a relieved gasp of her name, Sokka shoved past his dad and ran to her, scooping her up in her arms and holding her tightly despite her confused and loud protests at being manhandled.
The man who’d been holding her hand until that point looked relieved, a small smile on his face as he watched the scene, before he seemed to remember something and looked up, punching the air out of Hakoda's lungs.
His eyes were lined in eyeliner that sharpened into a wing, cheekbones high and the lightest hints of stubble across his jaw.
Hakoda's knees were weak for a different reason now, as the man stepped towards him.
"Hey, I found her wandering through the produce section and she told me she was looking for her dad and her brother- I'm guessing that's you?"
Oh fuck off, even his voice was nice.
"Yeah, I'm Hakoda." He introduced, holding out a hand and valiantly pretending to ignore Sokka's sudden teasing grin over Katara's head. "Thank you for finding her so fast, I didn't even learn that she was missing until just then."
"Bato," the man - Bato - returned the handshake. "And it's no problem really, she was very polite and very stern about not falling for any puppy-in-the-van tricks."
Oh Katara, reminding him more and more of her mother every day.
"I really appreciate it, I think my son just about had a panic attack." He looked over to his kids at that, once again relieved to see that Sokka had stopped pulling at his fingers and instead seemed to be alternating between pulling faces at his dad and telling Katara off for wandering away.
After a moment, he realised he was still holding Bato's hand and released it quickly, embarrassment heating his face as he scratched the back of his neck. Bato smiled down at his feet.
"You should come to dinner with us." Sokka spoke up suddenly. "As a thank you for finding Katara."
Hakoda choked on his inhale and Bato looked at Sokka in surprise. "I wouldn't want to intrude- and it was the right thing to do anyway-"
"You wouldn't be intruding." Hakoda interrupted, feeling like a hopeful idiot as Bato turned back to him. "I mean, we really do want to thank you, and food is what we're best at."
It was quiet for a moment, while Sokka and Katara giggled at each other and shot pointed looks between their dad and Bato, until something in Bato seemed to relax and he smiled again.
"I'd love to join you for dinner."
