Chapter Text
Katara was packing her bag to leave for Jin’s when Sokka came into her room.
“Another night?” He said, his disapproval hidden behind his forcibly light voice. Arms folded as Katara put the belongings laid out on her bed into an overnight bag.
“I’m going to see Jin. She said something about a sleepover? It’s what teenage girls do apparently.” Katara sighed as she tucked a handful of spare beads for her hair into a pocket of the bag. Sokka's odd mood was irking her.
“We all miss you around the house.” Sokka said, not saying what he really wanted to. “You'll have been gone for two evenings.”
Guilt wiggled in Katara's stomach, but she wasn't just Sokka's sister, and she'd already prepared them dinner which she was convinced was what he was really worried about.
“I promise tomorrow night," Katara held her night clothes to her chest and spun to face Sokka. "We’ll do something just the four of us.”
Except the night after next Iroh would be at Pai Sho again, and Katara wouldn’t be here, again.
Katara wanted it both ways. She wanted to keep growing into whoever it was she was finding in herself in Ba Sing Se. She wanted her days with Jin, her nights with Zuko, her life with her friends. Except the longer she spent trying to balance them all the more barriers she put up between all three of those elements, as if she was turning into Ba Sing Se herself. A body of secrets and walls.
Sokka nodded and wandered into her room as Katara folded her nightgown. Sokka’s fingers brushed the cover of the play she was planning on shoving deep in her pack and trying to forget about.
Katara’s touch on the soft cotton of her clothes went cold as Sokka picked up the play.
“What’s this?” He asked.
“Oh it’s just a book from a friend,” She reached to take it, trying not to sound too panicked, but Sokka was cracking open the spine.
His eyes scanned the pages. The sharp, exacting lines of Fire Nation script Katara couldn’t read but Sokka could. “Are you trying to read it?”
“Yeah,” Katara scratched the back of her neck. “I’ve been trying to learn Fire Nation script. I figured it could be useful.” Sokka learnt it from their Father with the other boys, Katara never thought to try and untangle the elegant sharp shapes of ink from war reports and confiscated scrolls.
She chewed on her lip and tried to snatch the play back but Sokka swerved out the way, eyes eating up the works across the pages Katara couldn't understand. He flicked to the back and read the small scratch of handwritten lines on the cover then dropped the play like it burnt.
"That's -" Sokka gasped.
"What?" Katara said in a panicked voice. Sokka couldn't remove his eyes from the play denting her bedsheets.
"Where did you get that?" He said in a squeaky voice.
"I got it from a friend. They probably found it in an old bookstore or something." Katara said breezily. Picking it back up.
"Katara-" Sokka said gravely following the movement of the book. "That belonged to Fire Lord Azulon."
Katara's eyes widened, she already knew that, but to Sokka it must have looked like his sister just stumbled across a tattered old heirloom belonging to their fiercest enemy.
"Whu- wow." She tried to sound surprised.
"See-" Sokka went to snatch back the book. Sokka cracked open the spine, flopped the pages to the back, and gestured to the script in the corner of the cover. "That's his name. There." He pointed and as he moved the play into Katara's eyeline the loose sheet of Zuko's translations fluttered out.
Sokka pushed the play into Katara's hand and bent over to pick up the sheet of paper.
It's just a few lines of translations. Katara told herself. Nothing . There’s nothing he can tell from -
"What's this?" Sokka said, holding the paper up to the light. He turned it both ways and Katara's heart jumped into her throat, she pulled the open play flat to her chest like armour as if it would block Sokka from seeing the boy behind it.
"Give me that-" Katara went to take back the paper. "It's private." She said.
Not just to her, Zuko didn't even intend for her to find what she had. She’d stolen this.
"Katara-" Sokka said her name like he was scared. His eyes had gone wide. "Katara was is this?"
He spun around the page of paper to a bunch of Fire Nation words she couldn't read. Some sentences were crossed out, as if drafting a letter. Katara shrugged.
"I don't know, must have come with the play."
"Katara, this is your name." Sokka said.
"What?" She played naive, cocking her head.
"It's your name. In Fire Nation Script. Asking if you like the gift and the attempt at translating it for you. Katara, who gave you this?" Sokka pinched the paper, his voice hardened into something close to angry, or fearful. Katara couldn’t hear the particulars in Sokka’s tone behind the sound of her heartbeat in her ears.
"I took it." Katara said in a panic.
"From who!"
Katara's eyes stretched wide. She went to lunge for the paper again, her cheeks hot. "Sokka give it back."
"No!" He held up the paper. "Katara, who gave you Fire Lord Azulon's book!". Katara struggle to snatch it back.
"Give it!" She jumped.
"Who gave it to you!" Sokka held the paper up higher.
"Who do you think!" Katara snapped, still trying to grab the page.
"Why would he translate a play for you!" Sokka squawked and backed around the bedroom, keeping the page out of Katara's grip. She chased after him, tirelessly trying to get it back.
"I don't know, to be nice." Katara said snarkily. Popping her hip. Too concerned with trying to grab back Zuko’s notes to realise what she was clueing Sokka into. "I don't think I'm supposed to have it!"
"You stole this from Zuko! When! Why!” Sokka waved about his arms, fluttering the page with his wild gesturing. “What is this!”
Katara stopped with a huff. What was happening, what struggling to get the paper back from Sokka stopped her from considering, settled over her. She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to not let the weight of Sokka's pressing gaze sicken her.
She didn't even know what was happening. She was falling in love with Zuko. Starting to think he might be falling in love with her back. How does she explain that? Where is she supposed to put all that?
"I took it yesterday." Katara admitted. She opened her eyes and worked the truth slowly through her teeth. "Zuko said to me he might have some tea that could help Jet unblock his memories. I took Jet yesterday, when," Katara sighed again, she played with her fingers then dropped them to her sides. "Zuko was on his lunch break. It didn't work. We're planning on trying again."
Sokka's brow furrowed.
"You took Jet -" He narrowed his eyes. "None of that makes sense!” He threw up his arms and the paper danced into the air before drifting to the ground. “I have more questions now!"
"I know!" Katara matched Sokka's volume and borderline petulant frustration. "I know! It doesn't make sense! But… I like him!" She shouted.
"What!" Sokka waved his arms up. His entire body went wide and stretched as if she'd just dropped some sort of blast inside him and blown Sokka apart. "You like him!"
"He's not that bad!" Katara shouted. Then wound in her neck. "Once you get to know him."
"When did you get to know him!" Sokka shouted.
"Since Jin!" Katara matched Sokka’s tone.
"What!" Sokka shook his head.
“I like him! He’s smart and he’s …”
“If you dare say he’s good deep down Katara, I swear to every Spirit.” Sokka threatened, he ground his teeth and shook his head. “What are you doing? Hanging around with, how long have you been hanging around with,” Sokka spluttered. “ Zuko .”
Katara blushed and her body went stiff. Possible confessions crashed through her mind. What she was doing with Zuko was tearing her apart, the unsustainability of it, the secret happiness, the found fulfilment in a place and person she never imagined could make her feel so much like herself.
“He’s… hurt.” Katara said softly. “And,” She remembered Iroh, remembered yesterday and what he said. Cruelty is all he’s known from most he’s loved . “We weren’t wrong about him, that’s not what I’m saying, I just don’t think … we were right about him either.”
“He’s Zuko.” Sokka shook his head side to side. “He’s an insane fire man.”
Indignation bloomed in Katara’s chest, she put her hand on her hip and flipped the other to the fallen sheet of translations.
“He’s also translating a play for me because I mentioned off hand one time I wouldn’t mind reading it.”
Sokka folded his arms. “He’s probably just trying to lower your defences to get to Aang.”
“He ran away from Aang!” Katara shouted. Defending Zuko against her brother.
“When!” Sokka furrowed his brows and raised his voice.
Katara matched Sokka’s pitch. “At the festival!”
“You were with him at the festival!” Sokka threw open his arms.
“Yes!”
“Ew!”
“What!”
“Ew.” Sokka repeated and pointed at Katara in passionate accusation. “You like him!”
“I already told you I like him!” Katara’s throat protested at all the shouting.
“No you like, like-like him!” Sokka screamed. Katara blushed again. She swooped down and picked up the note on the floor, shoved it in her bag with the play and ignored Sokka, turning her back to him. “Katara!” Sokka shouted.
“What!” She whirled around. Sokka’s mouth hung agape, almost cavernous enough Momo might mistake it for a cave and fly inside it. “Fine. I like him.” Her heart trembled in her chest.
Sokka went very, very, quiet. Katara knew that face, she braced. Sokka was about to get very, very loud.
“YOU HAVE A CRUSH-”
“I’M DATING HIM!” Katara shouted then clapped her hands over her mouth.
“WHAT!”