Hey, guess what! It's Zutara Month 2015! Almost didn't find out about this! I'm glad I did; I needed something to get me out of my recent random bout of writer's block!

Anyways, if you're visiting through Tumblr, welcome! Please feel free to R&R on anything else you see here. If you want to scope my Tumblr or my AO3 account, look me up under kangaroo2010. You can also find me on Twitter at historybuff2013, where you will encounter a very cute picture of my wife and I looking adorable while painting a friend's house. But whatever; on with the show!

Also, real quick: There's a bit of Korean in here, and yes, I used Google Translate. *hangs head in shame* If you're an actual Korean speaker, feel free to shoot me the proper translation, and I will love you forever and give you total credit for the fix.

Secret Lovers

TO SAY THAT SOKKA WAS A BIT THROWN OFF BY THE GIRL WHO ANSWERED THE DOOR WOULD BE SOMETHING OF AN UNDERSTATEMENT. It didn't help, he decided later, that, until that moment, everything had gone precisely according to plan. His plane had left Katvik right on time – a rarity in the Southern Water Tribes, where time was considered a rather loose concept – and the flight itself was smooth as silk, another rarity, seeing as it was the autumn storm season. He had hit the ground in Omashu with time to spare, which meant that, rather than racing through Earth Kingdom Customs and hauling ass from the international to the domestic terminal, he and Yue had been able to saunter their way along, pausing for a beer (for him; Yue preferred a glass of wine) and a bite to eat and ogling at the sights through the windows on the concourse. There had been a hairy moment or three in Ba Sing Se, where they'd had to endure an overnight layover in one of the most gods-awful motels he had ever seen (which, considering that he was a cop, was saying something), but he and Yue had made it work, and their final flight, this time to Republic City, had gone off without a hitch.

Everything clicked into place quite nicely after that. Yue had flashed her old diplomatic passport at Customs, and flashed it again at the currency exchange window, which meant that they were given the true exchange rate, rather than the typical bullshit airport rate. Within ten minutes of hitting the cab rank, they had lucked into a driver who happened to be Water Tribe, and spent the ride to his sister's apartment in easy-going conversation. Even his sister's apartment complex was a bit of a win/win, since, while not the nicest place he had ever seen, it was not nearly the run-down hellhole Gran-Gran was convinced it would be. So, when he and Yue finally reached his sister's door, he was in quite the happy mood. His brilliant plan to pay a surprise visit to his sister, while at the same time formally introducing her to his fiancé (among other ulterior motives), seemed to have gone off perfectly. Thus it was that, after delivering his signature Sokka Knock upon the door, he stepped back, threw an arm around Yue's waist, spread his other arm wide, and took a deep breath, the better to bellow, Surprise!

Which was why the reality that his sister's apartment door had just been opened by an incredibly unamused young woman whom Sokka had neither seen nor heard of was such a startling one.

For a long, outrageously awkward moment, nothing happened. They all stood there, Sokka with his mouth hanging open, Yue shaking from the effort required to suppress a full-blown case of the giggles, and last but not least the girl, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorjamb, one eyebrow popped up, her mouth twisted into something halfway between a frown and a smirk.

In the end, it was the strange girl who broke the deadlock. Reaching up one hand to brush a random lock of jet-black hair from her eyes (which, Sokka realized, were golden, which, combined with her pale complexion and almond-shaped eyes, marked her down as being of Fire Nation extraction), she asked, in one of the most bored-sounding voices Sokka had ever heard in his life, "Geuligo dodaeche dangsin-eun nugu-inga?"

Shit. Sokka was many things, but a polyglot was not one of them. He spoke Inuktitut, of course, as well as his tribal dialect, and he could make himself understood in Guangzhou and swear in Gorkhali, but as for Hangugeo, the language spoken in the Republic of the Four Nations? He couldn't even ask where the bathroom was. At a loss, he blinked, first once, then twice, and then a few more times, especially when Yue cleared her throat to get his attention. He turned, still lost and uncomprehending, to find her tapping her chin, her deep blue eyes glittering with laughter.

It took him a moment, but he got what she meant, slamming his mouth shut and turning back to the Fire Nation girl in the doorway. "Um…" He winced, grimaced, made vague, awkward hand gestures through the air. "You…um…wouldn't happen to speak Inuktitut, would you?"

The girl in the doorway unleashed the most irritating scoff Sokka had ever heard and rolled her eyes. Her answer wasn't all that encouraging, either, since Sokka didn't have to be a genius to figure out that it boiled down to, The fuck are you on about, asshole?

At a loss, he turned to his fiancé, spreading his hands and shrugging and putting on his very best Sokka Smile, but it appeared that Yue was enjoying the spectacle of him at a loss for words too much to intervene. Defeated, he turned back to the girl, wracked his brain some more, and finally managed to stammer out, in Guangzhou he himself admitted was a bit on the subpar side, "Well…um…just…who…um…you, and…uh…where sister mine?"

This finally seemed to get a reaction out of the girl that went being open contempt. Rolling her eyes and huffing, she shoved off from the doorjamb and headed into the apartment, leaving the door open as she bellowed for someone called Toph. Sokka, for his part, was content to stand there and stare, since that seemed unlikely to get him any more flustered, but then Yue was sliding out from under his arm, slinging her purse over her shoulder, and picking up her suitcase.

"Come on, Sokka," she said, smiling from ear-to-ear as she followed the mysterious girl into the apartment, "I just have to see where this is going."

Grumbling under his breath, Sokka gathered up his own things (which, because Yue was a big believer in traditional gender roles having a time and a place, included her massive other suitcase) and followed his fiancé. "You know, sweetheart," he said, trying to get everything through the door without making even more of a fool of himself, "you could've stepped in and thrown me a bone."

Yue just giggled, turned, leaned back, and pecked him lightly on the check. "What, and miss out on the chance to see what my future husband looks like when he's flummoxed? That doesn't happen very often, you know."

"That's because you've never seen my sister tear a chunk out of me."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, babe." He gave her a quick peck on the lips and kicked the front door closed with his foot. "Let's see what other horrors await."

Later, when he had time to sit down and try to drink certain images from his mind, he would bitterly regret jinxing himself that way.

The apartment, from what Sokka had so far seen, was fairly nice, a bit small and cramped by Water Tribe standards, too, but from what he'd been given to understand, quite spacious for Republic City. It appeared to consist of two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a living room/common room that opened onto a balcony through a sliding glass door, which was currently open, for reasons that quickly became apparent. Sokka looked around, taking it all in, until finally his gaze settled on the area in front of a cheap and boxy TV. The TV was plugged into a game console, the screen on pause, the controller being taken up by the mystery Fire Nation girl as she settled herself down onto a pile of pillows that formed a sort of cushion on the floor at the foot of the couch. His eyes wandered to the couch itself, and the occupant who was currently sprawled across it, bare feet propped on one arm while their head lolled against the other. This occupant was one who Sokka had expected to meet, since she was Toph, his sister's roommate. For the most part, she was as he had been lead to believe, from her milky-green eyes to the perpetually bare feet to the folded-up white cane that she compulsively twirled in her fingers.

What he hadn't expected, however, was to walk into the living room right as the girl named Toph took a massive hit from a bong that looked like it weighed more than she did.

That act, combined with the look of horror spreading across his face, did Yue in. She doubled over, body heaving, tears streaming from her eyes as she burst into laughter so hysterical that, for a moment, Sokka feared for her sanity.

For a moment, at least, before he stepped up to the couch and snatched the bong from Toph's hands, an act that earned him an impressive string of obscenities, which he cut off by reaching into his pocket and pulling out his police ID.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" he bellowed, lapsing into Inuktitut in his anger. "What are you trying to do, get my sister deported? Or worse, arrested?!"

By now, Yue had stumbled to a stool in the kitchen and collapsed onto it, gasping for breath as Sokka began looking around for a phone, the better to have this horrid delinquent hauled off by the local authorities. And boy, when I get my hands on Katara, is she going to get an earful! I don't care what she thinks; we'll be on the plane back home first thing tomorrow morning. This is just-

"Hey, asshole, either take a hit or give it back."

His eyes flew wide as saucers as he rounded on his sister's roommate, who was holding out her hand and looking very pissed off.

"You…" He paused, frowned, drew himself up into what he liked to call his Sokka Cop Pose. "You speak Inuktitut?"

She scoffed. "I'm good at picking up languages. Now, like I said, it's puff-puff-pass not puff-puff-keep, dickhead."

He shoved his police ID into her face. "Does this mean nothing to you?"

That earned him another scoff. "Your sister's told you I'm blind, right?"

Yue, who had started to calm down, burst into another round of pealing laugher, slamming a fist on the kitchen counter as she tried not to fall off her stool. Sokka, for his part, flipped the ID closed and shoved it into his back pocket. "Well…um…just checking."

"Uh huh. So, you gonna give me my bong back, or what?"

"Absolutely not; in fact, I've half a mind to call the police."

That earned him the most derisive scoff yet. "You do know that weed is legal here, right?"

That threw Sokka for a loop. "Wait…it is?"

"Yup, now, if you'll excuse me," and with that, the girl named Toph, her blindness be damned, deftly leaned up and snatched the bong out of Sokka's hand before passing it down to the other girl. Settling back into the couch, Toph tilted her head until she was facing his general direction and asked, sounding much more relaxed now, "So, you're Sokka, right?"

Sokka nodded. "Yes, I am. And this…um…" He paused, suddenly feeling awkward and ungainly, as he realized that he was gesturing at Yue, a pointless activity in this context if he had ever seen one. "Well…uh…the girl who came with me is-"

"Yue, right? Your fiancé?"

Sokka tried not to feel let down. Honest. "Well…um…how would you know that?"

"Because Katara was the first person I called and told the news," Yue said, appearing – almost out of thin-air – next to him, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes with one hand while she slid the other around his waist and nestled her head into the crook of his shoulder.

Sokka frowned. "Wait…you two talk to each other?"

"At least once a week," Yue admitted, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and something Sokka should've just assumed.

Instead, he felt himself getting a bit peevish. "Wait…she only talks to me once a month!"

"Don't get hung up on details, dear heart, and don't worry, I didn't spoil your surprise visit," Yue replied, patting his stomach, popping up to give him a peck on the cheek, before turning her attention to the girl on the couch and rattling off into Hangugeo, showing off the globe-trotting education she had received as her father spent a distinguished career in the Northern Water Tribe's diplomatic corps. Feeling a bit superfluous as the conversation continued, he found his mind – along with his eyes – wandering, taking in the various decorations, pictures, knick-knacks, posters, the multiple ashtrays overflowing with…

Wait… He paused, gave himself a shake, pressed on. Later. I'm sure Katara will have a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. So, she didn't tell me her blind roommate is also a bit of a pothead, oh well. I'm her brother; she doesn't have to tell me everything, right? And besides, she's a doctor, for La's sake, she can't get into too…much…

…

Trouble…

He almost skipped the picture, sitting all nice and innocuous on the coffee table between the couch and the TV. After all, what was one picture among what were, no doubt, dozens? But then something caught his eye, and he took a longer look, and saw that it was, in fact, a picture of his sister, looking just as beautiful as ever, smiling from ear-to-ear, dolled up in formal wear and looking like she was having the time of her life. The goofy grin on her face was so happy, so cheerful, so rapturous, that he started to smile himself. He just couldn't help it. Sure, she was far away from home, up here in Republic City, but the girl who could take that picture had to be having a good time, and maybe he shouldn't worry so much, after all, everything would be explained in time, she probably got called in at the last minute to the hospital and didn't call him to tell him because this visit was supposed to be a surprise, anyways, and after all…

After all…

After…

All…

That's when he noticed that his sister was not alone in the picture. Oh no, she was not alone at all. He found himself untangling himself from Yue, walking around the couch, reaching down for the picture. The video game on the TV was paused again, and the Fire Nation girl had disappeared, he could almost hear her muffled voice jabbering away in Nihongo to someone, it sounded like a phone conversation, but he quickly tuned that out. He reached down, picked up the picture, held it to his face.

There was a boy there, a boy who looked remarkably like the girl who had opened his sister's door. This boy had a long, vicious scar running down his left cheek, as if someone had gone at him with a knife, a look which seemed quite at odds with the beaming smile on his face. The boy was dressed in a uniform, one Sokka vaguely recognized as being the dress uniform of the Republic City police, and then Sokka's eyes well and truly opened and he gasped as he realized that his sister had her arms wrapped tight around this boy, and this boy had his arms wrapped tight around her.

Things got a bit…weird…after that.

Later, after Yue had worked on him a bit, he would come to see the humor in it all, the irony, if one will. After all, wasn't it just so…well…how did Yue put it, appropriate? And when he thought about it, even someone as privately skeptical as he was (not that he'd ever admit that, not where his grandmother or his very religious fiancé could hear him do so) had to admit that there was a certain amount of symmetry to the situation. Just take the names: His sister, Katara, named for their father's mother, who was, in turn, named, like so many Southern Water Tribe girls, for the famous Fire Lady. And that boy being named Zuko, after the very Fire Lord that still-famous (even after over two centuries) Fire Lady had ruled and reigned beside? Factor in a blind friend named Toph, and point out that the mysterious Fire Nation girl turned out to be this Zuko's sister, and was, for the love of all the gods, named Azula of all things? And they even had a kindly old uncle named Iroh?

What next? he couldn't help but wonder. Will they one day – gods forbid – have a granddaughter named Korra, who ends up being the next Avatar? Once his mind started wandering down that road, even he had to chuckle to himself about the whole thing.

None of that would ever expunge from his mind the sight of his sister bursting in through her own front door breathless and flushed, dressed in tattered jeans and wearing a hoodie that was blatantly not her own, leading by a firmly clasped hand the boy named Zuko with what could only be called bed head.

No, nothing, not a gods-damn thing, could ever cleanse him of that little memory.

So, a few things before we get started. First...eh, I'm not really all that happy with how this piece came out. It gets off to a really clunky start, and we won't even get into my infamous propensity for writing Zutara stories with very little actual Zutara in them (it's a disease, I know, work with me). I like tomorrow's submission much better, and I'm really stoked about some of the stuff that I have coming down the pike for you guys this month. Like, super stoked.

But I digress. First things' second, I have to answer the really important question, that being: What have you been up to lately, Morgan? (by the way, for those not in the know, I think it's safe to tell you that my name is Morgan, and yes, I know, it's a girl's name, bite me) Well...I've actually been up to a lot...but also not that much. It's been weird. Last month was crazy busy, but also not in the least bit productive, and no, I have not the least idea how that came to be. Preparations for me and the wife's big church wedding down in Mexico have been ramping up (don't get excited, though; the vast majority of her family lives in Mexico, so it's actually a cost-cutting decision as much as anything else, not some destination wedding bullshit), which is pretty cool, but also a bit stressful. The dog is doing much better these days, and my wife and I have decided, after the wedding in the Church, that we're going to get to making babies, a decision that really freaks me out in the degree to which it doesn't freak me out at all. Weird, right? Of course, by then, we'll already have been married for a good two years, and been together for almost six (Christ, I'm getting old), but whatever, our mothers are of the opinion that we're dragging our feet in an effort to destroy their lives, so blah.

By the way, our moms? Not actually that crazy. Well...most of the time.

What else, what else...oh! Thanksgiving was last week here in the States, and for the first time in my life, I actually had a pleasant experience. No one ended up in tears, I didn't end up drunker than a shit-house rat in an effort to calm my nerves, I didn't end up burning through a full three packs of cigarettes, my wife churned out some of the best goddamn mashed potatoes I've ever eaten in my life, and I rocked the shit out of the turkey and the ham. All in all, good times, and my step-dad only went on one racist rant, which is something of a world record for a Trump supporter like him (and I so wish I was joking about that).

Oh, on that last bit there...if you're a conservative, GOP voter, that's fine. I'm an unapologetic bleeding-heart liberal, but I'm a big believer in that that doesn't mean we can't all get along...unless you support Donald Trump, and not in an ironic, oh boy, I can't wait to see what he does next, sort-of-way. If that's the case, we just can't be friends. Sorry. I'm sure you're not in the least bit devastated.

Man...this note is getting long. I promise future ones won't be as ridiculous (the first one's typically the longest, isn't it?). So, the theme for Zutara Month this year...basically, thirty-one prompts is waaaay too much for me to try and wield into a cohesive storyline, like I did with Zutara Week (which is under "Of Brothers and Sisters," and you should go scope that shit if you haven't already). What I've decided to do, is to take all sorts of little headcanons and little story ideas that I've had floating around in my skull for the past couple years, basically anything that didn't have enough meat for a big project but was not quite small enough for a one-shot, and use the prompts to get them out of my skull and out here, where they can't bother me anymore. Some of the stories will be happy, some funny, others sad. There will be a few that serve as follow-ups to past works of mine, others that will be part of a shared continuity (like this one, which I call the Cop/Doctor universe, set in a modern-day Republic City), and a few will even be complete stand-alones. Don't worry, I'll tell which is which, typically at the top of the page; I won't try to confuse you too much.

Alright...I think that's more than enough. There'll be another entry set in this same universe, so I'll talk more about it then. Until then...

Tomorrow, Korra wonders what the red silk cord is for, and a very old Katara tells her. Stay tuned!