Happiness Recommended
Chapter Four
Sokka had been having a horrible week. It started the day that Iroh had left him in charge of the shop, and when he met that boy, Zuko. He was rude, and a total jerk, and Sokka couldn't see how they could be related. Iroh was kind and gentle and had a great sense of humor. He always put others first and always had an ear open for anyone who needed it. The boy, meanwhile, just got on Sokka's nerves. He didn't even have to say anything!
Sokka let out a rather loud noise in frustration and the nurse gave him a disapproving look. That was another thing…
He hated hospitals.
He wandered back to his grandmother's room and entered quietly, sighing when he saw his sister curled up next to the elderly woman, sleeping. It was no surprise, really. Katara refused to leave her side, and it wasn't a mystery to Sokka why. After one year, ten months, and three weeks in the hospital, their mother had died. Sokka could recall how every day Katara would cling to the sickly woman, asking her when she was going to come home. [i]Soon[/i] was always the reply. Then came the day when their father told them no when they asked to go see their mom. They were young, but they still understood that the tears in their father's eyes were not of joy.
Sokka shook his head in an attempt to clear his suddenly morbid thoughts. Gran Gran was [i]not[/i] going to die. He made his way over to the chair by the bed. Gran Gran had been there for four days and the doctors still didn't know what was wrong. A neighbor had called an ambulance when she heard a shout from their yard. She must have become dizzy and slipped, falling down the deck stairs to where they found her unconscious.
The good news, at least, was that there were no broken bones. The bad news was that they had no clue what had caused her to become dizzy in the first place. Sokka was hoping that it was a mild form of heat stroke. At least that way she would be okay, he told himself.
He took the old woman's hand in his and let his head fall so that his forehead touched their clasped hands. She had to be okay. They couldn't lose her too, not with their dad still off fighting the war. He didn't want to have to live off the system. He knew what happened to those kids. He'd heard the stories, and he definitely didn't want to be split up from Katara. She was strong, but who knew what sick fuck might take her in?
Sokka was pulled from his train of thought as the door opened, a bald boy and blind girl entering the room.
"Hey, Snoozles. How you doing?" Toph asked as she felt her way around the room, searching for something to sit on.
Sokka, seeing this, stood and offered her his chair.
She felt out his bicep and gave it a punch in gratitude. "Thanks, Snoozles. Hey, have you been working out?" she asked playfully.
"Uh, yeah, a little," he muttered.
Aang made his way over to the side of the room Katara was on and stood by her. "Is Gran Gran going to be okay?" he asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
Sokka sighed. "They said there's nothing broken, but they don't know what made her so dizzy that she fell. You know Gran Gran, she could take on a raccoon-bear and walk away without so much as breaking a sweat." he said as he began to pace the room.
"Face it, Snoozles. She's like what? Ninety? These things happen to the elderly."
"Toph, she's [i]Gran Gran[/i]! These things don't happen to her," Sokka said defiantly. He was not going to accept this. She was the almighty Gran Gran. She did [i]not[/i] get old.
Aang sent him an apologetic look. "Look, Sokka, it's the truth. We're all praying that she's going to be okay, but you do have to look at the facts. She's old. She's lived a long life. If it's her time, you can't keep her here," Aang said gently as he made his way over to the quickly pacing boy.
"Hey, I'm not down for the count yet," came the voice that Sokka had longed to hear for days.
"Gran Gran!" he cried as he ran over to the bed. He sat on the edge unoccupied by his sister's sleeping form and hugged the woman. "I'm so happy to hear your voice!"
"How long have I been out?" she asked as she tried to get her bearings. She could feel Sokka's body shaking with unshed tears and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Four days," Toph answered for the sobbing boy. "I think you should wake Sugar Queen here, though. She'll want to see you."
Gran Gran smiled as she turned her attention to the slumbering teenager. She ran her fingers through Katara's hair, which woke her immediately.
Sleepy, blue eyes teared up in relief. "Oh, Gran Gran!" she cried as she threw her arms around her neck. "You're okay…you're really okay," she whispered, more to herself than to her grandmother.
"It's alright, sweetie. I'm fine," she reassured her.
X x X
Gran Gran was finally able to go home on the sixth day, with doctor's orders to "take it easy."
[i]Yeah, like Gran Gran's going to do that,[/i] Sokka thought to himself as he entered the kitchen, and sure enough, there she stood in front of the stove, cooking.
"Gran Gran, the doctors said to rest."
"Meh. Doctors, shmoctors. I'm fine. Nothing can keep this granny down!" she exclaimed as Katara hovered close to her.
"Gran Gran, please let me cook," she pleaded as she moved to put on an apron.
"No, Katara. I'm fine, I promise."
Katara cast her gaze downwards. "Fine, but I'm staying right here. If you even [i]look[/i] like you need help, you're going to lay back down."
Sokka smirked as he headed for the front door. "I'm off to work. I'll be home in a few hours. Be careful, Gran Gran, and Katara, make sure you watch her," he said as he slipped out.
X x X
Work found Sokka sitting at the Pai Sho table with Iroh, engrossed in a very demanding game which soon found Sokka losing.
"Ah, I lost again." Sokka sighed as he leaned back and enjoyed his cup of red tea.
Iroh patted his full stomach. "Yes, but you almost had me that time. You are improving greatly, young Sokka," the older man said as he reached for his sandwich.
"Do you really mean that?" Sokka asked hopefully.
Iroh nodded and smiled at the boy. "And I'm sure your grandmother will be okay, Sokka."
Sokka looked down at his hands which held the cup of tea. He was about to open his mouth when the door to the kitchen opened and Zuko came into the room.
"Uncle, is there a music shop around here anywhere?" he asked as he pulled his hood up to cover his scar.
Iroh thought for a moment before Sokka spoke up.
"Yeah. It's a small shop, but they have some pretty cool music. I could show you how to get there if you want."
Zuko looked at him as if he were a two-headed badger-frog.
"That's a wonderful idea, Sokka. Zuko, why don't you let Sokka take you?"
Zuko grunted as he grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the door, Sokka getting up to follow him.
"Why are you taking an umbrella? It's sunny out, and the weather lady said that it wasn't supposed to rain."
Zuko rolled his eyes as they headed down the street. Letting Sock-Head show him the way was a bad idea, Zuko thought to himself. If he didn't shut up he was going to take the umbrella and shove it down the boy's throat.
"Soooooo…where are you from, Zuko?"
"Away."
"Well, that's obvious. I mean, like, what town?"
"Uurgh," Zuko muttered. "It's really none of your business. All that matters is that I'm in this stupid town now, and I'm hopefully not staying long."
Sokka looked back at the boy, confusion written on his face. "Why aren't you going to stay long? Don't you like it here?"
"No." Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can you just be quiet? At least until we get to the store?" he asked angrily.
Sokka nodded as he fell in step with the other boy. It was a quiet walk as Sokka attempted to remain quiet. In lieu of talking, he instead chose to mull over why Zuko would bring an umbrella on a sunny day. [i]That wasn't too smart of an idea.[/i] Sokka soon found his lips moving before his brain even registered that fact that they were doing so. "So why [i]do[/i] you have the umbrella?"
Zuko slapped his hand against his forehead. "Why the hell do you think I have the damn thing?"
"…'Cause it's gonna rain?" Sokka then stopped short. "We're here," he said as he pointed to a quaint little hole-in-the-wall of a shop.
"When you said it was small, I didn't think you meant [i]tiny[/i]," Zuko said as they ducked inside.
The walls of the store were lined with shelves that stretched from floor to ceiling and wrapped almost all the way around. There was a space where the door was, and a space toward the back which appeared to lead to a back room. There were rows of CDs that crowded the middle of the store and a sign hanging from the ceiling that said they also did guitar repairs.
"Where's the cash register?" Zuko asked as he looked around, not finding any sort of counter.
"That's the fun part―finding it," Sokka said as he went to one of the sections along the wall.
There was a sticker proclaiming the area [i]Pop/Rock[/i], though Zuko could see a few obviously neither pop nor rock albums on the shelves. Following Sock-Head's lead, he went to check the section. He found a few titles that interested him, and a few that he'd never heard of before.
Sokka grabbed a CD from the shelf and handed it to Zuko. "You might like this one, if you like rock," he said as he continued on through the store.
Zuko had to admit that for such a small shop, it was well stocked. He made a slow round through the room, finding several CDs that caught his eye. As he continued browsing, he noticed a small niche in a shelf at about eye level that served as a window. Walking closer, he could see a man with several facial piercings and tattoos standing behind the stacks. [i]Ah, so that's where it is.[/i] "I found the register," Zuko said as Sokka came up behind him, a stack of CDs in his hands.
"Told you that was the fun part," he said as he passed the man his pile.
He rang Sokka's order up and motioned for them to step back. The two complied and the shelf swung out, allowing the man to hand Sokka the bag with his purchase in it.
"Next," the man said, his boredom evident.
Zuko stepped in front of the window and passed him his order. "Do you sell guitar strings?" he asked as he glanced up at the [i]We Fix Guitars[/i] sign.
"Yeah, what are you looking for?" the man asked, sizing Zuko up.
"I need an electric G string."
"How many feet?"
"Enough for two rounds."
"You okay with two packages of one round?"
Zuko nodded and the man reached above his head to grab what Sokka could only assume was the string. Zuko paid for his order, receiving his bag in the same manner Sokka had been given his. The two thanked him and left.
As Sokka opened the door, a loud thunder clap went off, causing him to jump, and then it began to pour. He turned to Zuko, amazed. "How did you know it was going to rain? Are you psycho?"
"Don't you mean psychic?"
"Nope," Sokka said, laughing as Zuko raised an eyebrow at him.
"You do realize that I'm not sharing my umbrella with you, right?" Zuko said smugly as he opened said device.
"Wait, really? But then I'll get all wet!" Sokka cried.
"And that's my problem how? You're the one who didn't grab an umbrella when we left."
"'Cause the nice weather lady said it was gonna be sunny all day!" Sokka retorted.
"And if this 'nice weather lady' told you that the platypus-bears were suddenly non-extinct and found humans to be a tasty treat, would you believe her?"
"Well…no, but she's a meteorologist. There's science behind this!"
"Who needs science?" was Zuko's response as he gestured to the umbrella in an invitation for Sokka to join him. "But I'm holding it."
Sokka looked at him, confused, as they made their way back to the tea shop.
Iroh was waiting inside with towels for them. "So I see you two have formed a bond with each other," he said, handing them each a warm towel, as the umbrella did little but keep their heads dry considering it was almost too small for one person, let alone two.
Sokka thanked the older gentleman as he wrapped the soft cotton/poly blend towel around his shoulders. "Um…do you happen to have an extra shirt I can wear until mine dries?" he asked hopefully. The last thing he needed was to get sick, especially with his Gran Gran still recovering.
"No, I don't have any other clothes." Zuko motioned for him to follow as he went up the stairs and into the apartment, pulling out a pair of pants and a shirt. "You can change in the bathroom," he said, pointing to the overly lit room nearby.
Sokka thanked him and went to change, forcing himself not to snoop around as he did so.
Once the two were done, they made their way back downstairs, where Iroh was waiting for them.
"I'll drive you home, Sokka. It's still raining out quite badly."
"Thank you, sir."
"It's my pleasure. Do you want to come with us, Nephew?" Iroh asked, hope filling his voice.
"No, I have to change the strings on my guitar. See you later, Sock-Head," Zuko said as he waved over his shoulder.
"But my name is Sokka."
"I know what I said."
X x X
[AN: If anyone's ever been to the NORTH END in Boston, the shop Emburto's is the kind of "hole in the wall" shop I mean. Btw, they have yummy food.]
Okie, well, that chapter's done! I just want to let everyone know, that I know WHERE I'm taking this story, it's getting there that's the problem, so bare with me. Pretty please? Also, emburto's has DELICOUS food! Also, the music store is based off a book store in Salem Mass that literally has no tables; the books are stacked on the floor covering the walls and the counter. Right down to the window. Unfortunately, the wall does not open all super-cool like.
