Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.
96
Suki looked around furtively, eyes darting this way and that, before dumping creamer into her coffee. She didn't want to get caught.
But, thankfully, Sokka wasn't around, and she cupped the mug in both hands before taking a sip, shoulders coming up in delight as she savored the sweetness on the tip of her tongue. This was the first morning in over a week that she'd gotten to drowse lazily in bed until ten in the morning. With finals coming up, and Song's wedding entering it's final stages of planning- only ten weeks away now- and work at the cafe, Suki felt as though she'd barely gotten time to catch her breath.
That was the funny thing about life, though, she thought idly, trailing her fingers over the smooth counter top. A week ago, she and Sokka had surrendered to the reality of real relationships, real growth, real change. And it had been hard at first, awkward, and the changes hovered over them, coating every conversation in a fragile tension. Then the dates for finals were announced and Sokka had rubbed her shoulders to ease the anxiety away, and two days later, Sokka had come home, exhausted, from a double shift at work, and fallen into her arms. It had been the most natural thing in the world, and she had wrapped her arms around his waist and laughed when he'd nuzzled her neck, scratching her with his light scruff.
And piece by piece, day by day, they were returning to normalcy, to the peace that she had longed for on the car ride home.
"How much creamer did you put in your coffee?" Sokka asked in indignation, and she nearly jumped from her skin, fumbling with the mug and spilling coffee all over her sweater.
Suki shot him an accusatory glare, and he looked away, laughter locked behind his lips like an animal in a cage. She pulled her sweater off, tossing the sopping mess in the corner of the kitchen that was nearest to the washing machine, before grabbing a tea towel to wipe at the coffee that had spread across her sports bra. "You're an ass," she seethed.
"Not your best comeback."
Suki tossed the towel over with her stained sweater. "You startled me. I'm trying to regain my wits; feels like they spilled all over the floor with my coffee."
"I don't think you can really call that coffee," Sokka chuckled. "More like creamer with a dash of lightly stained water."
"This is exactly why I was trying to hide," she grumbled.
Sokka, openly grinning now, glided over to his fancy pour-over set-up, a gift from Katara for his last birthday. "Would you like me to make you some real coffee?"
"You think I don't know real coffee?" Suki asked. "I work in a café."
He flipped one hand dismissively. "Dregs." But as he strode over to electric kettle from its place on the counter by the refrigerator, he stilled, his eyes sliding to the circled date on the calendar, exactly three weeks from this day. 'Big Move' was written in Katara's elegant script, a goofy little smiley face- definitely Aang's handiwork- next to it.
Suki frowned with sympathy, going to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. She pressed her face against the warmth of his broad back. "It'll be okay," she murmured.
"It won't," he replied softly, turning in her arms. "My girlfriend doesn't even know what good coffee is. Nothing will ever be okay again."
She rolled her eyes, her arms dropping away from his waist as she turned away. "Okay, that's the last time I try to comfort you about-"
He cut her off with a kiss, warm and sweet, lingering just a moment too long, or maybe a moment too short.
"Thank you," he said when he pulled away. "I know it'll be okay. Just sad to see my little sister go." He placed a theatrical hand to his cheek, wiping away a fake tear. "They just grow up so fast."
"Spirits, you're annoying," Suki laughed.
"You love me."
"I do."
"I guess this is our two week's notice," Katara said, her hand wrapped around Aang's as they sat in the break room of the cafe. Zuko sat across from them, and Iroh was perched casually on the table.
"We're sorry to see you go," Iroh said earnestly, "but what an exciting opportunity for you both! I'm so happy for you."
Zuko eyed them. "It's actually three weeks," he muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Aang asked politely.
"You said it was your two week's notice, but... it's actually three weeks from now," Zuko said. "Your last day."
Aang laughed awkwardly. "Well, we just wanted to make sure you had plenty of advance notice."
Zuko nodded, a silent 'thank you', and turned to his uncle. "Guess we have to look for two new hires."
"Good point," Iroh said, bringing a hand to his chin. He eyed them thoughtfully. "Do you two have any recommendations?"
"Actually," Katara said slowly, "I think I might have one."
Aang oscillated back and forth between amusement, amazement, and genuine concern. He couldn't tell if it was a brilliant move, or a terrible one. "She's going to be so mad at you," he said seriously. And then another snort of laughter escaped him.
"Well, she said that she hated her job at 'Panda Lily Express'," Katara explained defensively.
"Yea, but you essentially made them hire her on the spot," Aang said. "You didn't even give her a chance to say 'yes' or 'no'."
Katara grumbled. "She didn't give me a chance to say 'yes' or 'no'... about anything."
Aang shot her a wary look, one eyebrow raised. "Was there something you wanted to say 'no' to?"
"Of course not," Katara replied quickly. "It's not that I'm not appreciative of what she's done, or happy that she's paved the way for these opportunities..."
"Then, what is it?"
Katara crossed her arms over her chest, almost embarrassed. "It's that she's so smug about it. It's infuriating. Did you know that she wanted to be the one to tell you that my credits officially transferred? I had to tell her to wait. There is a teeny-tiny part of me that wants to say 'no' to the stuff she's masterminded, just to spite her."
He laughed again, dropping an arm over her shoulder and pulling her close. "Well, I'm glad you didn't."
"Me, too, but I won't pretend like I'm not looking forward to the payback."
"How should we do it?" he asked.
Katara bit her lip. "I'm torn between telling her at dinner tonight, 'hey, you're my replacement at Iroh's cafe', or, like, picking her up under the guise of 'hanging out', and then driving to the cafe and dropping her off for her first shift."
"That second one is a strong contender," Aang chuckled.
Her features shifted into a wicked grin. "I was thinking the exact same thing."
Suki's foot tapped nervously under the table. Song was arriving any moment.
And the last two times she'd seen Song, she'd been yelled at. Thoroughly. Devastatingly.
Her eyes flitted to the entrance to the restaurant, where Song glided through the doorway like some fae creature, her long, silken hair trailing behind her. She flounced into her seat and sat primly on the chair, her legs crossed neatly and her hands folded expectantly on the table.
"Hello, Song," Suki greeted her, both nervous and amused.
"Before we get started, is there something you'd like to say to me?" Song asked her loftily.
"Many things, some appropriate, others... not so much."
Song scoffed. "You owe me an apology."
"What did I do to you, exactly?"
Song ran her fingers through the strands of her dark hair. It was a move, meant to look artfully nonchalant, a sign of her emotional distance from the topic of conversation, but Suki knew her friend well enough to realize that way that Song was trying to guard herself. How nervous she was, too.
"You ran your boyfriend off with your immaturity, and in his deep, deep depression, he took full advantage of my hospitality," Song said, not quite whining. "And it completely ruined his sexy, brooding, image for me, Suki, like just completely obliterated it."
"I'm endlessly sorry."
Song glared at her. "I've been harboring a sort of oblique fantasy about him- I'm crushing on him for you- and I literally felt it drain from my body when he got drunk on my wine spritzers and cried."
Suki bit her lip. "He's a real person, Song, not a fantasy. So am I. I made a mistake. I'm trying to fix it-"
"He cried, Suki. Over you."
"And I cried over him, Song!" Suki threw her hands in the air in irritation. "Fuck, what do you want? An apology? I'm sorry- to you- that Sokka and I got into a big fight. I'm sorry that it inconvenienced you."
Song's eyes rolled- impressively, Suki thought to herself, she could only see the whites of Song's eyes. "Are you this dense, truly? You think I was upset that he was there?"
"Well, aren't you?"
"Spirits, no. In between moments of confused derision that he would cry over you being a bitch to him, I also got to see him without a shirt. I considered that payment enough."
Suki frowned. "You know, you might be over-stepping it with the crush thing-"
"The real reason that I'm upset," Song continued loudly, ignoring Suki completely, "is equally as selfish."
"Shocker."
Song tossed her hair. "Perhaps you remember, months and months ago, when we sat in a restaurant just like this one and I begged you- literally begged, and I don't beg- to consider moving in with the dark, mysterious stranger in the massive and beautiful apartment?"
"Obviously, I remember that," Suki grumbled. She didn't care for where this was going.
"I told you that I wanted something- do you remember what it was? I had a goal for you. And we were so close." She held her thumb and forefinger a hair's breadth apart. "So close to achieving that goal."
Suki raked the vaults of her memory, trying to recall a conversation that was nearly a year old. "You wanted me to move in with Sokka because he's hot," Suki said slowly. "And I did. We're even dating."
"I am the catalyst for all of this," Song said, pointing to herself. "This is my vision. You're spoiling my vision."
"Oh, Spirits," Suki sighed, half-laughing. "We're still together, Song. Nothing is spoiled."
Song leaned forward, the point of her forefinger pressing onto the hard wood of their table to emphasize her point. "I will never stop until you are walking down the aisle in a dress that is arbitrarily not white because you don't want to 'conform' and Sokka is standing at the end, looking like a cross between a modern dream and Water Tribe Warrior of old."
Suki blinked in surprise at her vehemence. "Well," she said slowly, "you'll never get there if you continue to cold-shoulder me. I just want my friend back."
"Oh, Suki," Song said, her face arranging itself into something more gentle. "I've never left."
They settled into the booth, and waited. And waited. Toph rarely kept any time other than her own.
When she finally did arrive, her cane rapping against chair legs and patrons' ankles alike, she dumped herself into the booth without so much as a 'Sorry I'm late'.
"It's good to see you, Toph," Aang greeted her warmly. "It's been a while."
"It's literally been two days," Katara grumbled.
Toph's head snapped towards Katara's muffled irritation, and a mischievous grin lit her features. "Well, well, Sugar Queen, did you tell him yet? I've been waiting patiently."
"You've never waited patiently for anything in your life, but yes, I told him," Katara scoffed.
Toph laughed. "I brought our celebratory drinks," she said, patting a bulging bag at her hip.
"We're at a restaurant, Toph," Katara reminded her.
"Yea, I know."
"How's work been?" Aang cut in, heading off a rapidly devolving conversation. "Still getting in arguments with your manager?"
Toph shrugged. "If you can call them that," she said. "I feel like the ability to argue with me denotes a level of intelligence that I have yet to see my manager display."
"Why do you work there, then?" Aang asked delicately.
"Because I have to pay my bills, Twinkle-Toes," Toph said in a falsely sweet voice. "And somebody has to buy the drinks."
Katara forced a smile into her voice. "Good thing, too, because we want to make a toast."
"For what?"
"New jobs, obviously," Katara said.
Toph shrugged again. "Predictable, but okay." She leaned over to pick up her bag and slam it onto the table, glass bottles rattling dangerously inside. She pulled out a bottle of tequila and twisted the cap off. "To your new jobs," she said, holding the bottle up before taking a long pull. She handed the bottle to Katara when she was done.
"To our new jobs," Katara repeated, grinning privately.
A/N: three days in a row. I'm as shocked as you are.