How You Doing Insane Gang!
Surprise! And extra long chapter for yall.
Disclaimer: If I had rights Zutara would have happened.
He's hung out with them for one day and he already knew that Katara mothered everyone; especially Aang and that he had a not so subtle crush on her. Sokka and Suki were fun and excitable, often they are attached at the hip. He could really get along with Toph. She was a realist with a sarcastic sense of humor that he enjoys. And then there was Katara...as he saw her he felt this spark between them. He hoped he didn't fuck it up today. There was always tomorrow.
He wasn't woken by his alarm clock or his uncle. It was a pillow thrown on his head and a pressure on top of it.
Zuko kicked up in bed and used his arms to throw off the aggressor.
"It's about time you got up!" Sokka told him.
"Did you really have to try to smother me?"
Sokka shrugged. "Aang's idea was worse."
Footsteps ran up the stairs. Katara poked her head in the doorway.
"Let's go! Everyone's hungry." She was mostly talking to Sokka before her attention flitted towards him. "Oh La, you aren't even dressed." She spotted a red hoodie and black sweatpants and threw it at his face.
"What is u with everyone throwing shit at me?" He sat up and his covers pooled at his waist, exposing his bare torso.
Pink dusted her cheeks and might have stared for a little longer than necessary at his physique. "Come on Sokka."
The siblings left him alone to change and in peace until he hears Toph shouting downstairs.
"Where are you guys dragging me to today?"
Aang tried his best to swing an arm around his shoulders. The height difference was funny to look at. "We're going to the best diner in all of Qamiit."
They walked across the road to see a nearly packed diner. Men sat on the circular stools at the counter. A tv was shoved into the corner where their eyes tracked. Booths lined the outer sides while tables with some small tables and chairs in the middle. The blue leather that encompassed the seating looked comfortable and worn.
None of the walls were bare. Old Inuit artifacts perched on the upper lip of the diner. An old pair of snowshoes were haphazardly hung to one of the walls accompanied by many black and white photos of their peoples' history. On the wall farthest away from the door was the neatest decorations: hockey memorabilia. Photos of the old high school Wolves and other famous players. There was older jerseys of the Wolves and some vintage Ottawa Senator gear.
The older men greeted the younger ones, mostly Sokka and Katara. It seemed like the majority of them were in police uniforms.
"Well, well it was about time you all showed up." An old woman called out from the kitchen window.
"We're only two minutes later than usual Gran-Gran." Katara rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
The old woman came through the double swinging doors. They waited by the door until she was in front of them. Sokka pointed a thumb to Zuko beside him. "We had to get the new guy."
Gran-Gran cupped Katara and Sokka's cheeks to kiss them twice on each side. Aang, Toph, and Suki each got one. Even though she was two heads shorter than Zuko, he never felt so intimidated.
She wiped her hands on her white apron wrapped around her waist.
"Zuko Sozin, I've had my eye on you."
His eyebrows shot up into his hairline. Katara laid a hand on his bicep.
"This is Kanna, our grandmother, she has this weird connection with hockey and keeps up with teams in Ottawa."
Kanna nodded. "I've had a feeling about you, you play with fire and passion that is rarely seen it is breathtaking to watch."
The compliment struck him in his chest. His playing style was never viewed as something of beauty. His father and old coach always called his play aggressive, rough and uncontrollable.
"Thank you, I've never thought of my playing style in that way."
She wagged a finger at him playfully, "But your temper will get you in trouble someday on the ice."
Zuko snorted lightly, trying to hide the growing smile. "You sound like my Uncle."
Kanna patted his unscarred cheek. "Us old people tend to think alike."
She led them to their usual large horseshoe booth in the back corner, right next to the hockey wall. Toph crawled to sit in the center, while Sokka and Suki took up one side. Aang squeezed in next to her then Katara and finally Zuko who sat closest to the end.
"So what do you guys recommend?"
"Honestly everything is good," Sokka commented.
"That's because you've eaten everything on the menu." Toph criticized him.
Zuko stuck with a spicy protein omelet.
"Can you guys believe school starts tomorrow?" Suki asked.
A groan resigned from the group.
"I don't understand why I need to learn. I'm wasting all of this potential ice time."
"Speaking of class, did you get your classes Zuko?" Katara asked him.
"Yep, I'm not looking forward to starting at a new school."
"Hey, it'll be mine and Toph's first day of high school too." Aang piped up.
Sokka brushed off their concern. "You two will be fine. Students are already talking about how good you guys are."
Zuko leaned his head on his fist. "Great, I was hoping to have a quiet year."
Toph snorted. "Good luck with that, you're the talk of the town."
Soon their food arrived and the talking ceased.
They were done eating and Zuko found his attention on the hockey wall.
He stood up to investigate it more. As he got a closer look, he saw one of the biggest pieces was a hockey stick signed by Daniel Alfredsson on the blade.
The group got up to pay at the counter. Katara was the only one who noticed Zuko wasn't with them. She spotted him enthralled by the wall.
"Impressed?"
"How did your Gran get all of this stuff?" He turned his head to look at her.
"She used to scout players and had the off chance to meet most of them."
Katara pointed to an old photo of the Wolves. "There's my dad, he played center for the team and was going to go pro until a knee injury his senior year."
"I'm sorry that happened."
Katara shrugged in indifference. "If he didn't get hurt he wouldn't have met my mom."
Zuko opened his mouth to ask before she beat him to it.
"My mom died in a car accident when I was little."
He took a half a step closer to her. "That's something we have in common."
Katara hesitantly touched her pinkie with his. The tension broke when Sokka poked his head back through the door.
"Kat! Zuko! Let's go!"
This time around Zuko and Katara had to squeeze the whole way in the back. She was basically sitting in his lap.
The town square wasn't that big but it was bustling with people. Back to school sales were happening in clothing stores. He noticed for the first time that he doesn't recognize any brand stores.
Sokka parked on the side of the street Random strangers either waved or nodded to Sokka. More vocal people told him good luck on the season. Zuko got a few congratulations. There were Wolves memorabilia on various windows and flags hanging from lamp posts.
"I'm surprised at the amount of support you guys have." Zuko mused.
"We might no be championship material yet, but we got passion," Sokka told him seriously. For the first time, Zuko believed him.
Sokka wrapped an arm around each of the boys. "Come on, I'll show you our favorite place."
Aang nearly busted down the push/pull doors and threw out his arms. "Welcome to the gear store!"
Probably the only store with brand gear, it was almost like a warehouse-type building.
"Wow, bigger than the stores in the city," Zuko told them.
"Yea, I needed new sticks." Sokka led them into the stick section. He went straight to Bauer Nexus.
Zuko crossed his arms. "Did you only choose that stick because Bauer is the only company that makes blue sticks?"
The captain narrowed his eyes. "No."
But his tone said otherwise.
They browsed different sections before Suki came in to pull them out.
"Oh boys, how many times can you look at the same stuff?"
"The same way you and my sister shop for clothes." He saunters over to kiss his girlfriend's cheek.
"Katara wants to show you something by the way." She says in a teasing manner to Zuko.
He tried not to get too flustered but headed out in a somewhat of a rush. He didn't see Aang's subtle frown.
He turned the corner until he felt a hand grasp his. He was yanked into a small older shop.
"I thought you would enjoy this more than looking at gear."
An older lady greeted Katara by name. "I didn't think I would see you back so soon honey."
"Hi, Miss Hama. I just wanted to show Zuko around."
"Yes, of course, the defenseman. I'm guessing you know where to take him?" She concluded with a gleam in her eye.
Grasping his hand, Katara took him towards the middle back wall. Tall wood bookcases housed all sorts kick-knacks. The bigger objects sat on the floor, he tried his best to be wary of them. This place reminded him of Kanna's walls at the diner.
"Sokka basically had to drag you away from Gran-Gran's hockey wall so I figured you would like this place instead."
Rows of black and white photos stood up within the shelves. Multiple photo albums were open to random pages.
"These photos are more of the city instead of our high school."
He flipped through some pages. "I actually know some of these players. I looked up to them when I was growing up."
"Why do you like going through these?" She asked him quietly.
"It's an escape, hockey is the only thing that makes me happy." He put back the album to focus on her. "I'm sure you've heard rumors on why I'm here in the first place."
Katara hesitated slightly on laying her thumb at the bottom of his scar.
"I'm guessing this is why."
Zuko took her hand away. He felt like he was suffocating. He's never told anyone this before but every time he stared into her eyes he felt compelled to empty his heart out to her. Zuko took a step back to put space between them. He swore he saw a flash of hurt appear.
Zuko scratched the back of his head.
"Thank you for showing me this...um..." He motioned with his thumb to where the door is. "They're probably wondering where we are."
She didn't say anything but nodded. Katara didn't take his hand this time to lead him out.
He berated himself in his head. There was a noticeable distance between them now.
Thank you guys so much for liking the story and I will see yall next Sunday.
Stay Crazy.