Hakoda hears more in the Western Air Temple than he ever signed up to, but he resolves to make the best out of it.

yay for zuko and katara in denial! well, not really yay.
extreme amounts of appreciation for Beckit, who inspired parts of this and leaves unfailingly kind comments!
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything else you recognize.

Being a warrior trains you to sharpen your reflexes, listen to your instincts, and hone your senses. As such, a renowned and feared warrior like Chief Hakoda had fantastic instincts and excellent hearing. This, paired with the excellent acoustics of the stone temple, meant that Hakoda heard everything that people muttered to themselves, whether he wanted to or not.

When Sokka wasn't talking battle plans, he was talking about food or Suki. From Chit Sang, he heard all about how much he missed his girlfriend and best friend, as well as how much he wanted to get into a fight. From Haru, he heard the whispers of how cool it would be to metalbend and how she didn't pay attention to him anymore. (Hakoda had an awful feeling he knew who she was.) The Duke and Teo were often coming up with some game to pass the time or talking about their adventures in the Northern Air Temple and treehouses. Zuko muttered to himself about pretty much everything, ranging from the intricacies of tea to how unfair she was being. (Again, Hakoda was not happy when he figured out who Zuko's she was.) Aang mumbled about his forever girl (oh, if Hakoda had been a firebender…), the Avatar State, and what a hard teacher Zuko was. But while the Chief was very concerned about the mental stability of some of these people, their mutterings were not what truly worried him. No, when he heard Katara, Suki, or Toph ranting to themselves in badly concealed whispers, that was when he truly felt fear. Nevertheless, his paternal instincts would not let him sit back and do nothing.

Katara:

To be frank, the Chief was just a little scared of the impending discussion with his daughter. Over the time spent hiding on the stolen Fire Nation ship and in the Western Air Temple, they had talked for hours on end, about all sorts of topics - towns they had visited, friends they had made, foods they had tasted, and countless stories about Gran-Gran and Sokka. Hakoda, despite his sadness for missing out on years he would never get back, was incredibly proud of the fierce and kind young woman his daughter had turned out to be, and he made sure to tell her this as often as he could. The moments he spent with her helping her cook or learn hand-to-hand combat were some of his favorites. And yet, even after all this time together, they had not broached one very daunting topic: romance. He gulped.

He was vaguely aware of the fact that a father was expected to discuss crushes and heartbreak with their children, but when was he supposed to have done that? Bit of a weird conversation to have with a six and eight year old, if you asked him. And anyway, he thought with a dry chuckle, they seemed to be doing just fine. Sokka had caught the eye of Suki, Toph, and a girl named Ty Lee, and he had heard something about the moon spirit as well, although he had not yet gotten to the bottom of that story. Katara, well, from what he had seen, she could actually do with fewer eyes on her. And that was what he wanted to talk to her about today...as soon as he worked up the nerve. Not that he was planning to blame her for anything, not at all! He just wanted to know if anyone had hurt her, if she understood the dangers of romance, and if there was anyone he had to threaten a little.

Just as he finally stood up to find Katara before he lost his pluck, he saw his daughter storming down the path towards him with a trail of icy mist following her. He gulped again; it was now or never.

"Katara, there you are! I was hopi-"

"Do I trust too easily?" What?

"Um, I'm not quite sure-"

"Dad. Sokka said that I trust people too easily and that's gonna be my downfall. Do I trust too easily?"

"Not at all, kiddo. It's a good thing to trust people. But where is this coming from?"

"UGH. That's the stupidest part! All I wanted was for Sokka to do his own laundry for once. He said he would and I believed him. I really should have known better. He's so lazy sometimes. But it got me thinking. Maybe I do trust people too quickly. And maybe that is a bad thing sometimes." She started to pace in front of him as he thought of a way to redirect this conversation. If he could just warn her that boys were not all they were chalked up to be and ask her if she was okay, they wouldn't have to have a painfully awkward conversation.

"Now, Katara, don't take your brother too seriously when he says things like that. But that actually relates to what I wanted to talk to you about. Sometimes, people, boys especially, make promises that they won't-"

"Yeah, I mean, look at the evidence. Haru said a few sentences about missing his father, and suddenly I was jumping into a prison rig to help him and a bunch of other earthbenders escape!"

"You did WHAT? For WHO? You never told me about this!"

"And then...Jet," Katara spat, clearly not listening to her father. "ARGH. He mentioned the Fire Nation killing his parents, said a few smooth words, swept me into his treehouse, and I was all ready to destroy a village for him. I mean, obviously, I didn't know what his evil plan was, but still. I was totally blinded!"

"Katara? Who is this Jet kid? And where does he live now?" Hakoda asked through clenched teeth.

"Oh, he actually...I think he might be dead. And it's my fault too! I couldn't save him, even with all my waterbending."

"Hm. That's...unfortunate. Katara, look, that's not your fault."

"But you know what? It doesn't even end there. No, the worst was yet to come. Zuko!"

"Huh? Zuko? Wait, does this have anything to do with that meeting you called a few days ago about how suspicious he is?"

"It has everything to do with that! He is very, very suspicious. Mark my words, one of these days he's gonna turn on us and I'll just say 'I told you so'. Right after I pulverize him."

"Kiddo, I don't really think he'll do that."

"Well, he did it before! What's stopping him now?"

"He's trying really hard to gain your forgi-"

"He betrayed me! Again, all he had to do was talk about his mother and scar, and I was ready to use the Spirit Water on him. The Spirit Water! And in the end, he teamed up with his sister anyways. I was so stupid to fall for his tricks."

"Katara...it seems like you may just have bad decision-making skills when it comes to boys."

"Bad decision-making skills? What? How- I have great decision-making skills!" Hakoda grimaced at his daughter's screeching.

"Most of the time, yes, you're a wonderful planner and leader. But it seems like when people start talking about their pain and hurt, you feel the need to help them. Which is amazing- really, that's one of your best qualities, never lose that! But...when it comes to boys, sometimes it's not safe to think with your heart instead of your head."

"But I...he just looked so sad, Dad. I couldn't not do anything!"

"Uh. Which he are we talking about again?"

"Zuko!"

"Oh. Look, I'm just trying to figure something out - did you...you know, like Haru and Jet?"

"Well, yeah, that's why I trusted them and became their friend."

"No, I mean, did you, uh. Have feelings for them?"

"Yes. I hated Jet's guts! I should've done much more than freeze him to a tree." Why was this conversation not at all going how he wanted it to? Please, Tui, have mercy on him!

"Katara, did you look at Haru or Jet romantically?"

"Uh. Um." Hakoda knew the answer from the clear blush on Katara's face. "I mean, kind of. They didn't last very long! But...they seemed nice and were very handsome." Perfect. His daughter's type was smooth-talking pretty boys. Every dad's nightmare. (He ignored the fact that he had never met someone as socially awkward as Zuko - every boy could be smooth-talking if they wanted to be.) Silently, he prayed to every spirit to protect him from his daughter's wrath after his next question.

"Well, Katara, it just seems logical to ask this too - is it possible that Zuko's betrayal hurt so deeply because you, uh, also looked at him romantically?" Her jaw dropped and suddenly he wished he was anywhere but here.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?"

"I- it was just a question, kiddo, but-"

"Of course I don't have a crush on Zuko! Why does everyone keep saying that? The only reason I talk about him so much is because he made me mad. That's it! That's the only reason! No, I don't think it's sweet that he always tries to help me with chores. No, I don't think his voice is nice. No, I don't watch him because he looks good when he's training, I'm just making sure he doesn't burn Aang. And I definitely don't feel any concern about his self-destructive tendencies. I mean, did he seriously try to fight Combustion Man on a ledge?" When Katara's voice grew more fond than adamant towards the end of her spiel, Hakoda raised his eyebrows.

"Pup, you're not exactly helping your case. You know, it's okay to like boys, as long as you remember they're dangerous. Don't get too attached. And as soon as they do something you don't like, you kick their butt and then you come and tell Sokka or me, okay?"

"Uh-huh. Sure, Dad." He didn't think she was really listening to him, so it couldn't hurt to just say one more thing.

"For what it's worth, Zuko's a good kid. He really does feel bad about what happened in Ba Sing Se and cares about you. And the rest of your team, of course."

"Right, Dad, thanks," she said while hugging him. She was definitely not listening. "You know, I should probably go check on Zuko. Make sure he isn't burning anything down. Yep. Bye, Dad!" His daughter skipped away, and all the dew that had frozen as she had stomped towards him earlier returned to their liquid state. Hakoda dropped his forehead into his palm. Wow. That conversation...he didn't think he had gotten a single thing through to Katara. Instead, he now had this urge to find a certain kid named Jet. With a sigh, he turned his attention to a rustle he had heard earlier.

"Zuko, you can come out now."

"I'm- sir, Chief Hakoda, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was just hoping to be in this garden but I entered in the middle of your conversation and...well, with all due respect, when I heard Katara bellowing, I didn't think it was safe to reveal myself to her."

"Did you just say my daughter bellowed?"

"Uh. No?"

"Hm. So, I suppose you heard the part about her...not liking you?"

"Well. Kinda. Hey, I think I hear Toph calling me, sorry, Chief Hakoda. See you, uh, around!"

Hakoda knew full well Toph wasn't calling anyone - the whole temple would know - but he allowed the flustered boy to leave. Looking back and forth between the doorway Katara had left from and the passageway Zuko had scurried to, he let out another sigh. Those two were hopeless.

AN: and that's the end of Mutterings with Hakoda! it's back to full-fledged zutara now

let me know if you enjoyed that! tons of love to MusicDrivenLady for your review (and the rest of you who are just reading, of course)