A/N: Idea for this theme came from what I thought Hakoda's reaction would be to find out his mother was married to Master Pakku. XD Beyond that, I really don't know what to say about this one... Ummm... just something silly and light-hearted to make-up for the next two drabbles which will be both angsty (Bato ANGST and, surprisingly enough, Hakoda ANGST) and written in first-person, present tense.
Hakoda knew he wasn't old, but, at the same time, he knew he wasn't exactly young either. It was the curse of approaching middle-age: the realization that there were things he was getting too old for certain things. He had admitted this to Bato over the course of their journey during their nightly discussions about the future; about what they would do after the war was over.
One night, Bato had teasingly asked him if he was going to try to settle down and find a good woman when they returned from war; that it was high time the chief tried to pursue a relationship with someone. Hakoda had somewhat jokingly told his friend that he was going to be too old to be in any form of a relationship by the time the war came to an end. Bato had laughed at the time, but found himself discouraged by the revelation and, for the first time, felt that he actually didn't stand a chance with Hakoda since the chief apparently didn't want to be in a relationship.
Several weeks, and a couple battles later, Bato brought up the topic of love, asking the chief if he had ever moved on and fallen in love since Kaya's death. Hakoda had laughed and said that, even though he was too old for "crushes", he did have his eye on someone; that he had for years. When Bato asked him in a slightly jealous tone if he knew the lucky lady, Hakoda laughed more and, without another word, kissed him, much to the taller man's surprise.
A couple months later, after finally setting up camp off the coast near Ba Sing Se, one of the younger warriors, Kato, had walked into the chief's tent unannounced to deliver scouts' reports and caught the pair in the middle of sex. The young man quickly backed out of the tent, his face red as he stuttered through several apologies for interrupting them. Hakoda sighed and said that he was definitely too old to deal with the flustered and possibly mentally scarred young warrior. Bato agreed.
More time passed; the eclipse occurred and, though they were taken prisoner, the defeat felt a lot like victory in their minds. During their brief time together in the capitol's prison, Bato brought up the topic of their future together after hearing some of the warriors talking about their families back home. Hakoda off-handedly commented that he was getting to be too old for his job and added that he would love to be able to settle down and pass down the title of Chief to his son.
After the war ended and the warriors returned to the South Pole, Hakoda was both shocked and ecstatic to find his mother had remarried even at her age. That same day, he spent the entire afternoon making a betrothal necklace and, when Bato joined him later in the evening, asked his best friend to marry him. Of all the things he thought he was getting "too old" for, he decided he wasn't going to let marriage be one of them.