New Student (Zukka fic)

Part Twelve

"That shouldn't be too hard. What kind of things does he like?"

"He likes books, tea, and spicy food."

Katara looked at him incredulously. "You've known this guy for 4 months now and that's all you know about him?"

He flushed a deep shade of red. "Well...he doesn't talk much, and I guess I didn't want to pry..."

"But these are simple things that I'm sure he wouldn't be offended by. In fact, I bet he'd be happy you're taking an interest to connect to him."

Sokka thought about that. She did have a point, and he didn't have to get too personal. Zuko might not even be mad at him anymore. "Yeah, you're right." 

She laughed. "Of course I am. I'm always right."

........................

Their first stop was the pai'sho store. Sokka ogled at the collector's pai'sho board, with its glossy exterior and detailed designs. It was, however, seventy dollars, and Sokka wasn't exactly high on cash, so Katara pulled him away from it and they got street tacos a few blocks away.

"Where should we head to get Zuko's present?" she asked, wiping her mouth elegantly.

"Hmmm..." He paused, licking the sauce off of his fingers. "Maybe we could hit up the antique store! He seems like the kind of guy who would like that."

"I suppose it's worth a shot. Hey, can you pay? I'm already paying for the parking meter."

Sokka sighed.

On the walk over to the antique store, Katara suddenly lit up with a dubious grin on her face. "So, Sokka, have you met any new girls lately?" she asked innocently.

His heart froze.

Sokka hadn't been completely honest with his sister about who he liked. He liked girls, and she knew that, but she didn't know that he liked boys as well. For some reason, he thought it would be weird if he told her. He was perfectly fine about confessing to his crushes on female celebrities, but he didn't tell her about the time he saw his hot neighbor jogging with his shirt off and he almost choked on his seal jerky.

"N-no, not really. I haven't super interested in dating lately," he stammered. That sounded like such a lie.

"Are you sure? That Yue we met on our tour seemed nice," she said conversationally.

"Oh yeah, I like her, but not like that. Besides, she only has eyes for Suki." He paused. "I wonder how they're working out."

"Oh, they're dating? I didn't know that," she replied, eyes illuminating with interest. He bit back a sigh of relief. He'd managed to change the subject.

"No, not yet, but it's probably going to happen any day now. They're nuts about each other."

"Aw, they would be so cute together!" she swooned. "Wait. How did you even figure out they like each other? You're the most oblivious person I know when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"I am not!" he protested indignantly. Katara raised an eyebrow at him, and he blushed. "Okay, fine. Zuko filled me in."

She started laughing, and pretty soon, Sokka was laughing too.

At last, they arrived at the antique store, and began searching for something Zuko might like. Sokka had never been particularly interested in antiques, but the place had a lot of cool finds inside. There were stacks of vintage comic books, a wall of cuckoo clocks, and a pai'sho set from eighty years ago that he just couldn't pass up. Everything was great, but nothing felt...right. He needed something that said Zuko, and he wasn't sure what that meant. He was quiet, a bookworm, and prickly when he wanted to be, but there was so much more that he couldn't quite describe.