An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 52: The Truth

Sokka knocked impatiently on the door to his dad's house. He wanted to get the hardest apology over first, but his dad was taking a long time to answer the door. Hakoda finally opened the door and his eyes widened upon seeing Sokka standing outside.

"Hey dad, can I come in?" Sokka asked timidly. While his dad told both him and Zuko that he supported them, Sokka knew it was still hard on him knowing he would never have grandchildren, and he would never see Sokka take his place as chief of the southern water tribe.

"Of course you can," his dad said, warmth ebbing from his voice. His dad and him had been close his whole life. Sokka always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, to become a strong warrior, to lead their tribe, to marry a beautiful woman and have a family. His whole life he had wanted to be just like his dad, until he met Aang and the rest of his friends, and more specifically, Zuko.

Zuko brought out a completely different side of him, a part of himself he never realized existed. He helped Sokka find who he really was as an individual. Thanks to Zuko he realized he could be a strong warrior while also having emotions and a softer side.

Sokka went and sat down on the couch, and his dad took a seat in his large armchair to his left.

"Dad I..." Sokka started to say, stopping when he felt his emotions taking over. He had always been afraid of looking weak, especially around his dad. Vulnerability was terrifying to him, even when he was with Zuko before he had still been afraid of being seen as weak.

For some reason while sitting on his dad's couch the fear that had stopped him for his whole life from opening up was overshadowed by a confidence in who he was.

"I'm sorry for being distant for the past six months, I'm sorry for not being the son you want me to be, I'm sorry I fell in love with a guy, I'm sorry for everything," Sokka said as fast as his voice could carry the words out of his mouth.

"Sokka..." Hakoda said, "I love you more than anything else in the world. No matter what you do or say, I will always love you the same way I always have. I just wish you hadn't tried to block all of us out of your life."

His dad's eyes were starting to water and as soon as Sokka saw that he started to cry again. He wasn't always the most emotional guy, but his eyes were making up for it after trying to be an emotionless rock for months.

Hakoda got up and took a seat next to Sokka and held him tightly. A whirlwind of emotions was going through Sokka's mind. On one hand, he felt happy his dad loved him enough to forgive him after everything he had done, and on another he felt a deep sadness for hurting everyone he cared so much about.

The pain he was feeling was not limited to himself, and it took six long months to finally realize his actions were not just a self-inflicted punishment, but one that affected everyone else too.

"How can you just forgive me like that?" Sokka asked and held on tightly to his dad, instinctively trying to make up for all their lost time.

"Because you're my son," Hakoda said. Sokka let go of his dad so he could wipe the tears from his eyes. His dad was not crying as hard as him, but there were still more tears rolling down his face than Sokka had seen since their mother died.

"I still love him dad," Sokka said and sniffled as the tears slowly stated to stop.

"I know," was all his dad said in response. Those two words were not enough for Sokka to know how his dad felt about that.

"I feel like such a weak person," Sokka said and shook his head, trying to snap out of how emotional he was in the moment.

"I would argue you're showing more strength now than you have ever shown before," Hakoda said.

"How could that be possible? I'm crying like a little kid over breaking up with someone," Sokka retorted, not understanding how his dad could ever think of him as strong after that.

"It takes a lot of strength to accept yourself for who you are, and to accept the challenges that go along with it," his dad explained. "You could have kept trying to force yourself to love someone else, but instead you had the strength to admit your love for Zuko despite the hardships that may come with it."

"I thought you wanted me to fall in love with a girl and to have kids," Sokka said.

"I did at one time," Hakoda said and paused for a moment before continuing, "but then I came to understand that I was hoping for you to live the life I had lived when you should be living your own. Happiness is more important than living a lie."

"So you aren't mad that I still love him?" Sokka asked, still unsure of how exactly his dad felt about everything.

"How could I be mad when I saw first-hand how happy he makes you? Then I saw how devastated and empty you became when he wasn't in your life. It would be selfish of me to want to take away your happiness over something like that," his dad said with a strength to his voice that made Sokka believe him.

"What if he doesn't forgive me?" Sokka asked.

"Then you should give him more time," his dad said and put his large, strong hand on Sokka's shoulder. "You had six months to figure out your feelings, and he may need more time to figure out his, but the love you two shared is not something that dies so easily."

"I don't know what to say," Sokka said quietly.

"Say you are going to fight for your love," Hakoda said.

Sokka looked at his dad and the faintest smile formed, but his true smile was in his bright blue eyes. He would wait however long he needed to for Zuko to forgive him, even if it meant spending most of his life alone. His dad was right, their love was worth fighting for.

"I'm going to fight for Zuko and I," Sokka said and stood up quickly, "I won't let you down again!"

Sokka grabbed his coat and hugged his dad before running out the door and down the street. He had a special favor to ask of his good friend the Avatar.