You Make Life So Hard

Mutterings: Katara Edition

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 on ao3, who inspired parts of this and leaves unfailingly kind comments!
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything else you recognize.

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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.

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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.