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A fake smile

Summary:

Sokka needs to learn living with his chronic pain and using his cane
or
5 times Sokka pretended he's not in pain and once there was an intervention

Notes:

My first attempt at a real one shot

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Sokka yawned and rubbed his eyes. He kept scrolling down the list of shows and movies on Netflix, but nothing sparked joy. Just as he was about to settle for re-watching Stardust for the billionth time, he heard a click at the door. “Huh?” he turned and saw Suki, rain-soaked but smiling “Heeey~! My 1 on 1 canceled, so it’s just me and you now,” she said seductively.

Sokka leaped out of his seat and bombarded her with kisses. He wrapped one arm around her waist, and wiggling his eyebrows, he asked “Sooo… what did you have in mind?” Suki snickered and led him back over to the couch. “Well… I was thinking..” she said smirking devilishly and leaning in to whisper “... stance training!” She pulled back with a broad grin - looking at Sokka’s mortified and betrayed face as he flopped back on the sofa like a dead fish.

“Aww c’mon don’t be so dramatic!! It’ll be fun!” she said, playfully poking him at the side, which tickled him slightly, causing him to laugh involuntarily. “Haha..no, no stop hhaha” he pushed her away playfully. “Forreal tho… stop. We can’t do that idea.” he said bluntly as he regained his composure. To which Suki pulled a sad puppy-dog face “Aww, why not???”.

Sokka gestured broadly to the window. “It’s raining, woman! Look at the state of you for starters.” He turned to wipe some of the rain off her face to which she chuckled “Oookay”. She kissed him on the forehead “Hmm, something indoor then?”.

Sokka creased his forehead in thought then sprang up, pointing to the sky with an idea. “Sooo… there’s this new place that just opened up ..” Suki nodded, listening expectantly. “I hear it’s got great food, mood-lighting and couple’s activities….” Suki nodded again, enthusiastically, “Uhuh uhuh so.. what is this new fancy place called??” she implored.

After a moment they were standing in front of the bright-colored entrance. “Mr. Foo Foo Cuddlypoop’s cave of curiosities / arcade (patent pending)” cheered Sokka, gesturing to the building as they arrived at it. “No.” said Suki, folding her arms. “They have space invaders,” said Sokka, wiggling his eyebrows. “Hmpf,” growled Suki as she turned away “and DDR~!”(A/N: DDR= dance dance revolution).

Suki turned around and grabbed him by the shoulders with fire in her eyes. “You’re on!”

“Race ya!” She said, turning toward the building. “Hey wait no fair!!” Said Sokka, chasing after her with all his might but still losing. “You got a head start, you cheater!” he grumbled when he finally got to the door. “Aww is somebody a sore loser?” mocked Suki, kissing him on the cheek as he turned bright red from both over-exertion and embarrassment. “Pff, you’ll eat those words soon,” he said with a mischievous grin and led her to the air hockey table.

Sokka was winning 2-3 when Suki pointed out the hot dogs on the other side of the room. Two pucks flew past as he was distracted and drooling. Ding ding ding! The game was over “Heeey!!” he said, indignantly and grabbed her hand, marching her over to the stand “fine. hotdogs - then a rematch!”.

After they played what felt like every other game in the arcade it came the time to take out the big guns…the DDR. Sokka flexed his biceps and stretched his arms as he got ready. He turned to see Suki with her leg resting high up on the machine, above her head. His jaw dropped and she smiled and waved as she lowered it. “Game on!” he growled.

To begin with, Suki was impressed - she hadn’t realized Sokka was such a talented dancer. Sokka grinned and put his hands behind his back, smugly “yeaaah all those nights, playing with Katara really paid off - aww did you really think I’d be that bad?? That’s cute.” He said, not missing a beat. “Yeah well - you *do* know how many sisters *I* have, right?” she said as she turned up the heat and selected ‘Barbie Girl’ on “expert” mode.

Sokka’s eyes widened but he wasn’t about to give up - he was keeping up but he started to miss notes as the song went on. As it finished, his breathing was heavy and he was covered in sweat. “Hon, are you okay?” inquired Suki. “Yeah.” “Fine” “I’m good” he huffed and selected Megalovania on “Hero” mode. “woah woah are you sur-” Suki said as a crowd started to gather around them and her voice got lost among the noise.

The next five minutes turned into grueling agony as Sokka attempted to push through after the pain had built up all day - his movements got slower and clumsier, despite his best efforts and his breathing became hoarse. At the very last note, his leg slipped and he howled in pain as he began to hurtle towards the floor. Luckily Suki was there in seconds, no longer giving a damn about the scores. He flopped into her arms and whined softly “I.. I’m sorry”.

“No. No I should be sorry - I noticed you were struggling a bit before, we should have stopped!” said Suki, cradling him in her arms and kissing him softly. “Oh don’t worry - I’ll be fiiiine - I just stept wrong, yknow” he gathered all of his strength to get up, moving his weight forward he nearly did it but then… the moment he tried to stand, he felt a stabbing pain moving up from his legs to his whole body and fell backwards again.

“Shh shh you’re not going anywhere” Suki pressed a finger against his lips as if to hush any further protest. Then she hoisted him on her back, performing the firefighter’s lift, making her way through the crowd

~~~

Zuko stepped back into their bedroom to find the last person sprawled on the bed- Sokka. As he walked over to wake him up he had an eerily sense of Deja Vu.

“Wake up hon!” said Zuko decisively shaking Sokka’s shoulder. Sokka tried to pull him into the bed again but this time Zuko was prepared “oh no you don’t” he said as he stood his ground.”I tried to do it the nice way, but you’re leaving me no choice” Zuko murmured under his breath. He took a few steps back so his voice was located near the door and said loudly “Does anyone want bacon!?”

To that Sokka sprang to his feet looking around the room already fully alert “Where’s the bacon?”

Zuko snickered at the door “I should feel bad but it’s so funny it always works” he said throwing Sokka’s gym bag at him. “ We are leaving in 20 minutes tops,” said Zuko, grabbing his own bag from the floor. “ and seriously for our next anniversary I will buy you an alarm clock” Zuko threatened

“Why would I want an alarm clock when this one is so pretty,” Sokka said approaching Zuko to kiss him, at the last moment turning his head “although using meat against me is pretty mean”

“Oh just come here,” said Zuko grabbing a handful of Sokka’s t-shirt and kissing him

“also go wash your teeth” he added a little breathless after they separated.

“Hey! I just woke up and it’s you who kissed me,” said Sokka in protest but already heading to the bathroom.

After half an hour they were already driving to the gym. Zuko, as always, in the passenger’s seat. They talked about their plans for the day and before they knew they arrived at the gym.

“Ok, I wrote out a plan for a killer leg day, are you ready?” said Sokka excited

“I was born ready for leg day,” said Zuko doing a high kick into the air

“That’s the spirit! First squats: 5 sets of 8 reps rest time 1-2min” announced Sokka

“What weight are you going for?” asked Zuko approaching the barbells

“I was thinking around 60-70kg,” said Sokka with a grin

“Hey don’t overdo it you have nothing to prove it’s just the first exercise,” said Zuko with concern on his face

“I’ll be fine,” he said in a dismissive tone “ I should be able to squat with Suki’s weight”

“Whatever you say just don’t push yourself too much,” said Zuko exhaling heavily

After their workout was done they sat on the ground for a moment to calm down. “That was a good workout, it kicked my ass,” said Sokka smiling through the pain and massaging his thigh

“I feel like you went too hard, I love leg day and it was very difficult for me,” said Zuko shaking his head

“Mad cos I kicked your ass too,” said Sokka smiling cheekily

“No, Sokka. By the last few exercises, your form was all over the place, it’s dangerous” said Zuko with a bit of heat in his voice

“Ok, fine I won’t go as hard next time, to be honest, my leg is kinda hurting me more than I thought it would,” he said still massaging his thigh

“I think I’m ready to go,” said Zuko after a while and got up. He gave a hand to Sokka

“Nah I’m good,” Sokka said trying to get up but as soon as he put weight on his injured leg he collapsed back to the ground “ in highsight I might need that hand”

Zuko helped him off the ground but he noticed how much Sokka grimaced every time he put weight on his left leg. He swung Sokka’s hand over his shoulder and helped him get to the car. Sokka didn’t say anything.

“Can you even drive?” asked Zuko, more and more angry at himself for not stopping Sokka before.

“I can try but..” Sokka said apologetically with shame in his voice

“Forget it” cut him off Zuko and led him to the passenger seat “ you’re lucky I have my license, you know I hate driving.”

~~~

This time Sokka was up early. It was the middle of the week and a rare day off. He and Ty Lee were busy in preparation for the hike they planned. Sokka as always had a checklist and a plan. They might be gone for just a few hours but mountains are unpredictable so they left the plan of their hike on their group chat.

This plan was very ambitious they were planning to see 3 different peaks and walk a trail between them.

“Is everything packed?” asked Sokka as much to Ty Lee as to himself.

“I got everything marked in pink,” said Ty Lee excitedly “Thanks for that by the way”

“No problem sugar,” said Sokka, giving her a peck on the cheek, “ I think I grabbed everything else,” said Sokka and swung the backpack over his shoulders.

“Oh one more thing,” said Ty Lee with a finger in the air “you forgot your cane”

“No, I didn’t. I’m feeling fine and we decided to pack lightly” he said with a grin “ Don’t worry I’m the one to worry around here,” he said giving her another kiss this time to top her head.

“As you wish,” said Ty Lee skeptically

They arrived at the bottom of the mountain full of energy. Sokka imposed a very fast rhythm.

“Hey we don’t have to rush this much it’s still very early and we can always turn back if it gets too late,” said Ty Lee enthusiastically

“Is it too fast for you?” he asked

“No, but..”

“Then don’t worry about it. Last time I attempted this route it was with my dad and we had to turn back, not this time baby,” said Sokka decisively.

So they walked on at the fast pace but as they did Ty Lee noticed Sokka started to slow down a bit. She thought he finally got to his senses and decided to hike at a more reasonable speed.

“Do you want to take a break for some water?” she asked stopping herself

“Fine but I want to pass the first peak before we have a lunch break,” he said, taking out his water bottle.

Their break only lasted five minutes before Sokka urged Ty Lee to get up and get moving again “it’s already 9 am - we should be past the third trail marker by now” he said, impatiently and Ty Lee shook her head “it’s about the journey, snowball, it’s supposed to be fun not some kind of competition” she admonished him.

A few hours of this killer pace and heavy terrain did their number on Sokka and he had to take more and more breaks.

Seeing how Sokka started to struggle and limp Ty Lee pointed out a big stick he could use as a makeshift cane but the damage was done they had to walk of their planned path and onto a trail taking them directly down.

At the bottom of the mountain, Sokka sat down on a bench and took a few deep breaths to ground himself.

“You stay here and I’ll grab the car” said Ty Lee worried.

~~~

“Sokka are you ready!?“ said Mai by the door already in her leather jacket. “I’m back from work and we were supposed to go grab groceries”

“And ice cream,” said Sokka running down the stairs to hug Mai

“And ice cream” she confirmed with a laugh

“I’m ready, let me just grab my…” he looked around in thought

“Your cane?” asked Mai

“No, I don’t need my cane,” said Sokka dismissively, “ my jean jacket” he said, finally spotting it between other coats and jackets.

“Ok we can go,” he said, grabbing their wheely trolley that’s always by the door.

“Sure but this time I drive,” said Mai, dangling her keys and walking out the door.

“No problem by me,” said Sokka and disappeared after her.

First on their list was a bulk grocery store where they could buy all of the things they eat through at an amazing pace, like rice. Then they visited a few smaller shops that specialized in jams, fresh fruit, and vegetables as well as a few crafting stores.

“Ok, clay - check,” said Mai as Sokka clutched onto their trolley so hard his knuckles were white.

“Now Ice cream!” said Sokka his breathing a little labored

“I’m sorry, but we still have to grab some beeswax for Suki’s hand-sewing project,” said Mai with sympathy in her voice. “But are you alright? it’s quite a bit of a walk to the stand and then we have to go to the ice cream truck, which has the best ice cream but no place to park around it,” she explained

“I’m fine - it’s just my leg”

“It’s not *just* your leg, your leg is very delicate,” she said and after a moment of thought she added, “ how about this you wait in the car and I go buy the beeswax?”

“I told you, I’m fine,” said Sokka nonchalantly. Mai just shook her head and opened the boot of the car.

On their way back from the beekeeper shop Sokka was limping severely. Mai offered her shoulder and he took it without complaint.

“I’m sorry I..” he said

“Yeah, I told you to be careful” interrupted Mai, “ and now we can no longer get ice cream and I will have to ask Zuko to help me carry the shopping bags in and he asked not to be interrupted today” she shook her head “ next time bring your cane please” she added with compassion in her voice.

~~~

Sokka was hunched over, scribbling away at the blue-prints to his latest invention, when the vibration of his phone finally stirred him from hours of concentration. It was a message from Yue to their group chat - he could see a picture of her smiling happily in front of a sea of boxes “ready when you are” said the accompanying text. He jumped out of his seat in excitement “be right there!” he messaged back and picked up the phone to call her.

Sokka: heeey girlfrieeennd!

Yue: *snickering* hey boomerang boy

Sokka: so, I can be there in 15 minutes if I start the car up now - does that sound good?

Yue: Oh great! Did Zuko finish early? He said he’s got that big deadline tomorrow so I expected it to be later

Sokka: oh nah… he’s still whiling away

Yue: err… so are you bringing someone else like maybe Suki or Mai or Ty Lee…?

Sokka: Nope. Just me! It’ll be fine - I’m all you need, baby

Yue: *laughs* I know I know but… what about your leg?

Sokka: oh pffff it’s fine.

Yue: …Sokka…?

Sokka: REALLY! It’s fine - it’s felt better for the past few days

Yue: ummm if you’re sure… hey why don’t you stop ‘round for tea first?

Sokka: haha you worry too much, I don’t need any tea - we can just get moving

Sokka: besides, the others won’t be long I’m sure

Yue: well… Sokka: anyway gotta go - getting into the car now

With that he abruptly finished the call and began the short drive to Yue’s place (soon to be old place), he was so excited he could hardly focus on the road and he was stimming on the steering wheel, tapping with his free fingers and bobbing his head to the music as he drove.

As he pulled into the front of the building he gave Yue a text to say he’d arrived and she ran down the stairs to greet him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for an array of kisses. She smiled and grabbed his hand to lead him up the stairway.

“You look amazing as always!” said Sokka beaming, “oh pfff c’mon Sokka I’m a sweaty mess - what’re you saying?” Yue laughed. “But you’re *my* sweaty mess,” he joked and Yue shoved him playfully “uhuh… love to see girls sweat eh?” to which he blushed “well.. can’t deny that” he added with a cheeky grin “guys too though” Yue nodded, knowing the bi-con that her boyfriend was. “Actually thanks for messaging me - it’s good to get out of my own head for a bit, when I looked at the group chat I realized I hadn’t moved for what… 4… maybe 5 hours?” he shook his head at himself. Yue looked back at him mildly concerned but laughing “hey, you know you can join me at the swimming pool anytime” she offered “would love to see you in your trunks again,” she added more quietly but he caught it and blushed.

They continued to chat for a few minutes before finally arriving at Yue’s apartment. “Jeez - at least at our old place we had an elevator” he sighed, looking at Yue with some sympathy, imagining how she had to walk up and down these stairs everyday. “Yeah umm.. are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” prompted Yue “that tea offer is still on the table if you want a little rest” she assured him softly.

“Nope!” said Sokka, rolling up his sleeves and flexing “I’m gonna do what I came here to do - let’s get started already!” he said. Yue shook her head but knew there was no way of persuading him to slow down so she guided him through the doorway to where the first pile of large boxes was sitting.

Sokka heaved two at once “ha! Not even that heavy - after all my weight training at the gym, this is basically nothing” he boasted. “Oh yeah? How’s Zuko - I haven’t heard from him much lately since he’s been so busy with his latest novel” she asked, picking up a smaller box herself and following him down the stairs. “Oh yeahh he’s great - he’ll be able to lift you and me both soon” said Sokka with a grin, purposefully not talking about their last session.

Yue caught something in his tone of voice that sounded a bit off when he was talking about the gym, but she thought perhaps it was because he was trying to focus on going down the stairs. “What about you - how’re your gains? boyfriend, I see your arms are doing very well” she said flirtatiously with a small wink “but what about the rest of you? Please tell me you exercise your core and you don’t skip leg day” she laughed. To this Sokka became the embodiment of the smiling, sweating emoji “SKIP leg day?? me?? naahhh - who do you think you’re talking to?” he shot back a nervous glance at her but kept up the facade.

Many many boxes later, the car was almost full. “Great work! Time for a tea break” smiled Yue. “Whaaat? Are you crazy? We’ve only got like 4 or 5 boxes left now - we can’t stop now!!” he turned to her and smiled, hiding the pain, “and besides - I’ll take a break when I drive” he assured her. “Am I even gonna fit in that car if we try to get more boxes in it??” pondered Yue, her eyes widening as she looked at how jam-packed everything already was. “pshhh sure - it’s just like Tetris” said Sokka giving her a thumbs up “Trust the plan guy” he said, patting her on the shoulder and leading her back upstairs.

The final boxes were gruelling. He could scarcely hide how his legs had begun to bow and wobble with effort and he began to feel light-headed. BUT, it was getting done - this was basically the last box, he heaved it over the building’s threshold and manoeuvred it over the last three steps that lead into the building - however, as he did so, his leg finally gave out and he found himself tumbling towards the ground, the box slipping from his hands and its contents spilling out onto the road.

At the sound of the calamity behind her, Yue turned around from placing other boxes into the car and saw Sokka on the ground - she dropped everything, and yelled his name as she came rushing over. “I.. I can’t..” He murmured weakly “I can’t get up… I’m so sorry” he looked up at her dizzily. Yue threw his arm over her shoulder and half-dragged him to the stairs so he could sit down carefully. “omigosh are you okay?? What happened?” she questioned, rubbing some dirt off of his face and staring at him in concern. Sokka waved her away “don’t worry about me - go… go and get those things out of the road” he said, gesturing weakly.

She grumpily got up and began gathering her things - most of them were tightly packed in bubble-wrap and had incurred no damage but one thing had escaped her careful packaging and it now lay in the middle of the road - she was able to grab it just before a car came barrelling down the road, but the damage had already been done - some of the macaroni fell away from the handmade frame in the middle of which was an old photo of her and Sokka as children, a crack forming in the middle.

Yue wiped a small tear from her eye and turned around to Sokka, furiously “What the hell were you thinking?? You’re strong, but you’re not some anime protagonist! The power of love and friendship won’t help you this time” she came and sat next to him with the frame in her hands. “I.. I’m sorry about the photo..” he apologised. “THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU NEED TO APOLOGISE FOR!” she shouted at him with the fury of a raging ocean. He shrank away from her words with guilt. “Look how hurt you are! And it could’ve been worse - you narrowly missed going in the road yourself, what if a car had come?!?” she yelled with tears in her eyes.

“You’re right…” Sokka admitted with wide eyes “I… I’m sorry for everything” he said, looking down at his hands. “I’m calling the others for help - right now!” she slammed a drink into his hands from the car “it’s what we should have done from the beginning”.

~~~

Sokka walked into their living room only to find everyone gathered there in a circle.

“What is this all about?” he asked

“Please Sokka, come sit with us” said Suki in a somber tone

“This is an intervention,” said Yue looking straight at Sokka

At that moment Toph busted through the door ”what’s up snoozels!?” she yelled in typical Toph fashion

“Sorry we’re late, there was some traffic,” said Aang apologetically, following her with Katara and On Ji in tow.

“I heard you think you can pretend like you’re perfectly healthy?” said Toph letting her guide dog Badger lead her to Sokka. “ Well, news flash asshole, you’re not!”

“Hey, that’s not fair I was really feeling better this past year or so, and I really thought I could…” said Sokka in his defense

“Well you can’t” interrupted Toph crossing her arms “I get feeling better but why didn’t you take your cane with you just in case. Hell, I have Badger and I still carry a cane just in case. What is it snoozels, cos we all know how you love being overprepared for everything and yet you never use your cane that you clearly need from what I’ve heard!?” said Toph pointing an accusatory finger in Sokka’s general direction.

“Ugh fine! I’m embarrassed ok! How can I, who am so young, fit and gorgeous, need a cane? That’s for old people! I should be able to bench press bears and ..and..”

“Do you want to add someone to the polycule?” joked Suki to de-escalate some tension

“Funny,” said Sokka “but no thank you, you know what I meant”

“Great Sokka, it would be great to do that but guess what, you can’t do it just as much as I can’t see. It doesn’t matter what you want or rather what society wants you to want.” said Toph, finally calming down a little, “what would you say if I were to give up Badger and my cane because I *SHOULD* be able to see?” she said, gesturing to her own eyes.

“Ok, you’ve got a point” Sokka admitted

“Besides, do you think an old person would have a handcrafted cane with symbols of their many partners? And designs that relate to their tribe traditions? Cos I don’t think so” added Mai who admittedly knew the most about looking like a badass from all of them.

“Yeah my cane is pretty cool, isn’t it?” Sokka said in a small voice, playing with the edge of his shirt.

“When they called me and told me everything that happened ..” said Katara”.. I.. was so worried Sokka, so worried you’ll end up hurting yourself” she added as she embraced him “please never do that again” she pleaded, her voice breaking a little.

“Oh I’m so sorry I never wanted that,” said Sokka embracing her back

“We were all worried,” said Ty Lee and On Ji in unison.

“I’m sorry,” said Sokka, wiping a tear off his face.

After a few more minutes full of hugs and words of appreciation Mai announced “ ok, with that out of the way... Who wants to grab ice cream at the park? There is a new stand with homemade flavors; it even has vegan options.”

“Let’s go! Let me just grab my cane,” said Sokka with a smile and disappeared upstairs.

That day no one had to carry Sokka back and he even put a spare cane in their trunk in case he ever forgets it.

Notes:

Thank you for reading ❤