A ding rings out through the tea shop.
Zuko smiles at the person who walks in.
It was Azula with her soulmates, Mai and Ty Lee.
“Hey, Zuzu,” Azula greets, pressing a kiss to the top of her brother’s head.
“Hey, Lala,” Zuko greets kindly. “Jasmine tea for Ty Lee, ginseng for Mai, and green for Azula?”
Mai smiles softly. “Thank you for remembering. Today sucked.”
Ty Lee hugs him. “God, I love you.”
Zuko laughs and goes to make the tea.
As he’s making it, he asks, “So what happened?”
“This motherfucker decided to tell us that our soul string must be broken if we’re in a poly relationship,” Mai snarls.
Ty Lee sulks but nods.
Zuko passes the omega her tea with a sympathetic look.
“So, obviously, I kicked him in the balls and told him to fuck some whore because god knows he doesn’t have a soul mate,” Azula says casually, sipping her tea.
Zuko snickers.
Azula was a scary alpha when she wanted to be.
Poor guy must have shit his pants.
After all, if Azula of all people kicked him where the sun doesn’t shine, he won’t ever be able to piss his pants. Or piss at all.
“So, what about your soul string, Zuko?” Ty Lee asks.
Zuko sighs. “I tried following them, but I chickened out. They’re intertwined, so I think they might have already met. I don’t want to ruin their relationship.”
Before Azula can retort, the bell to the door rings again and walks in the most gorgeous guy Zuko’s ever seen.
“How can I help you?” Zuko asks kindly.
“I would like a- oh my spirits,” the man whispers.
“I beg your pardon?” Zuko questions.
To answer, the male alpha points at his string.
Zuko didn’t understand.
What does his string have to do with-
Oh.
Oh, my.
The only way Zuko could see his string was if-
The omega looks to see his own string connected with the man in front of him.
The man's look of surprise morphs into a smile. “Sokka. You?”
“I have a name tag for a reason, you know,” Zuko automatically says.
Sokka chuckles as Zuko flushes.
Dear God, he was stupid.
“Nice to meet you, Zuko,” Sokka says. “Didn’t think I'd meet you at a tea shop.”
“I didn’t think I’d meet you at all,” Zuko mutters.
Sokka’s smile falters. “What did you say?”
Before Zuko can say anything more, Azula elbows his side and holds out her hand for Sokka.
“My name is Azula, I’m Zuzu’s sister and your future nightmare if you hurt him,” Azula greets cheerfully.
Sokka grins. “Sokka, and I have a feeling you and my sister would get along just fine!”
“Ty Lee’s the name, gymnastics the game,” Ty Lee chirps.
Sokka’s eyes widened. “Holy shit. Ty Lee as in the Olympic Gold Medalist? Then you must be Azula as in the CEO of Fire Nation Industries. And Mai, you’re that chef with her own TV show, right? The one with the cool knife tricks?”
Zuko snorts. “Nice to know you know them. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
Sokka’s eyes widened. “Wait, but-”
Zuko turns around to leave.
Mai looks at Sokka, empathy in the alpha’s eyes. “Azula reacted the same way to us. It’s not you, it’s some….past problems. I’m sure if you keep trying, he’ll open up.”
Sokka smirks. “Bold of you to assume I was going to give up.”
***
Chocolates, teddy bears, anything and everything corny and cliche were showing up at the Jasmine Dragon for Zuko.
He did not, at all, find it endearing.
At all.
As he was picking up some chocolates, he heard a voice say, “When Sokka said you were pretty, I didn’t know he meant drop-dead gorgeous.”
Zuko turns around and is greeted with the sight of another abnormally handsome man next to Sokka.
“Jet,” he introduces, holding out his hand.
“Great, another one,” Zuko mutters as he sees his string also attached to this alpha.
Jet snorts. “Sure know how to sweet talk a guy.”
Zuko rolls his eyes and enters the shop.
“Zuko!” A girl’s voice yells.
Zuko smiles.
He knew that voice.
“Hey, Kata- oh!” Zuko says as he’s tackled in a hug by Katara and Aang.
“Missed you, Sparky,” Toph greets.
Toph had felt explosions of warmth inside her when she met Haru.
She couldn’t see so only Haru could see their string.
“Nice to see you too, Toph,” Zuko says.
Suki smiles at him from next to Yue.
Suki finally finished courting her omega and Yue was ready to mate her alpha now.
“Wait, you guys know each other?” Sokka asks incredulously.
Zuko blinks in surprise. “Wait, Sokka? As in Katara’s stupid brother? Her words, not mine.”
Aang’s smile faltered. “Is something wrong?”
“Uh, Zuko is my and Sokka’s soulmate,” Jet says awkwardly.
The tea shop was silent.
“Hey, Zuzu, what are you- oh, hey guys,” Azula says, waving to the group in the shop.
“Hello, Azula,” Yue says.
Azula takes one look around and connects the dots in an instance.
She full-blown cackles. “Oh, you’ve done it this time, Zuzu!”
“Shut up, Lala,” Zuko snaps.
Iroh walks in at this time as well.
Somehow, without saying a word, he pieced everything together too.
How the hell was Zuko never able to?
“My shift just ended, I’m going to go home for today,” Zuko mutters, walking out the door.
Jet and Sokka share a look.
They will get this omega to like them even if it’s the last thing they do.
***
Zuko finally cracks after 3 weeks.
He allows them one date.
And they absolutely blew it.
But Zuko had never laughed that hard in his life.
And Sokka and Jet were addicted to that sound.
Now, 6 months, daily tea shop visits, and 3 disasters later, Zuko was laying in Jet’s lap, Sokka lazily sprawled next to them.
Today he was finally going to tell them why he wasn’t happy when he first met them.
“Jet? Sokka?” Zuko says quietly.
Jet knew that voice.
It was the voice Zuko used before a panic attack or telling them something important.
Jet jabs Sokka in the side causing him to jump up.
“Hey, what the fu-” Sokka complains before realizing what was happening.
“You guys never asked but I think you should know why I wasn’t really ok with meeting you,” Zuko mumbles.
Sokka places a strand of his hair behind his ear. “Darling, you don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to,”
“But I want to,” Zuko says earnestly. “I just don’t know how.”
“How about the beginning?” Jet asks. “That’s how I told you and Sokka about how I lost my parents to that fire.”
“Or how my mom died of heart cancer,” Sokka adds.
Zuko nods.
He takes a deep breath before starting.
“My dad wasn’t the nicest person. He and my mom were forced into an arranged marriage. After a really big argument, she ran away.
Now she has a good husband, and a daughter named Kiyi but that’s not the point. After my mom left, my dad started to drink. He did drugs. And he started to hit me and Azula.
First, it was just me. Beer bottles, belts, whips, anything he could reach. Then he started hitting Azula when I was twelve and I lost it. I hit him over the head with a plate. He….pushed me into the stove face first. It’s how I got my scar.
Before it could become worse, I heard a gunshot and sort of saw police officers with an angry Iroh and crying Azula in the doorway. She called the cops when I turned away. He got arrested and me and my sister lived with Uncle and went to therapy.
And I was scared I’d end up hurt again so I didn’t trust you. I’m sorry.”
Jet and Sokka look at him, surprise written all over their face.
“Your dad is Ozai, isn’t it,” Jet finally says.
Zuko was taken aback. “How did you-”
“He was arrested for all of those charges and he was the owner of Fire Nation Industries before,” Sokka says.
Zuko was silent. “Are you guys mad at me?”
Jet shakes his head. “No, darling, we could never be mad at you. We’re mad at your sorry excuse for a dad.”
Sokka smiles though. “But you made it through that hell. And it’s nothing but good things from here on out, sunshine.”
Zuko gives a wet laugh.
God, he loved these two.
7 years later
God, he hated these two.
“Izumi, come here please,” Zuko pleads.
The 5-year-old just keeps running and Zuko groans.
He could not keep up.
9 months along in his second pregnancy, he was ready to pop and could not run if his life depended on it.
“Gotcha!” Jet cheers, swooping Izumi into his arms.
“Not fair, daddy!” Izumi shrieks.
Jet laughs and presses kisses on his daughter’s face.
Izumi squeals in joy before demanding to be out down to play some more tag.
Jet complies and plays some more.
“Enjoying the view?” Sokka asks.
Zuko turns to kiss his husband. “If only Izumi would listen to me.”
Sokka chuckles. “We both know that’s not happening. Now sit down before your back starts killing you again.”
Zuko grumbles a complaint but sits down anyway.
“Mama!”
A little bundle of energy suddenly tackles Zuko and he nearly falls over.
Sokka and Jet both lunge to steady him.
“Izumi, sweetheart, remember, mama can’t take that right now. He has your little sister on the way,” Jet reminds.
Izumi frowns. “I’m sorry, mama. Are you and the baby ok?”
“Fine,” Zuko says, wincing as he sits down. “Spirits, that hurt.”
Sokka murmurs words of reassurance as Izumi’s eyes fill with tears.
Zuko notices right away. “Oh, baby, come here.”
Izum crawls into Zuko’s lap with some difficulty, what with the baby bump.
“I’m sorry for hurting you,” Izumi sniffles.
Zuko smiles at her. “I’m fine, baby, you just took me by surprise.”
Izumi nods. “Can I feel my sister?”
Zuko presses kiss to her forehead. “Of course.”
Izumi places a hand on Zuko’s stomach and gasps in joy and shock when she feels the baby kick.
“She’s going to be awesome,” Izumi declares.
Zuko laughs.
“Yes. Yes, she will.”