a/n: Because helloyesimhere requested some father-son interaction between Hakoda and Zuko and I was too lazy to come up with a different AU.

dedication: To my hurt/comfort muse, which I've forgotten the name of.

disclaimer: I don't own A:tLA.

summary: Hakoda had heard a lot about the infamous Fire Prince. For some reason, he hadn't expected the prince in question to be a lonely teenage boy.

fate's favorite

Hakoda had to smile at the scene that greeted him in the morning. He was with the Avatar and his group of teachers and at the time of Sokka's rescue, it had been easy to forget that they were all kids. But now, it was readily apparent, from the way that the little blind earthbender chased the other Earth Kingdom kids as Sokka excitedly explained something to Suki, flailing his hands around. Aang was practically hanging off of Chit Sang's arm as he overwhelmed the poor man with his chatter.

In severe contrast to the chaos, Katara serenely wove through the jumbled mess of people to serve everyone breakfast and Zuko sat on a stone block, sipping tea while he looked out into the chasm, his eyes a million miles away.

Hakoda had to admit that he had heard a lot about Zuko, none of it good. While he had been surprised enough by his son's daring breakout plan that he'd put aside the fact that Sokka was working with the Fire Prince, seeing him here amidst a group of people that he had chased all around the world was…jarring, to say the least.

"Dad," Katara smiled, drawing him away from his thoughts and handing him a plate of what looked like an unappetizing gray mush. She rolled her eyes at the expression on his face. "Don't worry, Zuko picked out the herbs this time. It's not poisoned."

Hakoda was pretty sure that there was now visible alarm on his face. He didn't want to compare either of his children to Kya, who had been a genius in the kitchen, but failing to recognize poisonous plants from edible ones was disturbing. He eyed his breakfast with considerable trepidation.

"At least we weren't with Uncle," Zuko responded, clearly not as lost in thought as he seemed to be, "He would've taste tested everything we came across." Something flitted across his face at that, and while Hakoda wasn't an expert at reading faces, it looked a lot like sadness.

It seemed like Zuko had made up for his crimes, if they were trusting him enough to let him near the cooking. No one looked like they were falling sick, so Hakoda took a cautious bite of the gruel and was pleasantly surprised. It was actually good.

"Hey, Katara, I'm done, going to explore the temple, see you for training later!" Aang said, all in one breath, abandoning his bowl and running for one of the corridors. Unfortunately, an earth wall rose up in his path and Katara used a water whip to tug him back, sending the Avatar tumbling to a stop at the smirking prince's feet.

"Hello, Aang," Zuko said, clearly hiding a smile behind his tea cup, "I admire your unbridled enthusiasm to master firebending. I think a hundred hot squats would be a great start to the morning." Aang groaned as Zuko dragged him off to the empty courtyard to begin training. Katara and Toph wore identical unsympathetic smiles.

Hakoda finished off his own breakfast and gestured to Sokka, who was laughing at the look on Aang's face, "I think they have the right idea. How about a spar, Sokka?"

His son had certainly gotten much better since the last time Hakoda had seen him. He felt a bit like a failure of a father – he hadn't taken Sokka ice dodging, or taught him to use the sword, or encouraged his skill of strategy. He'd seen Sokka three times in the past two years. The first time, he'd been too busy raiding Fire Nation ships to pay attention to his son. The second, he'd been too busy commanding a Fire Nation ship, and then caught up in Katara's anger. The third time, they had planned and executed an invasion.

While none of those times were appropriate for having a long conversation with his eldest child, Hakoda still felt like he missed out, especially when he'd seen his son concoct an elaborate escape plan to get him out of the Fire Nation's worst prison.

Sokka had grown into a fine warrior, and he'd done so without his father's help.

"Come on, old man!" Sokka cried out, reverting back to that strange Fire Nation stance that Hakoda never thought he'd see on his son, his sword at the ready, "Are you tired already?"

"Oh, Sokka," Hakoda grinned, gripping his spear tighter and slipping into a stance of his own, "You may have grown up, but your father still has a few tricks left."

They clashed blows a few times as Hakoda searched for his son's weakness. Inexperience would be his downfall, as it was with every young warrior puffed up with his own pride. Sokka was an intuitive learner and Hakoda had no doubt that he'd picked up the basics of swordsmanship after only a few days. This Master Piandao must've been a great teacher, to impart so much knowledge in so short a time. But swordsmanship wasn't just about controlling the body and letting creativity reign and Sokka hadn't mastered that sword.

Hakoda was used to fighting long range and soon enough, he found a weak spot. Slipping inside a sloppy parry, he grabbed Sokka's hand and twisted, forcing him to let go of the sword. Hooking his foot behind his son's, he brought Sokka down and jabbed down with the spear to keep him there.

Sokka grinned against the spear nudging at his throat, "Looks like I still have a long way to go to beat you, Dad." He accepted the hand that Hakoda held out and pulled himself back up.

Sokka went silent to search for his sword and that's when Hakoda heard it. A small, choked-off sound, almost like a whimper. Hakoda turned to see Zuko, half-hidden in a corner, staring at both of them with wide eyes.

"Hey, Zuko," Sokka found his sword and picked it back up, giving the firebender an easy smile, "Done training Aang? You can come spar with us – I know you can use those dao you cart around."

Momentarily surprised – the Fire Nation prince knew how to use swords? – Hakoda missed Zuko's response and only caught a split-second of Zuko's haunted look before he disappeared into a corridor.

"Man, I will never understand that guy," Sokka shook his head, "One minute he's yelling at Aang, the next he's as meek as a cricket mouse. I'm getting whiplash from his mood swings and I grew up with Katara."

Hakoda was still frowning at the spot where Zuko had disappeared, but he turned at the sound of his daughter's name. "Katara? What happened with Katara?"

"I don't know the full story, but she was all killer waterbender on him from the moment he got here, and then she started being nice after she gave him a concussion," Sokka shrugged, "Who can understand girls?" He paused and grinned, "Sure creeped Zuko out, though."

"She gave him a concussion?" Hakoda repeated in disbelief. Surely his little girl hadn't become so vicious. Not his precious daughter, who had been sweet and kind and a miniature version of Kya.

Come to think of it, Kya had been pretty vicious. He remembered the day that black snow fell from the sky and he'd ran into his house to find his wife dead, and two firebenders on the ground. Kya had been every inch a chief's wife.

"I think she was trying to kill him, actually," Sokka mused, and then blanched when he saw the look on his father's face, "Kidding! I was kidding! It was just a spar!"

"Sokka," Hakoda fought the urge to bury his head in his hands, "One day, after this war is over, we're going to sit down and have a long talk about everything you and your sister got up to in these past three years."

"Sure, Dad," Sokka smiled, bright and wide, and slowly edged out of the courtyard, "I think I'm going to find Suki now, bye!"

Hakoda watched in amusement as Sokka all but fled to the comforting arms of his girlfriend. Though if what he observed of the girl was true, her arms were less likely to be comforting and more likely to deliver a beat down. She was a fine woman for a future chief.

With a sigh, he turned back to the corridor that Zuko had bolted down. He had heard many things about the Fire Nation's Crown Prince and he had dismissed the more fanciful rumors as lies and misinformation spread by the Earth Kingdom to discourage deserters. After all, if the man did that to his own son, what would he do to his enemy?

He had dismissed it until he'd seen the look in Zuko's eyes when he held a spear to Sokka's neck.

If it was true, it explained why Zuko had been so willing to switch sides. It was easy to turn traitor to the man that had burnt off half your face, even – or perhaps especially – if he was your father.

Either way, it really wasn't Hakoda's business, but he saw the way that Zuko looked at him. Fire Prince or not, that young man was still the Avatar's firebending teacher and if Hakoda couldn't scrounge up a little compassion for the son of his biggest enemy, he could for the Avatar's sake.

He passed through three hallways before he heard the crackle of firebending. Hakoda cautiously poked his head out into a courtyard to see Zuko standing in the middle, his back to him. He was weaving through a strange set of katas as fire danced around his form.

Hakoda leaned against the wall and waited. He'd been taught to fear fire before he knew what the Fire Nation was, what they were doing, or what they'd already done. Seeing it used so casually, so peacefully brought home the fact that they weren't declaring war on faceless soldiers, but on an entire culture of people whose only crime was following a madman.

Hakoda saw the exact moment that Zuko realized he was there – his fire faltered and he missed a step in his kata, losing his balance and almost falling into the fountain. "Chief Hakoda," Zuko bowed – too low for the son of a leader to another leader, if the Fire Lord taught him to bow at all – and straightened up, apprehensive, "Is there something you wanted?"

"You don't have to call me Chief," Hakoda replied calmly, "Just Hakoda is fine."

"Yes, sir," Zuko's face was blank, but his hands were trembling, as if he was trying to stop them clenching into fists.

Hakoda took a step forward and ignored the way Zuko's entire body tensed up. "I just wanted to get to know you a little better. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when Sokka told me that he was working with the Fire Prince."

"I'm not a prince anymore," Zuko said, but relaxed marginally.

"Your father disowned you?" Hakoda raised his eyebrows. If that was true – and it didn't come as much of a surprise – then the crazy princess he'd heard about would be next in line. Now that was a true nightmare.

"He didn't come out and say it," Zuko muttered, "But shooting lightning at me was pretty indicative of his opinion."

Lightning? At his son? Hakoda opened his mouth, but no words came out. Zuko misinterpreted the look on his face and gave a wry smile, "You should've seen his face when I redirected it."

"You can redirect lightning?"

"Uncle taught me how to do it," Zuko's smile slipped off his face and Hakoda saw the same weary sadness he'd seen in the morning, "Saved my life." He muttered something else, but it was too low to hear.

"What happened to General Iroh?" Hakoda asked, because he'd heard a lot about the Dragon of the West. The great firebender prince who'd held Ba Sing Se under siege for six hundred days and abandoned a war he was winning because he lost his only son. From what Katara and Sokka had told him, he'd turned traitor to his own family to help the Avatar. Zuko clearly took after him.

"I made a horrible mistake," Zuko said softly, "Uncle Iroh was more of a father to me than Ozai ever was. And I betrayed him."

"I'm sure he'll forgive you," Hakoda said gently, because this was territory he was familiar with, "He must love you very much."

"What I did was unforgiveable," Zuko shook his head, "He'll never talk to me again, I know. He cared for me for three years when my own father wouldn't give a damn and I cast him aside the minute I got a taste of power." He muttered something else, but the only words Hakoda could make out was 'horrible nephew' and 'hates me'.

"There are people that would say that trying to capture the Avatar was unforgiveable," Hakoda said quietly, "And here you are now."

"That's because Aang is…" Zuko searched for the right word, "Aang. I mean, he's just a kid. And he's a monk – his teachers taught him to forgive everyone."

"And your uncle is your uncle." A new voice joined their conversation and Hakoda turned to see the blind earthbender. She had her hands on her hips and was glowering in Zuko's general direction. "Don't give me that wishy washy complaining attitude, Zuko. He told me once that all he wanted is for you to find your way. He would be proud if he could see you now."

"He isn't here," Zuko scowled, "And I don't know where he is." He paused and scowled at Toph, "When did you talk to my uncle?"

"Long story short, I got sick of Katara, stomped off and met this weird old man that poured my tea and was insufferably polite even though I was pretty rude. It was a long time ago," Toph waved off Zuko's objections, "But the point is, he really loved you, I could tell. The way he talked about his nephew…well, I've never heard something so sickeningly sweet. Uncle will forgive you, trust me."

"You don't know that," Zuko protested, but it sounded half-hearted at best. He looked much more hopeful now.

"I do," Toph said sternly, "And no one is going to argue with the greatest earthbender in the world! Also, Aang did twenty-six fire fists before he got bored and started gliding around, so you might want to get back to training."

Zuko groaned and stalked out of the courtyard, muttering something about idiot airbenders and short attention spans. Toph, however, stayed, turning her eerie sightless gaze on Hakoda. "You're pretty alright," she said finally, turning away, "Even if you are Katara's dad."

Why did everyone bring up Katara like it was a bad thing?

fin (for good this time I promise)

a/n: So, fatherly!Hakoda. Also, Toph being slightly reassuring, in her own way. And I got a kick out of Hakoda's confusion as to why everyone is so wary of Katara.