DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN Avatar the Last Airbender, its characters, nor its plot. I do, however, own this idea.
I never thought I would say this, but my little sister is growing up. Not only is she bigger and more independent, but she's drawing away from me. She doesn't need me, her big brother, to protect her anymore, she's becoming a woman. And as much as I hate to let her go into this man's arms, I have no choice. She's not mine anymore. She's happy.
I remember that day, eighteen years ago. I was eleven months old, toddling around in my new fur parka that Gran-Gran had made for me with her swift fingers. She told me that Mom had a surprise. I somehow knew that surprise was coming from the thing in her stomach that made her fat. And yes, I did say it that way.
"Daddy!" I cried, racing into our house after throwing a snowball at Kallik-an older girl in our village. I knew she was going to knock me in my head as a form of revenge. And man, she had one mean punch to be five at the time. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"
It was Gran-Gran who hushed me. Mom was holding something in a bundle of blankets, her eyes tired. She looked up at me and smiled lovingly. "Sokka," Her voice always calmed me. "Come meet your new sister. Her name is Katara."
And she opened her wide eyes the moment I peeped down at her and the skin between her brows wrinkled like she was studying me. Even as a newborn baby, she scowled at me as if I had done something wrong. After a few seconds of this, Katara burst into baby-laughter. "Mom, can we keep her?"
It was a stupid question, but a genuine one. My mother nodded and laughed. "Yes, Sokka, we can keep her." She slowly put Katara in my arms and our whole family gathered around us. Dad with his arms around Mom's shoulders, Gran-Gran smiling off to the side, and me in the middle with Katara held in my arms like a precious new gift.
I blinked and crossed my hands in front of my body as Katara's hands twined with my brother-in-law's. I just wished that Mom had been here to see how happy she was. I like to think that she is among the Spirits, smiling down at us and keep Katara, Dad, and I safe. Like Yue.
"Sokka." Katara is a little ten year old girl again, looking up at me with a cross between annoyance and awe. She envied me for being a warrior and I her for being a waterbender. I longed to be able to command the element with as much grace as she did, but it was not possible. "Teach me how to throw the boomerang"
I had scoffed at her and told her girls couldn't be warriors. That had earned a good kick in shins. Not that I was a misogynist, but back then, I had thought girls were too soft. Boy, didn't Suki and Toph teach me better!
I returned to the present, just as Katara walked up to me. I had never seen her happier, never. She threw her arms-slender arms that held so much power-around me and squeezed. "Sokka, I'm so happy!"
I can tell, Baby Sister, I can tell.