"Sokka, it's been really great to see you again."
The words spoken by the young Kyoshi Warrior snapped the Water Tribe teenager out of his stupor, sending him straightening on his feet. In all the things he and his friends - his own sister, a blind Earthbender, and the Avatar - had faced upon the Serpent's Pass, the fact that he had to let Suki, the female fighter in question, go once again seemed too sudden. After only a few days...
"Whoa, hold on", Sokka blurted out. "Why does it sound like you're saying good-bye?"
"I came along to make sure you got through the Serpent's Pass safely", Suki explained, looking him dead in the eyes. "But now I need to get back to the other Kyoshi Warriors."
This revelation stunned Sokka to his very core. Sure, he'd had his sister and his friends helping to watch his back as he had theirs, and they'd grown to care for and trust each other that way. But this, the fact that Suki had gone with him to solely watch his back...
"So you came along...to protect me?" he asked, the shock clearly evident in his voice and his slumping posture.
"Listen...I'm really sorry about last night", Suki said next, a hesitant tone in her voice. Last night, when he'd confessed that he was being so overprotective of her because he didn't want to lose anyone else like he did at the North Pole. She'd confessed that she'd lost Sokka because he'd gone and been away for so long.
And he'd hesitated to do anything about it because he was still thinking about Yue. Of his failure to protect her.
And that was when he realized - he hadn't failed to protect her at all. She'd simply returned the favor for him, and the rest of the world. And she'd done it with Sokka's help.
And Sokka himself wouldn't have been able to help as well as he had...if it hadn't been for Suki teaching him those lessons when they'd first met - just because both she and Yue were women didn't mean they couldn't stand up for themselves. Just because they could be warriors - and in Suki's case, she really was one - didn't make them any less of women either. Or any less human. And Sokka knew that Yue would want him to be happy.
And that's what Suki made him, beneath all of the surprise. All he could hope was that he would be able to do the same.
The fact that Suki came with him to protect him...it was still blowing his mind. And then, he just knew why she'd done so.
"We were talking and...saying things..." Suki continued. "I guess I just got carried away and before I knew it, I—"
Suddenly, she was caught off-guard as Sokka kissed her full on the lips, not knowing how else to explain to her how he was feeling. But boy, was he feeling it - affection, gratefulness, and so many other emotions he didn't know how to name yet.
And when he pulled away to see a faint blush in Suki's cheeks, visible even beneath the Kyoshi face paint, he knew that she felt the same. Sokka could feel a similar blush in his face, knowing she could see it. Suddenly, he didn't know what to say again.
"You talk too much", he finally whispered, his tone playful yet affectionate. Then he leaned forward to kiss her softly again, feeling even more surprise when she returned it with passion, holding him tightly around his shoulders. Reflexively, Sokka let his arms wind around Suki's back, and then, it was only them finally outside of their own minds.
At least, until someone decided to ruin it.
"Aw, isn't that sweet", his sister Katara commented, a wry tone of sarcasm in her voice. Sokka and Suki finally broke apart, their arms still around each other, and looked toward her, he sticking his tongue out at her.
Suki noticed this and Katara returning the gesture, and she rolled her eyes. "Kids, don't make me separate you two!"
"He started it!" Katara cried jokingly.
"I did not, you did!" Sokka fired back, his voice cracking up and down in pitch.
This resulted in a light chuckle from Katara, and another of Suki's eye rolls. "Come on, ya big goof. Let's walk a little bit."
"Alright", Sokka responded, his tone of mock defeat as he filled Suki past Katara and the tent made from Earthbent rock that housed the refugees and their newborn they'd been escorting across the pass.
"You know, you shouldn't be sorry about last night, Suki", Sokka repeated, echoing his sentiment from the night prior. "If anything, I should be sorry."
"Why you?" Suki asked, looking back at him over her shoulder as they walked.
"Honestly...because I was still hung up over that loss, letting it weigh me down so much, that when I saw you in trouble yesterday...all I could think about was losing..." Sokka managed to just barely get the last word out. "Her."
Suki turned to face him at that, tilting her head. He could see that her gaze held no hostility, resentment, or anger - only sympathy and care. "She meant a lot to you, didn't she?"
Sokka nodded lightly, a soft smile coming to his face. "I guess I just helped her become her own person. She was...well, being pressured to marry someone she didn't even know. But she was sweet, and very brave - she sacrificed herself to save me. To save...well, us", he finished, spreading his arms wide, as if that'd capture the magnitude of his meaning.
"Oh...I didn't know, Sokka", Suki began, but he cut her off.
"You're alright, Suki. Besides, I doubt I'd have been able to protect her if it weren't for you."
That brought a soft blush to her cheeks. "Really?"
"Yeah...if it weren't for what happened back at Kyoshi Island..." He drifted off, knowing he was smiling sheepishly again. "Well, I think you get it. You just made me better at...well, everything."
Suki couldn't help but smile sweetly at that. When they'd first met, Sokka had come off as full of himself, all bravado and sexism. It hadn't necessarily been his fault, but it still rubbed off on her wrongly. Thankfully, teaching him the ways of the Kyoshi Warriors and what being one meant to the women involved managed to set him straight, along with Suki just being herself. And in the end, he'd more than made up for his early behavior toward her, realizing it was alright to be a warrior and a girl. Downright amazing, in fact.
This only fueled Suki's mood as she wryly replied, "I'm still the better warrior, though."
"Yeah yeah, don't rub it in", Sokka replied with defeat. Then he caught her gaze and her prodding, and couldn't help but laugh along with her, right up until her gaze flashed toward a particular shape in his pack.
"What's that?"
"Uh...nothing", Sokka said, looking away with a suddenly sheepish tone in his voice.
"Sokka..."
He let out a light sigh, knowing he couldn't get out of this one, even as he muttered an answer under his breath.
"What was that?" Suki asked, leaning closer.
"It's the fans and that headband you found for my uniform back on Kyoshi Island. I've had them with me this whole time."
Even admitting that out loud filled Sokka with a slowly burning sense of pride and virtue. Of course he'd keep them with him - they reminded him of what he'd learned from Suki, about how being a warrior meant being brave and honorable, and using one's skill and smarts over an enemy rather than just brute strength.
If anyone had told Sokka only a few short months back that he'd learn those lessons from someone in an all-girl warrior group, he'd think they were stupid. Now though, he knew far better.
Clearly, Suki felt the same. "You really kept those? Through everything you and the others have been through?"
"Yeah...I mean, they remind me who I'm friends with", Sokka admitted, signaling toward where Aang had been before he'd glided off toward the gigantic wall of Ba Sing Se, far at the end of the pass. Aang, being the Avatar, was a reincarnation of the namesake of Suki's home, and she'd fought in the same ways that Suki was teaching her fellow Warriors.
He then followed with, "Plus, that headband and fans? They're a part of you too, and I wouldn't give them up for anything."
"Wow...Sokka, that..." Suki couldn't seem to find the right words, so instead she lunged forward and embraced Sokka again, catching him by surprise before he returned the gentle, strong hug.
"Do you really have to go?" Sokka asked.
With a heavy sigh, Suki nodded against his shoulder before looking into his eyes again. "I've still got to watch out for my people, Sokka. Just like you need to help watch out for yours, right?"
He nodded begrudgingly and was about to speak up again before Suki cut in, "But hey, it's not like we won't see each other again. Maybe you'll get to repay the favor and protect me next time", she joked.
This managed to make Sokka laugh. "I hope so, that'd be an honor."
She blushed, winking at him.
"Ooh! Before you go..." Sokka backed away again to dig into one of his pockets, coming up with a crude wood carving the size of his palm and pressing it into Suki's hands. It was roughly crescent-shaped, with a ridge sticking out from the outside curve and some wavy ridges in the surface, a small dent near the sharper point while the other end tapered in a curve.
"This supposed to be the moon?" Suki wondered, her expression one of confusion.
"No, it's supposed to be the giant koi fish from your lake", Sokka explained shyly, gesturing to the ridge. "See, there's its back fin..."
"Oh, now I see it", Suki replied, letting out another small, sweet laugh before looking up at him. "Thanks. I really love it."
Sokka's face stretched into a grin so wide, it almost threatened to break his face. Then he playfully hugged Suki again, kissing her cheek.
She rolled her eyes at this. "Oh, come on, best warrior in the Water Tribe. Kiss me like you'll miss me, and mean it." Then she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him full on the lips one last time, letting it linger.
Sokka had just barely grabbed her shoulders before they came up for air and she returned his hug. "I will miss you, you know."
"I will too", he replied before stammering, "Well, no, I mean, I'm gonna miss you like you're gonna—"
"Sokka, it's alright", Suki replied cheeringly. "I know. I may still be a warrior, but I'm still a girl too - we're smart like that."
All he could do was nod and say, "Touché. But you're also the best girl warrior who's not my sister."
"Of course", she commended with a wink and a cheery smile. "Take care of yourself, ok, Sokka?"
"I'll do my best", Sokka responded. "You too. And say hi to the rest of the Warriors for me."
"Will do." Then, hesitantly, she unwound her arms from around Sokka and slowly started to walk away. He watched as she approached the summit of one of the pass' mountains before she looked back at him, lifting her arm in a 'bye wave.
Sokka returned the wave, smiling all the while. He was indeed gonna miss her, but he also knew that at some point, they would find each other again.
Maybe, Sokka thought, he would indeed protect and help her as she had done for him.
And when that time came, he thought, maybe they wouldn't have to leave each other again.
For the moment, Sokka could only hope.