Hakoda and Kya always made every effort to love and support both of their children equally, making sure that neither felt neglected. However, sometimes they did not manage the daunting task as well as they might have hoped.
Both children were very young when Kya first discovered that Katara could waterbend. She had immediately left the two frolicking children, rushing to alert Hakoda of the exciting news.
When their parents returned, Sokka looked on curiously as his mother and father excitedly asked Katara to repeat what she had done. Sokka did not understand the excitement; he had known of Katara's abilities for many months, as he often had to deal with them when they got in snowball fights.
Finally, Sokka had had enough of Kya and Hakoda's fawning over Katara's bending. "Look what I can do!" he interrupted, launching himself into a poorly executed forward roll that he had seen one of the warriors practicing, and ending up headfirst in a snowbank. Sitting up and wiping snow from his eyes, Sokka looked to see his parents' response, only to be disappointed by their continued fixation with Katara's bending.
That settled it for Sokka—he would become a waterbender.
For the next week, Sokka carefully watched his sister's bending, memorizing each movement and taking careful mental notes. Once he thought that he knew the necessary movements, Sokka waited until nightfall, then left the village, walking alone in the moonlight to the water's edge.
Sokka started slowly, with some of the least complex movements, but saw no results. Frustrated, be moved on to another move, and then a third. When he had exhausted his sister's repertoire of moves, to no avail, Sokka sank to the frozen ground, wrapping his arms around his knees and letting his tears roll down his cheeks.
"Sokka, don't be upset," a soft voice said behind him, and Sokka looked up to see his mother walking toward him and sitting on the ground next to him.
"I can't do it. Katara will always be better than me because she can bend and I can't. You and dad are so proud of her and I just want you to be proud of me," Sokka sobbed, and Kya's heart melted at his words.
"Sokka, dearest," she said softly, wrapping an arm around the boy's small shoulders, realizing how the boy must have felt left out by her and Hakoda's excitement over his sister's bending. "Just because you cannot bend does not make you any less special than your sister. Your father and I will always love both of you, no matter what. And we are so proud of how hard you practice, so that when the time comes, you can begin training to be a warrior."
Sokka sniffed and looked up at his mother with wide eyes, and she gave him a warm smile.
"And now there's even more reason for you to work hard with your training, Sokka," she said seriously. "If the Fire Nation finds out that there is a waterbender here, then you might have to be ready to protect your sister."
Sokka wiped his tears on the back of his hand, and set his jaw, willing himself to stop crying. "I'll always protect her," he promised his mother, as he stood up. "Want to see the move that dad taught me yesterday?"