Weight of the World
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
~A~
"Katara, can I... talk to you for a few?"
With a startled blink the young woman in question paused and looked up from the kitchen counter where she was prepping for lunch. "Uh, sure, Sokka," she said, going back to dicing vegetables as she waited for him to speak.
The water tribe teen, an adult now by all standards at eighteen and married as well to his long-time love Suki, watched her enigmatically for a few moments and then sighed. "Suki and I've... decided to go back to the south pole," he began as Katara looked up and smiled. "We haven't been back for more than a short visit since we left to go after Aang, and Gran Gran isn't getting any younger - neither is dad, for that matter."
Katara's smile faded as she privately acknowledged her brother's words. That knowledge hadn't been far from her thoughts since they'd originally left, though she never dwelt on it - there was no point. She couldn't change the fact that everyone grew old and eventually died. "I know, Sokka," she finally said, glancing at him and smiling again. "And if that's what you and Suki want to do, then I'm happy for you, even though I'll miss you guys." She paused. "We all will."
"Katara... that's not what I'm..." he trailed off, seemingly frustrated with himself for a moment and then he shook his head and just decided to come right out and say it. "We want you to come with us."
The young woman didn't even look away from her task. "No."
"What? Come on - you didn't even think about it! Why not?!" he asked, his voice rising with a bit of aggravation.
"We can't right now, you should know that," she returned, looking at him with slightly confused eyes. "You know Earth King Kuei and his councilors are still not too happy with the whole Republic City thing. That's why we're in Ba Sing Se in the first place - so that Aang and Zuko can hopefully manage to sell them on the idea and calm things down. We don't have time right now to take a vacation."
Sokka stilled. "Katara, I was asking you to go with us, not Aang," he said carefully. "I know he's too busy - but you aren't the Avatar. You want to help protect the peace, I understand," he added quickly when she dropped her knife and turned to stare at him like she'd never seen him before, "but what about our family? Don't you want to go home and enjoy the peace we fought for now that we actually have it?"
"You want me to just... leave?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes! Aang is the Avatar and he can handle the world - you don't have to abandon your family to follow him around the world like a lost rabbit-dog puppy!" he yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I think his shoulders are broad enough to carry his responsiblities - it's not like he's the first Avatar, you know, and taking care of the planet is something I'm sure he's pretty used to by now! But every time I've mentioned going home you always have some reason why you can't - when will the time come when you can?"
Katara's face fell and she looked away from her brother to stare out the window over the counter. "First of all, I love Aang. I didn't see you taking off to go home without Suki, so why would you expect me to do that to the love of my life? And second of all, while he might be the Avatar, the world is too heavy for anyone to carry alone, and you should know that after everything we went through after we found him in that iceburg," she said softly, hurt and disappointment clear in her voice. "You don't see the Aang that I do, no one does - the one who comes to bed late every night exhausted, confused, and frustrated, and sometimes so down that he just doesn't even know what to do anymore." She looked back up at her brother, meeting his eyes with a shadowed, tortured look in her own that made guilt rip through him. The look cleared after a moment, and he was stunned to see an almost frightening, inhuman determination take its place, instead. "As the Avatar it's Aang's duty to carry the world, yes - but when the weight becomes overwhelming and he just can't find the strength to go on any further, I will carry him. That is my duty - a duty I took on willingly because I love him more than anything in this world or the next. So don't ask me to leave him ever again, Sokka, because my answer won't ever change. I will never, ever abandon him... not for any reason - or anyone," she finished with stern emphasis.
Sokka just stared at his sister, unable to even think of anything to say at that point because he was finally forced to acknowledge what he'd really known deep down from the moment he'd watched Aang open his eyes and meet Katara's for the first time. They were tied together not by duty or friendship or even affection, but by destiny and a love so vast and utterly profound that he was humbled just to have gotten even a glimpse of it.
And really, when it came down to it there couldn't be anyone better out there for Aang - because his sister had the strongest, most unbreakable soul he'd ever seen. No matter what they had to go through in the coming years, no matter how worn and weary Aang might get Katara would carry him until he could find his feet once again no matter the cost to herself, because she was simply incapable of ever giving up on the young airbender. The only thing he could think of that would be able to break her was if she lost the monk, because protecting his heart and soul was what she did, it was who and what she was and without him she'd have no reason to even want to keep living.
He finally looked away and sighed, his shoulders slumping a little. "I'm sorry. I didn't really expect you to abandon Aang and move back home permanently... it's just... like I said, Gran Gran isn't getting any younger and I'm... afraid," he admitted, shamefaced. "I guess I just wanted things to go back to the good ol' days, wanted things to be like they were when mom was still alive and our family was all together. Mom's already gone, and next we'll lose Gran Gran and dad and... and I'm not ready for that."
Eyes softening with affection and sadness Katara stepped into her brother and wrapped her arms around him, tears escaping her eyes and slipping down her cheeks as he threw his arms around her and cried, too. After a few minutes of that she pulled back and nudged his head up from where it had fallen to rest on her crown and met his damp gaze.
"Sokka... you'll never be ready to lose someone you love. I'm not ready to lose them, either. But we can't avoid that loss forever and you know it. And we still have to live our own lives despite that. This is my life, and unfortunately that means that I can't spend every day with them anymore. And while it makes me sad sometimes and I miss them, there's no question of where my place is. They wouldn't want me to waste my life by clinging to them like that anyway, and you know it."
Wiping the remaining tears away with the heels of his hands, Sokka stepped back and let his sister go with a short nod. "I know. I just..." he hesitated and then shook his head. "Never mind. Will you come visit soon and stay for a while? I mean, you and Aang both?"
Katara smiled as she wiped the remains of her own tears away. "As soon as we can get away, we will. Aang asked me if I wanted to about a month ago, actually. That's why he's been working so hard lately - he's trying to clear things up enough so that we can."
Now Sokka felt really guilty about having asked his sister what he had. That guilt was made even worse for the fact that if the situations had been reversed and she had asked him to leave Suki behind to go back to the south pole he'd have reacted much worse than she had - he'd have been shouting at her over it. And while he loved Suki dearly, it was still not the same as the bond between Aang and Katara... and Suki wasn't the Avatar with the weight of an entire world on her shoulders. Their situations just didn't compare, and he knew it.
"I'm sorry," he apologized again and her smile widened a little, knowing him well enough that she understood all that he was saying with those two simple words.
"It's okay," she said, affection and understanding in her eyes as she looked at him. She turned back to the counter with another quick smile to continue her chopping. "When you get home, tell everyone that we'll be coming for a nice, long visit as soon as we can - hopefully we'll be able to spend most of the summer there." She shrugged wryly and glanced back at him over her shoulder with a laugh. "Well, at least that's what Aang's shooting for, and... I think everything will work out okay and we'll have our chance."
Sokka smiled back. "That sounds good," he agreed, then moved closer and glanced over her shoulder with a grimace at the sight of all the vegetables on the chopping board. "Hey... where's the meat?"
A burst of laughter met his ears and he pouted. "You never make enough meat for me anymore because of veggie-boy, Katara, and I need meat!"
His sister smacked him lightly on the back of the head and then pointed over to the stove where there were already several pots simmering. "There's plenty of meat, you idiot, so stop complaining," she giggled. "And besides - eating a few vegetables might actually be good for you."
"Ewww... no way," he wrinkled his nose at the very thought. "Remember, I'm the meat and sarcasm guy. I can't be the meat and sarcasm guy without meat."
More laughter spilled out of the kitchen, and all was once more right in their world...
No Avatar mediation needed... at least this time.