Disclaimer: Don't own Sokka. Don't own Suki. Love their relationship.

A/N: This is my series of Sukka drabbles written for Sukka Week at DA. Each was inspired by a prompt. Hope you like. :)

Shelter

"Ha, well, Dad always said I was horrible at predicting the weather."

The jaunty, forced humor of his voice was lost somewhat due to the fact that he practically had to shout over the wind. It was picking up by the second, growing in speed, and worse, cold.

Seeing her dismayed expression, half-hidden as it was by the thick ruff of her hood, Sokka's face fell.

"I'm really sorry, Suki." And he looked it, too. In fact, he looked so crestfallen that she turned her steps so that she veered close to him, rubbing her thickly padded shoulder against his.

"It's all right." Their heads were less than a foot apart, and still she had to raise her voice. The wind drove straight into her face, stinging like needles, making each individual hair on her head feel like it was sheathed in ice.

"Put your head down. It keeps the snow out of your hood."

"Wait, it's snowing?"

"Heh, well…it will be soon."

"You mean this isn't just a passing cloud or two?"

Sokka looked sheepish and apologetic at the same time. "Um, actually…it'll probably turn into a full-blown blizzard any time now."

If Suki hadn't been too wind-buffeted to make any extra movements, she would have covered her eyes with her hand. "Sokka!"

"Don't worry; I know how to survive a blizzard!" His blue eyes gleamed at her earnestly. "We'll probably have to dig a snow cave, but…"

Suki sighed, blowing a cloud of breath that froze into crystals instantly. They had gone on a simple walk out of the village. Sokka had told Aang, Katara, and Hakoda that he wanted to show her "that really interestingly shaped iceberg by Seal Point". But honestly they had just wanted to be alone together. And no one had really believed Sokka's excuse anyway, not if the way that Aang kept coughing like he was choking back snickers and Hakoda had been grinning were any indication.

Well, her idea of spending time alone with Sokka didn't exactly involve blizzards. But when did anything with Sokka ever go as planned?

He was right about the snow, though. The next moment, the wind against her face began to feel decidedly more solid. And wetter. And colder.

She had to slit her eyes in order to keep them from being filled with the snow. She bowed her head like Sokka had told her to.

Unfortunately, that combination also made it very difficult to see.

"Suki, watch out for that—"

Her foot hit something soft and hard at the same time, and the next thing she knew, she was falling. Her muscles were so stiff and frozen that even her warrior reflexes didn't save her. She plunged face first into a wall of solid cold.

"Suki? Are you okay?" His arms were practically windmilling as he dug frantically around her. His voice was abruptly close as he pulled her upright, his hands frantic on her hood and clothes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Honestly, however uncomfortable snow was, she had faced worse. She looked up, expecting to find his face wide-eyed with worry. But instead, he looked…pleased.

"What?" she asked suspiciously, trying to spit out snow while retaining her dignity.

"Suki! You found a perfect snowdrift for our cave!" Sokka scooped an armful of snow out of the heap she had fallen into. He looked almost excited. Suki couldn't help smiling, despite the fact that her face was practically numb. Only Sokka would get excited about digging a snow cave in the middle of a South Pole blizzard.

"Come on!" Suki shook herself out of her reverie. "Help me dig."

Her hands were clumsy in the thick gloves, but they worked well enough for shoveling snow. Sooner than she'd thought, they had a reasonably sized hole in the drift, big enough to squeeze into.

Sokka wormed his way in, his shoulders barely fitting through the entrance, and she climbed after him. As soon as she was in, he started packing snow back around the opening.

"We'll have to leave a breathing hole here," Sokka said, able to talk more quietly now the wind was no longer screaming around them. He spoke with the air of someone musing on how to decorate their new house. "And if we smooth the walls down, they'll hold heat more effectively…"

Sokka turned to her and grinned knowingly. "Speaking of which, we'll probably have to huddle to conserve warmth."

He settled down with his back against one side of the cave and opened his parka-clad arms hopefully.

Suki had to hide a smile at his antics. But it was without any hesitation at all that she snuggled deep into the circle of his embrace and tucked her head against his chest. She had to admit, as soon as his arms closed firmly around her and his breath reached her face, she felt much warmer.

After a few moments, his gloves moved to her face. They weren't clumsy at all as he carefully dislodged the leftover snow and ice from her cheeks and hair. Cold as his hands were, the friction of them moving on her skin was warming too.

Time seemed to pass slowly. She didn't feel sleepy, which would have worried her, having heard the stories in the village of people who had fallen asleep in the middle of snowstorms. She just felt…comfortable. Which wasn't how most people felt in snow caves in blizzards.

But then, most people didn't have Sokka.

She was finally stirred when Sokka raised his head and began battering at the ceiling of the cave. He kept his body curved over her so none of the snow rained down on her. After a moment, she felt something warm on her face.

Sunlight?

She blinked, looking up. Sure enough, there were patchy clouds with a full, blazing sun shining down through them.

"See? It's over!" Sokka hugged her tightly to him, and then climbed over the lip of the hole he had made to freedom. He turned, reaching a hand back to her.

As she reached up to take it, Suki realized she was a little sorry the blizzard had stopped.