Perfect Balance

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor do I own Avatar: The Legend of Aang.

This is my first attempt at writing a multi-chapter fanfiction, and I should warn you that it has already taken me over six months just to write the prologue, so updates will probably be few and far between. :)

This fic is mainly about my favourite Avatar character, Sokka, and there will be a few OCs and a spot of deus ex machina along the way, but absolutely no Zutara or Taang. There will probably be a spot or two of both Sukka and Tokka, and probably a dash or two of Sokkla, but ultimately this story will be Yukka.

Well deserved criticism will be welcomed, as long as you are nice about it.

Prologue : The hole in the ice

The events of this prologue occur some ten years prior to the events in the show, I was originally intending to have this scene play out in a flashback in one of the later chapters, but after giving it some thought I have decided to place it here at the beginning. The problem with that, is that the story in this chapter is almost completely separate from the real story that I am trying to write, in fact, the story proper probably won't be starting until chapter three. :)

Hakoda reached down and gently placed his hands under his four year old daughter's arms, he then swung her into the air and dropped her gently onto his shoulders. Katara giggled happily. Keeping one hand on his daughter's knee, Hakoda turned towards his wife "You need to rest, I will take little Katara here to mom's, while Bato and I take the boys fishing, Pella will be here shortly to see that you get some peace and quiet".

With a sigh, the beautiful young woman that Hakoda loved with all his heart, raised herself onto her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss before turning and silently walking back towards their bedroom. Hakoda watched her leave, he sighed, if anything ever happened to that woman, well, he didn't know what he'd do.

As Hakoda stepped out into the bright morning sun, he saw the figure of Bato's wife Pella trudging towards him, while he waited for her to arrive, he tried to separate his braids from a mischievous pair of tiny hands that were busy wreaking havoc.

"Good morning Pella".

Pella glared at Hakoda, "And where are Katara's gloves?" she asked, before stalking past him.

Hakoda smacked his forehead with the palm of his right hand.

Pella returned shortly with the missing gloves, which she handed silently to Katara, then after watching the little girl put them on, she turned and walked back into the igloo, pulling the skins that hung across the doorway closed behind her.

Hakoda would never understand that woman, the wife of his best friend, and the best friend of his wife, she always seemed cold to him, no matter what he said or did, still, there was no-one he trusted more to keep an eye on things in his absence.

Arriving at his mothers, Hakoda swept Katara from her perch and placed her on the floor, before taking her now gloved hand in his and leading her into the igloo.

"Hello Katara, do you have a kiss for your Gran Gran", the little girl was then enveloped in a hug as her grandmother dropped to her knees before her.

Looking up at her smiling son, Kanna asked "Where is my grandson, I thought Sokka would be spending the day here as well"

"Ha, I think that you will have your hands quite full enough with little Katara here, so Bato and I are going to take our sons fishing with us" he replied.

Kanna hummed gently, "Well be careful, Sokka is still a little young, and there are plenty of opportunities for mischief out on the ice", she gave her son a knowing look.

Hakoda grinned back sheepishly, "I think between the two of us, Bato and I should be able to keep the boys out of trouble".

"and who will be keeping you two out of trouble?" she asked, "Oh get on with you, but neither you nor Sokka had better come back with a fever, your poor wife is already feeling under the weather, and the last thing she needs to be doing is nursing the two of you!".

Hakoda glanced at the sun, by the position in the sky he knew it was still morning. Of course at this time of year, when the sun never set, he knew concepts like 'morning' had little real significance. He turned towards his friend and said "So tell me, what did I do this time?".

Bato smiled and said, "Well, Pella seems to think that I spend more time with you than I do with her, we had quite an argument about it over breakfast, I told her she was being stupid, and that she was a much better kisser", Hakoda adopted a hurt expression, and then they both laughed.

Just then two small figures rushed past the two men, "I'll get you for that Kaskae", shouted the smaller, snow covered, boy.

Hakoda glanced back towards the sky, maybe his mother had been right, perhaps getting a five year old, and his six year old friend, to take an interest in learning any of the skills that they would need, living here at the south pole, would be more trouble than he had thought.

"Kaskae, Sokka, don't get too far ahead" yelled Bato.

The larger of the two boys stopped running and turned to face back towards his father, allowing Sokka to grapple him around the waist, sending both boys rolling through the snow. With an angry yell Kaskae found his feet again and charged after a laughing Sokka, who was already up and running. Hakoda and Bato could only watch as their sons raced headlong out across the ice shelf. Kaskae soon caught up with the smaller boy, and shoved him forward, sending Sokka face first into another pile of loose snow. Waiting for a moment to see if Sokka was going to get up again, Kaskae charged off towards the fishing hole.

Hakoda felt a growing sense of unease, and he broke into a run,

"Hey, where are you going?" called Bato, "they're only playing, they're having a whale of a time."

When Hakoda didn't answer, Bato reluctantly began to jog after the others. Meanwhile Kaskae had arrived at the fishing hole, basically a roughly circular hole in the thick ice which revealed the dark antarctic ocean beneath, but Kaskae wasn't really interested in the small patch of sea, he was waiting for Sokka to catch up. As Sokka charged at him Kaskae stepped aside, leaving the smaller boy slipping on the wet ice. Regaining his balance, Sokka whipped around and charged after Kaskae once again only to get a face full of the loose snow that Kaskae had thrown at him. Spluttering, Sokka charged after the running Kaskae, but as he raced around the hole in the ice, he lost his footing and fell with a splash into the freezing water.

"SOKKA" yelled Hakoda, as he dropped the fishing poles and pack that he had been carrying. Racing up to the shocked Kaskae, Hakoda looked into the hole, but there was no sign of the little boy that he had just seen fall, just fading ripples bouncing across the inky surface. Hesitating for only a moment, Hakoda tore off his thick coat and threw himself in, fighting the sudden shock of the freezing water he swam down, finding the bottom of the ice shelf some three feet beneath the surface. He slowly turned in the water, trying to find any trace of his missing son, but out under the ice the sunlight did not penetrate, and the shadows could have hidden thousands of small children. Picking the most likely direction, the water tribesman struck out, away from the hole. But there was nothing to be seen, certainly no sign of his precious son, and so, with the need for air becoming a pressing concern, he turned and headed back towards the shaft of light and the hole back to the surface.

Bato wasted no time when Hakoda broke the surface, he grabbed his friend, and using all his strength, hoisted his upper body up and out onto the ice, easily brushing Hakoda's resistance aside, he then grabbed the other mans belt and pulled him from the water.

"What are you thinking, you know that the chill from the water can kill you!", he shouted as he tore away Hakoda's soaked clothing,

"Kaskae, go and get the blanket from my pack, I dropped it just back there", commanded Bato as he gestured back the way they had come.

He then began to rub Hakoda's shivering limbs, to try and keep his circulation working. When Kaskae returned, Bato took the blanket from the shocked boy, and wrapped his friend tightly up in it, before placing Hakoda's previously discarded coat back over his shoulders. Only now did Bato's thoughts return to Sokka, he stood next to the fishing hole, but there was still no sign of Hakoda's first born.

"Kaskae, look and see if you can find any other places where the ocean shows through the ice, but for the sake of the spirits, please be careful", said Bato as he started to move out across the ice, away from the other two.

Despite walking some distance, neither Bato or his son could find any more holes, and so with a heavy heart Bato called his son back, and returned to the stunned Hakoda. It was the hardest thing he would ever have to do, but Bato knew that there was now no chance for Sokka, and so he would have to try and drag his distraught friend back to the village before he developed hypothermia.

Sokka wasn't scared, and he didn't feel cold, his only reaction was one of boundless fascination with this new world that he fallen into, a silent world of shimmering light and swirling shadows. As he drifted, he became aware of the feeling of weightlessness, it was almost as if he was flying beneath the ice, he wished Kaskae and Katara were here, they would love this.

Almost out of nowhere a voice, at once both deep and gentle, resonated through Sokka's mind, "Aaahhh...little warrior...child of ice and snow...breather of the air... this is not the place for you...well not yet at least".

Sokka looked around, but he could see no-one else beneath the glowing ice, he tried to talk, but only produced a rising string of bubbles.

"You should have been more careful young one, for you have fallen into my realm, and your life is now before me".

Despite what the voice was saying, Sokka had a growing feeling of peace and contentment.

The voice spoke again, "Hmmm, I cannot fully see your destiny, but I see that you have much important work still to do. Take care my young rival, grow strong and wise, and make my people proud".

Sokka seemed to find himself in a strong grip, and moving rapidly through the shadows towards a brilliant source of light,

"Until we meet again child, you shall not remember me".

Bato tried again to haul Hakoda to his feet, but his friend appeared to be stunned rigid, whether from the shock of the cold water or the shock of his sons death, Bato couldn't tell.

Just then Kaskae gasped, Bato turned towards his son and noticed that the boys face had turned deathly pale. Kaskae was staring, with wide eyes, back towards that accursed hole in the ice, and when Bato turned to look, there lying in the snow, was Sokka. After a moment of shocked silence Bato rushed over to the boy. Removing the glove from his right hand, Bato checked for a pulse and was shocked at how cold Sokka seemed, it was only after he placed his ear to the boys chest and found the painfully slow heartbeat that he released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He rolled Sokka onto his side and slapped his back forcefully, the boy coughed, causing a small amount of water to flow from his mouth. Satisfied that Sokka was breathing, Bato wasted no time in stripping away the cold wet furs that the child was wearing, before removing his own warm coat, and wrapping the freezing boy in it. He stood holding the now shivering Sokka against his chest, and found himself face to face with a wide eyed Hakoda, who reached out and took the trembling bundle from Bato. Shivering himself, Bato rummaged through Hakoda's pack, and took another blanket which he threw around his own shoulders, "We need to get back to the village as soon as possible" he said.

Hakoda nodded and silently turned around and began to walk slowly back the way they had come.

Looking back towards Kaskae, Bato realised that the boy had hardly moved since Sokka had reappeared. For the first time Bato began to wonder what exactly his son had seen, and, now that he had time to think of it, just how had an unconscious Sokka gotten out of the water and onto the ice anyway. With a shake of his head, Bato decided that those questions could wait until everyone was safe and warm back at the village, well maybe not too safe, thought Bato, as he pictured the reactions of Kanna and Pella when they heard what had happened.

"Kaskae, you can carry the fishing poles, I'll get the packs", said Bato as he gathered the wet clothes together.

Kaskae stumbled out of his daze, and hurried to collect the fishing poles from the ice, he then jogged with his father as they caught up with Hakoda and Sokka.

Well, how did I do please R&R. As far as I know Sokka's and Katara's mother has no name and I don't think we have even seen her face, so rather than just make up a name, or borrow one from someone else, I thought I would try to keep her as anonymous as she is in the actual show. Oh, and yes, I know I use too many inappropriate, commas, but, what, can, you, do. :)