A/N: Written for FemFeb this year. Sutara is a ship I've been meaning to try for a little while. This ended up going in a more gen direction than I meant it to. My original idea was a canon divergence but it's more like an open-ended missing scene. I thought of letting it go on a bit longer, to give the femslash more room to grow, but where I stopped is where I felt that it ended.
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Katara hadn't meant to spy. She'd gone to the dojo because she refused to sit around waiting for Aang to find his way off the center stage– and because she was curious. Seeing Sokka hop away, one foot tied up around the opposite arm, had at once made her want to turn back and urged her onward.
Not knowing what Sokka might've said or done made her hesitate at the door. But it sounded like the people inside were going through a workout– it couldn't have been too bad, right? So emboldened, she risked a peek.
Her breath caught, so loud in her ears that she was shocked it didn't command the attention of the room.
Maybe it was the makeup or the uniform but– these were all girls, weren't they? Proud and strong in formation, moving together as easy as breathing through a set of exercises almost like dancing. Something in the moves struck a cord, though, lit a memory; these girls were the warriors who'd captured them all with such ease.
Katara wasn't sure how long she'd been watching when the girl leading the exercises– the same girl who'd threatened to make Sokka into fish food; Suki, someone had called her– turned and saw her. Suki's rhythm changed and she stopped, then turned to face Katara, hands on her hips and eyebrows raised.
"Uh, hi," said Katara, sidling in. Everyone turned to look at her then and embarrassment simmered beneath her skin. "I came to apologize."
"You don't have to apologize for your bore of a brother," said Suki, lips twisting around the words as her eyes flashed over Katara's shoulder.
"I shouldn't have to," said Katara. "But he probably won't do it himself and you all deserve it, so– I'm sorry."
Looks of appreciation and pity alike were offered to her from around the room. Then also there were a few plain disapproving. She fought to keep her shoulders from hunching and her attention went to the ground, which was without judgement of any kind.
"Right, well," she said, forcing herself to look up at Suki, who was looking back with an expression that Katara couldn't quite read. "I didn't mean to interrupt–"
"You didn't interrupt, unlike some people," Suki said, taking a couple steps toward her. "And you looked pretty interested…"
"I was. I am," Katara gushed, embarrassment sidelined, Suki's smile in response encouraging her. "You all looked so– amazing. I've never seen moves like that. Not even–" She stopped, loss burning her tongue, but her smile fell only a moment. "I would love to keep watching. I mean, if I'm not in the way."
Suki's smile slid into a grin, eyes shining, and she took another step closer. She prompted, "So, you're only interested in watching, or…?" and held out one hand like an invitation.
A different kind of warmth came over Katara then. She smiled, excitement chasing away her shyness, as she took Suki's hand and let herself be led fully into the room.