Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Author's Note: This idea sort of seemed to span the entire series, which is why it's not included in my Flying Embers series. I rarely write in present tense, but that seemed to fit this story well.
Sokka Knows
Sokka is not as oblivious as he seems.
Yes, he loves his meat and often faces unfamiliar or tense situations with sarcasm. Certainly, he instinctively dislikes bending and prefers straightforward battles to "magic." And sometimes, he does ignore things happening right in front of him.
Still, none of this means that he is either unintelligent or unobservant. He just views the world a little differently from the way most people see it. Most of the time, that's a good thing. It's enabled him to devise solutions to seemingly impossible situations.
Sokka knows almost as soon as the strange boy with blue tattoos pops out of the iceberg that his sister, Katara, has a strong connection to the stranger. Sokka does not trust the newcomer, who calls himself Aan. He also doesn't understand the bond, but he sees it.
Sokka knows within a few days that Aang is smitten with Katara and is having an effect on her. She smiles more and takes more risks. The first trait is welcome; the second is dangerous. Sokka frowns and watches. Surely, this attachment will fade.
Sokka knows, after the Avatar (that kid's the Avatar?) has saved their village and surrendered himself to the Fire Nation, that his life has changed forever. He realizes that he and Katara must go after Aang and help him. It is Sokka's duty to protect his sister, and he will do that as well as he can. It is also his duty to repay the stranger who sacrificed himself to save the Southern Water Tribe. The young warrior still has misgivings, but he will go.
As the months pass, Sokka watches the connection between his two companions grow. A part of him senses the inevitability of it, even as another part wishes that Katara would remain a young girl and just be his sister.
Yet none of them are kids anymore. The Water Tribe siblings have been accustomed to adult responsibilities ever since the day, two years ago, when their father left to take the war to the Fire Nation. It could be argued that they had ceased to be children on the even longer-ago day when the war was brought to their home and their mother was killed.
Aang does not carry any of that baggage, but he is rapidly acquiring burdens of his own, feeling responsible for the death of his people and inadequate to his destiny as the Avatar. Sokka watches him age before his eyes and feels a pang. Although the young Avatar's ebullience had often been annoying, Sokka finds that he now mourns its loss. He has come to love the boy as a brother, and he can finally see what Katara saw right away.
Sokka jokes about Aang's crush on Katara, but it doesn't take him long to realize that the airbender's feelings go much deeper than that. Perhaps his own ill-fated relationship with the Princess Yue opens his eyes. After that, he doesn't comment on their budding relationship, if that's what it is. He merely watches from the sidelines and reflects that Aang is a far better choice than Jet, if he must resign himself to his sister's falling in love.
It is in Ba Sing Se that the world turns upside down. The largest stronghold against the Fire Nation's might has fallen. Their carefully laid plans are in shambles, and Aang, while managing to save Katara from captivity, is struck down by a lightning bolt.
Sokka orchestrates their escape and makes plans with his father, but he continues to observe. He watches his sister become a shadow of her former self. She walks the deck of the captured ship like a ghost, and he thinks that she seems even worse than after their mother's death. Perhaps it is only that he now knows how full of life Katara can be. He wonders whether she will ever truly recover.
Sokka actually enjoys most of their time incognito in the Fire Nation. It is freeing to be in disguise, and truth to tell, he takes great pleasure in fooling – and even cheating – the locals. Best of all, their group is together again, and their independence feels right and natural. He also learns something very important; the common people of the conquering world power are not so different from the folk of other lands. They need to be freed as much as anyone else.
The eclipse, again, changes everything. Sokka is distracted over what he perceives as his failure. He worries about his father and frets over the tantalizing hints Azula dropped over Suki's fate. He pays little attention to those around him, even after rescuing the two that had him worried. He has other reasons to be distracted.
Something has happened. After weeks of inattention, Sokka notices the strange distance between Aang and Katara. Thinking back, he thinks he can trace it to their night at the theatre. Of course, that event affected everyone in one way or another. But this feels…different. Belatedly, he recalls that the two of them were absent together during the second intermission. What did they talk about?
The pair hide it well, trying to act naturally, which is probably why Sokka didn't notice it before. He wants very much to ask and does bring it up to Suki. She reinforces what he already suspected – it is none of his business, and any attempts he might make to patch things up would likely only make things worse. It is his nature to try to fix problems he sees, to find solutions, so it is not easy to step back and let matters take their course, but he does.
He regrets that decision when Aang disappears (Katara lets Zuko talk her out of going to speak with him? How bad have things got?), but he regrets it even more when he finds Aang again, after the battle.
"Where is she?" the Avatar asks, his expression full of anguish and something close to desperation.
"I don't know," Sokka is forced to answer, gritting his teeth as Suki works to set his broken leg. Neither Suki nor Toph seem to think this is their question to answer, so he is left on his own. Sure, let the injured guy take it. "She went to the Fire Nation with Zuko to face Azula."
"Oh."
Sokka is able to follow the confusing series of emotions in Aang's face because he is feeling many of the same things himself: concern for Katara, hope that she is alive and whole, frustration at not knowing. But in the younger boy's expression is yet one more thing – despair. Whether she lives or not, Katara's absence convinces the Avatar that she has not chosen him. Sokka must look away because the emotional pain in those gray eyes dwarfs the merely physical pain of his broken leg. There he sees the pain of a thousand lifetimes, hundreds of heartbreaks. For every Avatar who found his soul mate and built a life with him or her, there were a dozen who did not, for one reason or another. Aang has decided that he is destined to be one of the latter group. Sokka should not know this, but somehow, he does. He has long since given up on attempting to explain "supernatural" phenomena that he used to dismiss.
"Aang, it's not like that," he says quietly, knowing beyond doubt that Katara doesn't have those kinds of feelings for Zuko. She may have learned to accept him in the end, and she's willing to be an ally, but that's as far as it goes. Sokka would stake his life on that.
"It doesn't matter," Aang responds dully, complete hopelessness echoing through his hollow tone. Sokka exchanges a glance with Suki, who furrows her brow in worry but can offer him no other help. His heart aches for his friend, the world's savior. This should be the most victorious moment in his life, yet the Avatar feels he has lost his reason for living. Sokka wants very much to reassure his friend, but his tongue is tied. After all, he doesn't really know how his sister feels, and he doesn't know what happened to bring the young couple to this point. He believes that Katara loves Aang deeply, but it isn't his place to say so. Besides, he has the feeling that Aang won't listen to anything he says about the subject.
Sokka sighs and resigns himself to his continued watching from the sidelines. The situation is complicated, and it's not for him to untangle it. If there's anything he can do to make things right, he will do it. In the meantime, he just has to hope that everything will work out.
Sokka's not as oblivious as he seems…but there are times when he wishes that he were.
Author's Note: This idea has been in the back of my mind for a long time. I always found it hard to swallow that Sokka seemed to be aware of their connection and attraction sometimes and completely oblivious at others. I thought maybe he'd decided to step back and let things happen, hard as that might have been to do.