Worthy of a Name
"Listen, Sokka. Mama and I have been talking about how much you've grown, and we decided that you deserve your own boomerang. Isn't that exciting?"
"Dear, he's so young; don't you think it would be best to wait until he speaks to give him his first sharp toy to play with?"
"Oh come on, he's almost a year old, and warriors have to start training early on these days, you never know when the next attack will be. Besides, with the new baby on the way he'll need something to keep him occupied."
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You would never know it by looking at him today, but there was a time in Sokka's life where he never spoke. Of course, he could never be quiet, as a baby he was all mumbles, grumbles, and shrieks, but with all this noise he was making he never said a word.
He was barely a year old, so there was no need to be alarmed, it was just odd that he had so much capability, but never any motivation. That is, until the night that changed everything…
So many years ago, late in the evening the moon was full. It was a beautiful sight, but no one could focus on it because they were all much too busy running around and keeping the mother comfortable, after all, it isn't every night you have a baby. She was Hakoda's wife, always very quiet, an odd match for such a loud man, but everyone loved her nonetheless.
It took many hours, but after much pushing and breathing a baby was born, proclaimed a girl, and named Kya, meaning "diamond of the sky", for the moon. A beautiful daughter born on a full moon (the best blessing for a little girl) should have been enough for the happy parents, but they had to bring in their son (born on a new moon, a blessing in its own) to meet her.
Everyone prepared their ears for a shriek of delight or grief, more expectantly the latter, because through many experiences on these Poles older siblings don't take well to another child getting all the attention.
Carried on the hip of his father, Sokka entered the room and was set down on the bed next to his exhausted mother, though he was focused on the tiny pinkish-brown thing in her hands more so. After a beat of silence a cool artic breeze swept in through the open window and blew the candles out, leaving the moon as the only light, acting as a large lantern hung about in the sky.
It was there in the moonlight Sokka reached out his tiny hand and groped for that of his sister's, holding onto Kya with the protective gentleness only a big brother can have, and said his first word:
"Mine"
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Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah they were all yellow,
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Now this isn't some fairy-tale story, (though many years after theses happenings at the South Pole the children would make a name for themselves and be told to the next generation as heroes in a tale) this is only the beginning. As much as I would love to say the siblings were always wonderful to each other, that would be a lie, and lying is frowned upon in the Southern Society... though so is most truth.
To be honest, of course the children got into fights, as do any other brother and sister, and any other friends. Even with all of the fighting and rivalry going on that came with being related, Sokka stayed true to his word, and throughout the better part of his life, Kya remained completely and utterly his.
Although Kya was born on a full moon (very lucky) she was also showing signs of a cursed child, in which many people in this desolate land rejected her, including her mother. To be born during a time of war is most unlucky, and exactly 13 (unlucky) nights after she was born they got word of an attack on a part of the Earth Kingdom, and new that they would be next. As many of us know, when something bad happens, many people start to blame it on someone else, resulting in Kya being "cursed".
So as it happens, the little girl could no longer be called Kya, "diamond in the sky", because it would further the bad luck and be plain disrespectful to name a cursed child after the moon, and as you can tell, the Water Tribes were very superstitious people. Instead they changed her name to Katara, meaning "cursed, doomed".
In a few years, after the Southern Tribe hadn't been attacked, everyone dropped the whole "cursed" thing, and life went somewhat back to normal. Sokka's mother started caring for Katara again, so Sokka and his Grandmother weren't stuck raising her any longer, and it was a relief to the family that the villagers started accepting her again. The only thing that never changed back was Katara's name, because it reminded everyone to be careful of her, for who knows if the curse might come back.
But in these few years, Sokka had been more than her brother, he had been her father, and Gran her mother after Katara's real parents abandoned her. It was a hard time, and Sokka hated leaving Katara at Gran's tent overnight without him, but even though his parents disowned Katara, Sokka was still their child, and was expected to sleep in their house.
Katara was only six at the time all of this ended, so she didn't remember a thing. Gran told Sokka it was a good thing for her to forget, but it was still hard for him as they grew, and Katara continued to think it was her parents who had raised her, when in reality it was Sokka who sang to her at night while they sat by the ocean until the frigid air became to much for his little lungs. After all, he was only a year older than her, and being expected to raise her along with the help on their grandmother was still a lot to ask.
They never told Katara about what happened, and let her believe her mother was nothing but good to her. Throughout their travels Sokka was the only one who knew what her name really meant, and he never told anyone, not even Katara herself.
There was once when he almost told her. They were just settling down for the night, many years later, after they had started their travels with the Avatar, and Katara was fretting over her lost necklace. When Sokka told her to cool it, she did the opposite and exploded with anger at him, screaming that it was mother's, and it was all she had left of her, before bursting into tears. It was there Sokka almost told her of how mother never really loved her, and how she forced father to abandon her and leave her with Gran, and what her name really meant, and how he raised her, so she should love him the most.
But, thankfully, this was another one of those times that Sokka never said a word.
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I wrote a song,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
Yeah, it was called yellow
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The snow crunched loudly under Sokka's feet as he walked aimlessly through the ice, searching for his boomerang that he had thrown a little too hard. What he found instead was much more valuable.
"Sokka?"
It was Katara, looking up from a small ledge of ice. She was sitting very quietly, and staring at him intently, though she seemed to be focused on something else. Then she looked down and started flexing her fingers, slowly at first, then rapidly pulling them into her palms and stretching them out again. A small crack appeared, making its way along the ledge until it cut through the ice completely, separating the part Katara sat on from the mainland. With a tiny thrust of her chubby arms, Katara's island of ice was pushed into the water. It was only when all of this was done, did she look up at him again.
Sokka hadn't seen a water bender in a very long time.
Later that night, Sokka sat in Gran-Gran's hut with a blanket wrapped around him and a fire blaring at his side. Usually Gran-Gran wouldn't allow a fire inside the tent, but an exception was made when Sokka trudged in, soaking wet and shaking uncontrollably.
Katara was already in her bedroll, fast asleep while Gran-Gran watched Sokka.
"So, dear child, would you like to tell me how it happened?"
Sokka looked up to find his Gran staring at him with a kind smile on her lips and a twinkling in her eyes that told him she already knew.
The boy looked over at his sister, curled up in the old quilt, the only part visible being her upper face and hands, tucked onto the top of the blanket. His sister and her tiny, powerful hands.
"It's not my story to tell." Sokka stated simply, thinking back to the day's earlier events.
Gran-Gran nodded, though she had already suspected he had fallen in the water trying to protect his sister. "Go", she told him, when the shouts of his name began to echo through the tundra, "Go home, before your parents get worried".
And when she saw the boy glancing worriedly at his sister, the old woman added, "She'll be fine here until you can get back in the morning."
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Your skin, oh yeah, your skin and bones
Turns in, to something beautiful,
And you know, for you I'd bleed myself dry
For you I'd bleed myself dry
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Note: Written because sometimes I feel that Sokka and Katara are a reflection of my own brother and myself, and because things plague me, like why Katara's name used to be Kya, and what if Katara's mom was never that great.
And yes, the meanings of the names were looked up, and that is what they really mean. This was simply a story of Sokka and Katara because I love them, and an explanation as to why Katara's name might have been changed.
I don't believe Katara's mother was ever evil, or rejected her. In fact, if it makes you feel better you can pretend some evil spirit possessed her and made her disown Katara, whatever makes you happy. I just think Sokka seems more fatherly toward Katara than brotherly, and in the show when Sokka went to visit his father, he never asked about Katara, so it led me to write this.
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