Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Of Boomerangs and Story Time

"Hush, little guy. Uncle Sokka's here." the warrior consoled as the little infant's cry pierced through the night.

The full moon shone brightly upon the two as Air Temple Island seemed to glimmer under its light. He had only been here for a visit, hoping to spend at least some quality time with his sister among the world's never-ending issues. But the "kill me now" expression on his face was enough to say that he was clearly not enjoying himself.

It was about time Aang and Katara came back from the banquet arranged in their honor. Daddy's little princess, three year old Kya, had insisted upon going with them with her annual tantrums. Who could say no to those beautiful, blue eyes that replicated the Master Waterbender? Hence, it was just Sokka and Bumi.

Tears raced down Bumi's cheeks as Sokka started to panic.

"It's okay, don't cry. You're safe now." But the wailing only got worse, much to Sokka's dismay.

'Where are they? Shouldn't at least my sister be back now? Oh, spirits help me!' he thought frantically as he swung Bumi over his shoulder and rubbed the infant's back gently.

"So this is what the great swordsman has come to..." he murmured sarcastically to himself. "From a lemur-sitter to a babysitter."

He gazed into the sky longingly as he noticed the rare glow of the full moon. It seemed incredibly attractive today for some reason. Instantly, Sokka's eyes watered as the beautiful, Northern Water Tribe princess came rushing into his thoughts. With a haste, he blinked them away as his attention turned back to his nephew.

"Hey now, warriors don't cry!" he said firmly.

For a moment, Bumi stopped and stared at Sokka with curious eyes, ceasing his screams. He tilted his head, as if trying to figure out what he just said. The warrior felt himself smile proudly at his accomplishment. Just as Bumi winced and began wailing again, Sokka said, "You wanna hear a story, sport?"

Bumi continued to look curiously at him, shifting his gaze and reaching for the boomerang that hung from his uncle's belt enthusiastically.

"Aww, not my boomerang..." Sokka sighed, but hesitantly gave it to the infant as he whined. "Okay okay! Don't start...here.."

Bumi grasped firmly onto it, his eyes lighting up.

"Do you want to see the moon, little guy?" Sokka asked suddenly. He wandered through the balcony, pointing towards the beautiful, glowing moonlight.

"You see that, Bumi?" Sokka murmured as the infant reached towards its radiant light. Again, he looked up at Sokka with expectant eyes. The warrior smiled again, placing him in his lap as he stared up into the midnight sky once more.

"Once upon a time in the Northern Water Tribe, there was a princess." he whispered.

Bumi gazed at him as if asking for more, fidgeting playfully with the boomerang.

"One day, she fell in love with a handsome warrior." he smirked at himself as he added the emphasis. "They loved eachother very much. But they could not be together. She was...engaged to someone else...ya know? To get married to him."

Sokka frowned as the familiar face of Hahn roamed in his mind. His fists clenched, and his eyes flared in anger, but softened when they felt Bumi tugging at his tunic. He calmed down, smiling widely as he went on.

"Suddenly, a big, bad monster came along and...well...made the moon disappear."

Bumi's smile faded as he yawned, drooping his eyes but urging him to go on. Sokka held his nephew close to him, tears falling from his eyes as he choked out.

"So, the beautiful princess turned into the moon instead." he finished, not even bothering to hide his melancholy expression.

Bumi whined, leaning is head on Sokka and listening to the pounding of his uncle's sobbing heartbeat. Even for someone so young, he seemed as if he was wise beyond his years...as if he could understand him. The moonlight seemed to fall upon both of them, as if urging the warrior to cheer up.

Sokka wiped his tears away, cast among the moon's cooling light. For a long moment, he remained silent. At that particular moment, he felt nostalgic, completely drowning into the silver atmosphere.

"So everyday, the warrior looks at this beautiful moon in the sky and watches over the princess." he finally finished. But to his surprise, everything was completely still. Sokka glanced towards his nephew, only to find him snoring softly and closing his eyes, still clutching onto the boomerang. He grinned contently, but was interrupted by familiar footsteps.

"There you are!" Katara said as she came over to him, followed by a tired Aang as he carried Kya in his arms.

"Sorry, but we had to stay longer." Aang said hoarsely. "There was an unexpected meeting. We could have been home sooner."

"It's fine. Uh..Katara? He fell asleep." Sokka said awkwardly as Katara took Bumi into her arms. "Aww, you must be tired, sweetie." she cooed her son, smiling.

"Thanks. Did he give you any trouble, Sokka?"

Sokka grinned. "Nah, we just had some uncle-nephew bonding time." he replied.

"Well, your uncle-nephew bonding finally managed put him to sleep." Katara giggled as she took him inside.

"Looks like it will be quite a while until you get that boomerang back." Aang laughed, following his wife inside with Kya.

But the warrior just chuckled back.

As he started to head back inside, he felt a soft hand slowly touch his. He turned back, staring face to face towards the beautiful moon spirit...Yue. He was at a loss of words, merely glancing into her beautiful eyes with passion.

"That was so sweet of you, Sokka." she whispered as she kissed him on the cheek.

With tearful eyes and pinkened cheeks, he desperately took her into his arms...only to notice that she had already vanished.

But somewhere in his heart, he could still feel her smiling...