Love is blind A Tokka story by BXGeternity
Hey guys! Welcome to the first chapter of my very first fanfic, Love is Blind. Reviews are greatly appreciated, as well as constructive comments. Also, please keep in mind the following as you read :
1) English is not my first language, so there might be mistakes.
2) This story takes place post-war, exactly six years after Sozins comet. Aang and Toph are 18, Sokka is 22, Katara is 20 and Mai and Zuko are 24 (Im not sure what their actual ages are in the series, so I guessed they were about 18 or something...)
3) This chapter is mostly written from Aangs perspective. Also, I grant the avatar a new hability in this story : he can, to a certain extent, feel the relationships between people. In other words, he can sort of tell if two people are, for instance, destined to be together. Thats how he knew he was meant to be with Katara the moment he saw her, and had a vision of Toph in the Swamp before he had even met her. This talent it sort of like this other capacity he has of feeling the links between all living things and between the four elements.
4) Finally, this is pure Tokka, with some Kataang and Maiko. I plan this story to be a least a dozen chapters, although hopefully not as long as this one...
Thanks for reading this and on with the story!
Chapter 1: Search of the soul mate
Aang was soaring on his glider through the black and white skies of the South Pole. The moon was a silver disk in the night, the stars dancing around it to enlighten the frozen landscape. He had been flying for a while now, searching for his best friend. It was just so unlike Sokka to disappear this way, especially when he and Katara came to visit...
He and his former waterbending master had been living a wonderful love story since the end of the war, 6 years ago. They were now travelling the world, working hard to restore peace between the four nations. Sokka, for his part, was giving his all to make the Southern Water Tribe great: as the future chief of the tribe and one of the four saviours of the world, he participated actively in the establishment of new commercial and cultural relations between his home and the North Pole.
All this didn't leave them a lot of time to visit one another, but they reunited as soon as they had a chance. This time around, the Avatar and his girlfriend were only passing by for a short day and night, and they were leaving in the morning. Which was why the young man had been confused when the water tribe warrior had excused himself in the middle of the evening, not returning for a good couple of hours.
Suddenly, Aang spotted a blue fleck against the ghostly white snow, and he knew he'd found him. Sokka was sitting at the edge of the glacier, lost in the contemplation of the moon. The young warrior had changed during the past years, physically and mentally: his was taller, his torso, shoulders and arms were strongly built with powerful muscles and, although he still was somewhat boyish, he had matured a great deal.
However, Aang thought sadly as he landed next to his moon gazing friend, some things would never change...
- "Hey Sokka", Aang greeted the 22 year-old man as he sat beside him on the snow.
Aang's surreptitious approach startled the daydreaming sword master, who instinctively seized the sword that never left his side; he grunted when he recognize his Airbending friend, letting go of his weapon and shifting his gaze back to the moon.
A little vexed by his attitude, but overall worried for his friend's well-being, the avatar asked:
- "What's going on, Sokka? You seem a little... down these days. I thought our visit would cheer you up?"
- "I'm happy you guys came," he said with a small smile, his azure eyes still fixed on the moon, "but," he added with a shrug, "I sort of feel the need to be alone. I have to... think."
- "Do you want me to leave, then?"
- "Well, no offense, but that would be nice of you... actually," he suddenly tacked on as an afterthought, finally turning to look at the avatar, "could you stay for a while? I need to talk."
- "Sure," Aang said, happy and relieved that he could so something to help his friend. "So, what's eating you?"
- "Ok, first of all, you've got to promise not to tell Katara anything: I'm not in the mood for one of her 'don't-be-afraid-to-express-your-feelings' speech, got it?"
Aang smiled knowingly and nodded, urging the young man to continue.
- "So well... uh," Sokka began awkwardly, "you know that, lately, my romantic life hasn't been very, uh...fulfilling. Since I broke up with Suki two years ago, I've basically concentrated on my duty towards my people, y'a know... rebuilding the South Tribe, preparing to take my father's place as the chief, and so on. I didn't have any girlfriends, not even a date once in a while... nothing."
- "Do you regret leaving Suki?" The avatar inquired softly.
- "No," Sokka answered without hesitation and with a certainty that reassured his companion. "Leaving her was the right decision, for both of us. Were friends now, we see each other from time to time... she even has a boyfriend and she really likes him, although he isn't as hilarious as me..." he laughed briefly, not a trace of jealousy or resentment in his voice. But then he added more gravely: "that's not it."
- "Then..." Aang began slowly, "is it that you're worried that you... don't have as much success with the ladies then before?"
- "Are you kidding me?" He snickered. "They're all over me!" (Oddly, the airbender noticed, it didn't seem to please him at all). "Seriously, I'm probably one of the most wanted guys of the Water Tribe: after all, am I not the future chief of the Southern Water Tribe and a reputed war hero? I go somewhere and all the young woman of the place gather up around me: you know what it's like. Being the avatar, you probably attract more of them then I do!"
- "Yeah," the said avatar grinned, "I do know what you're talking about... Katara doesn't like it very much," he added with a grimace.
- "Trust my sister to be jealous one! Anyway, without any false pretence, I can say that making myself a girlfriend would be an easy thing. Heck, I could even go on dates with a different girl every night if I wanted to!" He exclaimed bitterly.
- "So what's the problem, then?" Aang demanded, even if he already suspected what the answer would be.
- "The problem, my dear friend, is I don't want to have a different girlfriend every night... I know am supposed to be sensible to pretty girls and be the unstoppable seducer" (Aang rolled his eyes) "but..."
- "But?" The air nomad prodded him.
- "But since I broke up with Suki, that's not so much the case anymore. I guess you could put it off as being an effect of loosing or nearly loosing the two loves of my life, unless it's just what happens when you get older but... I sort of made up my mind to stop dating or having girlfriends altogether."
- "Stop dating? No more girlfriends?" Aang repeated in shock. "Sokka, you alright?"
- "I'm fine," the young warrior sighed. "I didn't mean that I was drawing a cross on love or anything... just that I've decided to take it more seriously. I don't want to just develop a relationship with a girl because I like her or she's awesomely cute or something... I want it to be deeper than that. I want it to last. Seeing you and Katara, Zuko and Mai... it made me think. You guys have been together for years, and you're all so happy and fulfilled... they're solid, profound relationships that survived a lot of difficulties and that are leading somewhere. You're made for one another, anyone can see that. And I, well... I don't have anyone special. There are tones of girls out there but, when they look at me, all they see is this... war icon. They would gladly go out with me, but I don't think any of them would consider marriage...and those who do only think of becoming the next Southern Water Tribe queen!"
- "I would like to tell you that I understand how you feel," Aang sympathized, "but, me and Katara... it was just so sudden... it happened just like that, by enchantment..."
- "Exactly!" Sokka exclaimed, "that's my point! You and Katara were destined for one another; so were Zuko and Mai. She woke you up from that iceberg after a hundred years of hibernation and Bam! Love at first sight!"
- "Actually, it was a little more complicated than that..."
- "And Zuko and Mai , they grew up together, they've been in love since they were like, three!"
- "Let's not exaggerate anything..."
- "I'm not exaggerating! You never loved anyone else than my sister, and Zuko never loved anyone else than the duke's daughter; same goes for Katara and Mai. You never loved anyone else, because you were meant to be. So it makes me wonder: what about me? Who I'm I destined to be with? I don't want another girlfriend Aang: I want a soul mate, a person to marry and share the rest of my life with!"
For a second, Aang remained silent. He felt bad for Sokka. He tried to imagine how he would feel in his friend's place: no Katara, just a bunch of girls that 'loved' him for his reputation and social rank rather than for himself. He thanked the spirits that they had led him to the beautiful waterbender.
- "I think," he finally answered, "that you just have to be patient: true love doesn't always strike as easily as it did for Zuko, Mai, Katara and me. You can't expect the spirits to always guide you to the person your destined to be with with lightening and mystical signs! You'll find her in your right time, I'm sure."
- "So you're saying I should just wait to stumble across Mrs Right?"
- "Yeah, that's how it usually works."
- "Problem is, I don't have time to wait for her to show up."
- "Why not?"
- "I know I look awfully young," he said in pitiful attempt at joking, "but I'm already 22. In the Water Tribe, that's the marrying age for boys. Which means I'm expected to take a wife pretty soon. Since I'm the heir to the Southern Tribe 'throne', so to speak, and that I have quite a few responsibilities, I may be able to put off the marriage until another couple of years, but that's it. Past that limit, I'm getting married, like it or not. Or rather, whether I've found her or not. My dad and I had a conversation on the topic on my 22 birthday. He told me that I didn't have to find a wife within the year like I normally should, but that I should seriously start looking for one."
- "That's...well, this sucks."
- "You can say that again!"
The water tribe man paused, his eyes returning to the moon, and his heart tightened once more.
- "You know..." he began slowly, "I wouldn't be so anxious if... if I wasn't afraid that..."
- "Afraid that?"
Sokka took a deep breath, and then voiced the fear that had been consuming him for the past few weeks:
- "Afraid that I already met that girl I was supposed to love, and lost her..."
He was staring intently at the moon, and all of a sudden Aang understood:
- "Yue," he murmured
- "Yes," the young warrior agreed, "Yue. Aang, what if it was her? What if I missed out on love altogether because she died?"
- "Do you still love her?" The young avatar asked carefully, not wanting to cause Sokka unnecessary pain. He had thought that his friend had gotten over Yue years ago.
- "No, I don't have those kinds of feelings for her anymore." Just like when he had said he didn't miss Suki, his voice was serene and certain. There was worry though, as he continued: "but I can't help asking myself, what if it was her? She was my first love..."
- "But she wasn't the one," the airbender declared firmly.
Sokka was surprised by this statement, but not as much as Aang himself. How could he say something like this? And why was he so sure he had spoken the truth?
Because, a little voice whispered at the back of his mind, you know who Sokka's soul mate truly is. And it isn't Yue. You were always very good at sensing the bonds that unite people. You talk with the spirits, you can tell things and see things that other people can't. And you've known what you know for years, ever since you saw them together for the first time...
In the avatar's mind, everything suddenly clicked into place.
Why hadn't he realized this before? Yet, now that he thought about it, it seemed ridiculously obvious.
And yes, it was true, he'd sensed the perfect chemistry and complementarities between the two the moment he had first witnessed them having a fight.
And Sokka was just... oblivious.
Completely, ironically blind.
- "What do you mean, she wasn't the one? How can you be so sure about it?"
- "I know it, that's all," the airbender stated calmly. "I can tell those sorts of things, with my being the avatar. If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much: just... go on with your life. You'll find her soon enough."
- "Y'a know Aang, you're a good friend, but sometimes your avatar stuff freak me out..."
- "One last thing, lover boy," he smirked, suddenly inspired: "keep in mind that love is blind."
- "Love is blind? What's that supposed to mean? And how is it gonna help me?"
- "Just remember it, that's all..."
- "You're not making any sense!"
- "Those proverbs usually don't make sense until they are actually put into context."
- "Oh, that helps a lot! So I guess when I will finally find her, this wonderful sentence will make sense?"
Aang tried as hard as he could, but in the end, he couldn't fight the smile that spread unto his face.
- "Like I said before..." Sokka sighed dramatically, "you're a great friend, avatar and, may I add, a good listener, but sometimes you freak me out... not to mention you're excessively annoying!"
- "My pleasure, dear friend, my pleasure..."
They both laughed and, while they got up to return to the village, the last air nomad thought with fervent hope:
Love is blind... I really wish that, eventually, he'll get it.