This is a one-shot. Author's Note at the end.
Blame it on the Alcohol
It's been three years since their last reunion. Ever since the war ended, the friends had been busy rebuilding the world and had thus not had that much time to hang out. Sure, they'd had several meetings during that time – like last year, they had met to celebrate Suki and Sokka's wedding and three years before Zuko's wedding. The Water Tribe warrior had seen his sister many times during that time, but their duties had sent them on different paths.
But today the gang finally got together to spend a (quiet) weekend at Ember Island. Zuko's house was as comfortable as he remembered and was glad to sleep on a thicker mattress. Suki was pregnant and her husband wanted to keep her as comfortable and happy as possible. She was already very moody, there was no need to elevate that.
He and Aang embraced like brothers, the former laughing in shock when he noticed that the little boy had grown taller than him. It was something Sokka would have to get used to. He did, however, notice that Katara had grown accustomed to like the change in Aang.
The little kid had become a man.
He was still as goofy and optimistic and innocent as ever.
But Sokka and Toph had decided to change that.
The two mischievous friends huddled close in the kitchen, the young man looking conspiratorially around to make sure they were not being watched. Toph punched him lightly on the arm.
"Stop it, would you?", she hissed at him. "I'll tell you if someone's coming!"
"Fine!", he hissed back, rubbing tenderly his arm. "We have to be careful, though. Suki can't drink any-"
She waved her hand. "Don't worry.", she said. "I asked Katara to make her favorite juice – you know, the one no one likes?"
Sokka grinned from ear to ear and rubbed his hands. "Brilliant!" He shoved his friend jokingly. "You'll see, it's going to be hilarious."
Toph chuckled and nodded. "Finally, it will be the others making fun of themselves."
"You have to admit that last time was pretty fun"
The earthbender let out a laugh, but quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Zuko giving Aang the talk?"
Sokka laughed, tears filling his eyes at the memory of the Avatar's confused and then horrified face.
"It was so…. Aang's face! … Oh, my-"
"I never laughed so much in my entire life!", Toph laughed. "Especially after we realized that Zuko was telling it wrong!"
The two friends burst out laughing, making their friends in the dining room wonder what they were up to.
"Guys, where are the drinks?", Zuko asked from the door.
Immediately, they stopped laughing. Sokka elbowed her friend.
"What about telling me if someone was coming?"
Toph rolled her blind eyes. "Well, he's here now."
Zuko rested a hand on his hips. His eyes narrowed threateningly. "You're up to something", he said.
Toph and Sokka shook their heads, the latter probably too quickly, because the Fire Lord approached them slowly, like a predator.
"Seriously, Zuko, you don't-"
But Zuko raised a hand and the warrior closed his mouth. The bender dipped his finger into the drink and tasted the liquid. He smacked his tongue against his teeth, before tasting the spiked juice again.
"It's too obvious", he suddenly said. Sokka jumped, instinctively starting to deny everything.
Zuko waved his hand dismissively, motioning at the bowl. "Seriously, even Aang could taste the alcohol in it and you know, he doesn't drink much."
Toph uncrossed her arms and nodded slowly. "Any advice then, Sparky?", she asked.
"Uh… The best thing would be…", Zuko sighed. "Add more juice. The alcohol is still there-"
"But it'll take so long to see the effects!", Sokka whined.
"Cut it, Sokka", Toph cut in. "We've waited years for this, a few more hours won't harm us!"
The friends proceeded to mix the perfect drink and were arguing whether to add more of the juice or not when Aang walked in. At the sight of the drink, his pensive face lit up like a lantern and he jumped towards them.
"Oh great!", he said excited. "Is it done yet?"
Sokka recovered quickly from the airbender's sudden outburst of excitement (though it shouldn't have surprised anyone anymore – Aang was known for his positive attitude) and an idea suddenly popped in his head.
"Aang! We just finished!" he said, smiling smugly. "Wanna taste it?"
Zuko's eyes widened and Toph turned to hide her grin. Aang shrugged and smiled.
"Sure, why not?"
Zuko handed him the glass and poured the spiked juice in. He was looking at him intensely. Even Toph watched him expectantly.
Aang let the liquid flow through his mouth, down his throat. He had a light frown on his face, tasting the juice for a few more moments. Finally, he smiled crookedly and set down the glass.
"It's good", he said, nodding in approval. "It tastes a bit different from the one you did last time-"
Sokka's heart sank a little. "But it's not bad?"
"No! No, it's actually very good. I like it. Though maybe you should ask Suki. She's the one, who always made it."
Sokka laughed nervously and pushed his friend kindly to the dining room. "That won't be necessary", he said quickly. "We- I trust you and your judgment. Don't worry."
"Besides, Suki has her papaya juice. She would sell Sokka for it.", Toph chimed in.
"Exactly-" Sokka glared at his friend. "What? No, she wouldn't!"
"Sokka!"
The warrior froze and turned to the source of the voice. Suki, by now seven months pregnant and showing, was standing at the door. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at the husband.
"Where are the drinks?", she asked loudly.
Her husband rushed back into the kitchen and returned with the drinks.
"Don't worry, Suki", he said soothingly. "I have the drinks now, you just sit down again."
She huffed and hobbled back to her seat. "I wouldn't have had to stand up if you had hurried a little….", she muttered.
"Dear spirits!", Toph whispered into Aang's ear. "Do you think she'll get worse?"
Aang muffled his laugh and took his seat next to his fiancée.
The evening advanced slowly in Sokka and Toph's opinion. Their friends ate and drank, laughing and telling anecdotes, but nothing in their behavior stood out. And as the clock neared midnight, the pranksters started to feel disappointed.
The only major change in Aang was the exaggerated cheerfulness. And Katara – Sokka froze when Zuko mentioned it – became a lot more… blatant with her future husband. At first, it was a simple stroke on his cheek. Then she pressed a kiss on his neck. And then she pressed her body against Aang's, holding him close, as if she was afraid to lose him if she let go. Her brother tried to separate the two lovers, but every time he threw a piece of bread, Suki hit his arm and forced him to sit back. So, when it the clock stroke midnight Zuko pushed Aang and Katara to drink more. Suki narrowed her eyes and her husband was almost tempted to warn his friend, but forgot, when Aang accepted and Katara declined.
Sokka got dragged into the conversations and soon forgot to pay attention the change in Aang as he continued to enjoy the spiked drink.
He laughed at a story Katara told about her travels with Aang. He shook his head in amusement and disbelief at the things that happen during the political meeting in Zuko's palace. He spilled his drink and laughed when his friends laughed and talked loudly about his plans for his future child.
Katara ran her hand gently over Aang's bald head. She smiled softly, her eyes a bit glazed.
"Are you alright, Aang?", she asked. "You're so quiet."
"I'm fine, Katara", he whispered. He emptied his glass and moved to refill it, but Suki grabbed it first.
"I think you've had enough", she said. "You both have." Then she glared at Zuko and Sokka and the two men shrunk under her gaze.
Katara frowned. "I'm not drunk!"
The young mother rolled her eyes. "You're groping your boyfriend. You're not married yet.."
"Oh, please!", the waterbender laughed coldly. "You and Sokka got into it before you were married!"
Sokka blushed. "Katara, that was-"
His sister punched the table with her fist and pointed a finger threateningly at him. "Don't – don't you dare say it's different…"
"No, I was-"
"… Because Suki is a woman too and you could've dishonored her if-"
Zuko licked his lips nervously at the sight of the siblings glaring at each other. "Okay, guys… calm down…"
"I'm not going to calm down, Zuko!", Katara yelled. "He's always like that and -"
"You didn't even let me finish!", Sokka protested.
" – and I don't know why you of all people criticize me for having had a couple of drinks, when-"
"Only a couple, huh?", Toph mumbled sarcastically and Zuko laughed involuntarily.
Sokka jumped to his feet, the chair wobbled dangerously.
"I didn't blame you for drinking!", he yelled, gesticulating wildly. "Suki did!"
Everyone gasped at the accusation and looked at Suki. The pregnant Kyoshi warrior had a stony expression on her face, but her eyes expressed the emotions she felt perfectly.
Sokka, aware of the wrath that was coming to him, continued to explain himself: "But she's right! You've had enough to drink!"
"Guys…"
"Wait, Toph." Sokka focused his eyes back on his sister. "Look, I don't want to see you being so touchy with Aang when I am around!"
"It's none of your business what Aang and I do!"
"Exactly! That's why I don't want to see you touching each other!", Sokka exclaimed tiredly.
"You make it sound worse than it actually is", the waterbender said.
"That's because you can't see yourself touching him.", he replied.
"Katara's right", Toph said casually. "It wasn't that bad. You and Suki were actually far worse."
"And how could you know? You're blind!", Sokka snapped.
"I can feel the vibrations, dummy!", she replied and kicked him in the shin.
Katara stood from her chair. "See! You even underestimate Toph, Sokka! And I bet you also-"
"Oh, come on!", Sokka interrupted her angrily. "Everyone underestimates Toph! That's why she's so good! No offence, Toph.", he added quickly.
The girl grinned. "None taken, Sokka."
The young man turned back to Katara. "You always blame me for everything! I know I sometimes… can come like a-"
"Sexist pig?"
He glared at her. "- Like a man with a sense for the traditional-"
Katara scoffed and crossed her arms, sitting down again.
"-But I have learned", he said. "I mean, look at Suki!" He grinned at her and she couldn't help but return the gesture. "I'm a husband and a father! You're probably just jealous because you and Aang have still a -"
"Guys, cut it off now", Zuko said, his patience wearing thin. He nodded at the airbender sitting at Katara's side.
Immediately everyone turned their faces to Aang. The Avatar was sitting quietly on his place, his glassy eyes staring into the empty glass. There was something… an expression his friends could not read.
His fiancée put a hand on his arm. "Aang?", she asked carefully. Her face was a mask of worry. "Is everything alright?"
" 'm okay…", me mumbled, but when his body started to lean dangerously forward, his friends knew the opposite was true. " 'm fine… the drink was good though"
Katara pressed her lips together. "I think you've had enough…"
Suki pressed on. "You sure there's nothing that's bothering you, Aang?"
"Yeah, you can tell us anything!", Toph said. "Team Avatar and stuff…"
Aang lowered his face. "Yeah… Avatar…"
The tone in his voice kept them from speaking out. They anxiously waited for him to continue.
"It was because of me… that…" He swallowed heavily. "They are all dead" He whispered so quietly, they almost missed what he said.
Aang sighed, his finger tracing absentmindedly the edge of the empty glass. His grey eyes were glassy, but it was difficult to decipher whether they were tears or just a result of the alcohol.
"Sometimes I see them in my sleep…", he mumbled, his eyelids dropping for a second. "They are at the Air Temples and fine… then I see them burn and scream for help…"
The night was still and beautiful. The sky was cloudless and the stars gazed at the earth. The only one speaking, was Aang, and his voice was a stumbling mumble, heavy with emotions and deep.
"Zhao told me how they died", he said quietly. "He said not all of them died in the Air Temples… they fled, but Sozin lured them into a trap and caught them." He let out a shaky breath, his lips trembled and a tear slipped from his burning eyes.
"How… I don't understand how… Why did he have to kill them? They … we are harmless. We didn't have an army…"
"Why so much evil?", he whispered into the silence.
Sokka's head was buzzing, but not only from the alcohol. He tried to process what the last airbender, a boy of sixteen years old, someone who would never harm anybody willingly, was saying. He searched for words of comfort, but he discovered that there were none.
"They must have been… so afraid…", Aang said, his eyes focusing, without really seeing, on the lamp hanging from the roof. "So afraid… what do you do… where do you go when the world is hunting you because of … something you can't control? … My poor people… they must've been so scared…"
Zuko sighed and turned his gaze away from Aang. Katara was crying quietly, while Suki covered her swollen belly as if trying to protect her child from the tragic reality. Sokka looked at his earth bending friend, but she stared stubbornly at her toes.
Aang's head dropped slightly to the side, but he straightened quickly.
"I remember… we used to celebrate songs… I mean… we sang during our celebrations. There were always… a ceremony … we'd walk through the temple, singing and I swear…" He smiled watery. "For a second we were completely free… it felt like flying, really flying. Without a glider or an Appa… the music echoed through the valleys and seas… the villages around us could hear us and…"
" 'tis never… going to happen again", Aang said quietly. "It's gone… we don't belong here anymore… no matter how many I have… children, I mean… I'm always going to be the last."
His head dropped again. He sniffed, squeezing his eyes shut.
"I should've died with them", he said suddenly, his words resounding in his friends' heads like a curse. "And then I hate myself for whishing that… you're the best thing that happened to me… there's nobody like you… please don't hate me…"
Katara let out a strangled sob.
"I should have… died with them…", Aang stuttered. He gasped and covered his face with his hands as he let out a gut-wrenching sob. "I'm so sorry!", he cried.
Katara put a hand on his shaking shoulder. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she comforted him.
"Aang-"
"I'm so sorry, Gyatso!", he screamed. "I'm so sorry I didn't wasn't there!"
Zuko and Sokka jumped to their feet, the chairs clashing to the ground. The cries of agony were getting louder, to the point where they turned to screams. Suki and Toph followed them outside as Aang dropped to the floor. Katara put her arm around his shoulder and the other around his torso. She pressed him against her, her cheek resting atop his head, cradling him like a child as he wept, crying for his people to forgive him.
Suki closed the door behind her and the screams lowered in volume but not in intensity. Zuko dropped to the floor and buried his face with his arms. The earthbender stood aside, as far from the house as possible without distancing herself too far from her friends.
"Is that what you wanted?", Suki asked sharply. She glared at her friends and husband.
No one answered. Their faces were enough.
Sokka closed his eyes, forcing himself to cover his ears, but failing to do so. He wondered if Katara was whispering consoling words to Aang, if she pressed kisses on his skin to remind him that it was good that he was alive.
"I didn't expect that he would be like that", he whispered lowly.
"And how did you think he would react to alcohol, Sokka?", Suki cried out. "He doesn't drink for a reason!" She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her dress. "There's a reason why we say that the nicest people are usually the ones suffering the most!" She stared at him, her eyes glowing in the dark with unshed tears. Her arms were wrapped comfortingly around her stomach. "I am very disappointed in you, Sokka."
"It wasn't only his idea", Toph defended him, her voice breaking. Zuko wiped his eyes.
"No, but he's known him the longest and has seen him at his worst", Suki replied, her tone conveying the pain everyone felt. She shook her head; she was exhausted. "Whatever happens tomorrow, you should know that's your fault. You can't recover from a genocide…."
Suki then turned her back on them and walked back to the house. The cries grew louder when she opened the door, but she slammed it shut and it was silent again.
The three friends stood there for a seemingly long while. Aang must have cried himself to sleep, because the screams faded and the light shining through the windows dimmed.
Zuko stood up and placed himself on Sokka's side.
"I don't understand how he couldn't kill my father…", he said in a hushed voice. His head was lowered and he was playing with his fingers. "I don't understand how he could forgive us…"
Sokka sighed. He didn't have the energy to give him an answer.
"You think he'll be fine tomorrow?", Toph asked suddenly.
She looked so small, so young between the two fully grown warriors that Sokka felt his heart swell. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but couldn't force himself to do so.
Still, he lied.
"He'll be fine, Toph."
A/N: I don't know where this one came from. My grandfather dropped a comment once that people show a different side - a hidden side - when they drink (too) much (and he has to know because his father used to get very angry when he drank and my grandmother gets very cheerful when she's drunk too much wine). This plus the Avatar re-watch last week, left me wondering about Aang. He has lost so much, but he rarely shows any sadness or anger. He's always cheerful.
I hope I did the characters justice. I love all of them.
This one-shot was written very quickly and I only re-read it twice so there are probably a lot of mistakes
Please leave a review. Tell me if you liked it or not. Did I do the characters justice? Let me know so I can become a better at this!