Mad World
Rating: K
Summary: Sokka ponders life and comes to an interesting conclusion. Set Post S2 finale.
A/N: This is another one of those gift fics that I'm terribly, horribly late delivering. This one is for superlazygirl, who wanted something Sokka-centric. I apologize for the awful lateness of this.
It was still early morning but it was already uncomfortably hot when Sokka pulled open the tent flap and allowed the warm, salty sea air to spill in. They were now firmly into summer, and while he was ridiculously, desperately grateful for the little pieces of home floating around the Water Tribe's camp, their tents had been designed to trap heat in a southern tundra, not filter it out on an Earth Kingdom beach.
The sun was barely standing over the horizon, starting her upwards journey towards midday, but already the camp was bustling; Water Tribe men were running around cleaning that morning's catch, repairing ripped tents and clothes, and sharpening weapons. Sokka wasn't particularly interested in them, and he stepped out of the tent fully and raised a hand to his eyes, peering over the beach.
The object of his search was soon found. Katara, naturally, was at the water's edge, hair still loose, indicating that she hadn't risen long before he had. Her pants were rolled up above her knees - Sokka had no intention of informing his father or any of the other men of their tribe that there had ever been waterbending lessons in their underwear. The last thing he desired was for "Naked Guy" to become a family nickname.
His eyes traveled beyond her and confirmed his suspicions; Aang was several feet out away from her, standing in the surf. His skinny legs were sticking out from under one of Sokka's spare shirts ("Ruined," Katara had whispered in a quivering voice, holding up his airbender outfit that awful night when he'd stepped in and undressed the airbender as he slept because her hands were shaking too badly) looking perfectly peaceful and happy as he splashed around, moving out a couple of steps, letting the low waves beat him back, and then venturing out several more steps.
Katara was wringing her hands nervously; Sokka couldn't make out her exact words, but he could hear the anxious quality of them carrying on the wind, along with Aang's dismissive response. She seemed pale, and Sokka made a mental note to nag at her more about worrying over Aang at the expense of her own health.
The whereabouts of Katara and Aang confirmed, Sokka turned his attention to the tall cliffs behind him.
Tripping through the sand and stalking up to them, he craned his head back and called Toph's name. He could barely make out the very tip of her little rock tent; when they'd landed on the beach that night she'd taken three steps out into the sand, sunk up to her ankles, then declared that she'd spend the rest of the night on Appa. The very next day she'd made her own little camp on the tall cliffs jutting out over the beach, announcing that she'd stay where she could see, thank you very much. Sokka had been able to coax her down for some meals and not much else.
Toph ignored his call, despite the fact that he was sure she'd heard it - her hearing was terribly sensitive to begin with, and she knew by now that camp would be stirring around this hour. He called her name again, and when no response appeared forthcoming, he pulled back an arm, machete in hand, and attacked the cliff under the her tent, knowing the tiny little ripples at the edge of her vision would drive her absolutely crazy.
"I'm up!" she snapped, standing tall at the edge of the cliff, the wind not stirring the rat's nest of hair that engulfed her head one bit. She stomped her foot once before turning on heel and walking away; a large block of sandstone popped out of the wall and caught Sokka in the chest, and he flopped back into the sand, trying to catch his breath.
He picked himself up, coughing a bit, and then suddenly remembered that there were two others to add to his head count now. Sokka was so used to only three people and two animals, and it threw him off most mornings once it occurred to him, yet again, that there was another one of each to add to his mental tally. A scan of the beach pointed him towards his quarry: the Earth King was several yards away from Aang and Katara, robes hiked up over his knees and slippers kicked off, splashing in the surf in a much similar way to the twelve year old not far from him. Bosco also seemed content, on all fours, occasionally rearing back and letting out a happy little roar (and Sokka was more than a little dismayed to note that he'd started to figure out the bear's moods) and batting playfully at Momo, who was perched on his shoulders.
Everyone for whom he was immediately responsible accounted for, Sokka returned to his tent, got out a map and several other supplies, and started the trek through camp to find his father. There was a lot to do; they had to plan a strategy for getting into the Fire Nation and get Aang a firebending teacher and try to track down this Guru Aang wouldn't shut up about, on top of trying to escape the Earth Kingdom without being captured by Azula and still work within the timeline of the return of Sozin's Comet at the end of summer.
And besides all that, soon it would be lunch time and he would have to try to cajole Aang out of the water, and prompt Katara to eat when she forgot her own plate making sure Aang ate and separate Katara and Toph when they started arguing yet again about when Aang could resume his training without danger of aggravating his injuries (something that was patently ridiculous, because Katara had expended all of her energy healing Aang, but she was skittish and had become defensive about the subject) and all the while keep an eye on his own fish to make sure neither Momo nor that damned bear snagged it out from under him before he could enjoy it.
He had struggled with his position in their little group, that much could be sure. When he had first decided to leave the South Pole, he had merely been looking to watch after Katara while she chased after some wild dream. Once they'd started their journey north, he'd thought long and hard and decided he could settle with protector and hunter and warrior of their little group, even if he couldn't flit between the trees or move rivers like the other members of their little makeshift family.
Then they'd landed in Kyoshi, and the warrior thing had flown right out the window. Sokka had learned that he wasn't a full-fledged warrior yet; he was actually barely wet behind the ears and still had a lot to learn.
And then they'd traveled up along the coast of the Earth Kingdom, and he had found out that scavenging for food in warm weather was a lot different than hunting for meat in the snowy lands of the South Pole - not to mention Aang was a vegetarian. As they started to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables from the market instead of through Sokka's machinations, he'd had to let the hunter position fall to the wayside as well, as he struggled to adapt to the new landscape.
But protector, protector he'd hung onto with fierce determination - until they'd arrived at the North Pole and it had faded away right in his arms as the moon started shining again.
It was one of his lowest points, easily counted against when his mother had died and when his father had left him behind at the South Pole. How many times he'd pondered, gazing at the moon, what he was good for, what his purpose was, what he was supposed to be getting out of this journey. Aang and Katara were fulfilling their destinies, and when Toph had joined the group she had thrown herself into the role of teacher, showing Aang not just earthbending, but teaching Katara a thing or two about how to compromise and get along with people and - to his eternal shame - even beating Sokka at his own game, achieving levels of sarcasm that he himself had only dreamed of.
So where did that leave him?
Katara had referred to him as the Idea Guy a couple times, and he enjoyed that suggestion, that role, relishing the challenge of topping himself each time while mapping out plans even if he couldn't always participate in them because he couldn't freeze water at will or create a set of steps out of the side of a cliff. That had been the first step to realizing his importance to the group.
But it was not until the aftermath of that hellish night in the catacombs that had it come to him fully. Sokka had spent the first two days afterwards working continuously to keep everyone together, whether it was forcing Katara to sleep or bantering with Toph when she got too agitated and wanted to pick a fight or even just smiling gently and patting Bosco on the head to earn a smile from the Earth King. It seemed like everyone was lost, willingly drifting away while Aang lay unconscious.
It was Sokka who had directed Appa towards the Water Tribe, and it was Sokka who'd helped move Aang and Sokka who'd quietly and without show directed Toph through the sand with a hand at the small of her back and it was Sokka who'd explained to his astonished father who the Earth King was, and no, it really was just a regular bear, and yeah, he didn't get it either.
And when Aang had finally woken up, and everyone had started to come out of their haze, it was Sokka who had very quietly started making plans with his father and kept everyone together so that they could all continue on with their journey once everyone was healed.
He had stood back at camp and looked at his family, looked at the skinny Avatar walking around knock-kneed, tattoos standing out starkly against his pale skin, and looked at his sister, playing with the magic water and hovering constantly over the skinny Avatar, and looked at Toph, standing defiantly at the top of her cliff and bellowing words at him that he couldn't hear because of the direction of the sea wind and looked at the Earth King, who'd never seen the ocean before and who'd had the same look of childlike wonderment parked on his face since they landed.
And then it had hit him.
"I am," he had murmured quietly to himself as the revelation dawned, "the only sane person here."
Warrior? He was learning quickly. Hunter? There had definitely been some progress in that area. Protector? He was still working on it, learning from his past failures.
Sane? Sanity, he had down pat.
And thankfully, he thinks, brushing the sand Toph has thrown at him off of his head and wondering whether his father has any seal jerky left and where his boomerang is, there just happened to be an open position for the sane member of their little family.
A/N: Honestly, I've been waiting for an opportunity to use that image of the Earth King and Bosco splashing in the surf. There is no love like the special pet love between king and bear. Superlazygirl, I hope you enjoy this.