When I'm With You
Sokka's P.O.V.
It seems like it was only yesterday when I first saw you, because the memory is still so fresh in my mind. Even now, when I close my eyes, it will come to me almost instantly.
I was fifteen, and you were twelve, when we met. At the time, Aang needed an Earthbending teacher, and, as the Blind Bandit, you were the best of the best. When you had entered the ring at the underground tournament to fight the Boulder, I hadn't believed that you would be able to beat him, because you looked so small and delicate.
And yet, you managed to prove me wrong.
Then, I met your parents, whom both thought of you as nothing more than a blind, tiny, helpless little girl who wasn't capable of anything. Even though you showed them the real you, the you that I love so much, they didn't change their minds at all.
So, you ran away to travel with us, and I got to know you a little bit better. You were brash, and loud, yet always willing to help out her friends when they needed it, and I have always loved that about you. Except I didn't realize it at the time, because I was with Suki instead.
Then, when we traveled in disguise throughout the Fire Nation, I got to know a side of you that nobody had ever seen before. I spent more time with you than with any of the others, because I felt that you were the only one I could really relate to, who would listen to me and understand my problems. I had told you things that I had never told to anyone else before, and it didn't feel weird at all, telling you.
But Suki returned, and I ignored you in favor of her. You, my best friend, someone who had always been there for me just when I needed you the most. But, as it turned out, the joke was on me. After the Sozin's Comet battle was over, that day when we were all in the Jasmine Dragon, she took me aside and promptly told me that it was over. The next day, I saw her in the park, kissing some guy I had never seen before.
It devastated me, so I turned to you. You held me in your arms as I wept onto your shoulder, and you convinced me otherwise when I told you about how worthless I was feeling. I knew I never should have gotten involved with Suki in the first place, and so did you, but throughout that whole ordeal, not once did you berate me for it.
It was shortly after that I kissed you for the first time. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. During that time, I felt whole, complete, like a part of me that I hadn't realized was empty had been filled. And I loved every bit of it, from the way your lips moved with mine to the grassy scent coming from your hair.
And now, ten years later, you lay beside me, as my wife. For a moment, I gaze at your face, pale in the moonlight. I press my lips lightly to your forehead as I see one of your hands on your swollen stomach, which makes me think about our impending parenthood.
When I think of that, I start to worry whether or not our baby will be born healthy, and whether or not I will be a good father. But then, I think about how far we've come, and how far we still have to go. When I'm with you, I'm not scared of the future, because I know you will always be at my side, loving me. When I'm with you, I feel on top of the world.
As I ponder these thoughts, I place an arm around you and pull you closer to my chest. I watch you snuggle closer to me and, the both of us smiling, we fall asleep in each others arms.
FIN
I apologize if this is overly sappy. :P Reviews are greatly appreciated, though. As usual, A:TLA is owned by Mike and Bryan, not me.