002: Past
Their pasts couldn't be more different.
He grew up the son of the village chief, exposed to the war practically since he was born. There were no more water benders (until his sister came along, that is,) but they continued their raids just to make sure. His earliest memory of one of them was when he was very young, sitting near the water and seeing a ship on the horizon, curious as to what it was. Before he could ask, his mother had shooed them all inside, and the anxiousness of everyone around him helped him to not ask questions, for once in his life, and it seemed as if the danger soon passed without anything terrible happening. Later in life he would wonder why they had been so, dare he say it, "peaceful" that day.
But, there were other raids, more and more of them as time went on. Of course, the one that stood out most vivid in his mind was the day his mother died. She had actually died as a waterbender in the fire nation's eyes. While never possessed of the gift herself, she had a daughter who was. A daughter who was still too young to really be able to control it. When a soldier spotted water floating about her and her mother, his mother informed him it was her who was the bender, and after a struggle that the terrified Katara could only see from afar as her mother had ordered her flat out to run beforehand, culminated in her death, marking the hardest time in the family's life.
Then, the warriors went away, leaving him with the task of protecting the village. Leadership was thrust upon him; he was expected to protect them, even if he didn't always seem like the type that could. He had to do it, for their sake. They all looked to him for that sort of thing, although no one would ever admit it. He had responsibilities.
Then there was her life. Born one day, blind to her incredibly wealthy parents' dismay, she had hardly ever left the large estate her parents lived on. Forced to be someone she wasn't (a subdued, obedient, fragile little girl) she had to grow up doing everything her parents asked. She was unable to even see the world for what it was, before learning bending from the badgermoles. This, was perhaps her happiest moment, for it was then that she fully realized that she could see, even if it was in a way no one understood. Sneaking out, fighting in tournaments… It was the only was she could keep some shred of herself, the real her that wasn't afraid to get dirty and fight, and loved laughing and joking around. That laugh that he loved so much… How had her parents gone so long without hearing it for what it really was? How could she have ever truly been able to express her wonderful self to them, when they wouldn't let her?
So, she was pressed to become someone she wasn't, hidden from the outside world and finally rebelling. He was given any freedom a normal kid could have, before being giving responsibilities that he bet she would have dreamed of having, even if just for a change before they met up. When she joined the group, she was absolutely overjoyed at finally being able to be herself, and even though their pasts' were different and had played out in entirely different places, they weren't so different after all.
Even though their pasts were different, their future would always be together.
Author's Note: Eh, don't care much for this one. Just a drabble, kind of from Sokka's point of view. But, anyway, I'll be updating and adding a lot in a short amount of time, because I had already done a lot of these and have them saved. xD