-The New Tale-
Suki woke up to some noise coming from her kitchen. She got out of bed and started getting ready for the day.
"I guess I'm waking up now!" she yelled across the house. She heard a sudden slam and what sounded like multiple items falling to the ground, followed by dead silence.
"Uh, sorry!" Sokka replied. "Just fixing something to eat." He added.
"Sounds like you're fixing to break something, to me." She joked.
"Uh, very possibly." He replied, laughing a little.
She walked into the kitchen and saw Sokka sitting at the table, going to town on his concoction of a breakfast he had created.
"What d'ya call that?" She asked, gesturing towards the meal he had. She was sure she saw something moving in it, she cringed in disgust.
"Frhrph Burphrmr" he replied.
"Really Sokka, do go on." She said, watching him use no table manners at all.
He swallowed. "Hodge Podge." He then continued eating the meal he had placed before him.
"Your appetite will never cease to amaze me." She laughed.
He finished the monster of a bite he had taken and then took a breath of fresh air.
"So, I figured out what story I'm going to tell tonight. A story I've never told." He announced before going back to his breakfast.
"Oh, really?" She said, half doubting what he was saying. "What story would that be?"
"Mrphomrp Burmphr Drmerhp" he grumbled, grabbing a glass of water and finishing off the last of his meal.
"Sounds like a real winner." She laughed.
"I said, I am going to tell them about Iroh."
Suki's heart skipped a beat and she looked Sokka dead in the eye. "You can't be serious Sokka, they're just children." She recalled the particular story he was going to tell, and shuddered.
"I'll lighten it up a bit, besides..." He looked towards the ground. "…the man deserves it."
Suki relaxed a bit, still very much in doubt over this news.
"I don't know Sokka…."
"It'll be fine. You can even listen in and make sure nothing not to your liking is said."
"…Alright."
The day went by and all Sokka could think about was telling the kids this story. He was certain it would not be a sit-down-and-listen kind of story. This was a spend-a-week-listening story.
Dusk finally fell upon Kyoshi Island and Sokka took his place by the fire in the center of the village. The children gathered for a few minutes then all waited to what Sokka had to say this night. He was trying to make it as dramatic as possible, but it just ended up really cheesy.
"So, I have a new and exciting story for you all to hear tonight!" he made a dramatic face, wiggling his hands around. Suki couldn't help but laugh a little bit. However, the children seemed captivated.
"Is it the one where you were stuck in a hole for almost a whole day?" one of the kids asked.
He pointed in her direction, "No… good guess though." He felt a little embarrassed. He silently cursed himself. I should have never told that story.
A silence befell the group as everyone watched Sokka think to himself. He snapped back into reality and looked at all the eager faces.
"…Anyway, like I was saying." He got all dramatic again. "A tale of untold proportions!"
"Sokka, shut up and tell the story already!" Suki demanded. Everyone laughed.
"Ok, well. It was a few days after Firelord Zuko's coronation, when all of the sudden….."
Crash
The sound could be heard from miles away. One who was not in the near vicinity would assume a building had collapsed.
Everyone's attention was now focused on Toph, sitting in a wooden chair in the corner of the room. They had been staying in Ba Sing Se for a few days, relaxing. They spent most of their time at the Jasmine Dragon, enjoying the peace and quiet of simply drinking tea. Until just then.
Zuko turned around and stared Toph down. "You bent a rock at me!" Zuko yelled.
"Oh relax, it missed you didn't it!" she replied with a slight grin on her face.
"I heard it whistle by my head!" he yelled again, this time a little more frustrated. "Plus, you're sitting in my chair, I was just there!"
"I don't see your name on it." She replied, happily teasing the newly appointed Firelord to no end.
"It's right here!" he pointed, jabbing his finger to the back of the chair, which clearly read "Zuko".
"Hmm, must have missed that, oh well." Toph replied as she waved her hand in front of her head sarcastically, then leaned back in the chair further.
Katara and Suki were laughing at this whole ordeal playing out, while Aang, Sokka and Iroh had stepped out onto the front patio of the Jasmine Dragon.
They were staring into the night sky, it had to be close to midnight. It was a clear sky and the only thing visible was the moon, gleaming overhead and casting its light in every direction.
"You know…" started Iroh. "…even after everything I've seen in my lifetime, the simplest things are what I appreciate the most." He widened his arms towards the sky briefly.
"It is one beautiful sky tonight." Replied Aang
"Yeah, it really is." Agreed Sokka.
A few moments passed as the trio continued to stare into the sky, lost in their own thoughts. The occasional argument was heard behind them or one of the two older girls trying to prevent any extensive damage to anything.
As they were taking in everything the night sky had to offer, a transparent figure passed in front of the moon briefly, heading west it appeared. Aang and Iroh were both taken back.
"Did, anyone else see that?" Aang questioned.
"See what?" said Sokka.
"Yes, I do believe I saw it." Confirmed Iroh.
"Saw what?" questioned Sokka, now a little more interest in what they were talking about.
"Something just flew in front of the moon, something big." Said Aang.
"Yes, that was very strange." Agreed Iroh.
"I was staring at the moon the whole time, I didn't see a thing." Sokka stated.
"You must have just not been paying attention." Said Aang.
"I am curious to know what that was." Said Iroh, rubbing his beard a little bit. He was quite startled at that. He had not expecting something to cross in front of the moon. What could it have been, it looked somewhat like a dragon. That was impossible though, the only two remaining dragons alive would never venture this far out.
"It was probably nothing important." Replied Aang.
Sokka just shrugged and started to walk back inside; where he soon discovered a shattered chair, a currently-being-healed Zuko and a hysterically laughing Toph.
"I don't know if it was nothing." Stated Iroh. "It is definitely something I will be looking out for."
Aang could tell that Iroh was a little unnerved at what had just happened. Aang had just assumed it was a quickly moving cloud or something along those lines. It was moving too, in unison, for it to be a cloud though.
"What are you thinking it was?" He asked Iroh.
"I'm not sure, my first thought was a dragon…" he started. Then very nervously said, "but they're all gone."
"Right…" Aang said. "they're gone." He was still unsure if he should talk with Iroh about visiting the Sun Warriors. He would talk with Zuko about it later.
"What else could it have been?" Aang added.
Iroh thought for a moment, however all his ideas seemed a little too farfetched for him. "One of lifes many mysteries I suppose." He said as he shrugged it off.
They walked back inside to where there was now an even more hysterically laughing Toph, chunks missing from the floor and Sokka laying on the ground with his arm over his eyes groaning.
"I'm sorry," said Katara, pointing to another bent out of place chair. "we'll pay for it. Well, Sokka will!" she exclaimed.
"Really, there's no need. It's just a chair." Iroh calmy said. "They are very replaceable."
Katara nodded and dragged her brother across the floor. She propped him up against the wall.
"Well, it's getting late." Continued Iroh. "I believe it's time for everyone to hit the hay." He said yawning.
Sokka stood up with Suki. All of the children gave displeased groans.
"What was that thingy in the sky?" questioned one child.
"What happened inside?" asked another.
"I will continue the story tomorrow guys." Sokka replied. "It's getting late though, time for everyone to head out."
Many unhappy kids got up and lazily walked back to their own homes and after a couple more attempts at prodding more words out of Sokka, they finally gave up and left.
Sokka and Suki walked back to their home and got ready for bed. Sokka's mind was full of ideas of how he was going to continue the story the next night.
They exchanged goodnight kisses and fell to sleep immediately.