I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This one takes place around the episode "Sokka's Master" but it's just from Sokka's POV.

Nothing Special

Everything was going just great and it was a normal night, but really what is normal for us, until this meteor fell from the sky. Now we're flying through the air on Appa towards the direction it fell. Fire rises from the crater that the meteor created. Katara voices what we all feel.

"The fire's going to destroy the town." She states.

"Not if we can help it." Aang says determinedly.

I let out a silent moan. Here we go. They're all going to start bending their elements to their will and save the town while I stand on the sidelines and probably watch Momo or something. Aang, Toph and I jump from Appa's back and land on the ground, while Katara grabs the sky bison's reins.

"There's a creek over there, I'll bend the water onto the fire." Katara announces and flies off.

Aang doesn't even glance my way when he speaks. "Toph, let's make a trench to keep the fire from coming any closer." He says urgently.

My heart falls to the ground. "What should I do?" I ask, trying not to sound so dejected but failing miserably.

Aang looks back at me just as Momo flies past. "Keep an eye on Momo."

Momo lands on my head, wrapping his prehensile tail around my neck. Indignity flexes itself within me. "So what am I just a lemur sitter?" I ask a bit exasperatedly. Momo chatters, as if to let me know that I hurt his feelings. "There, there, feel better." I pet his head soothingly. I stand there, out of the way as usual, watching as they bend their designated elements. Aang and Toph move in unison to bend a trench in the ground so that the fire can't get to the village.

Embers fall all around me and Momo and while I'm trying to put out one, the lemur puts out the rest. I frown and sigh heavily. Even the lemur is more of an asset to the team than me. Katara, a prodigy waterbender, bends a huge orb of water onto the village, extinguishing any fires that were burning. Watching them all bend just makes me feel worse than ever. Why did I even come here? I should have just stayed at camp and went to bed like I started, maybe then I wouldn't feel like a fourth wheel.

"Stand clear." I hear Aang says while bending the orb of water that Katara passes him.

I restrain the sigh that seeks to leave my lungs. "Right, stand clear. Got it." I stand, pick up Momo, and begin to walk away. Out of nowhere, this mountain of snow falls on top of me, burying me beneath it.

"Good work everybody." I hear Aang say cheerfully.

I emerge from the snow. Yeah great job everybody. Except Sokka. This sucks. Later that night while everyone else sleeps I lay awake in my sleeping bag. This sucks. I am the only one in the group that can't do anything. Katara is a waterbending master at fifteen; Toph is a blind earthbending master that can bend metal, and Aang? Aang is the Avatar for crying out loud! And me? I'm just Katara's older brother that brings nothing to the table. Sure, I'm a Watertribe warrior, but heck, I ain't even the best at that. Sometimes I feel like the only reason everyone doesn't say anything is because I'm Katara's brother and I make them laugh. Big friggin' whoop. I make people laugh. It doesn't matter that Katara can bend a river to her will or that Toph can probably bend the side of a crag or that Aang is the friggin' Avatar! Nope all that matters is that I make people laugh. Arghhh! If I'm just a comedian to those in the group then I might as well not even be part of the team. If I left no one would, probably even miss me, I mean it's not like I do anything important anyway.

I laugh bitterly as our think about the roles and labels we've all obtained while on our quest. Katara: prodigy waterbending master. Toph: blind earthbending master. Aang: the Avatar. Sokka: nothing special. I suppress my quivering lip and turn over, snuggling into my sleeping bag.


The next day at lunch when the others seat themselves at a table outdoors I find a spot by myself on the floor. I don't contribute to the team so there's no reason for me to sit with them. I look down at my smoked sea slug and sit the plate aside. I'm not even hungry. I cast a glance up at the sky, secretly thinking that at any moment the sky is gonna crack open, because me not being hungry upsets the balance of the universe. Ha! Funny. Like anything I do is significant enough to upset the balance of anything.

"These people have no idea how close they came to getting toasted last night." I hear Aang say.

"Yeah, the only thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love."

That's it, I can't take it anymore. They can all do extraordinary things with their bending and here they are complaining about not getting the glory they used to receive. The sarcastic, wisecracking, carefree mask I've been wearing for so long finally cracks. "Boo hoo poor heroes." I say with as much sarcasm as I can manage. They just don't know how good they've got it.

I know Katara is staring at me with those piercing blue eyes. She knows something is wrong, I'm never this sour towards them and my food would usually be digesting at the moment instead of growing cold. "What's your problem? You haven't touched your smoked sea slug."

I can't hold it in any longer. I'll burst if I do. "It's just that…All you guys can do this awesome bending stuff like putting out forest fires, flying around, and making other stuff fly around. I can't fly around okay." I feel like crying, but I compose myself. "I can't do anything."

Katara, as usual, comes to my rescue. "That's not true. No one can read a map like you." She points out.

"I can't read at all." Toph adds.

"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time? I mean look at Katara's hair." Aang grabs my sister's hair and gestures to it. I know he means well, but Katara is really sensitive about her hair. "What's up with that?"

"What's wrong with my hair?" She flushes and tries to cover her hair from sight.

"Nothing, I was just trying to…" He tries to apologize.

They're trying to make me feel better, but it doesn't help. At all. "Look, I appreciate the effort, but the fact is that each of you is so amazing and so special, and I'm not." My shoulders fall and I look away. "I'm just the guy in the group who's regular."

Katara sits next to me and puts an arm around my shoulder. "I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but I hope you know that none of us see you that way." She pauses a moment and I can nearly hear the gears in her head spinning. "I know something that's gonna make you feel better."

I glance up hopefully. "You do?"

"Yep." She stands, smiling down at me in that odd motherly way that only she can manage. "Hold on." She makes her way to the others and they huddle together in a tight circle. I can hear whispers and Aang cranes his neck to look at me once or twice.

That's it, let them huddle together without including me, it's not like I'm anything special anyway. "What are you guys talking about over there?" I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

They break the circle and Aang smiles impishly at me. "Follow us."


Moments later we're walking down the street making our way past Fire Nation citizens. I know where we're going. We're going to Pang's Weapons Shop. I've been there before, but I just didn't have the money to buy anything. How sweet, they're taking me shopping. They know 

me well; shopping for weapons usually makes me feel better when I'm feeling blue. Now, however, is not one of those times. I know that no matter what weapon I buy it still isn't going to make up for the fact that I can't bend, that I'm just the comic relief to them, that-that I'm just the regular guy that's nothing special. But, I'm not going to make them feel bad just because I feel like crap right now. So, instead I take the inferiority and ineptitude I feel within and tuck it away inside. I hide my true feelings behind the mask I've been wearing since we've been on our journey. I act really enthusiastic when I enter the weapon shop. "Shopping!" I shout as eagerly as I can muster and go about the shop searching for weapons. Of course, it's not like I don't need a little something to add to my arsenal.

Shopping however, doesn't solve things, not in the least, it's just a band-aid, a band-aid for an open wound. But I conceal what I feel and throw it aside and try my best to seem pacified. That's when I see it; the sword framed above all the others. It's gorgeous like the Holy Spirit Mother of swords. I want it. Bad. "Ooo." I say and closely examine the exquisite details along the hilt and scabbard. "That's what Sokka's talking about."

The old shopkeeper smiles and tells me that the sword was made by Piandao, the best sword master and maker in the Fire Nation. Aang suggests that I need a master and the rest agree. So after a split second decision I decide to go talk to him. I hope that he sees something in me, something that I don't see in myself. If not, then, he will never train me and I don't think I'll ever have the same self-confidence that I once possessed.


Night settles in on the camp. All others are sitting by the fire eating dinner and telling jokes, but not me. I stand on the bluff overlooking the waterfalls and reflect upon the things that I've learned over the past two days from Master Piandao. I must admit I thought he would just teach me how to use a sword, but he taught me much more. His words will never leave my mind:

"The first thing you must learn is that your sword is an extension of yourself. You must think of it as another part of your body…The sword is a simple tool, but in the hands of a master it becomes the most versatile of weapons, and just as the imagination is limitless so too are the possibilities of the sword."

"When you write your name you stamp the paper with your identity. You must learn to use your sword to stamp your identity on the battlefield. Remember you cannot take back a stroke of the brush, or a stroke of the sword."

"Landscape teaches the warrior to keep the lay of the land in mind. In battle, you only have an instant to take everything in."

"Rock gardening teaches the warrior to manipulate his surroundings and use them to his advantage."

I smile nostalgically and think about when I made my sword last night. It wasn't easy, actually it was hard, really hard, but I never wanted to quit. I knew that when I finished I wouldn't just have just a sword with a blade made of a space rock, but an extension of myself. It would become a tool, my closest ally in battle when my back was against the wall. The sheath whispers when I draw my sword. I look at it and brush a hand over the cool blade, caressing the material. Once again I hear Master Piandao's words in my mind:

"Sokka when you first arrived, you seemed so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself, but I saw something right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me. No it certainly wasn't your skills. You showed me something beyond that. Creativity, versatility, intelligence…these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you. You told me you didn't know if you were worthy, but I believe you are the most worthy man I have ever trained."

I grip the sword's hilt tightly and swallow the lump in my throat. It felt better than eating a strip of genuine seal jerky (and I haven't had seal jerky in like forever) to hear him say that. Master Piandao the greatest swordmaster and maker in an entire nation actually praised me, and told me that I was worthy. I am happy to have met him. He made me feel worthwhile, like I am a part of this team and not just Katara's wisecracking brother.

An image of Toph bending the pieces of space rock I had left over into different shapes play in my head, but this time my heart doesn't sink and my shoulders don't sag. It doesn't hurt anymore, not being able to bend, because now I know that I do contribute to the team and I'm not just the guy in the group that's nothing special. I try a few practice swipes with the sword and Master Piandao's words come to mind, as if he's whispering in my ear. I cast a few timid glances over my shoulder. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but you never can be too sure:

"Sokka you must continue your training on your own. If you continue on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am."

My heart swells in my chest and I take in a deep breath, still overwhelmed that such a wise and respectable person would ever say anything like that to me. I remember his words and I know that I mustn't just memorize his words, but I must put them into practice and continue to train. I know that I will probably never be as good as Piandao, but I will train to the peak of my ability. I will prove that not being able to bend doesn't mean anything, because I am useful and I will utilize these traits that I have to help in defeating the Fire Lord. A crisp wind blows past and I close my eyes, allowing it to toss my hair. I smile and speak, as if the breeze can somehow carry my words to Master Piandao. "I will make you proud master."


Yay! I finished the second chapter. Next up it will either be Toph in "I wish" or Katara in "Dreaming of the Sun, Holding on to the Wind". I'll figure it out soon. Oh and the rest will start out during the quest, but more than likely end up as a postie. Read and review, mi amigos. Gracias.

Love ya