This is the end for Prayers to the Moon. This has been nice and comforting for me and I hope you all have enjoyed it as well.
Sokka: Song in the Night
It was a ritual that Sokka had done with all his children. On the first full moon after each had been born, he had bundled up his son or daughter and taken them out among the stars and moon's glow, presenting them to his first love and guiding spirit.
The South Pole was a rival for its northern sister after more than a decade of work and design. Katara's water bending school, open to both sexes, had drawn in many students at first and increased the number of benders who could construct the fortress and defensive walls; peace hadn't fully settled in yet and Sokka hadn't survived Sozin's war by growing complacent.
And even after Katara had moved to the Fire Nation, one of her students remained to continue the school. The village was growing larger and stronger and Sokka was there through it all. His father was chief again and Sokka had his beautiful wife and beautiful children. Life was good.
So good that Sokka always remembered to thank the girl he knew was watching over him. He could still see her clearly in his mind as if it had been yesterday that he had seen her for the first time, stunned and amazed. He hadn't seen her in fifteen years, but her face was etched in his memory.
Suki was asleep, or faking it, he could never tell. With their previous three children, Sokka noticed his wife smiling at him more than usual, the day after his night-time presentation. If she was aware of his activities, she never said a word, and for that, Sokka loved her more.
He wasn't keeping it a secret, exactly. And it wasn't that he wanted to hide his devotion from Suki as he had already told her every nuance of his first love story before he had even presented her with the betrothal necklace. But this small act under the full moon was as personal as it got for Sokka. Aang might be able to contact to the spirit world—Sokka had never asked who he encountered and the younger man had never offered—and Katara might feel some connection through her water bending, but this was Sokka's and Sokka's alone.
Two sons, one a bender, and a daughter had certainly kept Sokka and Suki busy. At ten, seven, and three years old, they hadn't been expecting any more children and were content, if frazzled, trying to keep up with the rambunctious lot. When Suki had announced she was pregnant again, they had been thrilled if exasperated already at the thought of another set of running feet.
The children were all asleep and Suki didn't stir as Sokka bent over the basket and secured his infant daughter in her blankets before ducking out of his home. In the glowing light of the moon and stars, Sokka walked the streets of his village until he was beyond the perimeter wall, utterly alone save for the warm bundle in his arms.
"This is Yukime," Sokka stated strongly. "Daughter of Sokka and Suki of the Southern Water tribe and a child of the moon. Bless her and guard her all her days and nights."
It wasn't that special and to anyone listening, it probably came off as foolish or anti-climatic. But spiritual things had never been Sokka's strength.
Yukime woke and fussed a little, opening large blue eyes to focus on her father's face. Sokka smiled at his daughter, chuckling when she smiled back. He held her close, rocking slightly back and forth.
"Hello, Sokka."
The wolf warrior spun around, reaching for the boomerang at his hip with one hand as the other curled protectively around his infant daughter.
He hadn't truly appreciated how much he had grown until he found himself staring down at Yue, exactly as he remembered her except for the soft glow emanating from her body.
"Yue," he breathed. She had never appeared to him before though he had felt her presence all these years. "Yue."
She smiled, that same soft smile that had ensnared him before. The boomerang fell from his hand and he reached hesitantly to stroke her cheek. His fingertips hovered over her skin, not daring to touch, but aching to. But it was not for a simple, mortal man to touch the divine so Sokka dropped his arm, smiling sheepishly.
"She's beautiful," Yue said, gazing at Yukime whose infant gaze had not left the spirit girl's form. "You and Suki make such lovely children."
"I'm lucky," Sokka said, knowing it was the absolute truth. He waited, working up the nerve to ask, before speaking again. "Why now?"
"This will be your last child," Yue answered gently. Then she smirked, an expression Sokka swore she had picked up from him. "You can tell Suki she doesn't need to worry about food cravings or labor pains ever again."
Sokka smirked back. "Damn. I thought she'd eventually learn to like sea prunes after eating them during each pregnancy."
Yue laughed and it felt like a balm on Sokka's soul. Yukime gurgled happily, wriggling one arm free of the heavy quilt, reaching for Yue. Sokka watched as Yue offered her ethereal hand for the infant girl's grip, stroking the baby's cheek with her other hand.
"Bors will be a strong warrior and a strong chief," Yue told him, still staring at Yukime. "He won't leave the South Pole often. He will be the rock and anchor of his siblings."
"Rhia will also be a warrior, but like none that have ever preceded her. She will have Suki's determination and balance, but your instincts and creativity. She will be a protector of the small and weak."
"Korin will be a powerful water bender, like Katara. He will be a tie between the North and South Poles, a traveler of the world and peacekeeper."
"And Yukime, she will be my voice, my song in the night. Her words will inspire a generation and more. She will echo through eternity."
Sokka was transfixed, staring at the infant girl in his arms when he felt cool lips kiss his cheek. Yue leaned back, extracting her hand from Yukime's grip and smiled once more.
"Thank you, Sokka."
"No, Yue. Thank you."
The moon spirit who had once been a girl smiled one last time and then faded in a soft glow. Sokka never saw her again, but he knew that her gaze and presence never left him or his family.