I don't know what I feel anymore.


She felt a pair of familiar hands brush her face. And opened her eyes, somehow, she had fallen asleep in the room Ming had locked her in. She slowly sat up and brushed her eyes, trying to get rid of the dried-up tears on her face. She looked up and noticed the little house she was in had a window and it was nighttime. The full moon shinned heavily on her and with its size she knew the winter solstice was approaching. A day that her whole tribe would've been preparing for with joy. She heard the door creak open and she looked at it, unsure weather to come out or not. She stepped out onto the cold grass and realized she had no shoes on. The grass felt weird and different underneath her feet, it wasn't smooth or chunky like the ice and now she was used to.

She followed the moons light and her eyes landed on a familiar figure walking away.

"Dad?"

She called for him, but he wouldn't stop.

"Dad wait for me"

Just like the last time she saw him back home, he had his water tribe armor on and his club in hand, but he didn't have his wolf helmet. Somehow the more she called the faster he moved, that she felt her self-running after him.

"Dad stop! Please you're going too fast"

She continued to chase after her father, and after a while, she stopped to catch her breath. She looked up and realized she was in a completely different place from the orphanage. She found herself in a large garden, with a bridge that cut across to the other side. On the other side was the biggest palace she had ever seen. She noticed her father sit underneath one of the trees and she followed suit to sit beside him.

"Dad"

Katara ran up to give him a hug, but he disappeared.

"Dad?"

She looked around but he was nowhere. Katara fell on her knees heartbroken. Was it a dream? She was still in the garden, so she was sure it wasn't a dream. She was unsure how she even got to this strange place and didn't know how she would go back to the orphanage. Why did her dad leave her? She wished Sokka was here with her. Where was her mom? was she okay? Where did the Fire Nation take her?. The unknown fate of her mother and the absence of her family caused her to begin sobbing softly underneath the tree.


"So, where you from?"

Sokka did not reply. He continued pushing the cart that was filled with coals brought by the earth bending kids. Sokka had never seen earth bending before and was fascinated by the art. He was also a bit intimidated by the power and strength that was used to move the rocks. It was very different from when Katara tried to push and pull her element. Hers was very clumsy and somehow, he always seemed to get soaked.

The thought of his sister made him question if he had made the right decision in leaving her alone at the orphanage, not that he had a choice. He had noticed her breathing getting shallow, but it wasn't until the captain asked them to get off at their destination that Katara had collapsed. He had been so afraid that she would not wake up and would have stayed by her side if he could, but Lady Ming made sure all the boys went to work.

He decided to stop worrying about Katara and focus his energy on ignoring the boy who kept asking him questions.

"Did the Firenation send you out of your village as well?"

Sokka continued to respond with silence

"You don't have to ignore me, we are all here because of the same reason." He stopped pushing his cart. "The Firenation, they killed my parents when I was only eight years old. That day changed me forever"

Sokka stopped pushing his cart as well. Eight years old? That was Katara's age. Sokka took a closer look at the boy. He began to examine him and noticed they were about the same age and his hair was a shaggy mess. There was also a twig in the boy's mouth and his eyes carried fierce determination along with hidden rage.

"My name is Jet, I got here about two years ago."

"I'm Sokka"

Sokka's voice came out a bit hoarse and he realized this was the first time he had spoken after arriving in the orphanage. The boy's eyes widened finally able to get some reaction from the new boy. They both resumed pushing their carts, but Jet's questions did not end there.

"Where was your home anyhow?"

"The water tribe"

"That makes sense, you really don't look earth kingdom"

Sokka had no response and Jet seemed to get the hint that the new boy was either not a talker or didn't want to talk. They continued pushing their carts until they got to the end of the tunnel and dumped their rocks. The dust from the coal covered their skin and fits of coughs followed. Three other boys came to meet the boys, rolling over barrels. Sokka took note of how evenly they lined up from biggest to smallest. The smallest kid was the first to speak.

"Hey Jet, the workman gave us a few blasting jellies in case Haru had trouble earthbending the mines."

The biggest kid began looking around then questioned, "Where is Haru anyway?" then his eyes landed on Sokka "Hey it's the new kid."

"His name is Sokka" Jet interjected. "We know Haru doesn't really need this, just put them in the rest of our hidden stash"

Going from the smallest to biggest, Jet introduced them to Sokka. It went from The Duke to Longshot and the Pipsqueak. They all had interesting names, but Sokka didn't bother questioning. Jet began to walk away and the boys soon followed. Sokka had nowhere to go and followed suit.

Sokka began hearing hollering, blasts, cheers, and boos and wondered what was going on. He looked up and realized they were approaching a small crowd of boys. Pipsqueak's big stature allowed for them to make way to the front of the commotion. It was two earthbending boys who seemed to be having a friendly spar. The boy who seemed to be winning held a smirk on his face until the losing opponent delivered a quick roundhouse kick that generated a rock from behind knocking the other boy forward and flat on his face. The crowd of kids cheered at the winner and he lent his opponent a hand.

"Yea Haru!" Jet hollered.

Sokka took a closer look at Haru

He had long brown hair that was half tied up and held up in a green headband. He approached Jet eagerly and the two made a fist bump.

Sokka noticed Jet had found a pair of hook swords and wondered where he got them. Holding them fiercely he made his way to the center of the circle and gestured for the crowd of boys to be quiet.

"Now it's time for the non-benders to show what we've got" Looking around the crowd he smirked. "I would like for my opponent to be..."

The young boy found who he was looking for, he found himself staring straight at a pair of blue eyes and pointed towards him.

"You"

The water tribe boy shifted uncomfortably as everyone stared at him. Who was this boy that Jet wanted to spar with? He didn't even look like he had held a weapon in his life. Jet kept on smirking at the boy with his hooked sword pointed straight at him.

"I don't have a weapon"

Pipsqueak immediately handed one to him. It was a bit heavy than the one he practiced with Piandao, but hopefully, he could make it work. His heart quickened with every uncertain step he took into the circle. He took his position but Jet's pointed arm continued to stay on him.

Both opponents stared at each other for a while until Jet decided to lunge at him. Sokka responded with fierce defense and blocked his attacks from all sides with immense speed. Jet was shocked but hid it with his determination to win. His continuous attacks caused Sokka to leap out of the space and run through the crowds. Jet continued to chase him and the surrounding audience cheered. Sokka ran straight for the mountain heap of coal piled in the middle of the mines.

Piandao had taught him to use his surroundings and that was what he did. He began kicking coal bits onto Jet, but he continued to climb after Sokka and ignored the dust entering his eyes. Once he got close he swung one of his swords at his opponent, Sokka caught it with his own sword and yanked it out of Jet's hands. The water tribe boy began gaining supportive cheers from some of the crowd which made the earth kingdom boy furious.

Deciding not to grab his fallen sword he continued attacking as they kept moving up the pile of coal. The two boys finally got to the top and paused unsure of what to do now. One wrong footing and one of them could lose their balance, falling back down to the hard ground. Sokka anticipated the boy attacking first and quickly dodged the blow.

Jets missed attack did not go unfinished as he fell forward to the ground and began falling down the pile. His hooked sword caught Sokka's foot bringing him down with him as well. The water tribe sword fell out of his hands as he got dragged down and they both hit the ground with a hard thud. Sokka immediately got up and kicked Jet's sword far out of his hands, leaving both nothing to spar with.

Cheers erupted from the onlooking boys, for both opponents. Sokka gave Jet a hand to let him up but it was rejected. He stood up on his own smirking and gave Sokka a pat on the shoulder. The corners of Sokka's lips rose a bit, like an iceberg beginning to melt and finally becoming one with the ocean.


Hey Guys!

Happy Zutara week! I'm so excited to be participating this year. I usually just watch the fandom celebrate from the sides lol. In honor of Zutara week, I am dedicating the next chapter to the Zutara fandom!

Cheers!