Title: Blood, Silk, and Steel
Rating: T, although the rating may go up.
Warnings: AU, dark!Sokka, character death, bad language, references to sex and extreme violence, although absolutely nothing explicit, and general conniving and cruelty on behalf of the people you would expect it from.

Disclaimer: Um, this is fanfiction. Hopefully you realize that this means I own nothing you recognize here.

Author's Notes: I've had this chapter done for a while, but as some of you know, I just recently got my internet access back. Originially this chapter was much longer, but I had forgotten a scene that's crucial to the plot and I couldn't find anywhere to put it comfortably. Therefore, I've broken this chapter up into two, Fortunately, most of the next chapter is already written. You should expect an update by the night of the 15th at the latest.

Enjoy.

Chapter 10

It took Sokka far too long to get back to Bato's place. The snow was still fresh on the ground and he kept slipping and falling. He hated the snow with a fiery passion, and momentarily found himself marveling at the fact that he had forgotten that little detail while living in the Fire Nation. His thoughts were interrupted when he again lost his balance and fell. His mood didn't improve when he arrived at Bato's house and found it to be locked with no one home. He looked up at the sky and momentarily wondered if the Spirits had it in for him. For some reason, maybe because he needed to distract himself, he started laughing. He laughed for a good bit, standing in front of Bato's locked door, until there was no longer anything funny about the matter. Laughter exhausted, he looked down at his feet, and thought for a second before he realized exactly what it was that he needed to do. Inflamed by his new idea, Sokka started running with as much grace as he could muster, didn't make it very far, and fell back down. Afterwards, he hailed down a canoe and told the driver to take him to market. Sokka needed a block of wood, some wires, and a carving knife.

- - -

In the market he found exactly what he needed, although he was disappointed to discover that the block of wood was of inferior quality to what he had expected. He hoped it would do well enough until he returned to the Fire Nation. Since he had nothing better to do, Sokka decided to stay at the market and do some shopping—the only thing he wanted to do less than wait around for Bato was to actually be forced to be in Bato's company.

The market, though vastly inferior to the ones he had seen in the Fire Nation, was still interesting enough to hold his attention for a long while. There were all sorts of meats and dairy products, fish, tools, even a large stand dedicated to books. He hesitated in front of the book store for an instant too long and an eager merchant appeared, inviting Sokka in. Shrugging, he nodded his head and followed the store keeper into the slightly warmer store.

"Can I help you?" the merchant asked eagerly.

"Actually," Sokka said slowly, "Do you have anything on the Moon Spirit?"

"Ah yes, but of course," he nodded and signaled for Sokka to follow him. The books on the Spirit World were piled haphazardly in the back. The merchant began to look clumsily for codices which dealt specifically with the Moon Spirit, but Sokka's eyes suddenly fell on a codex called "The Avatar State."

"What about this one?" Sokka asked, pointing to it.

"Ah yes, it was a book kept by the Water Sage temple. But since the Avatar is long gone…"

"Is he?" Sokka asked, looking through the book. The man handed him a few books on the Moon Spirit. Sokka looked through them; many of them were idiotic religious texts, and most of those were even poorly illuminated. He put those away, and kept three which looked promising. The man, now assured of a good sale was pleased and withdrew from Sokka, telling him of course, that he would be available if needed.

Once the man was gone, Sokka continued to look around the store much more easily. Compared to the books available in the Fire Lord's library, the Royal Fire University, and even in Zhao's personal library, the scrolls and codices here were not particularly impressive, but there were a few, which simply due to a difference in interests could not be found in the Fire Nation libraries and they would be quite useful. He finally decided on five books and was about to make his way to the counter to pay, when his eye landed on an open codex with one of the most beautiful illustrations he had ever seen. Intrigued he picked the book up. In terms of content it was useless, but as an artifact is was gorgeous. General Iroh would like it. He picked the book up and finally made his purchase.

The book merchant accompanied him back outside, a huge smile plastered on his face and continued to wave to Sokka as he walked away.

It was darker now, and Sokka was considering going back to Bato's. However, just as the thought passed through his mind, he caught sight of a shop which looked to be even more promising than the last. He found himself drawn to the shop, lined with wonderful weapons. The craftsmanship of them was all wonderful, admirable, perfect, on par with the best the Fire Nation has to offer. Nothing however was on par with the weapon he has fashioned for himself. Nothing for him, he realized in disappointment; his arsenal here would be sufficient. A pair of broadswords suddenly caught his eye. He signaled to the merchant to see them, and the pudgy man in a dirty apron happily acquiesced. "How much," he asked and handed the coins over as soon as he was told the price. These broadswords were interesting and excellent weapons. With good luck they would make a good addition to Zuko's collection of weaponry. So that took care of the Prince and his Uncle—the Princess and her Father still needed gifts. Those however would require more thought and it was cold and he was tired. Broadswords and books in hand, Sokka finally began to make his way back to Bato's place.

When he arrived he found that Bato was home and waiting for him with a batch of freshly pickled sea prunes.

"Where were you?" he asked Sokka.

"When I came back you weren't here and the door was locked. I went to the market."

"Oh? Find anything interesting to buy?"

Sokka nodded. He would have preferred to escape Bato's questioning, but saw no ill of showing Bato the books and weapons he had bought. Sokka smirked a bit with pride when he saw Bato drool with appreciation for the swords.

"These are magnificent weapons Sokka; do you know how to use them?"

Sokka shook his head, "No, but a friend of mine in the Earth Kingdom does. I bought them for him."

"So, you're going back to the Earth Kingdome after this?" Bato asked with a touch of sadness in his voice.

Sokka felt a strange feeling in his stomach, almost like a knot, but nodded anyway, "I can best work against the Fire Nation in the Earth King's employ, I think. And I've been there for quite a while; I have friends there, unfinished business."

The conversation lulled as Bato cleared the table and Sokka helped him awkwardly. The silence continued after dinner and Sokka settled down with his block of wood to whittle it into shape. As the fire began to burn low it was Bato who broke the silence. "Princess Yue was here to see you today," Bato pressed in a dry tone of barely veiled disapproval.

"Oh was she?" Sokka asked, intent on his wood carving. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her you weren't here."

"I don't think I can see her any more."

"Good," Bato spat out bitterly.

Sokka looked up from his handiwork, "There are worse things I could do than see Princess Yue."

"Sokka, I want you to understand, Princess Yue is married."

"What is there to understand? Princess Yue is married to a man she can barely stand, and it's no wonder why. He's a self-absorbed narcissist."

"Regardless of what Hahn may be, Chief Arnook chose him as his daughter's groom and it is your place to respect him and his claim."

"Well isn't that barbaric. Even in the Fire Nation women have some say in who they wed. But it doesn't matter. I won't see Yue again, and Hahn has nothing to do with it. I have more important things to worry about and I can't afford any distractions." And that was the end. The two men remained in silence until the fire died. Bato retired to sleep. Sokka stayed working on his block of wood long into the early hours of the morning, thinking as he whittled away in the dark.

- - -

Sokka woke up late the next morning to find that he had no memory of how he had arrived in his bed. His block of wood, now several smaller blocks of carved wood, was on the dresser. The carving was almost finished, and without getting out of bed he reached over to his tools to finish that part of the job. Within the hour his carving was done. It was only then that he got up and got dressed (there was no hot water, he skipped the bath, just another thing that made life in the Fire Lord's palace preferable to life in this miserable place). And then he started working on assembling the pieces together with wires.

It was working like this that Sokka was surprised by Pakku.

"Impressive toy you're building there," Pakku drawled. Without looking up, Sokka grunted his acknowledgement as a greeting. "It warms my old heart to see a young warrior working so diligently to save his Tribe and defeat the Fire Nation."

"This isn't my tribe, and I will be much more useful in the defeat of the Fire Nation if I can walk and run without falling flat on my face." Sokka answered bitterly, taking his shoes off for a measurement. He put his shoe back on and then continued fiddling with the wires. "And I already know about the meeting with Chief Arnook tonight. I have the plans already assembled," he nodded in the direction of a few scrolls leaning against the wall."

"Very well then, I can't wait to see what brilliant plans you've drawn up. Maybe we can sparkle the Fire Nation into submission."

"You're just uneasy because the Moon is waning. I don't require the Moon's help to take down the Fire Nation."

"Interesting. I thought the Moon spared your life."

"Any kindness the Moon granted came with a price," he signaled to his wood-and-wire prosthetic, "and in any event, at no point did I ask the Moon Spirit for her help."

"Indeed. However, I did not come to talk about the Moon Spirit, or Waterbending, or even Chief Arnook's meeting. I'm certain you already know about all those things. I am however here to discuss your plans and Princess Yue."

"I see," Sokka said cautiously as he put his work down and scrambled up. "If Bato sent you, you needn't waste your breath; I already told him I won't see Yue ever again if I can help it."

"Well that's certainly a pity," Pakku replied, although Sokka was startled by the absolute lack of the customary sarcasm in the Waterbending Master's voice. "Oh, Bato will be glad of it, I'm sure, but it really does seem like a terrific waste. I've never masked my dislike of you Sokka, but I did at least take you for someone who was strong enough and brave enough to fight for what you wanted."

"I have done nothing but fight for as long as I can remember."

"Yes, I imagine so, and it isn't good for one to do battle every waking moment. Battle changes men, not necessarily for the better. I know. But I'm speaking of a different kind of fighting."

"I have a duty."

"To whom?"

"To Arnook, to the Earth King… to my father."

"And what about the duty to yourself? And your duty to Yue?"

"I've been fighting to avenge my father for all my life. I can't allow myself to be distracted by something as frivolous as—

"Love? Love isn't frivolous. Hatred, revenge, bloodlust, those things are frivolous Sokka, but not love. No one can long live without love. Not a life worth living at any rate. And what about Yue?"

"She's married, as Bato will remind you."

"To a self-absorbed narcissist."

Sokka was beginning to get agitated. "I don't want to talk about it Pakku. I have a plan. I've been working on it for years. I can't. I can't abandon it."

"I see," Pakku said turning. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you. Good luck bringing down the Fire Nation. When you're old, or dead, and you find yourself bitter and alone, I'd like to know if it was worth it. But I'll be dead then, so really it won't make any difference to me."

This was too much for Sokka. "Old, bitter and alone, old man? Look who's talking."

"Oh yes, I'm very bitter and rather alone. I know what it's like, and it's not particularly pleasant. There isn't a day that goes by these days where I don't wake up and think what my life would have been like if I had married the woman I loved when I was young. If I had had the strength to fight for her. I should have followed her to the ends of the earth. I didn't of course. Instead I stayed here in the North because it was what my father wanted and because I still needed to perfect my bending.

"I'm the cold and much feared Master. I would trade it all for another chance with her. It's too late for me of course, but I thought you might have the courage I lacked. I see I was wrong."

Sokka's hands dropped to his sides in astonishment. "Wait, what was her name?"

"Oh, it hardly matters now."

"And did you love her?"

"Very much. And, I thought she loved me too. Maybe if I had fought a little harder, she would have."

"And what happened to her?"

"I don't know. Finding her was never part of the Plan."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Pakku shrugged. "Has it changed your mind?"

"But I had a plan," Sokka protested. He was shaking again in front of this man who hated him. Something struck him as ridiculous in the situation. He had never shaken like this since his father died. He had started countless times into the face of his father's murderer, and never before had he wavered. What was this strange power that the Northern Barbarians and their blue eyes had over him?

"Was it a good plan?"

"It was a brilliant plan," Sokka confided sadly. His prowess at lying, second only to Azula's, seemed to have abandoned him suddenly. Sokka stood bare before the Waterbending Master as he had stood before the Moon Spirit. The Spirit had said that she had taken something from him, and he had thought he knew what; he had thought he could outwit her, as he had outwitted the Prince and his father. But perhaps, perhaps he had been wrong and the loss he had felt had been lost to the cold alone, not to the Moon Spirit. Perhaps the Spirit had taken something else from him and he was only just now feeling its absence. He didn't know. All he knew was that he wanted things to go back to the way they had been. He had had a purpose then; now all he had was a fork in the road and no clear choice. Pakku was urging him to abandon the path he had traveled so wearily for years.

"I don't doubt it was brilliant. You are very clever Sokka; it's one of the things I dislike about you. I asked you if it was a good plan."

Was it a good plan, a good path to walk? He had seen where the path he was walking would lead him. The Moon Spirit had shown it to him and he hadn't cared. He had told himself that it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the plan. But now, things had changed, and here was an old man who hated him, who knew nothing about him but surely suspected much, asking him if the plan was good, if it mattered for its own sake, or if there was perhaps something else which might matter more. If he might matter more. He saw the Moon Spirit's last form, that once alien but now familiar face with glowing forget-me-now eyes. He saw the familiar gleaming golden eyes, cold for all their fire and knew what the answer was.

"No, it wasn't a good plan." He answered almost silently. His voice was dry. His life had been squandered. He was completely destroyed. All due to the Moon Spirit and he could not muster any hatred for her or even Ozai, or Zhao, or even the last remaining officer of the Southern Campaign.

"Then scrap it." Pakku told him airily. Knowing that his work was done, the old man turned to leave, and then did, leaving Sokka to crumple on the floor. Slowly the Master's words filtered into his mind past the cold waters of the Moon Spirit's Ocean.

Then scrap it…

Scrap

Scrap metal.

Scrap metal! Sokka got up excitedly and scurried to the scrolls he had left leaning against the wall. The old plan hadn't worked, so he would scrap it. The Fire Lord's navy was all for show. He would scrap that too, and just with a handful of Waterbenders under a rapidly waning moon. He would take on Ling's ship personally; it was among the best, but he had fought the best, and he had defeated them. This would be very little different. He could eat his cake and have it too, or at least some of it.

He took out a piece of charcoal and began to scribble away madly.

- - -

When Yue arrived at Bato's house, the door opened almost before she knocked. She was greeted by a particularly enthusiastic Sokka, completely covered in what looked like soot. On the whole he looked thoroughly different from the last time she had seen him.

He did not invite her in. He simply stepped out the door and shut it behind him.

"Good morning Princess Yue," he said genially.

She giggled. "Actually Sokka it's the afternoon."

Sokka looked up at the sky. "Hmm. So it is. I've been working since I got up. I didn't notice what time it was."

"Working on the plan?" Yue asked, quite amused.

"Actually, yes. I was working on the plan, but not the Plan, because that was the old plan and it was a brilliant plan, but I talked to Pakku, and he made me realize that the old plan was a bad plan, so I made a new plan, but the old plan was really good and I had it all figured out but this is the new plan and I've been working on it since like yesterday, so I don't have all the kinks planned out, so I've been planning it all day today, and I'll just shut up now."

Yue giggled. "Well, my father seemed quite impressed with your plan; I'm not sure if it was the old plan or the new plan, but whatever plan you showed him yesterday, he was really impressed."

"New plan."

"And does the new plan involve having black stuff all over your face and hands?"

Sokka brought his hand to his face and only succeeded in darkening his face more, "Charcoal—nifty trick I picked up. I'm really bad with a brush, and I couldn't keep the ink from freezing anyway, so I was using charcoal sticks, but apparently, I got it all over my face. I actually do it a lot."

Again Yue giggled, she took off her glove and spit on her fingers, which she then brought to his face to clean away the charcoal dust from his face.

"Maybe you need a break from plotting and planning," Yue told him.

"No plotting, just planning," he said, holding his hand up to show that he was being honest. "But come to think of it, I am kind of hungry."

"What have you eaten today?"

Sokka thought for a second. "Tea? I think?"

Yue smiled. "Well, let's get something solid in you, come over, I'll cook for you."

"I'd like that," Sokka said. "Let me just run inside and grab my gloves." Sokka opened the door and held it open for Yue who stood in the doorway as he made his way upstairs. A few seconds later he came back down, and triumphantly showed her his gloves.

"Gloves are good," she said laughing.

Sokka nodded, "Gloves are good for fingers, and I rather like my fingers. You could say that I'm attached to them. More attached to them than my toes at any rate."

Yue laughed very loudly. Her laughter rang out through the frozen canals of the Northern Watertribe and for the first time in a long time, Sokka actively allowed himself to enjoy beauty for its own sake. It was pleasant. Pakku had been right. For the first time in years, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe was playing life without having planned the next twenty moves on the board. This was the Northern Water Tribe, not the Fire Nation capital.

He took Yue's hand in his. She did not shrink away. He began to whistle.

Author's Notes: Sokka's metamorphosis continues. I'm sorry for the lack of Azula in this chapter. She probably won't be in the next one either, at least not in person, she'll probably be there in spirit. I do promise however that we will see our favorite princess in full fiery glory soon enough. Actually, the problem is that Azula's been threatening to steal my heart, but Sokka's the main character, and it's important that he remain so; I'm terrified that if I started writing more about Azula while Sokka was away I'd never get back to Sokka. Stay tuned my dearies, stay tuned.

Don't forget to review

PS--I have two papers to write, both of them are due on the 15th. If I were to feel particularly loved by my readers, I would probably be much more willing to procrastinate writing those papers to do this... Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge.