Chapter 10

"Hey, done for the day?" Sokka glanced up at his sister as she entered his kitchen and dropped her boots on the tray by the door. He was bouncing his youngest on his knee and singing nursery songs together with her.

"Mm," Katara turned away from him to flick on the old kettle and reach for 'her' cup that she kept in his cupboard, collecting her usual coffee accoutrements along the way.

Sokka watched her back carefully from the table for a few minutes before setting his little one down gently.

"Go find mommy!" he called cheerfully, smiling and waving encouragingly as the little one looked at him with head cocked for a second before breaking out in a big grin and waving wildly back, then toddling off inexpertly down the carpeted floor.

"Mamamamamamamama!" she cried happily, and Sokka couldn't help grinning at the sound before turning back to Katara again.

Katara ignored his critical gaze.

Waiting until his daughter—and his other children—were well out of earshot, Sokka strode over to the doors that led to the kitchen and closed each one with a soft click.

"What happened?" he asked carefully.

"Nothing," her head was tilted down, her hair falling forward like a curtain to hide her face.

"Katara—"

"Nothing. He didn't say anything. Not a word," she whispered, leaning her head forward to rest against the cupboards. "He was so angry, but he didn't say a word."

"So you both said goodbye and just walked away? Again?" Sokka couldn't hide his disbelief. Ten years his sister had been waiting, and… nothing?

Sokka's heart ached for the pair. If they couldn't make things work this time, he wasn't sure they'd ever have an opportunity again.

He sighed. Her shoulders tensed at the sound and Katara shook her head in answer to his question, still not facing him. There was a faint trembling in those slender shoulders of hers, he saw now.

"I just couldn't…" she said softly. "I couldn't stand there and watch him anymore. All week he's put up with everyone's slights and ignored them entirely as if they were nothing. Yet he hasn't lost his temper even once. He hasn't shown a hair of arrogance, hasn't demeaned or insulted a single person, and hasn't said a negative word to me since he first arrived. He's… he's become a real, live prince. He's perfect. Every photo-op, every meeting, every public appearance, he's been charming and kind and generous. I hate it. He hates it. And he does it anyway," her voice broke, frustrated tears choking her.

She swallowed thickly, her throat working furiously as she heard Sokka move behind her, placing a warm hand on her back and rubbing a gentle circle of support.

"He's hated every minute, but he's done such a good job, always made sure everything was perfect to play up the generosity and prosperity of the Tribe to help us with the publicity. He even sleeps like a gentleman!" she exclaimed, slightly irrational. "That night—he-he-he pulled me to him, and covered me with his blankets, and just… he let me sleep…" she sniffled, rubbing the back of her wrist and hand across her cheeks.

"He could have started something—anything—and… and he didn't. I don't even remember the last time I slept that long, consecutively, uninterrupted, Sokka."

Sokka's arm slipped from her back to circle her trembling shoulders and pull his sister closer until her face bumped into his shoulder and she sniffled louder.

"He hates me! Why is he being so damn nice?"

Sokka looked at the ceiling a moment, debating internally before shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.

"He never hated you, Katara. He saw what the Tribe was doing to you, what you were doing to yourself, and knew the path you were heading down because he lived it himself. He didn't want to see you go through that." He sighed under his breath, adding in a half-mutter, "For all the good that did—you jumped straight down the well he tried to steer you away from. Do you remember what he said? That day?" he asked patiently.

Tucking her hands around her brother as she sought more comfort, Katara shook her head a bit tiredly. "Embarrassingly enough, no, I don't even remember now… I was just so angry…"

Sokka snorted. 'Angry' was an Understatement.

At Katara's poking his side rather viciously, Sokka yipped. "Ok, ok… Well, I may have the wording a bit wrong, but it went along the lines of, "You're an idiot if you want to be like me. You'll never be like me. Pray you never end up like me. It'll destroy you and everything you care about. I was born for this, and you weren't, so stay where you are and find your happiness somewhere else. Stay in your Tribe and quit reaching for the sky, it's annoying and pathetic. Your family needs you here, so be with them." With more cutting remarks here and there, and melodramatic sighs and arm-waving, and arguments between the two of you as you'd interrupt each other…"

Sokka felt Katara tensing all over again in his arms and rubbed her back as she buried her face in his shirt.

He gave a quick tug on his sister's hair to gently tilt her head back, looking at her directly in the eye.

His voice was soft, compassionate and sympathetic, as he quirked a grin. "Has that 20-20 hindsight vision kicked in, yet?"

Katara scowled at him, making his grin stretch wider.

"He knew." Her voice was tired.

Tilting his head side to side in indecision, Sokka scrunched one eye shut, and his voice trailed off meaningfully, "I think he had seen the signs and could tell where they were going. He cared so much for you, for your future, he was willing to sacrifice your friendship to try and derail you from becoming a drone and slave to your responsibilities. He respects you, Katara; he knew you, even then; but he also knew he wasn't in a position to be able to help you, at least not at that time. So instead of waiting patiently, he blew his head off at you to try and steer you off your self-destructive course. And failed rather spectacularly."

Her glare intensified and her lips pinched. "Yeah, well he chose a pretty piss-poor bit of timing to 'confess' all this to me, too," she growled.

"You were both young," Sokka tried diplomatically. "And he probably thought you would have been more, er, relaxed at the time… Uh, could we not talk about this part of things? You're my sister and everything, and… yeah."

And at that, Katara snorted. Half the village had heard the yelling from Zuko's room that day... both the rapturous ecstasy and subsequent argument-turned-debacle, since the pair had been too wrapped up in each other prior to to close the damn window...

But her shoulders had relaxed, and she was standing without supporting herself on a counter, and she wasn't shaking anymore, either. She took a step back from him and let him go, nodding to herself.

"Do you get it, now?" asked Sokka, his eyes meeting hers again, warmly.

She smiled back at him ruefully.

"I think so. Thank you for spelling it out for me, oh great wise one. You couldn't have told me this ten years ago?"

"Would you have listened?"

Ignoring the barb, she crossed her arms and reflected internally "… The important thing, now, is that… that…" Her words had started off defiant and drifted into thoughtful.

"That you talk to him. Before he leaves. Tomorrow," exclaimed Sokka with exaggerated patience, like he was giving directions to a mentally retarded pet.

Tomorrow….

Tomorrow?

When she didn't react immediately, he threw back his head, screaming, "Spirits alive, how am I suddenly the smart one when it comes to relationships!?" at the ceiling in frustration, waving his arms in disbelief.

But Katara was ignoring him, again, realising holy fucking Christ, Sokka was right.

"I need to talk to him," she said to herself. They had to talk. They had to explain. They had to… to…

Shit.

Spinning on her heels and ignoring the kettle whistling behind her, Katara made for the boots she'd left at the door.

"Like seriously! I know I'm good at the book-school intelligence-thing, but you're supposed to be the one who's good at the feelings-stuff! Has the world gone insane and I missed the train?" Sokka rattled off at himself, one hand tightly gripping his hair as he stared at the fridge, wide-eyed. "Oh hey, Suki picked up a new flavour of seal-jerky..."

She ignored his distraction.

"No, no, you're fine, but I gotta go. Tell Suki & the kids I love 'em," Katara shoved her arms through the sleeves of her jacket and threw her purse over her shoulder, not bothering to do up the zipper of her coat. "Don't call me tonight. I won't answer my phone," was all she said as she ripped open the door and sprinted out into the darkening storm.

"What—what do you—Katara!?"

"I mean it!" she yelled back, waving at him as she opened the door of her SUV and shot him a quick smile.

But it was a smile he hadn't seen in ten years.

Happy, full of hope, anticipation, and…

… Love.

Sokka raised a hand and waved back, weakly.

Katara gunned the engine and sped off into the darkness.