Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Before I leave to go to the Thanksgiving party, I make my mom's strawberry cheesecake. It's a tradition. Mom always made it for holidays and get togethers. With her gone, I feel like I need to follow in her footsteps.
The drive to my brother's house doesn't take very long. He lives just on the outskirts of Ba Sing Se in a nice neighborhood. He and Suki have been living together for about a year and a half now. She had been a bit reluctant at first, seeing as she would have to leave her home on Kyoshi. But with some persuasion from my brother (and a lot from me) Suki agreed.
I ring the doorbell and a moment later it opens. Suki's smiling face greets me. She pulls me into a hug as we say our hellos. Then she leads me to another room.
I always enjoy visiting their house. I love how it mixes both of their cultures. All over the house you can see little bits of Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom. Sometimes they are separate, other times they come together. It gives the house a certain charm.
As we near the kitchen, I hear a group of people talking. That's strange. The only other person that should be here is Sokka.
When the kitchen comes into view, I see Sokka sitting at the table. But there are also two people sitting with him.
"Dad!" I exclaim. My father stands up, pushing aside his chair. I practically run to him. I hug him tightly, and he squeezes back just as hard. I pull away, smiling. I'm so psyched out that he's here. Then I turn to the third person.
"Hi Gran!" I say as I hug her also, but not as hard. She looks a bit pale. I open my mouth to ask her how she is, but my dad interrupts.
"So, kiddo, how have you been?" he asks me. I let the fact that he called me 'kiddo' slide.
"I'm good. School and work keep me busy," I reply, shrugging.
"That's good. And how's Aang?"
Sokka erupts in a coughing fit. We all eye him.
"Sorry," he says, coughing again. Suki walks over to check on him. He pats his chest. "I think I'm catching something."
My brother gives me a disapproving look. I glare back and mouth 'later'. I turn back to my dad.
"He's fine," I quickly lie, trying to drop the subject. My dad tries to say something else, probably about Aang, but Sokka starts talking.
"Katara, where's Toph?" he asks me, stopping our father. I give him a thankful glance.
"Oh, she'll be here later. She had to go somewhere," I tell everyone. Toph didn't tell me where she was going, but she did say she'd be back for this.
"So, Dad," I say, grabbing a chair and sitting down. Everyone follows my lead. "I thought that you weren't going to be able to come back for a while," I say, remembering our video chat.
He nods. "I wanted to surprise you. I took a short leave, so I have to be back in two days."
I wish that he could stay longer. But, I'm grateful that he is able to be here with us. Gran, too. Speaking of which...
"How are you, Gran?" I ask, turning to my grandmother.
She smiles. "I'm alright," she says, giving a small shrug. But I don't believe it.
"Are you sure, Gran? You look a little-"
"Now, now, Sweetie. Don't you worry about me," she says with a stern edge to her voice.
I let it slide. But I still can't stop the doubt that creeps into my chest.
An hour later, the doorbell rings, announcing another arrival. I know it's Toph. I get up and walk to the door to let her in.
"Hey," she says nonchalantly. "Everyone here?"
I fill her in on my dad and grandmother coming as I walk her to the kitchen. She's just as surprised as I was to see my relatives.
Toph knows them pretty well. When I make my trips to the South Pole for a visit, she usually comes. She doesn't have any family other than her pushy parents, so I know that she appreciates being looked upon as a member of our family.
"Hey, Squirt," Dad says as he sees Toph. My best friend smiles, and I know it's sincere. My father makes up for the lack of paternal love in Toph's life. He's been calling her 'Squirt' ever since she met him when she was a teenager.
While Toph is occupying my family, Sokka comes up to me.
"Can I talk to you in the other room?" he says quietly. By the look on his face, it's important.
I nod. We go to the living room. My brother checks to make sure no one has followed then turns to me.
"You still haven't told Dad about Aang?" he says, face becoming red with anger.
"No, I-"
He rambles on. "How could you not? What if he finds out? Do you know how angry he's going to be that you've kept this a secret? And what are you going to do when the wedding comes and you don't have date?And-"
"Wait," I say, confused. "Wedding?"
His face gets even redder. "Um, yeah. I was going to ask Suki to marry me."
Without warning I catapult myself at my brother. I loop my arms around his neck in a hug.
"Oh my gosh!" I say jumping up and down. "I'm so happy for you!" I gush.
"She hasn't said yes yet, sis," he says jokingly, pulling away from me.
"Of course she'll say yes!"
Sokka looks at me nervously. "You think so?"
"Positive," I reassure him. I go in for another hug. We walk back to the kitchen. My brother fidgets nervously. Back in the kitchen, we find that everyone else has started to get the food out. I excuse myself and run to my car to get the cheesecake.
While we eat, I sneak a few glances at my brother. I'm amazed that he barely touches his food. He must really be nervous if his appetite is gone. He catches me looking. I give him an encouraging smile and nod. He smiles right back.
After we are done, I go to the counter so I can slice the dessert I made. Sokka comes up behind me, holding out his hand. A necklace. The ribbon is bluish-green color and the stone is a faded blue. I take it form my brother's hand, rubbing my thumb over the small grooves in the stone. I don't recognize the symbol. I hand it back to him, beaming, and nod my approval. He then holds out his other hand, which holds a sparkling ring.
I'm a bit surprised that my brother has chosen a necklace and a ring. Traditional, when member of the Water Tribe proposes, they only give a necklace that they made themselves. I'm glad that Sokka sticks to our culture with that part. A ring, however, is mainly used in the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom. I suppose he did it to honor where Suki comes from, too.
The ring catches the light and shines. It's beautiful, and I know that Suki will love it.
"Do you think that you could put it in the dessert?" Sokka asks in a hopeful tone.
I just look at him.
"What?" he asks, oblivious.
I shake my head. "Sokka, we want her to say yes. It will be kind of hard to do so when she's choking on the ring, don't you think?" I answer sarcastically.
"...so is that an okay?"
"No it is not an okay! Just ask her. Be spontaneous. But no food," I shake my finger at him for emphasis.
"Fine," he says, beaten. He walks back to the table.
I finish slicing the delicious cheesecake, then put slices on small plates. I hand one out to everyone, then get one for myself and sit down.
I can hear the satisfied hums of my family as they eat my dessert. That's my favorite part. Watching their faces as they savor each bite, it's priceless. It makes my slice taste even sweeter.
As my dad eats, he has a puzzled expression on his face like he's trying to figure something out. He turns to me.
"Hmm," he says. "There's something in here that I can't put my finger on. It's kind of tangy..." he trails off.
"But it's still makes it sweet," Suki adds.
"Cinnamon?"
My grandmother smacks my brother on the arm before the rest of us can get to him.
Ignoring Sokka's yelp and complaints, I smirk. "It's the secret ingredient," I tell them.
"Well," Toph says, "you gonna tell us what it is?"
"Nope."
My family grumbles, but I just smirk some more.
"Whatever it is," Sokka starts, " we're going to need a lot of it."
"What for?" Suki's asks her boyfriend, confused.
"Our wedding," he says matter-of-factly, grinning. Then he pushes his chair away and get's down on one knee.
"Suki, there's no doubt in my mind that I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Now, I know that I annoying, or at least that's what Katara tells me, and I eat a lot-"
"Oh, shut up," Suki says jokingly. "Yes, I'll marry you!"
Sokka stands up and pulls Suki into his arms and kisses her. My family and I clap, excited for the two of them. Sokka then shows Suki the necklace and the ring. He slips the necklace around her throat, and pushes the ring onto her finger.
Gran's tearing up as she watches them. The couple then embrace everyone in the room. My dad hugs Sokka then slaps him on the back, saying 'good job, son'. Suki comes straight to me and crushes me into her arms.
"Be my maid of honor?" she asks me excitedly.
"Of course!" I say. How could I say no?
"You're gonna need to help me with the preparation, too. And we need to go dress shopping. And we'll need to get the other bridesmaids ready. And-"
"Slow down," I laugh, but she's already talking to Gran about the venue.
I look to find Toph. She sits in her chair, a small smile gracing her lips. I go and sit next to her.
"So," I say. "Are you... okay?" I know that she gave up on Sokka awhile ago, but I still need to be sure.
She waves her hand at me. "Yeah. I'm fine," she assures me.
"Are you excited to go dress shopping?" I joke, knowing she detests anything other than pants.
"Nuh uh. No way. Absolutely not."
I laugh, and so does she.
"When are you thinking of having the wedding?" Dad asks Sokka and his now fiancé.
"Two weeks," Sokka says right of the bat.
"Two weeks?" I say. "You can't prepare for a wedding in two weeks!" What is my brother thinking?
"Of course we can. It's not going to be very big. Just close family and friends And you'll help, too, won't you? "
I don't think its such a good idea. "Really, Sokka? It's still such short notice, no matter the size."
I'm very doubtful that the wedding preparations can be done in two weeks. The venue, the guest list, the dress- these things take time. Plus, they want me to help get it together. What if I mess something up and it all goes horribly wrong? Sokka will never forgive me. Or any of them, or that matter.
"C'mon, Katara," he says. But as he and Suki look at me, their eyes pleading, I know I can't refuse.
"Alright," I say, defeated. When their eyes light up with pure joy and gratitude, though, it's worth it.
A/N: I can totally see Suki as a bridezilla. Any one else?