Better Than Me (Hakoda's POV) By Hinder

I think you can do much better than me,
After all the lies that I made you believe…

I cried.
Never had I thought I would cry again since the death of my beloved. But now, standing behind a tall, mahogany podium, clad in black and covered in tears, I have proven myself wrong. My black suit had the remnants of teardrops along the tie and the collar, and I knew that by now my eyes must have been as puffy as Sokka's face after eating too many fire flakes. I forced myself to focus on the matter at hand and I gazed upon the cold, dead body of my little Snow Bear.

"At this time," I cleared my throat with difficulty, "I would like to render the floor to anyone who wishes to share their fondest memories of my daughter, Katara."
This was, of course, just a formality. I knew that Sokka would be the one to come up here, and he would talk of his childhood days with his sister. I would laugh weakly when he retold the story of the fish hooks, and I would cry again when he got to how she died. This would get everyone else to cry, thus venting the entire room of bottled emotions. I saw my eldest son stand up, adjust his blazer, and step forward. I gestured to him to approach the stand, but halted immediately after I saw him.

"I would like to say a few words about your daughter, Chief Hakoda."

When guilt kicks in then I start to see,
The edge of the bed where your nightgown used to be…

He walked amazingly fast and ignored the curious stares he was receiving from the many people in the chapel. He lightly shook hands with Sokka and climbed the steps to where I stood. He was dressed in a suit very much similar to the one I was wearing, and his eyes were dry and red in a manner that greatly resembled how I expected mine to look. I knew he had been my daughter's latest romantic interest, though no one was particularly clear on how the relationship had turned out, whether or not they had still been together on that fateful day. Nothing good could come out of letting Zuko Agni speak the last words at my daughter's funeral, but I found myself nodding, shaking his hand, and moving over to allow him space.
His voice shook as he began speaking.

"My name is Zuko Agni," he cleared his throat in an uncannily resembling manner to mine, "And I would like to talk about what I deemed to be Katara's greatest accomplishments."
Several scoffs were heard throughout the crowd, but he continued, "Katara was a beautiful, smart, kind girl who always, always put others before herself. I had the pleasure to know her in her teenage years which, regrettably, proved to be her last. Our first encounter was somewhat less than ideal, her tripping over her own feet and knocking me to the ground in the senior hallway," a couple of laughs came from Katara's classmates, "but she eventually got under my skin, the same way she got under everyone else's. With every passing day, I grew more and more attached to her. When I finally worked up the nerve to ask her out, she surprised me by refusing."

Oh no… I told myself I won't miss you, but I remember,
What it feels like beside you…

The air was thick around him as he continued, clearing the doubts many of us had where his courtship with Katara was concerned. The way he spoke of her, the loving detail he painted on the picture of my little girl's memoir was so heartbreakingly romantic that I suddenly wished my wife could've been here to hear him. He told us about the time they went on the school skiing trip, where Katara broke her leg and he had to carry her back to the inn. He spoke of the way his stomach flipped inside out on itself whenever she looked at him a certain way. But most of all, he spoke of how my Snow Bear had changed his life.

"I loved Katara with every ounce of my being," he said, "and I am as torn about her death as any other person in this room, maybe even more. Katara's memory is still fresh in my mind, and I feel it is up to me to tell her last story to the people who loved her."
The room held its breath.
"Katara was shot from behind on her way to my car. We had been planning on," his voice gave way, "spending the day at… at the beach to celebrate the end of term. There was a smile on her face as she said my name, a-and the only thing I saw as she fell was the face of that forever damned bastard…" he stopped for a second, and his panting breath was barely audible on the microphone, "I don't remember ever running as fast as I did that day. I must have spent the entire time in between the attack and the arrival of the ambulance just talking to her, begging her to wake up before I realized she was gone. But that never stopped me from loving her."

I really miss your hair in my face,
And the way your innocence tastes…
And I think you should know this,

You deserve much better than me…

A/N: WoW. This is so not like me. I promise, more comedy in the next one!

R&R, please!!