"Uncle Sokka, Uncle Sokka! Look!" Kya bites her lip in concentration as she pulls the water from her glass and over Bumi's head were it hangs suspended for a moment before breaking in a splash that drenches her brother's lap.
"Ugh." Displeasure evident in the way his eyes roll, Bumi turns to his parents to appeal his sister's antics. Katara is focused on mopping spit up from toddler Tenzin's mouth, and Aang is preoccupied with doling out portions of tonight's stew for his children. "Apologize, Kya," he says without even looking up.
"Sorry," she says almost contritely. Then a smile spreads over her face that reminds Sokka so much of his sister years ago that he has to squint in order to see that his imagination isn't running away from him. "Sorry for being so flameo!" Kya snickers as Bumi's face darkens.
A younger sister tormenting her older brother? Outdated Fire Nation slang that only Aang would think is cool? Sokka's seen this before. He knows how to handle this. But before he can launch into one of his infamous stories, his oldest nephew stands up and stalks into the hallway.
Katara sighs. "Sokka, could you—?"
"I'm on it," he declares, and marches out in the hall to join his nephew.
Maybe the kid's just upset about another meatless stew. Sokka sure is. He squats next to his nephew. "What's up?"
"Kya's just a showoff," Bumi mumbles. "She can bend water. I can't do anything."
Suddenly, Sokka's ten again, frustrated that Katara can bend the world around them with seemingly little effort. All he has is a boomerang, and that doesn't even fly straight.
"Can't do anything?" he exclaims. Bumi's too young to recognize the gleam of a plan flickering through his uncle's eyes. "Guys like us, we don't need bending to fight back. We're the strategists, the brains of the operation. Courageous and tough, that's us."
Bumi perks up at this. "Really?"
"Really." Pleased that his pep talk is received well, Sokka grins. What a receptive audience is before him. "We've gotta show Kya that you don't need bending to tease her."
"Uncle Sokka? You're the coolest."
The Water Tribe warrior flushes with pride at this declaration. Time to live up to that honor. "Operation Kya, Phase One: let me explain…"
