Storytelling/Wedding

2

The meal they shared that morning would be the first one that all four family members would partake in since the disastrous celebratory feast upon Sokka's return home. Until a day ago, Katara had made herself scarce as often as possible, building walls rather than bridges with her brother, until those walls had crumbled upon their own weight after their clash at the South Pole's shores. The waterbender's behavior had changed vastly since then – as helpful as she was around the igloo, though, she couldn't seem to shake off the guilt that was apparent in her eyes whenever she saw her brother. Even now, sitting beside him by the igloo's hearth, her eyes flickered towards him with no shortage of apprehension, while Sokka focused on the bowl in his hands instead.

"I cooked this one just as you used to like it," Kanna declared, proudly, as her grandson brought the five-flavor soup to his lips. "Well?"

"It's… it's perfect, Gran-Gran," Sokka said, offering his grandmother a half-hearted grin. "Thanks."

"She made enough of it to feed all of Nanuk's kennels," Hakoda chuckled. "Maybe you went overboard, Mom."

"Oh, no food ever goes to waste in this village, we all know that," Kanna said, carelessly.

Sokka's smile warmed at her claim, though his attention shifted towards someone else soon enough: Katara offered him a side dish, seaweed noodles, wordlessly, an awkward, tight-lipped smile upon her face when he glanced at her with uncertainty. Unexpected as the gesture was, Sokka clasped the bowl and nodded in her direction.

"It's a fresh batch," she explained, curtly, before pouring another set of noodles on a new bowl for her grandmother, leaving Hakoda for last.

"Thanks. It smells good," Sokka responded, picking up his chopsticks and scooping up a serving of noodles.

Hakoda had hoped they might make their peace eventually, but his children's cordiality had been a welcome surprise, one that had started when they had arrived home together the previous day, bringing no fish with them despite allegedly going on a fishing trip. They might take off on a more fruitful trip for food in the coming days, Hakoda supposed: whatever progress they'd made recently with their personal relationship, it might translate into a better hunting or fishing outing if they worked together as a team instead of sniping at each other constantly.

"Now, then… it is a fine morning," Kanna said, smiling carelessly as she glanced at the igloo's small windows… though the outside of the igloo was dark as night still. "Do you have any plans for today, Katara?"

"Not particularly…" Katara admitted, biting her lip and shrugging. "Guess I could go train for a while, maybe…"

"Aang will be pleased for that," Kanna smiled, though her grin waned when she noticed Sokka's brow was furrowed suddenly. "Is everything alright, Sokka?"

"I… yeah. I was just… wondering what I'd do today, too," he said, shaking his head quickly before returning to his food.

"And? Got anything in mind, Sokka?" Hakoda asked, curious. Sokka's chewing rhythm slowed for a moment, but it returned to normal before long.

"Well… I'm not sure yet. But I guess, if I settle for the first thing I thought of, I'll have to run it by you anyway, Dad," he said, once he'd swallowed all the food. Hakoda was visibly puzzled by his words.

"Truly? What might it be?" Hakoda asked. Sokka breathed deeply as he set down the noodle bowl next to the also half-finished bowl of soup.

"I guess, by now… we all know why I've come back, right?" he said, glancing at his father remorsefully. "More importantly… we know what's bound to happen because I'm here."

"You mean… the Fire Lord?" Katara asked, frowning as her hands trembled lightly. "He'll send his troops after you?"

"Even if… if she managed to persuade Ozai that I'm not here, which I don't know if she'll be able to, he'll still send his troops to the South Pole to annihilate the Tribe in retaliation for what I've done," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "Doesn't matter whether she succeeds or not, we need to prepare to defend the Tribe. All able-bodied warriors need to be ready… though no, not just the warriors: everyone needs to be ready."

"Everyone?" Kanna asked, puzzled. "Will you train children this time as well? It made sense when you were younger, as there weren't many of us around… but you'll do it again this time?"

"Maybe the older ones, I guess. If they're able to defend themselves on a basic level, I think it's only right to teach them," Sokka said, breathing deeply. "Not just the children either, the women as well…"

"Oh? Truly, now?" Hakoda asked, impressed. Sokka nodded promptly, and Katara, beside him, barely stifled a smile.

"I know we typically split duties, I know our culture has always promoted that men need to see to the protection of women… but it's not the time to preserve cultural values and traditions of the sort. Teaching them how to defend themselves and fight back against the Fire Nation will only help the Tribe further," Sokka assured, his gaze on the fire before him. "If the situation were any less dire, I'd say that only the ones who wish to learn how to fight should take up arms… but with the Fire Lord's navy on our doorstep, or soon to be, I don't think we can take any chances. Everyone should learn to fight, even if just the basics."

"Then… you'll train them? Everyone who needs to learn?" Katara asked, without bothering to mask her amazement and curiosity. "I mean… we'll have to craft more weapons, I figure, but I'm sure lots of women will be thrilled over helping protect the Tribe."

"Yeah, more weapons will be necessary for sure," Sokka said, nodding. "Though I… I don't really know if I'm the one who should train them."

"What? Not you?" Katara raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Well, I'm not exactly the most popular or reliable guy in the Tribe right now, am I?" Sokka said, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. "I suspect some people wouldn't want to learn my fighting styles. Too Fire Nation, I guess…"

"You don't know that for sure, though," Katara said, though she spoke quietly, with unusual uncertainty. "Some people might not mind…"

"There's someone better than me for the job, even if that's the case," Sokka said, breathing deeply and shrugging. "Someone they surely trust far better than they'd trust me, and who helped train warriors in her home village, as far as I remember…"

"Ah… you want to ask Suki to teach the women how to fight," Hakoda said, and Sokka nodded.

"If you agree to it, of course. I… I wouldn't go against your wishes, Dad," Sokka said, softly. Hakoda smiled fondly at his son, though.

"You are a wise man in your own right, Sokka… if I happen to make any stupid decisions, I'd hope you'd call me out on them, much as your sister would," he said. Despite himself, Sokka smiled too. "And as your grandmother always has, of course…"

"Naturally," Kanna smiled proudly, prompting Hakoda and Katara to laugh at her enthusiastic response.

Hakoda didn't fail to notice his son appeared apprehensive still, to a fault. He offered Sokka a kind smile again, scooping up another serving of soup before continuing with the previous conversation.

"In any case, if you hoped for my permission to train our people, that's fine by me, Sokka," Hakoda said. "Though I do agree with Katara: you happen to know the Fire Nation better than anyone else in the Tribe, at this point. Even if Zuko and Kino were born there, Kino was mostly an outcast within his own soldier squad, and Zuko was never given access or insight into his father's court, as far as I know. Everyone agrees that the Fire Lord is a monster of a man, whose cruelty knows no boundaries… but I fear nobody is quite as likely to understand the full scope of his forces, resources and possible maneuvers to attack us as you do. Even if some people were apprehensive about you these days, I'd see to it that they set aside their discomfort, if there's any altogether. This isn't the time for anyone to be childish and squeamish when we have to focus on defending our Tribe."

"Right…" Sokka whispered, lowering his gaze. His father was right… and yet he couldn't help but wonder how many people would blame him, and his return, for whatever disaster Ozai intended to unleash upon the South Pole. He couldn't be sure that they'd be wrong about blaming him for it, either…

"Still, if you'd rather Suki handles the main training, that's fine by me," Hakoda said. "Just… you'll have to run it by her, too. She's been quite devoted to looking after Mari and Zi, so ask her first before assuming she'll jump out to do it right away."

"Surely she'll appreciate the opportunity to take action again, though," Katara smiled. "I guess she may have enjoyed a life without combat and conflict lately… but deep down she's a warrior. She'll be happy to help, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," Sokka said, nodding. "Though… she's not the only one I'd need a lot of help from."

"Oh?" Katara blinked blankly as she glanced at Sokka, whose gaze had shifted towards her.

"You… and Aang, I figure, probably could create ice obstacles to slow down the enemy ships, out by the bay," Sokka explained. "Their ships are made of solid metal, but if an ice spike happens to be sharp and strong enough to pierce or tear some of their outer hull…"

"The ship would flood and sink?" Katara said, tapping her chin with interest. "That… could be done, I think."

"Might be helpful training too," Sokka said, with a weak smile, and then he glanced at his father next. "I… never really learned how to make explosives the way you did. You wanted to teach me one day, but the chance never arrived…"

"Surely you can learn now, if you want to," Hakoda smiled. "I would have no qualms with teaching you, for sure."

"That would be good, yeah," Sokka admitted. "But that's not all I was thinking. I… I know it will be bad for the ocean to lace it with lots of bombs, but…"

"Bombs?" Katara asked, raising her eyebrows in amazement. Sokka nodded.

"If we set them up strategically, at a fair distance from the ice barriers you and Aang will hopefully be able to create, they could destroy one or several ships at once," he said. "I'm not keen on killing their soldiers, not anymore… but as cold-blooded as any of this may sound, I really just want to ensure they can't even come close to attacking the Tribe."

"Well… the good news is that I have a fair amount of experience building and developing those kinds of bombs," Hakoda said, raising his eyebrows. Sokka's breath caught as he glanced at his father.

"Right. Your invention from the war… the tangle mines, was it?" Sokka asked. Hakoda nodded.

"I suppose we will have to add something other than skunk-fish smell this time," he grinned. "Those are native to Earth Kingdom waters, but we can certainly come up with other means to create the proper stench to mess with the enemy…"

"Sounds about right," Sokka smiled a little, nodding in his father's direction. "Then, we'd have the walls and the tangle mines…"

"And if they do overcome all these obstacles, we'll still have enough warriors to fight back against any of their surviving soldiers," Katara reasoned.

"It may be a wild gambit," Sokka said, glancing at Hakoda hopelessly. "If you have more ideas, or ways to improve mine, feel free to share."

"Well… I'll do as much, but this sounds like a solid start so far," Hakoda said, smiling and nodding in Sokka's direction. "We do have more resources than we used to, back in the day. New benders, the Avatar, no less… it will provide us with an advantage the Fire Lord won't expect. Still… like I said earlier, I'd expect you to judge the situation better than I could, at this point in time."

"You fought the Fire Nation in the war…" Sokka pointed out, blinking blankly.

"And you lived among them. In their very top circles, no less," Hakoda said, matter-of-factly. "During the war we lacked enough intelligence on the enemy's movements, their resources, their strength. You surely know far more about any of those things than I ever did… more importantly, your knowledge is recent, mine is about ten years old. As much as you may prize my advice, son… I believe you are better suited to lead our defenses at this moment than I could ever hope to be."

Sokka swallowed hard but nodded: his father's arguments made perfect sense, but they took him aback nonetheless. Innocently, foolishly, he had expected Hakoda's leadership to still be absolute, to a fault. That he would delegate some of it to him, after his last attempt to lead the tribe's warriors had been so catastrophic, surprised him profoundly. It was one thing not to hold that mistake against him… it was another matter to trust him to make the right decisions to protect the Tribe. He could only hope not to let his father down.

"So… how many troops do you expect the Fire Lord will deploy?" Hakoda asked, continuing with his food. "I know this may not be the best conversation topic for breakfast, Mom, but…"

"Oh, no, do go on. It's a family tradition of ours to discuss war strategies over a meal, after all," Kanna said, and none of the other occupants of the igloo could tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"U-uh… yeah, I guess we kind of do it pretty often," Katara admitted, as Hakoda laughed, shaking his head.

"Well, if it really doesn't bother you…" Sokka said, smiling weakly at Kanna before focusing again. "I doubt he'll think enough of the Tribe to send the bulk of his navy. He has kept a large amount of his forces focused on the North, and as much as he may want to burn me alive, he's not bound to break the stalemate and sacrifice whatever purchase he has on their lands just to capture me. Still, he'll have enough ships to pose a significant threat to us. And… well, there's also the airships to think of."

"Airships…?" Hakoda repeated, and Katara swallowed hard.

"You… you told us about that," she said. "The hot-air balloons, was it…?"

"I helped design them, yes," Sokka admitted. "In trying to stop Ozai's ambitions to develop powerful explosives to destroy the North's defenses, I ended up providing him with means to transport his armies faster across the world instead. Back when I helped the Mechanist design and test them, A… Azula kept the Fire Lord in check and stopped him from using them, for a time. He probably will forsake all her advice by now and do it regardless… and while I can't say for sure that he's going to use them to attack us now, it's a possibility we ought to prepare for."

So much as uttering her name was painful, no matter how necessary it was. He wanted to stop his chest from splitting open whenever he evoked her in any way… how he wished he could put a stop to that ever-flowing sorrow, as good as a waterfall that fell into nothingness. How was she? What was she going through? Would she be alright? Would all their friends be alright, too…?

"Airships, then…?" Hakoda repeated, stroking his beard. "If you designed them, that's an advantage in our favor."

"I designed the hot-air balloons, not the armored airships," Sokka clarified, almost grateful for his father's intervention, for it snapped him back into reality. "Those are trickier to destroy, the hot-air balloons would be torn down from the sky far more easily, the balloon is just fabric. The airships, though… they're made of metal, so they're sturdy, solid and massive."

"How does such a thing fly…?" Kanna asked, and Sokka breathed deeply.

"Well… it's pretty big, but most of its size is taken up by the system that keeps it afloat," Sokka started to explain, but he froze on his tracks as he spoke. "Which… means it could be torn down more easily than I thought, come to think of it. Even the smallest malfunction could see the whole airship crashing down. Generating a malfunction could be the complicated part…"

"Why? Are the mechanisms and systems well armored?" Katara asked, frowning.

"Not really, but I don't think any of us could believably obstruct them from the ground while they hover in the sky above us?" Sokka said, with a shrug "I definitely could tear their metal open with my sword, it wouldn't be a problem, but I can't get up there unless I build us hot-air balloons of our own, and… well, I'm not sure we have the resources for that here."

"Uh… well, you probably wouldn't have to do something like that, so don't worry about it," Katara said, with a weak smile. "We do have a way to fly in the Tribe these days, Sokka."

Sokka raised an eyebrow, puzzled by his sister's claim. His confusion wouldn't be dispelled until breakfast was finished, and Katara guided him to a large hut he hadn't visited just yet: he felt foolish upon reaching it, remembering only now that Aang hadn't been the only one frozen within that strange iceberg…

"It was about time you met Appa, truth be told," Katara smiled, as she guided Sokka inside the large hut.

A massive creature with cream-colored fur awaited inside. As bleak as everything appeared to Sokka lately, he still couldn't contain his amazement upon detailing the first sky bison he had ever laid eyes upon. His horns were large, and yet they looked small in a head that seemed to be at least twice as large as Sokka himself was. His dark eyes bore into Sokka's own as he turned to face him and Katara, revealing a pattern of brown upon its fur, forming an arrow much like the one on Aang's forehead.

"Hey, Appa!" Katara grinned, stepping forward and raising her hand towards the creature: Appa grunted, and Sokka remembered the strange sound he'd heard when he'd woken up in the Tribe for the first time, mistakenly assuming that they were being attacked by a dangerous creature. "Hope you're ready to meet a new friend today. This is my brother, Sokka."

Sokka bit his lip but stepped forward, showing the creature a gentle grin.

"Hey there. You sure look like one big boy, huh?" he said, raising his hand so the bison could smell it. "You look fuzzy too… though you don't smell very nice. Guess you guys don't bathe him often, huh?"

"I… don't think we ever have, truthfully," Katara admitted, and Appa groaned in apparent disapproval. "I'm sorry, Appa! It's just very cold down here, and I don't think we should risk it…? Though, huh, Aang and I could warm some water for him. We could get Zuko to help, too…"

"You didn't think to do that before now?" Sokka asked, amused.

"Well, sorry about that, but we just… grew used to Appa's natural scent," Katara pouted, and Sokka smiled quietly until a sudden, massive tongue offered him a most generous, affectionate lick, caused him to flinch where he stood.

"T-that's nice of you, buddy," Sokka said, grimacing under the creature's drool…

And again, his heart grew heavy upon recalling yet another creature who had often teased him by licking him just as well. Xin Long's tongue had been far smaller, of course… he wasn't all that small for a dragon, as far as Sokka could tell, but Appa certainly seemed to be several times as large as the dragon had been…

"So… do you think it can be done?" asked Katara, biting her lip, and yet again, Sokka was grateful for someone's interruption of his depressing thoughts. "Aang's got a saddle for Appa, so several people can fly on him without much trouble. Not sure how many can be on the saddle at a time, to be honest… but a few passengers are fine, as far as I know."

"That's… good. Quite good. How agile is his flight?" Sokka asked, and Appa seemed to grunt in a blunt manner, as though to reassure Sokka that, despite his large frame, he was perfectly nimble in the air.

"He's agile enough, as far as I've been able to tell," Katara smiled. "And he can speed up quite a bit, too. As he reacts to danger by instinct, I'd hope he's a much more helpful companion in flight than any of those airships could be…"

"Surely," Sokka nodded. "Well… I'd think the right way to do it would be to hover well above the airships and strike when they're powerless to defend themselves. Maybe, if we spot their airship fleet in the ocean, we could take them down before they enter the bay. Heck, if they were to fall on the navy's squad, we'd kill several birds with a single stone…"

"Appa will probably be up for the task," Katara said, smiling as she patted the creature's snout. "He's very diligent, and the best sky-…"

"Oh, it's you guys!"

Aang's sudden exclamation startled the siblings, who turned to face him immediately. He smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as he stepped towards them.

"Sorry, I just noticed Appa seemed to have visitors," he said. "Is, uh, everything okay?"

Whether he was asking if they needed his animal companion for anything, or if he was worried about Sokka and Katara's fragile bond, hoping it was well on its way to being fully amended, it was unclear. Still, answering the vague question would be straight-forward enough for the two of them:

"Just introducing Sokka and Appa to each other," Katara said, with a weak grin. "Everything's fine."

"Ah… good then," Aang's smile grew more genuine as he stepped inside the small hut, raising a hand to touch Appa's snout. "Sorry I didn't drop by any earlier, buddy, I was picking out your daily seaweed!"

"Seaweed, huh?" Sokka repeated, amused. "With the size of him, he must eat his hut's worth of seaweed every day…"

"Oh, now, Appa's not that much of a glutton," Aang chuckled.

"I wouldn't judge him for it, if he were," Sokka said, nodding in the creature's direction: Appa huffed approvingly before closing his eyes and pressing his face into Aang's welcoming embrace.

"We were just talking about preparations, you see…" Katara explained, and Aang glanced back at her from over his shoulder. "The Fire Lord may send his troops here eventually, and we should be ready to fight back. Sokka had a few ideas on how to do that, and I thought Appa could help us defeat the airships, if any are sent here. If none are, then I guess he wouldn't have to get involved in any of the fighting…"

"Well… Appa will be happy to help the Tribe, but I hope there won't be any airships," Aang said, biting his lip.

"Thinking about it again… it's not bound to be a wise choice to send airships here," Sokka said, frowning. "Not that Ozai's wise, piece of shit that he is, but hopefully someone with sense will dissuade him from sending any airships at all. Before all this happened, their airship factory was attacked by, well… a group of people who wanted to destroy the Fire Nation. One of their chosen objectives was the airship factory… probably because they knew Ozai and his troops could cross the world in a heartbeat if they have those. Cutting short the production of airships and causing lots of resources invested in that factory to go down a sinkhole is… well, a better strategy than I even realized at the time. Ironically, it might end up helping us, so long as Ozai does hold back from deploying the airship fleet."

"Huh… that's helpful, but we should prepare for it anyway," said Katara, crossing her arms over her chest. "Both with that and the ice obstacles that… ah! Aang, Sokka thinks we can craft some ice barriers that will slow down the ships that are sent here over sea. It could be helpful for training, too…"

"Oh, I guess so," Aang said, blinking blankly. "Though… are those ships bound to be slowed by ice? Wouldn't they be built to break through it?"

"Likely. That's part of the strategy, the idea isn't that they won't ever break the ice, but that the ice will be a considerable hindrance in their progress, even if they do," Sokka explained "An iceberg, like the one you were stuck in, usually is much deeper than what the eye can see. If the ship's hull were scratched by an iceberg of the sort, they would struggle to make their way to any shore if water starts pouring in through a breached ship,"

"Huh… I see," Aang said, hands on his hips. "It sounds like we should think big. When do you think they'll attack?"

"I can't say I know," Sokka admitted, shrugging. "The longer it takes, though… the more dangerous their forces might be."

"Then the sooner we're ready to defend ourselves, the better," said Katara, frowning with determination. "Were you planning on doing anything right now, Aang? Because, if you're not busy today, we ought to get started with those defenses right away."

"Oh, sure!" Aang said, smiling brightly. "Just got to feed Appa first, but that's all I had in mind right now."

"Great," Katara said, beaming before glancing at Sokka. "You could supervise our work, I guess… but you also ought to go find Suki and ask for her help, right?"

"Suki's help? With what?" Aang asked, puzzled, as he airbent Appa's saddle onto the creature's back almost effortlessly. Sokka watched him, raising his eyebrows as the saddle fell into place perfectly, before realizing he was the one who ought to answer the Avatar's question.

"Oh, uh… I wanted to ask for her help with teaching people more fighting techniques," Sokka kept the explanation short, smiling awkwardly as Katara stepped towards Appa as well. "Guess you'll take off now, then? Good luck with all the bending you'll have to do."

"And good luck convincing Suki, too," Katara said, smiling as she leapt up to the saddle, glancing at Sokka from her seat – Aang airbent himself now, landing on the creature's neck smoothly. "I still think you could do it yourself… but it's fine if you'd rather get help, too."

"Right, right…" Sokka said, lowering his head as he stepped out of the hut.

The sky bison didn't have to go far to find the meal the Avatar had prepared for him: it was right outside the hut, on two large containers Aang often used to gather the large amounts of seaweed his sky bison required. Keeping that creature's stomach satisfied sounded like a never-ending chore to Sokka, far more easily achieved anywhere but in the Water Tribe, but it was clear Aang would put in every bit of work necessary to keep his animal companion safe and sound.

Sokka patted Appa's front leg gently, waving goodbye to his sister and her friend before taking off through the village, on course for Suki and Zuko's igloo. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he felt comfortable asking for Suki's help, same as Aang's, simply because neither one had any grand expectations from him… because both of them had believed him, without jumping to conclusions about who Azula was, or why she had done anything she had. It would be easier to talk with them… less painful, if just because his choices wouldn't make him a treasonous monster in their eyes. Maybe that wasn't what the Tribe thought of him, even now… but he wouldn't be surprised if it were, either. Judging by the wary glances that were cast in his direction as he walked towards the center of the village, the lack of greetings, the uncertainty that permeated the air itself, their thoughts might not stray too far from what he dreaded they could be.

He'd either find a way to fix things, to prove himself to the Tribe again, or he would fail to do so. The latter sounded likely: even if he led a brilliant defense against Ozai's forces, wasn't it his own fault that they'd attack the Tribe in the first place?

Ruminating such depressing thoughts as he walked past his family's igloo, Sokka had no intentions of paying attention to his surroundings until a familiar, unwelcome word reached his ears, just as he was walking next to a sturdy igloo:

"Ashmaker! It's an ashmaker!"

"Did you set your hair on fire, ashmaker?"

Two boys spoke, then laughed before a weaker, yet driven voice spoke up next:

"I don't bend ash!"

Sokka had barely heard her speak until then, but he immediately pinpointed the younger voice belonged to Mari… Zuko and Suki's daughter.

He frowned as he stepped into view, past that large igloo: indeed, the auburn-haired Mari appeared to argue with two boys merely a few years older than herself, who only laughed and stuck their tongues out at her in sheer mockery.

Most importantly, however, their respective mothers stood mere steps away: Suki, carrying Zi strapped over her chest, scowled immediately at the two boys. They were brothers, Sokka assumed, as their mother covered her mouth and rushed towards them.

"What are you…?! Don't say those things! This is Mari, you dunderheads! She's not an ashmaker, she's a good firebender!"

"What?" one of the boys said, grimacing in distaste. "Firebenders suck!"

"Death to the Fire Lord!" exclaimed the other one.

Mari pouted at their words, standing small in the snow in her azure parka as she was. Suki stepped forward as well, away from the large boxes she had been trading with the boys' mother.

"Oh, don't say that, goodness…!" the woman was hushing her children when she noticed Suki had taken a protective stance in front of her daughter. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Suki! I've told them so many times, they shouldn't mess with Mari, but my boys, they're just incorrigible…!"

"I understand, sometimes raising them can be tricky," Suki said, far more compassionately than expected… than deserved, as far as Sokka was concerned. "Though if they keep messing with my daughter, she might surprise them by fighting back one day… and I don't know whose hair will be on fire by then."

The two boys gasped, and their mother seemed to shrink under Suki's blunt threat. Suki offered them a careless smile right afterwards, though, as she stroked Mari's hair gently.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem, though, of course not," she said, laughing. "They're such good boys, after all…"

"Y-yes, yes, they'll learn better, I promise…" the woman said, nodding repeatedly… only to notice, from the corner of her eye that they were being watched.

If she had seemed terrified when her children misbehaved, or when Suki spoke as she had, it was nothing compared to the draining panic that seized her upon glimpsing Sokka's tall, strong frame merely a few igloos away. Her dark face paled, as did those of her children, who gasped and stepped back at the mere sight of him.

Sokka only crooked an eyebrow quizzically at their reactions before the woman excused herself in a rush, urging her children inside their igloo at haste: after being so nonchalant and mischievous, the two boys followed their mother's lead immediately and, within moments, they were locked safely within the igloo… and the also-daunted Mari was free from the disdain of her neighbors and fellow tribespeople, if just for now.

The child had hidden behind her mother's leg too, though, clinging to Suki's mid-calf length boot as she glanced at Sokka warily. Perhaps his presence had proven so sudden and unexpected that she had already forgotten the careless, vicious words that had been slung at her moments ago.

"Ah, fancy that. Terribly effective timing, huh?" Suki said, smiling a little at Sokka. "Thanks for that… though I get the feeling you didn't even do it on purpose."

"I did think I'd intervene if you needed me to, but I didn't expect it'd be necessary," Sokka admitted, with a weak smile. "You sure freaked them out with that comeback. And I think your kid's forgotten what just happened because she thinks I suck more than those kids do…"

"Well, they're kids like her," Suki chuckled. "And she's used to them, too. She's not so scared of people she sees often… or of people close to her age, either."

"Can't do much about the second thing anymore, so I guess I'll have to visit more often after all," Sokka admitted, stepping closer as Suki grinned. "Though if I scare her as much as I apparently scare those three, maybe we'll have to take a slower, subtler approach at helping her warm up to me."

"Oh, Mari's braver than that, isn't she?" Suki smiled at Mari, caressing her hair once more… though her smile had faded once she rose back up. "The universe knows I don't blame anyone for resenting the Fire Nation, but it also knows my blood boils whenever anyone treats my daughter poorly because of her heritage."

"Does it happen a lot?" Sokka asked, frowning. Suki shook her head.

"Not with grown-ups, actually. They're probably aware that Mari's not responsible for any of the awful things the Fire Lords have commanded… but the kids, they just repeat whatever they hear at home. The firebenders are the enemy… that's all they really know, and as much as I want them to think otherwise when it comes to my family, at the same time I know that they have no shortage of reasons to see the world as they do. Telling them that some Fire Nation people aren't completely terrible would likely just result in complicated conflicts."

Sokka frowned, lowering his gaze. It was exactly what he suspected… what he expected. Mari deserved far less scorn and disdain than he did… but he was a scary, strong man. He daunted them… the child didn't. She was too young to represent a threat at all…

"Well, I'm glad I helped somewhat," Sokka whispered, biting his lip. "Though coming home to scare people into shutting up is… not quite what I expected."

"Guess not," Suki smiled awkwardly. "I figure you hoped that nothing like this would be necessary, huh? I mean, typically I get along fine with them, we always trade our surplus food for variety, but… I guess I won't do it again for a few weeks, at least. I'd say I won't do it until those kids behave themselves, but hell knows if that would ever happen."

"They need to learn better…" Sokka guessed, shrugging. "But seeing as I've been on Mari's end of this situation many times in the past, I can't say I have any real solution for these sorts of problems."

"Many times?" Suki asked, surprised.

"I was typically the one they frowned upon. The southern slave," Sokka said, with a careless shrug. "But… but so long as she stood by my side, lots of people would keep their judgment to themselves. Not everyone, it's true, some would make their distaste for me known, whether she was around or not… but at least the Captain of the second squad of Imperial Guards decided to wait until after she was out of sight to attempt to undermine the authority she granted me over him, once."

"They must have had a death wish, huh?" Suki said, raising her eyebrows. "Picking a fight with you sounds dangerous on its own, always did, and I can't even imagine how strong you are these days. But risking her wrath by antagonizing you…? That's just poor life choices, no matter who you might ask."

"Well… he almost failed to get away with it," Sokka said, grimacing. "And I say almost because, well, I didn't do anything to him and neither did she, but… he got caught in a bad fight later and nearly died anyway."

"O-oh… huh," Suki said, her smile souring as Sokka shrugged. "Guess you have plenty of darker stories than I imagined, these days."

"Not as many as you might think… though the dark ones are bad enough as it is," Sokka admitted. "A lot of things have happened since you and Zuko left the Fire Nation."

"I've always suspected as much," Suki said, grimacing. "Life here is… much calmer, quieter, in many ways. I suppose it must feel surreal to be back here again, after growing used to being at the heart of the Fire Nation for so long."

"It does… and being the one who scares people with my presence alone may be one of the most surreal parts so far," Sokka admitted, smiling awkwardly. "Are you both alright, then?"

"Eh… we'll survive," Suki said, simply, with a shrug. "I'll just hope the next time I bump into this family they'll be more thoughtful. I know Mari is still young, she might forget about this in a few years… but maybe she won't, you know? And if she keeps hearing people talking about firebenders that way, well…"

"Yeah… I get it," Sokka said, grimacing.

"Either way, were you on your way somewhere?" Suki asked, offering Sokka a quick smile, as though to shake off the lingering annoyance over the unpleasant exchange with her neighbors. "Sorry if we derailed you…"

"Well, I intended to visit you, but since you're here, I wasn't derailed after all," Sokka said, with a curt grin. "I, uh, had something to ask you."

"Do you?" Suki asked, raising her eyebrows. "Well… if you can help me carry all this back to our house, I'll hear you out there, if you want."

She had gestured at the boxes she'd traded with the neighbor earlier. Sokka smiled and nodded: Suki had her hands full with a baby and a toddler as it was. Giving her a hand with the boxes would be the least he could do before asking for her help with training the tribespeople.

The boxes didn't prove all that heavy, so Sokka hoisted them carefully as he followed Suki back to her igloo. Mari cast countless wary glances at him as she walked, clinging to her mother's hand for support, ever intimidated by the man who was still a stranger to her, even if one her mother seemed to get along fine with.

"Guess Zuko's out on a hunt again?" Sokka asked once Suki pushed the igloo's door open.

"Yeah, he's been extra cautious about our food reserves after those horrible blizzards," Suki explained, guiding Mari inside: the girl took off her parka quickly, shrugging off her boots before rushing off to a small trunk, pulling it open to reveal her dolls sat inside it. "He took Gruff with him today, too."

"Your dog, right?" Sokka asked, ambling into the igloo with the boxes. "Funny name you gave it. If he's really gruff, well… suits Zuko to have a dog like that."

"Heh. He's not so gruff once you get to know him better," Suki smiled, and Sokka raised an eyebrow as he set down the crates at a free space near the walls.

"Who, Zuko or the dog?" Sokka asked.

"Both?" Suki conceded, before laughing softly. "He tends to leave Gruff with us so Mari won't be lonely, but he's supposed to be a hunting dog, right? So Gruff tags along once or twice a week, usually…"

"The dog ought to make the hunting easier," Sokka commented, biting his lip as he gazed about the igloo. "Though, considering how many pelts you guys have here… maybe he doesn't need a ton of help?"

"He's a better hunter than you might expect, yeah," Suki laughed softly. "As risky as it is for him to go out on his own rather than with hunting parties, I think he focuses better by himself."

"If there's no one there to annoy him, surely he does," Sokka said, with a weak smile. "I can't even remember the last time I went hunting. I'm definitely out of practice."

"You'll get the hang of it again before long, I'm sure," Suki said, reassuringly.

She undid the fabrics with which she'd kept the quiet Zi fastened over her chest. The small baby seemed content to be set down on a small, delicate crib, and she smiled as her mother pressed a kiss to her brow. In the meantime, Mari had pulled out two dolls, smiling brightly as she raced towards her mother, holding out the older-looking doll to Suki.

"Mommy, Mommy, can we play?" she asked, grinning: it truly boggled the mind how easily she'd forget her woes, shifting her focus from one thing to the next without a care in the world. The inner workings of the child's mind proved quite impressive to Sokka, who smiled gently at the sight of the two dolls she held.

"Oh, in a bit, Mari. We have a guest, remember?" Suki said, and Mari flinched upon glancing at Sokka: had she truly forgotten he was there? "And I have to sort out the content of these boxes, see what we can make use of…"

Her mother's response was disappointing, of course: Mari pouted and walked away, putting more distance between herself and Sokka as she returned to her dolls, set on playing by herself. Once Zi grew old enough to play, Sokka suspected her older sister would be thrilled to finally have a reliable playmate.

"And you had some sort of question to ask me too, right, Sokka?" Suki asked, removing the lid of one of the boxes to find a set of pale furs within. "Well, there we go… guess we can patch some of these up into better clothes, huh?"

"It's a good color too, should suit your girls just fine," Sokka said, breathing deeply as he took his seat by the fire. "At any rate, I was visiting because… well, as much as I could simply lock myself up in my room and cry for the rest of my days, there's obvious reasons why I shouldn't do that."

"Your family will be very upset about it?" Suki suggested, but Sokka shook his head.

"If only that were the sole reason…" he said. "We're bound to be under attack eventually. No matter what happens once she's back in the Fire Nation, even if she manages to persuade her father not to act immediately… the truth is he'll send his troops to find me and kill me before long."

"Oh. Of course," Suki said, frowning. Putting so much distance between herself and the Fire Lord certainly hadn't led her to forget the dangers the man posed… but she could put it off her mind far more easily than Sokka could, and he was certainly wise not to forget it, too. "He'll… he'll definitely attack, though I'm surprised we haven't seen any signs of it yet. Maybe she's been more effective at stopping him than you think…"

"Or maybe he's gathering more forces to make sure his armies will raze the South Pole once he sends them," Sokka said, glancing at Suki with uncertainty. "I'm not saying this to be discouraging or to scare anyone, but…"

"But we can't take for granted that Ozai will have any mercy. We both know what his idea of mercy amounts to…" Suki said, frowning. She pulled out several of the furs, folding them upon her lap as she inspected each one thoroughly. "Heavens know I think Zuko is wonderful just as he is… sometimes it slips my mind that he's scarred at all. But whenever I let myself think about it… I just want to grab one of my old katanas and hack it into his father's heart."

"A lot of people would approve of it, if you did… while others would contest the right to be the ones to snuff the light out of that bastard's eyes permanently," Sokka said, scowling. Suki smiled a little.

"And I expect you'd be of the second group, huh?" she asked, biting her lip "With all he's put you through, and all he's going to put the Tribe through next… everything he's bound to do to Azula as well, I probably would let you do it instead of going for it myself. Though, uh, back to the topic… do you think he could be holding back just to bulk up his forces further?"

"Yeah, I do think so," Sokka said, breathing deeply. "I've talked about it with my dad and Katara, also a bit with Aang… we can expect his forces to attack us by sea and by air, though I suspect the Air Force is in no any shape to attack us yet."

"The Air Force, huh…?" Suki said, grimacing. "How does that work, exactly?"

"Hot-air balloons… I can try to draw what those are like, I designed them myself long ago, not knowing what they'd be used for," Sokka sighed, shaking his head. Suki's eyes widened at his confession. "The armored airships are a more complex version of that design. Still… the airship factory was attacked, so Ozai might refrain from sending his only existent airships to a battle he might assume he'll win without needing to send the bulk of his forces."

"Aren't you assuming a lot as well?" Suki asked, uneasy. "Maybe he'll send the bulk of it indeed…"

"And risk letting the Northern Water Tribe regain stability and strength by diverting the many ships he keeps up north to the South Pole instead?" Sokka said, raising his eyebrows. "If he does that, he's even stupider than I thought. But even then… he doesn't know enough about the current strength of the South Pole. He knows there's two waterbenders, yes, but he has no idea you and Zuko are here, or that one of those waterbenders is actually the Avatar. He would take for granted that we lack resources because he thinks the Water Tribe is just a bunch of uncivilized savages, right? So even if he sends a massive number of troops to take me out and destroy everything else, they'll be surprised by some of our defenses anyway. I've already instructed Katara and Aang to build ice walls, means to hinder their ships' progress, whether just by delaying them or outright sinking them…"

"That would help," Suki said, nodding. She was done with the furs in one box, and now she started to inspect the contents of the other one – tiger seal products, Sokka noticed, though he focused on continuing to explain his latest moves to Suki.

"And Katara thinks Appa will be helpful if airships are sent here after all," Sokka said. "I could probably use my sword to cut essential parts of the airships and cause them to crash down… so yeah, I am planning ahead for the worst possibilities. And that's one of the reasons why I've come to you, actually…"

"Because I'll have something to do with your ideas on how to handle this future battle too?" Suki asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka breathed deeply.

"Look… if everything goes according to plan, and we take down Ozai's forces without a hitch, a lot of preparations may feel excessive," Sokka said, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. "But if that doesn't happen, if the warriors don't prove strong enough to defeat the full tide of Fire Nation soldiers, if the benders can't put a stop to them, if the airships have been modified and strengthened somehow… it would leave the tribe completely vulnerable. While there's a chance that we could maybe arrange things so that most women and children can be taken to someplace safe, deeper into the Pole, away from the fighting… isn't there a better chance that this battle won't backfire on us if those women learned how to defend themselves from those soldiers?"

"Woah…" Suki's eyes widened as she processed Sokka's words.

She wasn't sure she had ever heard anyone in the Tribe proposing anything quite like that. She hadn't given the matter much thought before, due to how busy she had been with her kids. Katara was free to fight all she wanted, as she was the only local bender… but no other women did. No one ever seemed to think it odd… Suki herself didn't even think it odd anymore, she had grown used to it. But it wasn't right, she knew… of course it wasn't. Not all men in the world were cut out to be warriors – some were fragile and lacked the aptitude for it: just so, not all women in the world would be better suited by staying at home, tending to children and doing chores while they waited for their husband to come home. She had certainly grown used to that life, as of late… but that didn't mean it was the only kind of life she could live. It certainly wasn't the only life she'd known… and maybe other women would be thrilled to have an opportunity to fight, if such a chance were granted to them.

"You… you want to train women, then?" Suki asked, with a slow smile, her work with the seal products forgotten.

"And some older children too, I guess," Sokka admitted. "Teenage boys already may have learned a few things about combat, I figure… but they probably don't know enough yet to properly fight back if anything this bad happens. We need to train the Tribe as a whole, the right way…"

"Well, I think it's a great idea," Suki said, nodding. "If you wanted my advice on how to do it, I can give you a few pointers…"

"Uh… no, I didn't really want your advice," Sokka said, smiling guiltily. "I mean, you're free to give it, I'm all ears if you have any other ideas on how to defend the tribe…"

"Then what did you want from me?" Suki asked, confused. Sokka bit his lip.

"I… hoped you'd agree to train them yourself?"

Her jaw dropped when a life she had long set aside was offered back to her in a single question. Combat… fighting? Ever since she first confirmed she was with child, she hadn't thought twice about the fact that she'd need to set aside her more physical, combat-oriented pursuits to ensure Mari would be born safely… she had simply done it without question. Then she had become a mother and she had found a rhythm in this new life with Zuko, where they worked together to keep their family safe, sound and provided for, above anything else. The notion of returning to combat hadn't crossed her mind whatsoever… the Water Tribe had always felt safe, a place where Ozai's evil clutches wouldn't reach them.

But they would now. He had reason to reach for them now. As easy as it had been to slip out of one life and enter another one, she knew that, if any of those soldiers came anywhere near her husband or her daughters, her every protective instinct would trigger and she would fight back as best she could to keep them safe. But she was out of shape… she hadn't trained in a long time. If danger knocked on their door, she wanted to believe she would be able to defend herself… but she couldn't be certain that she would defeat any soldiers if the last time she had picked up her fans had been when she set them on their place on the wall, right by Zuko's dao swords.

"I… I don't think I'm the best option for that, Sokka," she pointed out. "I haven't trained for ages. You'd probably tear me to shreds if we dueled right now…"

"You're out of practice, that's all," Sokka said, with a reassuring smile. "You'll get back to business in no time…"

"Right, but why would it be any better if I do it rather than you?" Suki asked, puzzled. "Haven't you taught other warriors already? Kattan, Haka and Yuro all seemed to think you were the greatest teacher of all time…"

"They were trained by another Sokka, if that makes any sense," Sokka said, biting his lip. "Besides, haven't you trained others in the past too? For that matter…"

"Well… yes, but you've been fighting constantly for years, you're in better conditions to do it than I am," Suki said, with a shrug. "I could give you a hand eventually, Sokka, but why would you want me to do it instead of handling it yourself?"

"Because… they're used to you. They trust you," Sokka said, frowning. "You've been here for three years now, almost four, I don't even know…"

"Did you forget what you just saw on the street a moment ago…?" Suki asked, puzzled.

"Did you forget it, too?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. "Those kids nearly shat themselves when they saw me. The mother was no better. Do you really think I can tell my dad to gather them so I can train them, and it'll go well? If that was any indication of what the majority of the tribe will act like whenever they see me, it's going to be a disaster., People stare at me wherever I go as though they're expecting me to suddenly shed my disguise and reveal I'm a crazed firebender instead of myself. You'll be a much more trustworthy instructor, especially while the whole tribe starts to wrap their heads around my very presence and stop acting like I'm a bomb waiting to blow up."

"Sokka…" Suki said, eyeing him with uncertainty. "Oh, goodness… okay, well, let's see: if I'm up for this, and I agreed to your proposal, would you eventually join in as well and start training people too? Or do you intend for them to be fully trained by me?"

"I… guess it will depend on how people react to me in the future," Sokka said, grimacing. "But does that mean you're willing to try?"

"I… I don't know. I mean, I'd love to get back to training, I just assumed I wouldn't have a chance to do it anytime soon," she explained. "And now that you're offering this so suddenly… well, the problem is I have the kids to think about too. Zi is still very little, she needs tons of care, and Mari would probably barge into classes at random just to ask for cookies, so…"

"I want a cookie!" Mari exclaimed just then, and Suki grinned awkwardly: of course, the child had been listening in on their whole conversation, even though she likely didn't understand half of it.

"After lunch," Suki determined, glancing at her daughter from the corner of her eye: Mari grinned, hugging her dolls to her chest, delighted by her mother's promise. Suki sighed and glanced at Sokka matter-of-factly. "See? They're both too young to be left alone while I train people."

"Well, then, maybe Zuko should watch them while you train them," Sokka suggested, with a shrug. "You said he's going overboard with hunting because he's being cautious, which suggests he can take a few days off of hunting to stay with the girls. Right?"

"Heh… I mean, maybe, but with something this urgent, I'd think training daily would be a must," Suki said, raising an eyebrow. Sokka huffed.

"Alright, if that's not enough… maybe I can watch them," he suggested. Suki's eyes widened. "What? I wouldn't be so bad at it… heck, if I'm near your class, watching over your girls there, maybe people will realize I'm still me. A perfectly miserable guy, but no less myself for it."

"And then you'd have a better chance at training them yourself, once they realize that?" Suki said, raising an eyebrow. "Ugh… that doesn't sound so bad, it's true, but that's under the premise that you might be able to babysit my children without any issue? Not to be a downer on your newest idea, Sokka, but… I don't think Mari will agree to it that easily."

She glanced at her daughter, who raised her head again upon realizing she had been brought up in the conversation once more. Her eyes were curious when she glanced at her mother… fearful when she glanced at Sokka.

"See?" Suki said, simply. Sokka scoffed.

"Well, then… maybe I won't watch them after all. Maybe Kino will," he said, with a careless shrug: the young girl gasped, and this time she appeared utterly affronted by the notion of spending any more time than necessary near Kino.

"No! Not Kino!" she exclaimed, shaking her head violently. "No, no, no!"

"Calm down, Mari, he's just messing with you…" Suki said, shooting Sokka a reproachful glance: he only responded with a guilty grin.

"But Mommy, not Kino!" Mari exclaimed jumping to her feet and shaking her two dolls violently towards the floor, in a gesture of adamance that Sokka didn't think he ought to find endearing… yet there was a hint of authority in the child's voice that stirred his heart, no matter how infantile her cause might be. "Kino is… noisy! And smelly! And ugly!"

"Oh, come on, he's a little noisy but he's… not that smelly? Is he smelly?" Suki blinked blankly, tapping her chin as Mari rushed towards her, dragging her dolls over the floor as she did. "And I wouldn't say he's ugly, though your father's much more handsome, but still…"

"Not Kino, not Kino, please, Mommy…!"

"Mari, please, do you even understand what we're talking about?" Suki laughed. "You don't have to make such a ruckus, darling, seriously…"

"Not Kino!" Mari exclaimed again… and with her last, stubborn shake of her dolls, the arm of the older one was torn off its seams.

"Oh, Mari!" Suki exclaimed, her amusement fading as Mari was left to gape at the fallen doll, the arm still in her small hand.

"Oh, no…" she said, gazing at her mother helplessly. "Mommy, Dolly broke again…"

"It's okay, it's okay, I can fix it…" Suki sighed, picking up the doll delicately and reaching for the arm, which her daughter relinquished quickly.

The child was left to watch on, anxiously, as her mother studied the problem intently. Sokka grimaced, guessing he was partially responsible for the child's tantrum, though her reaction at his teasing had certainly been excessive. Still, she seemed calm now that her outburst had taken a dire toll on her beloved doll.

"Will Dolly be okay?" Mari asked, pouting. Suki chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, dear. I'll stitch her back together as quickly as I can, alright?" Suki said, shifting on her seat so she could find her sewing implements.

She pulled out a box within which sat a knife with a crescent-shaped blade, as well as bone needles and a thin thread of sinew that the older women in the Tribe often prepared for each family's use. She picked a thin but sturdy needle, handling herself so deftly that Sokka could only watch the process with astonishment. Seldom had he paid attention to his grandmother or his sister's work with sewing, but now, upon witnessing it in Suki's case, he couldn't help but wish he'd learned all along about how to do this too.

Mari sat before Suki expectantly, fidgeting in place as though fearing that Suki might not succeed at her task, no matter how simple it might be, going by how confidently she threaded the needle.

"This happens often," she explained to Sokka. "Poor old Dolly is a bit fragile, but we always patch her right up, don't we, Mari?"

Mari nodded promptly, sitting quietly but impatiently before her mother, who bit her lip as she got started with the work. Mari gasped at every stitch, prompting Suki to chuckle at her childish wonderment as her beloved doll was brought back together by her dutiful mother.

"She looks like quite the fighter," Sokka said, nodding in Dolly's direction. "I like her."

"Y-you do…?" Mari asked, addressing him in conversation for the first time: Sokka smiled, guessing it was only expected that the child would only acknowledge him if he acknowledged what mattered most to her, too.

"Of course I do. Having a tough friend like that, who comes right back to you every time, is a true privilege in life. You'll have to cherish her a lot," he said. Mari bit her lip.

"Okay…" she said, with an innocent drawl. "Daddy taught me warming my hands if it's cold, but I almost burned Dolly… b-but I didn't burn her!"

"Ah, I'm sure Dolly would forgive you if you did anyway," Sokka smiled. "She's too smart not to know firebenders need lots of practice and training to handle their gift properly. Soon you'll be an expert firebender and you won't be scared of burning anything by mistake again, Mari. I'm sure of that."

"Really?" Mari asked, puzzled. Sokka nodded promptly.

"I've met many firebenders and they all learned little by little. It's a matter of training yourself and learning when to use your fire and how to use it, too," Sokka said, nodding sagely. Mari, however, shrank in place.

"You know… firebenders?" she asked.

"Yeah…?" Sokka said, his heart sinking at the child's daunted expression.

"Aren't firebenders… scary?" she asked, biting her lip. Sokka scoffed and shook his head.

"All benders are scary, kid. Not every firebender is a bigger menace than the other kinds of benders," he said. "In fact… heh, thinking about it, there's four benders in the Tribe, as far as I know, and the two firebenders, you and your dad, are the least scary of them all. I mean, look at Katara… she's terrifying!"

"Kat-Kat isn't scary!" Mari laughed, wiggling her toes as she stared at Sokka in utter perplexity. As intimidating as she'd found him before, now he seemed to be a total mystery: why would a tall, daunting man like him find Katara scary at all?

"What? That's crazy talk. Katara is my sister, I grew up with her and I can tell you: there's no one scarier in this whole tribe than her," Sokka declared, proudly, causing Suki to laugh as Mari gasped in amused outrage, shaking her head repeatedly.

"Kat-Kat is good! Kat-Kat is nice!" she exclaimed. "Kat-Kat hugs me and brings me sweets!"

"That's just to win you over, see: she's recruiting you for when she takes over the whole South Pole," Sokka said, shaking his head in feigned mourning for the future of his people. "You'd best be good to her and stay friends with her when that happens, because the rest of us? She'll brand us losers and she'll throw a fistful of snow straight to our faces."

Mari envisioned the whole scene as Sokka described it: she laughed happily, rolling on the wooden floorboards at the possibility of getting away from Katara's alleged punishments on everyone who displeased her. Suki snickered too, shaking her head as she sewed the doll's arm into place properly: at least it seemed Sokka was earning his way into Mari's heart far more easily than Kino had, so far.

"And damn, maybe Katara's the scariest, but Aang? That guy's the Avatar," Sokka said, eyes wide. "How many elements does he know so far?"

"Three," Suki answered, raising her eyebrows. "Air, water and fire. He hasn't found an earthbending mentor yet."

"Well, that's enough to make him a menace anyway. Imagine that, when he gets earth he's going to rip the whole planet apart if he gets angry!"

"Aang isn't angry!" Mari laughed again. "Aang is happy and good!"

"Oh, well, let's hope he stays that way, if that's how it is," Sokka smiled, deferring to the child. He hadn't expected she'd respond so well to his teasing, truth be told, but he hoped this would persuade Suki that he could be, at least, an average babysitter, if that was what was needed for the sake of ensuring the Tribe could be protected. "Point is… the two benders I'm least worried about in this tribe are you and your dad, kid. And you're the firebenders, so what does that tell you?"

As Mari didn't answer, gaping at him in confused silence, Sokka smiled again and answered the question himself:

"That firebenders aren't any scarier than everyone else. Not just in virtue of being firebenders, anyway," he said. "I've been away for many years and I've met lots of people all over the world… you can find great people in any nation, just as you can find bad people in any of them. If you're lucky, you'll find the best people only, and that way you can make great friends… no matter if they can bend or not."

Mari bit her lip, and Sokka guessed his words might have confused her. He only smiled and waited for a reaction, uncertain of what it might be.

"Sometimes, Mari…" Suki chimed in, surprising both her daughter and Sokka. "The best people can be the very best of benders too. Look at you and your father… aren't you the best firebenders in the world?"

Mari grinned and nodded, though Suki deliberately glanced at Sokka with a raised eyebrow, no doubt wondering if he'd contest that claim… and the skeptical stare in his eyes spoke for itself.

"What? You don't think so?" Suki asked, smiling innocently. Sokka scoffed, amused despite himself.

"Mari, maybe. Zuko? Eh…" he said, shrugging as Mari gasped in outrage.

"Daddy is the best firebender in the world!" she declared, proudly.

"Not a chance, kid," Sokka said, with a lop-sided smirk.

"The best firebender in the world, ever and ever!" Mari pouted, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. "Ever and ever!"

"There's simply no chance, none at all, that your dad's any better than your a-…" he started, but the word seemed to grow stuck in his throat. Curses, did Mari even know she had an aunt?

Suki suddenly seemed to regret steering the conversation that way – she had hoped to tease Sokka, but above that, to lift her daughter's spirits regarding her skills and strength as a firebender. Sokka had been alright so far, it seemed, but now he'd grow miserable again, and maybe whatever progress he'd made with Mari so far would go to waste altogether…

Sokka breathed slowly for a moment, letting his gaze travel away from the mother and her child. He wasn't sure what to do, not beyond caving in to peer pressure and claiming, against his better sense and his pride, that Zuko was everything Mari thought he was. Curses, but if she only knew… if she'd only seen what Azula could do, what an extraordinary woman she was, all of Mari's fears and misconceptions over firebenders would be replaced by admiration and awe. She deserved to have a figure to look up to… someone on whose footsteps to follow, without fear of becoming someone dreadful merely over a power she had simply been born with. A power others had misused and abused, no doubt… but not her. She was a child, innocent and free from so many burdens… letting her carry this one on her shoulders was wrong, Sokka knew as much.

"My daddy is the best," Mari declared again, taking advantage of Sokka's silence to decide he had lost the argument, somehow. "He is the best firebender!"

"Well, see… maybe he's the best one you know," Sokka said, biting his lip. "He's probably the best in town, even if you and the Avatar are bound to get better than him eventually. But see… there are many firebenders outside the Tribe, too."

"Those are scary…" Mari repeated, and Sokka sighed before smiling a little: it would take more work to persuade the child that her understanding of the world, whether acquired from her peers or through the tribe's general attitude, could be wrong, on some levels.

"There's one who isn't scary," Sokka said, stubbornly. "One who… who's the best person there ever was, better than you can imagine. That firebender… she's a true legend."

Mari blinked blankly: he immediately suspected she would have continued to reject his proposed alternative for the best firebender ever… if only he had said it was a man. The child's expression changed entirely upon hearing the last words he uttered, and he smiled for it.

"She's… a story?" Mari asked, puzzled. "I like stories…"

"Ah, you do, do you?" Sokka said, raising his eyebrows.

"Mommy tells me the story of the penguin and the seal," Mari smiled. "And the story of the snowflakes!"

"Ah, makes sense," Sokka said, glancing at Suki approvingly as she shrugged: stories she had made up for her daughter's entertainment, he guessed….

… Huh. That was a thought.

"Does your mom tell you any stories about firebenders?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. Mari shook her head quickly.

"I'm too little…" she pouted. "Mommy takes me home when they tell them at the fire after we eat…"

"Pfft, that's because people here only know the boring stories. But I bet you know good stories when you hear them, don't you?" Sokka smiled. "And I've got one for you, a story of a firebending girl, just like you. It's the story… of Princess Jing."

Mari's jaw dropped upon hearing those words: without even hearing how the story began, she was already enthralled, fascinated by this royal firebender whom Sokka seemed to admire and hold in such high regards. Suki, already finished with the stitches, held onto Dolly as she glanced at Sokka with confusion: clearly, it hurt him to so much as speak Azula's name out loud… was that why he'd brought up another name entirely? But did he truly intend to explain Azula's story to Mari, of all people? Suki wasn't sure that tale would be entirely appropriate for her young daughter, but curiosity reared its head within her all the same…

"Princess Jing was once a little girl, just like you," Sokka explained, smiling gently at Mari's gleaming, bright eyes. "She was an extraordinary firebender, everyone could tell… but what most people didn't know was that Princess Jing worked really hard to become a powerful firebender. She'd train every day, she'd attend her lessons in school…"

Mari's puzzled expression at that word brought Sokka to smile fondly again.

"You're still a bit young to start having lessons like those, but that's okay," he said. "Surely your mom will teach you everything you need to know about how to write and read, how to count…"

"I can count to ten!" Mari declared, proudly, and Sokka chuckled.

"Then I underestimated you, you're getting lessons of your own already. That's great," he said. "Princess Jing learned to count to ten… and then beyond ten, as well. She learned all sorts of things, and she was best known as an extraordinary firebending prodigy. She loved her fire, everything she could do with it, and she trained so much with it… that one day, it turned blue!"

Mari gasped, hands on her mouth. Sokka chuckled at her reaction before shrugging casually.

"Turns out she'd figured out ways to make her fire stronger, and it burned hotter than everyone else's," he said. "Princess Jing was the first firebender to ever use blue fire, and everyone admired her for it. She could have simply spent her days exploring more of what her fire could do, of course… but she was, after all, a firebending Princess. And that meant… that her father was none other than the Fire Lord."

Mari grimaced, shrinking in place as Sokka's voice, unintentionally, grew darker upon uttering that title. Sokka sighed, trying not to let thoughts of Ozai derail his work with Mari so far. He had to focus… and to continue onwards to show the little girl just how incredible Azula was, without quite telling her who he was talking about.

"Her father was a bad, bad man. Nothing like your father, of course," Sokka said, breathing deeply. "Where your dad is a nice guy who goes out hunting for you, your mom and your sister, poor Princess Jing had a father who just told her to be perfect at everything. And when she was better than perfect…! Well, when that happened, he'd just fester in envy because he'd wish nothing more than to be as great as his daughter was. But oh, he'd hide how jealous he was, so that she'd never realize what a dreadful man her father was… he was afraid, you see: he feared that, if Princess Jing ever understood how bad he was, she'd turn against him and take control of the Fire Nation, guiding them onto the path of peace and goodness rather than war and rottenness."

"Why was he so bad…?" Mari asked, pouting.

"Oh, because his father was just as bad as him, too," Sokka sighed, shaking his head. "You see, sometime many generations ago, a Fire Lord decided he wanted to rule the whole world. It didn't matter to him if people wanted him to do that or not, because all he could think of, all that meant anything to him, was fulfilling his own dreams because he felt like it. He was selfish and he didn't care about anything but himself. That's why the Water Tribe is as it is, see? We're always helping each other, because we refuse to have anything in common with those nasty old Fire Lords. But Princess Jing, you see, wouldn't become like them at all. Her father, Fire Lord… Wunao, that was his name, he wanted nothing but to make her follow on his footsteps of evil, just as he followed on his father's. So, Fire Lord Wunao decided Princess Jing would soon join him in his quest for world domination if he tasked her with a mission in the war… a mission that would backfire on Fire Lord Wunao, because it would change Princess Jing's life forever."

Mari's eyes couldn't have been wider. By now, she truly had forgotten all about Dolly, something that amused Suki as she held onto the old doll. She, as well, was curious about Sokka's retelling, perhaps even more than Mari was, considering she knew exactly what Sokka was talking about, but she remained impress by realizing that her daughter's attention had never been more focused on a story than it was now; she had always loved story time, too…

"The mission was supposed to be simple: Jing was sent as her father's envoy to the South Pole, to the battles against the Southern Water Tribe," Sokka explained, and Mari gasped.

"Then… here?" she asked, and Sokka nodded.

"Don't worry, though, this happened many years ago," he said, with a reassuring smile. "So long ago that most people don't even know about it… but I, fortunately, still remember every single detail of this tale. Princess Jing arrived when there was no sun, in the dark period. Upon arriving, she found the Water Tribe warriors were ready to fight back, to repeal all Fire Nation soldiers who sought to win the war. But Princess Jing didn't want her own people, as well as the Water Tribe people, to die unnecessarily… so she stepped forward and demanded for a duel, single combat, with the leader of the Water Tribe's warriors."

Suki crooked an eyebrow at the rather beautified explanation Sokka had offered Mari. No doubt, she didn't expect him to tell an accurate story, she might have even interrupted him if he'd tried… but he certainly seemed set on concealing from Mari the darkest sides of his history with Azula. Just how much would he change, she wondered? How many things would he alter for her daughter's benefit? Hopefully he'd tone down the blood, violence and deaths, too…

"The leader stepped forward, of course," Sokka said, nodding proudly. "He was a young man, with great dreams of defeating the Fire Nation one day, dreams he had no realistic way of achieving, as he wasn't very experienced yet. When the chance came, however, to stop the warfare through single combat, he stepped forward and accepted Princess Jing's challenge honorably. His name was Wentai."

He spoke the name with a dignity and pride that Suki wondered if it meant something important. Yet Jing and Wentai sounded like two perfectly normal names… whereas a name like the one he'd given Ozai did have a blunt, harsh meaning that had brought a disbelieving smile to Suki's face upon hearing it. No immediate meanings came to mind with Wentai, however… she'd have to ask him later if that was important, for whatever reason.

"Wentai decided that, to save his people, he had to be ready to do anything… even fighting a girl, something that was considered completely unacceptable in his Tribe," Sokka continued. "He had no idea of what his choice to fight Princess Jing meant to her, however: through all her life, Princess Jing had struggled to prove herself, to show her culture and nation that she was just as capable as any man would be. Of course, Princess Jing was wrong to think so… that is, because she was far more capable than any of them! She was far superior to all of them, without question! But her father refused to admit it, as did many of his nobles and top military figures, who feared and envied her for her great talent. Wentai, though, knew none of this… Wentai only saw an enemy of his people, and defeating her might mean the end of this conflict in the South Pole. Thus, Wentai decided not to hold back, he fought Jing, head-on… and can you guess what happened?"

Mari's little hands covered her mouth as she shook her head, no doubt scared to hear an outcome that might not favor her fictional hero. Sokka smiled and lowered his head.

"Wentai… was defeated," he said, and Mari gasped. "Princess Jing, so talented and accomplished, won the fight fair and square. It meant, though, that the Water Tribe was in danger! Surely, she would choose to attack now, Wentai thought, as he lay close to unconsciousness in the snow…! But then, just as he thought Princess Jing would kill him, what he'd always believed firebenders would do… Princess Jing held back. She refrained from hurting him any further, because the battle was over. Since Wentai had fought bravely, Princess Jing believed he had shown more strength, courage and nobility than countless men she'd met in the Fire Nation. She didn't think the Water Tribe deserved to be destroyed… for, if a man like Wentai had been raised among them, they were, surely, worthier of respect than her father believed they were. So, Princess Jing told her men to turn back and leave the South Pole… and she took off as well, against her father's orders, for Fire Lord Wunao couldn't possibly be right to ask for the destruction of these people. Thus, the Water Tribe was saved… and Princess Jing was victorious as well, on her very first battle!"

Mari grinned delightfully at that, all her anxiety about the fight fading into cheerfulness instead. She even clapped a few times, swaying where she sat, and Sokka chuckled at the innocent expression on her face. If only Azula could see this… if only she knew her niece looked up to her with such admiration…

"And… what happened to Wentai?" Suki asked suddenly, startling Sokka. "Did he go with the Princess as well? Or…?"

"W-Wentai…?" Sokka said, eyes shifting awkwardly at Suki's question: evidently, the sweetened version of his first encounter with Azula couldn't end the way it had in the real world. One day, he guessed, Mari would know and understand what slavery entailed… but not now. Not when she was so young, so innocent, so pure-hearted… no. This story, he knew, wouldn't be quite the same as his own. Jing and Wentai… their fate had to be so much brighter than his and Azula's had been. "Well, Wentai was confused. He'd always been told that firebenders were cruel, nasty monsters who wanted nothing but to destroy things without thinking…! But the Fire Lord's own daughter had retreated from the battlefield, in a most honorable gesture of respect for the Tribe. It caused Wentai to rethink many things… and he wondered if maybe the world beyond the South Pole was broader, more complicated than he had always believed it was. So… Wentai decided he'd learn more about the world. He set out on a journey, outside the Pole, hoping to gain enough strength so that, if he ever crossed paths with Princess Jing again, his skills might rival hers…! A futile hope, of course, because no one is quite as great as Princess Jing, but Wentai had been so impressed by her that he couldn't quite help but wish he could be a warrior as honorable as she had been."

"He was impressed, then?" Suki said, smiling fondly. "I suppose he hadn't seen lots of girls like Princess Jing in the South Pole?"

"Oh, there were none," Sokka admitted, with a sigh. "Mari wasn't around just yet, so of course, Wentai didn't get to meet any incredibly talented firebenders like Princess Jing until that day. It didn't hurt either that Princess Jing was just as beautiful on the outside as on the inside…"

"Was she?" Suki asked, raising her eyebrows. "Oh, my. Wentai had a crush on Princess Jing, Mari! Can you believe that?"

"That… well, yes, he did," Sokka chuckled, shaking his head. Mari blinked blankly.

"What is… crush?" she asked, puzzled.

"Oh, sorry," Suki laughed. "It means Wentai was in love with Princess Jing. He wanted to marry her."

"Ah! Marry her… like my mommy and daddy?" Mari asked, cocking her head sideways. Sokka chuckled.

"Yes, well… he didn't quite understand that was how he felt, this early on," Sokka pointed out. "But no doubt, she had left a true impression on him, and because of that, Wentai set out to prove himself, much as Princess Jing had. The thing is, though, that Wentai had no idea what Jing would go through once she returned home, having made such a controversial decision…"

"Princess Jing was in trouble…?" Mari asked, her voice small. Sokka sighed deeply and nodded.

"Her father wasn't pleased over what she'd done. She had allowed the Water Tribe to go free! His evil ways would never accept that, of course not," Sokka said, shaking his head. "He took some time to figure out how to punish Princess Jing for her insolent choices… two years, to be precise."

"Two years?" Mari asked, eyes wide: no doubt, such a timespan sounded immense to her, young as she still was. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"He was true to his name, you see," Sokka smirked. "Wunao means 'no brain', so he wasn't smart enough to think of a punishment any sooner."

"Oh!" Mari gasped, before giggling. "The Fire Lord was stupid…?"

"Oh, Fire Lord Wunao? Oh, you have no idea just how much," Sokka said, knowing he was a childish fool for enjoying Mari's unknowing insult to her own grandfather… ah, but it felt right to hear her say it, it really did. "So yep, it took him two years to choose a punishment, and that punishment was forcing Princess Jing to marry someone she wouldn't want to marry."

"Marry someone she didn't want…?" Mari repeated, puzzled.

"Yeah, it's an ugly tradition in other cultures. Fortunately, not in ours," Sokka said, smiling proudly. "Sometimes, bad parents think their kids should get married for money or for social status… so Fire Lord Wunao decided to do that because he knew his daughter didn't wish to marry for any other reason than love. He found an unpleasant man for her, but Princess Jing wouldn't stand for it! She was determined to fight back, and to ensure not to marry someone she didn't want."

"What did she do?" Mari asked, eyes gleaming brightly: it seemed she had more confidence that Princess Jing would overcome every hurdle this time, as opposed to her anxiety when she'd fought Wentai… Sokka smiled for that.

"Well, you see, the man she was supposed to marry was the son of an important commander in the Fire Nation army," Sokka explained. "But that man's son… Wuyong, was his name, he didn't have any talents or special skills of his own. He was plain and boring, and there was nothing about him that Princess Jing would like. She was determined not to marry him, so she sought to have an honorable duel with him, much as the one she'd fought with Wentai two years earlier. Wuyong, however, refused an honorable duel with Princess Jing because he had no combat talent: instead, he had someone at the ready to fight in his stead. Wuyong had a personal warrior, a man called Chan Luan, who would settle all matters of honor for him. This was a Fire Nation practice, one that all those lazy noblemen who didn't wish to fight their own battles would be happy to partake in… having a warrior to resolve your conflicts and disputes for you was seen as a sign of status and social importance. So Wuyong told Princess Jing to find herself a warrior of the sort, too…"

"Princess Jing wins!" Mari declared, and Sokka chuckled.

"Of course she can win… but if she fought for herself, then she wouldn't be honoring the terms of these duels, sadly," Sokka said, with a shrug. "She had to abide by the codes of honor of the Fire Nation, ridiculous as they seemed… so, if this was her only chance to get rid of this suitor she didn't care for, she had to find someone to fight in her stead. And it just so happens that, once she set out to find a warrior, she happened to bump into none other than…"

"Wentai!" Mari exclaimed, beaming. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"In his travels to become a stronger warrior, Wentai suddenly found himself facing Princess Jing once more. She saw him defeating a man in a training bout, and Princess Jing realized he had grown and learned much since they'd last met. When Wentai thought she might want a rematch… Princess Jing, instead, told him of her plight. She asked for his help… and as Wentai was moved by her fight for her freedom, he decided he would fight in her stead, as she needed him to. Princess Jing, of course, was thrilled! She took Wentai to a beautiful island, where an extraordinary sword master lived… Master Jian, who taught Wentai how to fight with swords. He even helped Wentai craft a black sword that Wentai called Space Sword. It was an incredible sword, forged from a unique metal that had fallen from the sky…"

"Wow…!" Mari blurted out, eyes wide, jaw dropped in happy amazement. Sokka grinned proudly and nodded.

"It was so unique that it could cut through solid metal, even, if swung by… by a wielder with a strong, good heart," Sokka declared, guessing that it might be a good storytelling resource to give the sword more magical properties than it actually held. "So, Wentai had to become a worthy man to use his sword… and to become Princess Jing's personal warrior, too.

"The day of the combat arrived after Wentai had spent a month learning so much more about combat and a warrior's life than he ever thought possible… and he felt ready to face Wuyong's warrior, Chan Luan. Princess Jing thanked Wentai for all his hard work so far… and they shook hands, just before Wentai stepped out to battle. Wentai was determined not to let her down today, not when so much rode on his victory… so he entered the fighting grounds, where Chan Luan waited. The man was really ugly, with a sickly-looking gray skin, and he didn't seem any smarter than the Fire Lord…"

"He was stupid too?" Mari giggled and Sokka nodded.

"So much that Wentai tricked him into wasting his strength like a fool within the first minutes of combat," Sokka declared. "He was a firebender, and Wentai was a non-bender, so Chan Luan thought he'd beat him just because of that… but Wentai was smart. Before Chan Luan knew it, Wentai trapped him by tossing a smoke bomb in his direction, and when Chan Luan was out of the smoke, Wentai did this crazy maneuver where he jumped in the air, caught Chan Luan's head with his thighs, and then he somersaulted with the guy in his control…! Uh, basically, he spun in the air, and he was so strong he brought that huge, burly guy, Chan Luan, with him."

"Wow!" Mari gasped, eyes wide in amazement.

"Wentai spun so fast, so hard, that he managed to dunk Chan Luan's head right into the sand once he spun completely," Sokka continued. "Chan Luan was fine, he survived, of course… but he was unconscious! The fight was over in less than five minutes. Wuyong was horrified, his honor had been completely tarnished by his fighter's terrible performance… and he had been proven unworthy of marrying Princess Jing because of that."

"Yes!" Mari grinned. Sokka chuckled at her enthusiasm over another victory for her favorite Princess.

"Princess Jing was delighted, and she said as much to Wentai: he had never seen her quite so happy," Sokka sighed, smiling warmly at the memory… at the first time he had ever seen Azula smiling genuinely, in unabashed, pure joy. What had happened afterwards had tarnished her mood, of course… but after so long, all he wanted to remember, to keep etched into his soul, was that beautiful smile.

"Sounds like Wentai fell even harder in love…" Suki mused. Sokka smiled and shrugged.

"When you see a woman as beautiful as Princess Jing smiling in that way… it'd be impossible not to fall in love," he said, simply. Mari giggled, cheeks reddening at Sokka's acknowledgement of Wentai's feelings. "The Fire Lord, of course, was furious that Princess Jing had undone his plan: two years it had taken him to hatch such a plan! But she had torn it to pieces with her new warrior… her new friend. Together, they would defeat every awful thing the Fire Lord tried to do to his own daughter. They were a team from that moment onwards, fully devoted to working together… and that was exactly how things would be, for many, many years."

He had been tempted to say it was how things had turned out for good… that they had been together for all their lives. He had thought to leave the story there, to let Mari imagine more of it herself, if she wished… but the child, clearly, had other ideas.

"More! More!" she exclaimed, giggling as she wiggled her feet happily. "Princess Jing, again!"

"Oh, do you want me to tell the story again, or do you want me to tell you more?" Sokka chuckled. "You are quite enthusiastic when it comes to stories, huh?"

"She is with a lot of things, but yes, she has a soft spot for stories," Suki smiled, caressing her daughter's hair before raising Dolly. "Look who's back, Mari!"

"Dolly!" the child exclaimed, beaming as she reached her arms out to the doll: she hugged it tightly… but then she turned towards Sokka again, still smiling. "More?"

"More, really?" Sokka chuckled, glancing at Suki with a slightly smug grin. "Still think I can't babysit while you teach everyone how to defend themselves?"

"I… damn. Fine, maybe you could," Suki huffed, rolling her eyes as Sokka grinned proudly. "Is that what this is all about, then?"

"Well, not all of it. I did want to help by distracting Mari just now," Sokka said, with a shrug. "But I got carried away, I think…"

"Not according to Mari, I suspect," Suki smiled at her daughter, who kept eyeing Sokka expectantly. "She wants you to get carried away a bit more, apparently."

"Should I…?" Sokka asked, scratching the back of his neck. Suki chuckled and shrugged as she returned to the crates she'd traded for earlier.

"You could stay for lunch, if you wanted to," Suki suggested, rummaging through the furs.

"Huh…" Sokka glanced at Mari, who eyed him eagerly still. "Well… Princess Jing's story is pretty long, it's true. Even if I stayed here for about three weeks, it still wouldn't be enough time for me to tell the full story…"

"Three weeks?!" Mari gasped, astonished.

"It's a very long story," Sokka chuckled.

"I've never told Mari any stories that take longer than one night," Suki chuckled, grinning at her daughter. "Guess she could have fun with Princess Jing's never-ending adventures, huh?"

"Yeah… she surely will," Sokka said, with a gentle, but melancholic smile. If only they had been never-ending indeed… if only he could have seen to it that their lives continued just as they had been, so the dream they had lived would never shift into an overwhelming nightmare…

But that wasn't the story he'd tell. Princess Jing wouldn't be overcome by her father's cruelty… she would thrive. She would rise. She would inspire Mari, Sokka hoped… so that her innocent eyes would continue to gleam brightly, much like the eyes of the aunt she might never get to know through any means other than Sokka's stories.

"Well, then…" Sokka said, smiling at the little girl. "Shall I continue?"


Gruff padded along with Zuko quietly as they treaded across the village's ice streets. Several warriors and hunters greeted Zuko respectfully, and he responded with nods of acknowledgement, the puffin seals he'd hunted with Gruff nestled on a bag he kept slung over his shoulder. The polar dog's assistance had proven quite effective, and Zuko managed to ensnare a large enough haul of prey to bring home today. He wasn't sure when the next tribal feast would be held, as a strange air of tension clung to the whole place ever since Sokka's welcoming feast had taken such an unexpected, dark turn. Rumors abounded throughout the village, but if one thing had become clear by now, it was that nobody seemed to know what to make of Sokka anymore.

Zuko didn't quite know what to make of him either, truth be told: his confessions still weighed awkwardly in Zuko's mind, and he struggled to unravel how to accept any of what he had revealed. Confused as he still was, Zuko was also genuinely daunted by the prospect of discovering far darker truths than he was ready to face. With how miserable Sokka had been since he had woken up, how suicidal he had confessed to being, by choosing to drop on a snowy dock rather than walking back home, it seemed the life had been drained from the man he had known in the past. Would he ever reclaim his old self? Or would that be impossible without Azula nearby? That anyone would be so affected and attached to his sister should be no surprise anymore, Zuko knew… but Sokka's devotion to Azula certainly had blindsided him, no matter how many times he had witnessed signs of it in the past.

Gruff wagged his tail enthusiastically once they neared their igloo, but the dog suddenly tensed up once he was near the door. Zuko raised an eyebrow at his strange behavior, suspecting Suki might have a guest if their dog was reacting with discomfort upon arriving home, but surely he would calm down again when Zuko opened the door and Mari rushed outside to greet them.

He pulled the door open, bracing himself for his daughter's enthusiasm… and it didn't arrive. Instead, the sound of a male voice reached him at first, just before Suki gasped:

"Zuko! You're home!"

Gruff entered the igloo first, blocking Suki from reaching Zuko – then, Gruff slowed down next to the visitor who carelessly sat by the fire, where a stew cooked slowly. Mari's eyes were glued to the man with utmost attention. The dog growled softly, and only then did Mari react:

"No growls, Gruff!" she exclaimed, surprising the creature. "Story time!"

"Story time?" Zuko overheard, puzzled as he entered the igloo as well. Suki chuckled and greeted him with a kiss and a hug, helping him set down the large bag on his shoulder. "A story's suddenly more important than saying hi to her own father, is it…?"

"Hi, Daddy!" Mari exclaimed, grinning at him… and her eyes returned to their guest then. "And Wentai wins?"

Zuko crooked an eyebrow as he glanced at the man who sat with his daughter: just a moment ago he had reflected on Sokka's misery, wondering if he'd ever regain any of his will to live… and now he found the man smiled at Mari, a hint of pride across his face. He had dropped by… and he was telling Mari a story?

"Hey there, Zuko…" Sokka smiled, waving weakly at him. "Sorry for keeping your kid busy."

"I'm a little too shocked to be offended at the moment, so enjoy my astonishment while it lasts…" Zuko suggested, prompting Sokka to chuckle as he turned to Mari again.

"Well… yes, Mari. Wentai won… but Princess Jing thought he didn't deserve to win," he sighed, hanging his head as Mari gasped.

"But… but he won? Why not…?" Mari pouted when Sokka raised his head.

"Because Princess Jing didn't believe he'd fought honorably," he explained. "She hadn't thought twice of the fact that the opposing warrior had been a woman, she'd known it all along…"

"She knew?!" Mari gasped. Sokka nodded promptly.

"And she thought, since Wentai had fought Jing without a hitch back in the South Pole, that he'd be fine with fighting another girl now… but she didn't know that wasn't how Wentai had been raised," Sokka sighed.

Zuko blinked blankly as both he and Suki watched the scene before them. Gruff had obeyed Mari and he no longer growled at Sokka, but he wasn't comfortable with the situation anyway. Mari remained enthralled with the tale, and Sokka seemed genuinely amused by the child's wonderment…

"What is going on…?" Zuko whispered softly in Suki's ear. She giggled as she patted his chest.

"I'll probably explain later, but it's… probably a good thing, all in all," Suki said. Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"What story is he telling, though? Who's Wentai? Princess Jing…?" he repeated, despite he knew, deep down, who those strange names stood for…

"You look like you already figured it out," Suki smiled awkwardly. "Sokka just… decided to tell Mari a story. And I guess there's no story he knows better than that of Princess Jing and her personal warrior, Wentai…"

"Huh…" Zuko blinked blankly, glancing at Sokka again as he made dramatic hand gestures to enhance his storytelling.

"… She was outraged by his performance! And Wentai barely understood why at first, but he realized he'd definitely made a mistake, even if one he couldn't pinpoint yet. Princess Jing didn't want to see him after that, though…"

"No!" Mari pouted, and Sokka sighed dramatically.

"She sent him back to Master Jian with her guards. She had Captain Baohu in charge of taking Wentai safely there, and she refused to see him again until he had learned better… until she had another fight she needed his help with, too," Sokka sighed, shaking his head. "Wentai learned lots with Master Jian during that period of time, though. He hadn't understood everything right away… but he did after Master Jian explained how difficult it had been for Princess Jing to prove herself to everyone who looked down upon her just because she'd been born a woman. Nobody thought she'd ever become Fire Lord just because of that. Her talent, her skill… it was something her father would see as a trophy, but he couldn't let her outshine him because he was very envious of his own daughter. So Wentai was her chance to prove herself, for his strength was her strength. And if he acted like a fool, disrespecting female warriors… then she didn't see why she should want him as her partner."

"B-but Wentai is good…" Mari pouted, and Sokka chuckled.

"Wentai is good… but you want to know why he is?" he said. "Because Wentai learned better. Because Wentai understood. He realized maybe there was more he didn't understand about the Princess, just as the Princess realized, when they first met, that there was much she didn't understand about him. So, when Princess Jing returned, Wentai apologized for his misdeeds… and he told Princess Jing that, if she would accept him once more, he was ready to fight this time, no matter who his enemy might be!"

"Princess Jing said yes… right? Right?" Mari asked, anxiously. "She wants him on her team now…?"

"Princess Jing wasn't sure…" Sokka said, and Mari gasped in horror. "But she decided to give Wentai one more chance to prove he was the worthwhile warrior she believed he could be."

"Yes!" Mari exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. Sokka chuckled and nodded, while Zuko spoke to Suki alone, once again.

"Is all this… real?" he asked, softly, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Suki shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure he's embellishing a ton of it," she admitted, clasping his hands with hers. "But… I figure some of it has to be? I doubt he's making it all up on the fly…"

"Well, as long as he doesn't traumatize our daughter with tales of gruesome fights, I'll probably wrap my head around this… somewhat," Zuko said, blinking blankly.

He truly hadn't seen much of Sokka since he'd returned, but whenever he had, the man had appeared on the verge of collapsing into himself due to his overpowering grief. This time, he looked miles away from that man… likely because of the story he was telling.

"So, Princess Jing had another fight coming up, yes, she did… because the bolder her resistance against her father's wishes, the more his sleazy nobles and bootlickers wanted to defeat her and gain his trust," Sokka explained, and Mari grimaced.

"Ew! They lick boots!" she shook her head. Sokka chuckled at her reaction over his chosen word.

"Yep, they're gross like that," he confirmed. "So that day, an Earth Kingdom man challenged Princess Jing because he believed his warrior could defeat Wentai. His warrior… was another girl."

"Ah!" gasped Mari.

"And… she was blind!" Sokka declared, wiggling his fingers as he spoke with a deeper, booming, ominous voice… that failed its purpose entirely as Mari cocked her head sideways.

"What's… blind?" she asked. Sokka blinked blankly as Zuko and Suki laughed.

"Blind people can't see," Zuko explained, letting go of Suki so he could sit behind his daughter instead. "Their eyes don't work. So it's like they live life… like this."

He covered her eyes with his hands, and Mari gasped in astonishment at the concept of a sightless life. Sokka smiled at her innocent reactions: she seemed to be learning quite a bit about the world today, even though he hadn't quite intended to teach her so much with his story.

"You might wonder, just how does a blind girl fight as a warrior, if she can't even see her enemies…" Sokka said, as Zuko raised his hands and allowed Mari to see once more. "But Ruchong had a very special talent…"

"Ruchong?!" Zuko repeated, glancing at Sokka in disbelief: he only grinned guiltily at Zuko, for his choice in name for Toph, rude as it might sound, was but a homage to the nickname Azula had often used to refer to her earthbending friend.

"Ruchong, the blind warrior girl, was an earthbender," Sokka whispered, and Mari blinked blankly again.

"Earth… bender?" she repeated.

"Yep! Just like you and your dad bend fire, and Katara bends water, and Aang bends all those and air too… there's earthbenders," Sokka said, nodding sagely. "If you've never seen earth… well, it's a bit like ugly snow, I guess. If it's very solid, like ice, then it's a rock. If it's not so tight, more of a loose thing, like snow, it's earth, or dirt. See?"

Mari nodded, and Sokka found it amusing that anyone would seem so fascinated by the concept of earth as she was. No doubt, the result of being raised in the South Pole for all her life.

"So, earthbenders are very, very dangerous," Sokka said, nodding sagely. "Wentai decided to go all out on that fight, to prove to Princess Jing that he had learned much since their previous argument, and Princess Jing looked forward to seeing that… but both had been quite overconfident of Wentai's skills, as it turns out. For, as blind as Ruchong was… she was the greatest earthbender in the world, too."

"She was…?" Mari asked, puzzled.

"Wentai fought bravely, he did his absolute best. He didn't hold back at all, using all his arsenal of weapons: his bombs, his blades, his club, his boomerang… he managed to land a surprise blow on Ruchong with the boomerang, actually, and he was very proud of himself for that. But Ruchong… oh, she turned the very grounds upon which they stood into quicksand, sinking Wentai into it, capturing him underground!"

Mari gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Zuko eyed Sokka with skepticism now, wondering if he'd cause his daughter to become claustrophobic with such stories… Sokka bit his lip, wondering if that had been too descriptive this time. Well, he'd certainly explain nothing of the spike upon which Toph had impaled his shoulder, as well as the many bones she shattered with her final moves…

"Ruchong was ruthless, so much more powerful than any of Wentai's other opponents so far, save, of course, Princess Jing," Sokka clarified. "When the fight's time was over, Wentai had been badly wounded by Ruchong's attacks. He couldn't move his leg, it was so heavy and it hurt so very much… he couldn't fight any longer, and that meant Ruchong was victorious over him. It was the first time Princess Jing lost…"

"No…!" Mari gasped, pouting. "Princess Jing and Wentai don't lose!"

"Oh, don't worry, Mari," Sokka chuckled. "It's okay to lose sometimes. It's even good to lose once in a while. Helps you learn a few lessons, so you can strengthen yourself for the future…!"

"Princess Jing can't lose!" Mari pouted still. Zuko chuckled and shook his head.

"Look at how fiercely she defends her. I can barely believe she's so taken with this Princess Jing in just one day," Zuko said, poking Mari's belly, at which his daughter squirmed. "It is okay for Princess Jing to lose this one time, isn't it? Besides, it's Wentai's fault, not Princess Jing's…"

"Wentai's fault…? Wentai fights for Princess Jing," Mari said, still pouting. "If he lost, Princess Jing lost too…?"

"Bah, that's nonsense," Zuko said dismissively, and Sokka rolled his eyes but smiled.

"Tell that to Princess Jing, then," Sokka hissed, bringing a smile to Zuko's face. "She'd be the first to say that her g-… her warrior's victories and losses are directly connected to her own ability to help him reach his full potential as a fighter. So, uh, anyway! Ignoring your dad's butting in where he wasn't called…"

"Her dad's just trying to make sure Mari's happy, that's all there is to it," Zuko said, pressing a quick kiss to the top of his daughter's head, who beamed happily at the gesture of affection.

"Princess Jing could have been upset about losing, Mari…" Sokka continued, and Mari eyed him anxiously again. "Wentai thought she would be, and he was afraid that his failure to defeat Ruchong would mean that he wasn't, in fact, good enough to serve as her personal warrior. He didn't want to disappoint her, but he had been outmatched… and he was badly wounded now, too. So, when Princess Jing came to him, he feared she'd be so angry… but she wasn't. Instead, Princess Jing rushed towards him, asking if he was okay. She saw his wounds were quite painful, and without asking for anyone's help, Princess Jing draped Wentai's arm across her shoulders and she led him out, lending him her own strength so she could take him to safety and ensuring his wounds would be treated at once."

"She wasn't mad…?" Mari asked, her voice small, and Sokka shook his head.

"Wentai would learn, later, that Princess Jing hadn't understood how dangerous Ruchong could be," Sokka said. "That she, as well, had underestimated Ruchong and hoped that Wentai would prove, through this fight, that he could fight a girl without fear. But it never crossed Princess Jing's mind that Ruchong could be a prodigy of her own element, much like herself… and that Wentai might still need to grow much more to be strong enough to defeat her. So, Princess Jing recognized this as her own mistake… as something she, as well, had to learn better from. She didn't blame Wentai alone… and she didn't leave him to face the consequences of the fight on his own, either. No, Princess Jing carried Wentai all the way to her palanquin, setting him down when he was about to fall unconscious. He managed to tell her he was sorry right before his exhaustion and pain caused him to fall asleep. Princess Jing had her palanquin bearers carrying them back to her Palace, at haste, and she even found herself shedding tears for Wentai's sake. She cried… because she grieved for how hurt he had been, and because she feared the fight's outcome was her fault."

"But… it's Ruchong. Ruchong is the bad guy…" Mari pouted. Sokka chuckled as Zuko blinked blankly behind his daughter before shrugging carelessly at her interpretation of the situation. "Princess Jing is good!"

"Heh, I guess you could say Ruchong is to blame for the injuries… but ultimately, Ruchong was just a warrior, same as Wentai," Sokka said, with a sad grin. "She had her own reasons to fight, and that's part of what honor means, Mari: you must respect your opponent, to accept that they have just as many reasons to fight and win as you do. Even if you win, it doesn't mean you would disrespect them, not if you are a true, strong warrior…"

"Ooooh…" Mari cooed, wiggling her toes as she gazed at Sokka in amazement.

"Ruchong, however, wasn't very honorable," Sokka admitted, chuckling. "But even if she wasn't, it doesn't mean Wentai should have fought her dishonorably, right? And he fought with plenty of honor indeed. That's why Princess Jing wasn't mad at him for losing. He did his best… and that was what mattered most."

"Oh. She isn't mad," Mari bit her lip, smiling weakly.

"Not at all," Sokka smiled. "Princess Jing saw to it that Wentai would have the best treatment for all his wounds. Soon enough, he was in good enough shape to go training again! And this time, Princess Jing told him they would talk to Master Jian, so he would teach Wentai some techniques to defeat earthbenders, or help him develop strategies to fight them… but when they arrived at Master Jian's grand house? It was empty!"

"Ah!" Mari gasped, eyes wide as plates. Sokka breathed deeply and sighed.

"It turned out… Master Jian was gone. Where did he go? Nobody knew. Wentai was very sad about it… but Princess Jing assured him that they'd find him another master. They'd help him reach his full potential as a warrior, without a doubt! Wentai wasn't very confident at first… but he decided to believe Princess Jing, to trust that she would continue to strengthen him as best she could. So they returned home… and this time, Princess Jing bought him a house in the city, so that Wentai could live nearby and train there. Now they'd see each other more often… and that way, their biggest and craziest adventures were finally set to begin."

Mari gasped: the idea of a story as long as this one certainly was foreign for the child, but she welcomed it eagerly. Zuko chuckled as he caressed her hair, reassuring her that she might hear more later, but she had to eat her lunch first. The smile on his daughter's face couldn't be brighter even as they gathered to eat their stew with their guest, and she didn't stop asking Sokka every question she could about Princess Jing, namely her favorite colors, foods, animals and toys. Afraid of displeasing Mari, Sokka could only lie with the last question, knowing that sharing Azula's distaste for dolls with her niece would surely cause Mari no end of distress and horror. He could only hope Azula would understand, if she ever learned about any of this…

The child wound up taking a nap after the meal, offering the adults a chance to talk thoroughly. After changing Zi's diaper, Zuko held his second daughter against his chest, nestled comfortably in his arms, soothed by her father's presence. Zuko hoped the upcoming conversation would remain perfectly calm and civil, since Zi would simply doze off carelessly in his embrace if it did.

"Alright, then… what's going on?" Zuko asked, caressing Zi's hair gently, his attention on Sokka. "Not that I'm complaining if you come to visit, as long as you don't do anything stupid…"

"No worries: I won't challenge you to a duel inside your igloo," Sokka said, and Zuko smiled at his reassurance.

"Good to know," he responded. "Still… I mean, it's great if you want to get along with Mari, but I have the feeling that's not the whole reason why this is happening. Am I wrong?"

"You're not, no," Sokka admitted, biting his lip. "You, of all people, are the least likely to underestimate what Ozai's wrath can result in."

"True," Zuko said, frowning.

"He's going to attack one day. We don't know when, we don't know how… but it's going to happen," Sokka said, firmly: by now, all sign of amusement and lightheartedness had faded from his countenance, as reality took shape once more. "We have to be ready, everyone does. We have advantages I didn't know we would when I was on my way here… the Avatar will certainly help greatly, same as his sky bison. But that's not enough."

"And… teaching my daughter about Princess Jing will be?" Zuko asked. Sokka's serious demeanor cracked for a moment with a brief smile as he hung his head. "Not that I have a problem with you telling her a story, but what does it have to do with…"

"It's actually not so much about Mari as it is about Suki," Sokka admitted, with a dry grin. "I was discussing how to go forward with my family, and I've proposed to my father that our civilians, including women and older children, should at least learn how to defend themselves. If our defenses weren't enough, which I hope they will be, they rest of the Tribe would be powerless to stop a tide of soldiers rushing down on them… and I don't want to allow that. So… I came here to ask Suki if she would agree to train them."

"Oh… huh," Zuko blinked blankly, glancing at his wife, who sat beside him. His intent eyes brought a mild blush to her face. "You would do great at it…"

"Right? That's what I said, better her than me," Sokka said, smirking. "No doubt you'd agree, right, Zuko?"

"Absolutely. It's weird that I agree with you at all, but for once, you're talking sense," Zuko nodded proudly, as Suki laughed and pressed her face to his shoulder.

"You're being silly, Zuko. I haven't trained in forever, let alone instructed anyone," she said, smiling at him. "I love you, but you're biased, always have been…"

"Is it really bias when I'm right to say you're the best instructor anyone could hope for, in this whole village? I don't think so…"

"It literally is!"

Sokka smiled at their argument, his chest paining him again at how familiar it felt… yet where the pain had felt so overwhelming mere hours ago, it felt a little different now. He frowned at the realization… at the strange lightness that still enveloped his heart softly. It was as though by transforming his painful memories into something new, into the life of Princess Jing and her faithful warrior Wentai, he had found another way to survive… another way to cherish his past, to make it feel real, no matter how far away it seemed to be right now. It hadn't even been a month yet since he'd last seen Azula… and yet it felt like a lifetime instead. It had felt like being swallowed by an abyss, his eyes set on the light that faded with every instant he plummeted lower and lower… but upon closing his eyes and evoking memories of that same light, so much of his fear had receded and diminished. Even the speed with which he fell seemed to have slowed… and as unpleasant as it was to linger in it, the darkness no longer seemed strong enough to defeat the light he still carried in his heart, the light born from where she had touched him most intimately, where she dwelled within him and always would.

"What was the point of telling Mari that story, though?" Zuko asked, startling Sokka when his voice was directed towards him again. "I know she was completely immersed in it, and good on you to distract and entertain my child so successfully… but what does that have to do with Suki's work?"

"Everything, actually," Sokka said, shrugging. "She said you can't take off every day from hunting to watch the girls while she trains everyone in town, so I offered to watch them myself. She can train everyone, you can hunt for your family, I can keep Mari from doing crazy, reckless things if I tell her the story of the legendary Princess Jing…"

"Huh…" Zuko said, raising his eyebrows. "Is… all of that story true, then? Even… that she cried over you when you were pummeled by Toph?"

"Toph? You mean Ruchong, and what's that about me? He's Wentai, Zuko, Wentai. Learn the characters' names, or your daughter won't understand what you're talking about," Sokka said, evasively. Zuko snorted but smiled.

"Fine, then: did Princess Jing cry about Wentai, for real?" Zuko asked. "I shouldn't be prying, I guess, but it just makes little sense for Wentai to know whether she cried or not if he was already unconscious…"

"Well… I didn't know about that until some time ago, myself," Sokka admitted, levity fleeing his face once more… though he hadn't returned to his overwhelming misery again just yet. Both Zuko and Suki gazed at him in surprise, uncertain if his mood swing would take him all the way to the darkest of emotional extremes they'd seen from him as of late… but somehow, it seemed it wouldn't, this time. "But yes… she did cry that day. She, well… told the truth about it to Wentai about three, four months ago. I… don't really know how long it's been anymore. Time's been a really bad blur lately…"

"Really, then…?" Zuko said, startled. Sokka swallowed hard.

"I, uh, am trying to tell the story as best as I can, for Mari's sake," he said. "But I promise I won't tell her anything, well, particularly gruesome. Or, uh, disturbing in other senses. I'll keep your daughter as innocent and happy as possible, so… will you do it, Suki? I think, as long as I can keep Mari interested in Princess Jing, I'll be able to distract her during your training days. Do you think you can do it?"

"I… I can, I suppose, though I'll need at least a day to get back into the feel of it," Suki admitted, running a hand through her hair. "I don't think I've lost shape completely, there's always so much to do… and a lot of it is just part of me by now, I can't shake off instinctive responses and muscle memory all that easily. But still, I'll have to ease myself back into the work…"

"That's okay, I think. We can probably start in two days, if you're comfortable with doing it so soon…?" Sokka suggested, before sighing. "I don't want to pressure you, I know it's not fair on you… but the sooner everyone knows at least basic combat techniques, the better."

"I know, Sokka, I know. Two days should be fine, I hope," Suki smiled reassuringly.

"And who's going to help you practice tomorrow…?" Zuko asked, a hint of curious hope in his voice that startled his wife.

"Uh… I didn't really think someone would yet, but that's a fair question," Suki said, smiling again. "I guess I could use a partner… and you did bring all those puffin-seals today, didn't you? So… will you be free for some sparring with me?"

"I'm always ready to see you in action," Zuko declared, grinning brightly. "And if that results in you kicking my ass… well, my ass is always ready to be kicked by you."

Suki snorted and laughed as she wrapped an arm around Zuko's waist. He smiled and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before glancing at Sokka with uncertainty – he was used to displaying affection for Suki in front of the rest of the Tribe, but perhaps doing it in front of Sokka was a bad idea… yet the man was only smiling and sighing in profound relief, Zuko noticed.

"Then you will do it?" Sokka asked. "Thank you. Thanks, both of you. I… I'll make sure to keep Mari entertained, as best as I can…"

"You will, and once the lessons begin, you'll do best to stay close by," Suki instructed, raising a finger in his direction. Sokka crooked an eyebrow before she smiled. "That way, everyone will slowly see that you're still Sokka, no matter how much you've changed… and you may be able to help them by teaching them advanced combat techniques even I don't know."

"Well… you do know a lot of advanced techniques already," Sokka said, with a weak grin. "I don't know, really. Just hoping for them to get used to me again seems like a lot to ask for, as things stand…"

"Kattan and Haka will probably cry of joy if you teach them anything new," Zuko said, surprising Sokka. "I… I know you're afraid people aren't thinking of you the way they used to. I'd be afraid of that too, if I were you… but some of them were already pretty much aware that you might have, well…"

"Been in a relationship with your sister?" Sokka finished, with an awkward grin. Zuko swallowed hard, slightly embarrassed for failing to finish that sentence.

"I'm… wrapping my head around it, alright?" he said. "It may take me some time still, but… I don't think it's a bad thing, okay? If anything… like I always thought, it suited her to fall for the guy I found most annoying, right?"

Sokka chuckled, his head bowed as his shoulders shook slightly. Despite his previous embarrassment, Zuko smiled a little at Sokka's reaction. He had struggled to accept Azula and Sokka could have any sort of personal relationship… but somehow, seeing Sokka like this made it quite easy to think of the man as family, as a brother-in-law, regardless of how irritating they could find each other often.

"Either way… I know some people may take longer to accept it, but Suki's right," Zuko said, smiling at his wife. "As usual, because she can't help but be right all the time…"

"Oh, Zuko…"

"I'm just saying," Zuko chuckled, glancing at Sokka again. "You can definitely ease them to your presence again by training with the ones that still trust you, or by spending time with Mari and Zi while Suki trains them. If these people could accept the Fire Lord's son… it's pretty obvious they'll accept you again, probably sooner than you think, as long as you let them."

"Heh… who'd have thought you'd ever say wise things, Zuko," Sokka smiled, nodding at them. "I hope you're both right. I guess we'll see how it goes tomorrow… and then we'll go forward with the lessons, if things go better than expected?"

"Sounds good to me," Suki smiled, breathing deeply as she cast a glance at the mounted fans and swords on the wall: she raised her eyebrows as she smirked at Zuko. "You won't go easy on me tomorrow, alright?"

"I'd never have to. You'd wipe the floor with me even if I use all my power, that's for sure," Zuko said, prompting his wife to laugh again, as Sokka smiled at their enthusiasm over training together. It was, he knew, a great way to strengthen a bond… he wondered if those two would choose to continue training that way, long after the threat of Ozai's troops was thwarted…

If the threat of Ozai's troops was thwarted, rather.

How he could be light and heavyhearted at the same time, even Sokka himself didn't know, but he felt that way as he stepped out of Zuko and Suki's igloo that day, waving them goodbye as he returned to his family's home. He would tell Hakoda that Suki had agreed to train everyone, and they could continue to plan for the upcoming battles after that. Helping protect the Tribe was certainly a worthy goal, one he intended to see through to the end… one he knew Azula had hoped he could achieve if she failed to deflect or defuse Ozai's wrath with her return. He couldn't let her down… he wouldn't. He had to do his best for the Tribe's sake… for her sake, just as well.

Zuko and Suki watched him leave in silence, the firebender's arm wrapped around his wife's waist. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, and Suki smiled up at him before caressing his chest.

"You handled yourself pretty well," she said. "I thought you'd never be able to look Sokka in the eye again without thinking, well…"

"That he did my sister?" Zuko finished now, and Suki chuckled as Zuko sighed. "Well, the thought crosses my mind at times at random and it's still weird… but I don't know. It wasn't so bad today, definitely not as bad as that night. I've had more than enough warning, yes, and you think it was obvious they'd been together all this time…"

"Well, not obvious, but perfectly believable, if they were," Suki smiled, leading him back inside and closing the door behind them: Gruff's spirits seemed to have improved anew now that Sokka was gone, and Suki scratched between his ears as he padded along with them, back to sitting by the fire.

"Either way… if it's difficult now, it's not so much because I'm a stupid older brother anymore, okay?" Zuko explained, smiling awkwardly as he sat with Suki. "Granted, I don't want to think about any of my relatives doing… well, whatever they may do in their private time, with whoever they might do it with. But right now, I… I guess what's really hard to fathom is that he really seems to have been everything she could've wanted in a partner. And… she lost him. Not for any fault of hers, but… but because of that piece of shit I'm forced to call my father. I always wanted to think she'd never piss him off enough… that she'd never anger him to a point of hurting her as he hurt me."

So much as speaking the words brought pain to his face once more, to the scar across his left eye and cheek. Zuko swallowed hard, jaw tense, fists tight, and Suki draped a hand across his knuckles, resting over his thighs.

"Doesn't matter how many fights we had, when we were kids. Doesn't matter how much she messed with me, or how many times I failed to mess with her right back," Zuko whispered. "None of that matters… because I know she doesn't deserve this. No one could… but she definitely doesn't deserve to live like this. I was really stupid to think she'd never rebel to this extent, I guess… especially when she loved someone whom our father would never accept. But it doesn't matter so much, whether she would rebel or not… what matters is that he responded as he did. He tried to kill Sokka… and now Azula is in his grasp again. Hell knows what he's doing to her, Suki… hell knows if he'll hurt her even more than he hurt me. Maybe… maybe he already has."

Suki swallowed hard, pressing her face to Zuko's shoulder again, offering him what comfort she could.

"This is so wrong," she whispered. "Your father… he's the absolute worst man that I've ever heard of. What he's done to you is unforgivable… but I guess he's fine with not being forgiven. That's the whole point, right? He… he thinks he can escape all consequences just because he's the Fire Lord."

"Yeah. That's exactly it," Zuko huffed, shaking his head.

"I wish… I wish we could do something to help her," Suki whispered, slipping her fingers between Zuko's. "I know now that… that Sokka is the one who encouraged her to save me, and she's the one who sent Ty Lee to get me. So, they both saved me… and I hate that I can't help them. I owe them everything for getting me out of that hellhole… and I can't do anything to return that gesture."

"Well… teaching everyone is a first step to return it, I expect," Zuko said, smiling a little. "We'll figure out what else we can do later. If we could do anything for Azula…"

"We'd have to do it. I wouldn't even think about it twice," Suki whispered. "After what she's done for me, for us… for this whole Tribe? Yes, she was wrong to take Sokka away as she did… but I think she's made up for it tenfold with everything she did afterwards. With everything she must have learned by his side…"

"We're powerless right now, though," Zuko said, biting his lip. "I mean… yeah, if there was a chance to do something, I would. But what can anyone do, at this point? How could we save her from him at all, when we didn't even dare save Sokka alone before?"

His question hung between them for a moment, before Suki sighed and pressed her face to his chest. She didn't know how to answer that question yet… she wasn't sure of what the right answer would be. Even if they somehow protected the Tribe from Ozai's revenge… how could they ever reach out to Azula? How could they spare her from the hell her father had unleashed upon her?

Protecting the Tribe would be a first step in resistance against Ozai. It was the only horizon ahead in their immediate future: what would come next? If they survived, if they succeeded at driving them back… would a new war begin between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe, a war that would drag on forever too? Would Ozai himself storm down on the Pole, determined to destroy every remnant of their civilization just to appease his worst impulses?

Maybe that was the only future left for their Tribe, for their family's home. Even if they managed to fight back, if they kept their world from being destroyed … would there ever be a chance, a chance for any of them to take, to rescue Azula from the Fire Lord's cruelty?

They had to fight on, regardless. The dark possibility that no such opportunity might arise had certainly tormented Sokka for as long as he'd been in the Water Tribe… and he had still found the strength, even if it had taken him a few days to gather it, to raise his head and step forward. To organize a defense… to help his people prepare for the inevitable, unwanted battle that would happen sooner than later. If Sokka had somehow risen up to the occasion, regardless of the pain he might carry in his heart forever… then it was only natural that they, too, would be ready to stand beside him against Ozai's legions… perhaps even against Ozai himself.