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As soon as Sokka had finished having his talk with Prince Zuko, he headed back to their pathetic campsite to have another man-to-man talk…with the Avatar. He wasn't sure how he was going to do it , and the fact that he wasn't enthusiastic about Katara's marriage was going to affect him if Aang put up a fight about it. Convincing somebody into doing something you also don't like is difficult. He just hoped Aang was understanding, something that Sokka wasn't. But everybody had to make sacrifices in life, and Sokka admitted defeat when he saw his sister's sad tears.
If there was ONE thing that Sokka enjoyed about Zuko's conversation, was that Zuko helped him with the whole "telling the Avatar" thing. According to the Prince, the Avatar would accept the whole situation more easily if Sokka talked to him without Katara's presence. This way he won't be pressured into agreeing anything and without pressure he'll be able to think clearly. But there was a bit of horrible news. If Aang doesn't agree to Zuko and Katara, because of whatever reason, there will be no wedding. Why? Because, according to Sokka, friendship and trust is much more important than anything.
The Water Tribe warrior entered their site with high hopes that Aang will be accepting, he didn't want to face Katara's tears. He couldn't tell her that her dreams of being happy with the love of her life had to be sacrificed for the sake of the world. He wouldn't have the heart to break hers. He gasped when he saw Katara roll up her sleeping, he had forgotten that they had planned to leave tonight. He walked up to Aang, who was feeding Momo some old nuts, and smiled at him. "Can I talk to you before we leave?" he asked quietly. Anxiety began to overwhelm him when Aang looked up at him with the brightest of smiles. He hoped with all his might, that after he finished talking to him, he would still hold that beautiful smile that brightened anyone's day, no matter how miserable you were.
"What do you want to talk about?" the young boy asked the warrior loudly, making Katara turn her head their direction.
She gave Sokka a questionable expression, one that Aang did not notice, and frowned when she realized what they were going to talk about. She finished hooking her pack onto Appa's back and walked over to the two boys. Katara looked at Sokka pleadingly, but his expression did not soften. It was time. She nodded and opened her mouth, but Sokka intercepted by placing his hand on her shoulder. Katara looked at her brother strangely and he shook his head, silently explaining to her that she will not be included in their conversation.
Aang raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's going on?" he asked, interrupting the sibling's silent conversation. Something was wrong and he could feel it coming. Whatever it was Sokka wanted to tell him, it was not good news. "Does this have to do with your little walk this morning?" he wondered suspiciously and frowned when Sokka nodded. "What is it? What's wrong?" The Avatar was beginning the get worried and nervous.
Sokka smiled at the young boy. "Don't worry Aang. It's not…horrible. I just need to talk to you about things," he said reassuringly and ushered him towards the path that led to the beach he was at this morning. "Katara, you stay here," he said over his shoulder and continued to walk towards the small dirt trail. "You won't need that," he told Aang as he was about to grab his staff.
"But fire benders--" Aang began but Sokka gave him a small shove.
"We won't be too far away from here. We can run," said Sokka as he waved to his confused sister before disappearing into the woods.
It wasn't long before they reached the small beach. Aang took a seat on the sand and smiled at Sokka happily. The warrior returned the heart-warming grin and sat across the boy with a sigh. It was now or never. "How are you?" he began uneasily as looked at some foot prints that were beside Aang.
Aang laughed at Sokka, "I'm fine. How are you, sir?" he responded with an emphasis on the word 'sir'. He frowned when Sokka didn't seem to enjoy the joke very much. "What's going on Sokka?" Seriousness began to dwell between the two young men.
"Ehh…well, I don't know how to start," he said apprehensively.
"Is it about somebody?" Aang asked, trying to help Sokka.
He hesitated. This wasn't the way he imagined it to be, but what the hey, this was much more easier than explaining the whole thing. He smiled confidently and answered with: "Katara".
"Katara? …Did she do something?"
"She likes somebody," he whispered guiltily. I'll leave the love part until the end, he thought decisively.
The Avatar's eyes widened in complete shock and smiled. "Like a crush?" he asked. His smile got bigger as soon as he observed his friend nod. "It was bound to happen," he said and continued. "She likes me, doesn't she?"
Sokka weakly laughed at Aang's words. Not because they were funny, but because they were so sad. Aang had a crush on Katara, and it was now his job to break the young boy's heart. He coughed his last chuckle and shook his head. "I'm sorry Aang, she doesn't like you like that. She likes somebody else," he said with a frown.
"Oh," the boy breathed glumly. "Who does she like?" He looked up at his buddy's blue eyes, waiting patiently for the name of Katara's beau. "Is it somebody I know?" he asked, realizing that it was taking Sokka a long time to answer his first question.
"Yes. I believe you know him well," he said with a faint smile on his face. Then, he shook his head. "I can't do this Aang. I can't break your young little heart. I can't, I'm sorry."
"Huh?" asked a confused Aang. "What are you talking about? Why are you going to break my heart?" He sighed as he understood, "Who does Katara like?"
The teenage boy groaned in complaint. "Do I have to?" he whined and let out a noisy breath as the Avatar crossed his arms and nodded. "Zuko," he muttered, not loud enough for him to hear.
"Who?"
"Zuko," he muttered again, looking away.
"Speak louder!" he yelled. "Tell me or I'll ask her myself."
"Zuko," said Sokka clearly and shut his eyes. He didn't want to see any more tears. He didn't want to see anymore sad faces. He was tired of all the misery that seemed to surround him ever since he rescued Katara from that damned Fire Navy ship. "She likes Prince Zuko," he said, being more clear incase Aang had somehow misunderstood who this "Zuko" was.
Suddenly there was no sound. Aang's world came crashing down as those dreadful words escaped Sokka's mouth. He had expected anybody but that Prince. He even he suspected the infamous Jet, who had betrayed them not so long ago. "What?" Aang asked incredulously as he stood up. "No way!"
Sokka opened his eyes in surprise. He had expected him to cry, not to yell. He didn't know what to do or say. He looked up at Aang's honey-colored eyes and saw anger shine in them. The warrior looked down the sand in shame and nodded for no apparent reason. He felt so horrible, but he knew that it had to be done. He took in a deep breath as he watched the Avatar's feet pace in front of him. He hesitated in glancing at the boy's face, but eventually curiosity got the best of him and he looked. Aang's hands were placed on his bald head and the boy's eyes were now closed as in deep thought. He was shaking his head in obvious denial and opened his eyes furiously, to glare at Sokka.
"How long did you know this?" Aang asked through gritted teeth. Somehow, the length of this knowledge mattered, and it annoyed the boy that Sokka knew something crucial before he did.
"I found out two days ago," he responded quietly and felt his heart do a flip, when Aang growled in evident anger. "Katara told me after Zhao forced it out of her," he added, sensing that that would be his next question.
"Zhao? You mean Admiral Zhao?" asked the Avatar, his tone completely changed from anger to curiosity. But that change was just temporary, as it seemed, because Aang let out another growl. "I hate him," he muttered and began to pace again. His face looked distorted with a mixture of anger and…hurt. He began stomping on the sand and he let out a yell, that even made Katara nervous when she heard it from the campsite. Aang looked at Sokka's frightened expression, but that didn't change his own. "Why did you tell me this?" he inquired resentfully.
"I thought that you should know," he concluded and winced when Aang approached him dangerously.
"Why did you think that?" he whispered harshly. "Is Katara going to leave us for him?" His eyes widened in surprise when Sokka did not answer. He took a few steps back as he imagined the worst. "You're kidding, right?" he said lightly. "You're kidding! This is all just a joke." Aang started to laugh, expecting at any given moment for Sokka to join him.
Sokka's heart sank down to his stomach after it did another dreadful flip. This wasn't going well. He had expected something totally different. He thought that Aang would be a giggly about it…OK maybe, not giggly…but happy for Katara. Sokka smiled to himself as he came to a wonderful realization. He looked at the sad Aang, who was now drawing pitiful finger art on the sand. "This is a good thing Aang. If Katara and Zuko court, she can convince him into not chasing us!"
"If they court," Aang mumbled hopelessly. "He hates her."
Sokka did a double take. "Err--well. Not exactly," he corrected nervously.
"What?" The young Avatar looked up at Sokka questionably.
"I spoke to him earlier," he admitted hesitantly. "He loves her--"
"WHAT!" Aang yelled as he threw his arms in the air. "You spoke to him earlier? He loves her? …What else should I know? Don't tell me that Appa and Momo are eloping!" He took a seat on the sand, pulled up his knees up to his chest, and stared at Sokka sadly. "Anything else?"
"Do you feel betrayed?" the Water Tribe warrior asked all of the sudden. He felt the need to know. After all, that was the main reason why Katara had hidden her feelings for so long. He needed to know if her predictions were correct.
"Betrayed? No. Why would I?"
"Katara is afraid that you'll feel betrayed. She loves you a lot--"
"But not as much as Prince Zuko," Aang added disappointedly. He sighed in disbelief. The anger had left him and now he just felt sad. He didn't feel betrayed…not at all. He couldn't believe that Katara would think that.
"You like my sister, don't you?" Aang looked away immediately, answering Sokka's question with a yes. He sighed and unsuccessfully tried to make eye contact with the boy. "I'm sorry Aang." The Avatar shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "There's one more thing," Sokka added, thinking that Aang had calmed down.
Aang looked at Sokka miserably. He was on the verge of tears but nodded, telling him that he was ready for whatever he was about to hear.
"Would you be completely opposed, if Katara," he gulped, "married Prince Zuko?" His stomach felt like it ate itself as he watched hopeless pain flood Aang's young face. The boy's head drop on his knees and his shoulder's started to shake, signaling to Sokka that he was crying. This was what he had expected the entire time, not the yelling. He knew that Aang had had a crush on Katara since the moment he met her, but he thought that it was just a small little crush. The warrior didn't think he'd get all broken up over it. He opened his mouth to apologize, but realized that that would be useless because it wasn't his fault that the water bender and the fire bender loved each other. Sokka shook his head and stood up. "That's it. I'm going to go to Prince Zuko's ship and tell him not to come tonight. Don't worry about it Aang. Katara won't leave us," he said, making up his mind, and started to walk down the beach.
Aang looked up and saw Sokka walking away. He went back and forth in his mind, between letting him go and Katara's future happiness. He wiped his wet face with the orange flap on his shirt and yelled after the warrior that now seemed small in the distance. He was the Avatar, and according to law Avatars never married, meaning that Katara had no future with him.
He always knew that the day would come when she had to leave them to create her family. Even if her future family involved the Prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko. And Sokka did have a point when he mentioned the whole "she can convince him into not chasing us" plan. He took a deep breath as Sokka came up to him. "No. Don't tell Prince Zuko anything. I want to talk to him first."
"Are you insane?" asked Sokka disbelievingly. "He'll get you."
Aang shook his head. "I don't think so. If he really loves Katara, he'll listen to me without trying to capture me." He wiped his nose and sniffed. "And in case he really doesn't love Katara, I'll be ready to take him."
"I can't believe you're OK with this," Sokka said, a little relieved.
"I'm not. Who said I was?"
"But--"
"I'm going to talk to Prince Zuko first. Then, you can tell him to leave us alone." Aang got to his feet and dusted sand off himself.
Sokka looked at him in awe. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Aang was acting like a complete…jerk. He frowned as he walked behind him and thought about what Katara would say or do, when she found out about there little conversation.
As they were about to enter the woods, the Avatar began to laugh and he turned around. He looked at the Water Tribe warrior and smiled in triumph. "I can't believe you actually believed that. I know that you want Katara to be happy, that's why you're allowing this. I want her to be happy too. …I love her," he said and started walking again.
"You love her?"
"Not like that, you fool," Aang said, clearing up a little confusion coming from behind him. "I love her like a friend."
Sokka sighed. "Oh. Good. I've had enough of this love nonsense. I won't ever marry. Too much trouble," he decided with his arms crossed. He smiled to himself when Aang laughed at his joke. "Wait. Before we get to camp, I have to ask you not to tell Katara that he's coming. It's a surprise."
"What's he going to do?" Aang turned around and looked at Sokka suspiciously.
"He's proposing," the warrior whispered sadly. He still couldn't face the fact that his sister could be marrying Prince Zuko. He hoped with all his might, that somehow Katara would see the wrongness in this whole thing and say no to that Prince.
"He's what?" asked Aang as he looked at Sokka with terror. "You're allowing him to marry her? Have you gone mad?" He watched Sokka step back in surprise and began to laugh. "You fell for it again. You're so gullible." The Avatar turned around and continued walking towards camp. "I won't tell her if you promise me not to be so gullible." He laughed at his own joke and stepped into their site.
Katara looked at the two boys and sighed in relief when she saw them smiling. Everything had gone well. Aang was not raging mad and Sokka was not miserable. "Are you guys ready to leave?" she asked and stood up from her place.
"Ehh…we're waiting one more day to leave Katara. Appa needs more rest. We want to make good time, so we'll stay here tonight and travel far tomorrow." Aang said and smiled at her brightly. She's so clueless, he thought to himself as she moaned in frustration and unloaded their packs off of Appa. "Sorry I made you pack," he apologized with a slight smile. "I'll do it tomorrow. Promise."
She smiled at her friend and nodded. "If you promise," she said and happily continued to unhook their bags.
"Katara?" She turned to face the boy who had spoken. "Thanks for being such a great friend," he said and grinned at her. She beamed at him and got back to her work. She needed that, he thought and watched her shoo Momo away. She needed to know that I'm grateful…
A/N- I don't really like this chapter. If you guys do, GREAT! I don't like the fact that I don't know how Aang would act if Katara and Zuko got together. It just bothers me.
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