Part: One- The Lutdeo
Chapter: Nineteen- Indecisive
Author: Fritters-4-Psi
Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the Koertan, Kashi, Risha, the concept of the grith coin, Vioniza, Raven's Watch, and Kali. Other possible things to come in later chapters.
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It was still early. Far earlier than Sokka would have liked to waken. Judging by the shadows cast on the floor by the newly risen sun, it wasn't quite yet half an hour past dawn. He had almost forgotten what had kept him up so late the night before. Then he remembered, though. Risha and he had kissed. After that, he couldn't get to sleep, so he decided that reading might tire his eyes. It didn't, though. Sokka guessed that he hadn't gotten to sleep till past midnight.
The Water Tribe warrior closed his eyes. Before Risha, the last girl he had kissed had been Princess Yue. She was beautiful and kind. Had been, Sokka mentally corrected himself. Yue had been beautiful and kind. Even in her last moments, she had been thinking for the good of her people. It was less than two months ago that the Princess had given her life to revive the Moon Spirit. By doing so, in a sense, Princess Yue had saved the world.
Sokka thought he had loved Yue with all his heart. The night before he, Katara, and Aang had left the North Pole, he had spent the night out by her grave, crying himself to sleep. That night, it had been one month exactly since she had died, so the moon was full once more. He swore that he had heard Yue telling him that everything would be okay. Everything was not okay, Sokka now realized. Yue had given her life to stop the Fire Nation, but there he was, not only fraternizing with the enemy, but also kissing her. Risha had plainly told them that she was from the Fire Nation.
How could he be thinking like this? Risha wasn't the enemy. Prince Zuko, her cousin, was the enemy. Risha had risked her life twice to help them. She may not be as beautiful as Yue had been, but Risha was compassionate. The Fauna Bender clearly loved all animals and was willing to help anyone in need. No, Risha wasn't the enemy. She hadn't even been to the Fire Nation for, what it seemed like, a long time.
Still, in his heart, Sokka was unsure. It was possible that he was finally beginning to adjust to Yue's death. To him, it seemed so wrong that in two months time he could get over the fact that someone he loved had died and move on. Maybe, he didn't love Yue as much as he thought he did. It had been almost eight years and the pain still hadn't lessened from his mother's death.
Of course, Katara remembered that the anniversary of their mother's death was approaching. She always kept how she felt about it inside. His sister would act as if it was a normal day, but really she was hurting inside. Sokka, on the other hand, would be cynical for weeks nearing and passing that time. He would lash out, seemingly unnecessarily, at the slightest annoyance. He was always sorry for his behavior, though.
He could talk to Risha about it. She probably would understand how he was feeling. After all, she had also lost her mother. Sokka had never talked about his mother's passing, even though he knew he should. Sure, he had thought about what he would say when he talked to others about it, but it just seemed so difficult. He knew Risha was congenial. She would, probably, sit and listen to him for hours. Maybe it was time to talk about his mother and her death.
Sokka opened his eyes and stood up. Chances were that Risha was already awake. Even if she wasn't, he was sure she wouldn't mind if he woke her. Slowly and quietly, he began to walk over to the door to Risha's room. He almost jumped when he heard floor boards creak loudly. He looked in the general direction of where the sound came from. Sokka saw his sister standing at the top of the stairs leading down to the first floor. "What are you doing?" Katara whispered loudly.
"Why do you need to know?" Sokka asked harshly, knowing that it would be taken as part of his cynicism, "What are you doing"
Katara almost seemed to hesitate, before answering. "I'm going outside," she replied, "To go for a walk and get some fresh air."
Quickly, the Water Bender hurried down the stairs and out the door. Her brother shook his head slightly in confusion. On any other occasion, he might be worried for his sister. Between her being a Water Master, Risha being there, and the grith coins, he couldn't imagine how Katara could get hurt. Unless, of course, Zuko was outside. Sokka was positive, though, that he would have heard the Fire Nation Prince leave.
Sokka continued moving carefully to Risha's room. When he arrived at the door, he knocked quietly. There was no answer or any movement from inside the room. Once again, he knocked. Still, nothing. Slowly, he opened her door. After looking around inside, Sokka decided that Risha must have gone outside to feed her animals.
The Water Tribe warrior stepped to the door leading outside. He opened it to see Risha walking toward him. At a slow jog, he ran up to meet her. "Hey, good morning, Sokka," she said.
Making herself taller by standing on the tips of her toes, Risha leaned forward. After a short kiss, she asked, "How are you?"
"I'm fine," he replied, "Uh, Risha, would you mind talking to me for a minute?"
"Of course, I wouldn't mind," Risha stated.
Sokka grabbed the Fauna Bender gently by the arm and pulled her to a bench near the house. As they walked over, out of the corner of his eye, he saw some movement near the barn. He turned and saw Zuko and Katara, walking together, arms linked, going out behind the barn. "Sorry, but this is going to have to wait," he apologized, "I've got some other business to attend to first."
He left Risha standing at the bench. He ran as fast as he could toward the Fire Nation Prince with only one thing on his mind. Vengeance.
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Here is the second chapter of the Two Chapter Update New Year Special! Dance and be merry! And, of course, review!