Surprise

It had been three weeks after the Northern Siege. Yue was gone. She died. He had felt her spirit leave her body and that dead weight of lifelessness. Yue…the new spirit of the moon. The woman that he had loved.

It had taken Sokka forever to come out of his state of mind. He remained clammed up—no speaking, no eating, and hardly any breathing. What got him out of that depressive, borderline over-emotional state? He didn't know. There was someone out there…perhaps Yue herself…someone was telling him to move forward: that life was full of hardships, and this just happened to be one of them. That evening, he ate for the first time in days. Aang and Katara smiled at him as he progressively came out of his depression. He stopped blaming himself for Yue's death, and eventually…

…Came back to normal.

Katara was shocked one morning to find her brother not only eating, but had prepared the meal himself. Immediately, she questioned the health ramifications of the meal she was about to eat. Sokka didn't say much, but that was understood. Although he was eating again, it would take a lot to bring Sokka back to his original state: before he met Yue…before he fell in love with her. Katara neither blamed Sokka or Yue for what had happened, or the result of it. She didn't blame anyone…except maybe Zhou. Death had reserved a seat for that bastard on the ninth level of hell.

Sokka ate in silence, watching the waves crash below them. The sun was setting over the horizon, creating a magenta ambiance. Katara, seated next to him, began humming a familiar tune. It was the Southern Prayer of Peace. As a child, Katara loved that song. Almost every night after she learned it, she would sing it…hoping that some higher deity would hear her.

"Laat de hemel vallen

in de oceaan

laat de oceaanstijging

aan de hemel

zon het vallen

maan die hoog toeneemt

Laat Dark verheugen me

in het Licht

Vrede van Naties

Kom aan ons

enkel als twilight

draaien aan nacht

de lucht is rond ons

de brand ontmoet water

het water ontmoet aarde

de vrede komt aan ons

Wij bidden

Amen"

By the fourth line of the song, Sokka had joined Katara. This was the one song that his parents made sure he could sing properly before they left. Although Sokka chose not to believe in the One, Katara did. She sang this song to make her feel better…to give her hope. Katara believed in the One who planned destinies. Sokka believed that man made his own destinies. Although they believed in different spiritual things, Sokka still loved the song. It made Katara happy, so it made him happy. This was one of the few things that he put up from her.

"You remember the song," Katara said softly in their language, Ojuay (oh-joo-way).

"Of course I do. Do you know how many times Mom made me practice it?" Sokka asked.

"Well, you were always off key."

"I was six."

"I picked it up on key, and I was five." Katara stifled a giggle.

"That's because you believe," Sokka said. Katara turned towards him. They had had this conversation many times. "You believe that the song will actually bring peace to the land." Sokka looked out at the darkening sky. "That's what I admire about you, Katara. You have faith in something that you cannot see. That boggles my mind every night. How do you do it?"

"I don't know, Sokka. I just do. I see the world and I think, 'Wow. That's amazing. The Creator must have an artistic eye to make the world such a beautiful place.' It's automatic."

"I still don't understand. And the afterlife thing…I still can't get a grips on that."

"Doesn't help you to know that Mom is in a better place, not just rotting in the ground?"

"Well…"

"That's how it is for me. The afterlife gives me hope that there's something better out there for us who have done good…and a hell for those who are evil."

"That was a beautiful song, Katara," Aang, the 12-year-old monk said. He was silent through the whole conversation. He could feel tension rising between them, even if he could hardly understand what they were saying, so he changed the subject. It had been so long since he had heard Ojuay that he had forgotten what it sounded like. Most people spoke Fiage, the Fire Language. He could feel the Spirit of a Past Avatar give him the necessary tools to communicate with Katara and Sokka. This happened frequently.

"Thank you, Aang. It's a traditional song. Almost everyone in the village knows it, and I'm sure the Northerners know it too. Gran-Gran taught it to me."

"What's it about?"

"It's about peace between the Nations, and the hope that the One will stop the war," Sokka said.

"The One. The Creator," Aang said, thinking back to one of his teachings at the Air Temple. "Do you believe in the One?"

"No. I don't. I don't believe in any of those entities."

"But you must believe in something. It gives you something to live for."

"I live for my family," Sokka said, just as the final traces of the sun slipped behind a patch of land. Sokka turned to watch it. "Let's land there. It looks like it's safe."

As if on cue, the whistling of a Fire Nation Rocket zoomed through the sky.

"Look out!" Aang screamed. Sokka jumped towards his sister and shoved her to the ground. The rocket exploded dangerously close. Some sparks flew into the saddle. The smell of gunpowder and smoke filled the air. More followed after the first. Aang took his glider, jumped and began fighting off the increasing amount of rockets and flaming rocks.

"Yes, that island looks safe," Katara said sarcastically. "You are a real jinx, you know that?"

"Shut up, Katara. We need to navigate Appa through this mess. You do your water-magic thing, and I'll guide."

"It's waterbending! It's not magic!" Katara shouted. Sokka waved her off and jumped on Appa's neck. 'Just like Ice Dodging, just like Ice Dodging,' Sokka reminded himself. The rockets came through in the dozens. Aang couldn't keep them all back. "Hang in there, Aang, you're doing great!" Katara shouted.

'Feel for the Ocean's Core,' Katara thought. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the water below her. She clutched her hand around air, but it felt solid. She had the water. With a quick yank, it was up to her level. Fully taken over by the water's Power, Katara felt its rhythm thrumming through her veins. She could feel where to throw the water. Every time, it was a hit. The rockets went down one by one.

"Keep going, Katara!" Sokka and Aang called out. Katara's eyes snapped open, rendering her waterbending skills useless. The water-bat fell back to the sea. The sudden drop of power caused Katara to loose her footing and she fell off of Appa.

"Katara!" Sokka screamed. He jumped from his position and looked over the saddle. Katara was holding onto Appa's fur, towards his feet, but she was slowly slipping.

"Sokka, help me!" Katara screamed at her older brother. "I'm slipping!" She took a huge lunge down. "Sokka, help!"

"Hang on!"

"Hurry!" Sokka wrapped his foot in a spare rope and tied it to the saddle. "Sokka!"

There was hardly any fur left.

The rockets were still on full ricochet.

"Sokka!" Katara screamed once more, as her holding on the fur was lost. She was in air for two tenths of a second before Sokka's hand wrapped around her wrist. Katara looked up at her older brother. Tears were falling from her face. "Don't let go…" she whimpered. "Don't let go."

"I'll never let go," Sokka said. He felt gravity's tug on him increase as he dropped a few inches.

"Sokka! The rope!" The rope securing his feet was slipping. It wasn't going to last much longer. "Do something!"

"I can't! I'm stuck!" Sokka said. He looked past Katara. The water below them had to be at least 600 feet away. He was going to die.

Katara started to slip from his hands.

"Sokka, don't let go," she said through gritted teeth. "Don't let go!"

"I won't, I won't!" Just then…

…She slipped.

Katara had to have fallen for a good second before Aang came from behind her and caught her. Sokka let out a sigh of relief. He flipped himself and pulled on Appa's fur to get to the saddle again.

Aang held onto Katara as they glided back to the saddle. Her eyes were gleaming in the moonlight. He blushed as he felt his stomach drop. 'Best friend,' he reminded himself. 'No feelings like that for her.' They glided to the saddle, and Aang pulled Katara onto it.

"Thank you, Aang," Katara said. She hugged him tightly. Aang held on for a brief moment longer. He could smell her hair-perfume they had received as thank-you gifts from the nuns at the abbey. It smelt like snow…what a pretty smell…

"Uh…Aang…can you…uh…let go?" Katara asked. She wasn't trying to be mean or anything. She just wanted her arms back.

Sokka was in a corner. The past few moments running in his head over and over. He had dropped her. He had dropped his sister. Had it not been for Aang, his sister would have died. The sheer magnitude of this guilt took to the young waterbender's mind. A few tears fell from his cheeks.

"Sokka?" Katara tried, softly. "Sokka?" She moved to him and wrapped her arms around her brother. "Sokka, it's ok. It's ok."

"I dropped you, Katara. You could have died!" Sokka said, struggling to keep his tears down. Damn pride…always getting in the way!

"No she wouldn't. I was here," Aang said, trying to be optimistic.

"I promised Dad that I would protect you," he choked. "For that brief second…I thought I was going to loose you like Mom…and Yue…"

"Sokka," Katara said. She rocked him back and forth, trying to comfort him. "Sokka, shh…it's ok." He swallowed his pride and let the tears fall. "Shh…it's ok. I'm still alive…I'm not going anywhere."

All Aang could do was watch the siblings…

…Feeling guilty that he couldn't do anything…

…That he wasn't there in the beginning…

He knew of place that could help him…

…The Spirit Realm.

bandgeek's music corner

WOW! I love all of you guys who reviewed! OMG! I've never gotten this many reviews this quickly. Hope I didn't bore you with this five-page chapter. This is it revised. So, what did ya'll think? Was Sokka's break down too OOC? I didn't think so because he's supposed to be the protector and he almost lost Katara…and shock and yeah. w/e. Just post what you like and didn't like.

Uhh..oh, yes. Now I remember. Remember when I said I would pick between German and Inuit for the Water Tribe language? I chose neither. It's Dutch. Dutch is shorter than German and sounds better…I guess. I don't really know how it's supposed to sound. I had this great tune for Katara's song, but I can't put the melody here, now can I? I can't. So, sorry. Make up your own. I had so much fun writing this scene. I could just totally see this happening. Oh, and there won't be much more Spanish because that's the One's language. It's like Latin; no one speaks it anymore.

Here's the translation for Katara's song:

Let the sky fall down/ Into the ocean/ Let the ocean rise up/ To the sky/ Sun has fallen down/ Moon is rising high/ Let the Dark rejoice

In the Light/ Peace of all the Nations/ Come to us now/ Just as the twilight/ Fades to the night/ Air is all around us/ Fire meeting water

Water meeting land/ Peace come to us/ We pray/
Amen

I would love to talk to you each individually on this sheet, giving you my thanks for reviewing, however, this is long enough as it is. So, from the bottom of my heart: thank you.

Five reviews and you get another review this week! Cookies to the first reviewer!

Go now:)