Just A Piece Of Your Puzzle
Disclaimer: I own nothing. And, unfortunately, I never will.
It was morning. The sun's rays shone through the tent's 'door', awakening Sokka from his nightmares. He continually tossed and turned on the cold, hard ground all night, his thoughts plagued by this 'prophecy' Katara had mentioned. Why was he apart of a prophecy? Sure, he didn't want to be the weak one, the one that ran away, the one that everyone saw him as, but a piece of a prophecy? Someone to save an entire tribe? That was Aang's job. It was Katara's job to be Aang's sidekick. Sokka? He was the one that got the battle plans, even if they didn't work more than half the time. They had jobs. And all of that was falling apart, and all because he wasn't who everyone thought.
He sat up, just to notice Katara and Aang starting to stir, and three extra sleeping bags rolled up in the corner of the tent. The Earth Benders were already awake. 'Well,' Sokka thought, 'I'm going to have to face them sooner or later, right? May as well be sooner.' He took a deep breath, grabbing his boomerang and walking out of the faded green tent. He was right. The Earth Benders were outside, the three of them crowded around a small fire, where a small boar was cooking. Their heads snapped in his direction.
One of them smiled. "Why, hello!" he exclaimed. "I am Gero, one of the Earth Benders. I suppose that your friends told you about us, no?" Gero was a dark haired man, slightly muscular and short with a sword attached to his waist. His hair fell down past his shoulders, wrapped tightly in a braid.
"A little bit," Sokka replied, walking over and sitting on one of the logs with the Earth Benders.
"What did they say?" another asked, this one with short red hair that was cut around his ears, and long, skinny legs that almost reached the fire.
Sokka froze. This made him completely uncomfortable -- he was the person in the prophecy, but nobody knew it. Nobody except the people back at his home. And they couldn't help him now. "Oh, Picco, you made him nervous," Gero scolded slightly.
The long-legged man shrugged. "I tend to do that alot, huh?"
"No, no, it's.. it's okay," Sokka stammered. "They... Well, they told me that you're looking for someone that you abandoned as a baby, some prophecy kid..."
"Ah, yes," Gero mused. He nodded. "He'd be around your age, I believe. You are fifteen, correct?"
"Y-Yes, sir."
"Alrighty, then. He'll be sixteen in a couple of months, I believe."
'It really is me that they're looking for,' Sokka thought, the color draining from his face. "Well, 'least we know that you don't have any bending powers, so that takes you off our list of possible people," the third one announced, staring into the fire. This third Earth Bender was bald, and shorter than Gero, but even more muscular. A sword and shield was attached to his back.
"Don't be rude, Mako," Gero scolded.
Mako scoffed. "Just telling it like it is." 'You have no idea what it is,' Sokka thought.
"Hey, guys," Aang called, joining the group, followed by Katara. "Before we leave, can you try to teach me how to bend Earth a little bit? Only for an hour or two, or until the boar is done cooking. Sokka can watch the boar while we work on it," Aang suggested.
"Alright. Let's help the Avatar, then. He may not be the prophecy child but he will save the world, according to legend, not just the Earth Kingdom," Gero agreed, and the other two Earth Benders nodded in agreement. They all stood, walking towards the forest. Once they were out of eyeshot, Sokka brought some more rocks over to the fire, creating a bigger circle, not once getting up from his spot. Little did he know that as he did so, Mako had started coming back for a pouch of stones, and caught Sokka in the act.
------------------------------------
When the rest of the group got back, Sokka was just cutting up the boar. Mako's eyes seemed to be glued on Sokka, never leaving the fifteen-year-old. And it just made Sokka uncomfortable. He squirmed on the rough log, taking slow bites of his boar. When he was finished, Sokka dashed to the tent to pack -- anything to get away from Mako. But Mako followed.
"I know," Mako whispered. "I know your secret."
Sokka stood erect, his face showing obvious fear. "H-how? And... Will... Will you tell them?"
"I saw. And yes... I will have to tell them. We need you."
"How do you know that I am The One?"
"Tell me about you."
"My... my grandmother said that she had found me, abandoned, slightly close to the Earth Kingdom.. As - as a baby."
"Then you are The One."
"I don't want to be The One!"
"You have no choice in the matter. Do you think that Aang was begging to be the Avatar? No. He had no choice, he had to accept that it was his destiny. He failed the people once, and now he is trying to make up for that mistake, that a past Avatar had made, in the past. Now pack your things, and I will tell the others about who you are."
"NO!" Sokka shouted. Mako paused. "Not... not yet. Please, just wait a while. A couple of days... It will take us a week or so to get to the Earth Kingdom, a couple of days to prepare me to tell them.. Please," Sokka begged. Mako sighed.
"You have three days. If you don't tell after three days, I will."
"Thank you," Sokka whispered, grabbing the things and walking from the tent.
A/N: P Now Mako knows. Now Sokka has three days to tell his sister, the other two Earth Benders, and Aang that he is the one of the prophecy... What do you think so far? Read and review, please! (And yes, I know that this chapter is shorter than the first... Please bear with me here.)