A/N:
So… Part 3 begins here. The actual arc names for some of our future arcs will be slightly longer than what this site allows in chapter names, therefore, I've opted for featuring the chapter title within the chapter itself now. I'll try to adapt the rest of the story to this change, too.
At any rate, here it goes.
Broken Apart
1
A scream tore through the sky and across the land: the despair in that voice was so uniquely, unexpectedly human that Zuko dropped the snow hare he'd successfully speared moments ago, whipping his head in the direction of that sound.
"What in the world…?" he said, despite knowing no one would hear him: he had always preferred hunting by himself in areas not too distant from the tribe's territories.
Many hunters were out that day – or what counted as day when it was dark as night all the time – but he had elected, as always, to do his work by himself, counting on his increasing experience at catching animals through stealth and quick, effective maneuvers. He had always believed he was better served by putting his methods into practice while he was alone…
Now, though, he wished he had someone else working alongside him, someone else to reassure him that what he'd heard wasn't the ghoul-like scream of some lost soul in the icy tundra, but just the blowing wind that often whistled with sounds akin to those of human voices. He wanted to believe he had misunderstood it, that it was nothing, that he should just collect the third of the hares and fasten it to his pack along with the pair he'd caught before finally spearing this one.
He gritted his teeth and returned to his task, pulling out a thin rope and tightening it around the creature's small body. He had come here to find dinner, that's what he was supposed to do. He'd go back to the tribe, tell someone about the noise he'd heard, they'd put his mind to rest by reassuring him that he had merely imagined things… that he had thought too much of something irrelevant, in the end. That was all… that was all there could be to that strange voice, right? The wind, it had to be the wind…
His forceful explanation, he knew, was unreasonable: what little breeze blew today had been too tame to elicit any such sounds regardless of the menacing, swirling snow clouds that gathered above the Pole. If that sound had been the whistling of the wind, surely a powerful gust would have followed… and none had.
It had been too human. There had been something genuinely desperate about it… there was no way wind could make a sound like that. It didn't matter how inconvenient it might be to accept it, Zuko knew he had no choice but to do so: maybe another team of hunters was in trouble. If he was the only one close enough to hear their distress call, it'd be up to him to help them.
The thought that a tribe member might be in danger finally pushed him to his feet. Zuko threw the bound hares over his shoulder and he breathed deeply: he couldn't play deaf if someone needed him. Suki would have to forgive him for bringing the meat of their dinner stew a little later than intended… but considering the urgency of the situation, Zuko had no doubts she would understand.
He set out through the snow, his boots sinking slowly as he strode towards the source of the noise: he frowned upon realizing it had come from the north when most hunters sought their prey deeper into the core of the South Pole, or at its western or eastern shores. Zuko frowned, using the butt of his spear as a walking stick to help him probe the snowy grounds ahead for any unexpected stabilities or shifts in the terrain that might not be apparent under the layers of snow… another layer of it was bound to join soon as well: small snowflakes tumbled gracefully from the sky, sending yet another wave of unease through his chest. He had learned a few tricks for recognizing the more hazardous snow clouds with the rest of the Tribe across the past years, but his judgment on the matter, he knew, was nowhere near as solid as that of the many tribespeople who had been born and raised in this fickle, beautiful and merciless weather. What seemed to be an innocent snowfall right now could easily prove to be a punishing snowstorm, and he certainly would be better off finding his way back home before this got any worse…
Whoever was responsible for that scream was still out there. He wasn't sure it would be a hunter anymore… but it could be someone like Kino, perhaps, if the goofball had somehow decided to go fishing by himself for once instead of waiting for someone else to finally relent and bring him along on any of their trips. If that were the case, he certainly had to fetch the former soldier and give him quite the earful about his recklessness… especially for putting others at risk with his antics. He couldn't carelessly make someone, anyone, brave the frozen lands of the South Pole to find him over his fickle whims…
Years of enduring the biting temperatures had taught Zuko methods of resistance against the bad weather: in the earlier days, he had kept his inner fire alive through stubbornness and irritation at the cold more than anything. By now, that inner fire burned strong and steady in his chest. The only part of his body exposed to the chilling environment was his face, and the icy air no longer bothered him as much as it used to. He could keep progressing towards the shores of the South Pole regardless of the low temperatures… though he certainly hoped it wouldn't grow any colder, and he also hoped that the snowfall wouldn't be too heavy until he was safe and sound in his family's igloo.
He slowed to a halt about ten minutes after he had resolved to seek out the source of the noise: his eyes fell upon the building that would never belong in the South Pole, the abandoned building of the occupation forces that had been called back to the Fire Nation's other southern outposts. He frowned at the sight of it: that cry couldn't have come from there, could it? He suspected the sound had come from here, somewhere… but a single glance at the settlement, at its tall, unwelcoming walls, led him to conclude the place was empty, as it had been since before his arrival in the south.
"Is it a ghost…?" Zuko said, with a grimace. It wasn't as though he truly believed in such things, but it seemed the likeliest explanation at this point, for he hadn't come across anything alarming so far…
A careless glance further north saw his eyes falling upon a strange mound of snow at the base of the unused docks, not far from the settlement itself. Zuko blinked and frowned: it looked like odd rocks… but he was certain there had been no such rocks there when he had arrived in the South Pole many years ago.
He approached warily, still holding his spear before himself, ready to use it if he found anything dangerous. Yet the closer he came, the stranger he found the rocks… for, up close, they didn't seem to be rocks in the least. Instead, it looked like… fabric, of some sort. Brown fabric… or was it some sort of leather?
Puzzled, Zuko sped up, cutting the distance between himself and the strange mounds of snow with strong strides until he finally reached them. A thin layer of snow coated the top of them, but as soon as he struck the nearest one with the butt of his spear, the rustling sound of shifting fabric revealed it was, in fact, some sort of sack, or a bag… full to the brim with contents that brought a frown to his face.
"What in the…?" he said, leaning down to tug the flap of the bag open with his gloved hand.
He would have recognized a boomerang easily, even before having spent all this time living in the South Pole, where it was a common weapon… yet the design in this one was familiar, alarmingly so. A sudden rush of confusion shook him as he tugged the bag closed again, reaching for the next one, the largest of the bunch… tugging it open as well to find the detailed, engraved pommel of a sword he had last seen long ago, that he had even fought against, as well as the club that rested beside it…
"The hell is…?" he said, blinking repeatedly as he rose to his feet.
Was he hallucinating? Had he been out in the ice for too long and he was seeing things? Because there was no way he'd found bags with Sokka's belongings in them, with absolutely no explanation, sitting here, in the cold…
Zuko raised his gaze to the dark horizon, finding nothing in the distance… yet he suddenly glimpsed something at the far end of the main, otherwise empty, dock.
A shudder rushed through his body as he stepped closer, apprehensively: yet again, he had no doubts there had been nothing upon that dock the last time he'd been here… now, however, there was something there, lying flat upon the unkempt, metal pier. Something that didn't move… something lined with fresh snow, much as the bags had been.
He forced himself to walk towards it at first, uneasy, unwilling to accept the reality he suspected he was about to face… but the closer he came, the better he could distinguish that shape in the darkness. The first thing he made sense of were the legs, clad in boots ill-suited for this weather: the fabric of those trousers, too, appeared so thin it likely wouldn't keep any of the cold at bay. But then there was another layer of clothes, bound around the waist… then, what appeared to be a black, smooth armor.
Zuko shuddered for a moment, as denial flared in his mind… as confusion gripped his chest and his mind demanded for a rational explanation… but there was none to be found, not unless he reached the man lying on that dock to ascertain he wasn't dead just yet.
That thought jumpstarted his mind: Zuko raced down the dock, dropping his spear as he kicked up snow everywhere. This couldn't be happening, it really couldn't be… but if it was, he had to do something. He had to do something, anything…
By the time he reached the man, who lay on his side upon that dock, a wave of fear gripped Zuko: was he too late? He clenched his jaw, violently pulling the armor towards himself, making the man roll on his back…
His face was unhealthily pale, and frost clung to his cheeks. The color of his lips was nearly purplish by now, and as the eyes were closed, Zuko truly feared the worst just as he accepted the reality he couldn't deny for another moment:
It was Sokka.
It was Sokka, and he was freezing to death.
"You… what the hell are you doing here?!" Zuko exclaimed, gritting his teeth as he pulled his gloves off in a quick motion. "Why are you…?! What the hell happened to you, damn it…?!"
He rubbed his hands brusquely, enough to spark heat in them, and he pressed his palms to Sokka's face: he was so cold, so damn cold… for how long had he been here? If he had been the source of that despaired cry… maybe not that long. Yet it was long enough to do serious damage to an unprepared body in such low temperatures, Zuko suspected… he snarled as he tugged Sokka up, placing two fingers under his nostrils, hoping to find out whether he was still breathing or not…
A very light intake of breath caused Zuko to gasp, in disbelieving relief.
"You… you're not dead, damn you, and you're not going to die. Not on my watch, curses…!" he groaned, pulling Sokka closer in an attempt to hoist him up…
But not only was Sokka a rather large man, taller than even his father, he also was clad in a heavy armor that only made matters worse: the metal was freezing cold, another detrimental factor in the freezing man's already delicate condition.
"Fucking hell, Sokka…" Zuko growled, struggling to find the clasps to undo the breastplate and yank it off his body. His own hands were starting to lose what little warmth he'd evoked in them, but he managed to release each buckle before the cold got to him too badly.
That he would be wearing his usual, sleeveless shirt underneath the armor nearly made Zuko balk in utter outrage: this was absurd. This had to be a ridiculous hallucination because, if it was real, Sokka was utterly mad for having traveled to the South Pole in such a getup…
But what man would willingly travel back to his hometown just to freeze to death when he was a mere ten-minute walk away from his family?
Fear gripped Zuko as he shrugged off his gear: he set down the three hares he had hunted and he yanked off his parka in a smooth motion before struggling to slide it down on Sokka's cold, heavy and rigid body: he didn't bother pulling Sokka's arms through the sleeves, as it was probably better to keep them pressed to his body.
"And now I… I have to carry you to the tribe. That's going to be fun," Zuko said, releasing a breath as he pulled his parka's hood over Sokka's head. "Don't suppose you'll surprise me by coming to your senses now…?"
No response. Of course not. Zuko gritted his teeth and shook his head before clasping Sokka's arms and pulling them around his own neck: he leaned forward, hands underneath the gladiator's thighs, and he rose with difficulty to his feet.
"You… are fucking heavy, you hear me…?" Zuko hissed, struggling to retain his footing, but resolving to do as much, no matter what.
It was Sokka. He couldn't make heads or tails of whatever this meant, but he had to save him. Katara would likely kill him if he didn't do everything in his power to help Sokka… Hakoda might, too. And Azula would as well… wouldn't she?
Where was she? The fact that seeing Sokka without Azula felt so utterly wrong to Zuko only dawned on him then. Maybe, if it had been their two freezing bodies, he would be less inclined to believe this was a weird hallucination. But just Sokka…? What on earth could have caused his sister to ever part ways with the one man she had admitted to loving…?
Zuko swallowed hard as he cast a glance at his bags and the dinner he would have to come back to collect later. Curses, he hoped the weather wouldn't worsen too much before he could bring Sokka home…
"If you want to make things a little less uncomfortable, this would be the right time for you to wake up…" Zuko said, gritting his teeth as he took a first step towards the base of the dock… towards the settlement, and beyond it, the Water Tribe.
No response, yet again. Zuko sighed as Sokka's hooded head hung on his shoulder: he deliberately forced Sokka to shift positions so that his nose would be uncomfortably close to Zuko's neck. However irritating as it was to have this man breathing down his neck quite so literally, it was the best way to make sure he was still alive while Zuko set out on the long walk back to the village.
"Well. Feel free to come back to your senses halfway through our walk, if you'd rather do that instead," he grunted, exerting as much strength as he could by holding Sokka upright, walking down the dock as quickly as he could, sorting past the bags with Sokka's belongings without a second thought: they, as well, would have to wait until he could return to collect them later.
The snow wouldn't help, neither would the cold breeze: if only Zuko had thought there might be warmer clothing somewhere within Sokka's bags, he would have ransacked them right away to fend off the cold. But if the man was dressed in such a light outfit, the likelihood was that he had nothing better to wear within reach. Snarling and breathing with difficulty as he juggled balance and speed at the same time, Zuko could only hope he'd run into a few other hunters, or that perchance someone would happen to come out to find him before long. Yet, even if no one did, he'd carry Sokka to the very gates of the village, no matter if he barely felt strong enough for the task… but it needed to be done. Hesitating and questioning himself would only make matters worse for the two of them.
Even though so many hunters were out, hard at work, several warriors had remained in the village, tasked with guarding the walls that enclosed their people's homes. As so many had taken off to hunt, the least accomplished hunter in the Tribe had chosen to stay behind, moping as he wished at least one or two teams of hunters had elected to go fishing, instead.
"You can go fishing with someone tomorrow, can't you?" Haka asked Kino, nudging him with an elbow when the Fire Nation-born man sighed for the umpteenth time that day, as he stood with both Haka and Kattan by the wall's watch tower. "No need to be all that miserable and sulky…"
"I guess I could," he said, glancing at Haka with a slowly growing smile. "Wanna go fishing with me?"
"Uh, no," Haka answered, immediately. Kino pouted, as Kattan, beside his fellow Water Tribe warrior, laughed while keeping an eye on the horizon.
"Why not?!" Kino pouted. "I'm getting better at it! Or, well, I was getting better, but if I can't get any practice in, I'll just regress to being useless at it, you know?"
"Why can't you ask your usual fishing buddies to help you?" asked Haka, raising an eyebrow. "We're only here instead of hunting because the Chief asked us to stay and keep watch for today, you know?"
"Well, sure, but I figured you guys might just be refined enough to appreciate the finer points of fishing…?" Kino said, haughtily… before sighing again, this time with defeat. "Okay, okay, the truth is that… I doubt I'll get to go fishing with Aang and Katara anytime soon. Those two are taking their training very seriously lately, you see…"
"Heh, yeah. I've noticed," Kattan said, and Haka glanced at him in surprise. "I needed Katara to give me a hand with that stupid bruise I got when I kicked the cooking pot by mistake a couple of days ago, but she was off training. I went to fetch her the next morning and she was all hasty about treating me, I asked if she had to train again, and she said she did…"
"Must be one heck of a technique they're working on, huh…?" Haka said, raising an eyebrow knowingly as Kattan chuckled and shook his head.
"Dual bending, or something…?" he suggested. Haka snorted… and Kino eyed them cluelessly.
"What, you think they're like… whipping up big rainstorms or something?" he asked. "With his airbending, and her waterbending… it'd be really neat, wouldn't it?"
"Uh… sure. That's what we meant. Of course," Haka said, with a dry grin as Kattan laughed again. Kino gasped.
"Hey, you guys! That's mean! What aren't you telling me?" he pouted.
"Nothing, nothing, just… you'll be better off finding another fishing buddy as soon as you can, Kino. That's all I can advise you," Haka said, patting Kino's shoulder as he pouted.
"Well, nobody wants to go with me, I asked you guys because I hoped you might want to, but…" Kino said, and Haka flinched. "See? You don't want to go either! What's so bad about going fishing with me, eh? Is it because I talk too much?"
"Uh… Yeah," Haka decided, nodding, and Kino gasped in indignation as Haka chuckled and patted his shoulder again. "Alright, the truth is just I'm not that big on fish myself, pal, don't take it personally…"
"Absurd! The fish around these parts is much tastier than the meat of whatever prey you guys get to hunt here!" Kino said, hands on his hips as he scowled at Haka, who scoffed immediately. "It'd be different if you had moosow briskets, or so, but…"
"Hey, you take that back! What sort of Fire Nation guy are you, eh, saying you'd rather eat fish than meat?!" he asked, only for Kino to turn up his nose stubbornly.
"And what sort of Water Tribe guy are you, saying you'd rather eat meat than fish?!"
Haka froze, unsure of how to respond to that, as Kino smirked upon knowing he had successfully ensnared the warrior in his own trap. It was his chance, then, to force Haka into a fishing partnership with him, if only to make him prove just how true his Water Tribe roots were…!
"What the heck is that?"
Kino froze on the spot, scowling at Kattan: the man was squinting, staring at the dark horizon pointedly, attentively.
"Oh, no! Don't try to pull that sort of trick on me!" Kino squeaked. "You two will have to be my new fishing buddies, whether you want to be or not…!"
"We can talk fishing later, Kino… there's something out there," Kattan said, raising a gloved hand and pointing at whatever he'd glimpsed.
Both Kino and Haka frowned as they glanced in the direction Kattan was gesturing at: the icy wall that enclosed the Southern Water Tribe served as a perfect vantage point for the three men to keep watch, but with the swirling clouds above them, and the inherent darkness of the persistent night, their line of sight was certainly quite limited.
Yet, within that shroud of varying degrees of blackness, both Kino and Haka glimpsed movement, just as Kattan had. Instinctively, the ever-ready warrior Haka raised his spear, reaching for his boomerang with his free hand. Kattan, on the other hand, held off from brandishing any weapons until he could unravel whether whatever he'd seen was a threat or not.
"That's the settlement's direction," Haka reminded his two companions. "Our hunters don't usually go that way…"
"Zuko kind of does, doesn't he?" Kattan asked, grimacing. "Could be it's just him…"
"It better just be him," Haka said, breathing deeply. "Otherwise… well, I don't even want to think of it."
"But if it's him, he's going really slowly, isn't he?" Kino said, hands on his hips. "Maybe he caught a pretty big creature?"
"He'd be lucky if he had," Haka said, raising an eyebrow. "It's either that or…"
"He's… wounded?" said Kino, and the idea was horrific to so much as consider…
"Either thing means we should go help him, right?" Kattan said. Haka breathed deeply but nodded.
"I'll let Nanuk know. He'll keep watch while we're out there," Haka said, leaping down the wall quickly.
Kino and Kattan followed, but they marched towards the village gates while Haka rushed towards the nearby Nanuk: the man had been sitting by the enclosure where he kept the village's dogs and he agreed immediately to watch the wall for any other returning hunters or dangers while the three younger warriors rushed out of the village. After picking up a nearby lantern, Haka rushed to follow Kino and Kattan, hoping the light would alert Zuko, or whoever was out there, that they were nearby… and if it wasn't Zuko, hopefully the light would serve to prove that they wouldn't hesitate to strike them down if they continued to approach the Water Tribe.
"I don't see well enough yet…" Kino said, squinting and struggling to glimpse something, for the lantern's glare barely shed any light deeper into the darkness of the Pole. Haka stepped ahead of him, walking across the snow while clutching his spear tightly.
"Well, there's something there for sure, but…" Haka started, only for a faint voice to drift from where that dark, distant shadow shifted.
"Guys…! Help…!"
Kino's eyes widened: he didn't hesitate for another instant before sprinting down the snow with far more dexterity than either Haka or Kattan had expected of him. They followed the surprisingly sprightly former soldier as fast as they could, though: as weak as that voice was, it had definitely sounded like Zuko.
"Zuko!" Kino exclaimed, rushing towards the dark shape: now, at about thirty meters away, Kino finally could distinguish him properly… and he could also understand why it had been so difficult to identify his friend until now. "Wait…! Is someone injured?! Zuko…!"
The firebender, stubborn and strong as he had proven to be through this ordeal, had felt his strength fading by then: he did his best to stay upright, despite he could barely raise his foot to take another step forward. It was too cold… even his strengthened inner fire seemed to sputter and struggle against the chill in the air: carrying a large man on his back could have been doable under any circumstances but the ones he was facing. He struggled to catch his breath, his hands trembling under Sokka's weight… and that was when he glimpsed a light ahead. His breath had caught upon realizing he was near the Tribe at last, and he had called for help immediately, not knowing if he'd be heard at all.
Kino's urgent questions followed, but Zuko was far too exhausted to answer right away: he cringed as the Fire Nation man stopped before him, and Zuko couldn't even bring himself to look at Kino as he struggled to retain his footing.
"Please… Help me carry him, I can't…" Zuko said, shivering violently: Kino gasped.
"Y-you're not wearing your parka?! Zuko…!"
"I had to give it to him…" Zuko said, grimacing as he lowered the man on his back with difficulty. "I… I think he'd be dead by now if I hadn't…"
Kino reached forward, clasping the unconscious man's shoulder as he helped relieve Zuko from that overwhelming weight. Kattan and Haka stepped closer then, and the light of the lantern drew Zuko to it instinctively, seeking warmth he direly lacked while Kino struggled beside him.
"What happened?" Haka asked. "Was it a hunting accident, or…?"
"N-no…" Zuko said, as Haka stepped forward to assist Zuko as well: Kattan draped one of the unconscious man's arms around his own shoulders, and Kino took the other one. "I just… I don't even know how… or why, but… I just found him at the docks, at the settlement…"
"Wait, what?" said Kattan, frowning as he finally glanced at the unconscious man they were holding upright.
Without a second thought, Kattan yanked back the hood that covered the man's face: all three newcomers yelped when Kattan's action revealed familiar factions they hadn't seen in a long time, far too long in the case of the Water Tribe natives.
His face was fuller, though with sharper cheekbones. A properly trimmed stubble grew on his chin. The hair he used to keep shaved around his head had grown out, if just slightly. His wolf's tail was longer than any of them had ever seen it before: even so, none of those small differences would keep them from recognizing the features of the Chief's son.
"S-Sokka…?" Haka said, eyes wide, his jaw dropping slowly.
Kattan shivered, wrapping his other arm around the unconscious Sokka's chest, gasping as he struggled to give the situation any credit: none of the four men could understand the meaning of Sokka's presence, but only one of them had enough time to accept that he'd only understand it after they nursed the nearly frozen man back to health.
"We… have to keep going," Zuko said, startling the others. "I found him… unconscious, freezing, tried to help him, I don't know for how long he was there, but he's still breathing… s-so let's just get him to Katara, she'll help him…"
"She's not home right now," Kino said, trembling as he gazed at Zuko fearfully. "She and Aang are training, they left just after you did…"
"They… curse those two," Zuko hissed. "Training now, really…? Getting him to stick to schedule with firebending was… was a chore, but when Sokka shows up out of nowhere, he wants to go training…?"
"Aang couldn't have known this was going to happen!" Kino exclaimed, before glancing at Sokka again. "N-nobody could have…"
"Doesn't matter if we knew or not, Zuko's right," Haka said, snarling before handing the lantern to Zuko: he stepped up and picked up Sokka on his back, relieving Kattan and Kino quickly by carrying Sokka the same way Zuko had carried him earlier. "We're getting him to safety first. We can figure out everything else later."
"Exactly… exactly that…" Zuko said, nodding as he held the lantern far more closely than might have been safe or reasonable, but he was too desperate for warmth to care.
Kattan helped Zuko walk as well, wrapping an arm around his waist as the four men returned to the village. The lights by the tents and igloos soothed Zuko immediately, but the sight of them also brought a sudden question to his mind, a question he answered out loud, before any of the others asked it:
"Take him… to my igloo," Zuko decided, startling his current companions.
"What…?" Haka asked, grimacing as he struggled, as well, with Sokka's towering height and weight.
"Suki… she knows a few things about healing…" Zuko said, grimacing. "Once I'm better, my bending might help him some more, too. K-Katara's out there, hell knows where, and the sooner someone tends to Sokka…"
"Kanna is probably in no shape to help by herself on such short notice…" Kattan reasoned glancing at Haka meaningfully. "Do as he says."
Haka breathed deeply but nodded, speeding up just as they crossed the village's threshold: Nanuk climbed down the wall quickly, eyeing the returning four men with confusion… and then frowning upon noticing they carried someone else with them.
"What's happened? Is he hurt?" Nanuk asked, without waiting to confirm the identity of whom he assumed was only another of their hunters.
"Probably!" Haka said, gritting his teeth as he marched onwards, to Zuko's igloo.
"Keep an eye out for now, please, Nanuk, and… and if the Chief comes back while we're not here, tell him to go to Zuko's igloo, immediately!" Kattan said. Nanuk blinked blankly but nodded, his eyes drifting towards the rescued man once again.
Dark as it was, his features weren't as easy to recognize at a distance as they would have been if this had happened in the light period. Yet every villager nearby watched them marching to Zuko's home with confusion, scrambling out of the way if need be, always eyeing the unconscious man on Haka's back with utter perplexity. No answers would be given yet, not when the situation was still so delicate, but everyone could sense powerful, meaningful changes in the air that blew softly against them, in the light snow that fell upon their homes…
Kattan sped up, helping Zuko reach the door of his igloo as Haka and Kino followed: Zuko shivered violently as his hand fell upon the wooden door, hearing sounds drifting from within the house he had built with his own hands:
"… No, Mari, I know you're bored but your sister is napping right now…"
"I teach her firebending!"
"We don't even know if she's a bender yet! Come help clean up lunch instead, will you?"
The sound of the sweet voices of his wife and daughter infused Zuko's chest with new warmth. He breathed in before pushing the door open, just as Mari squealed inside the igloo.
"Gruff! Mommy, I think Daddy is…!"
As customary, their family dog had rushed to the door to greet Zuko upon sensing his return, but where Suki had been relieved upon recognizing the dog's behavior, her smile froze as soon as she laid eyes upon her husband, bereft of proper outerwear as he was.
"Zuko!" she cried out, dropping the dishes she had been wiping clean in a pan filled with soapy water. Mari, as well, gasped at the sight of her unusually vulnerable father, who stumbled inside his own house, helped by Kattan. "Goodness, Zuko, what happened…?"
"H-had to… hand my parka over to… s-someone who needed it," Zuko explained, as Suki collected him in her arms, guiding him deeper inside the house, towards the hearth. "He needs it still, he… H-Haka, bring him in…"
"Zuko, you're freezing!" Suki exclaimed: Mari ignored the other visitors as she approached her father, eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. She had never seen her father like this, trembling violently, frost clinging to his dark hair, shaken so deeply by the harsh cold of the South Pole.
Gruff's scattered attention switched between his master and the intruders who barged into his home unannounced. He whimpered softly at Zuko's feeble shape before growling menacingly at Haka, who only ignored him as he continued to pull the unconscious Sokka with him. Zuko gestured at an empty space near the hearth, and only then did Suki take a moment to look at whoever Zuko had rescued in the middle of his hunting trip.
Haka finished setting him down when Suki gasped with recognition: her grip on Zuko tightened as the light of their igloo's fire bathed Sokka's currently faint, subtly purplish features.
"Sokka… Sokka?!" Suki exclaimed, looking at Zuko as though demanding for an explanation that her husband lacked and wished for, just as much as she did.
"I found him… at the end of a dock, at the settlement," Zuko said, spreading his trembling hands towards the fire: oh, it had only been a few moments, but the improvement was almost immediate. He breathed out in relief, closing his eyes as he allowed the heat to chase away the gripping bite of cold that had almost resulted in a rather tragic end to his attempt to rescue Sokka. "He was out of it all along. I thought for a second that he might be dead, but…"
"How the hell did he even get here?" Haka asked, looking at Zuko with disbelief before glancing at Sokka again. "It doesn't make any sense. Did you see any ships around? Any sign of…?"
"N-no, nothing like that," Zuko said, rubbing his hands together to spread the heat faster. "Though when I got there… the first thing I noticed were bags. His bags, it looked like…"
"Wait… his things? You mean… his weapons and such?" asked Kattan, puzzled.
"Yeah… I don't know what else there is in there. M-maybe there's some clues, something to explain how he ended up like this, but I have no idea…" Zuko admitted, swallowing hard. "He was… in armor, too. I had to take it off him… he's damn heavy without it already, I wouldn't have even made it halfway here if I'd tried to carry him with it…"
"But he's still… he's still alive," Haka said, gritting his teeth as he reached down to take Sokka's wrist in his hands: he bit one of his mittens to remove it brusquely before searching for Sokka's pulse point. "Y-you said he was… w-where is it? It's got to be…"
Haka grimaced: when he finally felt a pulsation, it was so weak he could only flinch and glance at the others with desperate eyes.
"S-someone get Katara, fast!" he said. Kino, who had lingered by the igloo's door, nodded.
"I'll go!" he exclaimed, rushing off immediately upon announcing his intentions.
Suki grimaced as she slid towards her new, unexpected guest: merely touching his face lightly filled her with an unwanted certainty that he had likely been moments away from freezing to death when Zuko had found him.
"I… I need some furs, Zuko," Suki called, grimacing as she picked up Sokka's hands, rubbing them insistently against her own, hoping the friction would help. "Heat them with your bending, we'll use them to warm him up…"
"I… I can't really…" Zuko said, grimacing as Suki glanced back at him with despair.
"You're… too cold?" she asked. Zuko swallowed hard.
"I… don't think I can bend right away…" he said, though his eyes shifted towards his daughter. "Mari? Mari, dear… can you help Mommy?"
Mari had been sitting beside him, half climbing over his lap, both to offer him comfort and to seek some for herself. Zuko's request seemed to puzzle her, and she gazed at her mother with confusion as Suki did the same, though her eyes were set on Zuko instead.
"She's still too young to…" Suki started, but Zuko shook his head.
"S-she's practiced… controlling her body heat, right, Mari?" Zuko said, smiling reassuringly at his daughter. "You can warm up your hands… and hold those furs, right, fire flake?"
"For Daddy…?" Mari asked. Zuko nodded.
"Some for me… some for Sokka over there. Okay?" he asked. Confused by the strange situation as she was, Mari nodded anyway and bit her lip. "Warm up your hands… then hold the fur, count to ten, and give it to Mommy."
Mari seemed to understand the simple instructions easily enough: Zuko reached back towards the cabinets and closets nearby, but his unsteady hands couldn't seem to pull one open when he had yet to reclaim his body heat. It was Kattan who moved to the cabinet, and Gruff growled and barked menacingly at him for it.
"No, Gruff…!" Zuko said, raising his voice as best he could: the dog, still displeased, shrank nonetheless upon his master's command, letting Kattan rummage through the cabinet until he pulled out several furs, some big, others smaller, all of them suitable for the purpose of warming up the freezing man that lay unconscious by the fire.
Kattan collected the many furs somewhat sloppily, dropping them by Zuko and Mari unceremoniously at first: once Mari picked up the first one, Kattan took to sorting through the rest while Zuko counted with his daughter.
"One, two, three, four…" he said, as the child spoke the numbers with him, with evident uncertainty: the fur didn't catch fire, however, as Mari focused on warming her hands and following her father's count until he reached the number ten.
This procedure would help, Suki was sure of it, as she pulled Zuko's parka off Sokka's cold body… but they needed more than just warmth to ensure Sokka would survive this near-death experience. Her chest clenched as Mari trotted lightly towards her, carrying the first fur, and Suki smiled before laying it upon Sokka's chest gently. No, this wasn't enough… but she hoped it would help him survive until Katara arrived.
So far, though, the waterbender remained utterly oblivious to the strange happenings that shook her hometown: it was always easy to forget the world to no consequence whenever she was with Aang these days. Wrapped in his embrace, sitting behind a large ice cluster they had bent together to shield them from unwanted interruptions, she kissed him carelessly, relentlessly, her fingers slipping through his hair as she held him closely. Innocent as he still was in countless regards, Aang had proven to be a most enthusiastic and proficient learner when it came to romance and affection, something Katara counted herself most fortunate for: as awkward as their first kiss had been, initiated by her when she had feared he might reject her, now they would trade countless of them every day under the excuse of training together. Sometimes they'd only have a few hours, or less than that… sometimes they could spend whole days playfully rolling together on the snow, testing boundaries with smiles on their faces, learning just how ticklish the other might be – so far, Aang was notoriously ticklish, to Katara's utter delight.
Theirs had been a mostly silent relationship so far, though neither one had been quite so foolish as to believe that nobody had noticed their dual absences happened too often for it to be mere chance. Hakoda had even shot Aang a few meaningful stares today, right before he and his hunting team took off, but Katara had told the Avatar not to worry about her father: Hakoda himself had told her to figure out what happiness meant to her, and after her exchanges with Aang since that very day, she grew more convinced that she had already found the answer to that particular dilemma.
"Oh, I could do this forever…" Aang said, smiling carelessly as Katara broke off their latest kiss for air. She grinned cheekily right back, pressing her brow to his.
"What's stopping you, huh?" she taunted him, and Aang laughed happily, his laughter ringing beautifully across the icy cove that served as their haven.
"No one. I'll ask Hakoda for your hand in marriage tomorrow," he teased her, leaning close to kiss her neck as Katara laughed in response to his sudden claim.
"Shouldn't you ask me first, Avatar?" she teased him. Aang flinched, gazing at her questioningly as she smirked. "What? You think my father gets to decide who I'm allowed to marry, without any say on my part?"
"W-well, no, but… I was teasing a bit, is all," he said, smiling wildly. "Do you really want to…?"
"I-I mean, well… if you were just teasing then it's not important," Katara laughed again, her cheeks reddening: the darkness of the cave was suddenly lit up by Aang, who raised a small plum of fire in the palm of his hand, a bright, eager grin on his face. "Oh, Aang…"
"Okay, maybe I was teasing before, but I'm not now!" he said, excitedly. "Katara, would you…?"
A roar, familiar and daunting, suddenly shook the very foundations of their ice structure, startling both Aang and Katara profoundly enough that their smiles faded, just as Aang's fire did.
"What…?" Katara said, but Aang frowned knowingly.
"Appa," he whispered. "He's calling for me… for us."
"Why?" Katara grimaced. Aang reached down for her hand and led her to the narrow exit of their ice structure: they melted the ice together, bending it aside so they could step out into the open, finding light snowfall in the dark night.
"Guess… someone's brought him out? Maybe they needed us for something?" Aang said, swallowing hard as he unwillingly let go of Katara's hand. She scowled, pouting a little as she resisted the urge to take his hand again: she fished out her mittens from her pockets instead, cladding her hands with them quickly before the cold got to her.
"It better be important, if that's how it is…" she mumbled bitterly: to think Aang had been about to propose for real… well, it was true that he'd have to talk to Hakoda about it later, and who knew if maybe Hakoda would force him to build an igloo without bending or some equally ridiculous task to prove his worth… though that sounded unnecessary. The point of such trials was to ensure the man was strong and capable of building a home for his family, not to do so without bending. Thus, they were ready for marriage as it was, weren't they…?
Such thoughts brought emotions to jolt wildly inside her chest, springing about happily as a bubbling brew might. Oh, if only Aang would take that crucial step forward already…
But for now, Aang's steps weren't metaphorical at all as they strode together across the long plains of ice and snow, seeking the Avatar's animal companion with his gaze: Katara fell into step beside him, selfishly hoping this would be nothing more than Kino with some really ridiculous question to ask of them, something they could resolve quickly so Aang might return to what he'd been saying within their icy refuge…
"There!" Aang exclaimed, pointing at a large figure crossing the sky at a fair distance from them.
Aang collected a cluster of snow and tossed it up in the air, far higher than any non-bender could, hoping it would catch the eye of whoever was riding Appa. Sure enough, within moments the large bison groaned again, and he turned directions towards where the two benders stood, uneasy and nervous… until a familiar, desperate voice screamed for them.
"Aang! Katara!"
"Ugh, Kino. Of course it was Kino," Aang groaned, pouting: Katara smiled, rubbing his back gently as her secret boyfriend slouched in place. "I bet he's just going to ask where I put the seasoning for the seaweed or something silly like that…"
"If that's all, then all the better, right?" Katara said, squeezing Aang's shoulder as Appa came closer… something about how fast the bison was flying felt off to the two benders right away, though. "Kino! You don't have to push Appa like that…!"
But Katara's words would go to waste, not only because Kino had reached them by then, but because he ignored her completely when he pulled the reins and stopped Appa right before his two friends.
"It's Sokka!"
There were no other words that could cause such a sudden shift in Katara's pleasant, dreamy mood. No other words could shatter every instant of gentle bliss she had indulged in across the past months. No other words could trigger back every dark, cold-blooded instinct that Aang's very presence had chased away when she had first found him.
Sokka. Whatever had happened with Sokka, it couldn't be good if that was Kino's tone… if that was why Kino had taken Appa to seek them out.
"Sokka?" Aang repeated, perplexed. "Kino, what…?"
"Nobody knows how he got here!" Kino exclaimed. "But he needs help, Katara, he needs healing…!"
"We're going back. Now!" Katara didn't even glance at Aang after making her decision: she crafted a small mound of snow beside Appa, using it as a stepping-stone to climb the saddle quickly.
Aang swallowed hard but followed, boosting himself with airbending and landing on the saddle just before Kino shook the bison's reins again.
"Yip-yip!" he exclaimed, pulling the reins with apparent expertise as he guided the creature back to the Water Tribe. Katara crawled over the saddle, moving as close to the bison's neck as she could, where Kino sat right now.
"What do you mean Sokka's here?!" she asked, urgently. "Why does he need healing?! How is he…?!"
"I have no idea, Zuko just found him in the snow, and he was… half-frozen or something," Kino said, grimacing as he avoided looking at Katara. "He's been unconscious the whole time, I think. Zuko said something like that, anyways, so…"
"Unconscious?" Katara repeated, dread building up within her. "Kino…"
"He's still alive!" Kino reassured her, glancing back at her at last. "But he needs help, urgently. I'm sorry I ruined your training, but…"
"No… no, if it's Sokka, I… I have to go. I have to. C-can't Appa go any faster?" Katara asked, glancing about herself desperately: Aang moved closer, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I have to…"
"We're on our way. We'll be there very soon, Katara," Aang said, reassuringly, though he felt no less tense after speaking those words.
He hadn't seen Katara like this in so long… perhaps since she had frozen Zuko back in Whaletail Island, upon discovering he had hidden her brother's presence from her. It was undeniably ironic that Zuko happened to be the one who, apparently, had saved Sokka from a freezing death now… but it was also undeniable that Katara's immediate reaction was but the herald of a storm, no matter what the truth behind Sokka's inexplicable arrival might be. If only he were healthy, the story might be different… but if that were the case, he wouldn't need help so urgently that even the typically careless and childish Kino would be acting so seriously, for once…
Aang swallowed hard, letting his arms wrap around Katara, offering her comfort he expected her to reject – though he was relieved when she didn't. He wouldn't be able to hold her this way again once they reached the village, and if Kino so much as glanced back, he might feel apprehensive over being caught embracing Katara so intimately… but he wanted to support her however he could right now. It certainly wasn't the time, he decided, to worry about wedding proposals when Katara's beloved brother was in danger.
Within less than three minutes, their quick flight brought them close enough to glimpse the lights of the Tribe. Appa sped up on his way to Zuko's igloo, guided by Kino's spirited steering. Aang only released Katara from his hold to help Kino, taking the reins from his hands so he could slow Appa's descent himself… but Katara leapt off the saddle before the large bison could touch the ground, feeling the impact hard against her knees once she fell hard on the village's icy streets.
Her own pain went disregarded and forgotten as she marched fast towards the igloo with the open door, within which she could see several moving shapes even before entering it. She waited for no authorization, no explanations as she entered the small house, seeking only one thing:
Shivers overtook her, her breath seemed to escape her, the aching knees now threatening to give way: her brother's large frame lay covered in warmed blankets and furs, meant to help him reclaim his body heat, though a healthy skin color had yet to fill his face.
"Katara…" Suki called her, breathlessly, eyes glowing with compassionate understanding.
The waterbender gasped, tears filling her eyes before she rushed towards her brother mindlessly. She didn't shrug off her boots or her parka, only removing her mittens hastily so she could touch Sokka with her bare hands.
"We're trying to bring him back to normal temperatures," Suki explained. "I think Zuko found him in time before… before the frostbite could get really bad."
"Where did you…? How did you…?" Katara asked, glancing at Zuko almost pleadingly: after months of mostly forced cordiality, product of Katara's persistent resentment regarding how Zuko had acted in Whaletail Island, now she seemed to have put off any such grudges without a second thought. Zuko, for one, was grateful for that.
"By the docks… the settlement's docks," Zuko explained: his own warmth was finally settling in, and while he kept a warm coat over his shoulders, he no longer trembled violently and his thoughts were much easier to articulate. "I… I had to leave a lot of things behind there, our dinner included. Sorry, Suki…"
"Sokka takes priority," Suki said, without a shred of a doubt, and Zuko nodded.
"He was in his armor… he brought a lot of luggage, apparently," Zuko continued. "I saw no ships… no sign of whoever dropped him off. I have no idea how he got there, why he was lying there… he was unconscious from the moment I reached him."
Katara swallowed hard as she touched Sokka's cheek delicately: she didn't notice them at first, but the flickering firelight showed her, eventually, the faded stains over Sokka's face. She frowned over her tears, raising a hand and reaching for her waist's waterskin: a splash of liquid followed, as she struggled to control the water she quickly brought to Sokka's cheek. After focusing briefly, the liquid gained an unusual glow: her healing skills had been novel back when Kino had just joined the village, but her waterbending healing, inexpert as it might be, was as good as second-nature for her by now.
She held it for a moment, too eager to hold back from checking the outcome of her attempt to heal her brother: upon finally drawing back the water, she found the skin's color was evening out. After a deep breath, she took to wielding the water upon Sokka's skin, slowly thawing anything else that might require it, working systematically while disregarding the many gazes that followed her every move.
Zuko swallowed hard, glancing at Aang and Kino, who waited outside the already crowded igloo. They had arrived on Appa… who was, Zuko knew, the best method through which to recover Sokka's possessions and his family's dinner before any wild beasts came across them.
"We should go find everything I left behind by the docks," he said, surprising Suki by his sudden announcement. Mari as well glanced at her father worriedly: she had continued to warm furs for either Sokka or Zuko without being asked to anymore. "Won't take long if we go on Appa. Could be… we'll find some more clues to explain why he's like this. Though… hopefully he'll wake up beforehand, right?"
"Hopefully," said Suki, smiling a little before nodding. "You'll go with Aang?"
"Yeah," Zuko said, releasing a breath before sliding over the igloo's floorboards to press a kiss to his daughter's forehead: she handed him another warm cloth, and Zuko smiled kindly for it. "Thank you. I'll be off for a bit… but keep doing that for Sokka, Mari."
"Yes, Daddy…" Mari said, pouting a little yet accepting her father would have to leave again.
He shifted further to press a quick kiss to Suki's cheek before picking up a spare parka and stepping out of the igloo, followed by Haka and Kattan, who felt utterly out of place inside the family igloo by now. They closed the door behind them and Gruff was left to whimper by the door, desperate again for his master's return.
"Do you need any help…?" Suki asked, quietly. Katara sighed, shrugging.
"Will it be too awkward to ask you to help me take off his shirt?" she asked. "I have to try and heal everything I can, all over his body… as uncomfortable as that may be."
"You're saving his life, Katara," Suki said, gravely. "A little awkwardness is a small price to pay to preserve his life, isn't it?"
"Definitely," Katara agreed, swallowing hard as Suki struggled to raise Sokka's body slightly, just enough for Katara to tug loose his sash: she spread his waistcloth open, and his shirt right afterwards…
To reveal an abdomen crisscrossed with bandages.
Katara nearly dropped the water she had been bending as her eyes fell upon the white fabrics fastened across her brother's body. Again, she struggled to breathe as Suki frowned, unsure of what quality of injuries they might find underneath the bandages… wary, as well, of Katara's potential reaction to said injuries.
"He was… he was wounded," Katara said, gritting her teeth.
"But someone tended to him before Zuko found him," Suki pointed out, gazing at Katara with uncertainty. "Those bandages wouldn't be there if no one had watched over him…"
"None of this makes any damn sense…" Katara said, gritting her teeth as she snarled and shook her head. "How is he…? Why is he…?"
"We'll find out once he wakes up. Calm down, Katara… and keep doing what you're doing. He's improving, for sure," Suki said, smiling reassuringly as Katara's water shifted down to Sokka's chest and shoulders.
A soft whimper and a drawn-out baby's cry stopped Suki just before she could start undoing the bandages over Sokka's abdomen. She breathed out and rose to her feet, approaching the crib that stood right outside her and Zuko's bedroom within the igloo: it seemed little Zi's nap was over and she needed attention, as ever.
"There, there…" Suki whispered, scooping her second daughter into her arms, smiling kindly at her. "Mommy's here, Zi, no need to cry… Uncle Sokka needs quiet, okay?"
Despite being far too young to understand her mother's words, the three-month-old child still grew quieter upon hearing Suki's voice. Mari watched them intently from where she sat, with many warm cloths around her, almost hypnotized by her mother's tender cooing before focusing again on her task, which no one had asked her to stop with yet: this time, however, she handed the warmed fur to Katara, who was startled when the child crawled around Sokka's body and placed the cloth on Katara's lap.
"Daddy said I warm it and count to ten. For… him," Mari said, softly: she glanced at the shirtless man lying in the middle of her igloo with wary eyes, puzzled by the stranger who had showed up unexpectedly in her world, which had felt much smaller until today.
"Thank you, Mari, dear," Katara said, smiling gently at the child. "Can you put this one up here?"
Mari nodded and walked around Katara to follow her instructions, placing the cloth over Sokka's chest: Katara lowered her water, moving to Sokka's legs now: she yanked off his armored boots, then his trousers too… and yet again she found more bandages she barely wanted to remove. That she'd have to check her brother this thoroughly for wounds to heal was chilling her soul far more than the weather outside ever could…
"Who did this to you…?" Katara whispered, gritting her teeth as Mari ran another lap around her, collecting another fur and warming it as expertly as before. "T-that one, by Sokka's feet, okay?"
"Okay…" Mari said, quietly, though she tightened her lips before asking: "Who is he?"
"Him…?" Katara repeated, blinking a few times. How odd to find that a man who meant so much to the tribe, to her people in general, was nothing but a confusing, troubling stranger for the young girl… "This is Sokka, Mari. He's… he's my big brother, just like you're Zi's big sister."
"Brother…?" Mari repeated.
"Yeah… if your mommy and your daddy had another child, and it was a boy, he would be your brother," Katara explained, returning to the task of using the water to heal Sokka's exposed skin.
Mari remained silent as she focused on warming the cloth: she then laid it upon Sokka's feet, and Katara smiled at her gratefully. The young girl with auburn hair grinned right back at Katara, no doubt relieved that, at last, some of the adults around her were finally acting more like themselves again.
"Why is he asleep?" Mari asked next, without thinking much of her own, innocent question. Katara flinched for it, but she hoped the child wouldn't have noticed it.
"That's… that's something we don't know yet," Katara whispered. "Your daddy saved him, found him on the ice…"
"On the ice?" Mari asked, puzzled.
"But he will be okay, Mari. He will be okay," Katara said, reassuringly.
She couldn't quite convince herself of her own words, not yet: eventually, once Zi had calmed down fully, Mari was tasked with holding her sister while Suki helped Katara undo the bandages across Sokka's body. If she had already been confused, pained and horrified before, Katara's whole body pulsated with fury upon glimpsing the patches of damaged skin that were the obvious result of burns. She could ease many of them, smooth over the color as best as possible, to a point where the skin seemed to even out fairly well… but her chest tightened with outrage, nonetheless.
"Katara…" Suki called her, softly, as Katara snarled and shook her head: she had healed most of Sokka's skin by now, and she only worked to heal damage around his legs at this point… but her eyes kept drifting towards the burn wounds she had only just treated.
"She told me… she stood on that damn pier and looked me in the eye when she told me she'd protect him. She'd keep him safe. She said she loved him, and this is how he returns home? Is… is this really what her love amounted to? Because if it is, I… I should've forced him to stay with us after all. I shouldn't have let her take him from Whaletail Island again, damn it…"
"It's not your fault…" Suki whispered, though Katara's words stung her in weird places within her chest: she had never expected this… and she hadn't blamed it on Azula at all despite knowing, as ever, that Azula was the likeliest person Katara would blame for Sokka's current state. Suki didn't want it to be her, though… she truly didn't want to think Azula could have had anything to do with whatever had befallen Sokka. "But we also… we also don't know what happened for sure, Katara. I mean… I know you think this is probably her fault, but someone could have kidnapped him, right? Maybe someone else took him away from her, or, heavens forbid, she's freezing somewhere in the Pole just as he is and Zuko… Z-Zuko might find her too, now that he's gone to fetch everything he had to leave behind earlier. I know it's wishful, Katara, I do, but…"
"But you still want to believe in her," Katara finished for Suki, who grimaced and lowered her gaze.
"She saved my life when I meant nothing to her," Suki whispered. "I… I have a hard time believing she wouldn't put in a thousand times as many efforts to save Sokka when she even confessed to you that she loved him…"
"I guess you'd think so… but just how well did you know her, huh?" Katara asked, through gritted teeth. Suki released a breath slowly. "Just how well did Zuko know her, despite being her brother? Just… just how well did Sokka himself know her, if he grew to love her enough to choose her above returning here, only… only to be discarded and tossed back at us as a broken toy of some sort? Is she really just a powerless victim, or was she the perpetrator this time around, same as when she took him from us? How do I know she didn't just get tired of Sokka and… and tossed him aside because of that?"
"We can't know anything… not yet," Suki admitted. Katara sighed, shaking her head as she lowered her hands, for the first time in what had felt like hours.
His body was no longer in danger of failing him over unnaturally low temperatures: even the wounds he had sustained before he had almost frozen to death had been mended, on the most part. It wouldn't be long before he came to his senses, Katara hoped… but so far, Sokka remained unconscious, lying on the wooden floorboards of Zuko and Suki's home igloo.
"Some… some of his old clothes have to fit him, even now," Katara whispered. "I… I should go get them. I should…"
"Katara…" Suki said, reaching to clasp her friend's shoulder gently. "You can take a moment to breathe if you need it, okay? Don't force yourself…"
"I have to. I have to do something, otherwise I'll just keep blaming her and growing angrier without even knowing what truly happened," Katara said, shaking her head as she climbed up to her feet. "Please… keep an eye on him. I'll be back shortly."
"Of course," said Suki, with a sad smile. "He'll be fine while you're gone. For sure."
Katara breathed deeply and exited the igloo without another word. Mari followed her with her gaze, still profoundly confused by the strange events taking place in her house. Her sister, wrapped in her arms, wiggled and pressed her dark-haired head against her sister's chest.
"Is Kat-Kat sad?" Mari asked. Suki offered her daughter a tight-lipped smile.
"She's worried, is all," said Suki, reaching out to caress Mari's hair gently. "She loves her brother very much, you see… he was gone on a long trip, for a very long time. Since before you were born, even…"
"And now he came home?" asked Mari. Suki nodded, leaning close to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead – and sneaking one to Zi's own brow, as well.
"Now he came home," Suki said, though she spoke the words without the enthusiasm she would have liked to infuse them with.
For years, even longer than she and Zuko had been in the South Pole, Sokka's eventual return had been a hope the tribespeople had clung to. His family had missed him dearly, the warriors he had taught admired him profoundly, and everyone had looked forward to seeing him come home.
No one, however, had expected him to return in such shape. Even if the color had returned to his face and most his body's previous wounds had been smoothed over successfully with Katara's healing, there was an alarmingly vacant sensation to Sokka's body right now… as though his soul wasn't in it anymore. As though, even if his body was here, the rest of him wasn't… as though that were the true reason why he couldn't wake up, regardless of Katara's hard work to heal him.
Suki gazed at him remorsefully, uncertain of what to do… uncertain of what to think. Whatever the truth behind the mystery of Sokka's sudden arrival might be, it was clear they wouldn't discover it anytime soon. They'd have to exercise as much patience as possible… and to prepare themselves for the worst possible explanations too, come to think of it. She certainly didn't want to believe Azula had any part to play in this outcome… but if she didn't, what on earth could have rendered the Princess so powerless as to prevent someone from hurting Sokka as badly as he'd been hurt? Would she come to the South Pole as well eventually, seeking him, providing answers…? Or was Sokka here to stay, permanently? Why that sat so ill with Suki, she didn't know… but it was strange that, while being an outsider, she had the feeling this trueborn Water Tribesman might have outgrown the small world he had been raised in. The feeling that perhaps he was fated for so much more than a simple life spent in the comfort and peace of an igloo in the South Pole.
Embracing her two children warmly, Suki breathed deeply and waited. She waited for Katara to come back with Sokka's old clothes, for Zuko to fly back with the creatures he'd hunted for dinner… for Sokka to come back to them in more than his body, just as well.
Katara ransacked Sokka's room far more violently than she had intended to: his clothes had served Aang well when he had first arrived in the Tribe, and then Kino as well. By now, both of them had enough clothes of their own that they didn't need to use Sokka's anymore… she had folded them carefully and tucked them away back then, only to draw them out so roughly now, brow furrowed as she struggled to contain the tears of confusion and frustration gathering in her eyes. She really didn't want to think more about the meaning of Sokka's sudden arrival, she really didn't… but her mind kept racing in all directions, countless possibilities bursting to life in her head only for her to shut them down quickly. To this moment, even after having healed Sokka as best as she could, it was hard to believe any of this was real… that he was finally back with them, in whatever capacity he had returned. It was strange to discover just how used she had become to his absence… how she had learned to cope with it only to lose herself to frantic despair now that she had seen him again.
After gathering a full change of clothes, Katara had rushed out the igloo again: she offered Kanna no explanations, fortunate that her grandmother had been too distracted by the stew she was preparing to pay much attention to her movements. She had called for her when Katara had stormed inside the igloo, but upon receiving no answer, Kanna hadn't insisted on speaking with her. She'd likely prefer for Katara to work out her sudden influx of wild emotions on her own and only ask for any necessary explanations later.
Halfway down the street to Zuko's igloo, however, someone else did call her name… with a far more intense voice tone than her grandmother had:
"Katara!"
Katara turned on her heels, holding the clothes to her chest. Her father's voice nearly sent her reeling: he was still carrying his hunting gear, but if he'd caught any creatures that day, he had left them to the rest of his hunting team while he rushed to Zuko's igloo. Haka and Kattan, flanking him, wordlessly answered the question of how Hakoda had already found out about his son's sudden, inexplicable return to the South Pole.
"Katara…!" Hakoda gasped again, as he stopped before her. "Is he…? Haka and Kattan told me, is Sokka…?"
"He's still unconscious… or was, when I last checked on him," Katara said, her voice choked up: her fingers tightened around Sokka's clothes as she clenched her fists. "I don't know what happened to him, Dad, nobody knows. He just… showed up out of nowhere, covered in wounds, nearly frozen alive? I… I don't get it. I really don't get it, Dad…"
"Then, it's really him…?" Hakoda said, his voice frail and unsteady. "I… I don't understand how this happened, how he wound up here, but… do you expect he'll recover? That he'll come back to consciousness…?"
"I hope so. I don't know what we'd do if he doesn't," Katara said, gritting her teeth now. Hakoda released a deep breath, reaching to take the clothes Katara had been holding.
"Was he ill-fitted for the weather…?" Hakoda asked, and Katara nodded. "I… I can dress him up, then, if you'd prefer? If you're all done healing him as best you can, too…"
"I guess I am," Katara whispered, closing her eyes. "I… I don't know what to do, Dad. I don't know what to think. We were… we were already talking about how we'd go to Whaletail Island in a few months, about how you'd come along too? And now… now this? Now she broke her promise to keep him safe and he was returned to us nearly dead? I… I don't understand it, I can't believe it, I…"
"It's okay, Katara… it's okay," Hakoda spoke softly, wrapping his daughter in one arm, reeling her in for a gentle embrace. "Whatever the circumstances that brought him here… we'll unravel them in due time. For now, what matters is that Sokka has returned to us… your brother is back with his family and we'll look after him, as we always have. He will never be hurt this way again… we will protect him for sure."
Katara sobbed and nodded, clinging to her father for comfort and stability where she now found herself direly lacking either thing. The groan of a large beast in the distance revealed Appa was back, but Katara couldn't even bother turning to regard her returning friends: she only lingered in place, pressing her face to Hakoda's parka, shaken by the tears she shed for the brother she had never hoped to find in such poor shape… the brother she had hoped she'd never need to reel back from the gates of death, so long as that Princess kept her damn promises. Oh, she'd fight to bring him back to life with every ounce of strength inside her, that was for sure… she would keep him safe, heal him every time he needed it, no matter how hard it might be. She would keep him alive, at all costs… and she would keep him with her, in the Water Tribe, where no one would attempt to hurt him in this way, ever again.
"Katara…" a familiar voice spoke behind her: Aang had leapt off Appa and stepped up towards her, though he seemed reluctant to interrupt their embrace.
Hakoda glanced at him, apprehensive hope gleaming in his blue eyes. Aang swallowed hard but nodded in his direction: if Hakoda still seemed hopeful, it had to mean Katara's breakdown wasn't caused by being unable to save Sokka, or anything as dark and unsettling as that. Hakoda rubbed his daughter's back gently, pressing a kiss to the top of her head: uncertainty plagued him for sure, nervousness regarding gazing upon his son for the first time in six years…
Unlike Katara, who couldn't seem to stop thinking of the implications of Sokka's return, Hakoda could only think of the return itself. Of course he meant to do his best to protect his son from anyone who might do him any harm… but their broken family had sustained far more losses than they were prepared to face. Getting someone back, rather than taken away, was as good as a miracle… one Hakoda had no intentions of wasting.
Aang was left to hold Katara once she calmed down again, even if she still needed someone to hold her: Kino joined in too, to their surprise… and to his profound relief, they welcomed his embrace. The three friends held each other in the middle of the snow, with Appa groaning warmly, sympathetically, offering them what little warmth he could by pressing his large snout to his human friends.
Zuko promptly returned to his igloo with his hunting gear and the three snow hares he'd found: Mari's confusion over Sokka's very existence fell to the wayside when her father entered their home once more, thrilled over knowing they'd have a substantial dinner that night. Just as she and Gruff danced and leapt in celebration around Zuko, who smiled warmly at his daughter and pet, Hakoda entered the igloo next, and all revelry seemed to die down instantly when his imposing figure crossed the threshold of the house.
"Hakoda…" Suki called him, with Zi on her lap.
The tribal chief seldom visited their igloo, typically too busy overseeing everything in the village to drop by and check on Zuko and Suki's home. His presence in the house, thus, felt just as unexpected as Sokka's own…
But Hakoda couldn't even think of playing the courteous guest when his son lay, almost fully naked, right next to the igloo's hearth. His eyes were closed, but his chest still rose and fell with each breath he took… with far more strength than when Zuko had first found him, fortunately.
"Sokka…" he gasped, trembling as tears akin to Katara's surged in his eyes. He took a shaky breath before glancing about the igloo, with the nervousness of a man much younger than he was. "D-do excuse me for intruding, I…"
"It's no intrusion," Suki said, smiling gently. "Please… come in. You can sit with him, if you want to."
Hakoda swallowed hard and nodded, slipping off his heavy boots before making his way towards Sokka: where anyone would see a large, muscular man with a threatening physique, with many faded scars that spoke of how many times he had faced death and proved triumphant, Hakoda could only see the little boy he had loved deeply as soon as he had known Kya was pregnant. The eager youngling attempting to follow on his footsteps to become a fearsome warrior. The proud teenager who had determined his life's purpose was to continue what Hakoda had started, to fight for his people at all costs… the strong man who had sacrificed himself to let the rest of his warriors survive a deadly encounter at the very settlement he had been found at, today…
It had taken six years for him to finally return… six years of consequences since that one mistake Hakoda had warned him against. In those six years, it was clear Sokka had become a stronger man than Hakoda could even begin to imagine… and in those six years, Hakoda had only loved his son more and more, waiting for that young warrior to finally return home.
"My boy…" he said, his voice as unsteady as the hand that touched his son's cheek. "Oh, my Sokka. You… you've finally come home."
Suki swallowed hard, holding Zi tightly as Hakoda failed to restrain his tears: the man leaned down, scooping Sokka up with his strong hands, embracing him as best he could, under the circumstances. Even so, Sokka didn't wake.
Mari tugged her father's pants, gazing at Hakoda with even more confusion than before: Zuko leaned down, gathering her in a gentle embrace as well, before whispering in her ear.
"Be a good girl and let's help make dinner for everyone, okay?" he said. "For Hakoda, too."
"Why is he crying, Daddy?" asked Mari. "Is the sleeping man sick…?"
"No… Hakoda's crying because he's happy," Zuko said, smiling awkwardly at Mari's utter confusion – today had certainly been a strange day for the child, challenging a lot of what she understood about her world so far. "He missed his son, you see… Sokka. But now he's back… and he missed him so much he's really happy he's returned. But if you don't want him to cry, we can make him dinner too, and maybe that will help him stop crying."
"Dinner is good…" said Mari with a small grin. "He stops crying?"
"He might," Zuko said, smiling sadly.
Frankly, he couldn't blame Hakoda in the least for his emotional reaction. If anything, forging a family he loved as deeply as he treasured Suki and their daughters had taught him plenty about the tightness of the bonds that tied together the Water Tribe's families. He couldn't even imagine how he'd feel if he ever lost one of his children… if they were ever out of reach and he could do nothing but wait for them to return to him.
Suki, carrying Zi, snuck closer to Zuko, Mari and Gruff by then: Suki as well was teary-eyed at the reunion between father and son, but she endeavored to work with Zuko on dinner, tasking Mari to hold Zi for the time being while they prepared a meal that they hoped might ease Hakoda's aching heart…
"Knowing him, he might even wake up once he smells food…" Zuko teased lightly, and Suki sniffed but smiled, nodding quickly.
"All the more reason to start cooking, then," she said. Zuko grinned and nodded too, squeezing his wife's hand before the took to working on the snow hares he'd brought home.
Little by little, Hakoda found the strength to do as he'd promised, slowly dressing Sokka in his old clothes. His long-sleeved shirt barely fit anymore: his son's muscles had grown much thicker across the years, he'd need new clothes sooner than later. Every new layer of clothing he draped over Sokka's body felt like another message that conveyed Sokka had finally come back… and Hakoda could only smile sadly, remembering the years when Sokka had been as small as Mari or Zi, when he had dressed him up just like this, while the troublemaking child made spit bubbles and laughed at his father's goofy faces.
"You're back, my son…" he whispered, leaning close to kiss his brow. "You're back. Take as long as you need to recover… as long as you need to rest. You're home now… you're safe."
Fully dressed now, Sokka still languished, unconscious, on the wooden floor: Hakoda reached for a nearby cushion, tucking it under his son's head… next, he reached for one of the many warmed blankets Mari had helped prepare for Sokka earlier, draping it over his son's body. He'd wake up again, Hakoda had no doubts about it… and once he did, he would ensure to say all those words to him again, to welcome his son home as a hero, just as he deserved to be celebrated. Hakoda would endeavor to do better this time around… to be the best father he could possibly be for the strong, smart, courageous man he had longed to see again throughout all these years. Sokka had grown lots since the last time he'd been in the Tribe… Hakoda hoped to have grown, as well. Whatever Sokka had endured during his years away was still difficult to fathom… but Hakoda hoped to make sure that, once he woke up, he'd understand just how loved he was… just how proud he was of calling Sokka his son.
He hadn't intended to impose, but he wound up eating dinner with the small family regardless, regaining some of his strength thanks to their generosity. He pondered, briefly, if perhaps he ought to bring up moving Sokka to his own home… but with the weather as fickle as it was, it might be for the best to leave him in Zuko's igloo until he regained consciousness.
Katara entered the igloo again briefly after dinner ended, having eaten some food of her own at Aang and Kino's place: the two young men had spoken with Katara, done their best to soothe her, but she remained troubled and afflicted by Sokka's condition: her father embraced her gently as the two watched over Sokka later, waiting for any sign that he might come back to consciousness sometime soon… but hours after being rescued and healed, the only movement of Sokka's body was that of his natural breathing, an unconscious reflex keeping him alive. As long as he still drew breath, there was hope… yet that thought wasn't enough to reassure his two relatives fully.
In the end, Hakoda determined that he and Katara were better off heading home for the night, ensuring they wouldn't inconvenience Zuko's family any further. They would return by morning… but before that, they would attempt to explain to Kanna that their Sokka was back, even if he hadn't returned in the best of conditions.
By morning, Zuko would set off on a fishing trip with Kino, who rejoiced unusually quietly over having Zuko's company. Sokka's sudden return had taken him by surprise: the strange tension that settled across the Tribe would do no favors to the nerves of the former Fire Nation soldier. Aang decided against joining their trip, choosing instead to stay with Katara and hopefully bring her some peace of mind by doing so. He meant to meet her at the chief's igloo… only to find that a lot of tribespeople had questions: rumors of Sokka's return had spread vertiginously fast and there was no one better suited to answer them than the chief or his daughter.
The noise at the village sparked even the curiosity and nervousness of Suki, who received no shortage of visitors of her own, first Yuro and Siku, soon many other neighbors who had heard Sokka had been brought to their family's igloo. She spoke to them by the igloo's door, leaving Mari within the small building, supposedly watching over Zi… whom Mari had set down by the convalescing man's side while rushing to the door, eager to overhear her mother's conversation with the neighbors instead.
If things were confusing for Mari, they were all the more perplexing for Zi… and yet that was perfectly normal for a child as young as her, who had yet to grow used to the world around her. A lot of things alarmed her, and she would cry most tragically whenever anything startled her… but she wasn't startled when that man's face turned slightly, his lips curled into a snarl, eyelids tightening gradually.
The words he whispered were just as unintelligible for her as any spoken by all the adults in her life. Nothing he'd done was particularly worrisome or noteworthy. He was simply a sleeping man, in Zi's eyes… and so, she merely laid down on her belly and watched quietly as the unconscious man mumbled, over and over, a word she couldn't quite understand…
The warmth lingered within reach. It broke past each fingertip, slipping under the skin and bones, all the way to the shattered, wounded heart that needed mending most direly. As long as that warmth lingered, as long as it continued to take hold, he would be at peace. He would remain calm. As long as he could still feel her, close to him, the eternal connection between their souls bridging the distance between their bodies…
A ripple shook him, though. A sudden, unwanted ripple, tearing at the seams of that connection, demanding him to faze out of this cocoon in which he had enveloped himself… he didn't want to let go. He couldn't let go. His heart was still in no shape to continue beating, not if hers wasn't nearby to encourage it…
It wasn't nearby? Why, then, could he still feel her? Why could he still evoke the sensations of wrapping his arms around her body, of pressing his lips to hers, of making her his own as many times as he had…? Was he simply remembering what was lost…? Was he lost within a maze of his own memories and thoughts, locked away just to keep reality at bay…?
He was better off there, though… he was. If leaving the safety of his mind would mean letting go… then he didn't want to leave it at all. He wanted to stay here… to never open his eyes again, if by opening them he wouldn't find her lying beside him. What was the purpose of living on in a world without color or meaning, a world without brightness and beauty… a world without her?
But she had wanted him to try, hadn't she…? She had asked him to live on… for she couldn't continue to live either in a world where she knew he no longer existed. He hadn't promised he'd do so, had he…? But even if he hadn't… wasn't it his prerogative to find a purpose now? Wasn't she offering him one, through those very words…?
It meant having to let go, though… he wasn't ready. He didn't want to. Did she want him to? Could she feel him, just as he felt her? Would they be able to bridge their very souls again, at a distance, regardless of how long their separation might be…?
Maybe she sought comfort in this strange, ethereal, unconscious bond as well. Maybe she needed him to stay… so he'd stay. Whatever the pull of light that sought to release him from this comforting darkness of near-oblivion, he would resist it. He had no choice but to resist it for her.
But the more corporeal and stable his thoughts were, the more that connection faded. The harder it was to focus on the warmth, on the tendrils of comfort that had linked them together still… because his rational mind was taking control. He writhed, struggling against the pull of awareness, of consciousness… and the more he fought, the harder he resisted, the more that warmth slipped away: the harder it was to evoke the blissful sensations he had indulged in across the years, upon finding, cultivating and protecting the truest love he had ever experienced…
He called her name. He called her, and at first, he was sure there was an answer, in her voice: but it was faded, distant, so far away he couldn't reach for her…
Then he called again, and the voice was fainter yet: the warmth around his heart was replaced by unbearable distress the further away she felt. Not yet… he couldn't let go yet. Please, not yet, he still needed her, he still couldn't say goodbye, he wasn't ready, he never would be…
The ripples were louder, harder, shattering the vacant peace that had settled in his chest, replacing it with turbulent, violent turmoil: he needed her. He had to reach her again, he had to connect to their bond once more before it faded away…
But that unpleasant sensation had already chased off what remained of the comfort, of the tenderness, of the bliss he had experienced with his lover. All he was left with now was the emptiness in the place of his heart. Burning tears surged in his eyes… he turned his head, discovering it hurt, badly, just as his chest did, just as every inch of his skin did. He didn't want to move, he didn't want to wake, he didn't want to let go… so he uttered her name once more, almost pleadingly, as a devoted prayer…
It was as though she had reached for him, taking his face in her hands to offer him one final, sweet kiss. In an instant, it was gone… and in that instant, his eyes flew open with a start as the final instant of unconsciousness faded away. The reality he had rejected for almost a full day came back into focus, and the one thought on his mind was the first word he uttered, impulsively, immediately:
"Azula."