A/N: Heh…so not a month till my next update. I had a sudden urge to write this, so I did. And this is where it begins! Heads up, it's angsty. And as always, thank you for the reviews guys, always lovely to hear from you.

Sunday:

Katara's POV:

Eyes fixed on a laptop screen, but my mind is miles away from the immunology I'm meant to be learning. Click. 'And I think I know why.' Click. Annoyed, I twist round on my chair to face Sokka who's just lounging on my bed with a clicky pen in hand as he stares absently in space.

"Sokka could you please cut that out?" I mutter, earning his attention as he smirks at me.

"Only if you cut out studying. I mean it's Sunday; you should be chilling." He points out. I roll my eyes at him and turn back to my laptop.

"You're in your final year, I would've thought you were too busy to annoy me." I grumble, eliciting a laugh from the man behind me.

"I'm never too busy to annoy my little sister." He taunts. I groan and decide to re-focus my attention on the recorded lecture, but I don't get far when I'm interrupted for spirits knows how many times today. "Besides, you still haven't filled me in about your week. How's lectures?" Sokka inquires lightly.

"It would be fine if a certain someone wasn't causing me to be behind in them." I fire back, but he only just chuckles.

"And your friends, that Yue girl I think?" He probes further. I shrug.

"She hasn't been in for the last few days. All she's said is that she'll see me tomorrow on campus." I answer nonchalantly, not wanting him to know how bothered I felt at sitting alone in lectures for the past week. 'It's decided, I need to make more friends with people on my course.' I decide silently.

"Right, right. And Aang?" My brother queries, but that underlying tone of mischievousness in his voice is painfully obvious. Subconsciously, I stiffen slightly.

"He's fine." I answer curtly, keeping my eyes glued on the screen.

"Oh? I had a few lectures with him and he can't seem to stop gushing about you." He throws out offhandedly. I blink twice and turn around on my chair in surprise.

"Really?" I breathe out as a wave of warmth washes over me at the news, but when I spot the smirk on his face, I know where this is going.

"Should I be planning a wedding soon?" He teases. I scowl and throw my exercise book at him, hitting him right in the arm. "Ouch Katara!" Sokka complains as he rubs the offending area.

"Serves you right. He's just 16 for goodness sake." I retort sharply.

"I'm not hearing a no from your side." My brother points out smugly. I clench my hands and give him my back once more.

"We're friends." I emphasise forcefully, prompting a snort from the man.

"Right, you keep telling yourself that." He jokes in a sing-along voice. I'm just about ready to grab my textbook to chuck it at him when his phone rings.

"You are one lucky person." I mutter just as Sokka digs in his pockets for the ringing device.

"Well that's a relief. It's not often when the universe shows me such grace." He voices and I can't help but snort in agreement as the man answers his phone.

"Hey Dad." Sokka greets. I blink twice and turn around in my chair in surprise to meet my brother's equally perplexed face. I raise an eyebrow at him, but he shrugs as he keeps the phone pressed to his ear. "Yeah we're all good here. I was just telling Katara to take a load off, but she's not listening to me, as usual." Sokka complains and I have to roll my eyes at him. "Yep we're together. Why? You usually call in the evening; are you missing us that much already?" Sokka jokes to our Dad over the phone.

I smile at the thought, 'Dad has always been such a softie.' I recall affectionately before refocusing my attention on the conversation. "Wait, what do you mean?" He asks, his voice suddenly drops his previously playful tone. I frown and watch as Sokka's features scrunch up anxiously. "What?! No. No way. You're pulling my leg now, right?" My brother asks almost frantically.

My frown deepens and I push myself up onto my feet, ready to ask him what's going on. Just then his face crumples. An expression that I've rarely ever seen on him before takes hold. 'What on earth has Dad told him?!' Just as I open my mouth, Sokka ends the call. His eyes stare blankly at the ground.

Suddenly he lifts a hand to rest it over his eyes as his shoulders start shuddering. I stare at him in shock, frozen in place. 'Is Sokka...crying?! Sokka never cries.' After a few moments of stifling silence, I break myself out of my paralysing shock and go to kneel in front of him.

"Sokka?" I probe, but he doesn't answer as his body continues to shake. I furrow my eyebrows in concern and try again. "Sokka, what's going on? Are you ok?" I ask gently and finally he lifts his red eyes to me, his expression haunted. His lips part, but no words come out. I watch as his eyes fold inwards as he takes a deep breath.

"Katara...something happened." Sokka forces out. His tone is so ominous that I can't help the twisting sensation in my gut that starts to stir.

"What happened?" I question, hating my curious nature for wanting to know and I half wonder if I'll regret asking. A lump appears in the man's throat and I observe as it bobs up and down in an attempt to say something.

"The hospital...where Mum works..." He trails off, struggling to say his next words, but he's already got me panicking if it's Mum that's involved. I reach forward and grasp him roughly by the shoulders.

"What?! Is Mum alright? Did she lose her job? No, she's too good of a nurse for that to happen. Is she hurt?" I fire out rapidly, shaking him slightly as his silence continues. "Sokka for spirits name, tell me!" I shout as the anxiety becomes almost overwhelming. Sokka stretches his arms up to rest his hands on mine as he looks at me steadily through sad eyes.

"Someone came into the emergency department with a gun. He...she...Mum's gone." Sokka chokes out. I stare at him in disbelief, unable to compute any of this. I take a step back.

"No." I whisper. "No, you're lying!" I scream as I whip out my phone to call Mum.

"Katara, I'm so sorry..." Sokka starts as he gets to his feet, but I'm not looking at him. I'm just concentrating on the beeps that sound from my phone, until it eventually goes to voicemail. The phone slips out of my fingers. 'Mum always answers my call.' And suddenly the news hits me like a load of bricks. 'Mum's gone. Dead. No more.' Tears burn my eyes in denial. 'NO. This can't be. This is all a sick joke. It has to be.' Without thought, I grab my purse and jerk open my door to sprint out of my dorm, ignoring Sokka's panicked call.

"Katara!" He shouts, but I continue running as fast as I can. 'I have to get to the hospital. She'll be there, I'm sure. She's not gone. She can't be gone.' I convince myself as I continue running to the bus stop. But when I reach the shelter, I realise that no buses run on a Sunday and with determination, I decide to run the whole way there. A pair of thudding feet appear behind me, but I refuse to stop. 'I have to see for myself. I have to prove that they're wrong. She's fine.' I think frantically as I speed up.

"Katara wait! Let's talk about this!" Sokka yells from behind me, but I don't listen.

"She's fine! She has to be!" I holler back, ignoring the way my lungs gasp for oxygen. Suddenly, I find my arm being tugged back and my feet trip up underneath me from the abrupt force, causing me to land on the ground with a thud.

"Oh spirits, I'm sorry! But you were just about to run out on the road and there was a car. Spirits Katara, I don't need to lose two people I care about on the same day!" Sokka yells at me, but I'm so consumed with fear and grief. I push myself up into a sitting position, but before I know it my body starts shaking violently. My brother's face falls as he goes to kneel in front of me and pulls me against him. "Hey hey, we'll figure this out." He soothes, but I'm shaking my head.

"She can't be gone. She can't." I force out thickly as tears blur my vision.

"I'm so sorry Katara, but Dad already went to the hospital to confirm it. Mum's...gone." His voice cracks and it just hits home that this is real. This isn't a terrible nightmare that I'll wake up from in any minute. No. This is reality.

Sobs escape past my lips as my whole world shatters and comes undone around me. 'Mum means everything to me and now she's not here anymore?' My heart batters against my chest as I bury my head into my brother's shoulder.

"Mama." I whisper in anguish. I feel Sokka's grip around me tighten as he rocks me back and forth. 'How can I function if she's not here anymore?'

A whine escapes past my lips at the thought and I break down further. 'This isn't real. Spirits please tell me this isn't real.' I beg silently, but as I take in Sokka's quivering around me, I can't deny that this is fake. It's true. Because Sokka never cries. And somehow that hurts nearly just as much as hearing that Mum is...n-no more.

A/N: So I personally have no experience with grief, but I just put myself in their shoes. I'm close to my mum and she means so much to me, the thought of anything happening to her? *Shivers* I don't even want to think about it. But I guess I tried to pour my own emotions of how I'd potentially feel if (God forbid) something did happen, so I hope that somewhat came across? At the very least, I hope it did hit you with angst. I'm sorry it's short, but I felt this is so raw and should just be left there. Funny, today actually marks Mother's day in Egypt, and last week was Mother's Day in the UK – gosh that just makes this even sadder.

Over the next few chapters I'll go over that grieving process and how Katara deals with it. Not well, I must add. I'll try to incorporate some of Sokka's feelings too, since in canon there were probably only three major moments where Sokka really talked about his mum and it would be interesting to hear more of his side, but Katara is the main focus. Well, and of course Aang – but we'll come back to him soon.

I'm not going to even predict when the next update will be, because I obviously suck at doing that – so see you whenever?

21/3/21