The journey home was long, but the closer that they got they got to their final destination, the more worried Sokka became. How were they were going to be received at the South Pole? He anticipated the heartbreak from the families of the men who had passed away. His father planned to spend time travelling to the other villages to personally deliver the news as the chief. It would be the first contact they would have with these villages since the men left.
Sokka's village slightly moved throughout the year and would've had to be rebuilt from the damage caused by Zuko's ship. It wouldn't have been in exact same location as they left it. As they headed toward the usual summer location, they sent Aang on Appa to scout ahead. He shortly returned with a couple small Northern style boats who escorted the fleet to a new ice wharf where a crowd of people were waiting for them.
If Sokka didn't recognize his grandmother, he would've assumed that they were at the North Pole. The buildings behind him more closely resembled Northern architecture. He was surprised by how much the kids had grown in months they had been gone. It must've been a bigger shock for the men. A lot of the little kids huddled around their mothers and had to be coaxed forward to meet their fathers, uncles and brothers.
As he waited to disembark, his cousin Aora ran forward to her husband who she had just wed before they left.
"Are you crying, Sokka?" asked Katara.
"What? No!" he denied.
"He is!" said Aang.
His sister gave him a hug which he was grateful for.
"Oh, no," she said.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Namiko is pregnant."
"That's great!" said Aang.
Sokka shook his head. "She's the wife of Mato."
"Oh."
This news hit him like a wayward boomerang to the head.
If this could happen, then what was to stop Suki from choosing someone else. She was too good for him and could get anyone she wanted.
They had briefly discussed what could happen, but Sokka couldn't have ask her to give up the Kyoshi Warriors when she's worked on that since she was a young girl. He had been training from birth to take over as chief. That being said, the title of Chief wasn't strictly a hereditary title.
He'd find a solution to make it work. He knew that the distance would be difficult. Although it should be easier to keep in contact once Hawky returned from his unplanned excursion to the Fire Nation.
Sokka looked around and spotted Mato walking back onto the ships.
Their dad wrapped his arms around Sokka and his sister. "Go greet your grandmother. I'll go check if Mato is okay."
"But don't you want to see Gran Gran?" she asked.
"As chief, it's my duty to ensure the wellbeing of my fellow tribesmen. She knows that." The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Besides, my mother hasn't seen me in over three years, she won't mind a couple minutes more."
Sokka and Katara nodded and disembarked to finally see their Gran Gran. They bowed to her and then gave her a big hug.
"My, you have grown my little waterbender," she said, touching Katara's face. She faced Sokka with a stern expression. "Did you look after your sister?"
He struggled not to roll his eyes. "Yes, Gran Gran."
She broke into a smile and patted his cheek too. She looked around. "Where's your father?"
"He's helping Mato."
"Ah… I see." The wrinkle between her forehead softened suddenly and Sokka followed her line sight to Pakku. They embraced.
Hearing that they were together was one thing, but seeing it was another.
Sokka noticed some of the older waterbenders walking down the gangplank and called them over. "Gran Gran, these are some old Southern Water Tribe members, Hama, Kenri and Mino."
Pakku and Katara tensed when Hama came closer. Sokka's step-grandfather was alarmed by her bloodbending abilities which was considered taboo in the Northern Water Tribe. The Chief's council held long discussions before the voyage about what to do with her, but they voted to let her finally live freely as a Southern Water Tribe member. The decision didn't stop Pakku from watching her like a sea-raven, or Sokka and the others keeping quiet about Katara's abilities.
Gran Gran widened her eyes in amazement. "You're alive."
"It's been a long time, Kanna," said Hama.
Sokka's stomach grumbled, ruining the moment. He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry."
Gran Gran chuckled. "That's all right. We can catch up over food." She clapped her hands and raised her voice and made an announcement to the village. "Our family have come home. It is time to prepare a feast."
Suki feinted and her opponent lunged forward with a closed fist. She then blocked a kick and countered with a sweep of her leg, knocking Naomi down. She pinned her on the ground. A few moments later, Naomi tapped out.
A part of her had hoped that winning sparring matches would assert her authority over the girls, but that didn't seem to work. If anything, they seemed to respect her less. Suki had to talk to Naomi about this soon especially with the mission requests. To her surprise though, the other warrior approached her after training one day.
"Can we t-talk?" Naomi asked.
"Of course." Suki sat cross legged on the ground, and the other girl followed suit. "What is it that you wanted to talk about out?"
"W-when we were in prison, the girls got yelled at and treated really badly, and the way you're giving instructions has been really similar to that." She grimaced. "Do you mind changing the way you're talking to us?"
"Oh." Suki reflected on the way the prison officers communicated. They were direct and when things didn't go their way, aggressive. She realised that she did the same thing.
"Perhaps you could rephrase the instructions as a question?" Naomi quietly suggested. Her eyes flickered away.
"I see. I'll be mindful of that," she replied. She smiled in a hopefully encouraging manner. "Thank you for telling me. I noticed that the girls weren't listening to me and I thought it was because they blamed me for taking them out of Kyoshi Island."
She fidgeted. "Actually, some do…" She raised her chin and said more resolutely, "Which is unfair, because we all knew there were going to be risks."
"Well, I am the leader, so it's my responsibility to keep you all safe, which I failed to do." Suki turned her palms upwards. "I assumed that nothing could happen to me and left you without a leader. But I'm glad that you stepped up and looked after everyone when we got captured." She bowed. "Thank you, Naomi."
She waved her hands dismissively and bowed. "I was really just doing my best for the Kyoshi Warriors. I don't think that I wasn't good enough for all of them." She broke eye contact. "They were still others who kept saying that they wish you were there to lead us. I did."
Suki was glad to hear that. "You did really well. In fact, I was wondering if you would like to be second in command."
Naomi was silent for a moment then slowly said, "I thought that you had to issue out a challenge for that role like what you did."
Dissatisfied with the leadership of the Kyoshi Warriors, a young Suki had challenged the then leader. She didn't win, however was made second in command and successor. She was impatient to have more control over the decisions, but when she unexpectedly got what she wanted, she realised that she had much more to learn and missed the older girl's wisdom. "The challenge is more traditional for the leader role, but it is your right as a Kyoshi Warrior to do so. Did you want to issue out a challenge?"
"Spirits, no" she laughed. "After today's poor performance, there's no way I could beat you. A lot of the other girls are stronger than me though, why don't you ask them?"
"Physical strength is just one part of being a leader. I've seen how you interacted with the girls. They trust you."
"I'm not quite sure that I'm ready."
"I'll train you. You've already been doing a great job letting me know if there are any problems. The only other additional responsibilities would be helping with the training plan and leading some of some of the missions. In fact, we've received a request to help Chin village, and Oyaji has requested that we represent Kyoshi Island at summit as he's a bit too old to travel."
Naomi crossed her arms. "I don't think that the girls are ready to venture that far. Chin, maybe, but not Ba Sing Se. And personally, I don't think I can be so far away from family for that long so soon after being back home."
"If I went to Ba Sing Se, do you think that you would be able to look after the warriors here?"
"I think that if I got some training," she said slowly, "I should be okay. Anyways, I need to get going. My younger brother told me to go home straight away."
"Night, Naomi."
Just before she left, Naomi said, "You know, Suki, I was worried that you were asking me to be second in command because you were going to get married like Hirase and quit the Kyoshi Warriors."
That was news to Suki. "That's good to hear about Hirase. But once a Kyoshi Warrior, you're always a Kyoshi Warrior. In my case, it's still way too early to be talking about that. Maybe a couple years."
She closed the dojo and went through her daily routine of eating and bathing. She went to bed exhausted and wished that Sokka was right there beside her.
Aang and Katara entered the igloo after the morning's waterbending training. He collapsed onto his unmade sleeping bag facedown, still in his coat. Momo swatted at his ears.
Sokka muttered something unintelligible.
"Oh, Sokka," greeted Katara. "You're finally awake."
"Has Hawky arrived?"
"Do you see him?" she replied.
Aang heard her start the fire and then rummage around for a pot.
"No."
"Then Hawky still isn't here." The grains of rice rattled as it landed on the metal surface. "He'll come back."
Sokka's voice rose in volume. "He shouldn't have gone in the first place! Who said that you could use him without asking me – again?!"
"Well, dad needed to send a letter Zuko and General Iroh. Don't worry, I've asked him to send two hawks and some more fire flakes." The rice swished as the water sloshed around.
"But how am I going to send my letter Suki?"
The pot landed on the stand with a thud. "There's a ship heading to the Earth Kingdom in the morning. Give it to them to deliver. Besides, the bird was just sitting here for a couple days, and you even said yes to dad when he asked to use him."
"I didn't realise that he meant right then!"
"You'll see her in a few weeks when we head to Ba Sing Se for the summit."
Sokka grunted. "Aang, can you tell Katara off for using other people's stuff? Hey, are you alright?"
"I'm just tired," he replied. "I did so many Rise and Fall drills today."
"Well, you needed to work on your balance," said Katara. "You got knocked off balance by Kita."
He raised his head and protested, "But I'm a fully realized Avatar."
"But your balance needs work."
He looked at Sokka for support.
"She has a point. Are you even able to enter the Avatar State?"
Aang felt the blood rush to his ears. "I was able to before."
"Have you tried since the comet?"
"No," he admitted. "Sometimes I can feel myself about to enter it, but then I've stopped it." Truthfully, that was what caused him to lose against Kita.
"That's a start," said Katara.
"But it's not full control," countered Sokka. He turned his attention to the skewered fish his sister was cooking over the open flame.
"Anyways," she said, "the point I was originally trying to make is that sometimes you need to go back to the basics and relearn it again. Don't feel bad. The legend goes that it usually takes a few years for an Avatar to become a master in all four elements and they usually start at the age of sixteen. You've got to be patient."
"Okay," Aang sighed. He put his head back down, defeated. He kept trying to impress her, but she kept treating him like a child. If it will take him years to become a fully realised Avatar, it might be too late. She might marry someone else.
"I agree."
"You're the one who's so frustrated that the Northerners aren't getting along with the men of our tribe," she snapped.
"Really?" said Aang. "But you're both Water Tribe." He thought about it for a moment. "They seem to get along with me."
"Well," said Sokka, "the Northern and Southern Tribes are literally polar opposites. And you're the Avatar and not to mention an honorary member of the tribe."
He turned his head. "Why? Because of the ice dodging thing?"
"That's it!" he exclaimed, startling Momo. "We can do an ice dodging ritual and also invite all of the other villages in the South Pole."
Aang sat up excitedly. "Like a festival? That sounds like fun!"
They turned to Katara.
"Well, sis?"
"I actually really like this idea," she said while inspecting the cooked fish and the pot. "The ritual symbolises when we enter a new phase of our lives. We can have one to symbolise the new phase of the life of the Southern Water Tribe and it'll give us an opportunity for us to learn about each other's cultures, it's kind of similar to how Avatar has to. Hey! Where are you going?"
Sokka had jumped out of his on his boots and coat. "I'm going to find Dad. Do you know where he is?"
"By the Crescent Wall."
Sokka was gone with a the fish before she finished speaking.
Katara turned to Aang who had jumped up to follow. "You too? I haven't finished making your breakfast yet." She pointed to the pot.
He shuddered at the thought of more jook. He waved and exited the igloo with Momo on his shoulder. "Oh, I'll come back later. I'm the Avatar, maybe I could help convince them to have the festival."
When Toph was a young girl, she overheard her parents ask a priest why she was blind.
"It is a curse from the spirits," he said.
Not wanting to hurt them further, she had run away. It wasn't hard. The darkness of night didn't scare her. She walked through the familiar paths of the estate, all the while waiting and listening for the guards. She expected to be caught, but slipped past the side gate like a spirit. She walked and walked, and had a sudden desire to go back, however, she didn't know the way home. Toph kept walking until she met some badger moles. They looked after her until she was eventually found, clothes tattered, shoes discarded and covered in dirt.
When she returned home, her parents had restricted her from any activity that may cause her harm and ordered the guards to constantly watch her and help her.
But Toph wasn't helpless. She had beaten all of those guards, and as she agreed, she began her lessons on social etiquette with her mother.
It didn't turn out to be an effective form of learning. Her mother wanted to go easy on her, saying that Toph was just a helpless little girl, so her father had hired a personal tutor. Master Kong was strict. He drilled her on social etiquette, arithmetic and music.
"Ba Sing Se is not a place for helpless children," he declared, completely ignoring her protests that she has been to the capital before.
Toph dug her heels in and attempted to learn everything to prove that she wasn't a helpless child. But the more she learnt, the more they added to her curriculum. Soon, she had progressed from using the abacus to doing mental calculations. Now she was expected to be able to recite all the noblemen and their families in the southern region of the Earth Kingdom and their main exports.
One day, the Boulder and the Hippo visited the estate. A couple of guards nearly fainted in excitement.
"The Boulder and the Hippo want to learn how to metalbend!" the Boulder declared.
Her father, ever the businessman, demanded money in exchange for the lessons. She wasn't glad that he was charging her friends, but at least she was allowed to earthbend. He ordered her to teach the guards too.
At least she was supposed to teach them how to metalbend. First, they had to be able to see with their feet but they were even more stubborn than Aang.
"I can't earthbend blindfolded!"
"I'm blind and I can earthbend! If you can't bend earth you can't see, how can you find the pieces of earth in metal so you can bend it?"
Her mother was not pleased. It was decidedly unladylike behaviour and not attractive to suitors. Toph thought that she wouldn't have to deal with marriage because of the curse.
Toph cursed Katara and the others for making her feel guilty about having both parents who wanted her home. They had an odd way of showing they cared. On one hand she was a helpless little girl, but on another she was to be prepared for marriage. She felt as if she was walking in circles with her parents. She already made such a fuss about wanting to be treated like an adult, that she wasn't going to create more trouble. She wasn't a young girl any more.
The drums began to signal the ice dodging ceremony. Katara went and sat next to her grandmother at the vantage point while the candidates and assessors lined up by the shore. There were children from the different villages and the Northern Water Tribe were split into groups of three. After hearing the story from Aang about how Katara had partaken in one, more girls joined in than usual. Katara couldn't believe that the kids were now old enough to do ice dodging, nor that Sokka was qualified to assess it.
She cast a suspicious glance as Hama sat on the other side to Gran Gran.
"I haven't seen an ice dodging festival in years," she said. "Although I do wish I was young enough to dance. Has anyone asked you to dance, Katara?"
"No." She knew that her grandmother disapproved of the impolite answer, but she found it hard to forgive the elderly woman for nearly hurting her friends and for making her a bloodbender. At least Hama hadn't said anything about Katara being one too.
"They're probably afraid," said Gran Gran.
"Why? Because I'm a waterbending master?"
"I was going to say because of your brother and Pakku," she chuckled.
Katara rolled her eyes. They and Aang had interrupted her conversations on more than one occasion. She noticed that they'd only done so when she was talking to men, not women. It's not as if she could avoid talking to them. Nearly all of her training partners were men, and she didn't want to be in a conversation with Hama in it if she could avoid it.
Frustratingly, her brother didn't think that Aang's attempts at flirting were bothersome enough to require an intervention.
"He's a child," he explained.
The first ships began sailing through the course. Alon's crew made it through easily, but Datu's crew had some scraping on the port side.
"It didn't look as bad as what Bato did to his father's beloved ship," commented Gran Gran. "It's not about whether or not you made a mistake, but if you'd learn from them."
"Do you remember the time the route was near some rhino-whales?" Hama asked.
"Do I remember? It's one of the boys' favourite stories."
After the ice dodging there was the feast.
While they were preparing the food, Gran Gran had told Katara that at first the Northerners had tried to stop the women from hunting because it was unfeminine. In response, they didn't share any of the spit-roasted pig-seal or let them know where the good hunting grounds were until they apologised.
Sokka performed the speech that he was practising constantly for the past week. She, Aang and a few of Pakku's other students did a waterbending performance. Her father also spoke to the tribe but kept it short so that they could finally eat.
As soon as the music and dancing started, Aang jumped from his seat.
Katara looked at his full bowl. "Aang, you've hardly finished your sea prunes."
"But I'm sick of sea prunes."
"There's also seaweed soup," she offered.
"It's has fish sauce in it."
"Sorry, Aang," she said. "I'll check the stores and see what else you can eat."
"Can I go dance now?"
"Sure." She supposed that he had been working hard recently with reaching out to the other villages and his training.
"Aren't you coming?"
"I'm still eating." Luckily, she had a legitimate excuse this time. She waved as he ran off to the dancers.
Everyone seemed to be having fun. Even Mato seemed to be having a great time thanks to the rice wine they purchased in Gaoling. Toph's father had been generous and insisted they take the reward.
"Kids these days, wasting food," muttered an elder.
She continued to eat until Aora and some cousins dragged her to the women's dance circle around the bonfire. It had been a while since she last did this dance, but she remembered the rhythm and flow of the movements. She felt her cheeks warm from heat of the bonfire and the dancing. It reminded her of being in the Fire Nation. She couldn't help but smile.
The beat changed. Her line turned to the middle and the inner line faced hers. It was a partner dance. She hadn't done this routine before, but quickly picked it up by the time they had changed partners a second time.
Suddenly Sokka was pulling her away from the dancers.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Why are you dancing?"
She crossed her arms. "What?"
"Why are you dancing?" he said, emphasising every word.
She pointed at Aang. "If he's allowed to dance, then I am too."
"He's the Avatar."
"And I'm the Avatar's Waterbending Master."
"You're too young to be dancing."
"I'm older than Aang!"
"He's a hundred and twelve!"
"I thought you thought that he was a child!" She caught a whiff of her brother's breath. "Are you drunk?!"
"I'm of age!" he slurred. "And you're not allowed to marry."
"I know that! I'm only fifteen but I'm still allowed to – Oh, Sokka. Don't cry." She gave him a hug.
"Katara, please, don't embarrass me," he said, wiping away his tears but not making an attempt to escape the embrace. "I'm a man."
"And I'm not a child any more, but I'll always be your little sister." He could be annoying and embarrassing but if it wasn't for him, they never would have found the Avatar those months ago, ended the war and be celebrating with everyone in their tribe. Whatever came their way next, she was glad that she had him by her side.
"And I'll always be your big brother."
Author's Notes:
I didn't think that this would be a tricky chapter to write but, to be fair, this story is my first time trying to world build instead of stitching together pieces for a mash-up AU. Thank you for your patience.
I'm actually genuinely surprised that I've been receiving positive comments about Toph. My brother likes to remind me that I'm no longer young, so it's nice to think that I'm still able to relate to her. Your validation means a lot! ?
In the next chapter, we'll find out more about our favourite firebender out west.
