Chapter Four: The Oncoming Storm
With his teeth chattering furiously, Sokka paddled the canoe faster. His romantic voyage through the ice floes with Suki had not gone as planned, and she currently sat in the back, wringing out her blue Water Tribe garments, as they navigated back to the village.
"I'm c-c-cold," he sputtered.
"Sp-speak for yourself," Suki shot back. "You're not the o-one who fell in."
"I think I've spent t-too much time away from home. I start shivering on chilly nights in Ba Sing Se, for Pete's sake."
"It must have been miserable growing up here. Kyoshi isn't exactly warm, but we don't have to worry about icebergs flattening our houses like you all do."
"Yeah," Sokka said wistfully, pausing his frantic paddling. "Isn't it g-great?"
Suki rolled her eyes, though a smile tugged at her lips. "If you're going to get all s-sappy right now, let me paddle."
"I'll be fine…" he sighed, though he put up no fight when the Kyoshi Warrior gently tugged the oar from his grasp.
He reclined slightly, admiring the natural beauty of the South Pole. The great walls of snow and ice that he'd seen since childhood were still there, though they'd changed shape and size so many times over the years that they were hardly recognizable. Being a part of Team Avatar had taken Sokka far and wide, but home would always be here. Unless Suki had her way; then home would be Kyoshi. A penguin-seal drifted past, honking, and slapping its tail in the water, sending an unwanted splash right into the oblivious Sokka. Suki giggled as her fiancée sat up with a look of pure anger painted on his face. "Not one word," he stated flatly.
"I didn't say anything."
"This is about where we found A-Aang, you know," Sokka remarked, squeezing out his hair. "Katara got all angry with me and threw a hissy fit and blew up some big ch-ch-chunk of ice that he was inside."
"Hmm, the way she tells it, you were being a bit of a sexist jerk when you made her throw that hissy fit," said Suki.
Sokka struggled to find some witty retort, but he tripped over himself and wound up tongue-tied and embarrassed. "Alright, fine, I w-was a bit of a sexist jerk, but I was also fifteen. I'm a different man now," he declared, puffing out his chest. "Besides, I got you, didn't I? You're like, the manliest girl I know."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she exploded.
What he'd just said registered in his head, and Sokka yelped, "No! What I meant was— you're strong, and independent, and you can do all these really cool flips— and besides, you know that Toph is the manliest girl I know."
Suki paused. "That's true, that's true," she agreed.
The couple in their canoe drifted through the icy river, eventually foregoing all pretenses of a date and pulling out a second oar to get back to the village quicker. The sky soon darkened, as shadowed clouds covered the blinding sun and the wind picked up. "I think a storm's coming!" Sokka yelled.
"We need to get inside!" pleaded Suki.
"The village is just around the bend!"
The canoe rammed into the ice and the two lovers hopped out, plodding through the knee-high snow in the direction of town. The village had grown a lot in the past five years, as the men returned from war and more igloos were constructed, but it still felt as cozy as before. Sokka admired the new guard tower his father had had built into the defensive wall. It was much taller and sturdier than the one he'd put up by hand all those years ago, though it was rather unnecessary, considering the war was in the past and the nearest other Southern Water Tribe settlement was much deeper into the tundra. Suddenly, the wind was joined by pelting snow, and Sokka and Suki had a blizzard on their hands. They made it to the front gates, which were unmanned. That confused Sokka—the gates were always guarded—but he shrugged it off as a precautionary measure taken by his father to ensure everyone stayed safe during the storm.
The couple decided to check in with Hakoda before making off to their igloo for the night, just to let him know they had gotten back okay. They veered off their normal path and wound up passing the stables. Katara and Aang had helped build them on their last visit to the South Pole, though Sokka couldn't quite figure out why, considering there were no beasts of burden in the icy wastes. They'd sat unoccupied ever since. But now, they were full. A fuzzy white animal as large as a house lay there, curled in a ball, fast asleep. Sokka blinked and rubbed his eyes, making sure that the dark arrow on its head was actually there and he wasn't suffering from snow blindness. "Appa?"
"What's Appa doing here?" Suki wondered.
"I'm not sure, but wherever Appa goes, Aang goes too," he stated.
"But weren't he and Zuko going to Yu Dao?"
He looked at her, perplexed. "That's what I thought."
Sokka and Suki trudged through the empty town square, past the dead bonfire and stacks of freshly caught fish and ducked into the chieftain's hut. Though it was the most spacious igloo in the entire South Pole, tonight it was cramped and stuffed with people elbow to elbow. Hakoda and Zuko stood in front of a table, pointing to locations on a map. Kanna was nearby, knitting something and muttering curses under her breath. Toph lay splayed out on the carpet, snoring loudly. Aang, removed from everyone else, sat in the rocking chair near the fireplace, his back to the rest of the room.
"The heck is everyone doing here?" the tribesman exclaimed.
/ / | \ \
Zuko looked up from the map and grimaced. He'd been dreading Sokka's arrival ever since they got to the South Pole a few hours ago. Hakoda had no such reservations, though, and he swiftly moved across the room, pulling the young man into a warm hug.
"Uh, thanks, Dad," Sokka managed, gasping for air. "I can't breathe."
Hakoda let his son go, and Zuko strode over to shake hands with Sokka, exchanging some pleasantries.
"You're dressed awfully spiffily, Zuko," Sokka remarked.
The Fire Lord looked down at himself and realized he still was wearing the ceremonial robes he'd pulled on before meeting with the Earth King in Yu Dao. A change of clothing had clearly never crossed his mind during he, Toph, and Aang's mad dash south. They'd made the journey in just a few days, so there hadn't been much time for anything but flying and sleeping and worrying. "Yeah, sorry, we've been busy," he chuckled.
"When did you get in?"
Zuko squinted at the ceiling. "About… two hours ago? We just missed you. Are you sure that this building is going to hold under this storm? It sounds pretty bad out there, and this is just snow."
Sokka laughed and ran a finger along one of the bricks of packed snow and ice that made up the wall, revealing solid stone underneath. "This place is a lot sturdier than it looks."
Hakoda sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Sokka… I have to tell you something. You're not going to like it, but before you do anything, just know that it was a total surprise to all of us as well, and that we're doing everything in our power to fix this."
The young warrior's trademark ear-to-ear grin faded. He grabbed Suki's hand, and she squeezed him tight. "What do you mean? Did something happen?"
Zuko kicked Toph in the side and she awoke with a start. "Don't sleep through this, it's disrespectful," he hissed.
The earthbender looked as though she would explode into a tirade unlike no other in retaliation for her rude awakening, but that sentiment quickly vanished from when she noticed Sokka was back. Shaking her head, she pulled herself up and crossed her arms, waiting.
"Sokka, son… you know I love your sister and you very much, but something has happened," Hakoda said wearily.
"What? What happened? Tell me, Dad!" he demanded.
"Well—"
"Katara's been kidnapped."
The entire room turned to Aang. He hadn't said a word since they'd arrived and had been uncharacteristically silent over the course of the entire trip from Yu Dao to the South Pole, but the hollowness of his voice spoke volumes.
"Excuse me?" gaped Sokka.
"You heard me," Aang droned. "Katara's been kidnapped."
"It happened on the trip up to the North Pole," added Hakoda. "Master Pakku sent a letter recounting what the Water Tribe boats that went to pick her up from the Northern Outpost saw."
"We also were sent word from the captain of the ship Katara was on—he was one of the few survivors. Apparently, it was the Southern Raiders who took her in an attack," Zuko offered.
"So, she's just gone. Wasn't there anyone on that boat to protect her?" fumed Sokka.
Zuko frowned. "Of course, there were, I sent some of my best men—"
"I find it hard to believe your 'best men' could be so easily defeated by some schmucks who've been on the edge of the world for years now."
"Are you saying you think I didn't put my best men up to the task?"
"I'm saying the Fire Nation is cheap, and no amount of fresh paint is going to change the rotten foundations of the house!" he yelled, pointing a gloved finger at Zuko's scarred face.
The Fire Lord threw his hands in the air. "I'm sorry, I don't think you're the one trying to run a country here!"
"Holy shit just shut up you two!" screeched Toph, shoving the two of them apart.
"What do you know, Toph? You hate your family!" Sokka roared. "You both hate your families!"
"Oh, so this is my fault now? What, just because I have human garbage in the form of parents, I can't understand what it's like to lose a loved one?" she volleyed back.
"You don't need parents to know loss, Sokka," said Aang, pinching the bridge of his nose as he rose from his seat.
Sokka's face flared red. Suki tried to interject and stop him, but he pushed her away. "Mister Avatar how honored I am for you to enter the conversation! Where were you when Katara was kidnapped?"
"You know full well I was in Yu Dao," the airbender spat. "And trust me, I wish I'd been on that ship, but I wasn't! That's all I've been able to think about this entire time!"
"Boo-hoo, don't your Avatar powers come with omniscience or something? How could you let her get on that ship? Huh?"
"You're out of line, Sokka!" interrupted Hakoda.
"Watch it, man," Aang replied, gritting his teeth. "You need to calm down before you say something you'll regret."
"No, no! I'm not going to calm down! I want to know how my sister is dating the most powerful being on this planet and she still gets kidnapped by some idiots whose heads are so far up their asses that they can't realize the war ended five years ago!"
"There was nothing I could do—"
"There is always something you could do!"
"I love her, Sokka. If there was anything I could have done, I would have done it."
"Well then, it seems clear to me that you don't love her as much as I do!" he screamed, jabbing Aang in the chest with his finger.
The igloo fell silent. Outside, the wind and snow howled, pressing down against the village. After a moment that lasted an eternity, Sokka sighed and said, "I'm sorry, that was—"
WHAM.
Zuko stared at the scene unfolding before him in utter disbelief. Sokka stumbled back, his hands fumbling to cover his nostrils as scarlet blood shot everywhere. His nose was askew, smeared across his face, and he fell back over a chair, hitting the floor hard. Aang stood his ground, knuckles dripping with red ooze. His eyes, normally a calm gray, looked like thunderclouds. Zuko had watched Aang depose dictators, duel ancient spirits, and do away with entire fleets and armies like it was nothing. Never had he seen the Avatar look as threatening as he did now. Sokka was on his feet in a flash, shouting something in his rage, but Aang didn't even so much as look at him. He just sent a blast of air into the tribesman's gut that sent him flying into the wall and disappeared out the door with a swish of his robes.
"Spirits, Sokka, what the hell did you just do?" cried Zuko.
/ / | \ \
I could just leave.
Aang sat cross-legged in the stables next to Appa. His staff was balanced on his knees, his fingers absently fiddling with the switch that popped open a secret compartment stuffed with nuts and berries. He wasn't really meditating. He was too angry for that. No, he was just thinking.
I could just leave and go get her myself. What are the Southern Raiders really going to do when they face off against a fully-fledged Avatar?
At the back of his brain, the voice of Katara nagged, That's irresponsible, Aang.
He groaned. He knew he couldn't solve this problem by his lonesome. Unfortunately, usually when he was faced with a problem as daunting as this, his first idea would be to ask Katara for help. That option being off the table meant he had no clue where to start, and he really didn't want to go back into that igloo.
"Aang! Aang are you in here?"
The Avatar looked up to see Fire Lord Zuko out in the storm, a blue coat slung haphazardly over his ceremonial robes and a fireball held in his palm. "Yeah, I'm in here!" he called back.
The firebender slid inside, rubbing his hands together so quickly sparks flew. "Thank the Spirits, I was worried I was gonna become a Zuko-cicle out there."
Aang laid back into Appa's fur. "Did they send you out here to try to get me to apologize?"
"No," groaned Zuko, sitting next to him, "Sokka's the one who wants to apologize."
Aang snorted. "On his own accord or did Toph have to twist his arm?"
"On his own accord," the Fire Lord assured. "Look… I know it's not really my place, considering my own sister is so… messed up, but I know Sokka was being an ass because he has nowhere to direct his anger but out."
"How about in?"
"Sokka doesn't work that way. He never shuts up. A big mouth and emotional distress mix to make one hell of a cocktail."
Aang covered his face with his hands. "I know, I know. And I let myself get away from me."
"I can't believe you punched him," remarked Zuko. "I thought you were a pacifist."
"Evidently I'm not a very good one. I managed to find a way around killing one of the most fearsome war-criminals of this century, but I can't hold back a punch? What is wrong with me?"
The older man shook his head. "Don't beat yourself up about it. If someone said what Sokka had said about me and Mai, I probably would've done worse. But, still, you've gotta accept his apology. Katara wouldn't want you two to fight like this."
"Trust me, I don't want to fight with him like this," Aang lamented. "I feel awful."
Zuko stood up and extended an arm to the airbender. "Then let's go patch things up."
Grunting, Aang took his hand and let himself be hoisted to his feet. "Let's go."
The storm was still nasty, but between Zuko's firebending and Aang's airbending they made it through without their limbs and digits turning purple. Aang brushed aside the curtain covering the doorway with his staff and stepped into the igloo, where Sokka stood in the center, a bloodied cloth clasped against his nose.
"Aang, I'm really sorry," he honked, his voice muffled from the fabric. "I shouldn't have said what I did, and I didn't mean it. I was… I was mad, and it was unfair of me to be mad at anyone in here for what's happened, you especially."
"Thanks, Sokka," the airbender responded.
"And hey, trust me when I say that there's no one in the world my sister is safer or happier with than you."
He grinned. "I'm glad you feel that way."
"I am too. Now, friends again? We have a lot to do," offered Sokka.
Aang nodded. "Let's get to work."
A/N: This may seem a bit out of character for these two to be fighting, but I'm pretty sure this is exactly how something like this would happen. Sokka would be distraught if his sister was kidnapped, and, given how extroverted and brash he is, he probably wouldn't internalize it very well. Meanwhile, Aang was ready to throw down when he ran into the sandbenders that stole Appa, so someone stealing away the love of his life would definitely put him on edge. Mix both, shake well, and you get a fight of epic proportions.
This chapter was also inspired by that one part of "The Southern Raiders" where Katara gets super pissed at Sokka and yells about how he clearly didn't love their mother the way she did. The short temper seems to run in the family.