So I will warn that this has Spicy-Break-up-Angst.
To be honest, it's kind of hard to do a Ty Lokka fic with Suki still interested. So to all those Sukka shippers, worry not, I'll do that ship justice eventually. Anyways, It'll be some time until the next upload following this so there's that. That'll be it, for now, hope you guys enjoy it!
Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon
This fic is rated K+
Emotional Recovery
By: Executor25
Sokka blew once again on a new tissue as he wiped his bleary, red eyes. His heart continued to ache after the words that had been given to him no more than a few hours ago. Katara was there comforting him in their room at home in the Southern Water Tribe, Aang had gone off to do other things, giving them some space.
.
Flashback, Capital City, Tuesday Afternoon
The Gaang was on their last day of visit to the Fire Nation capital. Sokka had hoped that he would be able to convince Suki to come with him to visit his home. He had detected signs of her uneasiness during their conversation but had decided not to pry. Soon she was fidgeting in her seat and was breaking eye contact.
"Suki, what's wrong?" He asked in concern.
"It's just that...I don't think, you know, this is working out…" She said, looking down.
"What do you mean?" Hoping she was referring to something else.
"Well, our relationship...I think it's not very healthy" She concluded.
"What! how so?" He asked, trying to mask his horrification.
"Well...we're both part of very important groups, which means we don't have a lot of time to ourselves and one of us could get hurt and…"
"And?" He said urging her on, his heart clenching.
"...I can't handle this long-distance relationship" She finished, silence casting over them.
"So...I guess this means we're done?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah, I'm sorry Sokka, really, you're a great person but this isn't going to work out in the future...you'll find someone who's better for you," She said.
Sokka took in a deep breath, he couldn't believe this and still hoped that this was a dream. After he had pinched himself, he sighed and accepted what was happening, his heart crumbling.
"It's not your fault Suki, I mean...can we stay friends at least?" He offered.
"Sure Sokka," She said, they hugged each other, now albeit platonically.
.
End of Flashback
He sniffled again, Katara handed him a glass of water, to which he drank.
"Hey, it's not that bad-I mean it could have been worse, you guys could have fought instead and hated each other in the end" She provided, paying close attention to how she worded her sentences.
"BUT STILL! She broke up, that's already bad, and there's no better alternative..." He said before breaking down once again.
Katara didn't have a response and continued to comfort him, bringing him into a sisterly hug.
It would take another full hour before Sokka calmed down. By then the Sun was already setting, giving the sky an orange hue. He had gone for a walk, hoping that it would calm his inner thoughts. This did not help and only served to increase his inner turmoil. Said thoughts mainly focused on if their relationship had been as a state as Suki had said it to be. Eventually, he buried those thoughts into the deepest parts of his mind and headed back home, especially as dinner neared.
Ba Sing Se, One Week Later
Sokka, Aang, and Katara were currently on a diplomatic mission to help the Earth King with several incursions with the Fire Nation. They had been allowed a bit of free time before the main meeting about those Fire Nation towns.
Sokka was currently going through one of the many stores and market places, going through their extensive meat selections.
While he was putting his meat expertise to use, he heard someone call out, "HEY SOKKA" and when he turned to the sound of the voice, found Ty Lee of all people waving at him, clad in her signature pink outfit.
"Oh hey Ty Lee," He said, closing the distance only to be pulled into a hug.
"It's been a while since we've seen each other...you Aura seems to have gotten, uh, darker," She said after they released from each other, she gave him a look that Sokka wasn't sure if it was out of concern, suspicion, or plain curiosity.
"Well, things have… happened," He said, not knowing to go into details about how his second relationship had crashed.
"I...see," She said, respecting his privacy, and probably already knew the details, Sokka suspected since she was also a Kyoshi warrior.
"Anyways, what are you doing here?" He asked after he had bought a pair of Barbeque sticks, offering one to her.
She politely declined, "I'm more of a Vegetarian...as for your question, I asked if I could have a break and they agreed so here I am!" She beamed.
"That's nice, I'm here because the Earth King can't figure things out on his own," He said, the last part in a hushed tone, too which they both had a good laugh.
"Hey, I gotta go now, let's catch-up later?" He proposed.
"Sure, here again?"
"Yep"
And with that, they bid their goodbyes to each other and departed to their separate ways.
.
3 Hours Later
Ty Lee tapped her feet, she had expected that Sokka might be late, but not this late.
"I wonder where he is" She mused, before being called over.
"Over here!" Sokka said, waving to her.
"What took you so long?" She asked.
"Eh, Aang and Katara had dragged me along-"
"Where are they anyway?" She asked.
"They were tired enough so I just told them that I'll catch up" He explained.
"Hmm, so what do you want to do now?"
"Just talk"
And as soon as he said that, Ty Lee pulled him off to where she proclaimed, 'Knew the best spot to do so'.
Eventually, they had reached the park and they sat down under a large Oak tree.
"I used to come here a lot to think," She said.
"I gotta admit, this a neat spot you have here"
"Yeah...so what did you want to talk about?"
"Well…" and then they began their conversation. It was fairly light-hearted, mainly asking each other questions they hadn't known about the other(I.e: What's your family like or Your favorite food?).
Eventually, Ty Lee unknowingly stumbled into a sensitive subject by complete accident.
"How's Suki?" She asked.
Sokka's mind at that moment just went blank. All his previous thoughts just disappeared and instead went back to that faithful day when they had broken up.
"We-we're not...together anymore…" He said, his voice practically breaking.
Ty Lee for her part had realized what she had said but wasn't exactly sure how to reverse the current situation. She just scooted closer to him and gave him a shoulder to lean on.
"Hey…I'm sorry for bringing this up," She said, moving closer to him.
"No problem, it wasn't your fault…you didn't know," He reassured.
"If you want to know, we didn't see Suki the entire day after she arrived" Ty Lee provided, not necessarily sure how he would react.
"Thanks" Was all he said, appreciating her efforts.
After a few moments of silence, Sokka mumbled, "Why do my relationships always go badly?..."
"But you and Suki went on for a long while"
"I know but is this my fate, Going through relationship after relationship without a clear partner?" He said and then began rambling to himself, "I wonder if it's something wrong with me, I was as kind as I was to her, maybe it's physical? I don't know-"
Ty Lee had enough of this and slowly leaned closer to him and quickly pecked him on the cheek, before quickly reeling back.
The two then entered an awkward silence, Sokka confused as to what had just happened, and Ty Lee on the other hand not exactly sure why she had done that.
"So-"
"Hey-" They said simultaneously.
"You go first," Sokka said.
"Umm, I didn't mean to do that, I'm so sorry Please don't hate me" Ty Lee practically said at such a pace that Sokka had a slight lag of understanding.
"It's fine, I was just...surprised," He said, and boy was he surprised, If her goal was to make him stop thinking, it worked, he thought.
"I guess we should be going?" She offered, hoping to get out of the situation.
"I guess, I'll get back to you though on your confession, here again, tomorrow evening?"
This reduced Ty Lee to a sputtering mess of "Sures", and with that, the two stood up and after uttering a goodbye, headed their separate directions.
.
Later that Evening
"...and then we departed" He finished. Sokka had been explaining to Katara and Aang what had happened during the last hour they had been separated.
"So, that was interesting" Katara summarized.
"Yeah, you should give her an answer though," Aang said in all his infinite Peacemaker wisdom.
"I plan to" Sokka firmly stated.
"Well that's nice and all but I will point out that we should be going to sleep now" Katara pointed out.
"Oh ya, we have a long day tomorrow…night guys," Sokka said as they slipped into their beds.
"Night" Katara and Aang simultaneously replied and while they would be drifting off easily into subconscious, Sokka's mind would be fretting over his next encounter with Ty Lee.
Garden, Wednesday Afternoon
Sokka was exhausted and Grumpy, a combination that was not good. The meeting he had just come from had devolved into a nonsensical debate that ended inconclusively.
"Politics" He grumbled.
"I agree, they're incredibly annoying," Said a voice behind him.
Upon turning around, he found Ty Lee smiling at him.
"You did say to meet you here today," She said, taking a seat on the grass beside him.
"True, now why did I ask though…" Sokka said, feigning ignorance.
"I actually can't remember as well," She said, playing along.
"Oh wait, weren't we here to talk about...our thoughts?" He said.
"We were?" She pretending to be surprised.
"Yeah, like how I am supposed to be giving my reaction to your kiss yesterday," He said, moving closer.
Ty Lee, detecting they were not joking decided to explain her actions before she lost a friendship, "Hey Sokka before you-" She was cut off by him saying, "Wait now, I'll say my thoughts first then you, alright?" And she responded with a nod.
"Ok then, here I go...Ty Lee, you are an amazing girl, you can Chi-block, you're athletic, acrobatic, sweet and so much more...I'm pretty sure you had a crush on me before, the same can be said for me...and well since I'm single I guess I've been thinking about that and I think I have an answer" He finished.
"Which is?" Ty Lee asked, trying to hold back the tears from the heartfelt speedy, failing.
He closed the distance and soon their lips met. She was initially shocked but soon gave in, they lasted like that for several moments before breaking off.
"I-I didn't expect that," She said meekly.
"Well, I wasn't sure how to express that in words," Sokka said, chuckling.
"So...I guess that makes us a thing now?" She asked, slowly regaining her voice.
"I am pretty sure, yes," Sokka said, leaning his head on hers.
In Sokka's mind, this was good enough, while he may still have the memory of that day he and Suki broke up, he would at least recover from that with someone else.
They stayed like that for long enough they began to nap. They would only wake up when Katara and Angel found them and by then, the night had settled in.
END
So, I hope you guys enjoyed that, and as is practically regular at this point, I apologize for the delay, this was not supposed to (roughly) take a week to make.
Not sure what the next fanfic will be but until then, stay tuned.
That's all I have to include in the Post-Script here, stay safe guys! : )