Disclaimer: All rights belong to Nickelodeon, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, and all the men and women that created the A:TLA show, books, and comics. I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made. The lyrics are from the song "Love Shine" by Yes
Rating: General Audiences. Warning: some scenes contain dark themes and minor violence
Author's Note: Two things: One, ya'll are heartless. Poor Katara's been betrayed twice now and ya'll are like "get over it!" And Zuko's going through a whole identity crisis and ya'll are like "stop being so dumb". Poor kids are just trying to figure things out. Two, after the heaviness of Thursday's chapter, here's a fun, lighthearted, Sokka and Suki centered chapter. You're welcome.
Chapter 12 - The Cave
Your flame is the fire that burns in the night
Guiding me through
Drawn out of the darkness and into the light you bring me to
One look in your eyes and I know
That it's right for me and you
"Shouldn't we keep moving? If we want to make it past Omashu by tonight then we have to keep moving."
Standing across from him on the beach, Suki smirks. "You just want to get out of training early."
"No!" Sokka protests, but his voice has a bit of a false not to it. "I love training with you!"
"Oh, really?" Suki crosses her arms. "Even when I knock you on your butt?"
"Especially when you knock me on my butt."
Suki rolls her eyes. "Give me your defensive stance again," she orders.
Sokka drops into the stance. She observes him for a moment before walking over to him and adjusting his limbs. He can't help but notice how close she is. His face grows red. He's suddenly glad for his darker complexion.
"There you go," she says. "Keep your hands up in front of your throat. They'll cover the vulnerable spots but you'll also still be able to see. One of the biggest mistakes I see is when people hold their hands either too high or too low."
""Uh...thanks." Sokka shakes his head in an attempt to clear it.
"Defend yourself!" Suki suddenly shouts before launching herself towards him. He responds by instinct, grabbing her wrist and directing her body weight to his left side. She snakes a foot around his leg, trying to trip him, and he pulls harder on her wrist, upsetting her balance.
He holds her in the position for a moment before releasing her. She smiles at him.
"That was really good! Your reaction time is getting faster. You'll be a pro in no time."
He's still feeling warm from her comment when a strange noise coming from the forest directs their attention elsewhere.
A garbled voice and a plucked string grows louder and louder. "...she'll leave you broke and broken-hearted," a man's voice sings. He comes into sight, picking at a banjo. He's followed by a woman playing a wood flute and another man carrying their bags.
They stop when they see Sokka and Suki. The travellers are close enough now that Sokka can see they're wearing flower necklaces and brightly colored robes.
"Hey hey!" the first man calls out. "River people!"
Suki laughs. "We're not river people."
The man frowns. "Well, then what kind of people are ya, then?"
"Just...people."
The man throws his hands up in the air. "Aren't we all, sista?"
Sokka stalks up to the man and points at him. "Who are you?"
He doesn't act threatened at all. "I'm Chong. This is my wife, Lily. We're nomads. Happy to go wherever the wind takes us."
He strums his banjo wildly. Sokka and Suki stare, slack-jawed.
When Sokka comes back from scavenging food from the forest, he finds Suki sitting in a circle with the nomads, laughing at something Chong said. She's wearing a flower lei around her neck and Lily is braiding her hair with more flowers.
"Sokka!" she calls when she sees him. "You should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere."
"Not everywhere," Chong says. "But where we haven't been, we've heard about through stories and songs."
Sokka looks at him, unconvinced. He doesn't trust these random people. Then again, he doesn't trust many people these days. Not since he woke up and his whole life was turned upside down.
"They said there's a giant nightcrawler not far from here," Suki says.
"And on the way," the third nomad, whose name Sokka hasn't heard yet, adds, "there's a waterfall with a never ending rainbow."
"Look, I hate being the wet blanket," Sokka says. "But we need to get past Omashu. My sister is in prison and we have to get to her as fast as we can. Who knows what the Fire Nation is doing to her?" He points at the nomads. "No distractions, no nightcrawlers and definitely no rainbows."
"Woah," Chong says calmly. "Sounds like someone's got a case of destination fever." He laughs. "You're worried too much about where you're going."
"You've got to focus less on the where and more on the going," Lily advises.
"O. Mash. U."
"It sounds like you're going to Omashu," Chong says. Sokka facepalms. Suki smirks.
"There's an old song about a secret pass right through the mountains," Chong says airily. Sokka and Suki exchange glances. Going through the mountain rather than around it would save a lot of time. With Katara in prison, every second counts.
"Is this real or a legend?" Suki asks.
"Oh, it's a real legend," Chong says cheerfully. "And it's as old as Earthbending itself."
He whips out his banjo and starts playing a cheerful tune. Lily picks up her flute and the third member of their party drums while laying on the ground.
Two lovers, forbidden from one another
A war divides their people
And a mountain divides them apart
They built a path to be together
Chong trails off. "I forget the next couple lines but then it goes, SECRET TUNNEL!"
Sokka jumps. Suki covers her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing.
"SECRET TUNNEL! THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS! Secret, secret, secret, secret, TUNNEL! Yeah!"
Chong slouches back down. Sokka crosses his arms.
"I think we'll just stick to our plans. We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine."
"Did we mention the Fire Nation blockade from the end of this forest all the way to Omashu?" Lily suddenly asks. "The Fire Nation took over Omashu a couple weeks ago, but there is still rebel activity in the city so they've locked down the land."
Sokka and Suki exchange glances. Sokka sighs. "To the secret love tunnel we go," he begrudgingly admits.
After a few hours of hiking, Sokka is starting to get tired. "How far are we from the tunnel?" he asks.
"Actually, it's not just one tunnel," Chong explains. "The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth."
Sokka stops suddenly. "Labyrinth?" he exclaims.
"I'm sure we'll figure it out."
Sokka is not so sure. In fact, facing the Fire Nation is starting to sound like a better idea than following these airheads into a labyrinth. But Suki gives him the look so he shuts his mouth and continues walking.
"All you need to do is trust in love," Lily says. "According to the curse."
Sokka stops suddenly again. "Curse?!"
They ignore him and continue walking. About ten minutes later, a large opening in the mountain appears in front of them.
"Hey! We're here!" Chong calls out.
Sokka glances at some characters carved into the side of the mountain. "What exactly is this curse?"
"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves." Chong glances back at him. "Otherwise you'll be trapped in there forever."
"And die," Lily adds.
"Oh, right. And die." Chong grins. "Hey! I just remembered the rest of the song!" He strums a low chord. "And die!" he signs deeply.
Sokka throws his hands up. "That's it! There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!"
The third nomad, Moku, points to a tower of smoke in the distance. "Hey! Someone's making a campfire!"
Suki shakes her head. "That's not a campfire. That's Fire Nation."
Sokka stands next to Suki. "They must be following us. They probably think we're spies or something."
Suki glances back at Chong. "So all we need is to trust in love to get through these caves?"
"That is correct."
Suki shrugs. "Doesn't sound so hard to me. Come on, Sokka. We can make it. Just focus on your love for your sister."
Sokka rolls his eyes. He doesn't believe in fate or curses but he knows there's usually a reason that people claim things are cursed. Of course, there's a logical explanation - like maybe only a few people have ever made it through this labyrinth and they said they made it through the power of love, so then someone made a song about how only the power of love can grant safe passage.
They've come too far to turn back now, anyhow.
"Everyone into the caves!"
They aren't far into the caves before the mountain starts to shake. Suki grabs ahold of Sokka's arm.
"What is it?" she asks.
Sokka watches as the entrance suddenly caves in. The daylight disappears.
"The Fire Nation must have destroyed the opening," he realizes. "They're counting on us to die in here."
Chong lights a torch. "No worries, young travellers. We have love on our side. And fire."
"Okay. So we need a plan." Sokka starts pacing. "Chong, how long do those torches last?"
"About two hours each."
"And we have five torches, so that's ten hours!" Lily lights up all the torches.
Sokka reaches over and grabs them from her hand, casting them down upon the ground and stepping on them. "It doesn't work like that if you light them all at the same time!" he exclaims.
Sokka reaches into his backpack and pulls out a blank scroll. "I'm going to make a map of where we've been so we can keep track of what paths we try. Then we can solve it like a puzzle."
"That's a good idea," Suki says. "I'll help."
They begin walking, Chong standing in the middle of the group and holding the torch.
They've completely burned through half of the torches when Sokka realizes his plan isn't working. At all. This is the tenth dead end they've reached, even with keeping track.
"This doesn't make any sense." He glances at the pile of rubble and then back again at his map. "We've already came through this way."
"We don't need a map," Chong says. "Only love."
Sokka walks around, comparing his map with the tunnels around them. "There's something strange here." He sets down his map. "There's only one explanation."
Everyone stares at him.
"The tunnels are changing."
And, as if one cue, the mountain rumbles around them.
"The tunnels - are a'changing!" Chong holds his head in his hands. "It must be the curse! I knew we shouldn't have come down here!"
"Right," Sokka says sarcastically. "If only we had listened to you."
"Everyone, quiet!" Suki calls out. "Listen!"
A strange noise echoes in the chamber in front of them. Suddenly a large bat flies out, right through them.
"It's a giant flying thing with teeth!" Chong exclaims.
"No!" Lily cries as the creature lands. "It's a wolfbat!"
Sokka whips the torch to ward the creature off. The creature schrieks. Suddenly a huge swarm of wolfbats comes flying through, all shrieking together.
"Run!" Suki screams. She grabs Sokka's hand and they take off. Sokka hopes the others are running as well. In the chaos he drops his map - not that it was helping much, anyway.
When the cries of the creatures are silenced, the two of them finally stop to catch their breaths.
"Where are the nomads?" Suki asks, looking around. "They're not here."
"They must have run a different way. We're on our own, now."
"So what are we going to do?"
"Start walking, I guess." Sokka holds the torch up. "And hope we reach the exit before we run out of light."
"But we've already been lost in here for hours."
Sokka can't help but crack a small smile. "Then just believe in the power of love and we'll find the way."
She playfully pushes him. "You believe in the power of love."
Something ahead of them catches Sokka's eye. "Hey, look! I think we found the exit!"
They run up to a large circular door. Suki finds an ancient mechanism off the side and they two of them pull at the wheel until it begins to turn. As is turns, the door opens.
What they find when they step through only serves to disappoint them.
"This isn't the exit," Suki says softly.
"No." Sokka steps forward. "It's a tomb."
Two concrete tombs lay side by side. Ornate engravings cover the burial sight.
"It must be the two lovers from the legend," Suki says, walking around them. "That's who's buried here."
"These pictures seem to tell their story." Sokka holds the torch up to the carvings on the side of the tombs. He deciphers it. "They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages. Their villages were enemies so they could not be together. But their love was strong and they found a way. The two lovers learned earthbending from the badgermoles. They became the first Earthbenders. They built elaborate tunnels so that they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth. But one day the man didn't come. He died in the war between their two villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earthbending powers. She could have destroyed them all. But instead she declared the war over. Both villages helped her create a new city where they could all live together in peace. The woman's name was Oma and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love."
They both turn around to an inscription on the wall behind them. "Love is brightest in the dark," Suki reads out.
Sokka sighs. "Nice story, but it doesn't exactly help us get out of here."
Suki stares at the inscription. "I have a crazy idea," she says slowly, hesitantly.
"What?"
She shakes her head. "Nevermind. It's too crazy."
"Suki? What is it? I'm all out of ideas myself. What's the worst thing that can happen?"
She sighs and looks away from him. "I thought that since the curse says we'll be trapped in here forever unless we trust in love, and the inscription has a picture of them kissing…"
Sokka frowns. "So?"
"What if we kissed?"
Sokka's face grows red. This is definitely not the first time he's thought of such a thing. He's liked Suki since they started training together. She's kind, funny, beautiful, strong, and she puts up with him, sarcasm and stupidity and all. But of course he never thought anything would come of it. She's much too good for him. Why would she want to be with someone she can beat up?
"Us kissing?" he says, trying to cover up his blush.
Suki shrugs. "It was a crazy idea. Never mind."
"Yeah." Sokka awkwardly scratches the back of his neck.
"Let's just keep walking," she says quickly. "Forget I said anything." She starts walking out of the tomb. Sokka follows, unsure of what to say.
They walk in silence while their torch burns down. When it gets near the bottom, Sokka pauses.
"We're going to run out of light any second now." He faces Suki. "What are we going to do?"
She looks at him sadly. "What can we do? We tried making a map. We tried trusting in love. We learned the story of the lovers. Some fights just aren't winnable, Sokka."
He's still staring at her as the torch fades down. "We didn't try your idea," he says quietly.
Suki hesitates. As the torch fades, they begin to lean in closer.
Suddenly the ceiling lights up with a brilliant turquoise light. Suki looks up in wonder and laughs.
"They did tell us how to escape!" she says. "'Love is brightest in the dark.' We had to let the light die out so those crystals could shine!"
Sokka thinks she has never looked more beautiful than in the light of the crystals. "I bet they lead us out. The lovers must have used them to navigate."
Suki moves her gaze to him. "And it's how we'll find our way to Omashu."
Neither of them move. They're still standing close, only inches apart.
Sokka swallows. "Suki, I - "
She suddenly reaches up and kisses him. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her closer. Maybe trusting in love isn't such a bad thing after all.
When she pulls away, she's smiling. "Let's go, Sokka." She grabs his hand and they begin to follow the crystals out of the mountain.
When they emerge into daylight, the first thing Sokka does is give Suki a huge hug. "I thought we were going to die in there," he admits.
She laughs. "We would have figured it out eventually. I just hope the others do, too."
The mountain starts shaking behind them. They step away from the entrance as two giant badgermoles burst out. Chong and the nomads slide off the animals and wave.
"Hey! You guys found your way out, too!" he says. "How'd you do it?"
Sokka and Suki exchange smiles. "We let love guide us," Suki replies. "And what about you?"
Chong shrugs. "Turns out badgermoles like music. We just played them some songs and then they gave us a lift."
Sokka decides that maybe the nomads aren't so bad after all. Everyone has their quirks, but what may seem like weaknesses can be strengths. And what may seem crazy can be genius.
"Are you guys coming with us to Omashu?" Suki asks.
"No," Moku says. "We're going to find another adventure."
"Okay. Good luck on your travels!"
Suki and Sokka watch the nomads head off, singing a new song about a cursed forest.
Once they're out of sight, they begin hiking up the steep slope of the mountain.
"The journey was long and strenuous," Sokka remarks. "But now you get to see the destination - and our next resting stop: O -"
He cuts off in shock. They had emerged on the side of the mountain facing Omashu - only to see Fire Nation banners hanging off the parapets and smoke rising up.
"They weren't making it up. The Fire Nation really did conquer the city."
Suki lays a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Sokka. We'll stop at a smaller village on the other side of the city."
She's right, of course. But the sight of the burning city is still disheartening. It's a reminder not only of what the Fire Nation did to his own village, but of the damage they're capable of. If even Omashu can fall, then who can stand against them?
The Avatar. The Avatar is the only one. Sokka just hopes whoever it is starts doing their job before there's nothing left to save.
He takes a deep breath. "Let's go. The faster we get to Katara the better."
And so they continue their journey to the Fire Nation, this time hand in hand.