When Sokka hugged Piandao, it was a spur of the moment reaction, the kind of thing he would have never done a year ago. "Hugging is for girls," he would have scoffed. But now, after everything they had gone through, hugging the people he cared about just felt right.
When Sokka threw his arms around Piandao, squeezing him so tight that Sokka thought he had broken the guy, Piandao placed his hands–gentle and firm–on Sokka's shoulders. The hug was a simple gesture - affection, the fragile beginnings of friendship.