Surviving (Stranger)
[100 AG]
[The Fire Nation Royal Palace]
They all moved like strangers.
Sokka's step had lost its bounce, his posture all its unconscious confidence, every step he took was deliberate and thought about beforehand, like Suki's and Zuko's usually were, who both now regularly stepped onto toes and bumped into other people and just straight up a wall, yesterday, and she still wasn't quite sure how Zuko'd managed that.
There was no effortless grace in the way Katara moved anymore, nothing that marked her clearly as the waterbender she was, she felt hunched over, like she was trying to make herself seem smaller, and Aang's shoulders were similarly slumped, his head always down, his steps way too heavy.
It felt somewhat wrong, calling him Twinkle Toes now.
She hadn't in days.
And she hoped all these changes were temporary, caused by the tiredness sitting deep in their bones, because nobody slept through the night if one of them couldn't sleep, and once they all managed to sleep a few hours without interruption, everything would be less slow, less heavy, less sluggish. Sokka would start to mistep again, not caring, and Zuko and Suki would stop, caring too much, Aang's toes would barely touch the ground and Katara would move like the water they were made of.
Everything would be fine.
Sooner or later.
Hopefully.