A/N: I really shouldn't be awake right now; my mind is off in some exhausted corner of Lala land. So I don't know if this makes one lick of sense right now. But I tried to lay down at 4 and all of a sudden the last line of this drabble popped into my head and wouldn't let me sleep until I got it out of my system. =_= And now that it is... *goes to bed*
Hakoda knew that time could slow.
In battle, he noticed that, if he concentrated, time seemed to move at half-speed. That fireblast whizzing towards him to the spectator's eye only appeared to inch and crawl towards him. All he had to do was casually step to the side and he was out of harm's way.
On the hunt, that armadillotiger he provoked lunged forward, swiping at him. Time slowed and he marveled at the movement of the beast's muscles under taut flesh before ducking, out of the way of it's claws.
The day the Southern Raiders came and he listened to his daughter's terrified plea, everything moved in slow motion. He heart pounded painfully, slowly against his chest. The scene spilt out before him in still frames. His igloo. Drawing back the door in a slowly swift motion. Her body burnt black. Falling to his knees. His daughter screaming. His son crying. Her burial dragged on all day in his grief.
Hakoda knew that time could accelerate.
After side-stepping the oncoming attack from enemy soldiers, time sped up again. He stepped forward, fists poised, preparing to attack. His fist connected with the anonymous bender's gut and sent him flying back. His lips curled up into a smirk as yet another battle was his. Battles did not last long enough and victories were fleeting.
The armadillotiger's claws nicked his wolf tail, slashing a few strands from the tip. He growled to match the beast's hiss as time accelerated once more. It snarled, rearing back to make another attempt at injuring him. He readied his spear, thrusting it forward into the armadillo tiger's chest. The beast froze, whined, slumped over in what seemed like seconds. He released the spear and let the creature fall to the ground, resting his foot on it's side and jerking the spear out. The thrill of the hunt would wear off too soon and the meal would only satiate his hunger for a brief amount of time.
After they recovered from their tragedy and the family went on with their lives, time flew by too quickly. He watched his children grow up before his eyes. Sokka was one day a boy still in need of his father's loving guidance; Katara was a small version of her mother, a timid little girl. It only seemed that he had blinked and they were grown. Sokka was now a brave warrior, a man who could stand on his own; Katara was now the spitting image of her mother, a woman entirely independent. He was amazed at how the war made time go by so fast and regretted he had missed his children transformations into adults.
Hakoda knew time could never freeze.
The battle always ended; it could never last forever. Nor could the hunt or those times in life that define a person.
He smiled, hands burying, entangling themselves in Bato's hair. He leaned forward, noting how his friend mirrored his actions, and pressed his lips against the other's with tender love. Lean, strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. Eyes slipped closed as his friend pressed into the kiss and he pressed back.
Time slowed, accelerated, slowed again, bipolar in it's fluctuations as he admired the blushing form under him before and after making love. One of his hands, trembling from exhaustion and the high of release, wandered, found one of Bato's, wrapping around it, fingers interlocking with his partner's. I love you.
Hakoda knew time couldn't freeze. But how he wished that it could at times like this.