Chapter 4: Omashu
Suki and Sokka have just taken off from Chin village. They are traveling to Omashu to stay at King Bumi's palace for the night. Suki has been having problems, and has been ignoring them. She is also lying to Sokka, telling him that she's fine when she really isn't.
Sokka was lying down on his back in the middle of Appa's saddle with his head resting on his hands. Suki had her head resting on Sokka's stomach and the two were watching the clouds go by.
Suki sat up and started coughing again. She coughed for several seconds before Sokka sat up.
"Are you alright?" Sokka asked. Suki nodded positively. "Do we need to land or anything?" She nodded negatively.
Suki continued coughing for several minutes; water brought no relief. Finally she stopped long enough to catch her breath.
"Ouch." Was all Suki said.
"Are you going to be ok?" Sokka said, furrowing his eyebrows with concern.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I don't know what's wrong; I think I might have a cold or something." Suki hated to admit that something was wrong, and she hoped it didn't ruin the surprise.
"WHAT?" Sokka exclaimed.
"I'm sorry Sokka. I-I just" Suki replied, her voice sounded distraught.
"No. It's fine. I just never thought of you, getting sick. Ever. Because you're Suki, and that means you're perfect." Sokka said. He speech sounding slightly broken.
Suki chuckled, followed by a few more coughs. "I think we're both overreacting. It's just a little cough, or cold, or something minor. I'll get by, because it's not a big deal."
Sounding skeptical, Sokka replied "I guess so, but I have to take extra good care of you now. Let me grab some blankets and stuff." He racked his brain, trying to think of what to do when somebody back home got sick.
Sokka thought to himself: So, Gran-Gran used to say, wait, what did she say? I forgot. Stupid! I should've listened to Gran-Gran! Something about keeping warm. Well duh, it's the south pole. Drink lots of, tea? No, that's what Iroh would say. Probably water. Let's go with that. While he was trying to remember what to do, Suki was having another coughing fit and he was scrambling around restlessly.
Suki could taste blood in her mouth, and she wiped some off the side of her lip as well.
"That can't be good." She thought aloud.
Sokka froze. "What can't be good? Suki? Suki!" The concern for his girlfriend was definitely ridiculous. Fortunately Suki had her back turned to him when she coughed up blood.
"It's nothing Sokka. Calm down. I'll be fine. I'm not made of glass, and I'm perfectly capable of fighting off one measly cold." Suki said, lying again.
Sokka grabbed his parka, for he could see his girlfriend was cold. The goose bumps on her arm were a dead giveaway. He bunched up some pants and shirts to make a pillow for Suki.
"Why don't you just get some rest? I want you in tip-top shape for your surprise."
Cooperatively, Suki laid down and Sokka covered her up. She knew it wasn't that serious, but she wanted to put Sokka's mind at rest.
Sokka stood up and went to Appa to steer him in the right direction. He checked his map to make sure they were on track, then went back to sit next to Suki.
Not particularly tired, Suki sat there with her eyes closed thinking to herself. I'm sure this little thing is a minor illness. I mean, what's a little blood? It's not a big deal right? Right? Her thoughts became slightly frenzied. She shivered and sneezed once, startling Sokka.
Before he could open his mouth, Suki said sternly, "I'm fine. You worry too much. You sound like Katara"
Sokka had nothing clever to retort, so he kept his mouth shut. He leaned against the back of the saddle with one arm resting on the ridge. One of his legs was extended and the other was bent. He had his other arm resting on his bent leg, and his fingers were fiddling with a coin.
Sokka was not known for his patience, however he was known for being the polar opposite of Mai. You're overreacting Sokka, as you always do. She's a warrior man! Suki's probably tougher than you! Just keep it cool, and relax. Everything is going to work out fine. We're going to make it to Ba Sing Se without any problems and everything will work out as planned. Nothing to worry about. Sokka yawned as he thought about the upcoming week. Within a few minutes he was snoring, as was Suki. Both the warriors were gone to the world.
XXX
Appa groaned loudly trying to alert Sokka that they had made it to Omashu. He sat up sleepily and rubbed his eyes. Suki was completely unconscious, and was snoring very loudly.
"Suki?" Sokka said softly as he shook her shoulder lightly.
"Yeah?" Suki replied hazily.
"We're at Omashu. Ok, we'll we're not here quite yet but we will be in about 10 minutes." Sokka replied.
"Ok. Sounds good." Suki yawned as she sat up. She stretched her arms over her head and started coughing again.
Sokka placed his hands on her shoulders protectively when she lowered her arms.
"Do you want to stay in Omashu for an extra day? You don't sound very healthy." Sokka questioned.
"No. I'm fine, I promise." Suki replied between coughs.
"I don't think you are." Sokka countered.
"I know you're concerned for my well-being and all, but I know when I need help and now isn't the time." Suki said, her voice sounded raspy.
Taken aback by the forcefulness of Suki's statement, Sokka sat there with his mouth slightly ajar.
"Oh- ok." Sokka stuttered.
They sat there in silence, as they approached the outer walls of the city. Sokka remembered the adventure through the cave of two lovers.
"Two lovers, forbidden from one another…" Sokka started to sing, and then quickly reprimanded himself by smacking his forehead with much force.
Appa flew towards the entrance to the city. Sokka doubted they needed to talk to the guards to get in, but they weren't above the rules. Appa landed in front of the gate to the city, and Sokka hopped down from Appa's saddle.
"Hello son of Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis, the third." The guard said, as he addressed Sokka.
"Um, hi." Sokka replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Can I help you?" The guard questioned.
"Yeah, my girlfriend Suki, Appa, and I are all staying the night at King Bumi's Palace. We didn't want to just fly over the walls of the city. I take it that is frowned upon." The water tribe warrior said.
"You are right. We would've shot large boulders at you!" The guard said cheerfully.
"So can we get in?" Sokka questioned.
"Yes. Hold on a second while we open the gates." The two guards bent the massive wall made of earth to make an opening large enough for Appa to pass through.
"Thanks!" Sokka called as they walked through the opening and into the great city of Omashu.
"Wow." Was all Suki managed to squeak out.
The city of Omashu was indeed breathtaking. The massive system of chutes and tunnels were so intricately laid out, it was a work of art in and of itself. King Bumi's palace sat on top of the tallest hill in the center of Omashu.
Sokka decided it was too much effort to walk up to the palace from the entrance to the city, so he hopped on top of Appa and flew to the palace's entrance. The palace wasn't guarded by Dai Li agents as the palace in Ba Sing Se was. The doors were made completely of stone and could only be opened by an earthbender.
"I told you the palace was awesome." Sokka teased playfully.
"No you didn't." Suki laughed lightly, stifling a cough.
"True, but I was going to tell you. And then you fell asleep." Sokka retorted.
Suki and Sokka were always playfully teasing each other. Rarely were they serious, or nice to each other. They had a strange ability to be intimate and sarcastically mean to each other at the same time.
All of a sudden, the massive doors to the palace were opened, revealing King Bumi. He had his usual look of insanity to his aura. He had his weird hat with the antlers on, and his large green robes covered everything but his face.
"Sokka, Suki, So nice to see you!" King Bumi cackled as usual.
"Hey Bumi. I'm starving! Can we get something to eat?" Sokka asked.
"Sokka!" Suki scolded, not amused at Sokka's lack of manners.
"What, I'm hungry. Bumi's a guy, he understands!" Sokka replied defensively; Bumi nodded in agreement.
Suki scoffed, and followed the hungry men. She wasn't hungry, and was having trouble keeping what she had consumed down. Even though she felt miserable, Suki wasn't going to let Sokka know. She knew she was breaking a promise, but it was for the better. Sokka had a tendency to overreact, and she wasn't in any shape to deal with it.
"I've had my chefs prepare a feast for you." Bumi exclaimed. The old man was eccentric, and he carried the trait into everything he did.
Sokka was speechless. His preoccupation with food made him dream of eating all the time. However he had never imagined this much. The dining room table was filled with everything Sokka could fathom. He felt like he was going to faint from excitement.
"Oh. My. Spirits." Sokka choked out, and immediately attacked the mountains of food.
Suki stood back, laughing. The laughing turned into a coughing fit. Please no blood. She thought to herself. Her hopes were not listened to, as she coughed blood into her hand. She quickly grabbed a napkin from the table to wipe it off, and hoped like hell that nobody saw her. This time her hopes were answered.
The table had food from every nation. Roast duck and Komodo Sausage from the fire nation, platypus eggs from the Earth Kingdom, fruit pies from the air nomads, and several dishes from the water tribes.
Sokka felt like he was in heaven; he tried almost everything on the table except the fire flakes which he remembered were gross. Suki sampled small amounts of each of the nations, hoping she could keep the food down until she could be alone.
Sokka inhaled what seemed to be pounds of food. Suki on the other hand, was quite reserved in her eating. She took the time to properly appreciate the food, instead of consuming everything that was edible in a five foot radius.
Suki would've scolded Sokka for his bad behavior, except Bumi was doing the exact same thing. Flopsie was sitting in the corner of the room hoping for scraps. Every once in a while, Bumi would throw a piece of meat Flopsy's way, and Flopsie quickly grabbed the scrap and ate it with fervor.
After about half an hour, Sokka had completely filled his stomach and esophagus with food. Suki had eaten as much as she figured she could keep down.
"That was awesome!" Sokka said, very satisfied and full.
"Yes, Bumi. It was excellent. Thank you very much." Suki replied calmly.
"Not a problem. I'm happy to have my servants do anything you need. You are, after all, friends of the Avatar!" Bumi snorted in his eccentric manner.
He leaned over to one of the servants standing next to him and said, "Please take these two to their room." The servant nodded and motioned for Sokka and Suki to follow him.
"What about Appa?" Sokka asked, he stopped walking to ask Bumi.
"He's been taken care of. No worries." Bumi replied. "Now run along to your room."
Sokka shrugged and followed the servant. Two other servants were carrying their bags, following closely behind the couple. Sokka was holding Suki's hand as they walked to their room. They walked for about 10 minutes, and finally arrived at their room.
This room was much different from the last time they were in Omashu. It had large windows and an on suite bathroom. Suki was relieved about the bathroom. The bed was in the center of the room; it was round and appeared to be extremely soft. The sheets were beige with a light beige square in the center. It looked like an Earth Kingdom coin. The room's view was astounding, for it overlooked the great city.
Sokka ran from the door and body slammed the bed. He sighed happily as the softness of the bed engulfed him.
"This. Is. Awesome!" Sokka exclaimed, his voice muffled by the blankets. He was lying face down, not paying attention to what was going on around him.
Suki decided to body slam him. She didn't care if it made her feel worse, it would be well worth it. She snuck up behind Sokka and practically swan dived onto Sokka.
"Oof." Sokka squeaked. The air had been knocked clean out of his lungs by his loving girlfriend.
"Are you ok?" Suki asked, patting him on the back.
"Yeah, I'm good. He replied in between coughs.
"Geeze, you sound like me!" Suki laughed followed by some loud coughs.
After a few more minutes of sarcastic banter the two were sitting next to each other on the bed overlooking the city. Suki had her knees tucked underneath her and to the side, and was leaning up against Sokka. Sokka had his feet on the floor and was sitting up straight to support Suki. He had his arm around her back with his wrist resting on her shoulder. As usual, he was playing with her hair.
They sat there in silence, enjoying each other's company. It was sunset; the perfect time for sappy romantic moments. Sokka fell back on the bed with a thud, and Suki followed. She rolled on top of him and whispered:
"I have an idea."
"What?" Sokka whispered back.
"Follow me." Suki giggled as the tossed back the sheets. She took Sokka's hand and yanked him with her.
"Let the fun begin." Suki smiled and laughed.
XXX
It was three in the morning. The fun had stopped several hours ago. Suki was sitting on the side of the bed coughing, as usual. Sokka woke up and groggily asked,
"Are you ok? You're cough sounds worse."
Suki didn't answer for she was coughing too hard and frequently to squeak anything out. Please no blood she thought desperately, but to no avail.
Sokka got up from the bed and sat beside Suki. She coughed into her hands. The room was illuminated by a full moon, so Sokka could see relatively clearly. Suki continued to cough blood into her hands, and finally stopped long enough to breathe.
Sokka tried to hold her hands to comfort her. She tried to resist, but he was too quick for her to get away.
"What the…" Sokka said wearily.
"It's nothing." Suki tried to lie, but failed.
"This is definitely not nothing. We need to get you to a doctor or something. I mean you could have pentapox!" Sokka said, his voice had a rising degree of panic as he spoke.
"Sokka, it's really not a big deal. I mean a little bit of blood never hurt anyone."
"No. I think you're wrong on this one." Sokka said forcefully.
"Ok, whatever you say." Suki yawned from exhaustion. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in days. She rolled onto her back and Sokka tucked her in.
Well this is just great. Sokka thought to himself. Suki's sick and now we have to stay in Omashu. My plan is starting to crumble, and it's probably my fault! He walked around to his side of the bed and he tried to fall asleep. With the combination of the fact that Suki was sick and his plan was falling apart, his mind was a raging storm. He doubted he would get to sleep tonight. Nevertheless, Sokka fell into a troubled sleep.
Sokka dreamed about Suki and his plan. They had made it to Ba Sing Se, except one thing: Suki was dead. She died in her sleep a few hours before they arrived at the outer wall. Sokka's plan was ruined, plus he had to explain his dead girlfriend to the rest of the gang.
He sat up suddenly, gasping for air. He panted trying to calm himself down, not unlike Suki at Chin Village. Suki rubbed her eyes; her hands were still covered in dried blood.
"What is it Sokka?" She asked, this time she was the concerned one.
"Just a bad dream." Sokka replied, still breathing heavily.
"Ok, do you want to talk about it?" Suki inquired.
"No not really." Sokka replied, lying back down.
"Ok, whatever you want. Man, this sounds familiar." Suki laughed lightly.
It was early in the morning: The sun was still rising, and most of the city was still asleep. Suki got up to use the bathroom, while Sokka stayed in bed, still trying to calm himself down.
A few minutes later, Suki popped her head out from the corner of the bathroom and said:
"Hey Sokka. I'm going to take a bath. Could you throw me a change of clothes?"
"Yeah no problem, just give me a minute." Sokka replied, he was finally calm.
Suki pulled the divider across the door and filled up the bathtub with water. This is the life. Suki said. The palace of Omashu had warm running water, a luxury that she couldn't even fathom at home. She dropped her clothes on the floor and immersed herself in the warm water. Suki closed her eyes and sat in the bathtub without moving. After a few minutes of enjoying the warm water, she decided to actually get clean.
Sokka stood up from the bed. He had loose pants on, but no shirt. Sokka's muscles were defined by the morning light pouring into the room. His hair was down, and looked like a rat's nest.
He walked over to the massive windows through which light poured into the room. The windows went from the floor to the extremely high ceiling. The wall of windows was curved, and the room was shaped like a quarter of a circle. The large door was in the corner of the room, and the bathroom was on the same wall as the door.
Sokka remembered that Suki had asked him to bring her clothes, and quickly went over to her bag. He picked out a short skirt and a shirt that revealed her stomach. Of course he tried to find the most revealing thing in the bag because he loved to look at her defined body.
He walked over to the bathroom and knocked lightly on the wall.
"Can I come in?" Sokka asked hopefully.
"No, just throw the clothes over the divider please." Suki replied, crushing Sokka's perverted hopes.
"Damn." He whispered to himself as he tossed the clothes over the divider. "I wonder what her problem is." Sokka said quietly as he walked back to the windows.
"I heard that!" Suki yelled.
"Why won't you let me come in? It's not like, well you know!" Sokka questioned, turning back around.
"No reason. I just want alone time!" Suki laughed half heartedly. She wasn't hiding anything; she just wanted to be by herself. Suki had been within 5 feet of Sokka for the past few days, and she was enjoying the silence.
"Fine." Sokka muttered as he turned around again.
Instead of going to the windows to watch the city wake up, he got some clothes ready for his bath. He picked out his sleeveless shirt and figured he was going to wear the same pants as he had on now. He walked over to the door and sat down against the wall.
"Do you think we should have the servants wash our clothes?" Sokka called to Suki.
"Don't you think that's taking advantage of their hospitality?" Suki replied.
"No not really, I mean we did save them from the Fire Lord." Sokka said matter-of-factly.
"This is true." Suki agreed. "I just don't want to be the one to ask." She laughed lightly.
"Ok, well I'll ask them. Could you hurry up Suki? You take too long!" Sokka said impatiently.
"Calm down Mr. Impatient-pants." Suki teased. "I'll be out in a minute."
Suki got out of the tub, dripping water everywhere. She grabbed a towel to dry off, and another to dry off her hair. She picked up the outfit Sokka had chosen and scoffed.
"Really?" Suki laughed.
"Yep." Sokka replied, satisfied with himself.
Suki put on the outfit and briefly admired herself in the mirror, mainly checking that everything was put on properly. She pulled back the divider and leaned against the door.
Sokka stood up and kissed Suki on the forehead. "You look awesome." He smiled as he walked into the bathroom.
He filled the tub with water and looked at Suki. "I don't care if you stay in here. I'm not Mr. Sensitive-pants."
"I know. You're Mr. No-pants right now!" She laughed until she started coughing again.
Sokka immersed himself in the hot water and sighed happily. Suki suppressed her coughs to give Sokka piece of mind. She was beginning to think that her mere cough was getting worse. She felt like throwing up and passing out, and her throat felt like she swallowed a whole bowl of fire flakes.
Suki grabbed her makeup bad and started putting on some light makeup. After all, she was at King Bumi's palace.
"You're not going to try to steal it are you?" Suki teased.
"How would I? I have no pants on, and therefore have nowhere to run." Sokka chuckled as he washed his hair.
"Well if you're going to cloud the issue with facts, then I won't even bother!" Suki retorted sarcastically.
The two laughed briefly until Suki started coughing again. She coughed up blood all over her hands, and Sokka quickly came to help her. He was finished bathing and put on his pants as fast as he could.
"Should I go get somebody?" Sokka asked, his hands placed softly on Suki's shoulders.
All she could do was nod 'no'. She continued to cough for at least five minutes, barely pausing long enough to breathe. Her breathing became labored and it sounded like she was wheezing. She stood up in hopes to stop the coughing. Water brought no relief either.
All of a sudden she collapsed into Sokka's arms.
"Suki?" Sokka shrieked frantically.
There was no reply.
****** So this concludes chapter 4. It took me 6 hours to write it. Haha. I hope you are enjoying it still. I'm still debating what happens next, but I've been consulting 'Thepidgeonone' bouncing ideas off her. She recently wrote a Kataang oneshot and I got to choose Suki and Sokka's baby's name in that story. I felt honored lol. I shall try to write and post chapter 5 asap however I still want to make it as good as possible before posting it. You should read her story: The Goddaughter. .net/s/3969747/1/bGoddaughter_b that's the link :) Please review my story as it is very much appreciated, and feel free to give suggestions! Just in case you were wondering, Suki has viral pneumonia. I did the symptom checker on WebMD and it was like "If you're coughing up blood, see a doctor immediately!" I was just like who goes on Web MD when they're coughing up blood. Anyway, on to chapter 5.
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