Before And After
It's strange how an insignificant fishing trip can separate your life into before and after.
Gran-Gran had been nagging him about hunting, so Sokka had hastily put a few belongings into his canoe and prepared for an early morning fishing trip the following day.
He rose before the sun and crept out into the chilly morning. After a minute or so of letting his eyes adjust, Sokka started off toward the canal were he had docked his canoe, absently noting the moon was full.
When he reached the canal he knelt down in the snow and slipped a gloved hand in the black water, while raising the other hand to the sky and mumbling a prayer for a safe journey.
Only Twi and La knew just how long of a journey Sokka would be embarking on.
As he climbed into the boat Sokka heard shuffling behind him, and turned to see his sister standing in the moonlight. Despite his manliness, Sokka let out a shriek and tumbled backwards, hitting the bottom of the canoe with a thud.
"Sheesh Katara! What are doing here, you should be back with Gran-Gran!"
Katara didn't laugh at his clumsiness or flinch at his harsh tone of voice; instead she stared him straight in the eye and told him "I'm coming with you."
"What?!" Sokka was beginning to lose his patience. "Katara, you're just a girl, you'll mess everything up!"
Katara ignored her brother completely and stepped into the boat, steadying herself by putting a hand on Sokka's shoulder.
"Get off'a me!" he growled, and thumped Katara impatiently on the arm with the oar. "Fine, if you won't leave at least don't get in the way"
Sokka was always grumpy before breakfast.
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It wasn't until the sun rose that Sokka realized exactly why Katara had been up during the full moon, and he rolled his eyes and warned his sister one of these days her flying water nonsense was going to anger some big spirit.
Because Sokka was a warrior, and didn't want to get into any of that freaky magic stuff.
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And later on in the fishing trip when that giant glowing ice orb popped out of the water, Sokka forgot the fact that this was all his sister's fault, and all he wanted to do was protect her.
When the thing opened its glowing eyes and Katara darted off toward it, Sokka screamed after her, but he really couldn't do a thing.
He was frozen in place, his feet stuck to the ice and the harsh cold burning his lungs, and for a moment he thought he saw La, the spirit of the ocean, right there in that block of ice.
For a moment, Sokka the warrior believed in magic and spirits and Katara's flying water, even though the thought scared him more than an entire Fire Navy.
For a moment, he didn't want to go after his sister because he was so overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, and knew he was in the presence of something much bigger than himself, bigger than the entire ocean.
As big as, one might say, the Avatar.
Note: Mmmm-fff, yes I know, it's so short, but I'm very fond of it, and I checked over it a lot, and i just thought it was perfect enough for me. In this story Sokka's sexist manner was based off my brother.
I would love to get some more reviews on this story, please!