Snaps for father-son and father-daughter bonding!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING.

CHAPTER 5

Sokka looked over at Katara. She was sitting against Appa's leg, staring into the fire with a blank, haunted look in her eyes. She had been like that for a long time. Shortly after Aang had been taken, she had fallen asleep, being too emotionally and physically exhausted to keep her eyes open. Hakoda was tired and weak from his stay in the prison, so Sokka had carried her to Appa's saddle. They had then gone back to the campsite where Katara had been captured. While Katara slept, Sokka and Toph talked to Hakoda through the rest of the night. Katara had woken up just as the sun was rising. Since then, she had been sitting, staring into the flames of the campfire.

Toph had tried to talk to her, to ask her what happened while she was imprisoned, but Katara wasn't speaking and Toph was tired, so she gave up easily and curled up in her rock tent to try and get some sleep. Sokka and his father stayed by the fire, talking quietly in the cool morning air.

"Dad... I'm worried about her," Sokka said, glancing at his sister across the fire. She didn't seem to notice. "I think she's gotten too close to Aang."

"How do you figure?" Hakoda asked.

"Well... she just told me she thinks she loves him," Sokka replied awkwardly.

"Well, that clears it up," Hakoda chuckled. "When did she tell you this?"

Sokka shifted uneasily, staring at the ground. "In the few minutes after they took Aang and before you came out."

"Well, she was probably pretty emotional at the time," Hakoda said thoughtfully.

"I figured it might be the moon, too," Sokka added. Hakoda looked at him curiously. "Well, waterbenders draw their powers from the moon. Whenever it's full, Katara can't sleep. She usually goes and finds the nearest source of water. I know because I follow her sometimes to make sure she's okay."

Hakoda smiled. His son had been doing a wonderful job of protecting his daughter.

"She used to just waterbend all night. But a while after we started traveling with Aang, she stopped waterbending. She'd just get near some water and sit there, breathing really slow like she was trying to stay calm or something. The first time I noticed it was right after we parted ways with Bato."

"That's strange..." Hakoda admitted.

"And after that, I noticed that in the few days leading up to the full moon, she'd spend a lot more time with Aang," Sokka continued. "But she'd get all flustered around him every so often. I dunno... I thought she just had a crush on him. And it's not like Aang minds the attention. He's crazy about her."

"You seem to know a lot of what's going on among your little group, Sokka," Hakoda observed.

Sokka shrugged, the compliment going right over his head. He was still looking at Katara. "Everyone thinks I don't pay attention to anything, but they have no idea that I'm watching over them all the time. It's my job to protect them. Aang may be the Avatar, but he's still just a kid. Well... he's done a lot of growing up lately I guess, but I still need to watch out for him."

"Well, it's obvious that Katara is a little too close to Aang," Hakoda said, scratching his chin. "But do you have reason to believe that's a bad thing?"

Sokka thought about it for a minute. "I... hadn't really thought about it that way..."

"Well, you told me before that he's crazy about her," Hakoda began.

Sokka nodded. "And he's terrible at keeping it a secret, too. I think Katara's the only one on the planet who doesn't see it."

Hakoda laughed a little. "That tends to be the case," he said. "Would he ever hurt her?"

"Are you kidding? Aang would die before he hurt Katara," Sokka said seriously. "He accidentally burned her hands once, and he swore off firebending for the rest of his life. Of course, we know he'll have to do it eventually, but still..."

"Well then, the only question I have left is whether or not you think they could still be friends if a closer relationship didn't work out."

Sokka thought for a moment. "Yeah, they'll be friends no matter what," he said, nodding.

"Then I don't think you have anything to worry about," Hakoda said, patting his son's shoulder. "My little girl can take care of her heart."

Sokka looked down. "She's not a little girl anymore, dad," he muttered. "She's a master waterbender now, did you know that? And she's a healer, too. She's changed a lot since mom died. She's strong. She takes care of us."

Hakoda looked at him for a long time. "I'm proud of you, son," he said seriously. "You'll make a great father some day."

Sokka smiled. "Thanks, dad."

Katara was agitated. It was four hours past noon. In a few hours, when night fell, the moon would be full. She was already feeling it. She could smell her father, her brother, Toph, Appa, Momo, the forest, the guards at the prison... She had spent most of the afternoon either pacing or sitting with her back to a tree and banging her head on it.

"Would you quit it, Sugar Queen?" Toph shouted at long last, finally getting tired of the banging and the pacing. "You're making me nervous."

"I can't help it," Katara grumbled. "The stupid moon is driving me crazy!" She didn't mention the fact that she was worried to death about Aang. She didn't need to mention it.

"The moon isn't stupid," Sokka muttered, annoyed.

"Oh... sorry, Sokka," Katara said quietly. "I didn't mean it that way..."

"What are you two talking about?" Hakoda asked, entering the clearing. He had been down at a nearby stream to wash up.

"Don't ask," Toph said shortly. "They won't answer you. They never answer me when I ask."

Katara glanced at Sokka. "You didn't tell dad about Yue?" she asked quietly.

"We haven't even told Toph yet," he grumbled in reply.

"I know, but... this is dad," Katara continued gently.

Sokka sighed. "I'm not ready to tell anyone," he muttered.

Katara placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Alright, but when you are ready, she'll be right there with you," she said, smiling a little.

"Yeah," Sokka said heavily. "I know..."

"Besides, we know it's not just the moon driving you crazy," Toph added sourly. She began idly bending pebbles up off the ground, spinning them around her fingers with an intensely bored look on her face. "I'm worried about him too, you know."

Katara didn't say anything. She walked silently over to Appa's saddle, pulled out her water satchel, and muttered, "I'm going to the stream. Let me know if..." She trailed off and walked into the forest.

Toph just grumbled to herself. Sokka began to stand. "I'd better make sure she's-"

"It's okay, I'll go," Hakoda said, cutting him off. He got to his feet and followed her at a distance. He reached the stream shortly after her and hung back in the trees, watching. She was already waist-deep in the stream, bending the water all around her to ease her frustration. He smiled a little, impressed. She really was a master. Water was whipping every which way, but she was carefully orchestrating each curve and twist in the water's path.

"I know you're there," she said, just loud enough for him to hear. She didn't even look over. She just kept bending. Hakoda emerged slowly from the trees.

"How did you know?" he asked pleasantly.

"I could smell you," she replied simply, blue eyes following the water.

"Do I smell that bad? I just took a bath," he exclaimed with a smirk.

Katara let the water fall back into the stream and joined him on dry land. "No... it's just the moon," she muttered, sitting down at the water's edge and closing her eyes. She started breathing very deeply and slowly.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently, taking a seat beside her.

Katara didn't open her eyes. She just shook her head. "I'd be lying if I said I was," she said dully.

"You're really worried about him," he said. It wasn't a question. Katara looked at her feet and remained silent, so Hakoda continued. "Do you love him?"

Katara didn't say anything for a very long time. She stared into the rippling current of the stream for several minutes while Hakoda waited. She finally sighed a little. "Yes."

Hakoda found himself feeling rather strange. His daughter, his little girl, had given her heart to another. He was silent for a while too.

"According to your brother, Aang is crazy about you," he said at long last.

Katara glanced at him. "...What do you mean?" she said slowly.

Hakoda nodded. "Sokka told me Aang would do anything for you, and you're the only one in the world who hasn't noticed," he said simply.

Katara began to feel rather numb. She had always known Aang cared a lot for her, maybe even had a crush on her. But... crazy about her? Would do anything for her? She smiled a little in spite of herself.

"Do you feel any better now?" Hakoda asked, smiling back.

Katara sighed and shook her head. "I've never been afraid of rejection," she said honestly. "Even if he didn't feel the same way, I knew we could still be friends. And that would be enough for me. I just..." She sighed again. "I can't tell him. I can't put him through this right now. He's the Avatar. He has a lot to worry about, and I don't want him to have to worry about me any more than he already does."

Hakoda wasn't sure what to say. What she said made sense. But he didn't want her to be suffering alone. He didn't want her to have to hold down these feelings for too long. But he didn't know how to communicate this to her in a sensitive way. He thought for several moments.

"Do you think maybe he could be worrying about how to tell you about his feelings? Or that maybe you don't feel the same? That's a lot more distracting than worrying about you when he knows you love him," he said, slowly and thoughtfully.

Katara looked at him. "That... makes sense..." she said quietly.

Hakoda smiled gently and placed a hand on her back. "See? Your old man still knows what he's talking about," he said. Then he frowned a little. "Katara... when your mom died, you had to grow up a lot in a short amount of time. You've become a very mature young woman while I was gone. And now you've fallen in love. When I first saw you in that prison, I still thought of you as a little girl. But... now I see you're not a little girl anymore."

Katara smiled and leaned against his shoulder, closing her eyes tiredly. "I missed you," she said simply.

He smiled. "Missed you too, kid," he replied.

"Do you think she was serious?"

Sokka looked over at Toph. She was sitting against a tree, eyes closed in a moment of relaxation.

"Hm?" he muttered, stirring the embers of the campfire with a stick.

"Do you think Katara was serious when she said she loved Aang?" Toph asked calmly.

Sokka stared at her for a long time. "Do you think she was?" he asked.

Toph paused for a moment. "Yes. But I don't know her as well as you do," she said.

Sokka thought for a little while. He nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "Yeah, I think she was serious," he said. "Why do you ask?"

Toph shrugged. "I just know that if she's serious, things are going to change between all four of us," she said. "I know it won't change too much, but it will be different."

Sokka nodded again, smiling a little. "Wow, Toph," he said. "I didn't realize you gave anything this much thought."

"I could say the same thing about you," she replied, smiling as well.