Ribbon – Visiting Hours part 3
He coughs, suddenly awkward. "Hello, Sokka here."
She paces back and forth behind the bars, shooting him a look that clearly says, Idiot. "I figured. Who else comes in here to babble inanely at me?"
He ignores that jab and instead says, "Here, I brought this for you." Something long and thin slips through the bars and falls at her feet.
She looks down, confused, and picks it up. "What is this?"
He replies, "Zuko found it while some of the servants were cleaning out the nursery. He said it was yours."
She has turned her face away and takes a moment to respond. "Yes, it is."
He senses there is more to it. "It doesn't seem like something you'd wear. I mean, it's pink. I'd think that would be more Ty Lee's style…"
She winces noticeably, and her head jerks up. Then she snaps, "Leave me."
He does not. He just stands there, silent, waiting.
She turns away, and memories flood over her. A little dark-haired girl in red, sitting alone in the courtyard and holding a tiny blue flame in her hands…another girl, in pink, cartwheeling up to her and introducing herself as Ty Lee…the new girl giving her a friendly hug and untying the pink ribbon in her hair, saying, "We're going to be best friends forever!" But she pushes them away, and chokes back a sudden sob.
He decides not to comment on her sudden silence. Instead he decides to revert to "babbling inanely" as she'd mentioned earlier. "You know, Mai's pregnant."
She finally looks up at him, his statement having disgusted her enough to require a reaction. "You honestly think I want to hear about the spawn of my useless brother and that traitor? I don't want anything to do with them! They betrayed me! I…I…" Her voice breaks, and she retreats to the far corner of her cell.
He pretends not to hear the very quiet sobs coming from the corner, and instead decides it is time for him to leave.