Disclaimer: I don't own A:tLA
Nieces
"We'll be back late tonight, Suki. Make sure that Sokka doesn't corrupt our child."
"Don't worry, Katara. I'll make sure he behaves. Have fun at the ball!" Katara rolled her eyes.
"As if. You're lucky this go round. It's just a bunch of stuffy old Earth Kingdom politicians. I've tried stalling for a while, but I swear the next messenger who comes will have explicit orders from my husband to return with me – willing or not." The two women chuckled and embraced. Katara crouched down to eye level with her daughter who stood at Suki's side. "Behave for Uncle Sokka and Auntie Suki, please?"
"Mhm. Come soon?" Tian Mi asked.
"We'll be back tonight when you're asleep." Tian Mi, who was only three and still slept six out of seven nights with her parents, began to tear up.
Noticing the situation, Suki picked up her niece and placed her on a hip. "But we'll have lots of fun while they're gone, Tian Mi, right? We'll play all kinds of games and then we'll have dinner and a bath and then bedtime. The time will fly, you'll see."
"See, you'll be fine with Auntie Suki. She's got the whole evening planned." Tian Mi nodded somberly, kissed her mother good-bye, and squirmed down from Suki's hip, not liking being held by anyone (except her papa). With big gray eyes, she then looked up.
"Play?" she asked. Suki smiled.
"Sure, let's go upstairs. Uncle Sokka and Kai are up there playing now…"
---
Suki had only been downstairs five minutes when she heard: "Kai, share!" followed by her six-year-old's cries and: "Suki!" Rushing upstairs to fix whatever the problem that aroused, she walked in on her son crying, her husband looking equally distressed and surprised, and her niece missing.
"Where's Tian Mi?" she asked. Tears streaming down his face, Kai scowled and pointed up at a tall bookshelf. Looking petulantly down at her cousin was Tian Mi. "Tian Mi! What are you doing up there‽ Sokka, go grab a chair!" She noticed her niece was clutching a stuffed animal in her little hands.
"She's not sharing Foo Foo Cuddlypoops!" Kai accused. Sokka had rushed back in with the chair. Going over to the bookcase, he sat it down and stood on it to reach his niece.
"It's ok, Tian Mi. No one's gonna take Foo Foo. Just come down now," Sokka cooed gently. Looking skeptical, Tian I allowed her uncle to remove her from the top of the bookcase. "See? Everything's fine." Sokka smiled reassuringly at the little girl who in turn smiled at him. Squirming down from his grip, Tian Mi sat Foo Foo Cuddlypoops on the chair and skipped from the room as if nothing had happened.
---
"Tian Mi, eat your stew," Suki instructed gently. The girl had eaten everything else except the stew. She contorted her face into a look of disgust and scooted away. "Tian Mi," Suki said a bit more forcefully. Her niece shook her head vigorously.
"Pwunes," she said.
"Yes, I know. You need to eat the sea prunes."
"Nuh uh. Yucky."
"Tian Mi. You will stay here until you eat every last prune. You won't leave a moment before. If your Mama and Papa get here and you still haven't eaten them, I guess you'll have to stay the night." Big fat tears ran down her face as Tian Mi ate each prune one by one. Once she was done, the little girl ran upstairs as fast as her little legs could carry her. With a sigh, Suki stood up. "I'll go check on her."
---
When she got upstairs, Suki was drawn to the crying sounds coming from the bathroom. As she looked in, she saw her niece, covered in the purple, partially digested prunes. Tian Mi looked up at Suki with wet gray eyes and cried harder. Sighing, Suki began to clean up her niece, quickly running some hot water into the tub, and thanked the spirits that Ba Sing Se had indoor plumbing in the upper ring. She hoped that Tian Mi would be settled by the warm water or at least cry herself to sleep. But Tian Mi cried as she was cleaned…
And she cried as she was dried off…
And when she was put in her nightgown…
And she even cried when Kai shared Foo Foo Cuddlypoops with her.
She cried and cried and cried.
---
"That's it! I can't take it anymore! Sokka, run over to where your sister is staying and grab one of Tian Mi's fancy dresses. I'm taking her to her parents!" Suki exclaimed over her niece's continuous cries. Sokka – who too was going mad – obeyed without his usual sarcasm. Within minutes he had returned with something for Tian Mi to wear.
"I'll take her!" Sokka volunteered.
"Why? So you can give your sister a piece of you mind I hope?"
"Exactly!" Sokka replied angrily. He quickly threw on some formal clothing and proceeded to take his niece into his arms once she was in her dress, coat, and booties. She continued to cry and scream.
---
Once he was at the mansion of the Earth Kingdom noble, Sokka ran into trouble with the guards.
"But you have to let me in! Look, I'm the Avatar's brother-in-law. The great warrior, Prince Sokka? What cave have you two idiots been living in? I have his kid here. It's urgent!!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but you need an invitation. And you can't bring that screaming child in here."
"Just ask him! Ask Avatar Aang if he knows me, if I need an invitation! I'm not leaving until I speak to him and if he finds out that you didn't let me in, I promise that he will see to it that you won't work as guards anywhere for your ignorance!" The guards didn't seem to believe him, but sent someone for the Avatar just in case.
Aang had actually been some-what enjoying himself when a servant came up and told him that there was trouble at the gate. Excusing himself, the Avatar went to see what the issue was. When he neared the entrance, he immediately recognized the cries of his one-and-only. Swooping toward the source like a bird of prey, the picture before him. Tian Mi was screaming, crying, and squirming in the arms of Sokka, who looked on the verge of tears himself. The Avatar rushed to his child and snatched her into his arms. Immediately, Tian Mi stopped crying as she clung to her papa for dear life. Aang frowned deeply at Sokka and the guards.
"What's going on here?" he demanded. The guards suddenly found their feet very interesting, obviously uncomfortable under the Avatar's glare. Quickly giving the guards an "I-told-you-so" look, Sokka turned to his best friend.
"She wouldn't stop crying. First she was all grumpy and she somehow got on top of the bookshelf…"
Aang looked fondly at his daughter. "She's an airbender, you know."
"Ya, well, airbender or not, I'm not finished. Then after dinner, she threw up her stewed sea prunes – "
"Tian Mi hates stewed sea prunes. I hate stewed sea prunes. We never force her to eat those. Didn't Katara tell you?" Going red, Sokka ignored him and continued.
"And then she just cried for like, three hours straight! Suki and I couldn't take it anymore." Tian Mi had fallen asleep by this point and her father repositioned her on his shoulder. Sokka scowled. "Of course she's a perfect angel for you!"
"Look, Sokka, I'm sorry that she was so much trouble. Katara and I didn't know she had such severe… separation anxieties. I promise we'll make it up to you and Suki."
"Aang, it will be favor enough if we don't have to watch her any time soon. For like, five years. At least. Especially over night. Deal?" The Avatar chuckled.
"Deal."