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Ok, so thanks to everyone who reviewed. :) You guy are the best. I love you all. I hope you like this chapter and please review – 4 or no update.
11. The Compromise
"DAD!" Sokka shouted at he ran along the docks. Hakoda rushed to meet him at the bottom of the boarding ramp of the head ship.
"Sokka, what's the matter?!" he asked, urgently. Then he looked around. "Where's your sister?" Panic was tainting every note of his voice and it nearly went up an octave on the last sentence.
His son didn't speak. Sokka thrust the note towards his father and Hakoda took it, very hesitantly and knowing that it wasn't going to be anything good. He scanned the small note. He read it over and over, wishing harder and harder that the words would change to something good or that they would just disappear and Katara would come skipping up the docks to meet him. But it did no good.
When he heard footsteps running towards him, his head shot up hopefully, but his smile turned quickly into a scowl as he laid eyes on Zuko and Toph. Suki stood a little way behind them, a mixture of anger and confusion on her face.
"Dad, this is the same guy who took Aang," Sokka informed him, panting.
Suki's eyebrows shot up and she raced to his side as his legs gave out. He'd just run faster that should have been humanly possible and it had obviously effected him badly.
"What's happened?!" she urged.
"Katara's gone missing," Zuko answered for him, stepping forward. "Toph and I found Sokka looking for her over the other side of the beach."
"Yea, and I found the note and Hakoda's engagement present to them on the rocks. The necklaces were broken," Toph added.
Suki glanced between them.
"Where does this Shang person live?" Hakoda asked, pinning Zuko to the spot with his icy gaze.
"We don't know. He ran off at the end of the war, when my father fell."
"We need to locate him!" Hakoda said.
Bato raced to his side.
"Is there a problem, Chief?" he asked, looking at Zuko and absentmindedly clutching his club with one hand.
"Zuko!" Ty Lee's voice called. Suddenly, the acrobat was at his side. "Zuko, have you seen Mai, she's…" She trailed off when she noticed the look on all their faces. "What's happened?" she asked.
"Katara's missing… Shang took her…" Sokka moaned. "He took her… just like he took Aang…" Suki patted his back and hugged him tightly. He wept, "We'll never find them!"
"That's not true," Hakoda said, sternly. "We will find them!"
Sokka sniveled pathetically and Zuko had to resist the urge to smack him over the head and yell at him to shut the hell up, pull himself back together and stop acting like a baby. And to stop thinking of all of the worst case scenarios – that was his job!
"Oh, Zuko, what do we do?!" Ty Lee asked urgently. So much drama had occurred in the past few hours, it just wasn't funny. It was ripping Ty Lee to shreds.
Zuko didn't answer for a moment and Toph and Suki both looked to him to try and see what he was thinking.
"Go and find my uncle. Tell him what's happened. He'll be able to help us find them."
"No!" Sokka choked out. "No!"
"Sokka?" Suki whispered, turning back to him.
"No! He is not helping us! None of them are helping us! They can't be trusted! They probably have something to do with it!" he accused, pointing a finger at Zuko, Toph and Ty Lee. He shook Suki off and got to his feet, misery gone, anger returned.
"Sokka, you need us to help you," Zuko said in an even voice, scowling slightly as he said it.
"No! You're not getting involved in this!" he declared.
"Sokka, maybe you should listen to him," Suki tenderly reasoned. She put a hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off violently.
"Are you siding with him too?!" he asked incredulously, rounding on her.
She gasped, "No!"
"Keep it that way! None of them are going to help us!"
"But Sokka –"
"Suki!" he yelled in frustration.
"Sokka!" Zuko shouted over the both of them and before anyone else could intervene. "I know you hate me right now because of everything with me and Mai and Katara, but we need to work together on this one!"
"There is no way –"
"We're not going to be put off from helping you by your negative attitude towards us," Zuko went on.
"You are not –"
"You need us!"
"We do not need –"
"Sokka!" Toph and Suki shouted at the same time.
"He's right! It's the only way!" Toph begged.
"Yea, Sokka, please, let's just deal with them on this one," Suki tried to reason yet again.
"Son," Hakoda murmured, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Hakoda was on their side. That was it - he'd lost this fight already. "I don't like the idea any more than you do, all circumstances considered. But… I think Zuko's right – we don't really have that much of a choice."
"We're going to need all of the help we can get," Bato agreed, eyeing Zuko.
"And we can resolve the rest of these conflicts later – when Katara and Aang are safe."
Sokka balled his fists and looked up, swallowing a sigh of frustration. The two groups passed each other a silent look and slowly, Sokka nodded, "Fine."
And they're going to work together! Yay. Lol, yet again, Sokka is skitzing out. Don't mind him too much – it's that darn 'warrior's wolf tail' of his. Sorry these chapters are getting a bit short. I hope you liked this chapter. Please review – I need at least 4 or there won't be ANY updates!
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