A/N:
A second interlude for you.
I got bored and broke the norm. So this is from Sokka's POV.
:D :D :D
"So, this whole apprentice thing, what do I have to do again?"
Zuko smiles at Sokka and gives him a small shrug. "Just follow Avatar Aang around and be his apprentice. Help him out with negotiations, work as a messenger, just assisting him in general, really."
Sokka nods slowly and chews on his meat stick thoughtfully. "So I'm basically his right hand man?"
Zuko blinks. "Also known as his apprentice.
"Right."
The two young men lapse into silence as they continue to eat their meals. Sokka is feeling pretty good today, despite the fact that he'll be leaving with the Avatar tomorrow, and his sister and her new fiancé are leaving for the South Pole the day after that.
It feels weird to not be returning home with them.
Sokka takes a bite of meat and hums happily at the juicy, one hundred percent deliciousness. Spirits, meat is awesome.
Zuko is going to regret giving up meat for six months. And the Avatar was just a weirdo for not eating meat. Ever.
They didn't know what they were missing.
"When are you and my sister getting married, again?" Sokka asks after swallowing.
Zuko shrugs. "I don't know. She wants to wait a little bit, which I'm fine with, and we also have to, uh, plan a couple of things out first."
Sokka shifts slightly on the stone floor. "Plan stuff? Like what?"
Now Zuko looks distinctly uncomfortable. "Um. Just, you know. Stuff."
Sokka finishes his meat and tosses the stick to the side. "That was vague and unhelpful." He pauses, hoping Zuko will elaborate, but he doesn't.
Sokka stands up and brushes off his pants. "Right. Well, I'm off to sleep. By the way, if you knock up my baby sister before you two are married, then I'll cut off your balls and feed them to the Avatar's freaky little lemur thing. Got it?"
Zuko gulps.
Sokka has only been traveling with the Avatar for a week but he's already miserable.
He finds himself being mouthy and disrespectful. He wants to go home, back to the South Pole. He wants to find her and make her see what he sees. He wants to go to the Fire Nation, because that's where he got to be a kid. Sokka just wants to feel like a kid, he thinks.
Or maybe Sokka doesn't know what he wants.
The Avatar takes all of his sarcasm and foul moods in stride until one evening, when he proposes the oddest competition.
Sokka glances around him for the umpteenth time. He's never seen so many egg custards in one sitting before.
It's amazing.
Of course, Sokka wonders where on earth the Avatar got all these custards, but that is beside the point
The Avatar sits across from him, looking giddy. "I don't know about you, young Sokka, but I am quite fond of egg custards. I was wondering, since you seem to have such pride in your bottomless appetite, if you would like to have a…contest."
Sokka quirks an eyebrow. "Contest?"
The Avatar smiles and nods. "Yes. We see who can consume the most egg custards in ten minutes time."
Sokka smirks. "Okay. I should warn you, Mr. Avatar, that I'm probably going to win this contest. No offense or anything, but I'm younger and I also happen to have a stomach of steel."
The Avatar's smile turns into a grin. "I appreciate your concern, young Sokka."
Sokka shrugs. "There could potentially be a tummy ache in your future. I'm just sayin'."
Seven minutes later Sokka is struggling on his eighth custard while the Avatar is happily finishing off his fourteenth. Sokka doesn't understand where he's putting it.
Sokka barely manages five more bites in the next three minutes.
"Time!" the Avatar calls, setting his half empty sixteenth custard to the side. He exaggerates counting the number of custards he's eaten versus the number of custards Sokka has eaten.
"Interesting," the Avatar muses. "I seem to have eaten more custards than you, young Sokka." He pats his stomach. "And no tummy ache!"
Sokka has a newfound respect for the Avatar, after that.
Sokka scans over Zuko's latest letter and rolls his eyes.
"Something wrong with my former apprentice?" Avatar Aang asks from across the campfire.
Sokka shakes his head. "He and Katara are having a fight, that's all."
The Avatar looks concerned. "I hope—"
Sokka waves his hand flippantly. "Don't worry about it. They'll just have hot make up sex and then move on with themselves ew ewwwwww ew ew mental image ewwwwwwwwww eww!"
The Avatar is clearly amused. "Thinking before we speak is a fantastic habit to develop, young Sokka, for not only the sake of others, but for one's personal sanity as well."
Sokka rolls his eyes again.
"What is that?" Sokka asks, staring up at the massive sky bison with apprehension.
The Avatar pats its snout lovingly. "This is Appa. He's been my companion for a long time. He's too old to travel with me now, but he is still my most trusted friend." Avatar Aang buries himself in Appa's fur in a hug, and Appa lowers his graying head, as if returning the embrace.
Sokka ignores the pang in his chest and continues to stare at the enormous animal. "So, he's not going to eat me?"
The next day the Avatar gives him an owl-eagle, announcing that it's about time Sokka had an animal companion of his own.
Sokka wonders how the Avatar knew.
Sokka names the bird 'Lookout'.
"The pain doesn't go away. It's there when I go to sleep and it's still there when I wake up. It's not fair."
"Young Sokka, wounds to the heart are the ones that fester the most. There is no ointment or herb that can soothe away the pain that you speak of. Only time."
"Why can't it just hurry up and go away?"
"Because some people are born with patience, but others, like you, must be taught patience. But do not think yourself a lesser man because of it."
"I don't even know why I love her anyway. She's always been so…mean."
"They say that ladies are always mean to the boys the like. Besides, love can be a fickle thing. Sometimes we find ourselves loving people who, for whatever reason, aren't too concerned with loving us back."
"I just wish I had the answers."
"Sokka, I am the Avatar and even I don't have the answers."
"Please don't make me do this," Sokka begs.
But the Avatar is unyielding.
"I'm begging you."
The Avatar doesn't budge.
Sokka puts his chopsticks into his bowl, then quickly glances back up at the Avatar to see if he's changed his mind.
He hasn't.
Nearing tears, Sokka brings a bite of tofu to his mouth. And eats it.
He sets his bowl down and stares at Avatar Aang. "I want you to kill me in the foulest way possible."
Avatar Aang looks genuinely taken aback, but then he smiles. "Did you like it, young Sokka?" he asks, mischievous.
Sokka wants to die. "Maybe. And I hate you."
He has betrayed meat and must be punished for his sins.
It's nearing the end of the year when they finally come.
Sokka, along with the Avatar, assume that they're wedding invitations.
They're not. They're invitations for an engagement party to take place at the Fire Nation palace in two months time.
"Great," Sokka grumbles, already dreading it. She would be there.
But Avatar Aang merely grins. "I do love a good party."
A/N:
I'm going to be honest with you guys, I was pretty disappointed with the complete lack of reviews for the last chapter. I realize that everyone has their own lives, and with school and the holidays approaching I can understand why people are feeling less inclined to review. But I think what depresses me is that I'm still getting the same amount of hits— in fact more so—as chapters in the past, so the readership is still the same, but the review counts are declining. It's frustrating because as a writer I pull a lot of inspiration and motivation from what you guys have to say about each chapter, so when you don't say anything I feel less inspired and motivated. I will never be that writer that holds her chapters hostage until she gets the reviews she wants, because I write for myself more than anything, but that doesn't mean I don't value reviews any less. So please please review, guys. It really means the world to me.
Other than that, hope everyone liked this mini chapter. Also, I like Sokka. And review :DDD