Chapter Three

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Losing You Again—Part 1

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Five separate voices shouted Sokka's name at the same time, and the next few minutes were a complete blur to him. Someone held on to his hand, and he experimentally squeezed it, wondering to whom it belonged. It had the familiarity of déjà vu to it, though, and he was glad the hand never let go, even as he felt himself become weightless, and then he was warm again, and then all was dark.

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He woke some time later to see a distorted shape looming over his leg. He instinctively jerked away and tried to grab for something—anything—that he could make a weapon.

"Sokka! Sokka, calm down!" Katara's voice. The shape was now at his side, soothing him and pulling him back to lie down on the bed. His eyes adjusted, and he saw Katara's features distinctly in what had been the distorted shape.

"I thought—" he began, but he stopped as he noticed all the colors on his leg. He looked back to Katara and mumbled something about his head hurting.

"Yeah, I know. You slipped on the ice and fell backwards really hard. You cracked your head pretty good and broke your leg pretty bad. How do you feel?" she asked with her motherly concern.

He blinked at her and nodded. "M'okay," he said. He was still trying to make sense of what had happened. His memories gradually came back to him, one at a time, quick like gun shots. Dad. Mazane. Baby. Angry. Yelled a lot. Yelled too much. Had to get out. Got out. Then blank.

"I remember what happened," he said once he had processed these things.

"Don't get mad again, Sokka. You need to rest now. I think you might have a concussion, but other than that and your leg, you're fine as long as you remain calm, okay?" she soothed, taking up her water healing again over his broken and bruised leg.

Sokka mumbled something else.

"Come again?" Katara asked gently.

"I fell down in front of Toph. That was so stupid. Why am I so stupid?" He looked to Katara, desperate for answers, reassurance, chiding, something.

"Sokka, she didn't laugh at you. You know she doesn't laugh at stuff like that if you're really hurt."

"No, that's worse. It's worse because it's even more embarrassing. Humiliating. Only an idiot would slip on the ice and break his leg. It's not like I've never lived in the South Pole before!"

"Don't get so worked up about it! Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has accidents. You just got a broken bone and a bumped head instead of someone making jokes about you."

Sokka didn't say anything. He felt too much to know what it was he wanted to say first.

Katara concentrated on the healing process for a while, but then broke the silence, "Jeez, Sokka, you're lucky in some ways, but so unlucky in others. You're lucky you didn't crack your skull wide open, and you're lucky you didn't break your back or anything. But still. These injuries are the kind I can't just automatically fix. I've been working on your head and leg for at least an hour each, and they certainly look better, but brains and bones take a long time to heal. We're going to wrap your leg up, and you'll have to use crutches for a while. And your head doesn't have any major damage, but we're not sure yet what kind of concussion you have. You might have trouble remembering things…"

Sokka watched her lips move as she continued talking. He knew what happened when people incurred concussions. Headaches, of course, vision issues, difficulty balancing, vomiting, nausea, and a slew of other irritating after-effects. He didn't want to think about it. It was easier to ignore. It might even be easier to sleep…

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He woke again, this time suddenly and sharply. His leg had begun to throb, and a thin layer of sweat coated his body, making him even more uncomfortable. He pulled his sheets out from under and around him before settling again. The room was dark, and he guessed Katara had gone to bed a couple hours ago. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep again. Eventually the blackness of the room swallowed his consciousness, too.

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Yelling.

Running.

Jumping.

Falling.

THUMP!

He scrambled to cover Toph with his body as fire and debris stormed around them.

Then they were up and running again.

He was her eyes. He had to be her eyes. He couldn't let anything happen to her.

Then jumping.

Then falling.

CRACK!!

More yelling.

Horrible pain.

"My leg!"

He heard Toph's voice from below him. Felt the weight of her entire body dangling from his left hand.

To—Toph!!

Damn the leg!!

"Hang on!" he told her.

Two Firebenders circled them like vultures. In a split second he chose to fight, if he could even call it a choice. It just happened. He just did it. And it worked, even though his space sword fell to the blazing earth below.

But then more warriors came; and now without any weapons or options or escape paths, he saw their doom so clearly before them.

Please, God, don't let her see it.

She was slipping away from him.

Damn the leg!

He clutched at her hand with everything in him. His entire self pooled into that hand now. Damn the leg! That hand meant Toph's life. Even though both their lives would soon be over.

"I don't think Boomerang is comin' back, Toph."

He didn't know how to say it but to just say it.

"It looks like this is the end."

He looked down at her over his shoulder, and blind or not, it felt to him like she was really looking into his eyes, too, for the first and last time. He wished he could wipe away her tears.

God, let it be quick.

In the flash of a second, Sokka saw the choices before him.

What if it weren't quick, what would he do? Would it be better to drop her or to let her be captured and tortured and killed? Could he try to roll off the edge and fall with her? Could they fall to the very end together? Anything would be better than the roaring flames—the flames seemed too cruel a way to die.

Damn the leg! Damn the leg!

He just wanted to feel her hand in his. That was enough.

Loud crashing. Steel on steel. Chaos.

He couldn't feel her anymore.

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"Toph! TOPH!!" he screamed, wrenching back and forth.

He was trapped. He was suffocating.

He was falling.

His leg hit, and he gasped at the sudden excruciating pain,

"Damn it! TOPH!!"

His eyes snapped open, taking in the dark of his room. In his mad writhing he had become entangled in his bed sheets, and then fallen out of bed. But something wasn't right. He had to see Toph. Toph! Where was Toph!

He fought with the blankets and finally freed himself. He struggled to pull himself up. Now he had to get his feet under him. And then where was the door in all this dark? Where was the goddamn door? He had to get out. He had to escape. His leg screamed at him to stop moving, but he ignored it.

Damn the leg.

He stumbled to a wall and began feeling along it for the door. His hands groped at nothing but blank wall. He felt blind. Was he blind? If he were blind, how was he going to save Toph?

Finally, he found the door and was free! Pulling on the door offset his balance, though, and in order to steady himself he put weight on his broken leg. Oh, God, the leg—!

But damn it! Damn it!

He forced himself onward through the door, lurching and sweating, gritting his teeth together to keep from biting his tongue. His hand was still empty. Still empty…

"TOPH!!"

"Holy—Sokka, what the hell is wrong?!" Two strong arms encircled his body. Trapped! He was trapped! No, he had to help Toph get free first!

"No!! NOOO!! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! All of you! The whole Fire Nation! I'll burn you to the ground! DON'T TOUCH HER!!" he raged, kicking and thrashing.

"Calm down, son, calm down. You're okay, you're okay. The war is over. Everyone's okay. It's okay." His father reassured him over and over, and gradually Sokka realized where he was, realized his surroundings, realized his father's presence, and his sister's, and Mazane's, too. He took in these things. He understood these things.

But he didn't understand himself.

"Dad…Dad, what's wrong with me?"

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To be continued…

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A/N:

Yaaaii, it got kind of darkly intense. But it has impact to it, so that's okay for now. Honestly, that scene from Sozin's Comet Part 4, it gets me right in every chamber of my heart 'cuz it's so powerful. I hope I was able to convey some of the darkness of that scene as I interpret it.

Jeez, I'm really glad they lived through it!

/cuddles the pair of them/ Anyone else want a cuddle turn?

Oh, and please leave a review! : )

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P.S.

The rule is "you break it, you buy it," right?

So I broke Sokka's leg.

Does that meanz I canz buyz him now?