Sorry about the wait. This chapter was kind of difficult to write. I don't really have a plot line planned out, I'm just improvising this as I go along, and I wasn't sure what this chapter should entail, even as I was writing it. From here, though, I have a loose idea of what's going to happen. So enjoy!
"The Fire Nation needs a diplomat? From us?"
The red-clad ambassador nodded, affirming Katara's question. "It would appear that the Fire Lord suggested that the Lady Katara could be sent, as she is already somewhat familiar with our culture. Where might she be found?"
In response, Katara sputtered like a dying campfire. "Wh- Zuko asked for… me?" Her excitement sparked and danced as if rekindled.
"Be you the Lady Katara?"
"Yes… yes, that's me," she said carefully.
"Well, he merely considered that your tribe might not have a designated person prepared for this duty, and offered a proposition in order to ease your convenience," said the diplomat.
"Well… sure!" exclaimed Katara.
The envoy frowned slightly. "Er… wouldn't you like a bit of time to consider?"
"Oh… yes, yes, I'd best think about it some more." She was far too much a heat-of-the-moment type person. In fact, now that she pondered it, this was a bit unrealistic. People probably wouldn't approve. And she was needed here, the Northern Water Tribe's most competent waterbender. On the other hand, she was also not one to live out of her brother's basement. She wanted to explore, to travel the world like she had done back in the day, only without the fate of the world hanging over them.
It wasn't even much of a decision really.
Sokka's boots made little imprint in the ice-and-rock mixed snow as he stepped through the vast field of white, following a path that at times was hard to see. Even so, he knew it by heart. It had been there for generations and would always be there, at least until it eventually submitted to the inexorable crawl of time. But the path was here now, which was what mattered, and Sokka followed it as his father had and his grandfather and his ancestors. But it was true, sometime in that hazy past enveloped in the mist of forgetting, someone had blazed it, and someone else had started to use it.
But Sokka would use this path, and so would his children, and their children, until he faded from memories and his existence would vanish. He didn't worry much about this. Life was more important to him than death. Best make the most of it. Happiness shone upon his life, and he was blessed with a family he loved. With this gift, it was his duty to brighten the lives of others' as well. Including, of course, his baby sister.
Katara had informed him earlier that she wanted to accept Zuko's offer. He had acted appropriately skeptical.
"I'm not sure about this, it's just so random, such a whim," he had said.
"Well, that's kind of the idea," she had responded.
"Since when have you been a diplomat?" he pointed out.
"Since now!" she yelled stubbornly, but she could tell she was going to lose this one.
A natural-born warrior, Sokka could smell the delicate waft of victory. He did not, however, pounce, tackling it and wrestling it until it went limp in his grasp. He offered a compromise. "I think the elders already decided on their ambassadors. You ought to politely offer to accompany them."
But this was, unfortunately, a mistake. When conversing with Katara, one did not assert oneself over her in such a manner. She forcefully alerted him of this, and swiftly departed.
Later that day, he found out from Suki, who had found out from her friend Sasha, who had found out from her husband, who had found from his father, who was one of the elders, that Katara would be leaving for the Fire Nation at sunrise. And so Sokka trekked through the brown-and-grey streaked white to see her off.
He could see the village in sight, the cracked silvery structures and chipped icy walkways unfolding before him like a dusty scroll, weathered by time. In the solemn quiet of dawn, he trudged through it all, nodding to the select few who braved the brisk morning to go about their business. He nimbly stepped through chunks of floating ice and finally came face-to-face with Katara's ship, awaiting at the harbor ready to depart. It towered over the smaller fishing dinghies, a grand Fire Nation vessel, more ornate and less crude than the warships but still with a harsh character to it, displaying the cruel beauty of fire itself.
Katara waved at him from atop the ship, and scurried down from the deck to greet him. "Sokka, you've come!"
"Of course," he chuckled. "I have to see my baby sister off on her adventure!"
In spite of herself, she grinned back. "I'll miss you, Sokka."
"I'll miss you too," he said, blinking back tears.
She looked at him, surprised. "Are you crying?"
"I was just remembering something," he choked out.
"Remembering what?"
He dabbed at his eyes with the corner of his sleeve. "When you decided to fight Pakku instead of apologize to him. You were so caught up in justice, in what was right, you lost sight of the rules. You didn't care about winning, you didn't care about getting trained, you just wanted to fight, to release your anger."
A pair of arms enveloped him in a hug. "I'll be alright, Sokka."
"I hope so," he sobbed. The fog horn sounded, yawning into the sunrise, uncovering the solemn veil of morning.
Katara disentangled herself from him. "Gotta go! I'll see you!"
"When?"
"When my bowels are entirely empty of anger!" came her retreating voice.
And with a mighty groan, the ship pushed away from the harbor and sailed into the rising sun, shrinking to a mere shadow on the great horizon of dawn, dwarfed by the immense golden orb ascending into the vast blue azure of the sky. But below this mighty sun, in the cool blue expanse of the ocean, a disc of yellow, rippling with the waves, stared back up, as if to challenge it in all its splendor.
Tell me what you guys think! I'm really grateful to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed last time, and you're definitely still welcome to! I'll make sure to respond if you leave a review. Also, I promise the wait for the next chapter won't be as long. Until next time!