Chapter 4

"So what do I do about all of these scars?" Katara asked, still not putting her shirt back on, "what do I do to prevent myself from creating more? I don't want to mutilate myself."

"Sit down," Sokka replied, glad that Katara was not freaking out. However, he knew that this was just one of her phases and that she would eventually freak out. Emotional swings like that did not die that easily, and Sokka knew it.

"Shall I put my shirt back on?" Katara asked, sitting down beside the bed;

"No," Sokka replied, "not yet at least."

"What about the rest of my things?" Katara asked, swinging her legs and feet, which were still clad in her pants and boots,

"Not important right now," Sokka replied, getting behind Katara and bringing water onto his hands. "Just sit down and relax."

Katara soon felt a relaxing, cool feeling on her shoulders, where Sokka was massaging them with a light layer of water on his hands as well. It felt incredibly good to Katara, and it definitely helped loosen up her tense muscles. She let out a huge, long, content sigh.

"Just relax," he said, "I can't get your whole body right now, but I at least think your shoulders should be relaxed, especially with how much you use those arms of yours."

Sokka's hands also ran up and down Katara's back [and Katara noticed that part of the massage feeling on her back was dulled by her top, but she didn't want that off at this point, so said nothing], and on her arms to her elbows where the braces on her arms began. Katara let out long, comfortable sighs as he did this, and Sokka actually spent a lot of time massaging her back, arms and shoulders.

"Stand up," he said once he finished, and Katara did so. Sokka turned her around so that she was looking back at him. He looked at her face a while, while she looked down shyly.

"You know," he said, "if you were more sociable, I'm pretty sure you would get friends that liked you—maybe even some that said you were cute. Imagine if some of them heard your giggle."

Sokka stepped forward and gently pushed Katara backwards onto the bed, and he jumped on top of her.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed, "let me get my shirt back on at least or something..."

"You're not going to need it," Sokka replied, grinning, "Besides, I'm your brother. What do you think I'm going to do to you?"

Katara looked back up at him, shrugging. Sokka though, was looking at Katara's belly, watching it move with her breathing. Suddenly though, Sokka disrupted it as he began to tickle her, mostly around her belly button. This was one of Katara's most ticklish points, and so she began giggling and laughing very hard, thrashing and kicking in an attempt to get her self unpinned from underneath Sokka, who was relentlessly tickling her with no consideration of stopping based on his expression. Although her belly button was the most sensitive spot, Katara's whole belly was actually very ticklish as well. All in all, Katara was just a very ticklish young woman, and Sokka took advantage of it a lot, much like their father used to, and Katara loved it.

It was several minutes before he stopped, and it was only because he was going so hard that Katara had begun to turn purple.

"Wow," Katara remarked, "I thought I was going to suffocate,"

"I'd never let that happen," Sokka replied, still looking down at his sister, who was actually smiling, "I love you, Katara. I want to make you happy. I'm going to remember that removing your shirt and tickling your belly seems to be one of your favorite pastimes."

"What," Katara exclaimed, her eyes widening and her mouth growing into more of a skeptical laugh.

"You heard me, Katara," Sokka replied, grinning, "you can pretty much consider yourself staying here for the night, because you're not going anywhere for a while."

Sokka kept his word, and continued tickling Katara, enjoying himself as she let out what had to have been a long time's worth of suppressed giggles. Katara had a very cute laugh, and it alone seemed to make the place more cheerful.

Katara was breathing heavily at this point.

"Are you going to let me get my shirt back on yet?" She asked; though she still had the giggles slightly.

"Not with a giggle like that," Sokka laughed, "Katara, you've got a really cute laugh. You should use it more often."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, not quite understanding what Sokka had been implying;

"I mean," Sokka replied, "That you need to laugh more. Underneath that uncontrollable mass of chi energy and emotion, I see a happy girl who s generally pleasant to be around."

"Really now," Katara giggled, "perhaps if you want to hold me down like that you need to better watch your position."

She flipped Sokka over, and the two of them suddenly were locked in a wrestling match. They fell off the bed, Sokka landing on top of Katara, but this did not stop them. The final result was Sokka "cheating" and pinning Katara by her wrists and ankles using ice. Katara was immobilized, and was spread out, leaving her belly open and exposed, or rather, "at Sokka's mercy".

"What do you want from me," she said, the smile still on her face,

"I want you to be happy," He replied, "I want you to laugh until it hurts. You were truly designed to be a happy person, Katara. You've just had several hardships in your life. Just stay as strong as you have been though, and I guarantee that the happy girl inside of you will eventually dominate your mind."

"I love you, Sokka," she said, still smiling,

"I love you too, Katara" He replied, "but that does not mean that I'm letting you off this easily, you know?"

"Damn it," Katara muttered, chuckling, and then she suddenly burst out laughing hard as Sokka began blowing raspberries into her stomach. Katara's laughs and giggles were loud and altogether a pleasant noise. Sokka loved them, but even more loved the smile on his sister's face.

To Sokka's surprise, he was true to his word yet again. It was nightfall before these two had stopped "playing", and for some reason, Katara still ad not gotten her shirt back. However, there was another thought on her mind at the moment.

"I need to go release some energy," she warned, "I probably should have done so a lot sooner than I did."

"You want me to come with you," Sokka asked her,

"Aye," Katara replied, "I think I'm in a good enough moods at the moment."

"I'm glad," Sokka replied, "because you really, really need to laugh more. It's a beautiful sound."

Katara smiled. "I'll try," she said, "but you know my emotional swings... I... I just can't control myself at all. My body pretty much does what it wants to, regardless of what my mind says."

"You're a strong-willed girl, Katara," Sokka replied, as Katara put her shirt back on and the two of them went outside; "you've grown up having to deal with things that no teenage girl should have to deal with. You've had to deal with things that no one should have to deal with. Besides, you're still so young. But you should let your energy out soon. I mean, you're red; really red."

He put his hand on Katara's elbow, which, when Katara was fully dressed was the only thing besides her head and her fingertips that was revealed. Katara was hot, insomuch that her body was turning red.

"Let it out, Katara," he continued, standing back and watching Katara's display. She was absurdly powerful, and it hurt Sokka to see how powerful she was and to have to watch the attempts of a 13-year-old girl to try and contain all of it.

Nonetheless, Sokka was proud of Katara's stout spirit. Every time she was blasted off of her feet, she simply got back up and continued her release of energy. She continued this until she was literally too exhausted to move. She laid there on her back, breathing heavily, her face red from exhaustion.

"You done now?" he asked her, reaching out his hand,"

"No," she replied, "no, I need to keep going."

"No you don't, Katara," Sokka replied, "you need rest. Your spirit is demanding too much from your body. They cannot cope unless you find a way to let them compromise."

"Don't tell me what to do with myself," Katara snapped; the stress from her spirit demanding more than her body could give was now tampering with her already dangerous emotions.

"Look," said Sokka, "I'm not trying to control you, Katara. I'm trying to help you—because I care."

"I'll decide what I do and don't do," Katara replied, and she pulled herself up, staggering to her feet. Sokka could tell that she was exhausted, but she did not want to stop. It was as if her power was some sort of dominating force that could manipulate her mind.

It was after she started hurting herself to a large extent that Sokka intervened and forced her to stop by freezing her hands and feet.

"Let me go," Katara yelled, thrashing violently, trying to escape, "get me out of here! Stop this! Leave me alone!"

"Alright;" Sokka replied bluntly, and crossed his arms, watching as Katara thrashed violently to try and get out of her ice traps. However, it was all in vain, as she could not, and was seriously about to faint from fatigue.

Katara woke up the next morning not remembering what had happened last night. The last thing she recalled was thrashing violently to escape a trap that Sokka had put her in, and then she had blacked out. She was laying face-down, and was in her undergarments, though had the braces on her arms still on. She felt relaxing feelings in her muscles, as there was someone over her, loosening them up and helping her relax.

Of course, it was Sokka, and he was not aware that Katara was awake. The massage though, sort of put Katara back into a half-asleep state, and so she did not move, and made no indication that she was awake.

"At least she laughed yesterday," Sokka thought to him self, "that means that even though we've only been out here a few days that I know what I'm working with. She's clearly stressed, and her power governing her body is not going to make this any easier."

He continued kneading Katara's muscles all throughout her body [though he avoided anything that was covered] and also continued thinking about Katara.

"Poor Katara," he thought again, "she should not have had to deal with what she has to. She is supposed to be a happy girl. That laugh last night was so beautiful. She's got a sweet giggle. I bet if she socialized more, she would definitely find herself a guy easily. I know that I like that sort of attitude in a girl."

He decided to speak up, as he assumed Katara had woken up from her initial stirring.

"You know, Katara," he said, "You really are a brilliant girl. Just stop and think about that for a moment."

Katara, who was awake, just sniffled. Her usual emotion cycle was that her happiness eventually faded, and this fading turned to neutrality, which turned then to anger, and then to sadness and sorrow, and then it neutralized and started the process over again. She actually did listen to Sokka's words and thought about her own life. She dug really deep into her soul, and underneath the monsters that had formed around it, was the soul of a kind, high-spirited, and generally pleasant young woman to be around.

"You're a really nice girl," he told her, "you just have issues with certain things beyond your control. That's why I want to help you so badly, Katara. I know what you are really like, and know what you can become. I want you to trust me. I will always be here for you."

Katara sniffled again, and Sokka kept massaging her, loosening up her tightened joints. She enjoyed this 'treatment' a lot.

He rolled her over and let her sit up.

"I love you, Katara," he said, and then he embraced her, and slowly, and starting to sob a little, she embraced him back. She knew that he was right, but she was not sure that she could control her emotions. Luckily, Sokka was patient and willing to put up with her, and so that was what he did, never faltering.