(In Suki's Quarters- Sokka and The Gaang.)
"What is it?" Sokka asked the healer. He looked down at his unconscious girlfriend, feeling the pain of loss for the third time. Hope still resided in his chest, but it was very faint. Suki wasn't gone yet, but she didn't look good.
Suki's skin was pale. Paler than anyone in the room had ever seen it. She hadn't stirred in hours- Katara had changed her out of her stealth clothes and into a light cotton shift covered by a deep green silk robe. She hadn't healed the cut, hoping that the palace healers would know more about the poison. She didn't want to make it any harder than it had to be.
"This young lady has been infected with a strain of rare poison known as Ganji Reperotium. It's derived from a plant that only grows in the fire nation mountains and the saliva of frog snakes. We've gotten as much as we can out, but it's infected her blood stream. There's nothing more we can do." The little man looked miserable.
"Does that mean she's going to… die?" Toph asked. Toph liked the Warrior Girl- she was nice, she had saved her life, and she could kick butt. By her scales, Suki was as good as any girl, probably better than most.
"It's possible that she won't. She's very strong, physically. She will have to fight it on her own." With this the man walked to the door, opened it, and stepped half way out before adding " If I were you, I would pray to the spirits. They are her last shot, if she can't fight it."
Katara began to cry at this. Suki was her best friend, plus she could put up with her crazy brother like no other girl.
Nobody wanted her to die.
"Um… Is she okay?" Everyone looked at the door, seeing a little girl who was probably around the age of ten. She was pretty and shy, and she seemed genuinely worried.
"I don't know." Sokka said quietly. He was sitting on the edge of Suki's bed. Katara stifled her tears and healed the gash in her friend's arm. Moments later, she ran from the room, unable to bear the heavy cloud of depression that was filling the air. Aang looked at Sokka, who nodded.
"I don't want her to die." Toph whispered to Sokka.
"Neither do I." he looked at the little girl who wasn't so little anymore. Sokka stood up and walked around the bed and gave the earth bender a hug.
"Toph, go to bed. I'll jump up and down if anything changes, and you can bring everyone." Toph nodded and left. The only other person left in the room was the little girl Suki had bonded with.
"Sweetie, I want you to go and get my blankets off of my bed and take my pillow. Set up a bed in the hall. If anyone tells you to move, have them talk to me." She nodded and left.
Sokka closed the door and opened the window, allowing the gentle moon beams to flood inside. He went to Suki and just looked at her. She looked so at peace- Just like Yue had. Her beautiful eyes were closed, and her body looked so much smaller that it ever had. She was so lovely. Sokka wiped a tear off of his face, sniffing gruffly. He wanted to be strong for her.
Sokka wanted to see her open those violet eyes, so pretty and unique. He hadn't met another girl with those eyes.
He wanted to watch her practice with her fans, wearing her uniform and make up, leading the other girls, correcting poses, teaching new ones, sparring. He wanted to watch her look at him with a sort of caution mixed with excitement when they entered large cities.
Sokka wanted to untie her heavy uniform and relieve her of it, wanted to wash the paints off of her face.
He wanted her to gently caress his cheek, to embrace him tightly.
He wanted the feeling of her lips on his again.
Sokka undressed and changed into his linen pants. He looked in the pocket of his battle clothes and removed the creamy white ribbon, the tiny golden hook, and the green emerald he had finished carving the night previous. He admired his work- the symbol of the Kyoshi warriors was mixed with the symbol of the Water Tribe was inscribed on the stone permanently. He thought that it was his greatest piece of work ever, and he was proud of it. He finished the necklace by putting the gold hook through the hole in the stone then threading it on the cream colored ribbon.
What Sokka wanted more than anything in the world was to propose to Suki and have her say yes and then marry her. He was nineteen now, Suki was twenty. He'd waited long enough.
He looked to the moon, the betrothal necklace clutched tightly in his hand.
"Yue… Please. I love you, it's true, but I… I can't live without her! She's become my everything. I'm afraid of never waking up beside her again, I'm afraid of missing her smile. I'm terrified of what might happen to me if she wasn't here. You've already left me permanently- Suki has a chance. I need her Yue. I need her more than I need to breathe, I think. Please help her, Yue, my beautiful moon goddess. Please help her." Sokka rambled on, staring at the glowing orb in the sky. His heart was breaking every second Suki spent unconscious.
Sokka was dying too, but not in the same way. His soul was burning in misery.
Sokka's death wasn't peaceful.
He laid down besides the girl in the bed, holding her close to him. His grip grew stronger when he was holding back the sobs and loosened when they had subsided. The sobs came in waves until he finally fell asleep, Suki's constant breath lulling him to sleep.
Chapter 9.5
I was in a dream, that much I knew. I sat in the Ember Island theatre, watching my memories being projected out onto the stage.
I saw Sokka tied to the statue of Kyoshi, infuriating me with his sexist comments. The scene changed in a flash, and I saw myself kissing Sokka behind the building. He wore the Uniform and held the fans. I remembered how he had squeezed my hand gently before running off.
I thought about him often. He was nice and tall and willing to admit defeat when there was no arguing it. The girls had teased me all the way to Ba Sing Se.
I remembered seeing him there, watching his confused look as I yelled at him. I kissed him again that day.
When he rescued me from the boiling rock, I remembered the flight back. We had snuck away to the boiler rooms where he had grabbed me and kissed me full on for the longest time. We hadn't spoken much the rest of the way home. That night, we had gone with Teo and The Duke and Haru into the caves of the air temple and split up. We had played "Fire, Water" in the dark until we finally found each other. Sokka had held me and we had fallen asleep in the tunnels until Toph had come to find us.
Then there was the night after Azula had attacked us at the Western Air temple. We were exhausted- we had dropped into the softest pile of grass, not even bothering to get sleeping bags. We had woken up wondering what the heck was going on, and then we laughed at our stupidity.
The six months we had spent apart in our respective homes had been anguish. Sokka's messenger bird Hawky had been our life saver- he sent me his cute little drawings which covered one wall of my room on Kyoshi and letters and all sorts of things- I received an ice pearl in one of them, and a letter telling about how Sokka had seen it in a cave while hunting and thought of me. It was sewn into the black fabric wrap on my uniform- when I was scared I always felt the spot where it was and felt stronger.
I had sent him his own set of golden fans and a painting of me that the island artist had done, along with countless correspondence. He Didn't often write letters. He wasn't too into that, which is why he sent the pictures.
We had reunited briefly in the South Pole when I had met his entire family. I remembered sharing secrets with Katara late into the night and all the snow ball fights we had had with Aang. I always got spanked, but I got to use my fans and my shield since they had bending. I remembered secret kisses in snowy caves.
Back at home, I had brought all the girls souvenirs and they had spent a week in my room, trying to live through my stories of romance.
My girls! Oh, how I would miss them, for this was surely it. I was seeing my entire life flash before my eyes. isn't that what the said always happened?
I remembered my first days of training when I was eight. I had been watching the older girls for four years and had so many friends. I remembered all the cuts I had gotten in the first days from the razor sharp edges. I would always drop those stupid weapons.
I saw myself when I was fifteen, chopping off my long hair. I had been appointed second in command that day.
I remembered the endless hours of practicing, all the sore muscles, cuts, sprained ankles.
My childhood had been amazing.
The day I had received the position of the Kyoshi Leader had been one of the greatest days in my life. We had a huge party and I was presented with my headpiece and new fans. I had also gotten to dance with boys for the first time. I had tried alcohol that day. So many experiences.
Then there was a flash of sitting in that rainbow cavern behind the waterfall with Sokka.
There was fighting Azula. Twice.
There was escaping an inescapable prison.
There was the rock in my throat when Sokka kissed me and cleaned my face and took off my boots.
There was Sokka crying over me.
On this last image, the stage went dark. I could feel myself crying. So this was it, huh? I was about to go to the spirit world? Damn.
I hugged my knees to my chest in the pitch darkness. I was falling asleep when a light appeared.
An ethereal woman materialized before me.
"Are you here to kill me?" I asked her, defeat in my voice. She smiled.
" do you want to die, Suki of Kyoshi island?" I shook my head.
"Not for a very, very long time." I looked down at the ground angrily. The spirit woman sat in front of me.
"Why not? You would be out of your suffering. You wouldn't have to work anymore. You could just stop now and stay frozen, beautiful, forever." I looked at her- she had the most gorgeous face I had ever seen, with the lightest blue eyes and white piles of hair.
"I want it- I want to suffer, I want to work, I want to age with the man I love. I want to have his children and get married and fight and make up. I want to see my girls. I want to train my daughter in the arts of the Warriors. I want to help people." She looked at me, a sad smile on her face.
'Those are nice things to want." She sighed. " I can't ever have those, you know. Those things were taken from me a while ago."
"I'm sorry, goddess." I said, looking at her forlorn eyes.
" I am too." She smiled her sad smile again. "So who is it that you love?"
"His name is Sokka. He's a warrior from the Southern Water Tribe. He invents things and eats a lot and tells bad jokes. He kisses me like the world is ending. He kept me warm when I was freezing in the South. He's sweet and thoughtful and tall and he's willing to admit defeat. He lets me kick his but when we spar. He puts up with my constant group of blushing giggling teenagers. He's all I want in the world, most of the time." She laughed, yet it was still tinged with an air of melancholy.
" He sounds like he hasn't changed much from when I knew him." I looked at her, shocked.
"You knew- no." I looked at her. "You're the moon goddess he's in love with. You're the reason he wont let go." She looked at me expressionless.
"You're here to kill me, aren't you." I said matter-of-factly. My soul began to die inside of me. It hurt more than dying itself had.
"Do you want to die?" She asked me again.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Always. Sokka loves you more than he ever loved me. He's waiting for you right now." Yue's eyes unfocused for a moment, and she looked thoughtful. "It's night time, and he's curled around you. I think he's finally over me, which is good. You deserve him. You can take care of him and teach him things I never could. You are everything he needs." I looked at the beautiful girl, shocked.
"Really? I always though of it the other way around." She nodded.
"it works both ways, young warrior." She stood again. I could see why Sokka had fallen for this girl- she was nothing like any other girl I'd ever seen.
"Go to him. I will heal you myself. But please, give him a message…" She whispered it in my ear. I nodded. "And Miss Warrior? I never hated you. Ever."
The moon goddess embraced me, then dissipated.
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I woke up to see my man in my arms, and everything was alright again. I saw the moon go down, and I silently thanked her for giving me all I wanted back. I tried to move a little, but I felt serious pain. Whatever that little vermin had coated her knife with was awful stuff, because even if I had my movement back, all my muscles felt like they had fire running through them whenever I moved.
After a few minutes of growing accustomed to the scorching, I managed to sit up. Sokka was still dead asleep, tired from the night. I looked down at the shift and robe I now wore with a slight disdain- I felt really vulnerable. I wished I had pants. I stood up, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. The sun was rising over the wall by now, and I could see all the colors in the clouds.
To think that I almost lost all this was unbearable. I turned back around, looking at Sokka, lying curled into a ball. He looked cold- he wore only those linen pants and had no blanket. I steeled myself against that awful pain and reached to the end of the bed, grabbing the covers he had kicked down there.
I watched him sleep for a few more moments, then decided that what I really wanted right now was some tea. I shuffled to the door, not even bothering to get shoes or grab my fans or anything. It didn't matter right now.
Xu was lying on the ground outside the door, wrapped in a huge blanket. I smiled at the little girl and knelt beside her.
"Xu. Wake up, sweetie." She opened her eyes slowly, unhappily.
"What is it? It's so early." She whispered.
"Would you like to come get some tea with me?" Her eyes open wide now, like she was seeing a ghost.
"Lady Suki!" Xu sounded marveled." You're alright!" She hugged me tightly, and I winced, trying not to let the pain show.
"Does Master Sokka know yet?' I shook my head.
'You guys seem to have had quite a night- I figured we could get some tea and he would still be asleep by the time we got back." I winked at her, smiling. She stood, grasping the blanket around her. We left the hallway and walked down to the kitchen.
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Xu and I shared a pot of hibiscus tea in silence. We were on the floor of the hall outside of the kitchen, sharing the blanket. She said it was Sokka's, when I asked her.
The palace was silent in the morning. The staff was alive and buzzing, preparing for the last day of the festival. I watched cooks and maids rush past us, smiling and excited. They really loved their jobs.
After the tea was finished, I confessed to Xu about how badly I hurt.
"What happened to you?"
"I got cut by a crazy girl." She looked up at me, her brown eyes still looking very tired.
"I know that- I meant what happened while you were asleep? The healer said you weren't looking so good. I was afraid you would…" She didn't have to finish the sentence. A pregnant silence hung between us.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes. It was actually really nice- I saw all the things I love about living. Then the moon goddess came and talked to me, and she healed me. I guess there's just a lot going on with my body right now that's making it hurt still. All I know right now is that I am so glad I'm still here, having tea with you in the early hours of the morning." Her smile was worth the pain of wobbling down here.
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Xu helped me wobble back to my room. I told her she was welcome to come in, but she declined. I smiled and gave her another hug, promising that I would come see her later.
My room was silent except for the sounds of the birds coming in. It was also really cold. I shut the window, blocking out the bright rays and cold breeze, leaving my room with a shadowy twilight effect. Sokka was asleep still, comfortable on my bed. I examined him- he seemed to have escaped the battle without even a scratch, which was good. One of us had to be whole.
"Sokka…" I knelt on the bed and touched his shoulder, gently tugging. He woke up and looked around, confused.
"Suki?"
Authors note! told ya it wasn't over! Hahaha I really liked doing the flashbacks for Suki in here. It gave me an opportunity to blatantly give her some character background without having to go all preachy. Which I hate doing, but I'm kinda good at slipping in to it.
Anywhoozles, who's ready for this story to come to it's close? I'm surely not! But the plot arch is wrapping up… I wrote this really fast, for some reason. I feel like maybe one or two chapters after this, and then I go on to my smellershot. I really hope you guys decide to give it a shot and stick with me for that one. I started draft one, but it sucks, so on to draft two!
Lastly, I submitted this to one of the Suki/Sokka communities. I hope it gets in there.
Kay I lied, one more thing- Kericobarbossa has agreed to draw the scene where Sokka draws on his face! I'm totally psyched- I'm sure it is going to be AWESOME.
Thanks to my wonderful and encouraging reviewers and all the people who added this to story alerts/favorites/ anything else!
Please R&R!
