Sokka emerged from the stairs and plopped himself down on a couch in the empty upstairs lounge. Everyone else was still out wandering around Ba Sing Se, and he would have joined them if he didn't have the after-lunch lazies. Concluding for the umpteenth time that Iroh's cooking skills were as legendary as his firebending, he picked up the Companion from the low table and browsed through it leisurely. He decided that this time, he would try looking for a fic about himself, since he didn't seem to have a prominent role in any of the stories they'd read lately. Not that he minded it much, but it would be nice to read another story centering on him, even if it would probably turn out to be rotten.
He turned the page and the title The Old Man Under The Moon stared back at him. He raised an amused eyebrow. Old men didn't appear much in this book, except for the murderous Cabbage Merchant, which he preferred to forget. Checking the listed main characters, he saw his name and, to his surprise, Yue's. So they're doing a story about us now? he thought. Well, I suppose it can't be too bad. And so thinking, he started reading the story.
"Mama, can you tell us a bedtime story?" little Rou asked her mother.
"Alright. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess…"
"No, mama, I want a story that has no silly girls in it!" Qiang insisted from his bed.
"Princesses aren't silly!"
"Yes they are, they always fall under some stupid spell by some spirit and some oh-so-brave warrior has to save them. If they weren't silly they wouldn't have gotten involved with spirits in the first place!"
"But spirits are special!"
"Yeah, they always want the pretty girl the hero falls in love in, or they just wanna eat someone. That's really special."
Sokka chuckled. The little boy in the story sounded a lot like how he did when he was young and his mother still told him and Katara a story before bed every night. He always wondered aloud why the princess didn't have the sense to not get mixed up with spirits in the first place, or why it had to be some handsome warrior that saved her, not some ordinary peasant. And then he would be chastised by Katara for interrupting the story and he would shut up. Grinning at the memory, he read on.
The mother just watched her twins debate the pros and cons of bedtime stories with a smile on her face. "Alright, dears. Since you two brought up the subject of spirits I will tell you about one myself."
The two stopped quarreling immediately. "Really, mama? There are spirit stories?"
"Yes, and this one isn't just a legend. It's an actual fact."
They crawled under the covers and lay down on their beds. "Tell us the story now, mama!"
"Well, it goes like this: On the full moon, young lovers claim to see an old man with a bag on his back and a small book in his hand walking about in the moonlight. They say that this old man was a spirit who ties together the fates of those who are destined to be with each other forever. The bag on his back is filled with red cords, while the book records the true mates of every person on this earth, past, present or future. When the old man meets a young couple on whom the heavens have smiled upon, he ties a red cord to the feet of the lovers. He can been only seen by mortals on the full moon, and whoever has the luck to meet him will find true love very soon."
Sokka snorted. Old man with red cords, yeah right. Come to think of it though, he did recall his mother telling such a tale before, but he didn't really remember the story well, considering that it was from a long time ago. There was a certain nostalgic feel as he read this story though, almost as he was reliving those bedtime moments where his mother's stories would accompany him into sleep.
I wonder how Yue and I fit into this, he mused as he continued.
The little ones' eyes opened wide in curiosity. "Wow, mama! Did you ever see him before?"
"Why, yes, just before I met your father, on a night like this." She gestured to the full moon in the sky, shining through the open window.
They all gazed at the full moon for a few seconds, then the mother hastened the little ones to go to sleep.
Not far away, an old man set down the bag he was carrying on a boulder, then sat down for a rest, carefully placing the book in his hand on his lap. The light of the full moon shone on the contents of the bag, which was full to the brim with red cords. "I really don't understand the spirits, to go send a man my age on a matchmaking assignment for eternity," the old man muttered as he rubbed his sore back.
He looked up at the full moon, and took out a small piece of wood from his pocket. He had carved the little piece of wood for her, and had meant it to be a fish but she thought it was a bear. After she left, he had managed to rescue it from the canal where he had thrown it into after that night. It was his only reminder of her.
"I only wish I could tie a cord to you too," he whispered to the moon, then slung the bag over his shoulder and carried on his way.
"Hey Snoozles, we're back!" Toph announced as the rest of the Gaang trooped upstairs into the lounge.
Katara frowned slightly as she walked in on Toph's heels. "Sokka, is everything okay? Your eyes are kinda wet."
Sokka hastily rubbed his eyes. "Oh, it's nothing. I only had a violent sneezing fit just now - my nose must be allergic to ooglies."
"It is?" Aang asked innocently, although the telltale blush was appearing in his cheeks.
"Considering you just walked in here practically clinging to Sugar Queen, I'd say yes," Toph smirked as she sank into a comfy couch. "So you're reading that book again? Found something interesting?"
"Not yet," Sokka replied as he casually turned the page. "How about we find that something now?"
This is a little short, I guess, but the original story barely topped 600 words. A reader requested a Sokka/Yue story, so I went and dug into my files for something and found this. Been quite a while since I published it, but I hope you like it. See you all soon!