Aang finds a sword made of a whale's tooth and that's how it starts.
The sword reminds her of that faithful day when the men of the water tribe left. Painful feelings of that day start to resurface, so Sokka focuses her attention on trying to see if they can find anything else in the area. She's able to figure what exactly happened in the battle and is happy to see that the water tribe won. When they find one of the boats from dad's fleet Sokka feels a flutter in her chest, and she can't tell if it's hope or fear.
They make camp near the boat, and Sokka's memories take her back to the day when her father left again.
Sokka has a large pack of her clothes with her. Her father walks towards her and she stops in her tracks.
"Sokka…" Hadoka is going to say something, but Sokka interrupts.
"I'm coming with you. I heard some of the elders saying you should bring me with. So I'm coming with. I'm strong and I'm brave. You can teach me how to fight! Please, Dad!"
"Oh. Sokka." Hakoda shakes her head. "We wouldn't bring you with to fight." He ruffles her hair. "Some of the older men think we should use you as a bartering piece to try to get the Northern Water Tribe to fight along with us. I wouldn't want you to fight. That's not your place." He kneeled down so he was on the same level as Sokka. "You're needed here the most. To be there for your sister, and to help protect and provide for the tribe like you will for your family when you get married."
All of the information confuses Sokka. "I don't understand." She says with tears coming to her eyes.
"Someday you will. And maybe we will need you one day to come help us with relations between tribes, but that day is not now." Hakoda hugged his oldest daughter. "I will miss you so much."
Sokka is jolted out of her flashback when she hears something near her.
"Who's there?" She demands grabbing her boomerang.
When the man gets into the light of the fire, he recognizes her. "Sokka?"
"Bato?" She says recognizing the man too. Aang and Katara wake up too and the two sisters run to hug the older man. Right away Sokka wants to know if her father is close, but Bato informs them that the group is probably already to the Eastern Earth Kingdom. Whatever feeling was weighing down on Sokka's chest seems to be absent after she hears this.
Bato ends up taking them to an abbey where he is staying. His room is set up just like home, and Sokka feels herself missing the Southern Water Tribe more than she did before. They tell funny stories and then Bato reveals that he's expecting a letter from their father. Sokka wants to know when.
"Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait until the message arrives, you can come with me, and see your father again."
"It's been over two years since we've seen Dad. That would be so incredible."
"I do really miss him," Katara says, confirming how Sokka feels too, "it would be great to see Dad."
"It's been far too long, hasn't it? I'm not sure when word will arrive, but when it does-"
Sokka shakes her head. "It would be great, but we can't. We have to take Aang to the North Pole first."
"Even if we do have time to wait for the message, who knows how far we'd have to travel." Katara adds. "We don't have time for a long detour."
"I'm sure your father would understand, and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar."
A little later when Katara is off talking to one of the women at the abbey, Bato talks to Sokka separately.
"I know you and Katara are trying to get to the North Pole so Aang can learn water bending, but I think perhaps you should come along with me to see your father."
"Why?" Sokka asks, genuinely curious.
"You're closer to marrying age now than you were when we all originally left. The tribe has been talking with the Northern Water Tribe trying to convince them to send some men to fight, and there has been talk of marrying you to one of the boy's there as a show of good faith. A way to bring the tribes together. " Sokka is shocked to hear the news. Bato continues, "I'm sure you'd end up in the Northern Water Tribe within the next month if the engagement got accepted, so you could probably be there when Katara and Aang were still mastering water bending."
Sokka feels speechless, but she manages to find some words. "We'll figure it out when the message from dad gets here." She says before hurrying off to find Katara.
The next day they end up ice dodging, and it completely takes up all of Sokka's attention which she is thankful for. She manages to get them through one set of rocks. Because of the currents they get swept up into another even bigger set. It reminds Sokka of when she went fishing with Katara, but this time she's determined to have nothing happen to the Katara's water bending and Aang's air bending, she is able to get them through the rocks.
When she gets the Mark of the Wise on her forehead later, she is proud to wear it. Katara getting the Mark of the Brave makes her feel good too. It's hard to believe the girl who didn't think she could waterbed a fish into a basket was now excelling even further at water bending. But it all comes crashing down when Aang gets the Mark of the Trusted.
When he shows them the map Sokka doesn't know how to feel. Aang walks out feeling ashamed and she watches as Katara looks at the opening with sad eyes. "I have to go to Dad." Sokka says. "But it doesn't mean you have to. What Aang did wasn't right, but it doesn't mean you should put your dream of being a water bending master on hold."
"Oh, Sokka." Katara wraps her arms around her sister in a big hug. "Good luck." She says before going out to follow after Aang.
"You too." Sokka says quietly.
Bato and Sokka are walking through the woods when she hears a wolf howling in the distance. "That wolf sounds so sad, it's probably wounded."
"No," Bato says with a shake of his head. "It's been separated from the pack. I understand that pain. It's how I felt when the Water Tribe Warriors had to leave me behind. They are my family, and being apart from them was more painful than my wounds."
Sokka runs a hand through her hair. "I can't go with you Bato. I wanna do my duty and help the tribes, but more than that I want to choose my own future." She pauses. "And I want to help change the future, and I can only do that with Aang and Katara."
"Your father will understand, and I know he's proud of you."
Sokka is surprised to hear that. "Thanks, Bato."
"I'm sure our paths will cross soon enough." He yells as Sokka takes off running back to the abbey.
Before Sokka can get to the abbey, she runs into Zuko, a beautiful lady, and a horrible creature. It almost sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, and Sokka realizes that's what her life is now.
Sokka won't tell Zuko where the Avatar is, she calls him stupid, and then she gets paralyzed. Unfortunately the beast the woman is riding picks up Katara's scent off of the necklace and starts look for her. Sokka is dragged along for this.
Katara and Aang save her, and then the women from the abbey help her figure out a way for Sokka to save Aang and Katara from the paralyzing beast.
Soon enough the trio is on the back of Appa headed to the North Pole. Sokka watches fondly as Aang and Katara flirt and Aang gives Katara her necklace back.