The Mahaha Tribe Arc 3:
"We'll leave tomorrow, so for now, we should rest up. It's gonna be a long walk to Bhoot Pahaard."
"Why can't we just take Appa?" Asked the earthbender reclining on the couch.
"It'll be impossible to properly steer him in this blizzard. And it's only gonna get worse the deeper we go, so it'll be better for us, and Appa, if we don't take him," answered Sokka.
Suki had already retreated to the spare room within Chief Hakoda's home to get some early rest, and also to rise earlier in the morning. Meanwhile, Southern Chief himself was preparing some late night dinner for the boys, who were all lounging in the living room, catching up. The Avatar and his friends offered to spend the night at the newly built hotel or rest in rented igloos, but Hakoda insisted that they do him the honour of hosting them. Hakoda's mother, and her husband Pakku, weren't currently residing within the house as they'd left a week ago to visit a sick friend, so there were spare rooms within the house. After some refrain, Aang and his friends were eventually bullied into spending the night at Sokka and Hakoda's house. When they arrived, the boys forced Suki to use the spare room, and declined using Kanna and Pakku's room… for obvious reasons.
It was just past ten, and after a late dinner, everyone was getting ready to turn in, well, everyone except the three boys. They'd actually had much catching up to do and decided to spend a couple hours recalling recent events in their lives. Haru and Sokka conversed animatedly, yet Aang was somewhat preoccupied. Usually, Sokka considered him the life of the party, but throughout the entire day, since he'd seen him, the Avatar had been rather distant. The Southern warrior had a feeling he was still mulling over the mission, and his assumptions rang true when the airbender spoke up.
"You said someone recently went up there and survived?" Halting their conversation, Sokka and Haru both looked towards the airbender, who sat cross legged on the floor while the two lounged on the couch. The dark leather was a sharp contrast to the otherwise light coloured room, but it made for comfortable furniture on teeth-chattering nights such as this.
Gaining his full attention, Sokka nodded in reply, and Aang continued. "Where's this person now?"
"She's with the medical team in the hospital; they're monitoring her," the Southern warrior raised an eyebrow in question. "Why?"
"I want to talk to her before we leave."
"But… she's asleep, has been for a few days; probably in a coma. I don't think you c-"
"I can wake her up," he confirmed with a solid nod. "What time do we leave tomorrow?"
"Uhh… early morning," Sokka looked towards Haru for a moment before turning back to regard the airbender, still not accustomed to the serious looking Avatar he could become at times.
"Then let's go," he airbended himself up from his cross legged position and grabbed a dark cloak to keep warm; he still refrained from wearing animal fur.
"Wait, now? You want to meet her now?" Asked a confused Sokka as he scrambled to his feet and retrieved his parka. "Shouldn't we wait for… like, Suki… and my dad?"
"We'll relay whatever information we uncover to them tomorrow," he simply stated, waiting by the door as Sokka scrambled towards him.
"Should I come along?" Asked Haru, attempting to stand up from the comfortable couch before he was stopped by the Avatar.
"No need, man. We'll brief you tomorrow along with Suki and the Chief," he stated with a small, reassuring smile - it didn't reach his eyes.
"Just get some rest, Haru," confirmed Sokka as he zipped up his parka and donned the hood, now mirroring Aang's hooded and cloaked appearance, minus the animal fur. "Tomorrow's gonna be a trek. So, we need to be at full strength."
Aang opened the door and was immediately assaulted by the heavy, blizzard winds. Not wanting to eradicate the little warmth within the house, the two friends hastily closed the door and left; Sokka yelled, "we'll be back in a bit," from the other side.
The two continued to walk in silence as Sokka directed them towards the hospital, their heavy cloaks and parkas swaying and flapping as they planted their feets to keep from being swallowed up by the tornado-like winds. Feeling somewhat awkward, as he wasn't used to the silence when in the airbender's presence, Sokka cleared his throat and decided to strike conversation - usually Aang would be the one to first speak, but he identified earlier that he wasn't in the mood anymore. Maybe something about the mission and that mountain had… scared him?
"So… umm… what have you been up to lately?" He asked with a small, nervous smile.
Noticing this, Aang raised an eyebrow as he countered, "Why are you tense?"
"I'm not -" he cried in protest, but halted when he saw the deadpan expression the airbender had donned. Sighing in defeat, Sokka signalled for them to turn right, into a new street, as he spoke. "I guess… it's all getting to me now. I was kinda repressing everything before, but for some reason, now… I'm just realising how miserable I was these last few years."
"Trouble in paradise?"
"I would hardly call this paradise," he drawled. "It's been a work in progress, but the South is finally prospering. And… I'm happy about that. I'm glad. But…"
"But…"
"It - it doesn't feel like home," once it was off his chest, he felt like he couldn't keep the rest of it in any longer. Normally he'd keep this kinda thing to himself, and he knew he was unloading a large amount of baggage on someone who already had more than his own fair share, but Sokka knew Aang wouldn't judge him for it. The old Aang would even encourage him to relieve himself of the feelings and issues he held close. "Even before we ended the war… this place, it didn't feel like home. I used to think home was… I don't know… a place you always return to. But… What do you do when the people you consider family are half-way across the world?"
Aang didn't reply for a while, trying to identify how to answer Sokka's more than likely rhetorical question in a way that would be honest and reassuring without sounding like a lie. Eventually, he settled for the classic airbender evasion, "Don't you have loved ones here? Your father? Grandmother? Pakku?"
"I do," he nodded, "but", and frowned, "it doesn't feel the same. After spending a year travelling together, it was hard for me to picture my family without you in it… or Toph… or Suki…" The warrior trailed off unknowingly, now robotically leading the way towards the hospital as he mulled over his thoughts and issues. "And now… my sister's half-way across the world, my friends are always busy, and you… spirits only know where you disappear to."
Raising an eyebrow in feigned confusion, the Avatar spoke up, "What do you mean? Ever since the war, I've always been here, like the wind, bouncing from one Nation to another… making up for my past cowardice."
"Are you still beating yourself up about that?" Sokka asked sarcastically - silently, he opted to not call him out; he'd heard from Toph and Zuko and many other officials from around the world that Aang would sometimes disappear for days, even weeks, after completing missions. No one had a clue as to where he would be, and whenever he would remmerge, no one could get him to reveal his whereabouts. Sokka knew there was more to the story, but he chose to ignore it for now. "You know, if Katara was here, she'd be beside herself; hearing you talking like that."
"Yeah," he sighed, sadly, "if she were here." The rasp in his voice reverberated naturally - Sokka had the suspicion that puberty likely wasn't the cause this time.
"How is she by the way?" He asked somewhat excitedly. "You met her a couple months ago, right? When you visited the Fire Nation?"
Nodding, the teenager slowed his pace somewhat as he read the sign ahead of him. "She seems good. Nothing much has changed; she still seems the same, just a lot more… I don't know… moody?" Almost absentmindedly, while Sokka nodded in understanding, the airbender whispered, "She misses you… her family… her friends." Sokka stared into the airbender's eyes that refused to return the gesture as they walked up the street. "She doesn't say it… tries to act like she's happy where she is… but… I don't know. I feel like she's hiding something; I see it in her eyes."
Slightly alerted, the Southern warrior asked, "Should I be worried? Is something wrong with her?"
The Avatar shook his head, "No, I don't think so. She's not in danger or anything… I just think she misses you guys more than she's willing to admit."
"Well, I hope you're right," he said sadly. Realising how sombre the mood had gotten, Sokka decided to add some lightheartedness. Only, he went about it the wrong way. Grinning, the Southern warrior, for a second, forgot who he was teasing when he asked, "I bet she's matured into a fine young woman. Still think she's the most beautiful thing in the world?"
Sokka realised his mistake when Aang stopped in his tracks and slowly panned his head towards him, his expression void of any particular emotion as a small frown was glued to his lips. For a solid few seconds, which to Sokka felt like a century, the airbender simply stared into his blue orbs, it was somewhat unnerving. However, he didn't keep his gaze for long.
"We're here," the Avatar deadpanned, turning around as he entered the hospital, thus leaving a partially stunned Sokka outside to mull over the dead and slightly angry glint he saw swirling within the airbender's grey depths.