A. N. : It's Sokka time ! Man, it's really been a while since we saw him... And of course I immediately bully him, oops. It's out of love, I swear !

Sokka opens his eyes.

He immediately closes them again – too much light, ow, oof, his eyes !

On top of the light trying to murder him, Sokka quickly – or, well, as quickly as he can when he barely just woke up – notices a few other problems. For one, his mouth is super dry and feels like sand. Also, his head hurts, which might be related to the fact that he hasn't been so thirsty since the fucking Shi Wong.

Finally, his entire left arm feels raw, like it was skinned. It hurts like hell, and he doesn't know if he can move it, but trying to is like trying to move from the spirits damned hole he got stuck in – when was it again ? When they met Toph, he thinks, or a little after that.

He doesn't think she can help this time, though, considering –

Sokka opens his eyes again.

He was stabbed. He was – he thought he died. He's alive.

He's alive.

He cut someone's head off, oh Tui and La, he saw their head fly and – it was an accident. He's alive only by accident. And –

Suki !

Su – what happened with Suki ? Fuck, he needs to –

A hand presses on his right shoulder. You shouldn't move, Katara says. Huh, her voice is weird. Like, like when Mom died and Katara did her best to avoid crying every time she thought about what happened.

Oh. Sokka thought he died, but Katara… Katara thought he'd die.

He lets her push him back down without resisting. Tries to ask about Suki, but – well, for one his throat feels like it's made entirely of desert sand, and also Momo just jumped on Sokka's face, grabbing onto his skull with all four legs as well as his tail, and while the lemur hug is a nice intention, probably, it also means Sokka can't breathe. Oh, and he's got fur in his mouth now, too.

Thanks, Momo.

Katara, amazing sister that she is, moves Momo to Sokka's chest instead, from where he starts nuzzling the crook of Sokka's neck, and oh man, Sokka is not going to cry from being hugged by a flying lemur. Nope. Not happening.

He was pretty worried, Katara murmurs in that odd voice again. He even tried to give you food yesterday. Okay, now Sokka is going to cry.

Sorry, he says. He's not sure Katara heard him at first, what with his throat and the fact that she doesn't answer, and just bends some water directly into his mouth. But then she wipes a tear off her eye and tells him to shut up and calls him an idiot, so it's all good.

He is sorry, though. Even if Katara stubbornly refuses to hear it. He didn't mean to worry her – to worry all of them, even Momo. He should've been strong enough not to.

Still, if it at least wasn't for nothing – he tries his best not to think about what that would mean, pets Momo's fur to stay calm – if it wasn't for nothing, then maybe he can live with being a weak dumbass. He can always get stronger. Get better.

He can't bring back people who're gone.

Sokka breathes. Momo's fur is really soft. Did someone brush him recently ?

Toph shouts somewhere in the background, startling Sokka. Not five seconds later, he hears jumbled voices growing closer, and finally sees the faces of everyone come into his field of vision. First Toph, then Aang, Zuko and Lin, and finally Jet and –

Suki. Tired and holding herself a bit strangely, but Suki nonetheless.

Oh thank the spirits, thank Yue and her moonly benevolence, thank the others for picking up where Sokka failed, thank everything and everyone he can think of – Suki is alive.

They all start talking at the same time, it feels like, all you woke up and are you alright and does it hurt and it's just like home, warm and fuzzy and kind of messy and good.

Sokka smiles. Then he notices Suki doesn't look at him, not really, doesn't talk, and looks like she doesn't really want to be here. Ah… Did he disappoint her ? His smile fades.

Momo is warm and soft under his fingers.

Zuko's uncle isn't here. Sokka thought Zuko would be destroyed, from the way he acted when they learned of the execution, but maybe he's stronger than Sokka gave him credit for. He doesn't look upset, in any case. Not like Suki.

Did she hate being saved that much ? She thanked him, yeah, but she also called him an idiot for endangering himself and the others. And he almost died.

He must look so unreliable.

He doesn't want to think about that, not right now, not with everyone around, not when he has questions.

Later, though, he will. Not like he can stop himself.

He asks if someone can catch him up to what he missed. And immediately has to add –

Not everyone at the same time !