The swamp/Spiritual bond
4
The thick mist, so strong, so potent, had enveloped Sokka until he could see nothing altogether. He had snarled, he had punched the ground, he had screamed in frustration a thousand times, it seemed…
Until he had glimpsed a shape in the middle of that strange blend of whiteness.
He hadn't understood it, not at first. It had been too far away, so distant he couldn't make out what it was… but familiar colors, in the middle of that white fog, had caught his attention immediately. Red… gold?
"… Azula?"
He spoke her name, no longer with the longing helplessness of a man aware that the one he loved, the one he called, wasn't within reach anymore. Instead… instead, he spoke with a strange blast of certainty, a sudden awareness, a state of mind he couldn't possibly describe: what he was seeing… it was real, wasn't it? The shape lying on the ground some distance away, slowly rising to a sitting position…
His heart pounded in his chest, so hard, so painfully, and a cry of desperation broke past his lips.
The dark curtain of black hair covered her features… until she raised her head properly, and her golden eyes met his.
For one moment, a moment far too long for either of them to process, they simply remained there, exactly where they were, mystified and confused, and…
"N-no…" she said: she trembled violently, rising to her feet clumsily… he flinched visibly at the sound of her voice, his eyes suddenly overflowing with tears, his chest heaving. It was her voice… it was her voice, no matter how damaged it sounded, no matter how heartbroken… it was hers. It was her…! "W-what is…? W-what is this, what…?"
"Azula…" he repeated her name, speaking it with the devotion he ever had staked upon it…
He stepped closer, and so did she.
In that frantic moment, it felt as though they were a thousand miles away still, no matter if they were face to face once more. As though, no matter how far they might run, they would never reach each other… but Sokka's desperate tears, his eagerness to push forward, would overcome every barrier in their way. If she couldn't do it, then he would, and if he failed… then she would succeed for him. That was what their partnership had been like, the partnership they had nurtured, together…
"Sokka!" she called, setting aside her denial, her unwillingness to accept this sudden shift in her reality: but it was him, more vivid than in any of her dreams so far. He was so real she could take in his scent, his warmth, his every emotion… "SOKKA!"
Her voice echoed inside him, shattering through his fears, through every blockage he had experienced upon waking up that morning: his tearful smile was the most beautiful sight of all in the brief instants before the distance between them shrank and faded: his arms wound tightly around her body just as their lips collided in a passionate kiss poised to rewrite the stars, just as they had ever promised to.
It truly was him. It was Sokka, she could feel his familiar body underneath her hands, against her lips, pressing his desperate, warm kisses to her own… she couldn't evoke this feeling so faithfully, so perfectly, if she were merely hallucinating what was happening. No… it was too vivid to be a matter of her weak, helpless imagination that couldn't even lock onto a single thought before. She wasn't evoking this… and it was real, somehow. It was real…
He was ever strong and handsome, clad in his armor, wearing long arm sleeves that reached his upper biceps, black bandages rather than the pale ones he'd always worn. White fur trimmed his waistcloth now, and his hair was even longer than the last time she'd ran her fingers through it… He was different in such small ways, and yet it was so inequivocally Sokka that her heart almost burst for it. Her cold fingers trembled as she pressed them to his face, as she touched him between sobs and kisses, assuring herself this was no mirage, no mad delusion… no dream she would never wish to wake from.
His fingers trembled too as he touched her, as he caressed her flanks, her arms, her hips, her neck… he couldn't seem to settle anywhere, for he couldn't to believe what was happening at all either. The anguish had given way to a far more welcome, familiar feeling as he kissed her deep and thoroughly, conveying how badly he had missed her, how desperate he had been to return to her side… She seemed so lost, so broken, gaunt and weakened, and yet she had raced towards him with such strength that it seemed as though every last wound she had taken had been healed in an instant. Her tears were but a consequence of too many powerful emotions, colliding together much as their bodies had…
He wanted to speak to her, to talk, to make sense of what was happening… but he couldn't do it. He couldn't pull away, and neither would she: her hand fisted his hair, the other clawing at his neck, keeping him as close as he could be, thrilled to deepen their kiss, their tongues twirling together, their hearts soaring with each other as the world around them faded completely… as their darkest sorrows melted away with it, too.
The euphoria upon reuniting overcame their logical minds entirely at first, breaking past any attempts to reason with it, no matter how rational they ever tried to be: even though they weren't physically together, it seemed that the bridge between their souls, their chi's attunement, perhaps, had led them to one another at the most opportune moment. If their souls were reuniting in a wholly different plane of existence, they would gladly forsake the real world altogether as long as they could stay like this for a moment longer, for an eternal moment, if such a thing could exist and be gifted to them…
Yet it was real enough that Azula needed to break off their kiss in dire need of breath: a whimper left her lips as she did, as Sokka's heavy breaths brushed against her skin… she knew him, knew every single feeling he elicited inside her, the familiar bliss of belonging, of loving someone with every ounce of her strength…
"Azula…" he called her again: tears streamed freely down her face, and upon opening her eyes she found his cheeks were drenched with tears as well. She shivered, touching those tears with her fingertips, gazing at him as best she could through her misty eyes. "Azula, I…"
"It's you…" Azula managed to speak with a strained, weak voice: her lips parted with a soft laugh now, and she cupped his face delicately, lovingly. "Sokka…"
"You're here. I've found you… I… I don't even know how!" he gasped, with a laugh of his own. "Hell, this defies all logic, I know it does, but it's… it's really you. It's really us…!"
"You're here," Azula echoed, brushing his tears with her thumb now: damp, hot, real. Now, moments into this strange phenomenon, she dared ask herself the questions she hadn't cared to, before: how could this be happening at all? How could they be in the same place, at the same time, when that was physically impossible? "S-Sokka… Sokka, are we…?"
"What… dead?" he asked: both their smiles faded, but he shook his head. "I don't… I don't think so. I walked into the mist, that's how I found you, but… Azula, I could feel you. All along, I felt you. Everything you've been feeling, I…"
"You… you've felt it too?" Azula asked, shivering. Sokka gritted his teeth and nodded.
"The misery, the pain… After that crazy thing of opening my chakras, it's like our chi's attunement just went entirely overboard. I could feel you, even more than I already did before, and…"
"Your… your crazy what, now…?" Azula repeated, with a soft laugh. Sokka snorted, pressing his brow to hers.
"You wouldn't believe… the kind of weird shit that's happened to me lately," he said. Azula's heart ached, pounding so hard she knew he could feel it against his chest. "Azula…"
"He attacked," Azula stated it as a solid fact, not a question: Sokka's smile waned anew. "He sent troops to the South Pole, he… he tried to… I wanted to stop him, Sokka, but I didn't know he'd done it. I failed…"
"Shh… don't worry," Sokka pressed his lips to her brow, and Azula shivered under his pleasant touch: her sorrows indeed seemed to fade away, to vanish into nothingness… because he was here. Because it truly was him, and he was clearing her grief in the way only he could… just as he always had, just like in the beautiful days they had shared until their catastrophic end had arrived. "Yes, he sent forces… but we defeated them. I hoped you'd know… I mean, I knew it was possible that you wouldn't see it, but the knife we sent back with the false letter wasn't my knife. I hoped that, if you saw it, you'd realize we lied. You'd realize I was safe…"
"You… wait, you forged a…?" Azula gasped, eyes wide. Sokka smiled and nodded. "You… hell, you clever bastard. Oh, you're… you're serious. You have to be, you actually sent a letter yourself…"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry if it hurt you, if he didn't show you the damn knife, then… I'm sorry. Is that what… what happened? Is that why you were…?"
"I thought you were gone," Azula said, her voice hitching with emotion, tears spilling down her cheeks again. Sokka gritted his teeth, an inevitable rush of guilt surging inside him. "I thought he'd… I really thought he'd… b-but he didn't. He didn't win, you… you tricked him. You lied, you… oh, I really was a terrible influence on you, you lied so well that I… I actually bought it…!"
"I didn't mean for you to buy it, though… not you. Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry…!" Sokka grimaced, hugging her so tightly she felt breathless for a moment… but she didn't care. If he wanted to give her a bone-crushing hug, he could do so. If he wanted to toss her into the sky and catch her as she fell, he was free to do that too… he could do anything he wanted, so long as he remained real, so long as he stayed alive…
"Don't… don't. Oh, I… I should've fucking thought about it, I'm an idiot…" Azula laughed now, shaking her head as she pressed even tighter to him. "It's so like you… it's so like you to do something like this. I wasn't thinking clearly, I really… I was ready to give up if you were gone. But… but you're not. You're still alive. You're still…"
"I'm here. I'll always be here… I'll always be with you," Sokka whispered, embracing her so tightly it seemed as though he wanted to take her into himself, to bring her with him to wherever he was right now… and she would have let him, if only it were possible. If only she could go with him… if she could, she'd do so without a second thought. "Our energy… it's connected no matter what, Azula. You and I… we're bridged together for eternity. The greatest illusion in this world is the illusion of separation."
"You… you're very poetic all of sudden," Azula said, with a watery smile.
"It's true," Sokka said, pulling back only to cup her face and smile just as well. "If you let go of your guilt… if you let go of your fears, your shame, your grief, the lies you've told yourself, you'll see it too. You'll realize it's no figure of speech… it's true: I'm always with you, just as you're always with me. So, whenever you… whenever you don't feel strong enough, remember I'm still here. Remember I'll never give up on you, no matter what. I still fight for you with my every breath, with every new step I take. I'm still yours… all yours, in every way that counts. This… this is only temporary, distance can be cut short again. Sooner or later… we will find our way back to each other, just as we swore we would."
"I… I hope so. I'll try to hold on, I… I'm not as strong as you thought I was, though. I'm not…" Azula whimpered: Sokka shook his head, tilting hers upwards. Her tearful eyes met his, and he stole a new kiss from her lips that tasted of miracles to the heartbroken Princess.
"You're so much stronger than anyone knows… than even you know. I see it, even now," Sokka said upon pulling away, smiling warmly at her. "Feeling weak, feeling bleak and sorrowful… I get it, Azula. I know why you feel that way, because I felt that way too, for as long as we've been apart… but I will find you again, no matter what it takes. I will be with you again, just as we are now. Our paths may have split apart… but they will flow together once more, and the next time they do, the world will be damned if it tries to make me let go ever again."
Azula shivered in his arms: his words seemed to have infused no end of life back into her broken soul… and yet she flinched, lowering her head in undoubtable shame.
"I… I don't know how to shake off everything you said… everything you said I should," she said. "My choices… the consequences keep haunting me, they keep hurting me. I'd already lost so much as it is, just by losing you… and yet he never stops. You were right all along, Sokka, you were right, and I was a fool…"
"No… you weren't one," Sokka whispered. "You aren't one. But… you did what you had to do. What you believed was right…"
"But it wasn't right!" Azula sobbed, clutching at him. "If it had been, t-then all of this…! It wouldn't hurt as much as it does! I wouldn't be…! I wouldn't be so devastated, I wouldn't be so broken…!"
"The right path… isn't always the easiest one, love," Sokka said, clasping her arms gently. Azula flinched, lowering her head. "You've done… you've done so much to protect others, you've carried this whole damn rotten world on your shoulders! You've fought until you couldn't take it any longer, right? So… so now you can stop fighting, Azula. Now I'll do what I always have. Now… now I'll be the one to fight for you. It's the destiny I chose… it's the destiny I'll always choose, no matter what."
"But if he finds out what you've done, if he discovers you're alive, Sokka…" Azula whimpered, but Sokka shook his head.
"The right path isn't always the easiest one," he repeated, earnestly. Her heart clenched. "I know you're scared… I know you don't want me to get hurt. I know you're worried… but don't be. Believe in me, just as I believe in you. Trust me… because, girl: I need you too. I need you more than I can ever explain, I… my heart is yours, it always has been, and I can feel it beating a thousand miles away, where I left it with you. I can't live on in this damn world either… not knowing if you're safe. Not knowing if he's taking out his wrath on you…"
"I… I can…" she tried to lie, she truly did, but she shattered again, tears spilling down her cheeks when her honesty broke through. "I can't take it. I can't… it's too much. He… he was the true monster all along, Sokka, he…"
"Yeah, he was. And I'll be damned if I let the woman I love lose her strength and her will to live because of that monster," Sokka hissed, cupping her face again. Azula shivered, pulling closer to him, feeling his warmth as best she could. "I failed to protect you from what he's done to you so far… but I won't fail forever. I'm coming for you, Azula. And this time, I'm never letting go. Never again."
It was wrong, she knew, to encourage this. It was dangerous, deadly, and yet… yet her selfish, hopeless, impossibly honest heart suddenly pounded with such strength, flooding her system with a certainty, a joy, a hopefulness she hadn't experienced ever since they had been torn away from each other. Again, the thoughts she'd had earlier rushed through her mind… thoughts of how much he loved her, how much he'd done and would continue to do for her, if she let him. No one had ever cared about her in this way. She doubted anyone else ever would. He had truly taught her how to love by loving her in the overwhelming, inflaming, heartfelt way he ever did. He gave her his all… and so, she accepted everything he offered her with a slowly growing smile.
"I… I know it's crazy, alright?" Sokka continued, with a sad smile of his own. "I know you might think I shouldn't come for you at all, but damn it, I've known a life without you, Azula, and… and it tasted like, I don't know, like regurgitated ashes…!"
"Regurgitated…?" Azula repeated, with a soft laugh. He smiled and nodded, letting her press her face to his chest.
"I have no idea how to put it, really… I just know it's not right. I just know I can't… I can't do it anymore. Pretending I can live my life without you… it's not possible, love. I really can't do it."
"There's… there's nothing you can't do, you goofball," Azula said, with an earnest smile. Sokka pouted a little, and she laughed warmly at the sight of the familiar, childish expression on his face. "You taught me a million things, in our time together… and that's one of them. You can do anything… you most definitely can."
"For you? Yeah…" Sokka said, though Azula shook her head.
"Not just for me… whatever your motivation may be, the truth is… the power to achieve everything you've done is already within you. It's your own strength, Sokka… it's your own heart. If I've done anything good in this world at all… then I hope it's having helped you see that for yourself."
His heart clenched upon hearing those words… though the pressure was quickly replaced by that warmth that only she could evoke within him, that only she could elicit with such strength inside him. Unable to reject the words, unwilling to do so, too… he pressed his brow to hers instead, as though to bind their minds and hearts together all over again.
It was almost as though they had never been apart at all… as though no time, no distance, had torn them away from each other. Yet there were differences the two of them could see, changes since the last of what they'd seen each other… Sokka's fingertips trailed over her cheekbone, and he gazed at her with heartfelt sorrow.
"You're… thinner," he said, softly. She winced at his remark.
"I… I've been careless. I'm sorry, I…" she said, gritting her teeth: Sokka smiled a little and shook his head.
"Don't beat yourself up about it… not with me, anyway. You scolded me for not eating like a thousand times, didn't you?"
"Whenever you… whenever you were too miserable to do it, yes," Azula smiled, clutching at his nape gently.
"I won't pretend I haven't done it too, a bit… but we can do better from now on, right?" he said: his fragile smile almost tore her heart to pieces. "The two of us. Whatever comes next… we'll take better care of ourselves. This hasn't been easy for either of us… but whatever the hell is happening now, however we've been able to connect in this way, Azula… there's still hope for us, somehow. We won't be apart forever, I'll see to that, so…"
"I… I'll try. I'll try my best, Sokka," Azula whispered, clawing at his arms desperately: the metal plates of his armor, the fabric over his skin… all of it felt so vivid, so real… "I don't want to… to give up either. I'm just…"
"Tired?" Sokka guessed, and Azula nodded.
"Scared, too," she admitted, raising her gaze to his. "Everything's felt so bleak, so hopeless, but… but if you're still alive, if you're still here, then I can try. I can…"
"If I've done anything good in this world… I hope it's having given you hope so that you can keep going, even if it's not easy," Sokka echoed her previous words and sentiment: his heartfelt smile brought a similar one to her face, across her tear-streaked cheeks.
It was Azula who pulled closer now, pressing her lips to his powerfully: the initial despair shifted into tranquility, into a warm, tender emotion…
Gold fire.
Her inner fire flared, burning passionately and rearing its power as wildly as it possibly could, rejoicing in the newfound strength Azula had drawn from their bond, from their unbreakable partnership. In this strange state, her body appeared to become a powerful channel for emotions, for she felt all of them more vividly than she had in far too long. She conveyed each of those feelings to him through the joining of their lips, her arms looped around his neck, much as his went around her waist, and in this strange, pale and ethereal world, their very souls seemed to merge together, their energy mixed, blurring every boundary, ensuring to renew their connection to each other in doing so…
A blast of energy, a shot of power, suddenly burst within them, shaking them thoroughly: the world was no longer that strange, bright environment in which they'd found themselves at first, for it transformed into a landscape of swirling colors, of a sky that shifted and changed, of stars that danced above, of lands that rose into the heavens, of seas that slammed into coasts, of bursting volcanoes, of swirling storms…
They were connected through it all. The universe changed and shaped itself around them, and they remained connected all along.
Picking up on the quick-changing surroundings barely fazed them once their kiss ended: a powerful breeze appeared to blow at them, an unpleasant tug, perhaps calling them back to their bodies… but they wouldn't let go. Their tender, earnest eyes remained latched onto each other, as they shined the brightest smiles upon gazing into the familiar, loved face of the one they had chosen to be bound to for eternity.
"Sokka…" Azula called him. He clasped her hand in his, once she cupped his face with it. "Whatever this is, however we've found each other in this way…"
"It's something spiritual, I'm sure," Sokka answered.
"And… it won't last forever," she continued. Sokka's smiled waned, but he nodded. He knew as much, as well, no matter if he didn't want to think about that yet. "This connection… well, whatever its nature might be, I just… I need you to know you've saved my life with it. Saved… saved our lives, with it."
"Azula…" his painful remorse upon hearing those words seemed out of place… for he didn't understand what her words had meant, but he would. Before this ended… before it did, even if she wouldn't have enough time to tell him everything thoroughly, she'd tell him this.
She took the hand that held hers, bringing it close to her body. She pressed his fingers to the center of her chest, and his palm settled against it too as she slid his hand lower yet… until it rested on her abdomen. On the small, scarcely noticeable bump still perfectly concealed underneath her clothes.
At first, Sokka had thought that she simply sought his touch, craving it after being deprived of it for too long.
His eyes widened when she stopped his hand where she did.
He knew her body just as well as she did. He knew every weak spot, every curve, every ridge… he recalled every single detail he had memorized across the years of their intimate lovemaking.
He knew, immediately, instinctively, that something was different in the area where his hand rested now.
His breath hitched, and Azula offered him a tearful, earnest smile. Now he seemed utterly breathless, and the buffeting breeze only seemed to make it even less likely that he'd take in any air at all: Azula, however, could draw in a powerful breath and share it with him through a new kiss…
A kiss he intensified at once, wrapping his arms around her body with such ferocity, with such need, such fears…
Her sorrow, her anguish… was this the reason why she'd felt so much of it? Because she carried his child, along with so many more hardships she was facing?
He barely could let the thought articulate inside his head, so unbelievable as it still appeared to be: he kissed her harder yet, as thunder and lightning struck around them, as rain poured just as the sun glowed mercilessly upon them, too. The wild storms continued to rage around them, and yet the ones inside them finally seemed appeased as their lips continued to bridge their souls together. There was so much they still needed to say, so much they still wanted to share… but the illusion in which they'd regained their anchor to reality, the dream in which they'd finally opened their eyes, seemed to be close to its unfortunate, far too quick conclusion.
"I… I love you, Sokka, I love you, I…" Azula managed to blurt out, lips trembling against his when their kiss was interrupted. Sokka gasped, still tearful, still shaken, still unwilling to let her go. As powerful as the wind might be, it seemed his grip on her wouldn't yield at all.
"I love you too, Azula. I… I'll come for you. For the both of you… for the both of you!" he declared his conviction with such firmness Azula could only smile for it, as tears poured down her cheeks again. "Don't ever… don't ever let go. I'm coming, Azula… I'll find you, no matter what it takes!"
"I'll wait… I'll wait however long I have to," Azula smiled, nodding. Her hair was blowing powerfully in that wind, same as that of his long wolf's tail. "I won't let go… I won't give up again. Our souls are bonded together, our energies…"
"We are one," Sokka confirmed, cupping her face as he smiled warmly again. "We belong by each other's side, forever. You'll never drop me…"
"And you'll always catch me," Azula echoed, perfectly. Sokka's smile gained strength, fierceness, so much of it that the tears couldn't keep Azula from delighting in it.
"Your heart keeps mine beating. You're… you're my every sunrise…" he continued: his palms cradled her face delicately, smoothly, holding her as closely as he possibly could. "My guiding light…"
"And you're my gold fire," Azula said: her tears merged with his as she leaned closer, their brows pressed together. "My inner flame…"
"Your Gladiator," he finished for her, and a soft laugh left her lips upon hearing him finish for her, with the passionate conviction and pride with which he always spoke his title.
They joined in a heartfelt kiss anew, one so powerful it seemed to shake the world around them, the very foundations upon which they stood: the wind tried to yank them away still, out of each other's arms, stubbornly uprooting them when they refused to let go, just as they had sworn they never would. Even if the storms in their hearts had been soothed upon seeing each other again, even if the strife they had scarcely been able to endure had finally let up, they couldn't let go, not even then…
A thunderous roar, the wind buffeting harder yet, their embrace tightening, for nothing could ever tear them apart. Their tears danced in the air with their gentle sobs, their hearts raced, their souls collided in full, blended into a permanent, full connection, forevermore…
Tears still burned in her eyes when Azula opened them with a start.
The same ceiling she had been looking at earlier remained above her… yet it was brighter than before. It took her a moment to reason with her surroundings, with the tears streaking across her face… with the slightly scorched blanket where she, unconsciously, had smothered the very fire she had been ready to set upon herself and this precious haven…
She rose to a sitting position, chest heaving, the necklace still firmly held against her heart: her free hand's fingers rose to her cheeks… and she couldn't tell, couldn't know, if those tears were her own or his.
She was still here, still in the Fire Nation… still in Sokka's old house. The sun was rising by now, the world would be waking too… but no one else would have woken the way she had. No one had suddenly snapped back into consciousness for what felt like the first time in months. Her hand trembled as she lowered it, as that strange phenomenon cycled back through her mind…
She had seen him. At her very lowest point, when she had been ready to give up completely, she had found him. And it was certainly no dream… no, she recalled far too well how that strange, meek Sokka had acted in her dream when they had been near that swamp in the Gladiator and Sponsor Race. Sokka, as she had seen him tonight, had been different if just in a few respects… but he had still been himself in every way that mattered. He had filled her heart with courage, with strength she had direly lacked, even if she hardly understood how their connection had come about at all. But the one thing she did understand, the one thing she took away from what had happened that night…
"He's alive," she blurted out loud… and a genuine, heartfelt smile lit her face as she brought her trembling hand to her mouth. "He's… he's still alive."
He had tricked her father. He had deceived him, somehow. This dark and rotten world hadn't lost its one true light yet, the one true chance of purification it had… he was still out there, he was still alive, he hadn't given up and he had asked her not to do it, either…
He meant to come back to her.
She should have rejected it, she knew that now, she should have told him to stay away safely… but she missed him, curses, she missed him so badly she couldn't think, couldn't reason, couldn't be anything but completely honest, wearing her every emotion on her sleeve, upon finding him in that strange spiritual space. Seeing him again had soothed her aching, desperate heart, for she never had thought she'd be so lucky… she had never thought she'd deserve to see him again. After everything she'd done, after every terrible choice she'd made…
She gritted her teeth: there was so much she should have told him, so much he should have understood before they were torn away from each other. That hadn't been enough time, it felt like they never had enough time… how she wished she could go right back to that strange place and tell him everything. Maybe he'd want their souls to link once again, just as badly as she wanted it… but she suspected that strange state of mind was gone now. Upon closing her eyes, she could still feel that warmth… she could feel him. But perhaps her newfound peace, the bridge between them, had strengthened sufficiently after tonight. If she had only reached that strange spiritual landscape due to her anguish and despair, perhaps now that she had broken free from the darkest moment of despair she had ever faced, she wouldn't be able to access it anymore.
Then, if there was no going back… then she had to hold on to hope, just as he had asked her to. She had to believe in him just as she knew he believed in her. That would be enough… that would suffice until he finally came back for her. Everything else, every explanation, every regret… she could convey them afterwards and hope he'd still find her worth his while, in spite of it all.
The idea of Sokka rejecting her should have terrified her… and maybe one day it would. But for now, she rejoiced in his survival… she could breathe properly again knowing he lived. Even though the sheets had other signs of burning, fiercer ones than the one she was responsible for, even though the wooden planks on the floor were stained with blood that had dried so long ago, Sokka had survived every act of cruelty her father and his men had attempted to inflict upon him. He had endured… he had stood strong against challenges that anyone else might have crumbled at, but not him. Not Sokka.
If her determination wavered again, if she hesitated anew… she would remember that. She would remember the blood staining the floorboards, the charred sheets, the pain of the man she had reunited with in the Prison Tower, the will to fight of the one and only Gladiator who had defeated Combustion Man. To think that, to this day, he still dared credit her for his incredible achievements… a soft laugh left her lips as she shook her head. Sharing their victories had always been part of their partnership, and yet…
Yet she was not as easily blinded by those shared victories as he seemed to be. She knew how strong he was… she knew there was nothing he couldn't overcome. So, when he said he'd come for her, she knew he'd fulfill that vow, come what may.
Her eyes fell upon the necklace… where it had been but the final keepsake she had left of him, now it was a promise anew, a promise she intended to abide by: she would wait. She would be ready. She would hold on, for every moment she had left until they met again. She didn't know what would happen by then … he'd likely have a plan or many. Believing that he did, that he'd continue making the right choices to save his family, to protect those they loved, ensured that the pleasant, burning feeling in her chest would continue to fuel her, to encourage her to rise… and, for now, to return to her room.
A slow breath left Azula's lips as she gazed about herself, tears still blinking in her eyes. She'd be back, eventually, no matter if it was unlikely that Sokka would come back to his old house anytime soon… but she'd return here and keep this place alive for his sake. For the sake of her true husband, the life partner she had chosen, whose energy remained so powerfully intertwined with hers that she thought she could feel his heartbeats accompanying her own, right now.
With a calm smile, and a sensation of peace she hadn't experienced in far too long, right after circumventing a storm of emotion and distress that had nearly driven her over her very last edge, Azula gathered her strength with far more ease than she ever expected to. She stepped forward, past the room's threshold, and she set out on her way back to the Palace.
He dropped hard on his knees when the world regained its shape around him. Sokka gasped, chest heaving, face streaked with tears, trousers soaked in the muddy puddle he had wound up in, without his awareness. His head spun, his mind remained fuzzy and scattered. He hadn't imagined any of that… this hadn't been the strange, vague spiritual imagery the swamp had showed him in the past: no, he had reached Azula somehow, when she had been at her lowest point. When she had thought, due to his oh so clever plan, that he had been slain in battle. Guilt threatened to rise again over having scared her so badly… and yet her later delight upon realizing he had lied, her surge of pride upon knowing he could deceive even her, nowadays…
The whole surreal experience could have seemed to be nothing but a dream, an odd vision that made no sense altogether… but it made enough sense to him. His heart felt tender and raw as it pumped blood throughout his body, but it didn't seem as though he would snap out of his shocked daze yet.
After about five minutes of catching his breath, of closing his eyes in the futile hopes of reliving what had happened just now, Sokka finally dared push himself up. The temptation to seek a white mist like that one again, if just to see her one more time, almost overtook him… but mist wouldn't be enough. A vision, a chance to connect with her, no matter how real it might have been, couldn't suffice. He was coming back for her for good, he had sworn as much, and he would be truthful to that vow…
He was coming back for her, and for their child.
A shudder rushed through his body as that thought materialized inside his head: a child. There was no way she had meant anything else, no way the slight changes he had sensed in her womb could mean anything else…
"You're shitting me…" he blurted out, with a soft laugh, slipping the necklace back into the safety of his pocket. "I… sure we were reckless, damn it, but… oh, hell…"
He covered his face with his hands, as tears poured down his face again. Yet now his sobs were combined with laughter: the gruesome, unbearable sensation that had plagued him since he had woken that morning was gone now. His fingers ran through his hair as he continued to lose himself to a visceral, raw reaction, shoulders shaking with each shudder of tearful laughter. A child… their child. He had let himself imagine that possibility from time to time, he had daydreamed about it on occasion, even… but it had always seemed so far away, something that would only happen in a distant future, if at all. Even when Azula had started to become more receptive to the possibility of starting a family, he hadn't expected it to happen until she was well and truly ready for it, and he didn't intend to push her for it in any way…
But she never drank the tea while they traveled back to the South Pole. He didn't recall her brewing it at any point, likely because she had run out of herbs for it. And while they hadn't been intimate every night, it had happened enough times… it had happened in prison, too. From that point onwards, she might have forgotten entirely about the tea, and all bets were off, if that was the case…
"A child… our child," Sokka whispered, with a heartfelt, tearful smile. "I… I should've told you you'll be a great mother, damn it. Should've told you so many things… so many things…"
It had ended too soon, happened too fast, even though he had the distinct feeling that hours had passed, rather than the instants he had felt them as. Even if their hearts had lightened, as had their loads, there was so much more they should have spoken of, shared… but there was no time. Would this ever happen again? Would he have a chance to say everything he hadn't been able to, if it did?
For now, though… for now he felt the new peace that dwelled in both their hearts. For now, he closed his eyes again and evoked her image, her scent, her smiles, the taste of her lips, the sound of her voice… and for once, he found genuine tranquility where he had found mostly grief, before. They had survived that day's chaotic, dangerous ordeal… they were still alive. There was still a fighting chance for them, and he'd be damned if he failed to make the most of it, both for her sake and for their child.
"You won't… you won't face this alone. I'll… I'll do my best to reach you, to help you through it," Sokka vowed: he could only hope speaking the thoughts, feeling them, would serve for Azula to feel them in her own body, in her own energy… "Whatever it takes… whatever it takes."
He opened his eyes, finding he remained in the swamp, and the white mist hadn't returned yet. No chance of a second visit, then… a shame, he knew, but this one chance to speak with her, this possibility to meet her, even if it happened on a plane of existence he hardly knew what to make of, had been nothing short of a miracle…
"Okay… okay. I stand corrected," Sokka said, stepping towards the nearest tree: he patted the trunk gently, doubting the plants could understand his intent, but caring very little if they didn't. "You're… you're weird as heck, you swamp, but maybe you're not that terrible. Sorry if I offended you, earlier…"
There was no answer from the swamp, of course, and Sokka could only smile for that. Whatever had happened had to be the swamp's doing, amplifying the existing connection between their shared energy and matching chi… he had no idea what the particulars were, perhaps Azula had been somewhere special, or spiritually charged, too. Whatever the truth might be, though, he couldn't have felt a deeper gratitude for this. How he had missed seeing her face… how he had missed hearing her voice. She had been through so much anguish, but even so, her sorrows had seemed to fall to the wayside upon reuniting with him… his own had done the same as soon as he had gazed upon her face.
"I'm coming back for you…" he said again, smiling anew, with determination… "Well, that is, once I find my friends and get out of this swamp, somehow."
He breathed out and stepped out of the muddy puddle: the lightening of his heart had certainly done wonders for his ability to move, even. Her overpowering grief had been so devastating that, had he been attacked by a wild creature, he might not have the chance to repeal the threat at all. Right now, though, there was only perfect tranquility, both inside his heart and outside it…
"Alright, you can take me to my friends now. I'm pretty sure this was what you were trying to do, right?" Sokka said, carelessly. "I'm grateful, don't get me wrong, but… Azula needs me, in more ways than this one. The sooner I can get out of here, the faster I can reach her, so…"
He guessed he had to wait for a sign of some sort, for a clearing to open up spontaneously, for he wasn't sure how to summon anything like that. He suspected the necklace had helped build the connection between his energy and Azula's, but he certainly had no such keepsakes from his friends, let alone was his chi attuned to theirs, so reuniting with them through spiritual means would likely require further aid by the swamp…
He didn't expect his ruminations to be interrupted by the sound of a voice different from his own.
For a moment, he winced upon wondering if the swamp itself was doing the talking. He had bitterly chided it before, yes, but for a swamp to be capable of speech…? Well, plenty of strange things had happened, he supposed, like giant owl librarians, monstrous chi-corrupting spears and ethereal, spiritual encounters between two people torn away from each other by the utmost cruelty of the world around them…
"Hello?" he called out, still unsure of what to make of the voice. "You'll help me…?"
The voice spoke again, moments afterwards… but it didn't seem to respond to him at all. Sokka frowned, resolving to follow it to its source: he traversed a few bushes, approaching a thick cluster of trees when the voice's words finally started to make some sense to him…
"… will play with you… when she's older…"
Sokka frowned: the voice sounded deep, yet unequivocally female. It felt strained, dry, as though whoever it belonged to was utterly parched. His feet brought him closer to the cluster of trees and he rounded them slowly, cautiously…
The woman now hummed something, so half-heartedly it seemed she barely could carry the tune at all. By the time Sokka had a proper view of her, her deep voice had dwindled into silence.
She sat against one of the trees, eyes closed. Her hair was covered in filth, much as her face and common attire were. The dirt in her hands convinced Sokka she had been digging in the swamp's soil, for whatever reason… perhaps the reason was the small rock that sat beside her, around the length of the woman's forearm. It looked dug out, going by the line of filth around its base, and the position of her arms suggested she had been clinging to it, but it had slipped out of her hands at some point, weakened as she was.
"Hello?" he called, stepping forward. The woman managed a soft hum, as though to acknowledge him, but he couldn't be sure if that was her intent. "I'd ask where you came from, or if you're okay, but… doesn't look like you'll answer me."
He knelt before the woman – the closer he came, the clearer it was that she was no spiritual mirage but a real, living, breathing person. Sokka frowned heavily: she was much older than him, evidenced by the lines of aging upon her face and the graying, chaotic hair that surely had seen better days – or at least, Sokka hoped it had. He couldn't see her face properly, not in the dark, unpleasant swamp, let alone when she was covered in filth… but whoever she was, and whatever she was doing here, she'd likely be moments away from passing out, if not anything worse.
Had the swamp wanted him to save this woman? Or had it only meant to connect him to Azula? Perhaps it had planned for both things to happen? He couldn't know the answer to that question, for the swamp's cryptic behavior and apparent sentience certainly escaped his understanding… but he did know that the only thing he could do was offer this woman his help, even if it seemed she would be unable to accept or reject it, mostly unconscious as she was.
"Well, then… whatever this is, I'm not about to leave a woman to starve in the middle of a swamp. Especially when I'm in a better mood now," Sokka decided. "Hope you don't mind my boldness, considering we've never met, but… I'll have to carry you, lady."
There was no chance the woman would walk on her own: he had to hoist her on his back, at the very least. Thus, he switched his sword's position so it would join his club at his right shoulder: he knelt before the woman, took her weak arms carefully and wrapped them around his neck. Then he picked her up by the thighs and hoisted her in one movement. Her head rested, inert, on his left shoulder, her cheek against his armor. He dared venture one more glance at the woman… finding, to his utmost confusion, that she didn't seem so unfamiliar now, though he was sure he had never seen her before. Even under the dirt that stained her features, even with her graying hair in such state of chaos… something about her felt eerily familiar, although he wasn't sure why.
Suddenly it was Sokka who was filled with an unsettling, foreboding feeling – how he hoped he wouldn't send his misgivings to Azula through the bond of their shared energy, she already had more than enough to worry about to add Sokka's problems to her own load –, but he didn't set the woman down, regardless.
When he turned his head forward once more, intending to focus on tracking down his friends anew, he glimpsed a small light fluttering ahead. As inexplicable as it was, Sokka knew better than to question the swamp's strange powers and the unbelievable miracles he had witnessed in it. That bright light meant to help him find his way… and so, he followed it without hesitating, with the older woman still hoisted over his back.
The light, to his slight disappointment, didn't seem poised to guide him back to another mysterious white fog where he might return to Azula's arms. He guessed it would be difficult to do so while carrying someone with him anyway, but the thought still brought a smile to his face. Even if it hadn't been as physical as it had felt – for he didn't know, even now, how they had bridged their souls in that strange, spiritual plane of existence –, his heart had been appeased profoundly by the experience. For the first time since before they had parted, since before they had been discovered, there was a small kernel of hope inside his heart. It wouldn't be easy to cling to it, he suspected… but he relished in this light respite for now, in this chance to breathe in, even if what he'd breathe was the strange, stale and charged air of the swamp. Even if his stomach growled, begging for sustenance, even if his soaked, aching feet continued to discomfort him as he trudged onwards, across the many puddles of mud, his heart's new contentment remained as strong as it had been before. He had seen her again, and that was enough for now. He would cling to the feeling, he would hold onto it as firmly as he could…
But naturally, his resolve would be threatened rather quickly, as his unfortunate luck would have it, when the first sounds of brewing chaos ahead reached his ears.
He had no idea what it was at first: the sound of shouting, male voices as some splashing noises reached him, too. None of the voices sounded familiar, though… so not his friends, he reasoned quickly, even if the speck of light continued to move onwards in that direction… or what was left of the speck, anyway.
"Hey, now… don't fade on me here, will you? Little spirit firefly, or whatever it is you are…?" Sokka grimaced, hurrying towards the dwindling light as hastily as possible.
What was left of his luck seemed to be at an end when the spark finally fizzled out completely. He sighed, shaking his head and shifting the weight of the woman on his back. She seemed so out of it she didn't even react to his motions… Sokka grimaced at that realization, hoping she wasn't too far gone to be saved, as he continued to march towards the strange voices, the only potential hint he had left to follow anymore…
An inhuman, fierce roar reached his ears next. His eyes widened, and his lips parted over a gasp, recognizing the sound immediately: it was the same sound that had scared him instinctively when he first heard it in the South Pole.
"Appa…! Oh, thank fuck!" he exclaimed, speeding off further towards the bison.
He rushed towards the sound, skirting across the clusters of vegetation, past the thick trees, skipping over large roots and ducking below dangling vines. His footsteps splashed across the muddy puddles, but he no longer registered any discomfort upon finally hoping that he'd reunite with the rest of the group. Appa seemed to be in motion, though, for the next time he heard his echoing roar, it came from deeper in the swamp than before.
"Should've caught up to you already…" Sokka reasoned, chest heaving against his breastplate.
His eyes fell upon a nearby stream, finding the vegetation near it appeared rustled, swept off. Some branches were broken, and some puddles had dropped unnaturally outside the riverbank… was Appa fighting the people he'd heard before? Though who his opponents were, Sokka had no idea. Was it the White Lotus? The thought sent bad shivers down his spine: he hastened to follow the trail of wrecked plants, as well as the occasional prints of Appa's paws over the unstable ground.
Whoever was attacking Appa, Sokka would have to set down the woman to help him fight back, he suspected. He clenched his jaws, hoping the danger wouldn't be that serious… though he feared otherwise. Appa might be a gentle-mannered creature, but no one would assume as much at first glance. His large size and his intimidating growls should have scared away anyone who lacked the power to stand up to him… so perhaps they didn't lack it at all.
"Curses…!" Sokka huffed, speeding up as best he could – despite all that chaotic motion, the woman didn't wake.
When the voices and roars finally seemed closer than before, though, a new one had joined them:
"GET AWAY FROM APPA!"
Such was the fury of the Avatar that his shout, unlike those of the enemies, was perfectly comprehensible for Sokka: while he shouldn't have been relieved to confirm Appa was in trouble, knowing Aang was there too helped, somewhat. Though, why hadn't he helped all along? Aang hadn't been with Appa either? Still, if he had reached him now, perhaps he would be able to help his bison escape the clutches of whoever had been chasing him…
The woman on Sokka's back groaned lightly suddenly, and Sokka grimaced as he glanced at her. Would he have to sit out this fight? Maybe, once Appa was safe and sound, he could set her down on the saddle and leave her to rest there while they handled the fighting. Katara could check her afterwards for wounds, he hoped…
"Come on, let's go," Sokka breathed out, hoping his voice would sound reassuring to the woman he had rescued.
She didn't respond, though: perhaps she was simply making noise in her sleep? Whatever it was, Sokka rushed with her in the direction of the fighting – the splashing sounds had become even more violent now than before as the Avatar joined the fray.
"Woah! That's some bending you got there…!"
"Take it easy, fella…!"
The voices were more intelligible now. They made sense, so Sokka wasn't far, he wasn't…
"Sokka…? Sokka!"
For the second time that day, a female voice had called for him, and while the relief he felt this time seemed small compared to the strong emotions evoked by his reencounter with Azula, Sokka still had it in him to smile when Katara's voice reached him. He raised his head in her direction, finding Kino and Zuko were following her. Everyone was together, then… well, everyone but the lemur, as far as he knew. Maybe Momo wasn't that far away anyhow… Aang would likely turn the swamp upside down to find him, if he were.
"You guys… oh, hell, finally," Sokka breathed out as he rushed towards his sister: Kino and Zuko continued onwards towards Aang – the former spared Sokka a quick glance upon hearing Katara calling for him, but he continued running anyway, following Zuko into the clearing where Aang and Appa battled their mysterious enemies ferociously.
"Oh, Sokka, we were so…! Uh… wait, what's this?" Katara had meant to rush in for a hug, but she froze on the spot with arms outstretched: she hadn't processed the full sight of her brother until he came closer into the light, and her relief was promptly replaced by utter perplexity.
"You mean… who's this? Beats me," Sokka huffed, heaving the woman carefully. "But I think she needs help. Healing, food, water, anything we can do to save her, as far as I can tell…"
"Wait. She must be the woman… the one Huu talked about," Katara reasoned, frowning. Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"Huu? Who is Huu? Uh… damn," his eyebrow twitched at the similarity of the words, and Katara smiled at his irritation.
"It's a waterbender we met, just a moment ago. He kind of helped us understand our way through the Swamp, but…" Katara said, glancing in the direction of the battle. Sokka's eyes widened, but he decided he'd ask about Katara's discovery of other waterbenders later. "Aang took off to save Appa when he finally located him, and we probably should help him, too."
"I guess, but… I can't fight like this," Sokka grimaced. Katara nodded, patting his forehead reassuringly, as his shoulders were out of the question right now.
"I'll try to give us some cover, maybe. I don't know if we really were supposed to do something important in this swamp, but… we're better off getting out of it as soon as possible, right?" Katara said.
"Right," Sokka nodded: Katara responded with the same gesture and they marched into the clearing where the fight appeared to be taking place, in a river within the swamp.
Aang had climbed on Appa's saddle, from where he bent air funnels to push the enemies back: Sokka noticed two overturned canoes, as well as some strange, near-naked people flopping about in the water. Some, however, would return to their feet quickly and they'd bend the muddy water skillfully to sabotage Aang's bending efforts. The Avatar had to jump frequently to dodge the retaliation by the enemy, and it wasn't long before Sokka understood why: not only did Aang attempt to hold back his strength, as he ever would in most fights he partook in, but the enemies outnumbered them considerably. There were three more canoes behind the overturned ones, and as strange as the apparel of those waterbenders might be, they seemed well-versed in waterbending and fought back in perfect synchrony: the swamp was their territory, thus, they knew and understood it completely. Even the Avatar's bending superiority couldn't win out easily in such a situation, especially if he held back from fighting at his best out of fear of genuinely harming the enemy.
"Aang!" Sokka called for him: he reasoned, too late, that he shouldn't have done that, for the Avatar was immediately surprised to hear his voice.
"Sokka?!" he glanced back from his position on Appa's saddle: a water whip slapped him across the chest, sending him backwards.
"Oh, hell…!" Sokka snarled, as Kino dashed up the bison's tail to help Aang however he could.
Zuko launched potent fireballs at their enemies, taking the opportunity to do so once Aang wasn't airbending anymore: the waterbenders were distracted by his attack but hardly fazed by it, dousing it quickly. It seemed his firepower had improved after the opening of his chakras, but his renewed strength wouldn't suffice when outnumbered by what appeared to be waterbending masters, with a bending style quite different from Katara and Aang's own.
"We can't win this fight!" Sokka exclaimed: Zuko snarled but nodded.
"Can we get out of here, though?!" he asked. "Is Momo on the saddle?!"
"Uh…!" Kino grimaced, glancing across the saddle as Aang returned to his feet, shooting another burst of air at the waterbenders ahead. "I don't see him!"
"Shit…!" Zuko gritted his teeth. "Can you locate him, somehow?!"
"He's…! He's in a dark space! Like, I don't know, a bag?!"
"A bag?!" Aang repeated, turning towards the enemy with a scowl.
It took him but a moment to pick up his staff – which, to his profound relief, had remained safely tucked away with their many bags in the saddle. He shook it so the two flaps would spread open, and he leapt up into the air, astonishing his opponents, though they remained willing to fight him regardless of his airbending skills.
"They're not even fazed by fighting an airbender…" Sokka realized, rushing up Appa's tail quickly, on his way to the saddle. "Goddamn it, this trip is just disaster on top of disaster… shouldn't have brought that flying rat with us after all."
"Don't say that…!" Kino grimaced, glancing at Sokka with unease as he set down the woman slowly: Kino's eyes widened as he gazed at her, perplexed. "Is that…?"
"The woman some guy told you guys about? I don't know, maybe," Sokka said, finally placing the unconscious woman on the saddle: she was still breathing, but her pale, thin complexion certainly didn't suggest she was fine. He grimaced and shook his head before turning to Kino. "You're the one tracking down Momo? Where do you feel him, exactly?"
"I don't really know, but it's somewhere dark, for sure," Kino answered, glancing at the canoes again. "One of them must have captured him…"
"And they didn't have enough with him, they came after Appa too," Sokka frowned, glaring pointedly at the canoes ahead. He could only hope the lemur hadn't been in the overturned ones, if nothing else. "Can you try to pinpoint it more accurately, or…?"
"I guess…?" Kino grimaced, closing his eyes. "It's just too noisy and messy here right now, so I might not be able to do it, but…"
He breathed in, sitting cross-legged on the saddle, attempting to focus: Katara joined the fray by then, and Sokka brandished his boomerang as he glared at the waterbenders pointedly. If Momo had been captured and kept in a bag, somewhere, then…
"Uh… huh! It's the second one, to the left!"
Sokka's eyes moved in that direction quickly: he couldn't get a good angle from here, but he would if Appa could move with them.
"Appa! Yip-yip!"
"Wait, what?! Sokka…!"
Kino's cry was followed by a few surprised, then furious shouts by Katara and Zuko, who were still on the ground: Sokka clasped the bison's reins, leaping onto his neck, his boomerang firm in hand. All he had to do was find a better position, that was all…
"Sokka?!" Aang cried out, and he almost paid for his brief distraction with a water whip to the face. He angled his glider properly, though he glanced at Sokka with confusion anew instead of focusing on attacking their foes.
Sokka, however, was perfectly focused: he held the boomerang carefully, and soon he glimpsed a brown fabric hiding behind one of the waterbenders.
"Aang! Get that one!" Sokka shouted.
The Avatar frowned but obeyed, closing his glider and invoking a gust of wind by swinging his glider in an arch: the canoe in question spun in its axis until it rammed into the shore. Sokka tossed his boomerang powerfully then, and it's sharp edge cut across the fastening of the bag when it finally reached its target.
Before the boomerang could do its lap right back to Sokka's hand, Momo shot out of the bag, flying right into Aang's chest.
The Avatar caught his small new friend with one arm, summoning another gust of wind to hoist them both onto Appa's saddle: they weren't high enough to escape the attacks of the waterbenders, however… but they wouldn't need to be.
"Ready?! Go!"
Katara's voice resounded loudly as she brought forth as much strength as she could muster in a massive bending demonstration: the water flowing downriver suddenly curled up into a powerful wave that seemed poised to crash into the swamp's dwellers: the danger it represented gave bison a small respite, and said danger only increased when a sizable fireball shot right into the wall of water: not only was the water attack fearsome on its own, the fire heated the water so quickly and effectively that their opponents would be in genuine danger of sustaining scalding burns unless they focused all their efforts in defending themselves against the joint bending attack.
Busy as they were dealing with the combined fire and waterbending, they couldn't do anything to keep their quarry from escaping anymore. Sokka guided Appa back to Zuko and Katara, who were helped up on the saddle by Aang and Kino: as much as a quick glance suggested everything was in order at last, Sokka still needed to confirm it was the case.
"Everyone here?!" he asked, brandishing his boomerang once again.
"Yeah! Let's just go!" Zuko shouted back, clutching the saddle's railing tensely as Aang brought Katara close to his chest – Momo chirped at her, and the waterbender flashed him a fond smile before glancing across the saddle. Everything looked a little rattled, but it seemed their bags had stayed safe and sound, tucked under the proper fastenings that kept them in place while they traveled.
"Everything's alright, Sokka! Let's go!" she cried out.
Sokka nodded, yanking Appa's reins and directing the creature into the sky: Appa barraged through the treetops, colliding with branches that slapped against his riders until the last of the green fell behind, giving way to a wide blue sky, soon to be tinged orange once the sun began to set.
Even though they had put enough distance between themselves and the hostile waterbenders from the swamp, it took a good, long moment for the whole group to finally relax after their considerable ordeal of the day. Sokka's chest heaved as the bison flew, still hastily, as far from the swamp as he could possibly go. Sokka didn't think Appa was headed in the right direction at all so far… but he couldn't care less, not just yet. For now, he simply relished in their survival, and in the miracle he had witnessed in the swamp's mists…
"Hell… we should get up to less weird nonsense sometimes. We really should," Kino blurted out, breaking the silence with words spoken both carelessly and honestly. Sokka, by Appa's neck, snorted but nodded in agreement.
"I have no idea what the hell happened… even now," Katara admitted, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips as she pulled away from Aang. He seemed even more shaken than she was; he rubbed gentle circles over her back, likely hoping to calm down too by soothing her. "Those guys looked like Huu, but… he didn't attack us."
"He wanted to, remember?" Zuko pointed out. "When he thought we would attack the swamp, somehow…"
"We weren't attacking the swamp just now, though. They were the ones after Appa," Aang pointed out, with a frown.
"Maybe they're not the same people, even if they dressed alike," Kino shrugged. "Maybe we could have talked them down from fighting, if they really were like Huu, but…"
"U-uh… well, I guess you have a point. But I was, well… I was afraid of what they'd do to Appa," Aang said, grimacing as he reached a hand over the saddle and caressed the creature's fur gently. "I'm sorry, buddy. I hope they didn't hurt you."
Appa responded with a simple groan, as though conveying Aang had nothing to worry about. A smile spread over the Avatar's features, and he caressed his animal companion's fur gently once again.
"I'm glad you're okay, Appa," he said, glancing at Sokka. "Thanks for figuring out how to get Momo back, Sokka. I know you're not fond of him, but…"
"Heh, if someone's going to eat that thing, it'll be me," he said, glancing at the Avatar with a lop-sided grin.
"Hey, no one's going to eat Momo, I said," Aang decreed, and Sokka chuckled… a sound that, while not unpleasant, caught Katara by surprise.
"Sokka?" she called her brother, raising an eyebrow. "Are you feeling better? I mean… you were really weird this morning. You're acting like yourself again now, though…"
"Ah… huh. Well, I'm better now, yeah," Sokka said, nodding as he turned forward again. "It's a bit of a long story, and to be honest I doubt any of you guys will believe it…"
"Why wouldn't we believe it?" Kino said, blinking blankly. Zuko sighed.
"If you saw my sister in the swamp somehow… trust me, nobody's going to be weirded out by it," he said. "We all saw things, but they weren't real…"
"That's the thing, though," Sokka said, with an awkward smile, as he glanced back at the group. "I think it was real."
The words were followed by silence. As Sokka had anticipated, his sister and the other three stared at him as though his nose had transformed into a turnip right before their eyes. They wouldn't believe him at all, he supposed, especially if the swamp had given them visions that they knew couldn't be real… much as it had once showed Azula a very strange dream that could never come true. He swallowed hard, turning forward again before sighing in defeat.
"Anyway, uh… I'm alright, on the most part. Tired, hungry, could use a fair amount of time to really think about what happened at the swamp, but I'll be okay. Though… Katara, that woman. I found her after I… after my vision ended. She wasn't that far away from where I was. She was somewhat conscious when I found her, I think, but she's been totally out of it the rest of the time. You think you can help her?"
"I guess…" Katara said, biting her lip as she approached the woman. She nestled quietly on the saddle, breathing slowly, as evidenced by the rise and fall of her shoulders, lying with her back towards the rest of the group.
The waterbender slid closer to their newest passenger, turning her over slowly so she would lie face-up. Aang bit his lip, suspecting the woman's presence meant Appa carried far too much weight by now for a comfortable trip… though with how thin she seemed to be, perhaps she wasn't much of a burden for the bison.
"Then… you just found that lady lying there in the swamp?" Kino asked Sokka, as Katara started on her process to aid the woman, washing her face gently with water from her pouch. "Huh. I saw a lady too, but she wasn't real… you really are lucky, Sokka!"
"Lucky?" Sokka repeated, raising an eyebrow. Kino shrugged.
"Well, you said your vision was real… wasn't she your vision?" he asked. Sokka scoffed and shook his head.
"No: my vision was Azula, like Zuko said…"
The woman jolted.
Everyone fell silent immediately at her reaction. Sokka frowned, completely distracted from guiding Appa upon sensing the woman had moved of her own accord for the first time since he'd found her. Was Katara's waterbending that effective at healing and soothing her, even if she had only used it for cleaning her, so far?
Zuko had eyed the woman with uncertainty upon seeing her lying on the saddle, once he climbed it. Then, he had watched as Katara washed her face, even if the waterbender's body covered the woman's features from view. Now, though, Katara pulled back, uncertain about what had brought about this sudden reaction…
And only then did Zuko have a chance to detail her face.
"D-did I do something…?" Katara said, glancing at Aang in silent panic. The Avatar shook his head.
"I don't think so. Maybe she's having a bad dream, or she's coming to her senses…?" he said. Katara grimaced, glancing at the woman again…
Then she frowned, perplexed, upon hearing a rustling sound when Zuko clambered over to where she sat, by the woman's side.
"K-Katara…" he said, failing to ask her to give him space with proper words… yet Katara understood anyway, pulling back at once upon glimpsing that strange, new expression on Zuko's face.
"Zuko? What is it?" Kino called, blinking blankly at the exiled Prince's odd behavior now: Zuko wasn't the type to approach strangers quickly, always keeping everything new at bay unless he had good reason not to…
Unbeknownst to Kino, however, Zuko very much had reason not to, this time… for the unconscious woman, laid across Appa's saddle, twitching lightly again when Kino spoke, wasn't a stranger for him.
His heart had raced plenty of times that day… but now it seemed to threaten to burst from his chest as he trembled, a gasp leaving his open, trembling lips: tears blinked in both his eyes as he tried to shake off this mirage, because this wasn't possible. It had to be another mirage by the swamp, there was no way this made sense otherwise…
Yet he knew that face. It was older, marked with age, still somewhat stained with filth from the swamp… but he knew that face.
Her earlier reaction was no fluke, no random moment for her to respond to their conversation: she had only jolted at all upon hearing Azula's name… upon hearing Zuko's.
The realization saw him covering his mouth with a hand, then running the other through his hair… then his hands fell upon her shoulders, shoulders that had seemed so much larger so long ago. His hands hadn't been that big, either, the last time he had touched her… the last time he had touched her, goodness, he was touching her. She was real… she was no mirage from the swamp after all.
The waterbender had told them of a woman, and he had immediately, instinctively, found himself unable to shake off thoughts about her, let alone long for enough to locate the White Lotus's headquarters through his bond with Iroh. He had no idea why she had distracted him so much, so effectively… not until now. Now, instead, he found his instinctive interest in her might have been correct in far more ways than he had imagined possible…
The swamp had summoned them into its very entrails for various purposes, but it had led Sokka to her. It had chosen Sokka, somehow, to save her. How had she wound up there? Why? None of it seemed to make sense to Zuko, and yet the tears slipped past his eyes as he cupped the familiar face he hadn't seen in nineteen years…
Everyone watched Zuko in confusion, in astonishment, struggling to understand Zuko's unexpected burst of emotion… yet he cleared up their confusion upon speaking a word he had used joyfully, carelessly, throughout his childhood. A word he hadn't been able to speak with that same excitement ever again since she had vanished… just so, the only word that came to mind now, upon seeing her again:
"Mother?"