Sokka loved two things in this world the most. Meat, and his sister.
He didn't take kindly to people that hurt his sister, no matter who they were.
He felt overprotective over her.
Ever since their mum died and he saw the toll it took on Katara, he swore he'd do everything he could to protect her from another heartbreak.
Well, that promise was broken, and the person who Sokka least expected was responsible for it.
He hated Aang. The airbender somehow managed to sneak his way to Katara's heart and broke it.
He didn't even look sorry about it, either.
Sokka had to try his best to not get involved every time he saw Suki show that heartless rat sympathy.
Aang deserved no kindness, as far as Sokka was aware.
He sighed. It was middle of the night, he had woken up, feeling thirsty.
Getting up, he started walking toward the water fall.
Normally his sister would waterbend their drinking water to make sure it was clean. But right now, Sokka was too thirsty to care.
So he took out his empty pouch and filled it with water from the waterfall.
He sat there for a moment, drinking his water.
When he was walking back to the camp, satisfied, he heard groaning and mumbling.
Turning his head toward the sound, he frowned.
It was Aang.
He was twisting and turning in his sleep, most likely having a bad dream.
Sokka clicked his tongue in annoyance, before letting out a sigh. He didn't want to deal with that.
He was about to walk away, when he saw the pained look on the younger boy's face.
He looked so vulnerable.
Before he knew what he was doing, his legs were moving toward the Avatar.
"Hey." he started, shaking the airbender slightly. "Wake up, Aang!"
Aang shot up like a spring board, his head whirling toward Sokka. His visible fist was clenched tightly.
"Relax." Sokka backed away a little when he saw the murderous look on his face. "It's me, Sokka."
"Wha- Sokka?" Aang's eyes widened in realization. "Shit, I'm sorry."
Sokka nodded warily. He watched as the airbender buried his hands in his hair and curled up slightly.
"What was that all about?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"Nightmare." he replied, simply, not having the energy to lie anymore.
He was so tired, and he felt defeated.
He just wanted some sleep. Was that really too much to ask for?
"I figured..." Sokka rubbed the back of his head, feeling awkward. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Aang blinked tiredly, eyelids feeling heavy. "No. Not really."
"Okay..." He stood up. He needed to leave. "Well, try to get some sleep or something."
He turned around and took a step forward, when Aang's voice stopped him.
"Wait."
The airbender's voice came out so weak and broken, Sokka didn't have the heart to ignore him.
"Can we talk?"
"Please?" Aang pleaded, when The Warrior didn't move a muscle.
Sokka cursed aloud and smacked himself in the face, hard, before turning back around. "What is it?"
"Why do you hate me?"
The older teen rolled his eyes, already regretting staying. "You already know why."
"No." Aang stood up on shaky legs, nearly toppling over. "I don't know why."
"You hurt my sister!" Sokka raged, trying to keep his voice from raising too much so he didn't wake the others. "You knew you'd hurt her by leaving, but you didn't care and left anyway!"
Aang frowned. "I was hurt too, don't you care about my feelings at all?"
"You were hurt because of your own actions, you didn't have to bring Katara into it."
"I didn't mean to-"
"Well you did! If you had taken her feelings into consideration maybe we wouldn't be in this situation."
Aang grit his teeth, feeling anger rush through him. "I suffered too, Sokka! I couldn't stay... no matter what."
He looked away. "It had nothing to do with Katara."
Sokka looked at the airbender like he was seeing him for the first time. "You really have changed."
Aang's eyes snapped to him, surprised, but Sokka didn't stop. "The old Aang would've cared more about Katara, and her feelings."
"Why is it always about Katara?" Aang spat out. "I get that she's your sister and I care about her too, but what about me? Do you not care at all what I'm going through?"
Sokka saw a tear slide down the younger boy's cheek, and felt a pull at his heartstrings.
"Am I not allowed to grieve alone, after everything I've been through?" he continued, jaw clenching.
Sokka did care about him, of course he did. The year they traveled together made the two really close and he grew fond of the kid.
Aang was like a brother to him, that's why he was so angry.
Because, truth to be told, Sokka wasn't only angry at Aang for hurting Katara, he also felt angry and hurt because Aang never once thought of confiding in him. Instead he dismissed him completely.
"Why didn't you talk to us about it?" He shot back, though his voice had gotten noticeably softer.
"I couldn't. I was too distraught." Aang replied, eyes downcast as he recalled his feelings from that day. "I just... I needed to get away from everyone, I felt like I was suffocating."
"I wasn't thinking straight, I know now that I shouldn't have broken the news over a letter. If I could go back in time, I'd have done it better... believe me." he continued.
"I guess I hadn't thought it from your point of view." Sokka admitted, feeling guilty. "I just... I saw what it did to Katara, she broke down completely. You broke her."
Aang's heart churned. He hadn't known it was that bad.
"I'm sorry." he looked at Sokka, eyes blurry with tears. "I'm so sorry... I promise you I never meant to hurt any of you."
"I get it. I've been really selfish too." Sokka sighed, sitting down. "I never really realized just how much pain you've been in this whole time."
"I kept thinking about myself, I'm sorry about that." he finished, shoulders slouching slightly.
"Don't be." Aang shook his head. "I messed up too, I could've tried harder to tell you guys in person that I was leaving, but I was too weak."
"No. It's understandable." Sokka bit his lip. "As much as I can sit here and blame you for everything, I've never experienced the kind of pain you've been through."
"None of us have." He finished, smiling sadly.
"Wow, Sokka." Aang started, a small smirk on his lips. "That's really mature of you, you know." he said, making Sokka bark out a laugh.
"Yeah? I guess we're all growing up."
Aang chuckled lightly. "Yeah..."
Sokka's smile dimmed, his face turning serious again. "You have to make it up to Katara."
The airbender nodded, resolutely. "I will."
"No funny business before that, got it?"
The younger teen groaned, covering his reddening face. "Can you stop saying that? There's nothing that's going on between us, and there never will be."
Sokka tilted his head, confused. Never will be?
"You don't want to date my sister?"
"I'm more focused on fixing our friendship." Aang replied, honestly. "I just don't want her to hate me."
"Besides, I've kinda given up on dating her, anyway." he continued, staring blankly at the dark sky.
Sokka almost laughed in disbelief, but held it in. "What are you talking about?"
"Didn't she ever tell you that I confessed my feelings to her?"
"You confessed to her?" The older boy gaped at the Avatar. "When?"
Aang nodded, smiling sadly. "The day we were on Ember Island."
"And what'd she say?" Sokka asked, though he had an idea already.
"She rejected me." Aang said, and cringed, when he remembered what he did after.
He was so stupid.
Sokka's eyes widened in utter shock. Why would Katara reject him? She was practically obsessed with the airbender, so much so, it made Sokka a little disgusted.
"What happened after?"
"I kissed her." Aang told him, wincing.
"You what?!" Sokka screamed, making Aang's eyes widen in panic.
"Shh!" He smacked his hand over the older boy's mouth, before looking nervously at their sleeping friends. "Can you be any louder?" he glared.
"You kissed her after she told you she wasn't interested?"
Sokka's shock turned into amusement and he lowered his head, trying to hide his laughter from the Avatar.
Aang looked at Sokka weirdly when his chest started shaking.
"Sokka, are you ok-"
The older boy burst out in laughter. As much as he tried holding it in, he just couldn't.
Aang's mouth dropped open in disblief, as Sokka rolled on the floor, holding his belly and covering his mouth.
"Hey!" Aang raised his voice slightly, cheeks burning. "What's so funny?!"
"How are you so bad with girls?" Sokka heaved out, still covering his mouth to silence his giggles.
"Ugh!" Aang gripped his hair tightly, feeling so stupid. "I'm not even bad, it's just with Katara, I always get so stupid when I talk to her."
Sokka thought for a moment and realized that the airbender was right. Whenever he'd seen Aang flirt with girls that weren't Katara, he was really smooth.
His mind immediately went back to the dance party they hosted back in the day. All the girls were practically going crazy over him then.
Even my sister. He thought in amusement.
"So, are you not going to ever try to get with her again?" He asked, sobering up.
"No." Aang pursed his lips. "That ship sailed a long time ago, she doesn't like me."
Sokka frowned. As disgusted as he felt with Katara and Aang being together, he was even more uncomfortable at the thought of the two never getting together.
But he didn't want to push it, he could clearly see Aang was still hurt from the last time he confessed his feelings.
If they ever got together, it would have to be Katara that confessed, and pushed for it.
Because, Aang clearly was not going to.
"Well," Sokka started, catching Aang's attention. "I want you to know that if there was anyone I'd want my sister to date, it would be you."
"What?" Aang's eyes widened. "Even after everything I've done to her?"
"Now that I've heard your side of the story, I understand why you did what you did." Sokka said, before narrowing his eyes. "But you better never do it again."
"I won't." The Avatar grinned, holding his fist to his chest. "Avatar's promise."
Sokka snorted. "Last time you gave an 'Avatar's promise' you ended up breaking it." he deadpanned, making Aang sheepish.
"I want a promise from Aang, not the Avatar."
Aang smiled softly. "I promise you Sokka, I will do my absolute best to never hurt your sister again."
"I'll take that." Sokka grinned. He looked around, seeing how dark it was. "Well, as much as I've enjoyed our little chat. I should get back to sleep, unless you want me to be cranky all day tomorrow?"
Aang immediately shook his head. "Please go to sleep."
He didn't think he was going to get any sleep himself, but it was for the best if Sokka did.
Sokka laughed. "Alright you bastard, no need to sound so terrified about it."
Aang laughed back, holding his stomach. "Sorry, bad memories."
When the group woke up, they sat down for breakfast, while Katara made them soup.
As she went around handing everyone their plate, she noticed something weird.
Sokka was sitting close to the airbender, and was smiling.
She wasn't the only one that had noticed. Suki's mouth was opened in shock, looking at the two boys casually talking to each other.
When Katara got to Aang and handed him his plate, she avoided looking at him and kept a cold expression on her face, making Aang sigh.
She didn't look happy with him, even more so than usual.
"Are you two friends now?" Toph was the one that voiced the question that they were all thinking of, when she felt Sokka's calm heartbeat around the airbender for the first time in the last few days.
"I guess." Sokka shrugged, looking at Aang. "We're good."
"Yeah..." Aang said, voice rough, and cleared his dry throat.
He had gotten zero sleep and felt drained. He bathed in cold water earlier and washed his face, trying to stay awake and keep the others from noticing his exhaustion.
"We should get moving already, the sooner we get home, the better." Katara spoke up, suddenly, after a few minutes of silence.
Aang nodded, face stoic.
Suki raised an eyebrow at the waterbender. She grabbed her arm, ignoring the questioning look she got, and pulled her away from the group.
"Are you mad at Sokka, for forgiving Aang?" she whispered, when they were a good distance away.
"What?" Katara's eyes widened. "No! I don't care."
"Why do you want to get out of here so soon then?" Suki asked.
"I just don't want to be near Aang for any longer than I have to." She answered, honestly, averting her eyes.
Last time Katara got close to him, she almost kissed him.
She wanted to keep a distance, keep her walls up.
Suki didn't look happy about it but let it go. There was no point in trying to force her to talk with Aang.
They ate, packed their stuff, got on Appa and started heading toward the Southern Water tribe, the palpable tension between Katara and Aang hanging in the air.