A. N. : Really short one today... I was reaching the end of my notebook, sorry. Also, from next update onward, we're getting back to the Tuesday updates we had before, since classes are done for the semester and I still can't get used to thinking Wednesday is like. Chapter day. Seriously, every single time, I am this close to forgetting I should post. Wild what habits built over years do to a person. So yeah, see you guys in two weeks on Tuesday !
The sun is darkening.
It takes one of the men from the Swamp pointing at the sky through the mist for Hakoda to notice. His gut twists in an odd way, and he can see on the faces of his men and of the people Sokka asked him to collect that they feel that same unease.
This was their chance, and they gave it up.
Getting a message from a Fire Nation hawk bearing Sokka's bone necklace on its body was… a surprise, to say the least. The contents of said message were too, even more so.
An execution notice, of the girl who makes Sokka's eyes shine when he mentions her, and of the Prince's uncle. A decision to save them – and Hakoda is sure that, had the size of the paper not limited the length of the message, Sokka's apologies would have gone on for much longer than they already did.
A choice, then, finally. Fight a losing battle in the hopes of weakening the heart of the Fire Nation, or…
Perhaps, if it had only been Hakoda and his men, if the Avatar had truly died in Ba Sing Se, if Hakoda had been slightly more tired of the endless guerrilla fighting, his decision would have been different. Some of the men were certainly determined to have their heroic last stand.
But there are children here, The Duke and Theo, and even Haru and maybe Pipsqueak, even if those two don't like thinking of themselves that way. The Avatar lives, along with hope for the future. And Hakoda wants to see his children again, wants them to know he's proud of them and they are not, will never be responsible for his fate, whatever it ends up being.
They sent the hawk along, as per Sokka's instructions, with a request for a safe harbor, colored flames on the cliff if agreed, and the mysterious Pai Sho tile Sokka attached. And now…
Now they head east, even under the dead sun.