Sokka

Despite the distance it wasn't long before the news of Omashu's fall came to the North Pole, worst of all the city hadn't been conquered it was burnt to the ground, the Fire Lord had left only ashes in his wake and the only good thing about it all was that the king had managed to wound the Fire Lords in an ambush or some sort of attack. Now the army and several refugees were moving to establish another stronghold elsewhere but the commanders Sokka had talked to weren't sure if the King of Ba Sing Se would help or even take in any of Omashu's people as there was some bad blood between the royals.

It was so stupid! The world was about to be waving the flag of the Fire Nation and there were still people arguing about things that happened even before Sokka was born. Honestly, it almost felt fair that the world was conquered when the people resisting demonstrated themselves to be this stupid. Not to mention that Aang had been suffering the burnt of things now that one of the last bastions of the Earth Kingdoms had fallen.

Sure he smiled and all but there was no denying that Aang wasn't sleeping as much as he should be, more than once Sokka had caught him training late in the night on one of his snack runs. At least he had some company, then again Sokka could swear that Ru sometimes just looked at Aang like a pet or piece of equipment. Maybe Sokka was just jealous that his friend had been getting more attention lately but those were the perils of being the Avatar.

"Young Sokka" the old general that had proven to be a master of tea—and more importantly for Sokka a great provider of meat—almost caused his skeleton to jump out of his body when he put a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Could I have a moment?"

"Yeah, sure" the words rushed out of his mouth in the vain hope that Iroh hadn't realized how much he had scared him.

"I'm worried about Aang" Iroh started and for a second Sokka realized that in all the time they had been here only Iroh and Sokka himself talked about Aang as if he was a person and called him by name, everyone else just called him the Avatar. "Pakku is being too harsh on him and his constant lectures are not helping and despite how pleasant the company is, I don't think Ru is helping much"

"I noticed the same but I don't think Aang is going to like to hear that he's got to relax, even if he really should. Can't you just make some king of relaxing tea and get him to rest?"

Iroh shot him an almost offended look "All tea is relaxing but it will do little good if Aang refuses to help himself. I know you haven't known him for long but I believe he would listen to you than to myself or anyone else for that matter"

Perhaps he was right, Sokka had experience with restless kids even if Aang wasn't exactly a kid, and most importantly Sokka wasn't a person from the Fire Nation. In the end, Sokka nodded and a grateful Iroh let out a sigh of relief before gently patting Sokka's shoulder, it felt almost fatherly…

Shaking his head Sokka headed to the only place Aang had been going for the last few days.

The waterbender's sparring ground, perhaps it wasn't the best idea since the rest of the waterbenders didn't like it when non-benders were hanging around, unless you were a girl or if there was an event so the public could see the future masters of the Northern Water Tribe. Still, it was this or to wait for Aang and ambush him in the middle of the night, not something that inspires a lot of confidence much less when it comes to delivering truths a friend might not appreciate.

'okay Sokka, you only have to go and say. Hey! Aang buddy! You need to chill!' pun aside, the directness might work. Or perhaps something like 'Aang if you keep overworking yourself there will be no Avatar to save the world'

Sokka was so busy thinking about what he was going to say that he didn't notice when he entered the sparring grounds. What finally got his attention was a flying piece of snow that impacted directly on his face.

"Sorry Sokka!" Aang called out before he dodged a tentacle made of water, he was dancing in between the strikes of master Pakku, using a mix of water and air to get some extra movement sometimes using air to slightly deflect the water before taking control of it. Clearly, all those nights of training were paying off but Pakku wasn't a master for nothing.

It only took a single distraction Aang overcommitted to an attack, he got too close to master Pakku as he threw blasts of air to get him out of the ring, and in a swift move that honestly was unfair for a man his age master Pakku encased Aang's legs with ice and then pushed him against the ground.

"You are improving young Avatar but you must remember, you control all four elements, you can't just default back to air whenever you start gaining ground. You need to choose the best one at the moment to continue the attack" Pakku then received polite applause from his students before leaving, his students didn't waste any time before following him, some giving Sokka a glare as they left.

Aang lay there on the ground for a moment before burying his head on the snow and screaming or sneezing as a monumental amount of snow suddenly went to the air.

"Aang…" Sokka aporached carefully and touched his friend's shoulder.

"What?!" Aang really wasn't handling the loss well or at all.

"Can we talk?"

"I'm busy, I have to train Sokka" Aang wasn't looking good at all and despite how dangerous it was Sokka grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. "Sokka!"

"Aang, buddy just listen!" The last airbender looked into Sokka's eyes and sighed before nodding "I'm worried about you, you're training a lot and that's great. Having such enthusiasm is awesome but you need to rest when was the last time you even slept"

Aang pushed Sokka's hand off his shoulder before answering "I don't have time to take a break Sokka, the world isn't just going to stop because I'm tired, you saw what happened today. If I can't even beat master Pakku how am I supposed to beat the Fire Lord or his army?!"

Sokka didn't even have to try to hear the pain in Aang's voice, he was a kid that had the whole world counting on him and there was even less time than he thought but that didn't mean that he kill himself training just because the world said so.

"Look Aang, I understand how you feel-"

"Do you?! Everyone wants me to save the world! They want me to prepare! I have to be stronger Sokka! Strong enough to push back every army and bring back peace to the world!"

"I do understand" Sokka spoke solemnly and looked into Aang's eyes as he did so "When all the men left to fight in the war, it was up to me to protect everyone, every woman and child left in my tribe. I had to be strong enough to protect them. I trained so hard and thought myself ready but I wasn't and it had nothing to do with my training. Aang you can't keep doing this to yourself, one day you will be too tired to fight and then the world will be truly without hope"

Aang let out a big sigh and plopped himself on the snow "Sokka, I don't think I can do this, monks like me were never meant to fight. I don't have a killer instinct! I don't even eat meat!" Aang raised his arms in alarm and then he started laughing when Sokka didn't say anything.

"What?" Sokka asked as he let himself fall down beside Aang.

"I told Ru the same before but she wasn't very happy with my words but you just looked concerned for me" Aang hugged his knees and stared at his feet.

"That's because I know you. Not the kid who wants to master every element or the Avatar who will save the world. I know the kid that was playing with my sister and riding penguins to pass the time, the kid that cared more about putting a smile in the children of my tribe than to awe them with the title of Avatar. Aang I haven't known you for a long time but I know you and this isn't good for you and I think a part of you knows this too"

"Sliding in the snow is always fun, what do you think I should do?"

"I think you better come with me have some tea with Iroh and let yourself rest, only for today"

Aang nodded and they were off to drink tea, despite being hesitant at the beginning of the whole relaxation thing Aang quickly went to sleep after his first cup and while he slept Sokka spoke of his suspicion about the girl that had been following Aang.


AN: this is a pretty broing chapter but a necesary one as i start to move more pieces along. as alwyas i hope you're doing great and i apologize for being late but the new season of Baki dropped yesterday and i just ahd to watch it.