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The Way Things Are. Chapter 3

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"Katara, is it really you? What are you doing here?" Sokka said whilst giving her a bear hug.


"Yes Sokka it's me and as much as this hug is really sweet, can I come in?" Katara said patting him on the back hoping that he got the hint.


"Yeah yeah sure Katara." Sokka said pulling her in. It had been a year since he had seen her last and though she looked pretty much the same, something about her was different. "So, where are Aang, Appa and Momo?" Katara stopped midstep, the smile fading from her face and slowly, Sokka began to put the pieces together.  "Oh, well we can talk about that later if you want, it's great that you're here Katara. How was your trip? Did you bring me anything?" Sokka said grinning.


"Typical Sokka," Katara thought. "Yeah Sokka, I brought you something but you have to come closer to get it."


"Ooo what is it?"


"Here you go..." Katara said pinching his arm. "That's for being greedy." She said laughing.


"Ouch Katara!  That's going to leave a bruise."


"Oh I'll heal it later you big..."


"Sokka, who is it?" Suki said yawning then staring in shock when the answer stood in her living room. "Katara? Katara, what are you doing here?" Suki said hugging her. "I didn't know that you and Aang where due back in Kyoshi. It's great to see you! Speaking of which where is he?" Suki said smiling while looking around the room. Katara and Sokka on the other hand looked at each other.


"He's not here Suki."  Katara said looking down, for some reason, keeping eye contact while talking about here break up from Aang was extremely difficult. Maybe that was due to her being unable to shake off the feeling that she had somehow done something wrong.


"Oh. Well, do you want something to eat, you look hungry and the kids are asleep so I promise you nothing will get burnt." Suki chuckled.


"Yeah that would be great."


"Ok. I'll be back in a bit." Suki said leaving the room and the two siblings alone. Katara looked around Sokka's living and began to sit in one of his armchairs. As the comfort of the chair began to replace the discomfort of travel, she thought to herself,

"If there was one word that I would use to describe Sokka's house it would be 'homely'." Because that's what it was. Sokka and Suki's presence all too evident in every inch of their home from the scattered toys across the floor to the furs that hung on the wall, it was all them, all theirs, their home.


"So..." Katara said cheerfully, "How are my favourite nieces?" Sokka schlumped into the armchair opposite her, the "joys" of parenthood all too apparent on his tired form.


"They're little monsters, but I love them." Sokka said smiling happily. He had three daughters, Naoko 5, Kyla 4 and Mika 2. "Naoko and Kyla are at that stage where they are either the best of friends or just cannot stop arguing and Mika, well she's still as shy and quiet as ever. They'll be up in about an hour so you can say hello to them all then, but as of right now...." Sokka said stretching in armchair and smiling, "I'm enjoying the peace."


"Parenthood suits you." Katara observed, and it was true, she had never seen Sokka happier than when he was talking about his kids.


"So who's hungry?" Suki said walking in with a tray of snacks. She placed it on the small centre table and then sat on the arm of Sokka's armchair while ruffling his hair playfully.


"Thanks Suki. So Katara, how are things with you? You want to talk about what happened? It's ok if you don't, I'm just... you know, doing my big brother duty by asking." Sokka said trying to keep the conversation as light as possible


"It's Ok Sokka. Well, you know how it was, Aang would get invited to stay at some nobleman or woman's home as an honoured guest while working on either a peace treaty, helping the local people, attending a festival of some sort, or even just so that the noble could show off that he's having the Avatar over for dinner and naturally, I would stay with him. And while he would go off to schmooze whoever needed to be schmoozed, I would usually help out at the local, hospital clinic or school.  For the first few years I was truly happy with the way things were. I told myself that we were making a difference and with the war finally over, and the fighting finished, it was nice to see people from all over the world coming together and enjoying this new found freedom of not fearing what the next day would bring. Anyway, as you know three years after the fall of Ozai, the Fire Nation Civil War broke out..."


"Yeah I remember, Zuko was so stubborn he didn't want our help and said that he would 'deal with it'."Sokka added.


"Yes, well as you also know, a year into that war, Iroh then contacted Aang for help and so with Zuko, who had got over his pride by that time, we travelled to come to an agreement between the Zuko and the Ozai supporters. Those that didn't want to stop fighting were sent to the boiling rock.  During that year, we moved around the Fire Nation constantly. Not staying in a place for longer than a month at the most, having to pick up on every lead and move at a words notice when an outbreak of fighting had occurred. Eventually the fighting stopped and terms were agreed between Zuko and the rebels, but that year had left me...for lack of a better word, tired. All the travelling mixed with the stress of a new war, plus the little things like missing Naoko's birth or..."


"Katara I said not to worry about that." Suki said sympathetically.


"Yeah, it's not like she'll remember anyway."Sokka added.


"I know, but I still felt, and feel bad for missing it and loads of other things too, like that time GranGran got sick or when Dad broke his leg."


"HAHAHA!"


"It's not funny Sokka." Katara said, her voice filled with empathy for her father.


"Yes it is, Dad went through a whole war and came out relatively ok, but then he goes home and before you could say 'whale jerky' he slips and breaks his leg after having too much Arctic whiskey. What a guy!" Sokka said laughing.


"Anyway, as you've probably worked out, I was feeling homesick and was slowly growing fed up with the way things were, but the civil war had also taken its toll on Aang and after everything we'd been through..." Katara sighed and smiled to herself as if replying a pleasant memory. "I still loved him and the fact that we had managed to stay together after all that made me think that this life, though far from perfect was the way things were meant to be and I was living it with the person I was meant to be with. The next few years were easier, but after a while the same feelings of tiredness and unhappiness began to creep in and also, I realised that my love for Aang had..." she paused.


"Diminished?" Sokka said raising an eyebrow.


"Changed. I loved him, but I was no longer in love with him, however, whenever I built up the courage to leave, something always seemed to happen that would make me convince myself that Aang needed me and that I was being selfish especially with him proposing to me. I remember, the last time I was really close to leaving was around the time Momo died. Aang got..."


"Momo's dead?!"


"Yes Sokka, he died about a year ago, that's why you didn't see us when we came for Kyoshi Day the last we saw you.  Yes, well when that happened he became really down, he saw Momo as not only a pet but one of the last remnants of his culture and to lose him was hard. Anyway, as time went on he got over it, but I still hated the fact that I was living the life I was meant to have rather than the life I wanted so eventually, I decide to end it once and for all. I told Aang pretty much the same thing I'm telling you and he took it a lot better than I expected. I then left to try and buy passage back home but there weren't any ships going there and one going here so I decide to follow fate and come here."


"I can't believe it." Sokka said in shock.


"I know." Suki agreed. "Well you can stay with us until..."


"You were going to go home before coming to see us? We were your second choice? Katara I'm hurt!" Sokka said. Katara laughed at her genius of a brother. How did he always know the perfect thing to say to both lighten the mood and make her feel better at the same time?


"I'm sorry Sokka, next time I won't make the same mistake mmkay."


"As I was saying, you're welcome to stay with us as long as you like Katara." Suki repeated.


"Yeah Katara, I mean, I'm sorry that things didn't work out, but I'm glad that you're on the road to being happier, and where better to start than my place!" Sokka said happily.


"Thanks Sokka. I...."


"Daddy, I'm hungry." A sleepy Naoko said emerging from her bedroom rubbing her eyes. "Who's that?" she said while walking up to her parents.


"Naoko." Sokka replied, "This is your Aunt Katara, you might not remember her but you saw her last..."


"You're the lady that moved the water! At the festival!" Naoko said gleaming. "I remember you!"


"Yes, that was me," Katara said smiling at her niece. "The lady that moved the water."
So chapter 3 is up!! Don't forget to tell me what you think!

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makorra-and-zutara's avatar
lol. she's sooooooooooo cute :D