generations ago

»»———sokka x reader

summary: as sokka & you grew older, your adventures piled & piled. now, when your grandchildren ask questions, you are able to relive your younger days…

warnings: mentions of fighting & injuries; mentions of legend of korra (so if you haven’t watched, don’t read!)

word count: 900

a/n: hiii! okay, the italics are the flashback!!! so this is an anon request (& a super cute one, too!) of course in this fic, sokka did not die in his fourties/fifties. there are a few mentions of the flashbacks in legend of korra!

»»———masterlist

the screams & laugher of your grandchildren now filled your normally quiet home. as you fixed a plate of cookies & tea, you heard the pattering of little feet approaching.

“grandma!”

you turned your attention to the little monster below you. he was grabbing at your robes with puppy-dog eyes.

“what is it, dear?” you placed a hand on tio’s head.

“tell overlord sokka to play with me~”

you rolled your eyes, picked up the little boy, & made your way into the living room. your husband sat on the floor, entertaining your granddaughter with a handmade puppet.

“sokka,” you placed a hand on your hip; the other still holding up tio. “how many times have i told you to not make the kids call you ‘overlord’?”

“i have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“no, you did say th-“

just as your granddaughter was about to speak, sokka slapped a hand over her mouth. he gave a large apologetic smile. you could see his younger self underneath the wrinkles & freckles. his new sunburn from working in the garden gave him a slight pink glow.

the hand slapped over neena’s mouth was also speckled with sunspots. but it was just as strong as it was when you were younger. you always told him to slow down, but he never wanted to be a “fragile old man”.

sokka was still as handsome as he was when you met. & now the streak of white in his long wolftail added to that.

“mhm,” you hummed & placed tio on the floor.

“grandma! grandma!” neena pushed away from sokka & ran for you. “grandpa won’t tell us the story behind that picture!”

you followed her little finger to see which photo she was talking about. on the wall, a small portrait of aang & sokka hung. they looked to be about twenty, & as you stared, that day came back to you.

“oh, you wanna know about grandpa & avatar aang?” you smiled. before starting the story, though, you looked at your husband. you knew talking about aang hurt him, but he nodded, silently telling you to continue.

“well, i hadn’t met grandpa yet, but aang & your grandpa were friends since he was fourteen,” you said as you took a seat next to your grandkids. “& that day was aang’s birthday. the five of us — me, grandpa, aang, aunt katara, and toph — went out to celebrate. as a joke, your grandfather dressed up as an old man & handed aang his present. it was a little trinket from the southern water tribe; a reminder of how aang & katara met.”

“a little penguin,” sokka chimed in. he smiled but kept his eyes on the floor.

“so then he & aang just talked about their childhood for the rest of the night, ignoring the rest of us.” you chuckled & remembered how irritated toph had been.

“grandpa?” tio crawled across the rug to sokka & laid in his lap. “how’d you meet grandma?”

“oh, i dunno… grandma tells it better.”

“c’mon sokka, i already told a story. it’s your turn,” you teased.

“oh, fine.” he crossed his arms. “ahem. so, of course this was after we save the world.” he paused, as if he was waiting for an applause. “anyway, everything was getting back to normal. aang & katara got married & were now rubbing it in everyone’s faces. & toph — who was supposed to be my friend! — met some guy.

“so, i was wandering around in the fire nation, alone. i was trying to see zuko, but of course he was busy.” the irritation was still fresh in his voice, even though 40 years had passed. it made you smile.

“& i was just walking around the city & then your grandma runs right into me.”

“oh my goodness. i’m so sorry!” you exclaimed. “are you okay?”

“hey! watch where you’re goi-“ sokka stopped when he looked at you.

“what was i supposed to do?” your husband interrupted himself. “she was so pretty!”

“oh no… you’re sokka, from the southern water tribe. oh, i’m so so sorry! are you okay?” you held him by the shoulders & examined him.

“umm, y-yeah. i’m okay. are you okay?”

“yeah, i was just in a rush. i’m still so sorry!”

“it’s okay, really.”

“i couldn’t concentrate! i didn’t know what else to say!”

“you’re very pretty.”

“o-oh, thank you,” you smiled.

you thought for a moment before continuing.

“hey, i was about to go to a restaurant with my friends. do you wanna join me?”

“& that was that.” sokka sat up straight, proud of his storytelling skills.

“yep. the rest is history,” you smiled & got up.

you walked over to your husband & placed a kiss on his head. you two always joked about being that old couple who said things like “the rest is history” & who made their grandchildren gag.

this is exactly what you were hoping for when you asked sokka to join you for lunch all those years ago.

sokka headcanons

»»———sokka x reader

»»———part two

warnings: none

a/n: requests are open!

»»———masterlist

༅ we all know sokka is a shopaholic

༅ so naturally, all your presents from him are extravagant & gigantic

༅ like giant stuffed bears

༅ + he’ll take you out to cute little restaurants

༅ he wants to be regulars somewhere so they know his name (even though he’s famous for helping save the world)

༅ he is big on pda

༅ anything goes with him

༅ handholding? okay let’s go

༅ a peck on the cheek? he’s down

༅ running to hug you & picking you up & spinning you? that’s his favorite

༅ sokka will do anything to make you smile

༅ and you rarely get into fights because he’s learning more & more to just communicate instead of pout

༅ he would do anything for you

༅ he loves you more than life itself

i don’t know you anymore

»»———sokka x firebender!reader

summary: after being a part of the gaang for a few weeks, you’ve kept your secret hidden the best you could. but during one especially difficult fight, you couldn’t help but let it out. how does sokka — the boy who’s absolutely smitten over you — react?

warnings: angst

word count: 1k

a/n: requests are open!

»»———masterlist

you had been walking through a small earth village with sokka & aang when you heard katara scream. you three were headed back to appa, with handfuls of food & supplies. katara had stayed back because she had been talking to an old woman about the horrible state of the village.

as soon as he heard the scream, aang dropped the things in his hands. a small box cracked open as it hit the dirt. you had never seen him run so fast.

sokka & you shared a look before you followed aang’s trail. as you ran you reminded yourself not to slip up.

“watch out!” sokka pulled you by the arm. while thinking, you almost ran straight into a tree stump. “you gotta be careful, y/n.”

you watched as he reached behind him, grabbing his trusty boomerang. the determination in his eyes inspired you. whenever you watched sokka fight, you felt a sense of pride. it made you want to get up & do something. that’s one thing you really appreciated about sokka, along with a million others.

“look!” sokka pointed to two firebenders who had surrounded aang & katara. katara’s attacks against the soldiers were pointless, & aang’s bursts of air only pushed them back a couple inches.

“hey!” you yelled, trying to grab their attention.

when they turned around, you realized how big they really were. they stood about a foot taller than you & sokka, & their muscles practically burst out of their armor.

the soldier on the left released a steam of fire directed at sokka’s feet. luckily, sokka noticed the man’s hand raise. he jumped just in time & proceeded to throw his boomerang. it spun past the man’s head, making him chuckle.

sokka stood taller & crossed his arms. a whipping sound grew louder & the soldier was knocked forward. his head fell low. his feet tripped over themselves & the man fell flat on his face.

“sokka never misses!” he yelled, pointing toward the fallen soldier.

you cut off sokka’s victory dance, “umm, we still have one more guy.” you pointed to the soldier on the right who had — midway through sokka’s boomerang throw — turned back to aang & katara.

“o-oh right. of course. i knew that.”

you got katara’s attention with a small whistle. you nodded to the man laying on the ground, motioning for her to switch.

katara twisted the water she currently held around the soldier, binding him from attacking. aang, however, blew him off his feet with a small gust of wind. with one subdued, you & sokka only had to take care one more.

“well, are you gonna attack or what?” sokka poked at the man, which made you shake your head. he’s way to confident in battles…

with that, the soldier lifted his hands & let a stream of fire out. you & sokka had to jump out of the way. while you two were still on the ground, the man lifted his leg, ready to kick flames toward sokka. sokka was to stunned to react, so you had to do something quick.

you can’t let it out, you told yourself. but as many times as you said that, it didn’t stick. sokka could not get hurt.

you leaped in front of sokka as the soldier pushed the fire out. you felt the heat approaching you, & your hands became sweaty. it’s been a while. instinctively, your arms lifted to shoulder-level. you extended your hands, as if you were reaching for the fire.

you heard sokka yell something, but you didn’t register it. you were focused on the ball of fire in front of you. as it neared, you adjusted your feet. your left slid a little to the right, & your right pointed forward.

a strand of hair came out of its place. you ignored it, keeping it out of your focus. you felt the flames envelop your hands. it evapored any sweat that beaded on your palms.

taking a deep breath in, you twisted your hands. you created a small sphere with you hands, controlling the fire. you spun it two times & redirected it to the ground on your right.

then, you blasted fire from your fist. because you had the element of surprise, the soldier had no time to react. you struck his helmet, pushing him backward. you watched his figure, seeing if he’d get back up. but remained in the dirt.

you smiled at your little victory. it had been a while since you last firebended, & it felt good. but this was short lived.

you turned around, hoping to celebrate this with your team. but when you saw their faces, there was only expressions of fear & surprise.

katara stepped behind aang, who furrowed his brow. sokka, who had now scrambled to his feet, looked beyond shocked. his jaw hung open.

“y-you’re a firebender…” katara’s voice was quiet behind aang’s shoulder.

“well-“

“why didn’t you tell us?” her voice got louder with each sentence.

“erm, well-“

“where you planning something?” aang spoke up. “are you really on our side?”

while katara’s voice became hostile, aang’s was full of sadness. your friends now thought you were a traitor.

“let me explain…”

katara scoffed & walked off. aang took a moment & then followed her.

“sokka… let me explain, please?”

“why did you lie to me?” he said this without looking at you. & then he slowly walked in the direction of his sister.

tears pooled in your eyes. this is what you were trying to avoid. you knew how the fire nation had treated all three of your friends, so you didn’t want to break the trust that had blossomed. they welcomed you wholeheartedly when you first met. they let you travel with them, letting you leave that awful fire nation base.

how were you going to change this?

about an hour later, you went to go find your friends. if you could even call them that now. you felt as though you should give them some time to process before chasing after them.

when you arrived where appa had landed, he was still laying there. momo was nestled on top of his head, but he rose when you approached.

this grabbed the gaang’s attention. katara & aang sat up in the saddle. they shot you a nasty glare. meanwhile, sokka leaned against appa’s side, seemingly taking a nap.

“can i please explain?” you shuffled your feet. “even if you don’t take me back… can i please explain?”

“how could you possibly expla-“

“wait, katara,” aang interrupted. “maybe we should hear her out.”

she huffed but ultimately agreed.

you began to explain your situation, of how you were thinking of them. you didn’t want to create mistrust, but you wanted them to not be afraid of you.

“how are you any better than the fire nation?” katara shot.

it hurt, but she was right. you hated how the fire nation lied, while you did the exact same thing.

“i’m so sorry, you guys. i truly am.”

“it’s okay, y/n,” aang hopped off the saddle & stood in front of you. “you had the best intentions at heart. you were trying to protect us.”

he waved katara over, encouraging her to forgive you. she walked to you & pulled you into a hug.

“you’re still my friend, no matter what.”

“thank you, katara.” you squeezed her harder.

the three of you looked over to sokka, who didn’t move.

“sokka?” you asked, walking over to him.

he popped one eye open, looking up at you.

he slowly got to his feet, still not making eye contact. you sighed. maybe the one person’s respect you wanted the most, you wouldn’t be able to get back. you had grown so attached to sokka over the past few weeks, it was hard for you to see your life without him.

suddenly, he grabbed you by the arms & pulled you into a deep hug. his arms wrapped around your neck & shoulders, your face was now pushed into his chest. startled, it took you a second to hug him back. it was so warm & comforting.

“this is our first hug,” you remarked, not knowing what to say.

“shush. i’m trying to hug you.”

“sokka… i’m sor-“

“i don’t care. just… next time you do something stupid like that, don’t wait so long to come back. i thought you had left.”

sokka headcanons

»»———sokka x reader

warnings: none!

a/n: i know i haven’t been active lately + i appreciate your guys’ patience! i had really bad writers block and school has started back up, but now i hope i can post about once per week? idk let me know what you’d prefer!

»»———masterlist

༅ sokka has calloused hands from fighting + weapons + such

༅ but FOR SOME REASON his hands are so soft

༅ like unbelievably soft

༅you sometimes just rub his hands on your face when the two of you are cuddling

༅ i mean what?

༅ anyways

༅ he is also the best kisser

༅ for no reason at all

༅ he just makes you melt

༅ sokka is also a little furnace. whenever you two are sleeping together, you have to fling the blankets off because he emits that much heat

༅ sokka is so protective over you

༅ “y/n! be careful! wait! lemme help you!”

༅ “sokka… it’s a puddle. i’ll be okay.”

༅ it’s crazy how much he adores you, though. his whole presence softens when you’re near him

༅ he always tells you how you bring out the best in him

༅ sokka also has a tendency to create a million nicknames for you

༅ “how about squishy?!”

༅ “erm… it’s a little too much.”

༅ “whaddya mean?” he says this with the biggest puppy-dog eyes

༅ then for the next two weeks, your name was squishy

༅ sokka is a huge believer in sharing everything

༅ he just wants to give you stuff (material + non-material)

༅ “sokka, i don’t want your jacket! it’s already too hot! why’d you even bring it! … why’d you think i’d want a jacket when it’s so humid?!”

༅ even if he screws up, he had/has his best intentions at heart

༅ sokka gets the best ideas for pranks but will never do them alone

༅ he’ll usually get toph or aang on board (zuko + katara are too proper to take part in that kind of stuff, sokka says)

༅ sokka will fill giant balloon of jelly or pudding + hand them to aang so he can float them above people’s heads

༅ a few royal garments may or may not have been permanently ruined

༅ although it may not seem like it, sokka is a very hygienic man

༅ he insists on haircuts every two weeks

༅ “it grows too fast, y/n! i can’t go out looking like this! it’s barbaric!!”

༅ you usually have to pull him away from stores while shopping

༅ half of your budget is spent on impulse buys

༅ + your living room probably has one too many gaang merch

༅ “katara, they just sell so much of us that it’s too irresistible to buy!”

༅ sokka is also a child in the sense that he brings animals home every week

༅ “can we keep it??”

༅ after the incident with the moose-lion, sokka only eats what he’d kill (the boy just can’t give up meat!)

༅ so your backyard is full of every animal imaginable

༅ you + sokka bring out the best in each other

༅ your relationship is full of compassion + fun

hair i am!

sokka x f!reader

summary: the reader has curly hair & always has her hair pulled back during fights. on a relaxing day, she lets it down. & a certain someone absolutely loves it.

warnings: none!

word count: 800

a/n: this is a request by the lovely anon! i also don’t have curly hair, but i hope i did this justice! i’m sorry if i don’t or if i get anything wrong!

masterlist

“ughhhhhhh.” the gaang let out a collective moan as appa shifted his weight to the left, causing turbulence.

“appa, what’s up buddy?” aang bent down from appa’s neck. he looks in appa’s eyes to see that tired had glazed over his pupils. “uh oh. guys!” aang turns back to you & the rest of the group. “we gotta make a pit stop. appa’s really~ tired.”

you & toph let out a sigh of relief. this had been the longest flight of this entire summer. plus, it had gotten cold that high up in the clouds.

“let’s go to a beach!” katara suggested, hoping to get some water bending practice in.

“no! we’ve gone to three beaches already in the past month! you do realize i can’t have fun when i don’t know where i am, right?” toph interjected.

sokka saw a frown on his sister’s face but chose toph’s side anyways: “toph’s right, katara. maybe we should go somewhere else.”

aang agreed & with that, appa flew down to a clearing in a secluded woods. it was still cold, but the grass & dirt below retained some heat. the grass was also soft & green as could be. the surrounding pine trees towered over, pine needles rattling in the breeze.

when appa landed, he dozed off immediately. toph & momo decided to make dirt castles, & aang & katara sat cross legged, talking about how nice the weather was.

just like it had been for the past two months, sokka followed you everywhere like a puppy. so he waited for you to do something before he did anything.

you touched your hair, wondering if it had been too long since you’d let it breath. since you didn’t have access to your regular hair accessories & treatments, you kept it up for the most part.

it was difficult to fight fire nation soldiers with your curls in your mouth.

when you took out your ponytail, your hair was slightly dented from the hair tie. you fluffed it up & shook your head from side to side.

“does it look good?” you faced sokka & motioned toward your head.

“y-y-yeah…” he was practically drooling over you. katara had always teased you about sokka & his “big fat crush on you” (as she put it). but him going crazy over you with your hair down only furthered that point.

as the day continued, things relaxed more than they already had. at one point, sokka sat in the grass & offered for you to do the same. wanting to make the boy blush, you laid down & placed your head in his lap.

like you planned, sokka blushed so hard you thought he’d explode.

as you settled into your new place, sokka started to play with your hair. at first it was just braiding & twirling, but then it was like you stepped into a spa. this man make you shiver. in fact, your goosebumps got goosebumps.

a few minutes later, you started to doze off. between sokka & the nice ambience, how could you not? it was beyond peaceful; it was just what the gaang needed.

when you woke up, sokka was looking over you, pushing curls behind your ears.

“hey there,” you said.

“man, your voice sounds tired,” sokka chuckled, swiping another curl from your face. “how’d you sleep?”

“really good.”

“good, i’m glad.”

his smile grew wider, which made your heart beat faster. maybe sokka wasn’t the only one with a crush…

as if he read your mind & knew what you wanted, sokka leaned down. his hand moved from your hair down to your cheeks. you hoped he didn’t feel how hot your they got.

when his lips met yours, it was totally different than any kiss you’d had before. he kissed you with such passion, it made you realize he was here all along. you could’ve kissed him ages ago. & you really really should have.

will you do me the honor?

»»———sokka x f!reader

summary: sokka & the reader are stargazing & start to ramble about the far future.

warnings: none

word count: 800

a/n: the reader is already an integrated member of the gaang in this fic. also this is a request by the lovely @queenofmankind!

»»———masterlist

day three with no sleep.

you’d been counting the days since this new side adventure began. aang overheard a merchant spill about a once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower four days ago. the trip to the earth kingdom was long & arguous, so the everyone was excited for this distraction.

sure, sokka argued once in a while about timing, but after seeing how passionate the rest of the group was, he changed his tune. however, katara teased he only stopped badgering because you were the most excited out of all of your friends.

but seeing meteorites & talking about them are two different things. without the location or timing of the shower, this distraction soon became more stressful than the whole lord ozai ordeal.

each night, appa would land on a plateau or mountain, high above hindering clouds & tree lines. everyone kept their eyes peeled. you’d all sit in a circle, staring into different sections of the dark sky.

but nothing came.

“well, maybe it’s supposed to be tomorrow,” katara suggested each morning after a sleepless night.

so flash forward to day three. your eyes are bloodshot, & they hurt. aang & katara refuse to use their energy on bending. & poor sokka can barely walk, let alone say one understandable sentence.

on the verge of giving up, the gaang decided to rest in the lowlands of a nearby mountain range. it was mid-afternoon, so most of the group took light naps to gain some energy.

when you awoke a few hours later, the sun had already set. you panicked. what if you missed it? when was the next time you’d see a meteor shower?

you rose & tried to wake aang. he rolled over & muttered something garbled. poor baby.

you moved on to katara; you knew she wanted to see the shower badly. you shook & shook her, but it was no use. she was out of it.

then there was one: sokka.

it’s not that you didn’t want to be alone with sokka. you did. you really did. it’s just that you didn’t know how to be alone with him. it was always friendly between the two of you, but after a quickly shared kiss in the northern water tribe… your relationship seemed to be nothing but awkward.

there was so much unsaid. he still has that thing with suki… & did he even want to be with you like that? you two never made anything official.

but nevertheless, you weren’t going to deprive him of a potential good view. you turned away from his sister & sat next to him. he was curled up in his sleeping bag, snoring. & loud too.

you silently chuckled & moved a few strands of hair out of his face. he looked less crazy & energized when he was asleep. you traced the bridge of his nose with your finger, & then his jawline, & then his lips.

it wasn’t a bad kiss. not at all. it was actually kinda perfect. it happened before the gaang left the northern water tribe, when a straggling fire nation ship pulled up to the wall.

“i call dibs!” sokka yelled, as soon as he saw the red flag. when aang & katara gave him a look of concern, he replied, “cmon, i got this. don’t worry!”

he ran a little ways ahead, but then suddenly slowed his pace. he stopped, turned around, & made a beeline for you. because he was running, he basically crashed into you.

and before you could register what had happened, he grabbed your face & kissed you. it was soft & passionate & long overdue.

“i’ll be right back,” he said pulling away.

you had hoped he’d ask you out after dealing with the ship, but he never did. those feelings just merely lingered in confusion.

& so now you sat, outlining sokka’s face.

after realizing how weird this was, you decided just to wake him up. you were forced to do this multiple times before, so you were an expert.

you shook his shoulders, which caused him to stir. then you tickled him, making a loud laugh erupt. he immediately sat upright & begged you to stop.

you sat back admiring your triumph.

“not funny,” he said. he unzipped his sleeping bad & crawled out. “why’d you have to wake me up? it’s not even light out!” he gestured to the sky.

“well, i was going to give up on the whole meteor shower thing, but i have a good feeling about tonight.” you stood & offered your hand, which s sokka took hesitantly. “i couldnt wake the others, so it’s just us.”

you led sokka aways to a small opening in the wooded lowland. it was a perfect little circle. a few lightning bugs made way for you two. looking up, you noticed the tree line parted, allowing a good of the sky. you laid down on the grass, & sokka mimicked you.

it was silent for a couple of minutes. neither one of you knew what to say. you focused on a few constellations you recognized.

finally sokka spoke up.

“i wanna build a house.”

you laughed. “sokka, i think you need more sleep. you’re talking nonsense again.”

“no, i’m serious. i wanna build a house, maybe somewhere secluded. a little ways from town.” he didn’t look at you while he spoke, he kept his eyes on the sky above.

“okay?”

you followed a lone lightning bug across your line of view.

“&… & i want you to be there.”

what? what were you supposed to say? is he being serious?

when you didn’t respond, sokka kept going. “i wanna live with you in the house i’m gonna build. i- i want you there. a-and maybe after a while, there will be three or four mini-me’s & mini-you’s running around.”

“sokka…” you turned onto your side to face him. but he still refused to look at you. “you mean all that?”

it sounded perfect. more than perfect. a little life with sokka was all you wanted.

but what if this was a prank? was aang & katara hiding in the trees, waiting to jump out & say “ha! you thought!”?

or what if he was settling? suki wasn’t here, but you were. did he just miss her?

no, he’s not like that. is he?

the avoidance of eye contact made this worse. you couldn’t read his face. & you started to panic.

all you wanted was laying right in front of you. he was right there. it was all right there. in your grasp…

but you had your hand extended out fully. it was up to sokka to close this gap. would he quit talking & leave it to how it was? was this your fate with sokka? just meaningless conversations with underlying tension?

“of course i mean it!” he threw his whole body forward. he sat up & threw his arms up at the stars. and finally… finally he faced you. he stared right into you. and it almost seemed as if he was keeping himself from jumping to you.

“i’ve always meant it! i just didn’t know how to tell you.”

teach me

»»———sokka x f!reader

»»———part one

summary: as the gaang is travelling through a fire nation-infested earth kingdom village, they meet the reader — a servant — who takes a special interest in sokka.

warnings: none

word count: 1.3k

a/n: this is my first piece on this blog; i hope you enjoy reading! the second part will be up soon! <3 ella

»»———masterlist

“let’s stop here.” katara pointed past appa’s dangling feet. “we need some more food.”

“you sure?” sokka opened his eyes, coming out a light nap. he peeked over the saddle, glancing at the earth kingdom town below. “it looks like there’s a lot of fire nation.”

towards the walls of the small town, sat red carts led by ostrich-horses. blobs of maroon could be seen moving through the streets periodically.

but this was no surprise. the gaang realized that most of the western earth kingdom cities would be inhabited by fire nation. whether it be small or large, military rushed into villages, taking & destroying what they wanted.

so many times, sokka & katara had to pull aang away from these places. he wanted so badly to help those in need: protect children, give food, & release taken servants.

“i think we’ll be okay. katara’s right about the food anyways,” aang chipped in, ever the optimist. he pulled on appa’s reigns, heading down to the ground.

—

after walking through the town, the gaang had a sack full of food & of course sokka bought a small totem of the town. as they made their way to the town gate, someone cried out behind them.

“hey!” you yelled as you crashed down on the dirt road.

you looked up at the man who had just thrown you out. he glanced up & down the street, waiting for fire nation guards to collect you.

“you’re not going anywhere, scum.” he crossed his arms, happy with his triumph. “i cant wait until the guards get you. i’ve been waiting for this day since my wife brought you here. i should have never allowed this.”

you got up & brushed off the dust on your clothing. you noticed that the guards had not arrived, so it was now or never. you darted for the gate, not paying attention to the civilians nearby. as you drew closer, you felt freer & freer with each step. but you suddenly hit something rock-hard.

“so you’re the fire nation traitor, huh?” you looked up at what you ran into. it was a man who stood tall, & who had a ugly look on his face. you could tell he was the chief of the guard pack behind him from his uniform.

you took some steps back. as you did, the group of soldiers in front of you drew their weapons. some had spears, while others had swords. outnumbered, you accepted your fate; however, you weren’t going to go without a fight.

your thoughts of what prison life would be life were cut short by a loud “hey! over here!”.

on your right, a group of teenagers stood. they looked ready for battle. the youngest looking, a small bald boy, yelled again. they all motioned for you to run over.

a smile bloomed on your face & you made a beeline for the group. but as you started, the chief behind you grabbed your hair.

“ouch!” you fell back with your scalp stinging. you pushed at his hand, but it was no use. he started to pull you away, not caring about tears welling in your eyes.

“watch out!” the girl of the group ran toward you with her hands extended. “sokka! grab her! make it back to appa!” the water trough on the house next to you started to rattle. all of the liquid rose out & wrapped around the girl’s hands.

a water bender? what is a water bender doing here? and who or what was appa?

with a whip of the water, the chief let go of you & spun around. before scrambling to your feet, you glanced at your savior. she had long dark hair, blue eyes, & a water tribe necklace.

the boy who had been standing next to the young kid now was helping you to your feet. nothing he was saying was registering to you. he looked like the girl, & you supposed they were related.

rolling his eyes, he grabbed your hand & started running. you looked at the guards flashing past you, who were preoccupied with the water bender & now the boy. you couldn’t tell what he was doing, but you could hear loud gushes of wind.

after a few minutes of running, the walls disappeared & trees grew taller. the boy suddenly stopped & looked around. you noticed he still had a hold of your hand. maybe it was because the air was warm or because you had just been running but you could feel your face heat up.

“appa!” he shouted. the trees to the left shook & got out of the way as a large beast came of out of the woods.

you gasped. “is that a sky-bison? i thought they were extinct.”

“yep. this is appa. don’t worry, he’s way nicer than he looks.”

he led you over to the giant fluff-ball. you held out your free hand, letting appa sniff you. after aquianting yourselves, the bison let you pet him.

“you okay?” the boy asked, averting your attention from appa.

“yeah i think so,” you smiled. “thank you for helping me.”

“of course. that’s what we do,” he smirked. “save people.”

you quirked your eyebrow, waiting for him to explain.

“oh i’m sokka by the way.” he went to extend his hand but realized it was in yours. you both let go, embarrassed.

“i’m y/n.” you didn’t look up from the ground. & you waited for your blush to subside before continuing the conversation. “what’d you mean by ‘that’s what we do’? & who’s ‘we’?”

“o-oh. well that boy back there, he’s aang. he’s actually the avatar. believe it or not.” sokka scratched the back of his head. you couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed still or uncomfortable. “me & my sister are helping him learn the elements.”

“oh wow. but you guys are so young. & you’re doing this by yourselves? that’s impressive.” sokka seemed to beam at your words. “it must be nice though, to travel everywhere.”

“yeah it’s really cool. you meet so many interesting people & see cool things. hey, uh, if you don’t mind me asking… what’s up with that mean mustache guy back there?” he pointed back towards the village with his thumb.

“oh, him? he was the guy i worked for, him & his wife. i originally lived with my family in the fire nation, but as they colonized the earth kingdom, they took people to help ‘keep earth kingdom civilians in line’.” you made air-quotes with your fingers, saying what the military had said months before. “i was brought over to live in a village, but now i’m a servant to these stupid fire nation couples.”

“so you were taken from your family?” sokka asked. his voice had gotten softer.

“yeah. in a way.” you shrugged, not wanting to dwell on it.

you now noticed how handsome sokka was. his eyes were as blue as his sister’s; some hairs had been pulled out of his wolf-tail & were now framing his face. you felt your face heat up again & pretended you were interested at the rocks near your feet.

“how about you?” you asked kicking a pebble away. “what about your family?”

“uh, well my dad is fighting in the war. & my mom… she, uh, she’s gone.”

“oh, i’m so sorry.” you put your hand on his arm & offered a sympathetic smile.

just as he was about to say something, footsteps approached you two.

“hey guys!” aang waved as he walked with sokka’s sister.

“how are you? are you okay?” the girl came up to you.

you nodded & looked to aang, wondering what was coming next. were you just going to go to the next village? go back home?

“hey, umm,” aang started. “you wanna join us? i’m sure we could use some fire nation information.” he had the biggest smile you’d ever seen.

“r-really?” your eyes widened. they wanted you to come along? “are you sure?”

“of course!” he replied. the siblings looked happy & offering also, almost as if they were waiting for someone to join.

“yeah, of course i’ll join you!” you said, maybe a little too loud.

[to be continued…]