markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .031

[If you are passing by the Southmost bridge at just the right time, you will find it hard not to notice the girl in an unusual dress and boots facedown on the ground. One shoulder is strangely disjointed, and there are bruises up and down her arms, particularly violent ones around her wrists. She looks like nothing more than a broken and discarded doll.

As the sun continues to set, the coolness in the ground will cause her to start to stir. When she sits up, she grimaces, moving as if there might be something wrong with her ribs. If you happen to be looking at her as she does, you'll notice the sickening blue and yellow bruise spread across her right collarbone, the lovely shiner on her eye.

The wonderful thing about Luceti? Sometimes there's a journal right where you need it. She barely has enough presence of mind to make sure the picture points away from her face, but her voice is very tired.]

Sokka, Aang - I'm back. [Sorry Suki, Zuko.] I'm okay.

[10 100 (thank you, Shikamaru) percent filter to Chopper, Raine]
Hey guys, if you're there - I could use a little help.

[She doesn't want her brother and Aang to see her like this.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Yeah. [She hesitates, then reaches out and pulls him into a hug.] I'm sorry it turned out like this...

[He's dead weight there for a moment, before he eventually hugs back, but is the one to pull away.]

Yeah, me too.

[Suki lets him go without argument, instead just turning away and heading back out into the main area to get a broom and start sweeping. She's worried about him - about them both - but she'd rather respect their privacy than get nosey about it.]

[He does the same as well. After an hour or so, once things are no longer quite as romantic as before and Sokka is no longer exposing his ~~super manly~~ chest, he goes to Katara's room. He doesn't knock. He turns the knob on her door and pushes it open a crack, enough so that if she just happened to be randomly changing at that exact moment, she could spot that and yell at him. After giving that a few seconds, he pushes it open.]

... Katara?

[Katara is curled up on her good side on her bed. She doesn't say anything in response.]

[He waits for her to respond, before moving in and sitting on the edge of the bed. He's not even sure at this point if she's awake.]

I'm sorry Aang is gone. And that it had to happen like this, while they had you and... [So obviously torturing her, but he can't bring himself to say it.] I wish I could have been there to stop it from happening.

[...and he's blaming himself.

He needs her to be okay.

She's not okay. She should be allowed to be not okay.

...but he needs her to be okay.

She's not her mother. She doesn't have her mother's strength. Kya could do it. And so she has to do it too - she has to because she's the only one left to do it.

She's so, so tired. All she manages to do is reach out with her good hand and loosely clasp Sokka's.]

It's not your fault. None of it.

[... so she is awake. He isn't too surprised at that. He didn't go on saying his own feelings too much because of that.]

I know that. [He sighs.] Are you okay? I mean... I know you're not. You're hurt... and Aang... [Okay, so it was a stupid question.] What should I do? I mean, besides what Chopper said to do.

[...]

Will you stay in here until I fall asleep? We can talk tomorrow. I just...

[...I don't want to be alone right now. And you need something to do. And you could be gone when I open up my eyes.]

Yeah... yeah, sure. That, I can do that.

[In fact, he moves back further on the bed, so he can lean up against the headrest. It's a bit more comfortable that way. This still doesn't feel like enough. But, well, it's something, isn't it?]

It'll be like when we were kids.

[ Action, Voice ] .031

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