markofthebrave | (no subject)

[She nods.]

For Ikki - Aang and I just finished working them out. Help out by cleaning up after yourself; don't miss dinner, always tell me, you, or Aang if she's going out and where she's going; no using the teleporter by herself; have the journal with her in case we need to find her quickly; and lessons in airbending with Aang every day.

[She was gonna tell you, bro, but you just got here.]

And now not too much soda or candy - unless you can think of something else?

[He's not bothered too much. Though he's starting to feel this stifling sense of responsibility! He hasn't had to be responsible for kids since he was bringing up Toph and Fenimore.

... yeah.]

Well, I don't think we can tell her about the basement.

[No, he's actually thinking seriously. He's just putting that out because he doesn't trust Ikki to keep it a secret.]

[She gives him a slightly flat look.]

She's seven. She's going to explore the house from top to bottom the first minute she gets. How are we going to hide it?

I'll get a lock!

[Flatly. The basement is IMPORTANT. What would people do if they knew!?]

[...think Sokka was training to be Batman?]

...well, you do keep a lot of explosives down there. A lock would probably be a good idea.

Exactly!

[Note to self. No keeping explosives in my room anymore.]

Actually, I guess I should probably stop keeping weapons on my wall.

No, that should be fine. I mean, we grew up with weapons all around the tents. We'll explain to her not to touch them, and see what happens.

[She's their grandkid, she's gotta have practical genes in there somewhere.]

Unless you really think you should?

Well... maybe I'll stick to blunt weapons. And then see what happens.

[It only takes one accident ~~for swords to cut you wide open~~]

[She nods, then.]

Then I guess they'll go in the basement too?

Just the extras. [His sword and knives and ax and boomerang will stay on his person as usual. Sokka scratches the back of his neck.]

I guess mom and dad had to this too.

[She runs her hand through her hair and gives a tremulous sigh.]

Yeah.

[I'm a grandmother.]

I'll - write up a list of the rules and we can go over them with Ikki tomorrow. Then I'll put them on the refrigerator so she won't forget.

[So official. And Katara isn't talking about anything besides rules. So he gives a nod and for awhile, chews on some chicken thoughtfully.]

[And then it's time for the million dollar question. The big reveal. The inevitable conclusion of knowing Ikki...]

... so, you and Aang, huh?

[Yeah, here it comes.]

Yeah, I guess so.

[Someone doesn't sound surprised. Or upset. Or excited. Or anything other than perhaps slightly mournful.]

[The fact she's not trying to explain it away or make excuses is telling. Very telling. This isn't a new revelation to her, is it?]

How long have you known?

Known what, that I was going to be a grandmother? Since about this morning.

[Tread carefully here.]

No. That you two would be together.

[The Avatar. One year in the future. With no war to worry about at that.]

[There's no fight here. No, "It's none of your business," no hesitation other than than taken for her to remember, she just answers his question with a return of that strange dullness.]

Since... about a month after he got here? After the experiment where he thought he was from Robin's world. He said some things to me, that night when I was left-over and... after that I knew things were... different for us in his future. I asked him about it, and he told me we were dating then. In his time.

[This isn't one of those secrets where he'll be accusing her of keeping him in the dark. He crosses his arms, looking away as he processes it. He'd always been convinced he and Suki were meant to be. But then Aang showed up. And somehow... it had been different. Like Suki had seemed less sure. Aang was more surprised by their engagement than he should have been. It was off. His idea of what was meant to be? May have not been meant to be.

And now it was Katara. It was easy to tell that she didn't love Aang like that. She'd been struggling with Masaomi's feelings, something that still angered Sokka. And then there was this. But it wasn't just dating anymore. They would have kids. And grandkids. And everything for the rest of her life was written in stone.

No. Everything for the rest of another Katara's life. It was hard to claim the lives of other people. Not when he didn't feel like he was the Sokka that Aang and Toph left behind. And even if Katara denied wanting to keep this world, he knew it couldn't have been that different for her. He finally looked into his sister's eyes again.]

But you don't love him.

[She shook her head, abjectly miserable.]

Of course I love him. He's Aang. I've always loved him.

[Her hand goes to touch their mother's necklace.]

I just don't... think I love him the same way he loves me.

[She closes her eyes as they fill with tears again. They'd spoken about this, and he was so good, but... but.]

Or the same way he loves the me that he's dating in the future.

[Emotional, more loudly, and even defensive:] I just don't know!

[That. That is hard. He can't try and say he knows what that feeling is like. Only that he fears Suki one day coming back and feeling the way she does.

There's a moment as he stares pensively down the hallway, to the room that once belong to Suki. Now it belonged to a little girl, who contained the roadmap to all of their futures. Is this what Roku felt like? Knowing that no matter what he did, his future was already decided. For better or for worse.]

You don't have to. We're here. And everything's different. Whatever our future is back home? This isn't it. So we don't have to pretend and play along with what's supposed to happen. Aang will be fine without you. And you'll be fine without him.

[Would he be fine if he gave up his earthly attachments? Would he be fine if he didn't have her to anchor him? She'd never thought very highly of herself in terms of... world importance. She just did what she had to. But if Aang thought so highly of her - and he was so, so important - than maybe...

...is she fine without him? Just being around him makes her feel like she's sharing a burden instead of carrying it on her own. There isn't a day when he doesn't make her smile or laugh. He's someone she trusts implicitly, without any reservation. He'll always come back. He'll always try to do the right thing. She knows it deeper than her bones.

And he'd only proven why that was tonight.]

He's not pushing me, Sokka. Not - at all. He's not even trying to get me to like him like that. So you don't have to worry about that.

I'm not. [He has a hard time picturing it. Aang is just a kid. He may be fourteen and while by the standards of their tribe, it would be the age he could prove himself a man, he can't escape that way of thinking. Sokka knows that he's a man now. And that for better or worse, his sister is a woman. And the thought of them together... well, it's weird. Oogies. That's how he'd describe it.

But he doesn't think it's wrong. Or bad. What was it he said when they left the South Pole together?

"Let's go save your boyfriend."

The thought of them one day marrying and having kids and one day Ikki being born? It was a nice thought. And it made home seem something that he wanted to get back to that much more. It's not Aang's intentions that bother him. And while Aang may be feeling a sense of loss that Sokka can so clearly understand, he knows that Aang has the security of knowing that his Katara is waiting for him. So no, his concern isn't for Aang and what he is trying or not trying to do.

It's his sister. The one who always wanted to make things right, no matter how hard or reckless it is. Except this time, she's not fixing something wrong that someone else did. It's not saving a town or changing someone's mind. She is the wrong one. And he knows it must be killing her to be like that. And that inevitably, she feels like she has to be the one to fix it.]

But you shouldn't be trying either.

I'm not.

[That might be said a little too quickly, and it's lacking that dullness - and gaining a thick note of pain.]

I'm just trying to do what's right. I can't make myself feel something. That wouldn't be fair to me, or to Aang [Masaomi] - or to anyone else.

[Do what's right. As always. He closes his eyes, leaning back into his seat.]

So. What's right?

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