markofthebrave | (no subject)

(no subject)

[Action: Locked to Nephry]
[It makes no sense for a known and proud waterbender to step out of the fountain in the middle of winter and remain soaking wet. But yet, that is exactly what she is doing: getting out of the fountain, her arms wrapped around herself, shivering, and looking both confused and frightened... and younger. About three years younger, to be exact.]

[Open action.]

Katara, properly attired to face the winter thanks to your friendly neighborhood Clothing Shop, can be seen:

a) Stopping and staring at the snow, as if she hasn't seen any in a very, very long time
b) Entering the Welcome Center to get the maps/layout of the place
c) Stalking House 56. She will not enter. She will likely not be seen, as she is administering a frightening amount of skill at sticking to the shadows, but you might catch her as she starts to walk away...
d) Checking out a Community Building for a spare room.

((Katara, returned from her mallynap, is experiencing this AU. Feel free to bump into her anywhere, but don't be too surprised if she doesn't respond to her name. It's been a long time since she's called herself anything Water Tribe.))

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She backed away another half-step, her eyes wide.

"No, you're wrong."

He stood his ground, even though he was driven to step forward and advance. Part of it was knowing that it was better not to. The other half was just being afraid she'd run away. "I'm not wrong. No matter what you think or remember, I know my sister when I see her."

"What you're talking about is impossible."

Katara wasn't even worried about preserving her cover anymore. Not now. She was too upset. And this wasn't the Fire Nation. And everyone seemed to know her name anyway.

"You've got to be at least five years older than I am. Even if I had a brother still, he wouldn't be that old."

"You still have a brother. I've just... I've been here a really long time." He realized that wasn't convincing enough, though. All he had was what he hoped they still had in common. She acknowledged she had a brother, which was something. He just hoped it was enough.

"But it's who I am. I'm Sokka. Our father is Hakoda. Our mother was Kya. We come from the South Pole, in the village furthest south in the whole world. You're a waterbender. Our only waterbender."

It was so easy to gather water here. She could feel it in the air. She could feel it in the ground. It was there, in the snow. It was so easy.

She wanted to shut him up.

What he was saying ripped away at her heart; names long buried, a family long lost, an identity she'd held close, kept hot in her heart like it was the only thing to keep her from freezing over.

She was a waterbender. She was the reason why--

No. No. She couldn't handle this. She couldn't kill him either, not if - not if he was her brother.

Katara turned and fled.

He expected a lot of things, which is why he was slightly guarded, but rooted. When she suddenly took off, he was left standing with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. When his brain caught up with his eyes, he took off after her.

"Wait! Come back!"

No. Way. In. Hell.

A lifetime of training won't let her use the water all around her to trip up the - person - following her, but she is very, very fast.

Sokka had two advantages. Not only was he faster by virtue or longer legs and a lot of running around, but he also knew the village like the back of his hand. Which is why it looks like she's ditched him. But only because he took a shortcut to cut her off.

Which meant that when he cut her off, Katara was startled to say the least. She knew better than to get into a close-quarters fight with someone bigger and stronger than she was, but a part of her wondered if she could manage to leap over him.

Better not to risk it. She dropped low, moved to slide past him.

Maybe it was a mistake. But he needed to know. he needed to be able to help her. So when she moved past him, he reached for a hand. Part of her clothes. Anything to slow her down.

"Katara! Please! Just let me talk to you!" His voice rung with an uncommon desperation.

He caught hold of her arm. "Let go, let go of me!"

Her desperation matched his voice.

"I will. Just. Let me talk to you. For one minute. That's all I ask."

He let go. Even if she pulled away or ran again, he didn't move to go after her.

She pulled her arm free and backed away. When he didn't follow, she turned and walked away. Three steps. And then she paused, her eyes shut, her back to him, her fists clenched at her sides. "Talk."

That. That was something. He folded his arms together and watched the back of her.

"I don't know what's happened to you. Maybe you're not who I think you are. This place has a way of... it likes to hurt us. But even if that is true, if you're not Katara, I want to help you. I have to help you. For her sake. I'll call you whatever you want me to call you. Just don't run away."

There was one thing she had to ask. Had to. She should have long before now, she shouldn't have run, she should have asked first - "You said Kya was your mother. She's dead, then?"

She really died? I didn't save her... all this and I didn't save her...

Her one question gives him dozens instead. Now he knows they have the same parents. That's more than can be said about that time she was a ninja. It just left the lingering question of why she'd need to ask.

He only nodded. Even after all this time, it wasn't something easy to admit. Of course, she wasn't looking at him. So he answered with a single word. "Yeah."

Her throat was tight, but Katara had learned a long time ago not to cry. "I'm sorry for your loss."

It was all for nothing. Hama was right.

"She gave her life up for us. Me and my sister." Mostly his sister. It was all for her. But time tempered what may have once turned to resentment. It didn't matter who she died for. She would have done it for either of them.

This conversation hurt.

"The sister that you think I am. I guess I'm not surprised you chased after me after all." She slowly turned to glance at him guardedly over her shoulder. "Is this the part where you try to kill me?"

"What? No! Never. You-- my sister-- I could never do that. I'm not your enemy. I'd never be your enemy."

She didn't believe him. "You lost your mother because of her."

Because of me.

He shook his head. "I lost my mother because of the Fire Nation."

Something ugly flashed in Katara's eyes. "Maybe. But that never would have happened if it wasn't for her. Admit it."

It was uncomfortable seeing something so nasty and so self-loathing in his sister's eyes. He wondered if it had been there before, just less noticeable. Less raw.

"Why? It won't prove anything. It won't change anything."

"It will prove that you can tell the truth."

She wanted to hear it. She'd dreaded hearing it for years, and now - here he was. Her brother. Alive and he'd somehow recognized her and... their mother was dead. And it was all her fault.

And he stood there and told her that he didn't hate her?