markofthewise | Sokka the 73rd

[The house was demolished. And apparently it didn't have the decency to start putting itself together again. Not to mention the whole town was soggy. Most of Sokka's stuff in his room had been damaged. Some of it was salvageable, much of it he had to just throw out. His important valuables were in the basement and though there was a few inches of water down there, his stuff was up high and out of reach. Still, another mess to clean. At least there were two waterbenders in the house to clean that up. For a lover of stuff, Sokka was pretty put out by it. He hadn't been able to sleep in his room because of it. In a way though, he couldn't be upset. It felt right. Like starting over.

And then there was the smithy. Or what was left of it. The whole thing was rubble now. He wasn't even sure if there was a point in trying to pick through it. Best to wait until the Malnosso fixed it, right? It was freeing up his schedule considerably, anyway. At least he was back to his normal practice schedule in the mornings. Even if two straight weeks of combat had left him... weary of it, to say the least. All the same. He found himself to be glad to be back in Luceti. Back in the library, studying his alchemy. Sure, he lost all his notes and would have to start over, but it would be easier since he already knew what needed to be done again. Still. There was so much to go over.]

A guy can't leave for a few weeks without the town getting demolished, huh? Anyway. So uh. A lot of stuff has happened this past week. If anyone wants to, you know, spare some of the good details? I'll be around. Interested. And if you want? I can tell you all about space. Which was pretty great.

[Very around. Like hanging out in the plaza around. No smithy kind of leaves him with no daytime hangout spot. Especially without Suki to spend time with. So besides his training and time at the library, he's very much a man with nothing to do. Evidenced by the fact he's sitting at a bench near the fountain, lazily sprawled out as he counts his one hundredth consecutive hit on a paddle ball. It's uncanny how good he actually is with it.]

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Hey! You're supposed to be taking this seriously! I didn't laugh at you during our first lesson!

[Okay, maybe he almost did. Souji wasn't easy to take seriously at first.]

What do you mean? What happened?

[How does he even put this? There's no way of easing into it. Making it sound like no big deal. "My heart stopped working?" That doesn't quite cover it.]

I was fighting an Elite. I defeated her, but... [But. But. But.]

I was gone. Not just... down. I was gone. Really gone. Dead.

[And I haven't told anyone. And the fact it happened terrifies me.]

Ahh...sprained wrist, a few cuts with stitches, and some general bruises. Oh--and a cold. Of course. My immune system had great timing.

[Though in retrospect, he should probably be glad he didn't contract pneumonia.] You don't have to bother her, though. I'm sure she's had enough on her plate this week, too.

[Yeah, see? Totally okay to laugh.

But he'll steel his nerves, take a deep breath - almost, it's something of a struggle - and tries to be serious. Somewhat.]

Of course, Master. I'll try again.

[And he does. Bouncing it up and taking a few moments to adjust when the ball flies a little weird. It was more fun when he was trying to bounce it off your forehead, Sokka.]

Is this right?

What?

I'm her brother. Bothering her is basically my job.

[Moving quickly, Katara comes to stand directly in front of him. She has to look up now to look in his eyes, and for some reason that's disorienting right now, because he can't be saying this, he can't be telling her this, she would have noticed, she would have known, she would have been there.]

Sokka, what happened?

I did it. I did it. I was stupid and thought...

[He stops. Confessing this hurts. He can't stand it. It's not just the humiliation. Or the feeling stupid. It was realizing... how reckless he had been How fragile his life was.]

I thought I could control it. It was too much.

Yeah. That's better.

[He knows what Souji is thinking. HE KNOWS. What a horrible student.]

[She reaches up to put both hands on his shoulders, both to brace him and get his attention, and to reassure herself that he was right here.]

Sokka, I don't know what you're talking about. What did you think you could control? What did you do?

[He'll bounce it a few more times before it rolls off and goes a bit wild, smacking him in the chest before dropping. He swings it back up and smiles, trying again.]

I think I've found a new training tool for you.

[A deep breath. He needs to explain it. He doesn't want to. But.]

We were fighting an Elite. She was good, too good. Neither one of us could even touch her. She was winning and I knew neither one of us would last much longer. So... I used the only advantage I had. We were in a building, so I used my sword to get electricity from the wall. And then Tsinku to direct it.

[He closes his eyes. Holding his arms tight around his chest.]

It worked. It was just enough to knock her out. But it was too much for me. I couldn't stop it from coming. When it did... I was gone. It stopped my heart.

Hey. I'm the teacher right now, remember?

[But this may be a good thing. Now he can keep Souji occupied for hours.]

Right.

[Derp derp, nope. He changes the direction of the ball and it shoots out toward Sokka again.]

[She inhales sharply.

It was too much.

Everything that Sokka had been through, from Suki leaving to being wounded on his mission to this - it was all too much. She hadn't stopped worrying about him since Suki left, and everything had just piled on top of that. Worries about Catherine, worries about Aang and Toph, the draft, worries about Shikamaru and Masaomi and the mission and - moon and stars, Masaomi and his stupid, stupid "good luck" token and his birthday present and broken arm and opened surgery, and leaving her dearest friends behind to face something so unknown on their own and one of them with a useless arm and others acting as decoys - and then the draft itself, the tension on the ship, the lack of stars, the utter foreignness of the whole thing - Aang, being forced to see them kill, as they killed, and nearly being burned alive and bloodbending and still not being there to stop Aang from entering in the Avatar state and...

...finding Temari's dead body on the ground.

She should have been there. She should have done something.

Her brother had died.]

[He'd been electrocuted.

He electrocuted himself.

And he'd died.

She surges forward to give him a fierce hug.]

You idiot.

[It was almost a release. Almost. He'd been keeping it inside. Acting like nothing had happened. Pretending it had just been nothing. Acting like his normal self. But he'd confessed. Let it out And it hurt.

He didn't fight the hug. He needed it more than he realized. And for the first time since he found Suki gone, tears were in his eyes. His voice cracked.]

I'm sorry.

I'm just saying, don't feel obligated, I'm--

[Sneezing. He's sneezing. Really loudly. Eww, that one was juicy.]

I've seen worse.

[You do that, Sokka. Nami will make a couple of orange juice slushie things while she waits.]

And? What was it like?

[--!!]

Sokka? [She looks toward the direction of his voice. When she sees him her expression brightens.]

Alright, alright. What do you want?

Let's meet somewhere. We can talk there. The Rec Center, maybe?

Hey. [A smile. Maybe she doesn't care about just the smithy after all.] I'm back.

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