FIC: Birthright (Prompt 064: Practice)

[cheshirecaine]

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rating: Gen

Sokka-centric fic

Wordcount: ~400 words

Summary: Dad liked to tell Gran-Gran he was overexcited. But it wasn’t his fault it never worked in front of anyone.

 

Notes: I just wanted to write bender Sokka and gosh, it took me days to finally edit. Thanks to my friend who read the first draft and confirmed I was getting the reaction I wanted. / AO3 link

Birthright

 

Once Sokka was old enough to go out by himself, he trekked along the snow, softening the ice beneath his boots. He could skip between dunes and drifts, and spell out his name in winding pools of water.

He was a water bender!

Dad liked to tell Gran-Gran he was overexcited. But it wasn’t his fault it never worked in front of anyone. If the snow shifted, it was just a coincidence, his parents said, the ice was melting from the heat of his body.

So, he practiced: melting more snow and pulling more water from sheets of ice. He could do it.

Something was happening. He didn’t have the right words to explain it, but the adults whispered more, when they used to shout. They’d peel away from big group meetings if the kids got close enough to hear.

Gran-Gran always watched him and Katara make snow people and igloos and otter penguins for the snow people to be friends with. She’d sit to the side, ready to clap when Katara wobbled bubbles through the air. But now, even Gran-Gran hurried them to play inside.

"Just in case," she said.

In case of what? Sokka wondered. Katara could bend in front of Mum and Dad already—he needed practice.

Things changed. The men carried weapons with them everywhere. The children played indoors always.

Sokka wasn’t allowed out anymore, but he kept trying and training. He was ready. He knew he was.

But when he woke up, he and Katara got sent to Gran-Gran’s. He grumbled for hours, refusing to play in mourning over his spoiled plans. It made little Katara cry, and a jug of water splashed in every direction, rushing Gran-Gran to soothe her. Sokka seized the opportunity and slipped away to home.

A grown-up meeting was ending. He knew he wasn’t allowed in, so he stamped his feet by the entrance till everyone left. He leaned in and froze. He’d never seen that look on Dad’s face before. It upset him.

Dad was holding Mum’s shaking hands in his and promising her everything would be fine. They kept talking about fire-benders and raids and destruction.

Sokka ran, smearing the tears across his cheeks as he rubbed at his skin.

He couldn’t tell them he kept snuffing out candles.