Bridges: No 1
Sorry, A.J., this bug bit me hard, and I've got to get it out of my system before I can finish writing my own stuff---
(I've already posted a later "bridge", featuring Aang and Toph. This, I think, will be the first to kick Sokka into that more interesting persona that A.J. has built for us in her "Gray into the Black" series...
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They’d all helped, of course. Even that bastard spawn of the demon Fire Lord himself had done his part to support Aang in the final battle. In all fairness, something Sokka did his best to avoid in all but the worst of times, he’d had to admit that Zuko had probably done more than himself in that light.
Not that he’d been there much afterwards. And that was when Aang had really needed support, after the sheer devastation of the Fire Nation capital at the hands of the Avatar and his friends. Since no little part of that devastation had been the result of Sokka’s own plans he’d been perfectly willing to lend his shoulder to Aang. Although first he’d had to empty his own stomach time and again at the evidence of body parts, stench of rotting flesh, and sheer waste.
Sokka had grit his teeth hard, and assumed as much blame as Aang would allow in the guilt-fest that had consumed him upon vanquishing Ozai. In point of fact, he’d taken on quite a bit more, smacking Aang up the side of head after a particularly extended period of silence on the younger boy’s part.
“Don’t be an ass, Aang. You killed the Fire Lord, yes. Toph took out the garrison and Zuko and Katara made pretty short work of the palace guard and Azula and her ilk. You wanna be pissed about people dying for nothing then yell at me. I’m the one who sealed the gates against the tide. I locked the doors so no one could escape. Get over it, man. I have.”
Later, in the room they’d shared under a crescent moon devoid of the comfort of Yue’s presence he’d found himself holding the younger boy as he’d sobbed, half-asleep.
Sokka saw the irony in his comforting the most powerful person on the planet, and pushed it to the side in the real need to assure Aang of his own humanity. As his father had always said, a real man knows where he is needed, and Aang needed him then to assure him that he was no monster.
No one appeared to assure Sokka that he himself, slayer of innocent as well as guilty, was no monster.
No slouch at seeking out new skills and working hard to achieve them, Sokka had found himself driven to run in the early morning. It was a way of avoiding his own imagination.
And it was the first of many deceptions, since he was not prepared to explain to Aang, or even Katara, why the boy who’d relished sleeping-in could no longer sleep at all.
(I've already posted a later "bridge", featuring Aang and Toph. This, I think, will be the first to kick Sokka into that more interesting persona that A.J. has built for us in her "Gray into the Black" series...
_______________
They’d all helped, of course. Even that bastard spawn of the demon Fire Lord himself had done his part to support Aang in the final battle. In all fairness, something Sokka did his best to avoid in all but the worst of times, he’d had to admit that Zuko had probably done more than himself in that light.
Not that he’d been there much afterwards. And that was when Aang had really needed support, after the sheer devastation of the Fire Nation capital at the hands of the Avatar and his friends. Since no little part of that devastation had been the result of Sokka’s own plans he’d been perfectly willing to lend his shoulder to Aang. Although first he’d had to empty his own stomach time and again at the evidence of body parts, stench of rotting flesh, and sheer waste.
Sokka had grit his teeth hard, and assumed as much blame as Aang would allow in the guilt-fest that had consumed him upon vanquishing Ozai. In point of fact, he’d taken on quite a bit more, smacking Aang up the side of head after a particularly extended period of silence on the younger boy’s part.
“Don’t be an ass, Aang. You killed the Fire Lord, yes. Toph took out the garrison and Zuko and Katara made pretty short work of the palace guard and Azula and her ilk. You wanna be pissed about people dying for nothing then yell at me. I’m the one who sealed the gates against the tide. I locked the doors so no one could escape. Get over it, man. I have.”
Later, in the room they’d shared under a crescent moon devoid of the comfort of Yue’s presence he’d found himself holding the younger boy as he’d sobbed, half-asleep.
Sokka saw the irony in his comforting the most powerful person on the planet, and pushed it to the side in the real need to assure Aang of his own humanity. As his father had always said, a real man knows where he is needed, and Aang needed him then to assure him that he was no monster.
No one appeared to assure Sokka that he himself, slayer of innocent as well as guilty, was no monster.
No slouch at seeking out new skills and working hard to achieve them, Sokka had found himself driven to run in the early morning. It was a way of avoiding his own imagination.
And it was the first of many deceptions, since he was not prepared to explain to Aang, or even Katara, why the boy who’d relished sleeping-in could no longer sleep at all.