(Untitled)

[highrisktrader]

It is very lonely, and very boring, being a ghost.

The kitchen is cold again. There's water in the sink, even though almost everyone who uses the kitchen empties it when they're done; it's clear, clean, and rippling slightly in no wind at all. Occasionally a drop rises into the air and then splashes sadly back down.

It's so frustrating. She used

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[notanoptimist]

Sokka hasn't been in the kitchen in weeks. Maybe months, maybe a little more. He hasn't exactly kept a running tally and has been hunting, not wanting to rely on Steph and Mel for food because he was too cowardly to look at his sister's ghost.

It's really hard to keep his hands from shaking as he climbs the stairs of the farmhouse, heading straight for the kitchen. A hand curls around the doorframe and he leans in, checking to see if anyone else is there.

[highrisktrader]

There's nobody there, but the water falls still -- not in an absence of someone, but as if someone's waiting.

"S-- Sokka?"

She hasn't seen them for so long!

[notanoptimist]

Sokka swallows. Hard.

That first step into the kitchen is one of the hardest he's ever taken.

"Katara?"

[highrisktrader]

She's almost there.

He's looking, so she'll try her hardest to be there for him.

She hasn't seen him in so very long.

"Oh, Sokka. I'm sorry."

[notanoptimist]

It's hard for him to hear her, her voice is barely there, he can hardly see her.

But... her voice is there. He can see her.

Another hard swallow, another step. "F-for what? I shouldn't have run out on you like that, I'm sorry..."

[highrisktrader]

"Yeah, you shouldn't!" Katara confirms, folding her arms to stare at him.

(Someone else helps. She's a little more solid now, outlines coming into view, blue and white and leather and dark skin and bright eyes.)

"I missed you."

[notanoptimist]

He flinches, head bowed and eyes down. She's accusing him, staring at him.

He deserves it.

Dark blue eyes lift slowly, brows drawn, surprise - and hope. "...you did?"

[highrisktrader]

"Of course I did!"

She frowns, because he sounds like he didn't expect her to.

"You big silly."

[notanoptimist]

Tiny little fluttering smile. But there's something else he has to say.

"I... I messed up really bad in one of the last worlds I was in, Katara, I... really let you down. You hated me when I left, we couldn't even be around each other more than a few minutes."

[highrisktrader]

One of his hands feels colder, as if a barely-there ghostly hand has wrapped around it.

"I'm sorry," she says, hanging her transparent head. "I don't remember it. I don't ... I wouldn't ever hate you."

[notanoptimist]

His hand curls and if he thinks about it hard enough, he can almost feel her fingers. Sokka looks up at her, this faint outline of his sister, what she should be.

She should be strong and vibrant and full of life and helping people... and not mad with that need.

His other hand covers hers, as much as it can without passing through that outline.

"...I'm going to bring you back, okay?"

[highrisktrader]

She blinks big blue eyes at him, bringing her other hand to hold his too.

"...I .... don't think that's a good idea, Sokka."

[notanoptimist]

"I can't think of a better one. Ever."

Take care of your sister.

Big blue eyes full of hope and fire and righteousness.

And there isn't an ounce of wrong in those ghostly eyes, the way there was in the last pair he looked at.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm gonna undo it, Katara, I promise."

[highrisktrader]

She sighs, a cold wind that he can almost feel on his hands, and looks up at him again trustingly.

He's her brother. She'll do what he asks.

"I think ... this might be how it's meant to happen, really. But ... if you can ... that would be nice."

[notanoptimist]

Her voice got softer, fainter, further away. Sokka curls his hands tighter around the cold, smiles shakily with that soft sigh.

She trusts him.

Take care of your sister.

He can do this.

"I'm gonna fix it. You'll be okay then, you'll live and you'll be okay."

"...and you can leave the kitchen."

:D?

[highrisktrader]

"I can already leave the kitchen," she protests, with a tiny giggle. "I just like it here. There's water, and the wind doesn't get in and blow me away, and sometimes I see people come in.

"I see your girlfriend." GRIN.

... even though she thinks he's the one dating Claire. She gets confused!