flickers (chapter five)
sokka x female reader
summary: after the events of the swamp and avatar day, the gaang try and rest for a couple of days before continuing the search for an earth bender to train aang
warnings: mentions of death - nothing else i think this ones pretty lighthearted :)
wc: 3.5k
masterlist
prologue --- chapter four -- chapter six
a/n: long time no see - this is actually a record for me not posting anything in a year, i was just so busy and then when i wasn’t i didnt have the motivation to write. so sorry for taking so long and i dont even know if people are interested in this fic any more but i’ve written some more for it again so might as well post it and hopefully will not disappear for a year again. anyways i went back and made a few changes through the story already written including the addition of a nickname for the reader (mainly because i dont like using y/n all the time) but yeah this a little filler chapter so there is more of a connection between the characters before i ruin it for them in a few chapters time :)
“Alright! This place looks great!” Aang clapped his hands together as Appa landed in a large clearing, a stream running through it and into the forest that surrounded them.
She watched the avatar jump from the bison’s saddle and onto the dirt below where he stood with his arms wide, a huge smile on his face. And she couldn’t help but smile back at him - his positive energy was infectious and it meant the prospect of staying in this clearing for a few days more appealing - especially as the water tribe siblings were still a little hesitant towards her.
Although, after their experience in the swamp, and whatever went on in Chin on Avatar Day, she had noticed Sokka being a little more caring towards her and Katara was doing her best to be civil. So even if they didn’t trust her yet, they were trying and so was she - so hopefully, their relationships could only improve from there.
The idea of having a break from the Avatar's group constantly getting into trouble and other situations that make her head spin if she thought on it for too long, put a smile on her face as she climbed off Appa’s saddle, the feeling of dirt beneath her feet allowing the tension to melt from her body. She may have only been with this weird group for a week or two now but she wasn’t yet used to flying on Appa, her fear of heights making her uncomfortable every time they travelled on him.
Caught in her own thoughts as she reached for her bag, she didn’t notice Aang trying to get her attention, that was until he airbended himself right in front of her a bright smile on his face as he spoke, “Hey Lia I was calling your name, do you want to play a game?”
She blinked at him, surprised by the nickname she hadn’t heard someone else call her in over a year now.
The lack of response confused the young avatar, waving his hand in her face he asked, “is everything okay? You seem a little out of it?”
“Yeah I’m fine,” she nodded at him, “it’s just you called me Lia.”
“Oh, am I not allowed? It’s just you said to Momo that’s what your friends call you and we’re friends right?”
A warmth spread through her chest at Aang so nonchalantly calling her his friend, she was Fire Nation and apart from Ria, had never really had friends that weren’t themselves from the Fire Nation as well so this meant a lot to her.
Realising she hadn’t replied back to him yet, she gave him a small smile, “Yeah we’re friends, I just haven’t had someone call me Lia in a while.”
“Well get used to it, travelling with Team Avatar gives you the opportunity for loads of friends! It’s one of the best parts!” He gave her a thumbs up before turning to look at the Water Tribe siblings who had been watching the interaction silently, and when Aang subtly indicated they should do something, they both smiled at their new acquaintance. And even though their smiles looked more like grimaces, y/n felt just a little more accepted into the group than she was this morning and that was enough for her.
She turned back to Aang, answering his original question from before she’d gotten sidetracked “well we should help set up camp first but then we can play a game if you want?”
“Yep sounds great!”
It didn’t take long for the four of them to set up a small camp, Sokka going off into the trees surrounding them to collect some wood for the fire, Aang scouring through the bags for some food for them and her and Katara setting up the tents. It was quiet whilst they completed the task but y/n didn’t mind, it allowed her time to think about all she had already experienced with the Avatar and his companions.
She still avoided thinking too much about the swamp debacle where she saw her mother and the old man, less she become emotional, but the whole Avatar Day situation they’d stumbled into in Chin was much easier to focus on if not confusing in a different way. It was interesting to see a place not associated with the Fire Nation hate the Avatar as much as they did, even if they had their own misguided reasons, but the similarity of misinformation on specific topics between the people of Chin and what was taught in the Fire Nation had struck a chord in her. Obviously, there were still great differences between the situations but it still had affected her more than she had thought it would. And it led her to become more grateful that she had started to push past her previous teachings and learn how much damage the Fire Nation was doing to the rest of the world and all the people in it, especially how it had affected the people she was starting to become close to.
It didn’t take long for the group to finish setting up camp and whilst Katara began cooking, refusing the offer of help from y/n, Aang began his task of having fun and tried to drag his new friend into the game he had planned earlier.
“So it’s called ‘don’t fall in the quicksand’ and basically the first one to touch the floor loses, but you have can try and sabotage your opponent by trying to get them off balance however you can.” Aang briefly explained to her.
“Oh I used to play that when I was younger, except we called it ‘the floor is lava’! And you’re looking at the reigning champion young Avatar.” She smiled teasingly at him whilst she gloated, ignoring the pang in her chest at the thought of her and Zuko playing this in the palace gardens when their parents weren’t around.
“Ha! I’m an airbender Lia, so unless you have a miracle tucked into your tunic you’re going to lose,” he looked over at Sokka to see if he wanted to play as well but he was already shaking his head at the pair.
Y/n chuckled to herself at the Avatar’s confidence, yes he may be an airbender which gives him an incredible advantage, but unfortunately for everyone she has ever known, she had always been unbearably competitive and today was not the day she was going to start losing at a child’s game.
She tied her hair up into a top knot and started walking to the treeline, waiting for Aang to call the start of the game. She didn’t have to wait long before his shout of “QUICKSAND!” was heard across their little camp, she quickly jumped onto the tree beside her and climbed up the trunk to perch on a branch strong enough to hold her weight. Happy with where she was she began looking for where Aang had ended up, only for him to be on a tree on the other side of the clearing, waving at her.
Waving back to him she started figuring out how she could get over to him and get him to touch the floor without herself falling and losing the game.
Unbeknownst to the two already chasing each other through the trees trying to push the other one off, the Water Tribe siblings watched them from their spot next to the campfire. Katara shook her head at the pair, turning back to the food she was preparing and muttering under her breath, “one of them is going to get hurt if they’re not careful and then it will be my problem.”
Sokka turned to look at her from where he had been watching y/n laughing at Aang as she flung a branch at his face so he almost fell off the branch he had been on. “Come on sis they’re having fun, not committing crimes, lighten up.”
She glared at her brother, “She’s Fire Nation Sokka, we know as well as anyone the damage they can do, I still don’t fully trust her - what if this is some plan to capture Aang?”
“Look,” he placed his hand on her shoulder pulling her focus from where she was angrily chopping vegetables, “I agree that we should be wary around her, but honestly from what I’ve seen, she seems to be, I don’t know, a nice person maybe? Definitely not what I expected from someone from the Fire Nation. And at the end of the day if there was some ridiculous plan to capture Aang, I’m not sure it would involve playing games with the Avatar.”
The pair looked up at the trees again to see y/n throwing some sort of berry at Aang’s face in quick succession, momentarily blinding him before kicking at his ankles so he fell of the low branch he had been standing on, and before he realised what had happened he had touched the ground and the Fire Nation girl was hooting in victory in the trees above him.
Sokka gave a small smile at the site and turned to his sister, finishing off what he wanted to say, “I’m just saying I think we should maybe give her a chance to prove herself and earn our trust before we decide she doesn’t deserve it. I’m thinking of asking her to teach me some of the fighting tactics she knows tomorrow, maybe if she offers to help you with dinner tomorrow you could let her? And actually try and talk to her if you do - we’re a team and Aang seems to already loves her so we could try and do the same?”
Katara thought to herself for a moment before nodding at her brother, wondering what she could even talk to their new companion about given the opportunity.
As they made their way back to the campfire, Aang laughed at how happy his new friend was at winning their game, even if he was surprised in her victory - he had never lost at that game before, but there was always a first time for everything and maybe if she was happy about this she’d start feeling more welcome in the group. He may have been the youngest here but he could still see how tense the others were around each other and he wanted to fix it.
———
Dinner that night was a quiet affair, everyone just happy to not having their lives threatened or experiencing something insane for once, and instead just enjoying the quiet world around them. Once they had finished, Katara got up to start clearing everything away, and when y/n offered her help, there was a small moment of hesitation before she nodded at her, taking Sokka’s advice of trying to give her a chance.
Y/n was pleased when Katara allowed her to help, sitting next to her when she used her water bending to clean the dishes and y/n dried them up. It would’ve been even quicker if she could have used her fire bending to dry the dishes but she was still not ready to reveal that bit of herself.
As they finished their task Katara turned to her, “Um, I was wondering why your nickname was Lia? If it’s alright to ask?”
She smiled at the water bender, “Yeah of course. It started with my mum actually, my favourite flower was always the camellia flower, so she’d always call me ‘her little camellia’, and then enough people heard it and started calling me Lia, or Little Lia at the time,” she smiled at the memories of the people who loved her and who she had lost, “But yeah after a while Lia just stuck and it makes me feel closer to my mum I guess.”
Katara had felt enough pain at her own mother dying that she recognised the glassy look in y/n’s eyes as she recalled her mum, and she felt herself softening towards the older girl, reaching out she squeezed the Fire Nation girl’s shoulder, “I understand, since my mum died I’ve worn her necklace to feel closer to her. It’s the small things I guess.”
Y/n nodded at the girl, giving her a shy smile, “The small things.”
Feeling some of the tension between the pair dissipate, they both made their way back to where the boys were sitting feeling slightly lighter, Momo launching himself at his new favourite member as soon as they were sat down, cherishing the warmth her body emitted as a fire bender.
It didn’t take long until the events of the past few days caught up with the group and they all fell asleep, the embers of the fire casting a small glow over their campsite.
———
Sokka woke up with a groan, he had never been a morning person and living on the road with the constantly happy and chatty Avatar was something that he suspected he’d never get used to. Not to mention their new companion was somehow always awake early as well and would also chat to said boy - it was all just a lot in the mornings. He looked over to the Avatar himself and witnessed him trying to flirt with his sister in his own weird way, somehow getting her to agree to go exploring with him for the day.
That left him with y/n for the day, and he was hoping to ask her to teach him some combat skills, if he actually got the nerves to ask. He’d already been impressed with her skill with a blade on numerous occasions and even if just a few months ago he would’ve turned his nose up at her teaching him anything due to the fact she was a girl, his time with Suki had started changing his mind then and he’d since been proven wrong multiple times. So all he had to do was ask, that wouldn’t be so hard would it?
It turned out it was that hard. He was being ridiculous he knew but as he watched her practice her forms next to the stream - the perfect time to him to ask for some pointers, he was well aware of this - he just couldn’t bring himself to ask.
So instead he watched. She looked calm as she went through her movements, the sun shining on her dark curls, as she span and lunged with no weapon in her hand, a true warrior even with no sword in her hand. He hated to admit, especially because he knew he should be wary of her, but he was starting to admire her, not just for her skills in combat but she was already good friends with Aang and maybe even starting to gain Katara’s trust if their relaxed attitude towards each other last night was any indication - and that in itself was nothing short of a miracle. But other than that she was pretty. She was really pretty, and Sokka couldn’t help but notice it anytime the firelight danced in her eyes or she laughed at one of Aang’s dumb jokes, or sometimes his dumb jokes, and it was beginning to annoy him. Why after everything, after Yue, did he start thinking a Fire Nation girl was pretty? It was stupid and he shook himself out of his thoughts and started walking towards her before he could psyche himself out of his plan.
“Hi,” y/n opened her eyes and raised a questioning eyebrow at the Water Tribe boy who had interrupted her morning forms, “I, um, was wondering, if you’d be able to teach me some sword skills or something I don’t know - it’s just I feel like I need to know more than just my trusty boomerang and you are you know, um, really good with a sword and you could help me? Maybe, if you want, if you don’t want to you don’t have to. Please stop me from talking.”
She couldn’t help but laugh a little at how flustered he had gotten trying to ask her for help - it was kinda cute and she smiled as he avoided her eyes.
“I can teach you somethings if you want, although can’t say I’ll be a good teacher, if you get hurt I’m not taking the blame when Katara gets annoyed at us.” She joked, pleased with herself when Sokka gave her a hopeful smile.
“Yeah I would like that, and don’t you worry my sister knows I’m to blame in any and all accidents, she’s had practice dealing with me for years.”
“Okay well we can start off with the basic defensive forms if that’s alright with you?” He nodded at her, glad he’d gotten over himself and asked - hopefully if he learnt a lot from her over time he’d no longer feel useless when Team Avatar found themselves in dangerous situations.
They went over the numerous defence stances for hours until the sun was at the highest point in the sky and they declared it was time to have a break, both of them lying down on the hard ground, a comfortable silence enveloping between themselves.
Y/n was busy thinking about how she’d initially been taught her combat skills to better help Sokka when her thoughts were interrupted by the older boy himself.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’ve been thinking about that dumb swamp, and was wondering what was it you saw when we were in there? Again you don’t have to answer if I’m being too nosey.”
She turned to look at him, making eye contact briefly before she lay on her back once again, debating whether she wanted to talk about it or not.
Silence stretched between them, and just as Sokka thought he had been too inconsiderate in his questioning, she spoke.
“I saw my mother.”
She could feel Sokka tense slightly beside her before facing her fully, her eyes remained on the sky above her, the clouds moving across it in various shapes, calming her down.
“She died a few years ago now, there was this illness in our city, it claimed a lot of lives but that didn’t make it any less painful when I lost her I guess, and my father-“ she took in a sharp breath at the thought of him, “none of us took it well and seeing her in that swamp, I just wasn’t ready for it.”
Sokka watched as she wiped a stray tear with her hand and was getting ready to say something to her before she continued speaking.
“But that wasn’t the worst of it. I… I touched her shoulder so I could see her face for the first time in so long, I wanted to make sure I still remembered it you know? But when she turned around it wasn’t her anymore.”
There were lots of tears falling down her cheeks now, as she remembered what she’d seen, but she continued telling the silent boy beside her, hoping that talking about it would make things easier.
“Instead of my mother it was a man who I… hurt a few years ago. It’s the thing I’m most ashamed of and it was why I left the Fire Nation actually, it’s just seeing his face and remembering what I did, even though at the time I didn’t want to, it was just too much.”
She sniffed turned to look at Sokka again, scared but curious as to how he would react to her admission, even if it wasn’t a full admission, but she needed to know that he didn’t suddenly hate her.
He leant over and wiped a tear of the cheek closest to him, “Thank you, for telling me, I’m not sure it’ll make you feel better but the person I’ve learnt you to be is not someone who would willingly hurt others, so to me, you’re not a bad person, and this does not change that opinion at all.”
She hiccuped, feeling a small weight off her shoulders even if he did not know the whole story he didn’t think she was a monster and that was enough for now. She went to reply to him when their moment was broken by the arrival of Aang and Katara from their little adventure, happily chatting away and asking about lunch. Y/n gave Sokka one last smile, wiped away the rest of her tears and went to greet Aang, trying to listen to him whilst he spoke about a mile a minute about the animals they’d seen.
———
That night, after dinner had been eaten and cleared up, there was, for the first time since y/n had joined the group, a nice and relaxed atmosphere surrounding the group and it stayed that way until they departed their small campsite the next day. Their break was over and now the hunt for Aang’s earth bending teacher was back on the schedule.
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