Chapter Text
Dear Zuko,
Was that right? Dear ? Sokka crumpled up the page and tried again.
To the newly appointed Fire Lord ,
No, that wasn’t right either.
“The fishermen are almost ready to go,” Suki said cheerfully. She stepped into the hut to grab her bag. Sokka was sitting cross legged with his sword across his lap and a desk made up of rough boards before him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just writing a letter,” Sokka replied. There was the tiniest sound of annoyance in his tone. All he wanted was a few moments alone.
“A letter?” Suki pressed, ”Sokka, we have to go.”
“I know.” He said firmly. “But I also have to do this. It’s important.”
Suki gave up arguing but she also didn’t leave. Instead she sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. Sokka was very aware of her eyes prying at the imperfect words he had written. “I’m just glad Toph has decided to stay,” she said at random. “It’s so honorable that she would want to help restore this town. And now that we are returning to Kyoshi, I feel like this all worked out, don’t you?”
Was she giddy? Sokka gave her a side look, catching an odd glow about her.
“You promised them food and supplies,” Sokka mumbled. “You practically bribed the town to take us back to Kioshi.”
Suki brought her head back up and looked at him.
“It’s not bribing, it’s helping . You knew Toph’s plan to get a Fire Nation ship to take us back to Ba Sing Se wasn’t going to work. You said so yourself.”
Sokka wasn’t sure why he was picking a fight right now. He dropped his quill and gave his full attention to Suki, who, to his surprise, wasn’t nearly as mad at him for arguing with her as he might have thought she’d be.
“You’re right,” he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. I’m glad we are going to Kioshi over Ba Sing Se and I’m glad we are helping the chief and everyone here. I just really need to finish this, ok?”
“What’s so important that you have to message Zuko?”
Hearing her admit to reading what Sokka had on the page made him a little hot. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t want her to read the letter when he was done, it was that he wasn’t done with it. He couldn’t have anyone judge his work before he had his real thoughts on the page. Instead of trying to explain all of that, Sokka kissed Suki on the cheek.
“Trust me. I only need five more minutes.”
As Sokka had hoped, the kiss worked like a charm.
“Fine. Five minutes,” Suki teased, leaving him alone in the hut.
Even without the letter out of his head, a part of him knew he wouldn’t want Suki reading it. There was something about what he had come to know during this trip that he knew she wouldn’t understand. He had realized it somehow when he had been left sitting under the worn avatar statue on the top of the cliff.
Toph and Suki had left him to ponder over why he had been, to quote Toph, “nothing more than a croaking sulk” . He sat there in the dark holding the even darker blade in his hand. When he had had his space sword made, he had been feeling a bit like how he had felt now; left out, useless… regular. His leg still throbbed. Why had it been him and only him to have ended the war with an injury? With the war over, he once again felt like he didn’t have anything real to offer the gang. Being left by Aang and Katara in Ba Sing Se had hurt, but how could his laughs and a few hair brained ideas compare to blood bending and mastering all the elements? That was why he had gone after the sword. He needed to know that he was an equal member of the team. But once the sword was back in his hands….
Without giving it much more thought, Sokka dove into the letter.
Zuko,
This sword used to hold a lot of significance to me. It reminded me of what made me special in our group. It was important then, but now that the war is over, I don’t need that reminder. The sword no longer feels like it belongs to me; it belongs to the Sokka who helped defeat your dad. Now that Ozai is defeated, I’ve had to find a new path just like you. You are a prince destined to lead the Fire Nation. I am a Southern Water Tribe prince destined to lead my tribe. I think I lost sight of that during the war but now I see things clearly. A water tribe prince doesn’t need a space sword, he needs his friends.
I offer you this sword as a tribute from one prince to another. I hope it will remind you of our journey towards friendship through helping Aang become the avatar. And I also hope it will stand as a testament to my promise to you and the fire nation: As prince of the Southern Water Tribe, I vow to always treat your people with respect and honor. Though your people have inflicted terrible atrocities to me and my tribe, I will never forget how the fire nation reminded me of my worth. I owe it to them to never forget theirs.
Prince of the Southern Water Tribe
Your friend and ally,
Sokka
Sokka folded the letter into threes and placed the sword on top of it. He wished he had a cool wax seal to send the letter off in. He felt the nakedness of the parchment spoke of his tribe’s lack of culture. He was a poor prince but he would find ways to remind the world of their respect for his people. For now the sword would have to do. Suddenly aware of how much time he had spent writing, Sokka reached for his satchel with one hand and hurried out of the tent with the sword and letter in the other.
The sun was bright and the wind strong - a perfect day to sail. Sokka eyed Suki who was already boarding the fishing boat with some of Ehazhy’s rather rough looking crew. Sokka hesitated before making his way to the shore. He scanned the paths and twig huts before finding what he was looking for.
Toph.
She stood leaned up against one of the homes with her shoulders tight. He passed her the sword and letter, forcing her to break her placid stance to put out her hands and take the treasure he was gifting her.
“You promise you will get it to him?” Sokka asked.
“Even if I have to build a stone bridge all the way to the Fire Nation, I’ll do it.” Sokka smiled at Toph. He had no doubt she’d get his letter to Zuko.
Sokka threw his satchel over his shoulder and gave Toph a hug. It was like hugging a board.
“Thank you,” Sokka said. He felt her stiffness slowly melt into a small, warm human as Toph hugged him back. It was a tender moment, if only for a moment.
“Your girlfriend is watching,” Toph muttered.
“You don’t know that,” Sokka broke away to see Toph smiling at him for calling her out on her blindness. “I’ll see you around,” he joked with her again. He knew Toph wouldn’t be able to truthfully say the same. Toph’s smile didn’t falter but it changed somehow as she responded solemnly,
“Goodbye Sokka.”
He jolted. Goodbye felt far too final. Sokka gave her a puzzled look that he knew she could not read. In those glassy eyes he saw the same standoffish regard Toph was known to have with Zuko. Like Zuko, Sokka was a prince and by saying goodbye, Toph was treating him like one.
“...Goodbye…” he said softly. As he turned away from her, Sokka reached into his satchel and gripped his boomerang hard. He held onto it until he and Suki were miles away from the town of Ehazhy on the open water. Only then did he allow himself to look back.