Making Sense of It: Sukka (on hiatus)

Chapter 5: Suki

"So he was at Azula's house?"

"Yeah," Suki was absentmindedly scratching at Appa's head as Aang looked on with worry, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, as long as Appa is safe and sound, I'm happy," Aang paused, "I'm mad at Azula though."

"You should be. She stole your dog."

"I know," Aang said, "It's easier to just forgive people though." 

"Dinner's ready!" Katara shouted from the kitchen. She and Sokka came in with a platter of noodles and some ice teas for each of them. Aang and Suki immediately began scarfing down the meal.

"It's my Gran Gran's recipe," Katara explained, "I learned it all from her."

"Hey, I helped too," Sokka retorted, while helping himself to seconds, "I still wish you had put meat in it." Aang shot him a glare. 

"I told you, Sokka, I'm trying to go vegetarian," Katara said, "or did you forget that?"

"I forgot it. Gran Gran would be horrified."

"Don't be so dramatic," Katara rolled her eyes, "Besides, she's listening to the oldies station upstairs, it's not like she'll know."

It must be odd, Suki thought, to have a sibling, someone you could always rely on. Suki was an only child who was fine on her own, but to have someone who would be there for you, through thick and thin, sometimes she longed for that. 

Once they were finished with dinner, Katara went over to a bookshelf on the far wall and pulled out a board game. 

"Have you played Four Nations?" she asked Suki, who shook her head. 

"Okay, so basically, you have to go through all of the four nations," Sokka gestured to the colorful game board excitedly,"Without losing your cards, which are how you ward off danger." Immediately, Suki knew who her prime competitor would be. She knew it was just a game, but if there was one thing she and Sokka had in common, it was that they needed to win. 

"Jeez," Aang said halfway through the game, when he had used up all his cards in the earth kingdom, "If I were the chosen one, the world would've been doomed." 

"I only have two cards left," Katara sighed, "Suki, how are you so good at this?!" Suki shrugged. 

"Dumb luck?" Katara was out a few minutes later, once they reached the fire nation. Suki and Sokka were neck and neck until the battle against the fire lord, where Suki was one card short of defeating him. 

"I can't believe this!" she laughed with an exaggerated hand gesture, knocking over her ice tea and spilling it all over her green t-shirt. 

"You can borrow a shirt in my bedroom, upstairs, first door on your right," Katara said nonchalantly, as if it weren't the first time the game had ended in a mess. Suki rushed upstairs and into Katara's cool blue bedroom. She found a basic white blouse and threw it on, before realizing that she had gotten some tea on her hair. The bathroom was across the hall, so she washed the tea out, and put her auburn hair in a ponytail, a small one, since it was already short. She glanced at herself in the mirror, and saw something that surprised her. 

Suki didn't look like herself, and it wasn't just from wearing Katara's clothes. She looked more carefree, like she was having fun. Her cheeks were red and she felt the urge to smile. Her blue eyes seemed brighter. Suki shook her head and walked out of the bathroom. She was about to walk back downstairs when she saw something else, the room next to Katara's, presumably Sokka's, open just a crack, as if it were inviting her in. Suki squared her shoulders and opened the door. The first thing that she noticed, besides the considerable clutter of Sokka's room, was a colorful photograph on his nightstand. It was Sokka, looking a little bit younger, happier, and standing next to him, taking the picture, was a girl with long white hair. 

Yue? 

"You shouldn't be looking in places you don't belong." Suki spun around and saw an old woman looking up at her. 

"I- I'm sorry ma'am," Suki stuttered to Sokka and Katara's grandmother.

"Sokka trusts you," she said, "You don't want to lose that." She turned around and headed back into her bedroom, where the radio was playing old music. Suki was thoroughly frightened. 

"That shirt really suits you," Katara said as Suki bounded down the stairs, "We're going to watch The Puppet Master."

"Which I advised against," Aang muttered.

"Great," Suki said, "I love horror movies." Sokka smiled at her. Katara handed them a bowl of popcorn to share, while she and Aang snuggled up on the couch with their own bowl. 

"Have you seen this one before?" Sokka asked as the movie began with a cheesy credit opening.

"Are you kidding? I've seen all the classics."

"Amon?"

"Yeah."

"The Red Lotus?"

"Yup."

"I'm impressed," Sokka said, hogging all the popcorn to himself, "How's soccer?"

"It's alright. Azula is... a lot, and I think everyone's bitter that I'm team captain-"

"So... it's not alright." Suki looked at him. 

"I guess not." Sokka thought for a moment, then he said hesitantly,

"I used to do soccer. I was only a sophomore, but I was the goalie, and there were definitely some people who resented me for it. As much as I love being competitive, there are downsides to it, even if you're the winner." 

"Why didn't you tell me you did soccer?" Suki asked. 

"I guess I just associate it with some painful memories," Sokka said quickly, "That's all." Suki should've been even more intrigued, she should've wanted to find out about what happened even more, but... she wasn't. She wanted to accept that Sokka had some events in his past that he just didn't want to talk about. She didn't want to ruin a potential friendship with him. They were interrupted by the bloodcurdling scream of the character in the movie, a teenage girl who looked a lot like Katara, for some reason. 

~~~

"Thanks for having me over," Suki said as she gathered her things after the movie.

"Are you kidding?! You found Appa," Aang said. 

"We'd be happy to have you over any time," Katara assured. 

"I guess I'll see you in class next week," Sokka said awkwardly, "Is Monday good for tutoring." Suki nodded.

"My grades are going up," she said, "It's because of you." 

"Oh," Sokka's cheeks reddened, "You don't give yourself enough credit." Suki smiled. She said her goodbyes and headed out the door, hopped on her bike, and rode home. 

~~~

Thanks for Reading!

Also FYI, the board game that they play, Four Nations, is something I made up based on ATLA.