Making Sense of It: Sukka (on hiatus)

Chapter 13: Sokka

Sokka woke up early. He always woke up early when they were in the cabin. There was just something about the light reflecting off of the snow that did it. Katara was the same way, and he heard her humming in the kitchenette. Sokka sat up, and saw Suki, still asleep on the armchair across from him. The fire had gone out, so it was a little chillier than before, and she was shivering. Sokka hesitated, before taking a throw blanket and gently placing it over her. Then he went to find Katara. 

"Ready?" She asked, "Everyone's asleep, so we should be able to be there and back before they wake up." He nodded, slipped on his shoes, threw on a puffy coat, and they left the house quietly, just in time to see a deer dart away into the trees. Leading away from the house was a small path, that thankfully hadn't been completely covered with snow. Sokka and Katara followed it through the cedar and oak trees, neither of them saying a word. Katara was carrying a backpack. 

"Did you bring the-"

"Flowers, yeah," she replied, "Lillies, daisies, heather and hydrangeas."

"Heather? Hydrangeas?"

"For Yue," Katara said, with a bit of uncertainty, "I thought that maybe..." her voice trailed off.

"I think that's a great idea," Sokka said warmly. Eventually the path got steeper, and they found themselves trekking up a steep hill. It would all be worth it though, for the view at the top.

And what a view it was. The edge of a cliff, looking out into the valley, framed by rocky cliffs dusted in white, sugary snow. It had been their mom's favorite spot, and they used to come up here with her and dad all the time, before she'd died. Then they'd just come up with their dad, until he lost his job and had to go abroad in order to get another one. 

"At least we have each other," Katara muttered, echoing Sokka's thoughts. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a bouquet of daisies and lillies, freckled with pink. She took out a second bouquet, this one had heather and little blue flowers. Sokka remembered considering buying them before Yue's birthday. They only bloom for a short time. There were four tree stumps, and the siblings sat on two of them, breathing in the cold winter air. Katara handed him Yue's bouquet. He held it tightly, and then placed it gently on the ground. Katara did the same with their mother's. 

"Ready," he said hoarsely. She nodded, and they walked back down the path, feeling lighter than before. 

~~~

Aang had made pancakes, and when Katara and Sokka walked inside the cabin, he, Suki, and Gran Gran, who had finally woken up, were eating them. Sokka immediately realized how hungry he was. 

"Pancake?" Suki asked as he sat down at the table next to her.

"I believe that's a rhetorical question," Sokka replied, and helped himself to four of them. Then Gran Gran gave him a stern look, and he put one back. After breakfast, Aang, Suki, Sokka, and Katara went out to the sledding hill that was a few minutes away from the cabin. 

"How long have you guys had this place?" Suki asked. 

"I think Gran Gran's fiance was super rich, and he bought it for her as an engagement gift," Katara said.

"Aw," Aang said, "That's so sweet."

"Then she ditched him at the alter," Sokka added, "Katara forgot that last part. She still got to keep the cabin though." Suki snorted. As soon as they got to the hill, Aang jumped on his penguin shaped sled and sped down the hill, with Katara close behind on a sled with a similar design. Sokka remembered how for a few years, Katara had stopped doing so called childish things like that. The weight of losing a mother and bearing the burden of keeping her family together had been heavy on her, it had made her grow up faster than she should've. Then, one year, she'd invited Aang, and he'd convinced her to try sledding again. Sokka had never seen his sister happier. 

They had barely gotten started when it began to snow, hard, so much that the path had been completely obscured. The four of them were almost running to get back to the cabin, which was probably why Suki slipped and fell, with her ankle at an odd angle. 

"Are you okay?!" Sokka asked a bit frantically, bending down to help her up.

"I'm fine, Sokka," she replied, "I think I just twisted my ankle." Sokka looked for an ice pack in the cabin, while Katara set Suki on the couch and made sure her foot was elevated. Sokka couldn't find an ice pack and was considering just getting some snow from outside when he bumped into Gran Gran, who was holding a cup of tea. 

"Chamomile," she said, "For your friend." Sokka walked into the living room to see that Aang had gotten ice from the cooler in the car to use. Sokka sat next to Suki and handed her the tea. She sniffed it, and smiled.

"Chamomile," she said fondly. They played card games, Uno, Speed, blackjack, for about an hour, until it stopped snowing. Aang and Katara went back outside. 

"Are you sure you don't want to go with them?" Suki asked.

"It's cold and icy, and I have a runny nose," Sokka said, "Should I make a fire?"

"Sokka, you don't have to dote on me, I just twisted my ankle." Sokka threw a log and some kindling into the fire place and started it. 

"I'm not doting on you, I just... Okay, I am, sorry." Suki laughed.

"Don't be, I appreciate it." There wasn't much to do inside, so they just sat for a few minutes taking in the warmth of the fire. Suki sat up abruptly.

"Let's go outside."

"But- your ankle"

"We won't go sledding or anything," she said, "I just want to go and look at the snow, and then we can go back in." Sokka agreed, though somewhat reluctantly, and they walked out onto the porch. A deer that looked similar to the one he and Katara had seen earlier was sitting under a grove of aspen trees. 

"Maybe it was the one we saw this morning," he whispered to himself. He sat down on the steps of the cabin, and Suki joined him.

"See," she said, "It was worth it." Sokka looked at her. The pale snow seemed to make all her features brighter, her grin, her hair, her eyes. 

"You're right," he said, "It was."

~~~

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!