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The air outside had a chill to it, a soft fog curling off of the water toward the small camp the group had set up as their latest haven. They were no strangers to travel or hard ground at this point, so the majority of the group was still sleeping aside from one. Soon to be two.
“Psst, Sokka.” A muffled grunt arose from the mound the Aang prodded with his finger. From his position crouched on his feet, he was in perfect position to hunch over and poke the exposed skin of Sokka’s foot where it was just out from beneath the blanket. “Sokka. Sokka, wake up.”
“What, Aang? What?”
Aang quickly shifted his position back and into a standing position as Sokka forced himself into a sitting position, his hair a horrible rat-nest of tangles, the facial hair he sported now not faring any better.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” Aang said in greeting, choosing to ignore the exaggerated eye roll that Sokka was over dramatizing. “Can we talk?”
“Can we do that, say, sometime after the sun has fully come up?”
“No, because the girls will be up by then,” Aang countered, casually earthing bending a small stone to serve as a stool as he plopped down near Sokka’s seated form. He took a deep breath, resting his elbows on his knees as he steepled his fingers.
“By “girls” do you mean Katara?”
“How’d you know?”
“Eww, I don’t want to talk about my sister and your oogies at the crack of dawn.” Sokka flung himself back down, throwing a hand over his eyes in the process. His attempts at avoidance were thwarted as a gust of wind proceeded to rip the blanket away from him, exposing his previously warmed skin to the morning chill.
“I’ll sneak you some extra food rations when Katara isn’t looking!” Aang pleaded from his seated position, eyes wide.
Sokka sighed deeply, rolling over to prop up on his arm as he looked at the face of his friend, in all it’s puppy dog eyed glory. Sure, Aang was fresh faced and just into his 20th year, but it was hard to separate the wide eyed mischievous boy from the fully realized avatar sometimes.
“So if I talk to you about Katara, you’re going to then trick Katara so I can get more breakfast rations?”
“Yes.”
“Well count me in, in what way do you need my assistance?” Sokka relented, now able to stroke a real beard in place of the fake one he had carried for years.
The invitation to officially spill his guts sent Aang into a torrential spewing of bottled emotions. “Katara’s upset with me, I know it. I can’t figure out what I did wrong, or if maybe I said something wrong? She’s been a little short and huffy with me since we left from visiting Zuko after his wedding. I mean, maybe all the flying on Appa has gotten to her-”
“Aang.”
“-or maybe she doesn’t like that all the food I got was overspiced this time?”
“Aang.”
“Or maybe it’s because I forgot -”
“Aang!”
“What?”
Sokka gave a shrug as he sighed. “Aang, you haven’t talked to Katara about getting married.”
Aang straightened up, an odd sensation flitting up as his spine as he repeated the concept. “Get married to Katara?”
“Is...is that not where you two have been headed, or was I mistaken? Don’t make me have to fight the avatar with no bending,”Sokka whined. “Come on Aang, seriously? A lot of people we met over the years are starting families.”
“Oh..” Aang breathed, blinking as if the thought hadn;t occurred to him before. Which, honestly, it hadn’t. “Sorry. I just.. Air nomads don’t really...marry.”
“What?”
“I mean, it’s not that I’m against marriage! No! It was more about the uniting of people, but not really... encouraged? We...the air nomads, I mean, we were a community of monks and nuns-”
“Do we need to have the sex talk?” Sokka interrupted, giving a waggle of his eyebrows and he settled himself more comfortably in front of his embarrassed friend, watching as the redness that was on par with the fire nation flag creep up to Aang’s ears
“I don’t think that’s necessary”
“I mean, cause if you and Katara are gonna be doing the do, with the possibility of little air babies, I just want to -”
“Sokka!” Aang choked out in a high pitch plea, “Marriage. We were talking about marriage.”
“Shouldn't you be asking my sister that?”
A disgruntled groan escaped from Aang as he allowed himself to fall backward of the stone, using the air to cushion his blow as he settled onto the ground. “Do you really think that’s why she’s upset with me?”
“I’m not my sister, so I can’t answer that for sure. But, you know, maybe she mentioned it a couple times.” Sokka stood up, stretching to pop his back as he made his way to the fallen comrade. “I’m just saying. In the water tribe, we’re close to our families. I know you’ve got your ‘monkly’ ways, but I know that you love my sister. But you’re also the avatar, and I think you can get married. If you want to.”
“So how do I propose to your sister?” Aang cast his gaze upwards to meet Sokka’s from where he stood above him, arms crossed.
“How good are you at carving?”
“Just earthbend it out, Twinkletoes!” Toph groaned as she leaned across the table from Aang. The incessant scraping as he held the tiny stone near his face, his tongue protruding from the side of his mouth as he worked.
“No, Toph. It’s not special if I do that.”
“How much more special can it get? It’s a fuckign betrothal necklace from Avatar, sheesh.” She made a show of covering her hands with her ears, her feet resting on the table where she could feel Aang scraping away.
Aang had recruited Toph for this mission, mainly because neither he nor Sokka could be trusted on their own when allowed to roam freely in the city. Toph was there to keep him on track and focused as he worked. He wasn’t a particular fan of pulling the “I’m the Avatar” card, but sometimes it did help to swing them free lodgings if they went to a city that was faring well. Sokka’s job during Aang’s precious betrothal necklace carving time was to find a way to make Katara’s shopping and supply gathering take a little more time than usual. The house they were occupying had a bedroom off from the main area, which is where he and Toph were currently posted. She was also supposed to act as guard to alert him to the arrival of their companions.
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“And just..there!” He cried triumphantly. “How does it look?”
“I’m sure it looks great, Aang,” Toph replied sarcastically.
He gave a lopsided grin, examining the small stone he’d found near the water they’d been camping by the day before. He’d stay up most of the night sketching designs in the sand and working on the necklace itself. He’d spent any hidden moment he could during the day getting it as best he could, and he was giddy with nerves over it. Marriage to Katara. ‘Officially the Avatar’s WIFE Katara.’ A family with Katara, with kids. Maybe more airbenders. He felt the tear prickle in his eye, yelping as Toph dealt a hard blow to his arm.
“Suck in the tears, they’re back.”
Aang hastily shoved the necklace into the midst of his robes. He was going to do it. He would actually propose to Katara tonight. And with a little bit of luck, she’d say yes.