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Nostalgia had to take a backseat today for it was the day when he made her his forever. The day they defined their own ‘forever’.Every once in a while she is reminded of him when a cool gush of wind engulfs her on a warm day, or when a cool splash of water resembles his carefree laughter after a bad joke. But most importantly, she remembers him every night before sleeping because after a whole year of being together, it has been difficult getting adjusted to not falling asleep in his arms.
Twice before on this day she has found herself struggling to find happiness on this day. It is not supposed to be this way! And there comes a time when a warrior’s external makeup strips off to reveal just a young girl inside. One of her fondest things to remember is, for someone who used to try so hard to draw art, he was art himself! Even though he never stopped making his amusing drawings, he definitely mastered drawing her. Countless nights were spent starting with him reciting his new poetry to her and by the end she felt almost undressed by mere verses of his recitation. But that was a secret she wished to keep to herself! How would it be? If her Kyoshi warrior sisters would come to know about how powerless their leader could become with just a few words?
---**---------4 years ago--------------------
This was the third night that she had been crying at the dock of the lake. She had tried multiple times and failed to calm herself down, to make herself understand that this won’t be the end. When distance had kind of always been a part of their relationship, then why was it so hard to come to terms with again? Had these six months uncovered the lace of calmness and composure that otherwise adorned her slim frame? It was very difficult to imagine again a day without him.
Why..why.. why does this have to happen? Why does the day have to come?
‘Thought I’d find you here..’, Sokka’s voice was a great warning for now she could wipe her tears before he saw her like this. Sokka had a way with things always. He could make her laugh at the drop of the hat and make her forget about the thousand kilometres that will come between them in about a week. She really wanted him to crack a joke now, take the silence away. If it is going to be months and years before they see each other again, then let there be no moment of silence between them! She wiped her tears immediately and turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the redness formed in her eyes.
Sokka sat beside her calmly. Why is he so calm? Does he not care? Does it not affect him the way it does me? Am I the only one worried that we will fade away into the distance that has come between us and remember our love as only a distant memory? ‘Yeah… I guess I just wanted a moment of solitude Sokka.. I just.. I am finding it hard to cope with what’s to come..’ Suki said as calmly as she could to not trigger her crying.‘Suki, why does it have to be the end of everything? I explained it to you last night sweetheart..Comeon.. We don’t have to live the way our elders have. Sleeping next to eachother every night, eating your delicious breads everyday sounds a temptation too good to be true..our lives were never this easy.. and you know what they say.. if it is too good to be true, then it probably is. Whatever is happening is happening for the best. And hey, I told you right? Distance will increase our love for eachother.’ He came and put his arms around her waist and closed his eyes. ‘maybe it will make you miss me enough to not stop me every morning from doing..’
A huge punch to his stomach made him realise that she was not having it. None of it. ‘How can you be so practical? Do you have a heart? Do you feel anything anymore? Is there anything there?’ she will poke his chest with her index finger. The poking felt like a thousand ice daggers plunging into his chest. Alright, the time to joke was over. He was not getting away with his humour tonight.
Suki stepped back so that she could see him. To her own surprise, her trembling and sheer anger prevented her from meeting his gaze. ‘Don’t. Please don’t. Don’t say anything. Don’t even come near me please. Just, just let this be. I don’t want this to be one of the last..’ Suki felt a finger on her lips. ‘Sshhh.. It’s okay. This won’t be the last of anything Suki. Today will however, be the first of many.’Sokka spoke in a tone of the seriousness, his blue eyes glistening with his own tears which made her want to burst into a hug and let all the tears flow so that the rest of days can be spent happily. It was not easy to get from one place to another. Even a letter would take days or maybe weeks to reach.
She prayed for these glistening eyes to become an ocean in which she could make her own island and stay forever in. No one really knew the pain she felt in the days spent at Boiling Rock. Those endless nights were spent believing in a certain warrior who would come and bring justice with him. By the end she was so pained by her faith in him that it would have been easier to believe Azula when she said he wouldn’t come. But no, when she loved him, she loved him a hundred percent. The belief would be unshakenly, unmistakenly concrete. Maybe that was the reason she calmed down now. ‘The first of many?’ that was all she managed to utter in the moment.
Sokka’s eyes glistened with the love but his tone became serious. ‘I want to tell you something. It has been on my mind ever since I came to know I would have to leave. I wanted to do this properly but no better time than now I guess. Believe me Suki, it is not easy. Not easy for either of us. Not easy when these days in Earth Kingdom made me forget that a day like this would come. So I had to think fast. Articulate my thoughts. And I did.’Sokka managed to say with his eyes straight up piercing Suki’s. It was a side of him that everyone was more or less aware of but hid so well behind his goofy nature. But she wanted to hear the whole thing. Now.
‘Sokka, what is it? I want to hear it now! This better be important okay? I haven’t even stopped crying!’ She said. Sokkacupped her cheeks in his hands and tears wet them instantly. The water her little beautiful eyes held escaped its containment and fell into the hands that it knew would cherish it. ‘Are you gonna give me a little smile? Comeon!!! I literally thought of it now! Seriously Suki, I needed time for this but oh well!’Sokka said coming closer.
‘Please don’t tell me it’s your poetry! Sokka, can conversations happen sometimes that don’t revolve around YOUR talents?? Can you please hold a decent conversation for once! Confront this situation! ‘Suki stopped crying the first time in two hours. Well. An achievement. He’d take it! ‘Oh it is a conversation alright..will you give me a chance to say it please???’Sokka asked. ‘Okay. As if I have a choice.’ Suki muttered sarcastically. Sokka excitedly held her hands and sat down on his knees. To a woman who had been on the other end of his beautiful recitations almost every night, it was a pretty normal Sokka move. She rolled her eyes due to the predictability of it all.
‘Once upon a time, A wolf fell in love with a lady,
From different worlds they were, but together a union that only imbued melody,
A call came from the pack for the wolf, devastated were they,
The lady grieved, searched for a way to cope with the seperationeveryday,
Just wanted that in her pain, he meet her halfway,
Little did she know, his love was concrete and not clay,
And so he found all his courage one day, and managed to ask,
As great as it would be a promise, it would be a risk,
But there won’t be anything as important as this,
Suki, will you marry me? And hopefully make this a moment to forever reminisce?’
If it was his intention to make her stop crying, he definitely failed. He stroked her hands gently to calm her down.‘You want to marry me? Really?’ she said once she was able to speak. ‘Well, Iam asking you. Hey, I know we are gonna be apart. I am not gonna see you everyday. You won’t hear my poems everyday. But is love defined by that? Is love defined by how much of eachother we see? Because I remember that the Suki I love still loved me in prison. And I remember that without even a conversation and just a kiss, I knew that you were mine and I was yours. I don’t need to be next to you to keep the flame of our love alive. And you don’t need to cuddle with me every night to remind me to dream of you. Please marry me Suki. I love you.’ His smile had faded. The excited eyes had turned into eyes of longing. Longing for her ‘Yes’.
‘I will marry you Sokka. You are mine to have forever…’ Suki pulled him up and they repeated the same embrace they shared in Boiling Rock. Except now, they were engaged. He stroked her back and she let herself absorb this man that she has decided to marry. Together, they stood for quite a few minutes before Suki asked ‘wait a minute. How are we going to get the betrothal necklace in time? You better believe I want one mister! You aren’t going anywhere without it~’ she said playfully with her nose playfully stroking his ear. It really was the small moments like this that made him sure of this. ‘would you be so kind as to check my back pocket then ma’am?’ He replied playfully, grinning ear to ear, anticipating what she is going to find.
They really were one of the most playful romantics around, their love as teenagers transcending beautifully into their current phase of young adulthood. Suki immediately let him go and checked his back pocket. As soon as she put her hand in, Sokka gave her a grin and she returned it back. This wasn’t the first time she checked his back pocket for something, because she checked it out for his good form pretty much every morning. Her hands found a little ribbon and in her excitement she pulled out with so much excitement she could have almost broken it!
A blue ribbon. The blue of his eyes. Shouldn’t the ribbon be darker in colour? The pendant had a water tribe symbol carved over a fan which looked like it was the sun. if Yue was the moon of his life, then Suki was his sun. ‘Put it on me’, She looked into his eyes deeply after stroking the outline of the waves and the fan lovingly on the pendant.How privileged am I to be his? They gave each other a warm smile, a promise of forever lacing their touch as she handed the necklace back to him.
‘I’ll be yours forever and more.’
‘I promise to come back to you’
‘I can’t promise you when, but I can promise you that I will’
‘As if I’ll leave you a choice?’
Promises laced their touch and unspoken vows were spoken. They hadn’t been very traditional anyway.
Sokka turned her around. Her bare back was exposed due to her crop top and he pulled her closer to himself gently, his warm chest comforting her cold back. Suki wasn’t the type, but she blushed profusely at the contact. This wasn’t the first or even the hundredth time this contact happened, but this was the first time it was as man and wife and that was enough to make a girl blush. She was smiling, waiting for the necklace to lace her neck and solidify the promise of marriage. Where were her wits now? But where were his? He came closer to her ears and whispered an ‘I love you’ while kissing her neck and sending goosebumps and shivers all over her body. Suki felt the necklace lace her neck, his hands at the back of it tying it with all the love he had in his body and soul for her.
He turned her around to see her with the necklace on herself. Their deep blues met, and ofcourse questions were asked by her. Comeon, say something. Tell me how I look. For a man who seriously can’t shut up to save his own life, a man who prides himself on his wit, a man who thinks that the spirit of Art resides in him, he was pretty much speechless. And there she stood. A holy union of the fan and waves creating the most beautiful sunrise on the ocean on her neck. ‘You look beautiful. I’m sorry I am not able to describe you right now. I guess that’s the effect you have on me. But really, you do. Thank you Suki, for saying yes. I promise on my own life that I will never make you regret this.’, the simplest and most predictable words came out of him, but who can blame him? Suki smiled and looked at the necklace adorning her. ‘I love you too Sokka. I promise that I will love you till the end of time. Till the sun rises over the ocean every morning.
‘How did you come up with this though? The way you used my fan over the symbol of the water tribe? It’s because I’m your sun?’ her eyes bouncing with excitement, she has guessed the answer after all! ‘Hehe yeah, that’s not it Suki’, he said with a sheepish grin on her face. His concepts just never land, do they? ‘so umm, actually, yes it is you and me. Together creating a sight for the world to see. But it’s more. The water and the sun are something you and I both see everyday. So when you see it from Kyoshiisland, believe me that I’ll be seeing it too. We may not be standing next to eachother, but when you see this sight, it will be easier to imagine that we are together. Let the sight of the sun and water remind you of me. That way, every morning you see outside your window, you will see us together. The warmth will fill your heart as it will fill mine. Days and nights will pass without you by my side but when I see this sight, you won’t be so far from me after all. I’ll feel closer to you. Won’t you say?’,Sokka asked her in a calm voice and yes, the storm had calmed now.
Suki put her arms around him and came close enough so their noses were touching. ‘Sure you are the chief now and not a born poet?’ she asked in a witty but romantic manner, now gently stroking his closed eye lid and cheeks with hers. ‘Ma’am I am also an artist, a storyteller, a swordsman..’ he stopped as he felt her pull away from him and raise her eye brow playfully. ‘And a husband’, he said warmly pulling her into the most tender kiss they had ever shared. No distance will come between them anymore. A union has formed tonight. It will be honoured till death.
****------------------------------------------------
Oh memories. Sweet memories. Remembering this moment every now and then was pretty routine for her. But it was mandatory to remember today. She finally got up and walked over to the window and opened the curtains revealing the warmest sunlight. The sunlight glistened over the ocean.
Sokka held Suki in his arms somewhere and spun her around.
Suki pretended to throw Sokka’s boomerang in the dustbin and was having one of the heartiest laughs of her life.
Sokka was curling her hair in his fingers and softly kissing her cheeks in bed after a long sleep.
Suki was sitting in his arms and watching the new Ember Island play.
Dreaming about all these things gave her more warmth than a thousand blankets on a cold night. So many visions for just one sight. That night he gave her more than a necklace. He gave her a sight to spring a thousand dreams from. Their marriage was non-traditional, but it really was the happiest. Though she missed him so much, she wouldn’t have their love any other way.
Oh,it is a beautiful day today. I can’t wait to be back in your arms now, Sokka. I love you. Happy Anniversary, my dear.