Chapter Text
The mirror has hung on the northwestern wall of his chambers for as long as he can remember. It's a curious shape, like that of a teardrop. He likes it, anyway. It reminds him of the water surrounding his home, the islands of Esceania, and how much he loves it. When he was younger, if he tilted his head back as far as it would go, he could just catch a glimpse of his dark brown hair peeking up over the edge. As he grew, each time he passed the mirror he was rewarded by seeing more and more of himself.
The day he stood in front of it and stared at all of himself also happened to be his eighth birthday, and he had never felt more proud, which was really saying something as a prince. He remembers his nervousness, the butterflies that took flight in his stomach when he woke up that day. His mother was there to rouse him instead of his nursemaid as a special treat, and her smile was soft and gentle as she helped him out of bed.
"Let's see how you've grown, now, shall we?" she said quietly, leading him down the wide stairs in his room to that special wall with the teardrop mirror. His eyes were closed tightly as his mother steered him to a stop in front of it. "Open your eyes, little one."
So he did. And there he was, all four feet seven inches of him. Sokka of Esceania, heir to the throne. He had laughed, throwing up his hands in excitement as he raced around the room shrieking, "I did it! I did it!"
"Yes, you did," his mother said in amusement, watching him run around and around. "Are you happy?"
He came to an abrupt stop in front of her and threw his arms around her legs. "Yes, yes, yes! Best birthday ever!"
She laughed and sank to her knees, hugging him back as hard as she could. They stayed there, embracing on the floor, for a long time, and finally his sister Katara had to come and fetch them for breakfast.
It seems silly now, at seventeen years old, to be excited about seeing yourself, but that was and is the best day of his life. He still remembers the butterflies in his stomach, the anxious feeling devouring his stomach, the nervousness that he wouldn't be tall enough. Every time he's put in a situation that makes him uncomfortable, his mind returns to that feeling, and the stupid reason that caused it, and suddenly the problem in front of him doesn't seem so bad.
Except for right now. This time, the butterflies aren't going away.
"For the last time, if you don't hold still, I can't help you," Katara whines as she circles his legs like a ravenous vulture, hungry for mistakes in his perfectly tailored uniform. She is determined that he looks his best.
He sighs. "Does it really matter how I look? She's blind, she can't tell the difference."
She pops up to glare at him. "Of course it matters! First impressions are very important, Sokka. This isn't just about you. It's about me, and Father, and - Spirits forbid - the entire country! Not to mention Toph's entire country, and her parents, and her people..." she begins rambling about duties and priorities, and he stops listening. He's perfected the art of tuning people out, living with Katara for sixteen years. Instead, he chooses to focus on his reflection, his own crystal blue eyes staring back at him from inside the teardrop mirror. The eyes found on nearly everyone on the islands, poor or rich, young or old. Katara's eyes, their father's eyes, their mother's eyes.
That's been a source of comfort in the years since his mother's passing, knowing that everywhere he looks, her eyes jump out at him. Even in himself, which is another reason he refuses to let anyone move the mirror, as outdated and ugly as it has grown to be. He looks in the mirror and sees his mother looking back at him, just as he's doing now. He sighs again, and his reflection sighs with him.
"Are you done yet?" he asks impatiently. Katara gives him a look as she tugs at his hair. Technically, she isn't supposed to be helping him - technically she's supposed to be getting ready herself - but he'd asked for her presence. If he closes his eyes and holds his breath, it might be his mother pulling the comb.
"Almost," she says, stepping back and motioning for him to turn around, which he does. She flicks a few imaginary dust specks away, her eyes snaking over his body expertly, then she nods and he's deemed acceptable. "Now, remember to hold your head high, smile, and don't let any of them see the twerp we all know you really are."
He smirks, and she pulls him down to embrace him tightly. "You'll be great," she whispers in his ear. "I know it."
"I always am," he whispers back, pulling away. Hastily she fixes his sash and brushes her hand across his ponytail, then steps back and curtsies.
"Your majesty," she teases.
"Your highness," he says, bowing with a grin. "Well, I'm off to meet Father. Wish me luck."
"You don't need it," she smiles, giving him a final kiss on the cheek before dashing through the long corridors of the palace to her own chambers, where her maids are no doubt waiting for her late return. She, too, must look her best for this. This is huge.
"Sitka," he calls to his butler, who perks up from helping his other servants pack up his things for the trip. They leave in a few hours.
"Yes, your majesty?"
"I'm ready." Sitka nods and begins toward the door, opening it for him, and he's just about to walk through when he changes his mind.
"Wait." He turns around and goes over to the mirror. His reflection grins at him, and he says, "Have this put in my trunks for the trip, someone."
"Yes, your majesty," another butler says.
"The next time you see me, I'll have met Miss Toph Beifong," he says to his reflection. "I'll be a changed man, hopefully." Then he allows the mirror to be carefully taken and stowed away.
He shakes his head, marching along beside Sitka through the corridors to the throne room. His father is pacing the floor, and he looks up when Sokka enters.
"Ah, Sokka." He nods to the servants surrounding the vast room. "Leave us."
They bow and exit one by one, leaving Sokka alone with his father. Once the last maid has swished away, he straightens himself up and faces him, his eyebrows arched in surprise.
"Who did your hair?"
He involuntarily reaches up to stroke the thin strands his sister had so carefully braided this morning. "Katara," he says, and his father nods.
"Yes, I should have known. I suppose she did the rest of you as well?"
"Yes, sir."
The king shakes his head, a smile dancing across his lips. "Sneaking off to you when she should be getting ready. She's so like her mother."
Sokka bows his head. It's rare that his father speaks of their mother. He was crushed by her death, but he didn't allow his grief to take control of him. Instead, he used it and converted it into more love for him and Katara. "I know, sir. I - I miss her."
"As do I, son. As do I." His father pats him on the shoulder gently. "Well, no use dawdling on the past. We must get you ready for this afternoon."
"Yes." He fidgets with his thumbs as princes must not do as his father leads him to a corner of the room to talk. "What are you going to be teaching me?"
"Not so much teaching today," he says. For the last few days, he has been coaching him on what to do and how to act while in the Earth Kingdom. Their ways are different from that of Esceania in many ways, and he has to be ready. Especially if he is to wed the princess. "More of a... quiz, if you will. Just a sort of review."
"Oh."
"To begin, please tell me the names of the Earth Kingdom royal family."
He takes a deep breath. He knows this. Everyone does, really, but he's had faces to go along with the names ever since he was sent a pack of photographs of them with each person's name and age on it. "King and Queen Lao and Poppy Beifong, sir. Their daughter Toph Beifong is to be my wife." He swallows hard. Toph's face was pretty in her picture, pale with sharp features and big, green eyes. But still, he had never even met her. Yet he was expected to marry her?
"Good, good," his father says. He's pacing again. "Now, how would one address the King and Queen if they were shown to court?"
Quickly he demonstrates the proper bow to do, and his father only gives a brief nod before he rushes him into the next question. He queries him for nearly an hour, quizzing him on the Earth Kingdom's culture and their cuisine and how to properly make eye contact and how it's considered rude to place your hand on top of a native's hand. Finally he stops, both of them breathless.
"Well done, son. You've got it down," he congratulates, and Sokka beams. "Just one more thing before we board the ship."
He nods, though he's confused. What other information could he possibly stuff inside his brain? It's full enough as it is. "Yes, sir."
The king's expression goes dark, and he places his hand on Sokka's shoulders tightly. "You're aware of why you are marrying the Lady Toph, yes?"
"Yes, sir," he answers, his eyes not wandering away from his father's face, though he sorely wants them to. This is a sensitive topic, he knows.
It's no secret that the far-away Fire Nation, with their deadly weapons and modern bombs, hate the Earth Kingdom and anything to do with it. No one is really sure why, at least to his knowledge, though he did hear a rumor about one of the king's sons disappearing and the king supposedly accusing King Lao of kidnapping him. He has no way to know if this is true, but it had been interesting enough to hold a week's worth of gossip down in the kitchens, which was where Sokka spent most of his time when he wasn't working. He'd heard another theory that the king's wife, Queen Ursa, had run away as well, but that one hit a dead end as no one has heard from or about her in nearly ten years. Anyway, it didn't really have anything to do with the Earth Kingdom. Someone in the palace most likely had a liking for telling stories that involved running away.
Recently, the Fire Nation's attacks had become more and more fatal to the people of the Earth Kingdom, and so King Lao had called on the surrounding countries to help. Esceania reached out, and an agreement was made to marry the princess of the Earth Kingdom with the prince of Esceania. Toph and Sokka. Sokka and Toph. Their marriage would bind the two countries together and hopefully unite them enough to win the War. Along with himself, Sokka was bringing over thousands of troops to help defend the borders of the Earth Kingdom.
"It's a good deal," his father had told him when he first informed him of his betrothal. "The princess is poise and beautiful. You will make a fine match."
Sokka isn't so sure. Other than her picture, he's never even seen Toph before, much less met her, much less like her. What does she like to do? Where is her favorite place to be? What's her favorite color? He has no answers to these simple questions. All he knows is that she's sixteen, blind, and an only child. Three facts about her, and they're to be married in the same amount of weeks. In three weeks, he will have a wife, and the wife will be her. Toph Beifong. No, Princess Toph Beifong. It's all so overwhelming to him.
"Yes, sir," he repeats in response to his father's question. "I know what's at stake."
"Good." He releases his grip, and Sokka resists the urge to rub it. His father doesn't know his own strength. "It is crucial that you go through with the ceremony."
"I know."
He smiles wryly. "Even if you do not like the princess, you must tolerate her. Love can come later."
This seems an odd thing to say, but he merely nods. "Yes, sir."
"Good man." A servant hustles in, bowing hastily before rushing to whisper in the king's ear. He nods and waves the servant away. "Come, my son. Our ship awaits. I could send someone to fetch your sister, of course, but... I feel you would rather see to it?"
He grins. "Yes, sir. I would." He bows and hurries off down the long corridors, twisting and turning like a labyrinth. Any visitor usually got lost at least once without the aid of a maid or butler, but somehow he and Katara had never had trouble getting through the maze by themselves. He reaches the doors to his sister's chambers quickly and knocks.
"Your majesty." Katara's main maid curtsies as she leads him inside. The scene is not unusual - Katara hurrying to dress in front of a three-way mirror while maids scurry around her like worried mice - but it is unwelcome.
"Katara!" he says exasperatedly. "You were supposed to be ready thirty minutes ago!"
"I know, I know!" She shoots him a cross look. "Inadi, Kinah, please get my hairpins. Quickly, we don't have much time!"
"Yes, my lady." The maids hurry to get what she asked for, and Sokka regards his sister disapprovingly.
"'First impressions are very important, Sokka,'" he quotes haughtily, and laughs in startled surprise as a shoe hits his cheek.
"Shut up and help me," she pleads. "Just - actually, I need that shoe, give it here, please."
He sighs but tosses the shoe. Her maids return with pearled hairpins, and they quickly fix Katara's long brown hair into a delicate updo. She finishes tugging her blue skirts on, and another round of maids ties it up from the back. She gives a twirl, nods to her reflection, and hops down, grabbing Sokka's arm.
"What did Father teach you today?" she asks as they walk down the hall back to the throne room, where they, along with their father, will depart for the Earth Kingdom. Sokka's butler will come too, as well as Katara's maid, who walks behind them with her hands clasped.
"Nothing, actually," he responds. His shoulders tense as he leans down to whisper in her ear. "He wanted to make sure I was well aware of the situation that requires me to be wed."
Katara nods slowly, her head held high. She, too, knows what's at stake. This deal must follow through if their small and relatively young country is to survive, for who knows what the Fire Nation will do if they discover they cannot break through the Earth Kingdom? Will they attack Esceania? Who could say? Neither of them had ever set eyes on a Fire Nation native, nor would they ever like to.
"Katara," the king says as they walk into the throne room. "You look lovely, my dear." He kisses both her cheeks and spreads his arms widely. "The ship awaits. Come, my children."
Together they walk out the grand doors that lead to the front courtyards, through the gardens, and to the massive silver gates that mark the entrance to the palace, which sits on the beach overlooking the water. They need only turn around to see the ship that shall set sail in merely a few minutes. Their people have gathered outside the palace walls, cheering and throwing the blue-green water lilies that are the national flower of Esceania. Sokka catches one in his hands as they march around to the royal docks, lifts it into the air, then tucks it behind Katara's ears. She smiles at him.
A white ramp trimmed in water lilies and blue ribbon is waiting to lead them onto their ship, the Lamoni. The king, Sokka, and Katara walk onto it as Sitka and Kinah follow dutifully behind them. They stand for a few moments, waving to the citizens and catching more water lilies, before walking single-file onto the main deck. The engine rumbles the ground, while smoke clouds the sky, and they're off, chugging through the crystal blue waves. Before long, the white strip of land that is the islands is far away in the distance.
Katara squeezes his hand. "It will be all right," she whispers. "She will love you."
He grins and whispers his thanks. Somehow Katara always knows what he's thinking before he does. Even with her reassurance, though, he can't help but worry. What if the princess doesn't like him? What if she thinks him dull and boring, or mean and cruel, or self-absorbed and arrogant, or all of that all at once? He's always been surrounded by people who had to be nice to him, no matter their opinions. The Earth Kingdom is foreign ground. There he will have no father to protect him, no Katara to reassure him. They will only stay long enough to negotiate the trade agreements and legal matters of the wedding, and of course to see the ceremony. But after that, he is on his own.
No, he reminds himself. You will not be alone, because she will be there. Toph. You'll never be alone again.
The thought doesn't exactly comfort him. He will be expected to be with Toph at all times after they are husband and wife. He only has three weeks before then, before he is chained to her lock and key. They will have to share a bedroom. More than that, share a bed. Soon they will be expected to have children, produce heirs to the throne. He practically heaves at the thought of having children with some woman he doesn't even know.
You will know her, he thinks, taking a deep breath. You will know her soon. It's not much to go on, but it's all he has for now. Soon he will know her. Then everything will be okay.