Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Fire!

peoniarose:

@justfandomwritings

“Do you need help?” Twisting her head to the side, Hai sees Sokka standing there, a thoughtful look on his face. A small smile etches onto her face.

“No, but you can if you want,” she says waving to the items that need to be packed and put away. There weren’t too many things that needed to be put away and she would like the company. She enjoys being around Sokka.

Sokka nods, kneeling down next to her, folding the blanket strewn across the ground. He sneaks small glances at her, trying to figure out how to talk to her about Suki. He was hesitant and a little worried at the ferry station to tell her who Suki was. When Hai asked how he knew Suki, he thought he was going to combust. He knows he is going to have this talk with her at some point, but he doesn’t want to hurt her. He made a vow the day that she left with them from the North Pole that he would always protect her, but how can he if he is going to be the one to hurt her? Sokka cares about Hai too much to hurt her.

“I can see the steam coming out of your ears, Boomerang Boy” Hai teases, tossing the last of the small items into the pack. All that needed to put in is the blanket…that Sokka is determined to fold for fifth time in a row.

“Huh?”

“Well either your very focused on folding that blanket for the fifth time or something is up.”

“Sixth time, actually,” Sokka corrects you without missing a beat.

She laughs at that. “That doesn’t help your situation.”

He shrugs, “The sides aren’t aligning.” He struggles for the sixth time, trying to get all the sides to match up. Hai stops what she is doing to watch him. She isn’t stupid. She knows that Sokka wants to talk to her about something important otherwise, he wouldn’t be obsessing over the blanket. And she thinks she knows what he wants to talk about. It’s pretty in green, has awesome fans, and, according to Sokka, can apparently communicate with the Unagi (whatever that is).

Hai gently grabs the blanket from him and folds it, not caring about the sides not matching up. She tosses it into the pack and ties it up.

“But…the sides,” He motions to the pack.

“Something tells me that you aren’t too concerned about that. You can talk to me Sokka. What’s wrong?” She asks him gently.

Sokka sighs, “I don’t how or what to say.” She takes a step closer to him and grabs his hand, gently squeezing it. “Hai, I – I love your sister. And I care about you. I really do, but Suki is – she is…” He is trying to get the words out. Trying to convey to Hai how he feels.

Hai seems to get where the conversation is going. She gives him another gentle squeeze, grabbing his attention. “Sokka, Yue cared for you more than any other guy she has met. You’re very special to her. If she was gifted with more time, I am pretty sure she would have fallen in love with you.” Sokka looks away but she maneuvers herself, so they are once again looking at each other. “She does care for you. She would want you to be happy. And I think moving on is part of that.”

Sokka gets misty-eyed, and she allows him to turn away. He nods after a few moments of silence. Hai smiles continuing, “And if it matters, I want you to be happy too.”

He turns to look at her seeing the sincere smile on her face causing one to appear on his. It made him feel better to hear her opinion on how Yue would feel. It made him feel better knowing that Hai accepts his feelings and his happiness. Hai was his best friend after all. He tugs her into him, crushing her into a hug. “It does matter. Thank you.”

Hai settles into the warm hug, “Of course, Boomerang Boy. What are best friends for.”

–

One of the tropes that I like are sibling or sibling insert tropes and I thought, ‘Hey, what if Yue had a sister.’ I played around with that idea for a while. I didn’t officially get anything written down until a few months ago when I rewatched the series with my brother. In the beginning I played around with the idea of it being a Sokka x OC fic instead, but decided to go in a different direction instead. I also have to admit that I am still salty over Katara and Zuko not ending up together. I stand by that ship and I will sink with that ship. 😂