The Last Hope ~ Book Two ~ sokka x reader x zuko

Kataras Cousins

the monster grabbed sokka and pulled him back.

aang airbended into its hand and it threw sokka into the water.

then it turned around and hit aang backwards into the water.

i felt the punch go straight into my gut and fell down.

'shit'

i jumped back up and threw air into its arm, cutting a few of the vines - only for them to quickly regrow.

and when it noticed me it lunged.

i somersaulted into the air and threw slices of air into it, cutting the vines.

and when i landed it grabbed onto my arm and threw me back into the water.

then, it flew down the river with sokka in its hand.

katara stood in front of it and hit water into its arm - making a hole.

but it just patched it up again quickly.

katara ran towards it and it knocked her backwards.

i sprinted in and hit it with a slice of air, severing some of the vines.

aang came in and whirled around it, allowing katara to knock a hole in it.

but it didn't work and they were thrown backwards.

it hit aang away and i felt a punch in my gut as he landed in water.

katara turned back to the monster and rapid-fired loops of water - cutting up the vines.

'there's someone in there! he's bending the vines!' shouted sokka.

and, sure enough, there was a man there.

katara twirled around and sliced the mask and the head on the monster easily, just as the vines threw her away.

i jumped back up and me and aang ripped the rest of the vines away - revealing the man.

'why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?' asked aang, (a)angrily.

'wait! i didn't call you here.' said the man, dropping the vines around him.

'we were flying over and i heard something calling to me, telling me to land.'

'he's the avatar. stuff like that happens to us - a lot.' said sokka, smiling nervously.

'the avatar!' said the man, 'come with me.'

we followed him to the tree at the centre of the swamp

'so, who are you then?' asked katara as we walked.

'im huu, i protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it. like this fellow with his big knife.' said huu, pointing to sokka.

sokka turned to us, 'see? completely reasonable. not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. nothing mystical about it.'

'oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right. it's sacred.'

he led us up and and sat under the tree, 'i reached enlightenment right here under the banion grove tree. i hear it callin' me, just like you did.'

sokka huffed, 'sure ya did. it seems real chatty.'

i nudged him, 'shh'

'see, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles...' he said, motioning to the swamp, 'branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more - one big living organism, just like the entire world.'

'i get how the tree is one big thing, but, the whole world?' questioned aang, looking around.

'sure. you think you're any different from me? or your friends? or this tree? if you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. we're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. we all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree.'

'but what did our visions mean?' asked katara.

huu sighed, 'in the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone. but the swamp tells us they're not. we're still connected to'em. time is an illusion, and so is death.'

'but what about my vision it was someone i had never met.' asked aang, confused.

huu smiled, 'you're the avatar. you tell me.'

'time is an illusion... so, it's... someone i will meet?' asked aang, pleased that he'd found the answer.

huu smiled and sokka stood up.

'sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to get appa and momo.'

'i think i know how to find them.' said aang, touching the vines, 'everything is connected.'

the tattoo on his hand began to glow as he looked for appa and momo.

id seen this before.

aang stood up, opening his eyes and running down the tree.

'come on! we've got to hurry!'

---

we jumped onto a tree branch and ambushed them, just as katara hit one of their boats from behind with her water bending.

'appa!' shouted aang, knocking a man off the boat with a blast of air.

the man dropped the bag he was holding and momo jumped out, running behind us.

one of the men water bended a wall of water up at aang and katara which they bended away from them

'hey, you guys are waterbenders!' said katara.

'gou too? that means we're kin!' smiled one of the men.

katara didn't look as pleased.

i ran to appa and untied him.

'hey, huu! how you been?' said one of the men, putting his hands on his hips

'you know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual.'

'huu?'

---

we followed them to their camp - and it turned out that due and tho had known huu for a while.

'how you like that possum chicken?' asked due

'tastes just like arctic hen. so why were you guys so interested in eating appa?' asked sokka, pointing to a catfish crocodile, 'you've got plenty of those big things wandering around.'

'you want me to eat old slim? he's like a member of the family!' said due, incredulously.

'nice slim!' said sokka, throwing some roasted insect at him.

due laughed, 'oh, he don't eat no bugs! that's people food.'

they talked about their home at the southern water tribe and then stopped - leaving a silence that sokka decided to fill.

'well, i hope you realize now that nothing strange was going on here. just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp.' said sokka.

'what about the visions?' asked katara

'i told you, we were hungry. i'm eating a giant bug!'

and he was.

but still, disgusting.

'but what about when the tree showed me where appa and momo were?'

'that's avatar stuff, that doesn't count.' said sokka, turning to huu, 'the only thing i can't figure out is how you made that tornado that sucked us down.'

huu shrugged his shoulders, 'i can't do anything like that. i just bend the water in the plants.'

'well, no accounting for weather. still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp.' said sokka.

just as another of the screaming birds sounded.

man, i hated those