TW: misgendering, sexism, internalized transphobia
The group sits around a campfire a few nights later. They've learned that this is where a traveler tells stories of lands they have visited.
One problem stands, though. Nobody else is there yet.
So, the group returns to Appa to occupy themselves until the storyteller arrives.
Polu leans close to Sokka and whispers, "Is it time?"
The nonbender glances at Aang's tunic, then back at Polu. "I think it is."
"He's surely forgotten by now..." Polu now casts a look at Aang.
Aang grows uncomfortable under the fleeting stares of his friends. "What? Do I have something on my shirt?" The boy begins to analyze his clothes.
"Don't move!"
The airbender freezes.
Polu continues slowly, as if not to spook his friend. "Don't panic, kid, but there's a spider-wasp on your shirt."
Aang's eyes go wide with fear. "What?! Get it off!"
Sokka crawls forward with his finger outstretched. "Lemme just..." He jerks his finger up and flicks Aang's nose. "Gotcha!"
"Hey!" Aang jumps back and pouts. "What was that for?"
"For waking us with fake prickle-snakes," Sokka grins.
The Avatar throws his hands in the air. The smile on his face betrays his angry tone. "That was like two months ago!"
"Beauty sleep is vital for teens," Polu nods. A shit-eating smirk slowly wipes across his face. "Especially for Sokka- he needs it desperately."
"Wh- hey!" Sokka squawks indignantly as he turns around. "That wasn't part of the plan! We were just supposed to get revenge on the airhead!"
Polu clutches his sides as he laughs. "Oh please- you didn't-" He gasps for breath between words. "You didn't think I wasn't going to- take the opportunity?"
Sokka's face shifts into something calculated and calm. "I was counting on it."
"Huh?" Polu sits upright, all signs of joy dripping into confusion.
"Now!"
Aang and Sokka lurch forward, tackling Polu to the ground. Instantly, their hands are curling to tickle their older friend.
"Hey! No- no fair! Stop it!" Polu screeches and giggles as fingers find his sides and neck.
"What's going on over here?" Katara's voice breaks through Polu's pleadings.
The prince begs, "Katara! Save me!"
"How do I know you don't deserve this?" She taunts.
The three freeze and slowly turn to her.
"What?" Katara backs up as the others come to a stand. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Boys," Polu hums. "She's the only one who hasn't been pranked yet."
Sokka and Aang grin widely.
"You're right," the former chimes.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Polu responds.
Aang's face flushes a bit at the thought. "Absolutely."
The girl yelps as her friends begin tickling her sides. "I'm- sorry I asked!" She giggles. "Stop it! You all ganged up on me!"
"There are no sides in the prank war!" Sokka declares.
A moment later, the group collapses to the ground, panting heavily.
"Prank war truce?" Polu sputters. "I think the storyteller finally arrived."
"Truce," the others agree.
~~~~~
"So, travelers, the next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look."
Polu rests on a pillar of rock beside Sokka. The teens exchange bored glances as the storyteller drones on.
"It might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man. A member of a secret group of airwalkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it."
Polu sits up a little straighter. Airbenders? There's no way they're still alive!
The storyteller stops in front of Sokka and Polu. "Jingle jingle." He shakes his hat, clearly expecting coins.
Sokka searches within his parka to find an insect and some crumbs. "Sorry," the boy mumbles.
"Cheapskates," the man scoffs.
Polu rolls his eyes as the storyteller stalks toward his companion. Then, he watches as Sokka stuffs his findings back into his parka. "Ew," the prince comments.
Sokka flushes and laughs at being caught.
Aang turns back to Polu and grins broadly. "Po! I've got our next stop!"
The Advisor sighs and returns a tired smile.
~~~~~
The next morning, the group soars over the clouds crawling through the sky.
"We're almost to the Northern Air Temple," Aang announces.
Polu shifts excitedly. I never got a chance to visit this one. I wonder if it looks the same?
The voices of his friends vaguely register in the prince's mind. The loud racing of his thoughts largely overtakes his senses.
How different is the view? The architecture? The stories the temple tells?
"Hey, guys, look at this!"
The Avatar's voice breaks through Polu's thoughts.
"What? What's- Woah."
Polu and Sokka exchange wide-eyed looks as the temple comes into view.
Distant figures weave around the structure. Snow decorates the green roofs even as clouds shift away from the temple. Smoke streams from the temple, as if massive bonfires had been lit to keep warm amidst the wind and snow.
"Wow," Polu murmurs.
"They really are airbenders!" Katara cheers.
Aang bows his head as realization settles in. "No, they're not."
"What do you mean?" Sokka questions. "Those guys are flying!"
Polu squints in an attempt to focus on one of the gliders. Well, airbenders back then had gliders. I didn't spend enough time with them to properly note their behaviors, but they do seem... odd.
"Gliding maybe," Aang huffs, "but not flying. You can tell by the way they move they're not airbending. Those people have no spirit."
The Earth Prince frowns as he appreciates the people with a new appreciation. "They may not be airbenders, but it's still pretty cool that they're able to glide like you can."
As Aang goes to retort the comment, one of the non-airbenders swoops near the group's heads.
The three on the saddle duck just before the boy reaches them. They watch, awestruck, as the boy giggles as he loops around Appa.
"I dunno Aang." Katara points to the fading figure. "That boy seemed pretty spirited."
Polu shakes his head and sighs as Aang leaps into the sky with his glider. He takes Appa's reins and leads the bison to a landing spot in the temple.
He releases a happy grunt as he collapses onto the ground.
"You really hate flying, don't you?" Katara teases.
The earthbender offers a sort of grin. "I wouldn't mind it if I could ensure I'm in control of where I go."
The three teens approach Aang when he lands. A moment later, the boy from before skids to a halt in front of them.
He smiles, "Hey, you're a real airbender. You must be the Avatar!"
Polu tenses, expecting the glider to turn to him next.
"That's amazing! I've heard stories about you."
The eldest teen feels a sort of pressure ebb away when the conversation turns to the glider chair. Why... why don't I want people to know I'm the Advisor?
"...wait until you see the other stuff my dad designed."
Polu trails behind his friends, considering his sudden change of heart. Maybe it's just the title. Yeah, that's it. Being the Earth Prince is enough. I don't need recognition for being Aang's Advisor.
He stares around him at the machinery that invades the walls of the Air Temple.
"Yeah, my dad is the mastermind behind this whole place," the boy boasts.
Polu huffs. "Your dad didn't build this temple, idiot." His comment goes unregistered.
The boy gives an explanation of how things around them work.
The prince can hardly bring himself to care. His attention is instead focused on his best friend.
"This place is unbelievable," the Avatar finally murmurs.
The glider grins. "It's great, isn't it?"
"No," Aang retorts. "Just unbelievable." He stalks away from the other boy with Polu right behind him.
Polu rests a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder when they stop the first time. Then, they travel around the room inspecting various places.
The boys grimace at the green water in a fountain. Smoke pours out of the mouth of the statue. Both boys jump back with a yelp.
"They've destroyed this place," Polu mutters.
Katara appears on Aang's other side. "I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same," she comforts.
Polu casts her a nervous glance. I have a feeling that's not the case.
~~~~~
The group enters an open area that seems to lead to various bedrooms.
"It's nice to see there's one place that isn't ruined," Aang comments.
As if on cue, the head of the statue Aang was admiring flies toward the group.
Polu bends the ground into a wall. The stone crashes against more stone and crumbles to the floor. "Is everyone okay?"
The others all nod in reassurance.
A man approaches the group through the dust. "What the doodle? Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse."
Polu's eye twitches with disbelief. Irritation rolls off of Aang in waves.
The Avatar holds his glider in front of him and moves to a defensive position. "Do you know what you did?"
The noirette covers his hands with rock and stands next to his friend.
"You just destroyed something sacred for a stupid bathhouse!"
Polu narrows his eyes at the engineer as he excuses his actions.
"This whole place stinks." Aang swings his glider and sends the destructive machine off the cliff.
"Destroying one of the last preservations of Air Nomad history? How shameful," Polu scoffs.
The younger boy points an accusing finger at the man in front of them. "This is a sacred temple. You can't treat it this way."
Aang steps forward. "I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like."
"The monks? But you're 12."
The boy from before wheels forward. "Dad, he's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago."
Before the man can speak, Aang forces him back. "What are you doing? Who said you could be here?"
The engineer notes the tall boy close behind the Avatar, hands covered in rocks and water slowly spiraling around him. "A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood."
The father swoops to stand behind his son. "My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt, and lost his mother."
Polu's offensive stance falters a bit. They just needed a safe haven.
"I needed somewhere to rebuild," the man continues, "and I stumbled across this place. I couldn't believe it. Pictures of flying people everywhere, but empty. Nobody home."
The prince notices his friend relax and moves to stand next to him.
"Then I came across these fan-like contraptions."
Aang crosses his arms and frowns. "Our gliders."
The engineer smiles and responds as if the Avatar wasn't clearly upset. "I could build a new life for my son in the air. Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak."
Polu narrows his eyes. Something's off about this guy. He might have done all this for his son, but he's still destroying everything here. He scoffs as Sokka and Katara tear up at the story.
"Nature knows where to stop," Aang interrupts.
The man glances at the hole in the wall. "I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us."
"So put it on a leash," Polu remarks. "What you're destroying here is history and culture that might never be recovered if you continue."
The mechanist nods slowly. "Yes, perhaps. Oh, look at the time!"
Polu scoffs as the man immediately returns to what he was doing, ignoring the protests of the children before him. He scoffs again as Sokka trails after the engineer with intrigue.
Instead, he follows Teo, Katara, and Aang.
~~~~~
Aang huffs as the group makes their way down the hall. "I just can't get over it. There's not a single thing that's the same."
"I don't know about that," Teo comments. "The temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendants of the ones that lived here a long time ago." The boy hands Katara a hermit crab.
Polu stands tall enough that he can easily stare over her shoulder at the animal.
"You're right," Katara smiles. "They're kind of the keepers of the temple's origins."
The prince smiles as Aang takes the crab in his hands.
"-There is one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all."
Teo leads the group to a different section of the temple. Eventually, they make their way down a hallway overflowing with sunlight. The four come to a stop in front of a large door set with pipes for airbending.
Katara stares up at it in wonder. "Hey, it's just like the one in the other Air Temple."
Teo nods. "Only an airbender can open it, so inside, it's completely untouched." He grins at the Avatar. "Exactly as the monks left it. I've always wondered what it was like in there."
"A?" Polu finally steps forward.
Aang bows his head. "I'm sorry. This is the last part of the temple that's the same as it was. I want it to stay that way."
Teo hums lightly. "I understand. I just wanted you to know it was here."
"Thanks," Aang replies.
The Advisor smiles sadly as he trails behind the others. As unfortunate as it is that this temple has been mutilated, I think the monks would be glad that it was housing refugees. And there is still the part that's not changed.
Polu stares at the tattoos on the back of Aang's head. I think that especially has helped Aang start to work past the drastic changes this place has gone through. It makes me wonder what Ba Sing Se looks like now...
~~~~~
The group finally returns to the place this whole journey had started. The landing and launching area for the gliders.
"Are you sure you don't want to try?" Teo questions.
"Oh, I'm sure." Polu waves his hands as he backs further away from the edge. "I prefer to remain safely on the ground. It's an earthbender thing."
The younger boy smiles. "If you say so." He turns back to Katara and starts to offer her support.
Polu shivers and tightly wraps his parka around himself. He returns to the nearest doorway and slides down the wall, curling into himself to keep warm.
I don't understand why I wasn't born an airbender. Those fuckers can keep themselves perfectly warm or cool anywhere. So unfair...
The prince succumbs to his lingering sleep deprivation and drifts off.
~~~~~
A bit later, Polu is shaken awake. "Hm? What's happening?" His words slur together.
"I've decided I want to see what the inside of that room looks like. Do you wanna come along?" Aang grins down at his friend.
The prince yawns and climbs to his feet. "Yeah, sure."
So Polu, Aang, Teo, and Katara all make their way back down to the hall with the locked room. They let out a collective gasp when the doors open.
Polu's mind races as he takes in the mass amount of weapons. His eyes land on a red fabric printed with the insignia of the Fire Nation. I knew it! That mechanist is up to no good! He wasn't excited to see the Avatar; he was scared.
Aang is the first to break the silence. "This is a nightmare."
Polu senses the mechanist before he speaks. He spins and directs a stalagmite to the man's throat. "You're working with the Fire Nation! Explain yourself," Polu demands.
The engineer raises his hands to show his innocence. "You don't understand."
"So make us understand," the prince growls. "I'm not keen on being nice to the enemy."
From beside the man, Sokka finally shifts. "You make weapons for the Fire Nation?"
"Explain this... now!" Teo cries.
Polu huffs. "You're all going to have to stop shouting and give him a chance to talk if we want any answers."
The teens fall silent.
Eventually, the mechanist speaks. "It was about a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement."
Polu narrows his eyes as the story continues.
"You were too young to remember, Teo. They were going to destroy everything- burn it to the ground. I begged them to spare us."
Even as Polu's sympathy for the father grows, his stalagmite remains where it is.
"They asked what I had to offer. I offered my services." The man finally glances at his son. "You must understand. I did this for you."
Teo finds himself unable to look his father in the eyes. He turns away.
That's enough punishment on its own. Polu's stalagmite sinks back into the ground. The prince steps away from the man and draws himself closer to Aang.
The mechanist shrinks into himself before admitting defeat and returning down the hallway.
Polu heaves a sigh. He turns and glances at the children surrounding him. "Alright, let's get moving."
With that, he leads the four others out of the room.
~~~~~
"This is bad. Very bad," Sokka mutters.
Polu crosses his arms as he mulls over what Aang and Teo had presented.
Katara frowns. "Aang, what are we gonna do? How can we possibly keep all of them away?"
"I'll tell you how," Aang grins. "We have something they don't." The Avatar points into the distance. "Airpower. We control the sky."
The group watches the gliders dance through the air.
"That's something the Fire Nation can't do," Aang continues. "We can win."
"I want to help."
Polu jumps when the mechanist's voice rings across the bridge. His fists clench as disgust burns through his veins.
Aang turns and smiles at the man. "Good. We'll need it."
~~~~~
A larger group of people stand in the engineer's office.
"We finally got the war balloon working, thanks to Sokka."
Despite his distrust of the engineer, Polu smirks proudly. My friend got a war balloon to work. He may be a dumbass, but he's smart too.
"This boy is a genius," the mechanist praises.
A genius, Polu thinks. Somehow, that isn't entirely unbelievable.
Sokka and the mechanist go back and forth calling each other geniuses.
Then again, maybe it's a bit much.
"-You could get it airborne, but once you did, it just kept going," Sokka explains. "You could put a hole in the top, but then all the hot air would escape. So the question became: how do you keep a lid on hot air?"
Katara turns to Polu and Aang. "If only we knew," she snarks.
The three boys surrounding her giggle.
"A lid is actually the answer," Sokka comments.
Polu continues to listen to Sokka's explanation. The longer it goes, the larger and prouder the prince's smile gets.
Sokka briefly notices his friend's expression. He faces his demo balloon to hide the blush creeping up his cheeks. "We have four types of bombs: smoke, slime, fire, and..."
"Stink," the engineer finishes. "Never underestimate the power of stink."
The pair explain the battle plan, then dismiss those gathered.
"Polu, wait up!"
The Advisor stops just outside the door to the office. "Sok? What's up?"
Just like the last time Polu had used the nickname, Sokka's face heats up. "Uh, I just- I, um..."
Polu's brow furrows with worry. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah! No, everything's fine," Sokka blurts. "I just... I wanted to see if you wanted to join me in the war balloon?"
"Oh, uh..." The earthbender shifts uncomfortably. "I appreciate the offer, Sokka, really, but I just don't think I could handle being in something like that. You know, so far from the ground?"
Sokka's tan face goes dark with a more pronounced blush. "Right! No, you're completely right. I didn't even think about that; I'm so sorry."
"It's alright." Polu steps forwards, hands raised. "You just forgot; I'm not upset." The prince notes the lines of distress along his friend's skin. "Seriously, is everything okay?"
Cautiously, Sokka leans into the pale hands that come to rest on his cheeks. "I just feel so bad for what I said back in the abbey. I don't know how to make it up to you other than apologizing every single day."
"Oh, Sokka..." Polu's gut wrenches with guilt. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. What you said sucked but I still overreacted. I didn't mean to hold this over your head. I'm sorry."
Blue eyes meet multicolored ones. "Are we okay, then?"
The prince giggles quietly. "I'm okay if you're okay."
Sokka nods once. "I'm okay."
"Well, then." Polu grins wider as he pulls away from his friend.
Imperceptibly, Sokka shivers at the lack of contact.
"I suppose we should prepare to kick the asses of the Fire Nation?"
"Yeah," Sokka beams. "We should."
~~~~~
"Are we ready?"
Katara glances at her surroundings. "Yes, but where's Sokka with the war balloon?"
"Start without him. He's still getting prepared." Polu strides onto the landing.
The Avatar grins at his friend and nods.
Polu stands between the rows of gliders and watches as they prepare to dive off the cliff. He cheers as they leave. Game time.
The prince approaches the edge of the landing. He turns around, gives Katara a two-finger salute, then steps off. He spins and allows his bending to safely send him down the mountain and below the clouds.
He comes to a stop on the first landing. Polu ducks as a glider zips toward him and knocks a firebender off the path. No time to panic about damn ashmakers.
Using all the control he can muster, Polu bends the snow around him into an enormous ball that rolls down the path and collects an abundance of firebenders. Fifteen down, hundreds to go. I like those odds.
The prince hears whooping in the distance. He glances up and waves as Aang passes overhead.
"Nice going, Po!"
"Thanks, kid!"
Below, Polu hears a commander shout an order to remove the 'enemies' from the sky. Not on my watch, you smokey bastard.
The gliders release a few of their bombs.
In the midst of the smoke, Polu bends the ground out from under the firebenders and sends them plummeting to the base of the mountain.
He grins slightly as the men scream on their way down. 45 men now. Not that anybody's counting.
"Coming through!"
Polu snorts as Aang zooms past on an airball. He watches as the snow kicks up and buries the firebenders a few levels lower.
The prince whoops and leaps onto the pile of snow.
A moment later, hooks grab onto the cliff above the clouds. Once they're locked into place, the machines attached to them begin their ascent.
Oh shit... Polu bends himself along the wall of the cliff. As he travels, he yanks the hooks from the rock.
Just as quickly as a person could react, the claws are reinserted into the mountain.
"Spirits, you try so hard! Just admit you're all sad and loveless and go the hell home!" Polu scoffs as he begins to saw through a set of chains.
The earthbender grunts and bends himself back to the top of the mountain. Upon reaching the flat, he buries a machine under the snow.
Polu's eyes widen as a firebender shoots at Aang. "Son of a bitch," he mutters. The prince bends the earth under the metal creature and throws it off the mountain.
Aang bends currents of air at a group of machines.
Polu shoots a pillar of rock through the nearest metal monster as he watches others simply flip their driver's cabin. They shouldn't be able to just move like that. They were turned on their heads.
"Heads up!"
The Advisor senses the tank and, without turning his head, raises a protective wall. He hardly flinches at the crunch as elements collide. After a moment, launches himself over the wall and comes face-to-face with- "Katara?"
"Polu! These things run on water!" The waterbender loudly informs her friend as she disassembles her second machine.
The prince grins. "Good thing that's your specialty! I'll help how I can."
Katara nods and disarms a third tank.
Polu sighs as he stares out at the mass of foot soldiers behind the metal monsters. "I guess that's my specialty, then. I'll be right back."
Before anybody can say anything, the earthbender races toward the army. No better time than now to get over my fear of them, I suppose.
Polu creates a wave of snow and forces a chunk of the firebenders back enough to fall to the next highest landing. Even as his friends retreat, Polu continues to bury the enemy in snow and crush them under slabs of rock.
"All alone, little girl?"
The boy's blood runs icy in his veins. He shivers as he slowly spins to face the firebender who spoke. "Say that again." Not a question; a dare.
"It looks like your friends have all abandoned you, princess." The man smirks maliciously as he adjusts his stance.
"Living without a brain must be so difficult. Let me put you out of your misery," Polu drawls. A dangerous calm washes over him, like the eye of a storm.
Balls of flame light the fists of the soldier before the prince. "Let's see what you've got, little girl."
A snowstorm kicks into the air. It quickly picks up speed and circles Polu, the offending firebender, and the group of soldiers behind him. The wind howls loudly, only getting worse as small boulders are thrown into the snow tornado.
"Still think I'm a helpless little kid, colonizer?"
The firebenders take a cautious step away from Polu. "Women are so emotional," the leader jeers.
Polu's brow twitches with resentment. He pulls the snowstorm closer to him, forcing his opponents to step forward or be killed by a flying boulder.
"Crazy bitch!" Another firebender taunts.
"You haven't seen crazy yet." A promise.
The wind screams in the ears of those nearby. So much earth is pulled into the tornado that one can hardly even see the snow surrounding the group. A line of rock juts into the air, separating the commander from his soldiers.
Polu saunters toward his enemy. "I'm not one to back down from a challenge, ashmaker. You clearly don't know who you've just fucked with."
"So you can bend a couple of elements. You're not the Avatar; you think anyone cares about you?"
"Yes." Without another word, Polu drops the man all the way to a cavern deep in the mountain.
Before Polu can lower the wall to confront the rest of the firebenders, an explosion is set off. He lets out a screech as the snow and boulders crash around him.
When the air has cleared, the prince spots the war balloon. Then, he notes that it is quickly losing elevation. "Sokka!!"
Polu launches himself over the new ravine and catches up to the balloon on a pillar of stone.
"Take this!" Sokka throws his boomerang, attached to a rope, at Aang's glider. The engineer screams as he soars through the air.
"Sok!" Polu leaps into the basket. He latches onto Sokka and jumps back to his pillar before sending them back up the mountain.
The whole time, the nonbender finds himself fighting a blush at the heroics of his friend.
~~~~~
"You know what?" Aang smiles at Teo and his father. "I'm really glad you guys all live here now."
Polu nods from his place beside Sokka.
"I realized it's like the hermit crab. Maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your home, and now you protect each other."
Look at him. Talking like an Avatar instead of a 12-year-old. ...It's admirable, but also kinda sad...
"That means a lot coming from you," Teo compliments.
A smile creeps onto Sokka's face. "Aang, you were right about air power. As long as we've got the skies, we'll have the Fire Nation on the run."
All around them, the refugees cheer proudly.
~~~~~
Later, as the group is loading their things onto Appa's saddle, Sokka whispers to Polu. "Did you see that crazy snowstorm earlier?"
"Hm?" The prince is spaced out, his thoughts focused on something other than the boy next to him.
"You know," Sokka continues, "the one that randomly appeared and somehow managed to surround itself with boulders?"
Polu nods mindlessly. "Oh, that's cool."
The shorter boy crosses his arms and huffs. "Polu, you just turned your nomad robes into a securing rope for your bag."
The prince tears himself from his trance. "Oh... so I did." He quickly works to undo his mistake while fighting off an embarrassed flush. "What were you saying?"
"Just that the sudden snowstorm that created a circular wall of rock was pretty weird," Sokka repeats.
Mild panic floods through the earthbender's body. "That is pretty weird," Polu agrees.
Sokka raises an eyebrow. "And you had nothing to do with that?"
"Even if I say no, we'll both know the answer anyways, so why ask?" Polu comments bitterly.
"Because I want to know what happened. If I ask you directly, you'll refuse to tell me, so I'm trying not to do that," Sokka retorts with a huff.
"I-" Polu bows his head, still facing Appa. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Polu, please, it's clear one of the firebenders said something to you. You can tell me what it is. We can talk about it. You can trust me."
No, I can't. Not after Ling. I can't- I can't face that again.
The familiar crow of his father's voice slowly comes into focus in the back of Polu's mind.
He can't trust you. You are a liar; a deceitful little girl who thinks she's worth as much as a son. Every day you wake up and pretend to be 'Polu', you are lying to him and everyone around you.
He cannot trust you. Nobody can trust you. You are not the hero the world needs. You are-
"Polu, hey!"
Sokka's gentle voice and firm grasp on Polu's shoulder forcefully pulls the boy from his thoughts. "What did that man say?"
He can't know I wasn't born a man.
"I really don't wanna talk about it right now, Sokka. I appreciate it, but I just want to go to sleep. Maybe we can talk about it later."
"Sure, okay." Sokka tries to keep the disappointed edge out of his voice. His blue eyes burn into Polu's back as the boy slinks into the temple.
Polu will come around eventually. He's already told me so much; all he needs is a little more time. He's just getting used to having a friend his age, Sokka reminds himself. All good things come to those who wait.
Indeed, good things come to those who wait.
But Polu and Sokka are horrendously impatient teenagers.
Shit went down, I'm not healing well, and school has started. I'm just gonna finish posting book one and go on hiatus until this shit show is in under control, and then I'll come back to writing.