now or never || an atla fanfic

𝔞𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱

happy new year yall🕺

- ♚ -

Katara collapsed against her wall, finally safe within the walls of her bedroom. Her eyes slowly closed, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Where were you?"

Her eyes snapped open, darting to the other side of her room. Her brother was standing at the doorway.

"You're not my parent, quit monitoring me like a child," Katara said, standing up straight and walking towards her armoire.

"You're my sister. I should be permitted to know your whereabouts once in a while," Sokka stated, folding his arms.

"I'm older than you," she pointed out, slipping off her coat and running her hands through her dry hair. "If anything, I should be keeping tabs on you."

"For the first time, you weren't present at breakfast. You don't think that's concerning to father at all?"

His sister sighed, taking a seat in her armchair in front of the fireplace. She swung her legs over the armrest and leaned back, closing her eyes.

"Why don't you take a seat? I have something urgent that I need to discuss with you," she said, gesturing to the chair across from her.

Her brother remained standing in the doorway, narrowing his eyes. He resembled their father so strongly that she found it almost amusing.

Katara raised a brow. "Well? Are you going to sit or not?"

"It isn't every day that your sister invites you to sit down and have a cup of tea," Sokka grumbled, reluctantly sitting down.

"What if I ran away, Sokka?" Katara blurted.

"What-- why?"

"I said: What if I ran away?"

"Why are you asking that now? I've been planning that for ages."

"Then why haven't you done so already?" she said, looking at her brother in surprise. 

"Well where would I go if I did?"

"That's just it. I know you've wanted to go beyond the castle and explore the world," she started, sitting upright. "We're sitting in this old castle, wasting our time. Don't you think it's about time that we take part in ending this war?"

"Is that why you were gone?" Sokka asked.

His sister nodded, "I don't think it's fair to leave you behind, so I'm asking if you would join me."

Sokka sighed, running a hand through his hair. His mind was spinning. He had always been the most impulsive out of the pair, and yet Katara just suggested an absolutely crazy idea. "Katara, you've got to be crazy. You have an entire family here, responsibilities, you're engaged for spirit's sake. Father wouldn't let you go, not in a thousand years, and especially not after what happened to mom."

Katara froze, stunned after the mention of their deceased mother. Her eyes began to sting, as after so many years the grief hadn't settled in.

She swallowed down her emotions, blinking away tears, and stood up.

"Well, if you don't want to join me, I'll find my own way to end this war. With or without your help," his sister finished, walking to her door. 

She raised a hand, fingers hovering above the doorknob.

"Katara wait-"

She turned around to see her brother in deep thought. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine. I'll join you," he agreed.

"You're not doing me a favor by agreeing to help me, right?" she stated, folding her arms.

"Obviously not," Sokka said, standing up. "But I want you to tell me everything. If we're going to do this, you can't keep any secrets from me."

"Well the same goes to you."

- ♚ -

"Where are we going?" Sokka loudly whispered.

"Just be quiet and follow me," his sister grumbled, handing a few coins to the carriage driver before stepping out into the chilly night, the street lights providing only a small illumination in the dark. Snow had begun to faintly fall from above.

"Whatever happened to no secrets-" Sokka grumbled, following his sister who had already begun at a brisk pace.

This was the furthest they could go by carriage so as not to be seen. Katara supposed they'd have to walk the rest of the way.

For several minutes they remained walking in silence when Katara had the dreaded feeling of being watched by an unknown presence. She glanced around cautiously before proceeding.

Sokka was getting the hint something was wrong too, as her pace had slowed. She sighed, her breath visible in front of her.

"Guess who," said a low voice behind Katara. She stopped, recognizing the voice.

"Aang! What in the-" She turned around, narrowing her eyes.

"Surprise!" he said, offering an angelic smile.

Katara wrinkled her nose. "Why were you following us?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Who's this?"

"My brother, Sokka," Katara replied. "Sokka, this is Aang."

"Ah, my future brother-in-law!" Aang exclaimed, shaking hands with the prince eagerly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Sokka offered him a blank stare, "Wait what-"

"I'm afraid I cannot answer any questions at the moment until we arrive at a secure location and commit to a nondisclosure agreement," Aang stated clasping his hands together. "Allow me to escort your majesty to our humble abode." 

The pair of siblings had no choice but to silently follow Aang.

They trudged through the powdery snow for what felt like hours before arriving at the desolate fire navy ship.

They walked to the deck of the ship, entering in a similar manner as earlier, walking inside before running into a metal wall. The trio patiently waited for a few moments before hearing heavy footsteps on the other end.

Sokka's eyes widened as the metal wall was torn down. "You're Toph Beifong!" he blurted.

"That's me," she said, completely unnerved by the new guest. "You're the Prince of the Southern Water Tribe."

"How'd you know!"

"We're all going to catch a cold if you don't let us in," Aang said hurriedly.

Toph waved a hand before turning around, "You say that every time."

"Where are we?" Sokka asked in astonishment as they walked to the bottom of the fire navy ship. He was led to the main room, which was significantly in better condition than the last time Katara was in here.

They reached the main room, illuminated by a large chandelier with several candles directly suspended above the large oak dining table. Two unfamiliar people to Sokka were already seated at the table in a deep discussion, a tall man with a burn over his left eye, and a girl with fiery red hair and blue eyes.

Aang coughed loudly, and their conversation ceased. Suki's eyes locked with Sokka's. Her eyes seemed to narrow in disapproval.

"You."

- ♚ -

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