Sincehe was a kid Sokka did everything he could to prove he was a man. Tomost of the Southern Water Tribe he was a girl. He was the daughterof Hakoda and Kya. He was the older sister of Katara. But he knewnone of those were true. Sokka decided to tell his family about this.
"Idon't know why but I think I'm supposed to be a man. Whenever I seemyself I say that I want to look like dad. I want to be strong, tall,and have a beard. I want to help protect our tribe from intruderswith the other men. I want to be your son and honor our family name."Sokka finished.
"I'veknown you were different for a while, my son." "Hadoda said. "Isee a fighter in both you and your sister. While I see a bender inyour sister I see a warrior in you. You certainly have the courageand blood of one. What is your name, son"
"Sokka."
"Sooka.My Sokka." Kya hugged her son.
"Sodoes this mean we can't share clothes anymore?" Katara asked makingeveryone laugh.
Notto long after that Sokka wanted to learn to build weapons and sharpenthem.
"Okay,Sokka. I want you to take this knife and carefully sharpen one end ofit until it's pointy." Hadoda said.
"Willthis be a spear?" He asked.
"Yes.It can be used for hunting as well as war."
Sokkastarted sharpening the spear. After a while he finished it.
"Okaynow I want you take this flat rock and hit it's edges with this roundrock. It will take a long while but it will eventually become an ax."Sokka did as he was told. At one point he started getting tired."
"Howlong is this going to take. My arms hurt." Sokka complained.
"It'sgoing to take some time to get sharp. If you need to you can take arest."
"Ididn't know it would be this hard."
"Beinga man is hard rock. Being a woman is hard work too. We both haveresponsibilities to handle. With these responsibilities we each takewe work as a team to become a tribe."
"Iguess it's even harder whenever the men are away." Sokka said.Hadoda laughed.
"Let'sjust say my cooking isn't as good as your moms."
Sokkalearned how to make all sorts of new weapons. It was hard but heloved every moment of it especially getting to spend time with hisdad. When he was a little older Sokka wanted to learn to hunt.
"Idon't know, dear." Kya said worriedly. "What if he gets lost orfalls off a boat or gets attacked."
"Don'tworry. I'll keep an eye on him. You have to let him do it eventually,Kya. You have to let him become a man."
"Allright. Just be careful."
"Don'tworry mom. We'll get some fish and meat so big that we'll have tomake a bigger house." Kya giggled to that.
"Okay.Go ahead."
Sokka,Hadoka, and some of the other men were on a boat in a stream. Theywere looking for fish to gather for the tribe to eat.
"Okay,Sokka. What I want you to do is hold this spear. I want you to holdit until you see a fish near the surface. When you do aim your spearas best as you can and lock it. Then throw it as fast and hard as youcan. If you get one then you can go get it. The water is here deepenough for our boats to float but you should be able to stand in it.You got that?"
"Yeah,dad." Sokka looked at the water trying to find a fish. After whatseemed like forever he finally saw one. He quickly threw the spearyelling and missed the fish. "Darn it! I missed."
"That'sbecause you didn't wait long enough. Getting a fish takes patience.Not to mention yelling like that might scare it."
"Oh, sorry."Sokka tried again. This time he waited a little big longer than hedid the first time. After studying a fish he threw the spear but itgot out of the way. "Oh man again!"
"You'regetting closer. Try again." They tried a few more times. Afteralmost a while Sokka was ready to give up. But he didn't.
"Concentrate."Sokka closed his eyes a moment and calmed down. He took a deep breathand opened his eyes. He stood a moment before throwing the spear. Itwent though the fish directly. It wasn't a big one but he got it.
"Igot it! I got it! Did you see that dad I got it?" Hadoka smiled.
"Andit's your dinner. Great job."
Sometimeafter that the Southern Raiders attacked. Sokka stood to defend hishome. He was happy when they left until he found out they took hismothers life. Sokka tried not to try at her funeral.
"It'sokay to cry, son."
"ButI'm trying to be a man."
"Cryingfor your mother doesn't make you any less a man. I'm crying aren't I?It just shows you love your mother. It makes you human." Sokka lettears go down his face and cried into his fathers coat.
Whenthe men left to go into the war Sokka wanted to go with them.
"Iwant to go too, dad. I can fight."
"Iknow you can, son but the tribe needs you. They need your guidanceand you sister needs you. This is a responsible job. One I can onlytrust in you for. Can you do it?" Sokka looked down and nodded. "Iknow you can do it."
Asthe years passed Sokka became the man he and his dad hoped he would.Eventually he told the rest of the gaang who took it well.
"Doyou think mom would be proud of me?" He asked Katara.
"Sheis proud of you up there. You're the best son and brother anyone canask for."
"Thanksfor being there for me, Katara."
"Anytime."
"Nowlet's go eat some meat. I'm starving." Sokka walked away leavingKatara to roll her eyes.
