"You're very famous, Aang. Look how they faint for you," Sokka pointed out, referring to the people who had fallen to the ground due to the Avatar's presence.
"But in the South Pole and that village, they didn't react that way..." Katara murmured, unsure how to interpret the attention Aang attracted just by being there.
"I don't know why, but it gives goosebumps," Aang said, patting his arm carefully. He felt a bit of dread as he saw the commotion growing louder and louder.
"Clear the area! The Kyoshi Warriors will take over from here!" A strong voice broke through the chaos, silencing the crowd that was pointing at the Avatar.
Soon, a group of painted warrior won dressed in green with black armor made their presence known. In front of them stood a girl with brown hair, green eyes, and a slightly furrowed brow, a result of the chaos that had erupted.
Recognizing her as the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors and an acquaintance of Sokka and Katara, the people parted, clearing the way for Suki.
Suki looked at the Flying Bison with astonishnt. She had already received news of the Avatar's return. Anyone with even a little spiritual sensitivity could feel the pulse of energy released by its ergence. How could she not have felt it?
Moreover, because of its proximity to the South Pole, she had quickly received news from there, officially learning about the Avatar's return. But seeing a supposedly extinct Flying Bison was truly impressive.
That creature had been sighted when it flew over the island a couple of days ago, but Suki didn't know why the Avatar had returned.
Feeling curious, Suki directed her gaze toward the Avatar, who had caused the chaotic situation at the village entrance. With just a glance, Suki sized up Aang, and her frown deepened upon sensing a hint of threat from the Airbender.
The Avatar was powerful and dangerous, as the warrior could perceive. This did not surprise her. After all, he was supposed to be the most powerful person alive, or at least he would be if he mastered the four elents.
After glancing at Katara and staring at Sokka in silence for several seconds, Suki approached Aang and extended her hand in a standard Earth Kingdom greeting.
"Welco to Kyoshi Island, Avatar," the warrior said in an unusually formal tone. Aang responded appropriately with a big smile, without much stiffness.
"Don't worry. I'm not super strict," Aang said, easing so of Suki's concerns. She nodded.
"It's good to know, but as the heirs of Avatar Kyoshi, you deserve a certain level of respect," replied Suki, who was now visibly more relaxed.
"Hello, Suki!" Katara threw herself at Suki, giving her a strong hug. The warrior smiled and returned the gesture.
"Katara! It's been a long ti since you've been around. You look really beautiful," Suki said, lightly touching Katara's cheek. Katara laughed, her cheeks turning slightly red. She soon broke free from the hug and proceeded to greet the other Kyoshi warriors.
"Hey," Sokka greeted, approaching Suki and simply raising his hand.
"Seriously, Sokka?" Suki placed her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow. She expected sothing more elaborate from the boy.
Aang positioned himself next to Sokka, not very subtly touching his body with his elbow and giving him several winks. This made Suki burst out laughing. She never thought the Avatar would be so... playful.
"How would you like to greet you? I can't just throw myself at you for a hug, can I?" Sokka asked doubtfully, making a hugging gesture. This caused Aang to facepalm and the Kyoshi Warriors to laugh among themselves.
"Sokka..." Suki shook her head and decided to take the initiative. She moved closer to the boy, leaving barely a few centiters of space between their faces.
"Don't we know each other from years ago? Why so shy?" asked the warrior directly. She had noticed so oddities in Sokka. He just shrugged before responding.
"Maybe because I wanted to confess today, but I can't find the right words to start that topic," he replied with the sa firmness as Suki. His words plunged the entire atmosphere into a strange silence.
"Did he just confess? In the books, confessions don't happen that way! Where's the romance? The flowers? The song? one of the Kyoshi warriors murmured, and the other girls around her nodded in agreent.
"For Kyoshi, how anticlimactic!" said another, gaining recognition among her peers.
"Shh!" Katara silenced the chatty girls, not wanting to miss the drama unfolding before her.
With all that dialogue in the background, the slight barrier between Suki and Sokka broke easily. The warrior smiled, placed one of her hands on the boy's shoulder, and responded to Sokka's words.
"Did you finally muster up the courage? I knew it!" Suki exclaid, astonishing Sokka this ti. He soon cald down, though, and raised one of his eyebrows after thinking about a few things.
"Is that why you trained in shorts in front of ? I knew those suggestive poses weren't normal!" he said shalessly. If it weren't for the white makeup on Suki's face, he would have noticed her blushing.
"You didn't hide your interest in looking at my butt!" she replied. Sokka nodded in agreent.
"You have a nice ass. Why wouldn't I look at it when you were showing it off like that during training?" This comnt drew boos from the Kyoshi warriors and so of the n in the audience who had co to see the Avatar.
"Hey... that guy has balls," said one man. Another just shook his head.
"No, he's just honest with himself. He's a real man," that another man replied, gaining recognition from the boys around him.
Sokka beca a real man in their eyes!
"So, do you admit that you were looking at my butt?" Suki asked, rolling her eyes at the absurd situation she was in. Girls murmured, n nodded as if they had discovered the aning of life, and Sokka... was being Sokka.
"Yes, I watched it, but only because I like you," Sokka finally replied. Then, Suki wrapped her hands around his neck and gave him an intimate hug.
He froze for a mont before returning the hug and placing his hands on her waist. Seeing them hug made the Kyoshi Warriors and the people watching from a distance start to applaud.
"What a beautiful mont! Why not celebrate it by eating one of my fresh, delicious cabbages?" suggested an old man who was dragging a cart full of them.
"You know what? Give a pair," soone replied, encouraging more people to buy cabbages. This gave the old cabbage seller an idea: Drama boosts sales!
...
"I don't understand romance," Aang complained as he watched the strangely romantic mont turn into nothing.
Katara had told him that both Suki and Sokka were acting normally. There was no hand-holding, no whispers between lovers, nothing like the books he had read at the South Pole after waking up from the iceberg.
But in the Kyoshi Warriors' complex, none of that was happening. Sokka was simply chatting with Suki as if nothing had happened.
The group was in a huge room. While Suki and Sokka chatted, Aang walked around distractedly, observing the decor, accompanied by Katara.
"People get along in different ways, "Katara, who had seen a painting of Avatar Kyoshi while walking beside Aang, responded to his words.
She had already expected this kind of developnt. Both Sokka and Suki were very focused individuals. She found it strange that they were calmly drinking tea instead of training hard.
Suki was no ordinary woman. She was a warrior and the de facto leader of Kyoshi Island. She was also the most powerful person in her group, a true strong woman. When you can break stones with a punch and have the responsibility of so many people on your shoulders, you don't focus as much on the romantic side of life as other people do.
Sokka was a jokester with Katara, but generally a serious guy focused on his responsibilities. He was soone who silently protected his own, trained to beco stronger, and sought the best for his people.
For Katara, this was the best developnt. Strangely, her brother was very compatible with Suki, and they knew each other well enough to skip much of the usual romantic process.
"But..." Aang tried to reply, but he soon felt Katara holding his hand.
"If you want to see the typical romance... Why don't I help you with that?" Katara murmured. But an Airbender capable of controlling the wind has quite good hearing; how could he not hear her?
Aang simply accepted the gesture, gently squeezing Katara's hand. They spent the ti at the Kyoshi Warriors' complex, where one of the girls guided them around.
...
"Do you want to hunt the Unagi?" Suki asked Sokka, who was sitting across from her on the floor of the room. There was a small table between them with a tea set on it.
"Any problem? Is it your prey or sothing?" Sokka replied with another question before taking a cup of tea and trying to drink it. He disliked the taste and had never gotten used to the flavor of the drink, but he forced himself to swallow it.
"No, but it's a really rare species, you know? It would be a loss for the world if it died. At least it should be studied. Let study it." Suki's eyes sparkled at that mont.
Since scientific knowledge had beco popular, she had found the study of natural sciences, especially biology, particularly fascinating. She already knew that the turtles on Kyoshi Island were much larger than those in other places, but it was only after participating in research that she found out why.
"Oh, right, you like that," Sokka nodded, recalling that particular detail. He didn't care too much about it himself; he had his hobbies and interests.
"Do you want to hunt it with ?" the boy asked, perhaps making the biggest concession he could on this topic. Besides, Suki was strong enough to accompany him on this type of hunt.
"Would you offer sothing like that?" Suki didn't expect this kind of proposal.
She expected an inappropriate or over-the-top comnt from Sokka about training or hanging out, but never about sharing a hunt. It was too 'cultural' for the inhabitants of the Southern Water Tribe.
Wasn't sharing a catch on a hunt an invitation to deepen their relationship? Suki looked at Sokka carefully and noticed that he had slightly averted his gaze, showing a hint of shyness once again.
"I agree to go hunting with you, Sokka," she responded, making the boy sigh before laughing.
"Great!" I have a cool technique that I'd like to try. Should I show it to you? Believe , you can't even imagine how cool it is." Sokka started chatting about how he devised and trained his new special technique, which made Suki narrow her eyes.
'Yes, it seems that hanging out with the Avatar hasn't changed Sokka,' Suki thought, listening attentively to the words of her...boyfriend? He invited her to go hunting with him. Shouldn't they be a couple by now?
Cultural differences sotis made things more confusing, but exploring those nuances was part of the fun of eting and interacting with people from all over the world.
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