Broken Expectations

Tired

❗❗TW❗❗please proceed with caution. Scroll down for details.

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Korra was tired.
 
She was so tired.
 
Her parents were tired too actually, they didn't even bother hiding it. They didn't bother to keep their voice down when they were fighting about her after her bed time, they never did.
 
"I just don't get what I'm doing wrong–"
 
"She's four Tonraq! You have to give her more time."
 
"More time? At four I could make little waves and move streams in the air! She can't even move a puddle!"
 
Korra was sitting on the stairs, her back crunched and her gaze facing down. They were having these fights more and more frequently, and Korra knew that her parents were more upset than they would ever care to admit. People thought she didn't understand anything, that she was just a kid, but Korra was different. She saw how kids her age were– happy, carefree, dumb. She wasn't dumb, though she wished to be dumb sometimes. Because while kids her age were happy and clueless, she knew exactly what was going on around her at all times. She knew what her parents were fighting about, why they were fighting. She knew she wasn't wanted or loved, and she never wanted to stay in that house, all she ever wanted was to be at ease.
 
"All I'm saying is, that we're both benders, and we both were able to bend at such a young age– I just don't get what's wrong with her."
 
What was wrong with her?
 
That was the one thing Korra didn't get. She was practicing water bending day and night, even after she was supposed to go to sleep, and nothing. Absolutely nothing. She just didn't know what she was doing wrong, why nothing was working, and why her parents were fighting instead of helping her.
 
"I wish I knew Tonraq. But we can't give up on her. She'll get it, she has to."
 
But what if she doesn't?
 
Korra stood up, sneaking back to her room without being heard. She opened her closet door, pulling her day-to-day clothes and wearing them instead of her pajamas. She then grabbed her coat and her boots and pulled those on as well. It wasn't the first time she sneaked out at night, she'd usually just escape through the kitchen window. Her parents never noticed her gone anyway.
 
Korra turned the light off in her room, walking downstairs tip-toed, trying to ignore her mom and dad who were clearly still fighting about her. She made her way to the kitchen, climbing on top of the counter, opening the window and jumping out.
 
She knew the way by heart, the problem was that the snow had piled up overnight and reached her knees, slowing her down. But she grit her teeth and kept marching, unwilling to go back home.
 
After what seemed like forever, but was probably mere minutes, she arrived at her destination. She knocked on the door, teeth clicking and body shaking from the cold. Soon enough, a familiar old man opened the door. He had his hair in a wolf tail, similar to Korra's except that the sides of his hair were shaven, and on his chin was a tiny beard.
 
"Are they fighting again?" Chief Sokka asked, pressing his lips together. 
 
Korra nodded.
 
He moved out of the way. "Come on in young one," he smiled at her warmly, "how about I make you some tea and show you my latest project?" 
 
Korra's face lit up as she stepped inside, nodding her head enthusiastically this time around. 
 
After making her some tea and taking off her coat, Korra found herself sitting down in front of what looked like a transformer toaster.
 
"What is it?" She asked him.
 
Sokka grinned, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "That, young girl, is the future!"
 
"The future?" She repeated curiously.
 
"The future!" He announced.
 
"Of... what?"
 
"Of toasting bread." He said in all seriousness. 
 
Korra placed both her hands on the table, pushing herself up to look at the monstrosity from a better angle. "Why does toasting bread need a future? It's just toasting bread."
 
The chief gasped. "Just toasting bread?" He said in disbelief. "How can a member of my own family say such a horrible thing?"
 
The little girl giggled from the drama in Sokka's tone. It was weird how easy it was for him to turn her mood from sad to ecstatic in a matter of minutes.
 
"We're not even family chief Sokka!" She said, still snickering.
 
"Well, the tribe is my family," he answered, messing her hair, "which makes you my family as well. Besides, what happened to uncle Sokka?" He asked with a pout.
 
"My dad says that you're the Chief and I should treat you with respect," Korra said, smile fading a little bit.
 
"Bo! Where's the fun in that?" Sokka raised her chin to lock their gazes with a huge grin. "Now, you wanna see my Supreme toaster mega heater?"
 
"Yes!" Korra called out, clapping her hands in excitement. 
 
"Now, haven't you always thought to yourself 'hey, what if I'm in the living room and want a toast'?"
 
Korra tilted her head. "Why not just get up and make toast?" 
 
"Because we're lazy, child." Sokka told her, shaking his head. "The best inventions are made as a result of laziness."
 
Korra's smile widened. "And you make the best inventions!"
 
"See? Point proven." He laughed. "This is the solution to the problem I'm presenting. Because this toaster, my friend, will come to you whenever you call for it!"
 
Korra raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And it works?" 
 
His smile faded a little bit. "Well..." he scratched the back of his neck. "Technically... no. But it walks! Look; toaster!" He called it.
 
The machine turned itself on, making mechanical sounds as it rose to its robotic feet and started walking, until it fell off the table.
 
"Yeah it's... it's a work in progress..." Sokka mumbled as Korra started laughing hysterically. Soon Sokka joined her, and the two just kept on laughing together until Korra fell asleep. Sokka never took her back home though. He knew Tonaraq and Senna meant well, but they never should've become parents, and he loved Korra way too much to leave her there with them more than he had to.