Through His Eyes

Chapter 4

The heavy pulsation could be felt throughout his whole body. His chest was now a cage for his heart, alerting him to danger. Every muscle in his body tensed before the roaring applause brought him back to the present. Hakoda blinked and looked to his left to see his son cheering in high exuberance. As he looked to his right, his daughter was calmer, but her face was full of admiration. Putting a hand to his chest to say, 'It's okay. We're safe'', Hakoda realized what had just happened. His body reacted to seeing Zuko in his Fire Nation robes before he could even process that the boy was no longer a threat.

Steadying his shaky breath, Hakoda quickly brought himself to a state of calm. He thought it would be weird at first, actually being on good terms with Zuko, but he didn't think he would react like that. ''Can't teach an old warrior new tricks,'' he thought to himself as he turned away from Katara to look at the stage. The volume of the cheers in the audience tripled as soon as Aang walked out on stage. He couldn't help but cheer and clap along with the crowd. His pride for what Aang accomplished would never be forgotten.

A nudge in his ribcage by Sokka took Hakoda away from these pleasant thoughts. The smirk on Sokka's face, followed by him pointing at Katara, made him curious. Turning his head to look at his daughter, a smile came across Hakoda's face. His daughter was blushing, cheeks deep red in color, blue eyes transfixed as she watched Aang speak. He couldn't deny it anymore, and he knew that she couldn't either; she had a crush.

Hakoda paused his thoughts to reconsider the word 'crush'. While it's true that his daughter acts like someone with a crush, he can't help but think that that could be too small for what her feelings actually are. Everything they went through, and everything Katara did for Aang, are what you do for someone you love. He felt like he might almost have a heart attack thinking about his daughter being in love, so he decided to avoid this by focusing on the rest of the ceremony.

After the ceremony concluded, Hakoda looked at his children and pulled them both in for an embrace.

"I don't think I can say enough how proud I am of you both," Hakoda said with a beaming smile.

The wind whipped through Katara's hair as her blue eyes shone in the light. She smiled at her father as she asked, "Are you coming to the Jasmine dragon? We're gonna celebrate with Iroh's new tea shop. It would be so fun!"

Sokka snaked his way through his sister and his dad, placing both arms around their necks and hugged them close. "Yeah! Come on dad, we'll have a great time with lots of food. You can spend more time with Suki and Iroh..did I mention there would be free food?"

Hakoda chuckled lightly as Katara scoffed in response to her brother.

"I'm sorry, I would love to, but I have to make sure everyone from the tribe is set up with their sleeping quarters. How about you come to the inn for dinner?" Hakoda asked.

Katara and Sokka nodded in tandem.

"That's a great idea, Dad! Can..can Aang come?" his daughter asked shyly, a tint of red on her cheeks.

Sokka groaned, "Ughhhh-"

SLAP!

Katara slapped Sokka on the arm, as she felt both anger and embarrassment.

"OW! Dad, do you see how she treats me?" Sokka asked as he rubbed his sore arm.

Hakoda tried not to laugh, but it made him so happy to see them interact playfully again.

"Katara, don't hit your brother," he said almost half-heartedly, "And yes, Aang is welcome. As well as Suki, or any other guest you would like. Zuko allowed us free range of the kitchen and it is full of food, so be prepared for a Water Tribe feast."