Redeemed (Sokka x O.C.) ‐ Finished- Trigger Warning In Discription

95: Yue ⚠️ (NEW CHAPTER)

⚠️ Grief ⚠️
The next chapter will take place during Imbalance, the most current of the ATLA comics.
Chapter numbers may be incorrect.

~~~

Tu Cho cried on Sokka's shoulder as they stood before the small grave. Tu Cho and Zuko were both dressed in white, traditional mourning clothes in the fire nation, and Sokka and Kita wore black, the norm for grieving in the Water tribe. The funeral had been a few days ago. They'd had to bury him before it got too cold again and couldn't wait for any of Tu Cho's family to arrive.

Kita didn't understand what was happening. The six year old had been excited about having a baby brother and now, for some reason, she was told wasn't going to have one. She was sad about it but didn't understand why they'd told her that. She'd never gotten the little brother she wanted but dad had said that the baby boy just wasn't strong enough to make it. That when her brother was born, he couldn't breathe and his heart had stopped. But if he wasn't here with her, then she didn't have a brother yet. She'd never met him so surely that just meant he wasn't here yet. She was sure that she just had to wait and one day mommy and daddy would throw a big party and bring her a little brother and they'd be just like mommy and Uncle Zuko. She remembered being told it would be a long time so surely she just needed to be patient.

It made sense to a child's mind.

But for Tu Cho and Sokka, they'd fully lost their son. Even before he'd arrived, the baby had been a part of their family. Both had dreamed often of what their boy might be like ever since Katara had said they were having a boy. They had held a baby boy as he lay still in their hands. Tu Cho had swaddled her son in her own golden sash just as she had Kita years before in the air temple as he lay silent in her arms. She had delivered a baby and he didn't cry. The absence of that sound was as heartbreaking as her husband's wails.

Sokka had dreamed of teaching his son all of the ways of the tribe, all of the traditions that his father taught him and his father taught him before. Holding his dead son to his chest had broken his heart further than he'd thought was ever possible. He'd seen his own face but it never looked up at him as he had dreamed of most nights. And he'd tried to ask the spirits for help, if they could do it for Princess Yue then they could help his son, but Katara had stopped him when she told him that he simply came too early. His body simply couldn't support life. His lungs weren't done and his heart was too small. And that information had not made anything better for the pair of young parents.

Tu Cho blamed herself. She'd worried so much that she'd not survive child birth that she never thought she couldn't carry her son to term. Kita had been born healthy, full term, and as loud as any child should be. She was sure that if her body could manage it once, she could do it again. Tu Cho had never dreamed of a family for herself before she had Kita and married Sokka, but now it was her only wish in the world.

Zuko knelt by the small grave, place a hand on the small rock pile, reminiscent of the larger version heading Kya's nearby grave. "What was his name?" he asked quietly.

Tu Cho couldn't stop crying long enough to say.

Sokka had run out of tears hours ago. "Yue." Sokka hugged his wife tightly. "We decided on it some time ago."

~~~

~~~

Sokka examined his new tattoo in the mirror of their bedroom. He'd had the child's name tattooed onto his arm, though he was sure to put it where his arm bands sat. His son's name, and that of the moon spirit, was personal. He didn't want people to ask about it when he traveled.

Tu Cho silently entered the room and took off her white headband. She set it in her nightstand and sat on the bed. She sunk into the pillow top as she picked up one of the decorative pillows. Sokka had chosen all of the fancy pillows. Though Tu Cho had requested a simple home for them to live in, she'd allowed Sokka to decorate and his style was still as extravagant as always. It reminded Tu Cho of being home in the fire nation to have silk curtains and pillows but it was nice to still have the warmth of the animal furs usual in the water tribe.

Tu Cho slid off her white robe and picked up her red night shirt. "Kita is asleep."

Sokka turned to his wife. "That's good."

Tu Cho hadn't said much to him in the last week and a half since she stopped crying. She still cried at night in his arms but Tu Cho had managed to stop crying constantly. She hadn't had much to say.

Sokka claimed into the bed and took his wife's hand. "I love you." He didn't expect a response but hoped for one. She'd been going through the motions of life, unable to move past burying her second child.

Tu Cho touched his arm where his tattoo was. Then she set a hand on Sokka's face. For the first time since the stillbirth, she was in the moment. She was on the bed with her husband and everything was real. "I love you too, Sokka."

Sokka smiled at his wife, glad she was back to him.

"Sokka..." Tu Cho said after a moment of smiling at each other. "I want to try again."

Sokka breathed in deeply and pulled her close to his chest. "I love you so much."

~~~

"Are you going to the fire nation?" Katara asked, watching her sister in law packing up Kita's clothes for a warm weather trip.

"Only for a while," Tu Cho said with a smile. "We need a little time away from the cold. Kita and I are going to see my family in the palace city, then turn back and meet Sokka in Yu Dao."

"He's coming with us to check on Yu Dao?" Katara asked in surprise.

"I am," Sokka said, appearing in the doorway. "Aang already asked me to."

"Oh," Katara said in surprise. "Are you sure you're ready for that? It's only been a month."

"We're ready," Sokka said with a nod.

~~~

"Tu Cho!" Kiyi yelled as soon as the pair landed in the palace. "Kita!"

"Kiyi!" Kita yelled and ran to hug her aunt.

Tu Cho smiled as she watched the pair of six year olds catch up.

"Tu Cho," Ursa said happily. "It's good to see you again."

"Mom..." Tu Cho took a deep breath. She hadn't forgiven the abandonment, she was sure she never would, but she just wanted her family in that moment. Tu Cho wrapped her arms around her mother. "We lost him, mom..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear." Ursa petted Tu Cho's hair as she hugged her daughter. "I can't imagine what you're going through."

A warm hand sat on Tu Cho's shoulder. She turned to see Zuko. "Zuko!" She hugged her brother. "I'm so glad to see you."

Zuko was surprised. "You're doing well..."

"Better than I was," Tu Cho chuckled awkwardly. "It still hurts but if I've learned anything from our Uncle, it's that grief doesn't just disappear. You learn to live with it."