isolated,, sokka

xii.

the next day, the group of four was definitely in a hurry to get to the northern water tribe. however, their lack of food required a quick pit stop to a nearby village.

zhavia had opted for staying on appa and having katara and sokka go and buy their food— which sokka also agreed to, but katara had a different mindset. she convinced aang to get zhavia to go along with sokka. the airbender, a bit confused, still agreed. katara believed that zee and sokka should talk by themselves over what zhavia told her.

so there they were, walking into the village with fake disguises on.

"how much do you think we'll be able to buy with," zhavia checked the amount in her hand, "three copper pieces?" she questioned, looking to sokka.

"a single mango." sokka answered, crossing his arms as they made their way through the stands.

zee nodded, "yeah." she softly muttered, agreeing with him but not really knowing how else to reply.

"hey look," sokka glanced over towards zhavia. she looked back to him, making eye contact as she sent him a curious glance, "can we talk about what happened?"

zhav arched an eyebrow and nodded, "if you want to." she responded, glancing back to in front of her so that she wouldn't run into something. she bit her lip nervously.

"look, a few weeks ago when katara mentioned that i haven't kissed a girl yet— i guess that conversation got stuck in my head." sokka mumbled from next to her, also glancing away from her.

zee furrowed her brows, "so you kissed me to prove her wrong?" she crossed her arms as she had a confused look on her face.

"no! i—" sokka buried his face into his hands for a brief second, before shaking his head lightly, "katara told me that i had to talk to you about it, which i guess i should've known myself. i really like you,
zhavia." her lips parted into an 'o' shape following his confession.

zhavia softly smiled, "i like you too, sokka," she told him, and his face brightened a bit whilst hers dropped, "but we can't be together right now." she told him. both of them had stopped walking and were now facing each other.

"what? why can't we?" sokka muttered, narrowing his eyes towards the ground.

"the world is going to shit, sokka. my father's after us, he's kidnapped me before. we've known each other for a while now, and i really do like you— i promise, i just... can't." zhavia tried to explain. she didn't realize it before, but even if she wanted to be with sokka, it wasn't a good idea. and neither of them needed that extra stress.

"so just make it more complicated by waiting?" sokka narrowed his eyes, both hurt and confusion crossing his face and zhavia immediately felt remorse.

"i don't want to make it more complicated sokka," zhavia mumbled, "and i guess that's what i'm
doing— but neither of us are ready for the strain of a relationship right now. i mean, what if i get captured by my father for good? or you decide to go and fight with yours." she pinched the bridge of her nose, "if the fire nation sees me, my ass will get thrown in a cell. and aang doesn't need any more setbacks on learning the elements."

"you're not a setback, zhav." sokka frowned.

"i just— i'm just saying that we don't need an extra commitment right now." zhavia tried her best to explain her worries, but she was aware she was doing an extremely poor way of verbalizing it.

sokka rolled his eyes, handing her the three copper pieces before running back in the direction appa was. zhavia had tears well up in her eyes, and a few dropped down her face as she blinked, but she didn't let them all fall. she watched sadly as he went away without another word, but she understood why he was upset and she couldn't blame him for it.