bruised toes and fractured hearts
The last thing Katara expected when they woke up was to be face-to-face with Yue's ex-fling. As their eyes flutter open and they groan, they squint at the rectangular fluorescents on the ceiling of the clinic with a dull ache behind their eyes. "Wh-?"
Katara can't get a word out before Sokka's shouting in their ear. "THANK GOD YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"Sokka? Wha-" They falter at the sight of the empty chairs next to her brother's recently vacated seat. "Where're Yue and Suki?"
"They're in the waiting room," Nurse Ty Lee says from beside the gurney. "We only allow family and significant others in the room while you're unconscious. Your fathers are on their way."
Katara groans. "Oh, no, don't bother them, I'm fine," Katara says, their fleeting attempt to sit up disrupted by both Sokka and Ty Lee's hands on their shoulders, pinning them down. "Seriously," Katara groans. Their lungs betray them with a sharp intake of breath as Ty Lee begins to palpate their foot.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Let me know where it hurts," she says, as though she's not purposefully applying pressure to the most painful area of Katara's injured foot.
Katara lets out a staggered breath and says "Well obviously it hurts where you're putting pressure on it." There's a tone of sarcasm and anger in their voice that Ty Lee doesn't pick up on, but Sokka, clearly understanding the cause of the additional attitude, gives them a look of warning, as if telling them to be nice.
"Alright, thank you. I'm going to continue palpating, let me know where the pain is the worst," She says.
For what seems like an eternity, Ty Lee palpates up and down and underneath their foot, along the side of their calf, and the their heel. Katara, gritting their teeth through the pain, describes where, what type, how deep, and how bad their pain is in every area of the test, then is brought for an X-ray, which was thankfully offered in the clinic by one of Zuko's family friends, a deadpan woman named Mai who Katara had met a few times prior.
"Well, your X ray doesn't seem to show any breaks, but you can't be too certain this early after an injury. We'll schedule you for another X-ray after the new year, once the swelling has gone down," She's telling Katara as she wheels them back to the treatment room. "We could technically do a tuning fork auscultation, but I honestly doubt this is anything more than a bone bruise- and that's worst case scenario."
"Good," Katara sighs. "The last thing I need is a break."
It's two o'clock Sunday, and Katara's laying in their childhood bed. New Year's Eve, and they're under the blankets with their braced leg elevated and iced. They sigh as they scroll through Yue's Instagram profile, a pit digging deeper into their gut the farther they stalk into the past.
It's useless, they know. Everything has changed, they couldn't get back to how they were, no matter how much friendly flirting they partake in- and no matter how flustered it makes Katara.
They come across a picture of the two of them, they're asleep on the hammock in Hakoda and Bato's backyard. Thought this was cute <3 photo creds to Sokka, who tried to use this as proof that we never let him use the hammock.
A small smile creeps onto Katara's face as they remember this moment perfectly- despite being asleep at the time. They had gone to the beach that afternoon, and the time in the sun had made them drowsy. The two friends had laid down on the hammock, as they normally did in the warm summer afternoons, and Katara had fallen asleep with their head in the crook of Yue's shoulder. They hadn't realised that Yue had fallen asleep as well, but her arms and legs were wrapped around Katara's body, as if she somehow knew that they would soon be leaving her behind.
The very first comment on the post, of course, was Sokka trying to defend his point. The next comment, however, caught Katara’s attention. They hadn’t seen it when they had initially seen the post. Beneath Sokka’s original comment, Yue had replied “shut up idiot.” Then, below: “sorry ur not madly in love like we are.”
Struck with a sudden feeling of nausea, Katara places their phone face-down on the bed next to them. Years later, after the months of questioning the terms of their situation, Katara was more confused than they were during the relationship itself.
Determined not to face their issues today, they decide right then and there that they won't be attending the party. They text the "BoomerAangs" group chat (named by Sokka, who won't let any of them change it), sending their apologies, but they're not feeling so hot. Sokka, ever-so excited, has other plans. Immediately after the text is sent, the door to to their room is slammed open, deepening the already formed hole in the stopper-less blue wall. Wearing a navy blue suit sans tie (he claims they make him warm, but Katara has unwillingly seen the way that Zuko's cheeks flush when Sokka's top buttons are undone), Sokka stands in the entryway of their bedroom, eyes wild. "Up and at 'em, Katara!"
They groan, pulling the sheets over their head in protest, but Sokka yanks them clean off the bed, sending their phone flying onto the carpet.
"Come on! You have to come! Who else is going to record the engagement?"
"Fuck, I forgot about the proposal," Katara grumbles, propping themself up on their elbows. "Also: Aang? Toph? Suki? Yue, who you invited literally yesterday- don't think I forgot about that. Literally all of them are going to be there."
"Yeah, but I can't tell Aang about it beforehand because he can't keep a secret to save his life; he'll be sus all night. Toph's laughter will ruin the audio, and, I hate to say this about my best friend, but Suki is truly horrible at filming. She shakes too much! I don't know how she used to paint professionally, because any video she records looks like she's falling off the side of a mountain!"
"Fine, I'll come, but that's the only reason why."
"Not even for the charcuterie board? We have brie and honey."
"Okay, you know I love brie. But that's it. For real."
"Oh you love brie? The same way you loooooo-" Katara throws a pillow at their brother, hitting him square in the face. "Ow! You're going to mess up my hair!"
"Sokka you have the same hairstyle every day."
"Yeah, but today is special. I can't look bad."
"Whatever. Get out, I need to change."
"Okay! I'll be downstairs. Wear something sparkly, it's a festive occasion!"
Katara looks down at their all-black pyjamas and grunts. Something Sparkly is not part of their aesthetic at the moment. They instead opt for a periwinkle top with ruffled short sleeves and a sheer torso (something not typical for their wardrobe, but they had seen it at the mall the week before they left for university, and ended up forgetting it in their closet) and pair of dark brown dress pants. After tying the top half of their hair into a bun, they apply a black eyeliner with some previously untouched translucent sparkly gold eyeshadow to appease Sokka, then hobbled downstairs, where they put on a comfortable pair of sneakers (The apartment was a no-shoes household, so it didn't really matter what shoes they wore).
"Now that's what I'm talking about! Some festivity!" Sokka shouts as he saunters into the hallway, phone in his hand, undoubtedly FaceTime with his soon-to-be fiancé. He taps the screen and points the camera at Katara. "Don't they look nice? I wish they'd put this much effort in when I ask them to go literally anywhere else."
"Hey, take it easy on your sister, they don't have our good looks," Hakoda says from the doorway to the kitchen.
"I look more like you than Sokka does" Katara retorts.
"Well I guess that makes Sokka the ugly one!" He offers a high-five to Katara, which they begrudgingly accept. Hakoda, though the father of two children and nearly in his mid-fifties, is "young at heart," a term Bato uses to describe their father's child-like sense of humour (namely when he makes fart jokes). As a chuckle emerges from the person who isn't actually in the room with them, Hakoda looks at Sokka's phone screen and waves. "Zuko, my man! How's it going?"
Sokka looks at their father and furrows his brows. "Dad, the camera's not even pointed at you, stop waving." He taps the screen again and points at the corner, where his and Hakoda's faces are. "Hey! Why are we so small?"
"Because it's not a selfie, dad, it's a video call."
"Wait- can I do that on my phone?"
"Dad I've already explained FaceTime to you like four thousand times. Just get Bato to make the call for you."
"I'll have him call Katara at the countdown, that way we can-" bloop "-watch as you propose."
"Dad!"
"Oh my god we have to go. Dad you are so annoying, you literally almost ruined it. You're lucky I hit the mute button when I did, or else Zuko would know, and it wouldn't be a surprise. We are leaving. I will see you tomorrow night."
"Bye! Have fun!"
Katara flips the cassette tape in Sokka's stereo as they wait for him to come out from the party store. A personalized playlist of the best pump-up songs from when Katara and Sokka were kids flow through the car sound-system, heavy bass thudding against the arm that they've rested on the inside of the door. From the passenger seat of of Sokka's '86 Aerostar, they watch through the store window as their brother smiles at the cashier, undoubtedly cracking jokes about the weather and holidays and whatnot. They've always admired how he can put on a happy face, even when he's scared shitless or about to propose to his longtime boyfriend (or both).
The interaction is quick. Happy and full of laughter, but quick. Sokka pays for the balloons, a bundle of silver stars and midnight blue and lilac spheres of different sizes, and cracks another joke to the cashier. They smile, handing him his change and the bundle, and Sokka rushes out, throws the balloons into the back of the van, and crashes into the driver's seat of the van.
"Did I miss Maneater?" He asks as Katara presses play on the tape player.
"Which one?"
"Either. Both."
"Hall & Oates, yes. Nelly Furtado, no."
"Fuck. I could really use some Hall & Oates right now. I'm about to shit my pants," he says, squirming in his seat as he clutches the gearshift, preparing to pull out of the lot.
"Wait, Sokka. Don't go yet."
Sokka lets go of the of the shift, sinking into his seat. He turns his head and torso to Katara. "What's up?"
"I just... I wanted to say that I'm proud of you," they say. "You're my older brother, and I've watched you grow up from a goofy little asshole to this person who cares so deeply and loves so truthfully and... I'm just glad that after everything we went through as kids- with mom's death and dad's... absence... that you've grown into such an amazing person. I know that you are going to be the best husband to Zuko-" they swallow a lump in their throat and chuckle "-and the most annoying newlywed. I love you, dude."
Katara and Sokka are both trying their best not to cry, so as not to ruin their makeup.
Sokka leans over to Katara, wrapping them in a soft hug. "I love you too, doofus. Thank you." They pull apart, and Sokka sits back in his chair, only his head turned in Katara's direction. "Well that definitely made my shits go away."
Katara chuckles, a finger under each eye to prevent tears from ruining their makeup. "Gross. Let's go get you engaged."
As Katara and Sokka reach his apartment, they come across their first setback of the evening.
"The stairs- how could I forget about the stairs?" Sokka is saying as Katara look towards the top of a 20-step flight of stairs. Sokka and Zuko live in on the top-floor of a duplex, no elevator or accessible entrance. Which meant that Katara was supposed to climb said flight of stairs- which was going to be difficult, considering they can't even bear weight on their injured foot.
"Alright, I'm just going to have to carry you," Sokka says, placing the weighted balloons back into his car.
"No way," Katara says. "I'll just take your car and go back to the house. I can still drive with my good foot."
"I think you're forgetting that I drive manual. Which equates to both feet, dumbass. Now get onto my back. It'll be just like when we were kids."
"Fine, but you better not drop me like you did back then. Idiot."
Sokka squats in front of Katara, who hesitantly leans into his outreached arms, lifting their injured leg so he could grab it, before jumping with their good one. They put their arms around Sokka's neck and he leans towards the car and lets Katara grab the balloons. By the time they finally manage to slide the van door closed ("I shouldn't have picked you up so early!"), and get up the stairs, Sokka is sweating and panting like a dog in the summer, despite it being nearly freezing temperatures and not wearing a winter coat. He passes Katara into the closest pair of arms he can finds, instructing them to bring them to the couch, and reaches for a glass of punch. After taking a sip he lets out a sigh. "Thirst quenched. You guys want some?" He asks Katara and their carrier.
"No, I've got a glass, thanks," Yue says, placing Katara on the couch. She sits down next to them, giving them a once-over. "Nice shirt, I remember when you bought that one. Glad I finally get to see you wear it," she says with a smile that is all-too stomach-churning.]
Against any sense of self-preservation Katara thinks they have, they stutter, feeling a rush of heat rise to their cheeks, "Y-yeah, I thought it was about time."
"It suits you. I'm really happy you could make it, Zuko said he wasn't sure if you were coming."
They look down. "I wasn't really up to it at first, but Sokka convinced me."
Yue grabs their hand and though they thought it impossible, Katara's cheeks are burning even hotter and redder.
"There's so much we need to talk about."