Winding down

[beliefovermisery]

It had been... a very long day. He'd rescued, killed, comforted, been shot, fixed, nearly passed out, healed... and though the day has long been over, really, he's only just now leaving the infirmary and Paige's side.

There's one other person he hasn't given nearly enough attention to.

So it's back to his room he wanders, looking for the girl with-- well, shorter hair now.

Comments

[flyingsister.livejournal.com]

"I'm just glad I wasn't stuck there as long as they were."

[notanoptimist.livejournal.com]

There's a pause in the sawing of hair and he bumps the back of her head lightly with his brow. "Me, too," is said quietly before he leans back and goes back to his job.

A few moments later, he's leaning back, her ragged haircut quite a bit more even as he sets the knife aside. "There. Go look and tell me what I did wrong."

[flyingsister.livejournal.com]

"I look like a boy," Katara said unhappily, her fingers toying with the ends of her hair. She turned away from the mirror. "But you did a good job with what I had left."

[notanoptimist.livejournal.com]

Unhappy? Sokka comes up behind her, frowning slightly at her reflection. "Oh, you do n--..."

A few pauses later and he reaches up to tug out his hair tie, letting his hair flop around his eyes.

"...Huh."

Suddenly the family resemblance is a lot more compelling.

"Don't worry - your chest will give it away." Among other things, but-- y'know. Most obvious.

[flyingsister.livejournal.com]

Katara elbowed him in the side.

[notanoptimist.livejournal.com]

"Oof! What, you'd rather it didn't?"

[flyingsister.livejournal.com]

"You're supposed to say I still look really girly!"

Not that there's only one feature that distinguises her from being a boy.

She fiddled with her hair beads, and then her expression changed to look very sad in the mirror.

"I miss my hair."

More fiddling.

"And my waterskin."

Even more fiddling. "And my necklace--I don't have anything left of mom's now."

Her eyes were sparkling a bit and she wiped at them.

"That must sound stupid. After all that, I'm saying I miss my hair, but..."

[notanoptimist.livejournal.com]

...Silly girl. And sillier boy, in a minute, as his eyes grow dark and sad and he gets a bit of a foolish idea...

But he's fairly certain it'll make her smile.

Carefully he reaches around to take out her little hair beads, steps behind her and draws the hair back over her ears, works for a few minutes...

And that short, shorn hair now has the top bit pulled back and braided down. Just like their mother used to wear her hair. Sliding the beads onto the end of it, he nudges her in the mirror, smiling a little-- and then pokes her in the cheek with a finger.

"Very girly. See? Look at the girl-ness. I bet if there was a mouse in here, your high-pitched screaming would break the windows."

[flyingsister.livejournal.com]

She laughed and burst into tears at the same time.

Then...then she was just crying.

[notanoptimist.livejournal.com]

Well, she smiled for a little while.

His arms wrap around her from behind, loose enough to let her turn if she wanted to. But for now, he's perfectly content to hold onto her, rest his chin on her shoulder and hold her tight. "It's okay," he whispers, holding, rocking her a little, "it's all right now. They were just things, Katara, stuff... you still have her, you do.

"You're home now. Didn't... didn't I tell you? I promised I wouldn't leave, remember?"

This time? He kept that promise.

[flyingsister.livejournal.com]

She didn't stop crying, just sort of plopped down onto her little bedroll, still crying.

"I'm-I'm t-tired," she stuttered out.

[notanoptimist.livejournal.com]

He let her go when she plopped but knelt beside her soon enough. If she isn't adverse to the touch, he'll start petting her hair gently, looking down at her.

He promised he wouldn't leave and-- he didn't. She left, he went after her. And now they're back together, but... maybe he should have gone sooner, gotten her out of there more quickly. But then they might have lost the rest or...

"...Sleep," he says quietly, looking down on her, eyes dark and soul heavy. "Go to sleep, nukka."

[flyingsister.livejournal.com]

She squeezed herself down under her bundle of blankets, sniffled a few times and dropped right off to sleep shortly after.