SOKKA IS DEFINITELY NOT SCARED. Sure, while the team was sharing ghost stories earlier that night in the forest, Toph said that she heard screaming under the mountain, and then Hama mentioned something about people disappearing when the moon is full. The floors of this inn seem to be creaking, and there are noises in the walls, and there's a chill in the air that definitely isn't because some angry Spirits were nearby.

Okay, this inn is definitely giving Sokka the creeps. There's no way he's getting any sleep in here. Thankfully, he's pretty sure that someone else would be awake, too.

Sokka quietly sneaks over to the room he knows Kida is in, Momo on his shoulder and sword in hand. He knocks on the door, but there's no answer. Sokka shoots a glance up and down the hallway before slowly opening it.

Kida is sitting in bed, back against the headboard, hugging her knees to her chest. The blanket pools around her feet, discarded as if she'd also spent time tossing and turning, finally giving up.

"Kida," Sokka whispers. For a second, there's no response. "Kida," he says, a little bit louder.

She turns her head, the moonlight accentuating the curves of her face and the shadows under her eyes. "Hey," Kida replies.

"Can I, uh, stay here tonight? This place kind of freaks me out."

Kida smiles softly, but it seems a bit strained. "Yeah. Of course." Momo pokes his head from behind the door. "You too, Momo," she laughs.

Sokka moves inside, closes the door and sets his sword down next to Kida's and her bow and arrow. Momo jumps off Sokka's shoulder and settles down next to Kida. Kida seems to be lost in thought, gently running her hand through Momo's fur as he dozes off. Even as Sokka gets under the covers and settles in, Kida still stares out at the moon. Sokka wonders, in passing, if she's thinking about Yue.

"Hey." Sokka keeps his head on the pillow, but reaches up to gently poke Kida's thigh. "Are you okay?"

Kida glances at him briefly. "Yeah, I'm fine. You can sleep, Sokka."

"I can't sleep; I'd rather talk to you." To prove his point, Sokka shifts to his side, propping up his elbow so that he can rest his head on his hand, looking up at her expectantly. With everything so busy lately, with planning for the invasion, he and Kida rarely had any alone time. And, even if they did, it was mostly training. Kida tried to act normal, but ever since Roku's island, Sokka can tell something is off. By now, he knew her well enough. It was strange that he could see someone everyday, but still miss them. "What's going on?"

"Oh nothing," Kida laughs sarcastically. "Just trying to help the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord and restore balance to the world." She ends the sentence there, but Sokka has a feeling there's more she wants, or needs, to say.

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" Sokka wonders. "You can talk to me about anything, you know."

"It's fine, Sokka."

"Kida --"

"I don't want to talk, Sokka," she asserts. Kida turns her head back to the window, clearly signaling that their conversation had come to an end, whether or not Sokka wanted it to.

Sokka sighs, moving once more to lie down on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Even before, Kida rarely wanted to talk about herself and especially not what keeps her up at night. There had been moments, small windows into her past that she would share, but Sokka has a feeling she's holding something back. Does Kida not trust him enough? She can train for hours, disarm a skilled swordsman, shoot an arrow from a hundred yards away, and set fire to anything, but Spirits forbid she opens up to her boyfriend about what's on her mind, about what haunts her to this day. As much as Sokka loves Kida, she also frustrates him to no end. She's obviously tired, and there's obviously something bothering her if she's still not sleeping enough.

It's been a while since Sokka's been this close to her, felt her warmth next to him, and he's certainly never seen this much skin, even when they've gone swimming. Kida is only wearing a pair of shorts and cloth wrapped around her chest. Her shoulders, abdomen, and most of her legs are uncovered. But, Sokka realizes, they aren't bare. Her skin is decorated with tattoos, some simple, others more intricate. They're only slightly visible on her brown skin, with only the moon as a source of light.

"Tell me about your tattoos."

Kida finally turns to him. "My tattoos."

"Yeah," Sokka says, smiling up at her. "Why not?" It was a long shot, but Sokka was nothing if not persistent.

To his surprise, Kida smiles back at him, head tilted. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"You did them yourself?"

Kida nods. "Most of them. I had a lot of time on the run, by myself." She pauses, as if remembering something. "Actually, way back in the day, I had a small business set up at some market to make extra money. I did piercings, too."

Sokka reaches up and tucks Kida' hair behind her ear, revealing small studs and rings adorning it. "Yeah, I can tell." Sokka feels his heart flutter when Kida laughs. He sits up against the headboard. "What's the story behind this one?" Sokka traces his fingers across the outline on her left bicep.

"It's a panda lily," Kida muses. "My dad drew it. He liked to paint, so sometimes I'd convince him to use leftover ink on me. He only agreed because he knew it was temporary and would wash off over time. But this was the last thing he drew before he and my mom.....I didn't want it to fade away. I found a way to make it permanent. This was my first tattoo, so I hadn't gotten the technique down. I have to go over it every so often."

Sokka hums. He realizes then that there was a whole part of Kida's life he might never know; because so much has happened to her, some moments must become background noise, eventually just fading away. But, even in this dark, creepy room, even in the late hours of the night, Sokka would gladly listen to her stories whenever they came to mind.

She shows him her other tattoos, tells him a story with each one. A triangle with a curved edge, an attempt at the shape of a fan because her mother was once a Kyoshi warrior. An arrow in honor of her father, who had taught her archery. Clouds and stars to match the stories she would tell her brother. A flower Sokka didn't recognize, but Kida mumbles something about the flower being purple, and purple being the favourite colour of someone she lost. Random lines and swirls, just to practice. Kida explains how she had to use whatever natural materials she could get her hands on, with a sterile needle to prevent infection. She placed each tattoo strategically, so that they'd be easily coverable. Better for anonymity, she says. Sokka blushes when Kida shows him the wave she drew on her left hip.

Kida shrugs, but Sokka notices a hint of a smirk. "I was bored and missed a certain Water Tribe warrior."

"What about this one?" Sokka traces the tattoo on her left shoulder, a small butterfly.

Kida shivers. She gently shifts so that her legs are finally under the blanket, Momo still fast asleep to her right. "Oh. Um, that's another one I didn't do actually."

"Oh?"

"You know, after I left the Freedom Fighters, I went to Kyoshi Island? Well, I stayed there for a while, and it started to feel like home. But, I ended up leaving."

"Because you were scared to lose someone," Sokka remembers. "A girl?"

Kida nods. "I had nightmares about the Fire Nation invading, burning everything, everyone, down. About the girl I love finding out who I was, and then getting hurt because of it. Before that, though, I was happy. Suki and I became friends, and well, we got close enough to give each other matching tattoos."

It took Sokka a second to register what Kida had said. "Suki was the girl you fell for?"

"Yeah," Kida replies nonchalantly. "I know about you and Suki, by the way. We met on my way to Ba Sing Se and sorted everything out."

For some reason, this unsettles Sokka. Wait -- had Kida said the girl she loves? As in, present tense?

"Sokka," Kida whispers after a few seconds of silence.

"Do you still love her?"

Sokka hopes for an instant, straightforward answer that denies this, but he supposes Kida isn't that type of person. Instead, she takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.

"Yes."

"Does that mean ---"

"I still love you, if that's what you're worried about," Kida interrupts. Sokka had been avoiding her eye, but she reaches over and gently moves his chin so that he has to face her. Her gold eyes sparkle even when it's dark, Sokka notices. She places her hand on his cheek, stroking her thumb across his cheekbone. "I still want to be with you." Kida removes her hand, and Sokka instantly misses the warmth. "But, you have to understand: I'm always going to love Suki. Not the way I did back then, like romantically, but I'm always going to really care about her." She glances briefly to the moon, her strip of white hair almost silver, before turning her attention back to Sokka. "The same goes for Yue. What we had was different, and special, and I just can't let that feeling fade away."

Sokka nods slowly, starting to understand. He can understand because he feels the same way.

"Do you still love your childhood best friend?" Kida asks, as though reading Sokka's mind.

Sokka would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about Koa from time to time. Years have passed, but still, whenever he thinks about their memories, Sokka feels the same energy, the same love, as he did back then. He tells Kida and she nods sympathetically. She asks about him more, and Sokka finds himself recounting the adventures he and Koa once shared: going penguin sledding, sneaking out past bedtime to see the Southern lights, kissing once the tension between them grew too much.

It was nice, having Kida there to understand and to listen. Eventually, the two lie down in bed, Sokka putting an arm around Kida as she rests her head on his shoulder.

"Maybe you can give me a tattoo sometime," Sokka whispers as the night continues.

Kida smiles before yawning. "Maybe. But, for now, I say we get some sleep."

»»---------------------►

KIDA WAKES UP BEFORE SOKKA, WHICH REALLY ISN'T SURPRISING. No matter how much sleep she's gotten, Kida always rises with the sun. She did have a surprisingly good sleep last night; Kida figures it has something to do with Sokka, and the fact she was lying on a real bed, not a mat on the ground. Needless to say, last night was definitely a welcomed change of pace.

Since she woke up early, Kida decides to see if there's a market closeby where she can pick up some breakfast. She and Momo stumble upon some stalls just opening up: a baker, with fresh bread, and a fruit vendor with the ripest mangoes Kida has seen in a long time. She even grabs a couple moon peaches for Momo as a thank you for tagging along.

Kida climbs through the window, Momo on her shoulder and breakfast in hand, just as Sokka wakes up. His hair, free of its usual wolftail, frames his face and his eyes, only half open, look light blue in the sunlight.

"Good morning," he yawns. Sokka rubs his eyes. "Wait, you didn't sneak out to train, did you?"

"Of course not," Kida replies, though she does understand the assumption given her patterns lately. "Ask Momo."

As Momo and Sokka interact, Kida sits cross legged on the bed in front of Sokka. She pulls out the bread and fruit, and puts their breakfast between them. Momo instantly picks up one of the moon peaches and starts eating.

"Wow, this is awesome," Sokka muses. He leans over to kiss Kida on the cheek before grabbing some bread.

Kida grabs her small knife and starts cutting the mango. "Sorry, there wasn't any meat."

"Aw man!" Sokka exclaims jokingly. "But I'm the meat, sarcasm, and 'falling for people who end up leaving' guy."

"Hey, I came back," Kida defends. She remembers the conversations she and Sokka had the night before. "And, who knows, maybe Koa will come back, too."

At this, Sokka stops eating. He smiles softly at Kida, his eyes trailing down until he lands on the knife in her hand.

"Are you using the knife I got you to cut a mango?"

Kida looks down at the knife, then back at Sokka. She shrugs. "I'm not going to use my other knife. It has dirt and blood on it -- this one's fresh," Kida explains.

"Fair enough."

She continues to meticulously cut the mango. It's been a while since she has been able to find a good mango, but it's almost muscle memory, cutting the fruit into three pieces, scoring the side to create a grid, then pushing the back to reveal cubes before removing the flesh. Mango had been her mother's favorite, so it was common in their household. Kida must have inherited her love of the fruit. When they were young, she and Hiro would even cut a mango into thin slices, letting them dry out in the sun.

This is one of the stories she told Sokka as they eat breakfast. Sokka had apparently never had a mango, let alone cut one, due to his love of meat. Kida takes it upon herself to teach him the proper way, which doesn't go as planned, but does result in laughter, and Momo stealing some of their food after Sokka pulls Kida in for a kiss and the two get carried away.

Kida can almost imagine this as their life. Late night whispers bleeding into early morning breakfasts in bed. Maybe, if things were different. Kida wishes that they could stay in this bubble for a bit longer, at peace with themselves and with each other.

But then, a knock on her door brings them back to reality.

»»---------------------►

author's note!

this chapter made me soft, hope you enjoyed <3

// also "peace" by taylor swift is officially the theme for kida + sokka //

please remember to stay safe and take care of yourselves!!