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"your heart is the softest place on earth. take care of it."

- Nayyirah Waheed

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"CAN YOU TELL ANOTHER STORY?" Yoko asks, clasping her hands together and batting her eyes. She and Kida are laying on the ground of the forest, looking up at the sky through the trees. Yoko couldn't sleep right away, so Kida offered to tell her some of the stories she used to tell Hiro and then Aang, the ones she invented on the spot by looking at the stars. Kida was completely fine with that, except that was about three stories ago, and Kida had planned to break into a house tonight. It had been a couple nights since Kida had the chance to go out on her own, being so preoccupied with keeping Yoko safe and unaware of her vigilante exploits. Kida was itching to put her hood back on, shoot a few arrows, and steal something.

She sighs. Being around a kid again, a young one at that, was more tiring than Kida had anticipated; there were also so many questions, most of which Kida preferred not to answer. There was never a silent moment. Kida figures that's because Yoko is young and misses having company and someone to talk to, and maybe Kida is the same in that way. Still, it's exhausting. Maybe she should just drop Yoko off in some town and get on with her life. "Yoko, it's late and time for bed."

"But, I'm not tired!" Yoko argues, failing to hide a yawn. Kida looks to the girl next to her accusingly. "Fine! I'll sleep."

Yoko crawls over to the ground and lays down. Kida throws her a blanket.

"Here."

"But, won't you be cold?"

"No, I'll be okay."

Kida waits until she can hear the sound of steady breathing before disappearing into the night.

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"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR HAIR?" Yoko asks the next day after she and Kida packed up camp and resumed their journey. "How did you get that scar on your nose?"

Kida glances at Yoko briefly. The girl's hair was falling out of the two top knots she had tied up a while ago, loose strands falling onto her tan face and covering her green eyes. Although Yoko is practically bursting with positive energy, Kida still notices the soft shadows under her eyes from lack of sleep and the slight limp in her step from when she tripped and fell yesterday. It was only a little over a week ago, but Kida remembers how much younger Yoko looked when they first met.

Part of her wants nothing more than to seal Yoko is a perfect world, where she could live and be happy and not have to grow up too fast, like Kida had to. And the other part is so annoyed by all the questioning that she considers leaving Yoko in the forest to fend for herself. Neither is an option, though, so Kida accepts defeat.

"The hair happened naturally and the scar is from teaching my brother to use a sword. Big mistake, by the way," Kida replies.

Yoko tilts her head in confusion. "What happened to your brother? And the sword? You don't have either."

"Yeah, I know," Kida answers, a little annoyed. "I lost both."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I lost my sister." Yoko stops walking and Kida takes a few steps before realizing. Kida walks back and crouches in front of the girl.

"What happened?" Kida asks gently, tucking a strand of hair behind Yoko's ear.

Yoko sniffles and stays staring at the ground. "I don't really know. One day we were best friends, and the next she ran away. She wanted to be an artist and my parents mentioned something about Ba Sing Se, so..."

"That's why you're going to Ba Sing Se," Kida finishes.

"I'm scared I won't get there," Yoko admits. A few tears leave her eyes, and Kida reaches up to wipe them with the sleeve of her jacket.

"Hey, I promised to get you there, right?" Yoko nods slowly. "Well, you should know that I never break my promises, especially with kids as cool as you."

At this, Yoko lifts her gaze to meet Kida's. "You think I'm cool?" She smiles slightly, which Kida returns.

"You're the coolest," Kida assures. "So, that means I extra promise to get you to Ba Sing Se and back with your sister. Cross my heart." She does the gesture before standing up and offering her hand to Yoko. "Now, come on, let's get going."

Yoko smiles, this time brightening her entire face, and takes Kida's hand.

They continue walking and, for a moment, there's only silence. Beautiful, peaceful silence between Yoko and Kida, with only the rustling of the trees in the wind and the sounds of birds singing —

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Kida sighs internally. "Not... officially, no."

"Unofficially?"

"Kid! Enough questions! Or, at least let me ask you some questions so we're even."

"Like what?"

Kida pauses. "Like...what's your favourite colour?"

"Oh, that's an easy one!" Yoko exclaims.

"Purple."

Kida smiles to herself. "That's mine too."

The next day, Kida gives Yoko a ring she stole from the wife of a Fire Nation general in a nearby Earth Kingdom colony the night before. It's a gold band with a purple gemstone in the center; a lucky, last minute find Kida swiped after surveying the entire house.

"Where did you get this?" Yoko asks, though she puts the ring on her finger enthusiastically.

"Doesn't matter." Kida shrugs and starts pulling out the food she got from the market and actually paid for. "Do you like it?"

"Of course!"

Kida chuckles. "I'm glad." Kida starts to build a fire to cook their dinner.

Yoko sits down across from her, watching Kida intently. "Can you teach me how to fight?"

"Look, kid, I promised to get you to Ba Sing Se safely "

"But I need to be able to defend myself, right? Like you did with those guys who tried to ambush us two days ago! You shot a couple arrows at them and they basically ran away crying! Please teach me! I want to be an archer, like you."

Kida shivers. She remembers the fear that ran through her when that happened: the fear of history repeating itself and another young child dragged away to their death. She won't let that happen. She can't. Kida herself learned how to fight and shoot when she was probably younger than Yoko, anyways. She might be a little gir

"Fine," Kida finally replies. "Training starts tomorrow."

Yoko squeals with joy and runs to hug Kida.

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THAT NIGHT, KIDA DOESN'T GO OUT. Instead, she stays at camp with Yoko and allows herself to rest. She dreams of Sokka, which, really, isn't new.

This time, it seems more like a memory than a dream, or maybe that's because Kida wishes that was the case. The two of them are laying down on a bed of grass, trying to catch their breath. They just finished training together: sword fighting and some hand-to-hand combat, by the looks of it.

"Do you want kids?" Sokka suddenly asks.

"What kind of question is that?" Kida moves to lean back on her elbow, tilting her head to be able to look Sokka in the eye.

"Um, a valid one," Sokka scoffs. "Don't you think about the future?"

"Not really," Kida admits. She moves back to lay down next to Sokka and stares up at the sky with him. "I never thought I'd make it past sixteen."

"Technically, you haven't." Kida lightly jabs her elbow into his side. "Hey! I have a point."

"Whatever." Kida rolls her eyes. "Anyways, my answer to your question is "I don't know.""

"Boring."

"Do you have anything better?"

"I think I want kids," Sokka says. "I'd like to fall in love, settle down and start a family."

"That would be nice," Kida muses. "I guess I'd be scared to lose everything."

"Isn't that what makes something worthwhile, though? Knowing that if you lost it, you'd be lost, too?"

Kida tilts her head towards Sokka. "Since when did you become all wise and shit?"

Sokka looks at her and smirks. "In your dreams." He winks and turns back to the sky, which is fading into night. Kida finds her eyes slowly closing. "Kida?"

Her eyes stay open, but her eyelids feel heavy. "Yeah, Sokka."

"I miss you," he whispers.

Kida's eyes close and she wakes up.

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author's note !

a few things:

- sokka, suki and kida are sixteen in this story (i always thought that sokka and suki were that age in the show for some reason, so im rolling with it)

- im thinking of writing an atla modern/college au (with kida!) bc i think it would be fun and i need to live vicariously through someone bc school is online

- there is a link on my profile (impact.crd.co) that provides information and tangible ways to actively support global social issues in an ongoing way, please check it out!

- as always, thank you for reading and commenting, it means the world <3