SOKKA SPENDS THREE DAYS TRYING TO IGNORE KIDA. At least, from her perspective, that's what it seems like: eyes always glued to the map, he can't seem to talk about anything other than the importance of staying on schedule. Kida, on the other hand, would have liked to talk about their kiss and what it meant. She knew what it meant for her, but every time she tried to bring it up with Sokka, he just brushed her off.

Did she want to be with Sokka? Yes. Is she extremely annoyed at him? Also yes. Though, Kida also realizes that there's a war in need of fighting and a world in need of saving, so the fact that she's so preoccupied with relationship drama simply annoys her in general.

"We get that the schedule is important," Toph groans, just as Appa lands near a river. It had been a while since Aang got a good chunk of time dedicated to practicing earthbending and waterbending. "But, I think what's more important is that Aang masters earth and water bending."

Katara jumps down from Appa's saddle, then looks back up at her brother. "I agree with Toph," she adds.

"Yeah!" Aang exclaims as he airbends to the ground. "I can use all the practice I can get."

"They make some good points," Kida interjects. She climbs down Appa's saddle while helping Toph to the ground. "There's no point of being at the invasion if the Avatar can't fight using the elements he can during the eclipse. Other Avatars had years to practice, and even though Aang doesn't have that much time, he might as well get in as much training as possible."

Sokka groans and throws his schedule to the ground. "Fine. We'll camp out here for one night so Aang can practice his magic." He jumps down and immediately picks up the schedule again, dusting it off carefully. "From now on, though, we wake up forty-three minutes earlier."

"We can work out the details later," Kida replies. Aang, Toph, and Katara have already run off to start training, clearly excited about their new freedom. Then, she has an idea. "Look, maybe the two of us can spend the time training, too."

"I...I really should be planning —"

"Spirits, Sokka!" She practically rips the schedule out of his hands, folds it, and tucks it into her back pocket. "You've been planning and scheduling and organizing for three days straight. I think you could use the break. Unless.....you're just scared that I'll still be able to kick your ass."

Sokka scoffs. "Yeah, right. I think we remember our training sessions very differently."

Kida smirks. "So, what do you say, Wolftail? Just like old times?"

»»---------------------►

"WHY HAVE YOU BEEN ACTING SO WEIRD?" Kida finally asks, breaking a comfortable silence that had fallen upon her and Sokka.

The two spent an hour or so training — first, sword-fighting (with some sticks they found, since neither of them had an actual sword), then hand-to-hand combat — until they were so exhausted, they practically collapsed to the ground. It was nice, Kida thinks, to do this again: the dodging, the flipping, the lunging, the laughing. Even just watching the clouds while trying to catch their breath. It all felt easy, comfortable, familiar. Kida is just praying to all the Spirits that the following conversation doesn't change any of that.

"What do you mean by weird?" Sokka reponds.

Kida tilts her head away from the sky to look at Sokka, then sits up, crossing her legs. "Maybe the fact that we haven't really talked since.....in a while."

"We're talking right now."

She stares down at Sokka, her brows furrowed. Sokka's eyes are closed, as they were before when they were both resting. Frustrated, Kida blows a stray hair away from her face. "Look, if you don't want to be together, I'll live with that."

At this, Sokka opens his eyes and sits up, mirroring Kida's position so that they are facing each other. He gently takes Kida's hand in his, which clearly confuses her. "Why would you think that?"

"Maybe because we kissed and then you practically ignored me up until now," Kida explains. She pulls her hands away.

"Oh, right." Sokka chuckles awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck. "I'm...sorry about that. I want to be together...."

"Well, I do too," Kida interrupts. "So, then what's wrong?"

"I'm worried that it might change stuff with the team," Sokka admits.

Kida has to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Sokka, I don't think it's going to change anything."

"But, what if it does! Then, the whole invasion plan is messed up and the entire world suffers."

"You're paranoid," Kida counters. "Nothing is going to happen if we tell our friends that we're dating."

"I'm not sure I want to take that risk," Sokka declares.

"Fine," she sighs, biting her lip. Obviously, Kida sympathizes with Sokka's position, of not wanting a distraction from the war, and she's partially grateful to have had at least some sense of closure, but Kida is disappointed nonetheless. "Then, we'll wait until after the war to do....whatever this is." Without another word, Kida quickly stands up to walk back to camp, but not before Sokka stops her by grabbing her hand. She turns back, looking into his deep blue eyes, full of worry.

"I don't want that either," he assures. Sokka, stands up to face her, still holding Kida's hand in his, while placing the other on her cheek. "I don't want to go back to whatever we were before. Especially since I want to be able to do this." He kisses her, softly.

At first, Kida melts into their kiss, before realizing that there's still a conversation to be had, so she steps back. "Okay, so let's go tell the team."

Confidently, Sokka steps forward, once again minimizing the space between them. "We don't have to, because I have a plan."

"What's your plan, then?"

"Simple," Sokka declares. "We just don't tell them."

"While we're seeing each other?" Sokka nods; Kida laughs. "I can't see you keeping this a secret."

Sokka crosses his arms. "If anything, you'd be the one to blow our secret."

This time, Kida does roll her eyes, though playfully. "Did you forget that I hid the fact that I'm a firebender for like, months, when we first met?"

"This is different." Sokka waves his hand dismissively. "This is a fun secret!"

"A fun secret? There's no such thing! Plus, fun secret or not, you," To emphasize her point, Kida places her finger on his chest, "would definitely be the one to slip up. Not me."

Sokka brushes her finger away. He tilts his head and smiles, as if challenging her. "Wanna bet?"

"Are you serious?" Kida raises her eyebrow, and doesn't stop the smirk from spreading across her lips.

Sokka sticks out his hand. "Just like old times?"

Kida ignores it; instead, she stares into his eyes, biting her lip. Up close, she notices the dark shadows starting to form under Sokka's eyes. They've made plenty of bets, but, for whatever reason, this one intrigued her the most. Sure, it was a distraction from the war, but don't they deserve a bit of an escape? Don't they deserve a bit of fun? Spirits know that they've been through so much, almost too much, despite their young age.

"What?" Sokka whispers tauntingly, as Kida still hasn't replied. "Scared I'd win?"

Kida scoffs and finally shakes his hand. "I'm in," she states, pulling her hand away. "So, what, we just pretend everything is like it was before?"

Sokka nods. "It'll be like that bet we made way back," he explains. "When we pretended to be friends around the team, and then during our training sessions could openly argue and fight, or whatever. But, you know, pretty much the opposite."

"Okay, so, with the team, we're friendly, but generally indifferent towards each other. Then, during our training sessions we can kiss, or whatever."

"We can also find other excuses to sneak away," Sokka muses. "Either way, I'm so gonna win this bet. I mean, think about it: each time we kissed, you were the one who initiated it."

Kida frowns. "Maybe at the North Pole, but not that time with the guards. You kissed me first."

Sokka shakes his head, smirking. "That was your idea though, as a distraction." He uses air quotes for the word distraction.

"Oh." Kida sighs, frustrated. "Right."

"Aw, babe." Sokka wraps his arms around Kida's hips, pulling her close. "It's not your fault that I'm so irresistible."

"That might be true, " she sighs once more, causing Sokka to smirk. Kida moves in closer, her arms draped around his neck, her lips ghosting his; but, then, she moves to kiss the side of his jaw. "But, don't get it twisted, Wolftail. I'm winning this bet," she whispers, close to his ear. When Kida pulls away, she can see that Sokka is flustered because his cheeks are tinted pink. As she leans down to pick up her knife and secure it to her belt, Kida remembers something about the bet that Sokka mentioned earlier, so she adds: "And you're going to be the one doing my laundry for a month." And walks away before he can respond.

"Wait!" Sokka shouts. "We didn't agree to the laundry part!"

Kida turns around with a smirk, shrugs, then continues walking back to camp.

»»---------------------►

author's note!

as usual, thank you so much for reading :)

update on upload schedule: new chapter every friday! 

i'm also working on a few other fics, including a marvel one i'm super excited for, so check those out if you're interested. i might even start another fic inspired by olivia rodrigo's new song, 'drivers license'....!

most importantly, please stay safe and take care of yourselves <3