Waking up back home

Sokka woke some time later. His head was pounding and as he rose, some of the furs he'd been bedded in fell aside. Rubbing his forehead, he tried to recall what had happened as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was... back home. In their home. The fire in the middle of the room was crackling softly, its heat warming him up. Only then did he notice how cold he still felt and he quickly pulled the furs back over his naked torso. On the opposite side of the fire, he saw somebody else, bundled up snugly much like he must've been.

Before he could see who it was though, Gran Gran entered. The elderly woman, slouched over from age, rushed to his side with surprising swiftness as she saw that her grandson had woken up. "Sokka... oh, thank the spirits, you're awake! How are you? Are you hurt?", she asked, pulling her hand out of her glove and pressing it against his forehead, checking for any signs of a fever. To her elation, she found none.

"Hey, Gran Gran...", Sokka replied. He still didn't really knew what had happened, but he hated making people worry about him. "I'm... fine, yeah... totally alright. You know me, I am indestructible.", he quickly assured her, punching against his chest in what he hoped was a 'strong' and 'manly' pose. Him wincing afterwards didn't help sell the impression though. Then the events that had led him here came rushing back to him... his wish... becoming the Avatar and saving Katara...

Katara!

Was she alright? Oh, he wouldn't ever forgive himself if he had put her in danger by his selfish desires? "But nevermind me, how's Katara doing?", he asked, bolting upright, peering over Gran Grans shoulder to check on his sister, who still remained bundled up under the warm covers next to the hearth.

Only the gentle hand of his grandmother managed to push him down. "She'll be alright, don't you worry. In fact, she woke up before you an hour ago. She's resting now.", she told him. "You were both almost freezing, but you returned quickly enough... I think you'll both be just fine within a day or two. You had me and the others quite worried.", his grandmother said.

The good news were a huge relief to Sokka as he relaxed back into the comfort of his beddings. "Oh... good, that's... that's very good.", he muttered. He truly had no recollection of bringing them back from their ill-fated trip, but he was glad that he did.

Their grandmother was also quite happy that her grandchildren had returned safely, but her kind smile turned serious soon. "Sokka... can you remember what happened out there?", she inquired, her tone unexpectedly insistent.

"Well, I remember...", Sokka began, closing his eyes to try and recall as much as he could, before continuing. "We were in the boat, arguing a little, so we had turned away from each other. Then, I remember hearing a splash and that Katara was gone... I went in after her and... I don't know, everything's kinda fuzzy after that.", he admitted. The young man looked up to his elderly grandmother. "Gran Gran... what happened? How did I... how did we get back?", he asked her in return now.

The woman sat down next to his bed. "I was outside when it must've happened. A big ray of light shot up from the north, where you two had set out to. I wasn't sure if this was a good omen or a bad one, but after a little while, you returned... there was no sign of your canoe anywhere and you were carrying Katara in your arms, dripping wet, freezing.", she recounted. "You collapsed once we reached you, but... Sokka, your eyes... they were... glowing!", Gran Gran finished telling the story, breathlessly.

Well, that filled in the gaps in his memories somewhat, Sokka figured. But his eyes, glowing? He remembered looking down at Katara after he had pulled her out of the water and she had mentioned his eyes as well. "Glowing? What... what does that mean?", he wondered aloud. After all, wouldn't make glowing eyes seeing kind of hard? He couldn't imagine seeing very well while he blinded himself...

The answer to his question came from behind his grandmother, however. "It means you're the Avatar.", Katara piped up. Evidently, she had been awake for a little bit and chosen this moment to jump into the conversation.

Gran Gran gasped and turned to her granddaughter. "Katara! Child, you're awake.", she said as she moved to her side, checking her temperature just as she had done with Sokka.

But Katara didn't seem interested in her own well-being at the moment. She too sat up, the furs falling away from her upper body. For a moment, Sokka caught a glimpse of Kataras feminine curves before she pulled her covers back up. Willing his dick to not react immediately to the mere hint of breasts, he instead focused on her words. "But it's true, isn't it? Sokka... my brother's the Avatar!", she questioned their grandmother breathlessly. Sokka could see the twinkle of excitement in her eyes. Just like he had hoped, it was the same kind of look she had when they were younger and Gran Gran told of the Avatar.

But the older woman tried to curb her enthusiasm. "We don't know that yet... After all, Sokka never showed any talent for bending whatsoever... and the Avatar vanished almost a hundred years ago. We just can't say for sure yet...", she reasoned.

"Well then, how can we tell if he's the Avatar or not?", Katara questioned, impatiently, looking over to her brother who in turn looked back at Gran Gran. All the while, Sokka had to fight the urge to grin and just tell them that he was the Avatar for sure. But that would bring its own share of problems, so he bit his tongue. He liked to brag, sure, but he figured this was one of the few times were it was better to keep his mouth shut.

The older woman sighed. "I... am not sure. I know there is a procedure, a ritual that was done to find out whether or not a child is the new Avatar, but... I don't know the details, I'm sorry.", she admitted. This deflated both siblings visibly. "But...", she continued, causing them to look back up again, hopefully, "... I do know that he Avatar ought to be able to converse with his past lives through meditation.", Gran Gran offered.

This earned her a raised eyebrow from Sokka. "Meditation? How do I do that?", he asked. He had heard of meditation before, but had zoned out almost immediately once it was explained to him in detail. Hadn't sounded exciting or fun to him at all, so why should he bother with it?

"You must relax, calm yourself, both in body and spirit. Empty your mind and let your soul soar free.", Gran Gran instructed him. Sokka was glad to have her sage advice at this time... after all, it would've looked mighty weird if he just became the all-powerful Avatar out of nowhere.

But of course, Katara was here to keep him grounded. "Well, the 'emptying his mind'-thing shouldn't be too difficult for him.", Katara giggled.

"Hey! A bit of respect for the Avatar, please?", Sokka bristled a little.

That did manage to get Katara to back down. "Okay, okay... sorry. Go on then, meditate. I'll be quiet, I promise.", his sister relented and sat there, opposite of him next to their grandmother, watching him expectantly.

Sokka cleared his throat, closed his eyes, took a few, deep breaths and began to relax...