Reborn As Sokka: Awakening Of the wolf's mind

"Sokka."

"Oh, Tiga, what's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you that with the prey the polar bear dogs and leopard-caribou bring, the storage is full. And with the new boat you built, getting food won't be a problem anymore."

"Good, tell them to start preparing dinner; some lobster shrimp and salads would be nice, please. It's almost nightfall."

"Alright, Sokka. I'm glad you can relax more now."

"Hm, yeah, thanks," I replied with a smile.

Everyone's been saying that since I started relaxing this past year, and honestly, it's true. Before, I also joked around and played, but my serious side dominated.

Because, well, living in constant danger with beasts, food shortages, and a struggling village brought out that seriousness in me.

"Who's that bald kid?" Tiga asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to Gran-Gran about. Go there once you're done talking to the cooks."

Tiga agreed and headed to the kitchens.

When I entered Gran-Gran's house, I saw Katara sitting while sewing a pair of pants.

"Hello again."

Katara glanced at me for a moment before ignoring me.

"Sokka, what is it?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about something... alone," I replied, looking at Katara.

The older woman stared at me for a few seconds before calmly turning to Katara.

Katara looked at her neutrally, then at me with annoyance.

"Fine, I'll go see Aang."

As Katara left the igloo, she ran into Tiga, who said she had something to discuss.

"Since you're both here: the boy is an airbending master."

Tiga was shocked by the statement, while Kanna remained thoughtful.

"I suspected as much when I saw his tattoos. My mother told me stories about them and their distinctive markings."

No doubt, this elder woman had deep knowledge of the world despite being isolated here.

"He's also the Avatar."

I watched their faces as they processed the information while I changed my shirt and coat.

"The Avatar disappeared 100 years ago. It's impossible for a child to be the Avatar who died a century ago, and even more impossible for him to be an airbending master!"

I looked at Tiga with contained surprise; her angry reaction was interesting.

"Tiga, please, stay calm. Sokka, how do you know he's the Avatar?" Kanna asked.

"Well, there are several reasons why I know."

*"Besides my meta-knowledge, of course."*

"First of all: when we found him in the iceberg, he was glowing—literally glowing. His tattoos and eyes were shining. Also, when Katara mentioned he might be the Avatar, he denied it too quickly and seemed uncomfortable. It was the same discomfort when Katara asked again if he knew the Avatar. And lastly, he's a very young airbending master. I assume maybe he ran away from home when he found out and avoided his people's extinction."

Both women fell silent again, processing the information. Honestly, it was starting to get amusing.

"For now, it's best to leave it at that. Tomorrow morning, we can talk to him about this."

Tiga and Kanna nodded in agreement; they didn't know what else to do.

Seeing they had nothing more to say, I left the house and headed to the chief's office, which was still under construction. Barely 25 square meters, with a room in the back right corner—that was the office where all the tribe's records and papers were kept, like stories and songs.

Meanwhile, in the center stood an ice throne, and behind it were several skulls as trophies. There were at least half a dozen large polar bear dog skulls lined up in two vertical rows. To the right, in similar rows, were six leopard-caribou skulls, and in the upper right center was a massive skull of a beast hard to recognize. Sokka would describe it as the skull of the great sea serpent that sometimes appears in the series, and next to it was the great skull of the white lion. Above the throne, in the center, was a single Fire Nation helmet—the distinctive helmet of the Southern invader who almost killed him.

Thinking in this place felt better than anywhere else; I needed to figure out what to do now.

Katara would probably take Aang to the wrecked ship tomorrow at dawn since it was almost nightfall and it was at least a 40-minute trip—or less with the fastest leopard-caribou; even less if Aang flew with his glider.

I trusted that the flare would go off and alert Zuko.

Handing him over to Zuko would make him and Katara hate me and complicate the journey, so simply kicking him out and explaining to Katara that we'd rescue him later was the best option.

My thoughts were interrupted when Tiga entered and told me dinner was ready, reminding me that three hours had passed.

"Tiga, are you okay?" I asked calmly.

"What do you mean?"

"When I told you Aang was the Avatar, you got really upset."

"I didn't," she said defensively.

"Please, even a child would've noticed."

"It's... It's just that I can't believe he's the Avatar," she said with contained anger. "He's the Avatar, and he ran away. He condemned us to this war. If he hadn't run, we wouldn't be forced to live isolated from the world. If he hadn't run, the Fire Nation wouldn't have taken my husband, who went to fight... and nothing bad would've happened to you or your family."

Her words were filled with a kind of rage I'd never heard since arriving in this world. Her fists were clenched so tight her palms almost bled.

I could understand her emotions. Any fan of *Avatar: The Last Airbender* has had these thoughts before, and it's something we must accept. Now it was my duty to help her understand.

"Tiga, he's just a 12-year-old kid... well, technically 112. The point is, he found out he was the Avatar at 12. Can you imagine the pressure he must've felt? You can clearly see he's a cheerful, playful kid, even if he's an airbending master," I said calmly, watching her begin to see my point. "If he hadn't run, he would've died with all the other airbenders, and we'd be left with no Avatar."

From the expression on Tiga's face, I knew she finally understood, but the anger on her face remained.

"And honestly, if you want to blame someone, blame the previous Avatar—the firebender. That bastard should've stopped the Fire Lord who planned all this. Likewise, you could blame the people who chose to wait for the Avatar to save them instead of coordinating and ending the war themselves."

"Also, I don't complain about what's happened to me. Of course, if I could, I'd save my mother, but everything that's happened has led us here." I spread my arms and turned, gesturing to the entire village while my lion cloak fluttered in the wind.

"Life isn't just black and white, Tiga. Sometimes you have to learn to see the good in the gray areas. Now let's eat—I'm starving."

Tiga nodded and followed me to the large outdoor dining area, surrounded by torches. During dinner, Aang grew comfortable enough to tell funny stories about his life to make everyone laugh and impress Katara.

I deliberately guided the conversation with certain questions to confirm the few suspicions Gran-Gran and Tiga still had about his identity, each answered with evasiveness and nervousness.

When dinner ended, Gran-Gran couldn't hold back any longer.

"Are you the Avatar?" Kanna asked bluntly, surprising everyone.

I saw Aang grow nervous and try to deny it, but he finally admitted the truth.

"Yes, I am... I just ran away from home, so I need to go back and explain things to the monks. I don't want them to think something happened to me."

At his words, Katara looked confused, failing to hide it, along with her sad understanding.

"Aang, how long do you think you were trapped in that iceberg?"

Aang looked at her like her question was stupid.

"I don't know... at least a week. Why?"

"Aang, you weren't trapped in the ice for that long. It's actually been 100 years... and the Air Nomads are gone."

The revelation completely stunned Aang. His face broke into a sweat, and I could feel his emotions spiraling.

Afraid the kid would lose control or enter the Avatar State, I took his staff and played with it. Thankfully, it worked—his need for attention prevailed. I assumed he'd decided to enter the denial stage.

Seeing it was already night, I went to the polar bear dogs and leopard-caribou to have them guard the entrance against potential beasts.

Everyone started heading home. Aang asked where he could stay. For a moment, I considered leaving him with Gran-Gran, but knowing the elder might say something counterproductive, I put him in one of the empty houses, letting Appa stay in a stable with some food.

When everything was quiet and Aang was settled, I walked unhurriedly to the spirit sanctuary. I entered, sat in front of the frozen water, closed my eyes, and let the stillness do its work.

I breathed, let go of the noise in my head, and let the night pass with me unmoving.

When the first rays of sunlight pierced the ice, I opened my eyes. Dawn had arrived.

I left the sanctuary calmly, expecting Katara to have already taken Aang to the ship or penguin sledding.

It was confirmed when Tiga came to tell me they were gone. I simply explained they'd gone penguin sledding and that I was going to train.

At the training spot, I warmed up with simple exercises before lifting massive ice weights—the lightest being at least 800 kilograms.

Then I sparred with the polar bear dogs and raced the leopard-caribou, surpassing their speed effortlessly.

The tribe buzzed with energy—kids playing happily, some women training calmly, with Tiga being the only one pushing herself harder.

Sura and Siku played with waterbending—"yes, waterbending". A few months ago, they discovered they were waterbenders too. I'd been watching them since I remembered their names from the comic "North and South", where they appeared as waterbenders.

But now, with renewed safety, the women no longer feared their children having elemental abilities, so we encouraged them to play and train with their element. Katara was their teacher—or at least tried to be. Without a real master, the girls had better control than her.

And ever since we moved, Katara refused to let me train her again. Her pride wouldn't let her admit she liked this place more.

Even after I gave her a painting of the old village, she wouldn't let me train her anymore.

---

**POV Katara**

Aang was a really energetic kid. At dawn, he was already waiting for me to go penguin sledding. At first, he couldn't catch any until I taught him to use dried meat as bait.

Watching him laugh and run through the snow made me forget everything that had happened for a while. Aang seemed so happy, like nothing worried him—like the war and loneliness didn't exist.

When we finally caught two penguins—one for each of us—I couldn't help but laugh at his excited screams as he clung to his. I followed, letting the speed and icy wind hit my face.

For a moment, I felt like a kid again—like nothing existed beyond that instant.

But when we stopped near the old wrecked ship, reality came crashing back. Aang hopped off his penguin and stared at the rusted hull like it was some grand adventure.

I just took a deep breath. I had a bad feeling, but Aang looked at me with that innocent smile, and I just couldn't say no.

"Come on, Katara," he said eagerly, holding out his hand. "Just a quick look."

I sighed. *"I hope Sokka doesn't kill me for this..."* I thought, taking his hand as we walked inside the ship.

When we boarded, Aang went in first, excited as if it were an ice castle. For me, it was my first time stepping inside. Even though I'd seen it my whole life, I'd never thought to enter.

"Wow..." Aang walked ahead, touching the frozen metal walls. "What is this place?"

"It's been here since Gran-Gran was young," I explained, looking around. The echo of our steps mixed with the creaking ice. There was more space than I'd imagined... and something felt off.

Many of the doors were missing—some seemed ripped right off. Everything was clean, *too* clean for a ship abandoned decades ago.

"Doesn't it feel... empty?" Aang asked, scratching his head as he opened a compartment and found nothing.

I nodded, eyeing the gaps where doors should've been. "Sokka must've taken them."

"Sokka?"

I rolled my eyes with a small smile. "My brother. If something's out of place in the tribe, it's probably Sokka's doing. He says anything useful should be repurposed. He probably turned those doors into planks for walls or new furniture... or who knows what."

Aang giggled. "He sounds very... practical."

"Practical," I huffed. "Practical, bossy, grumpy... But I guess he's not so bad."

I couldn't help but feel a small warmth in my chest. Even if he drove me crazy, Sokka always found a way to protect us. Even here—with this ship that to me was just a rusted metal hulk—he'd seen a way to make it useful.

Aang ran his hand over a frost-covered wall, drawing a circle with his finger.

"Do you think he'll be mad we came here?"

"Definitely." I let out a short laugh. "But hey, if he doesn't get mad about this, he'll find another reason."

I shrugged as Aang kept exploring like every corner held hidden treasure. I just followed, wondering what Sokka would think if he saw us here—in a place he'd probably stripped piece by piece to make our tribe better.

We kept moving through frozen hallways, our footprints marking the frost. Aang, who'd been nonstop talking and laughing earlier, was now silent. He trailed his fingers along the walls, pausing now and then like he expected to find something.

I stayed quiet too, watching him. He stopped at an old half-open hatch, peered inside (nothing, of course), and then just stood there, frozen.

"Aang..." I stepped closer, lowering my voice. "Are you okay?"

He didn't look at me. His expression was like a kid trying to grasp something way over his head.

"Did... did a hundred years really pass?" he asked suddenly, barely a whisper.

My throat tightened. I sat on an old metal crate and nodded slowly. "Yeah. Gran-Gran always says this ship arrived when she was a kid. They say the Fire Nation abandoned it after an attack. And since then... well, it's just stayed here. Like everything else."

Aang turned, looking at me with those big eyes—like he hoped I'd say it was all a joke. But I couldn't.

"All my friends... my teacher... my brothers at the temple..." he stammered, his voice shaking. "All of them..."

I stepped closer and took his hand without thinking. It was as cold as mine. "Aang... you're here now. That matters."

I didn't know what else to say. I couldn't lie, couldn't change what happened. I just held his hand as he took deep breaths, trying not to break.

After a while, he forced a small smile. "Thanks, Katara. You're... really good to me."

I just squeezed his hand tighter. "Come on, I don't want Sokka finding us in here and yelling at me all the way back."

Aang gave a weak laugh, but at least it was a laugh. We walked back together, though he kept glancing at the ice like he was still searching for ghosts.

But when we entered what I assumed was the ship's control room, we triggered a trap that shot a huge flare into the sky with a loud bang.

Panic flooded me. *"Sokka was right,"* was my only thought.

"We have to go, Aang," I said as he seemed to understand my worry. He carefully wrapped an arm around my waist and jumped with his airbending.

As we descended outside the ship, I spotted a similar vessel in the distance—near our old village.

I begged Aang to get us away as fast as possible. I had to tell Sokka the invaders were back. I had to tell him I was sorry.