is this ooc for kya and hakoda? yes but HEAR ME OUT neglected sokka

sokka seeing katara waterbend for the first time. sokka dragging katara back into their igloo like "mum! dad! look at this look at this!!!" and being so excited because his little sister is a waterbender, that's so cool, and his parents are making a really big deal about it and hurrying katara out to see the elders and sokkas falling a little bit behind but that's ok, because katara's a waterbender and they need to tell the elders

and so they host this celebration - nothing big because they may still get traders but they don't want this to go out to the fire nation - and hakoda and kya are doting over katara and making sure she's had enough to eat and everything and sokka... feels a little weird. he knows its kataras special day but he just feels a little lonely, but when he goes up to his parents they tell him they're busy, so he tells himself that he'll talk to them tomorrow.

but then the next day, his dad is in meetings all day - that are about katara, he gleans from gilak and bato, who look a little confused as to why sokka's alone - and when he goes to find his mum, she's with katara and she's watching her shakily try to bend on command, instead of by accident. so he goes up to her to say hi but she tells him that she's busy and not to distract her. sokka frowns because it doesn't look like she's doing anything and can't he say hi? but then katara loses concentration to say hi to sokka, and though his mum smiles at katara, she doesn't spare another glance at sokka.

which. is fine. he thinks. obviously life is different now that his little sister is a waterbender and he had sooo many adults tell him as such when their village celebrated it, so... it's fine. maybe it's just because his parents look a little worried, he thinks, as they sit down to eat before bed. they do look worried.

and then katara says that she's tired, and his parents wish her good night and their mum goes to tell her a bedtime story and it's exactly as it should be. except that sokkas still eating and they usually wait til both of them are in their cots before the story happens. so he tells her to wait while he quickly shovels his food into his mouth, and he thinks it's fine but then once he's eaten and moving towards his cot, he hears the end of the story

he pouts, saying that he wanted to hear it too, but his mum tells him not now, sokka. she sounds tired. he doesn't care, he wanted to hear it too. she sounds a little angry when she tells him to be quiet, because kataras sleeping, but he doesn't care, he wanted to hear the story and why didn't she wait? it's his dad that scolds him this time, telling him that katara needs her rest. sokka goes to say that he was only a few extra minutes, but he's shut down. his parents tell him that they won't be speaking to him when he's being so rude, and sokka doesn't understand but hes too tired so he cries in his cot before falling asleep.

the next morning, his dad isn't there and neither are katara and his mum. and he learns. he learns through his parents ignoring him when he asks a question and scolding him when he wants something that he's selfish. what else could he be, trying to put himself above his sister, who could be targeted by the fire nation (which he didn't originally know, he finds that out when his dad yells at him one day and, oh ok maybe he is being a bit selfish) and katara needs her parents more anyway because shes the only waterbender, she needs guidance in connecting to her culture and her history. he wonders whether it's technically his history too, but he doesn't ask. he stopped asking a while ago, stopped talking a while ago.

he thinks he hates katara a little. bato tilts his head and asks him why, when he tentatively tells him after the man prods and prods because "I haven't heard you speak for ages kid, you ok?", and sokka doesn't have an answer for him because he doesn't know why he hates katara but he doesn't want to hate her, it's just that his parents like her more cause she's a waterbender. bato tells him thats silly, of course his parents like him, and he ducks his head and mumbles an apology and doesn't notice the way bato frowns and glances over to gilak, who sports an equally worried frown.

the next day his dad takes him fishing. he's so excited but he's nervous too, he doesn't want to upset his dad and his dad is already looking at him weirdly that morning so he answers the questions his dad awkwardly pushes towards him and doesn't ask for help even when he can't get the bait on his hook, and eventually his dad takes the rod from him and does it for him, and he apologises but his dad looks at him weirdly again and so he doesn't speak again on the trip. but... it's nice. his dad claps him on the back everytime he catches a fish and he proudly displays his three fish to him at the end and gets a laugh for his efforts. so. it's nice.

the following week, there's a raid on their tribe. sokka runs towards their igloo, having lost katara in all the chaos. he pulls to a stop by the entrance, hearing his mum talking to some guy about the waterbender and... what is she doing?

he freezes. the man stomps out of their home, sees sokka and throws him aside. sokka doesn't feel the bruises til the next day, and when he does he doesn't care.

there's no point. he's got to take care of katara. that's his job now