"I can tell!" she shot back. It would be so easy to rip into him right now, to try to show him how his attitude was making her feel, how it just reflected everything she'd ever been afraid that he'd thought about her.

But that wouldn't be what their Mom would want her to do. So she sighed a little and set her heart and moved to sit next to him on his bed.

"Look, I know that this wasn't in your plans. I know that you're not happy about it, and I know that you wish it hadn't happened at all. But Dad isn't making you go to the Institute. If it makes you that miserable, you can stay here. You can probably work on hiding your abilities - everyone knows Hahn is a jealous jerk, and I bet you'd be able to make it so they wouldn't go off in public on your own. But it's miserable, Sokka."

She'd know. She'd been doing it for the past four years.

"I guarantee you that you would hate it worse."