(no subject)

[markofthebrave]

Katara was surveying the room that had been her home for the past four years. Four years was two years longer than any place she'd ever lived before. She was excited and scared and worried and full of hope at the same time.

And she had no idea what was best to pack. She'd never had a chance to accumulate this much stuff before. One bag, one carry-on, and that was it. Military grade. Edges sharp.

Normally she'd go bother Sokka about it as he had a better eye than she did for stuff in general, but he'd been... even more distant and upset lately. So as it was there was just a pile of stuff on her bed that she was sorting through slowly.

Comments

[markofthewise]

He'd heard the speeches. Not on the receiving end of them. No, he was usually on the sidelines, awkwardly wanting to disassociate himself from her as she laid it all onto some ignorant local. Only he never did that. Agree with her or not, he always stood there and listened to it. And when it went bad, stepped in to try and diffuse things for her sake. And his.

Some freak.

He'd never said it. Not even to others. Or to dad. Or even out loud to himself. But now he felt immensely guilty just hearing her voice what he'd never openly said. It was what he'd thought. He'd loved her, of course. She was his sister. And while he hadn't liked what she could do, that was just a part of her he disapproved of. It hadn't effected anything else. Right?

His shoulders sagged as he lowered his head, his fingers tightening around the lump of metal. He wasn't looking at it, but it was shifting into another shape without his notice.

"You're not-" He quickly corrected himself. "We're not freaks. I mean. That's not what I meant." He raised his head a bit. "Do you know what they're saying? That you started your club thing because of me. That I've been hiding this all along. The coach asked me not to sign up when classes start. They can't prove it, but they all know."

[markofthebrave]

We're not freaks.

She heard him say it, but she knew he didn't believe it. Not yet. And if her own brother couldn't see her as a person, what was she doing out there with her silly little club, trying to make people see--

She was doing whatever she could. She wouldn't stand for this. She wouldn't settle for it. It wasn't right.

And as Sokka continued to speak, that righteous indignation got funneled right into what he was saying.

"Then he's a bigot." She finally glanced back over to him, her eyes hard. "And if you and Dad would let me, I would march right up to him and show him exactly why I started my club."

[markofthewise]

"And do what? Freeze him to a wall?"

Sokka was no fool. Sure, he knew about the X-Men. But the news wasn't always fair. And the way he saw things, they were the rare exception. The do gooders trying to make a point. Meanwhile, most mutants used their powers to get their way. And people got hurt for it. How often had he seen that story on the news? Too many times to count.

1/2

[markofthebrave]

Katara looked at him incredulously before lifting her eyes towards the sky and spreading her hands. "Right, because that would solve everything. Clearly the way to achieve understanding is through bullying! Why hadn't I thought of that?"

[markofthebrave]

She slanted a look at him then, frowning. "When I said I would show him, I meant just that. If it bothers you so much to be suspected as a mutant, I have no problem telling them exactly why I started that club. Heck, last week they thought I started it because I was in love with Andy! I wouldn't mind settling their doubts."

Poor Andy was the only one in their community with a visible mutation - webbed fingers that allowed him to swim faster.

"The problem isn't with who we are. It's with what they think. And we can't change that by hiding who we are, or by using what we can do to hurt people."

She took a deep breath. "I'm a mutant, Sokka. Look."

Because he might have stumbled on her practicing before, and walked away, and he might have seen her use her abilities to save Yue, but he never really looked. She gathered a small amount of water from the glass on his bedside and made it chase itself in a circle over her hand.

[markofthewise]

He didn't disagree with her. He was far from being a person who would condone bullying. But this was different. He didn't believe people would ever see mutants differently. Sokka had only been using his powers for a few months and in its first moment, he had killed a polar bear. A monster of a beast. He should be dead, but his power was so potent he'd beaten Mother Nature in the most unnatural of ways.

He didn't want to watch her little trick. But he did. Yeah, it was impressive. It always had been. She'd done something like that when they had to prove their mutation to the Professor. But this time he did watch. Carefully. For only a few moments, before looking down at the lump of metal. He'd made a face in it. His own scowling face. He dashed his fingers across it, to return it to its proper shape.

"I know you're a mutant." He set the metal aside, into his bag. "We both are. But that's it. That's all we'll ever be."

Mutants didn't do important things, except be mutants. It had been on the TV recently about Senator Tarrlok stepping down from his position when it came out he was a mutant. What kind of political career could a mutant have? None. Just like how a mutant could have no military career.

[markofthebrave]

...he still didn't see it. She sighed quietly and returned the water to its glass. "I refuse to let anyone tell me what it means to be me. And I refuse to give up on working to change it so that when people see mutants, even if they're scared, they'll also see people. And that's what we can learn to help do at the Institute. I'm sorry that it changes your plans, and I know that a lot of things have been hard for you lately. They've been hard for both of us."

Yue was my friend too.

"But I hope you can try to see that this isn't the end. It's just different."

She moved to slide off his bed as she moved to close the conversation. She knew when he wasn't listening anymore. "Your headphones are under your pillow. I see the cord."

[markofthewise]

He didn't say anything. This wasn't how he wanted to change the world. He wanted to be like dad. Working for something bigger. Important. Not struggling to just get people to look at him and not see a monster. A life where his biggest hope was to change public perception enough just for him to do things normal people do every day without extra scrutiny was not how he wanted to live his life. It was stupid and unfair. He didn't want this power.

As she started to leave, he plucked the headphones out from under the pillow. He didn't look up at her, but instead just passed them along into the bag. This conversation may have put things into perspective for him, but a few words weren't going to make things better. He wanted the time alone before they had to get on the plane.