playinginsand | [Rabbithole: Loo and Sokka, post Mikideath]

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[Rabbithole: Loo and Sokka, post Mikideath]

The Fire Palace is techincally a series of much smaller buildings grouped together and locked by walled footpaths and ornate gardens. The Imperial audience chambers are in the centre, near where the Royal family live in a smaller, heavily walled domicile. Guests are quartered in expansive rooms in one of the outer rings, a short walk away from the temple, used by all who live in the Palace.

One of the low buildings in the temple itself is dedicated to memorials to the departed. Smoke rises in thin worms from a thousand incense sticks, set before rolls representing the dead, individually or collectively. At the front, facing the worshipper as he enters, are twin rolls representing the parents of the current Fire Lord - one handsome king with his face marked by a hug burn scar, and one exotic looking blue eyed woman, sporting a scar of her own. As only four people in the world have ever met Melaka Fray, no one's arguing the likeness.

The victims of the recent border attack are in a temporary position next to Zuko. Each name is written out in perfect and careful calligraphy grouped by nation, and not one is left out, no matter who they might have been or which element they subscribed to. The sand in front of that scroll burns with more sticks than anywhere else, today.

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"Well, I guess that's one way to put it," Sokka replies with a grin. "The history scrolls don't say much because not everyone in the world is as smart as you and your brother and cousins - they couldn't handle all that information, you know."

"That's because I'm a Princess..." Ursa starts, but Louise shakes her head.

"No it's not," she says. "It's because you're a Fray."

"It's because your family came from Eden," Sokka adds, squeezing the hand he's swinging. "My children know the same stories, and my granddaughter, too."

Suitably chastised for her classist remark, Ursa looks down for a second, before asking, "did you bring your wife and children here?"

"To the Fire Nation? No, they stayed in the Southern Tribe. My wife doesn't travel very well." He smiles down at her, hardly upset at her for the remark. "My youngest daughter is going to come and stay with you soon in the palace, though. She's older than you but very excited to come."

"Really?" Ursa asks, face lighting up with excitement and looking to her Mom for confirmation.

"What's her name?"

Sokka's grinning for her reaction, put a little more at ease for sending his daughter off to the Fire Nation if she's going to be received well. "Panya."

"Panya," Ursa repeats, loudly, laughing a little at the strangeness of the name. "Is she nearer my age than Meila and Roku's?"

Sokka tries not to smirk too much. If it were Zuko, he'd be making fun of his children's names, but as it is, he just smiles at the little girl and shakes his head. "Mm-mm, she's a little closer to the twins' age. Don't worry about her ganging up on you with them, though, Ursa - she's the youngest herself, she knows better than that."

Ursa's face falls anyway. "Aw. She'll want to hang out with them more, though."

"Maybe not," Sokka tries to reassure her, squeezing Ursa's hand again. "When her brother and sister are away, Panya's the oldest girl in the village. She's used to spending time with younger children anyway. Though, I should warn you, she'd rather spend time training than anything else."

"I'm the youngest in the whole palace," Ursa says sulkily. "Do you think she'd let me train with her?"

"Sweetie, the way Panya trains, I don't think she'd let you say no. She's never gotten to train with a Firebender before."

Ursa beams.

"Is she a Waterbender?"

Sokka grins back at her. "Nope. Just my daughter Sakari is - Miki fights like his mother and Panya got to train more with me."

"So training with her will be like training with you?"

Somehow this seems even more exciting than training with a waterbender.

"With a lot more bouncing around," Sokka agrees, nodding. "I'm too big to do all the flips and jumps my wife and Miki can-- but Panya learned from them when she was small, too, so she knows a bit of it."

He caught himself using present tense with Miki but... why point it out?

"I'll be allowed to train with her, won't I, Mom?"

Louise laughs. "Sparky, anything to tire you out. Now you should probably go tell your sister it's time to get ready for dinner."

"Go on!" Sokka agrees, swinging her up high to get her feet off the ground. "Don't forget to get all fancy for dinner."

Ursa laughs when she's swung up, but sighs dramatically at the thought of dinner.

"Don't forget you promised I could sit with you!" she tells Sokka firmly, before running up the ramp into a building.

Smiling, Louise waves as her daughter runs off, but her eyes are inexplicably damp.

"I won't!"

He doesn't say anything at first, or even turn to look at his niece. For the moment, Sokka stays watching as Ursa runs off. He's smiling but it's not all positive, something sad or nostalgic or...

Something.

"She's a good girl," he tells Loo quietly.

"That's what she wants you to think," Louise warns, but there's fond amusement in her voice.

"Well, I do have a history of thinking little girls are far too innocent than they really are..."

Sighing softly, Sokka finally turns back to his niece, smiling at her. It falters when he notes the shine in her eyes, though, and he reaches out to settle a hand on her shoulder.

And smiles again.

"So who else is going to be at this special dinner, huh?"

She shakes her head, rolling her eyes up. "Well, Toph and Aang, obviously. Zheng, Mai and the kids. Some of my colonels. And a list of dignitaries as long as my arm, Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Oh, and Issorak arrived earlier with a huge entourage. He's acting like he's lost close personal friends."

Nodding absently to the list, eyes on the fountains, Sokka turns sharply to look at her when she mentions the Northern prince.

"...unannounced, I'm guessing, since I hadn't heard of this before." He sighs and curses softly, reaching up to tug on his wolftail. "He and Arnook have been sending messages nearly every week asking when Sakari will be back."

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