Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or the poem "There Will Be Stars," but I do own this story in its entirety. I do not make any money from this fiction.

Title: To Go To Sleep

Author: Stardust of Orion

Rating: K+

Warnings: Implied character death.

Summary: Sokka and Katara are left in the frozen wastes of the South Pole. Implied character death.

Author's Note: I had no intention of this being a true Sotara when I wrote it (i.e. an actual couple), however, you're free to read it that way if you enjoy the pairing.

To Go To Sleep

There will be stars over the place forever,
There will be stars forever, while we sleep. [1]

Sokka and Katara trudged across the frozen landscape, occasionally sifting through ankle deep snow and other times tripping over jagged shards of ice that jutted from the glaciated ground. They were surrounded by the eerie twilight existing at that time of year, even during the daytime since the sun never quite rose above the horizon.

"Do you even know where we are?"

Sokka glanced back at his sister, annoyed by her accusatory question. "I already told you, I know about where we are and what direction we need to go in. I'm the map guy, remember?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "We don't have a map. Besides, we've been walking for hours. Maybe we should have stayed where the Fire Nation soldiers dropped us." He heard her quiet sigh before she continued: "Aang and the others will be looking for us. We can't stay lost forever."

Sokka winced, his face screwing up painfully in the cold as his muscles screamed at the sudden move out of their frozen countenance. That's just it, we may never be found and Aang doesn't know where we are. He refrained from telling her that though, not wanting to frighten her. Now he was thankful for their bickering. It kept her from realizing just how cold it was and just how far they truly were from any camp…or a warm fire. True night was falling fast and the temperature was rapidly dropping. They had no way to build a fire or light it even if they had something to burn. He pulled his tan and blue parka around him more tightly while futilely scanning the horizon for any sign of smoke or flickering firelight or, really, movement of any kind. He knew he wouldn't find any of those things but he still constantly looked for them, hoping he was wrong. He peeked at Katara again, only to see her scanning the cloudy steel sky for Appa.

She shivered visibly. "Sokka, it's so cold."

"I think that's normal here at the South Pole," he half-heartedly joked.

"Ha-ha. Very funny."

"Well, I'm a funny guy."

There was a long stretch of silence while they slipped across an icy section of the land. "You know, I thought the Fire Nation soldiers were idiots when we woke up to them dumping us out here in our own home." Glancing back as he plodded ever-forward through the snow and ice, he saw that she was smiling at him before continuing her thought. "They didn't even question us before they left on their rhino-lizards."

"They're definitely not stupid. Guess they thought we were more trouble than we were worth." He immediately felt bad for his words, but she didn't seem to notice his inference as to why they had left them out there in the middle of freezing nowhere.

They continued to trudge in silence, until Katara finally sighed with exhaustion and called to him. "Maybe we could stop and rest for a while."

He twisted around, only to see her stumble slightly in her fatigue. "No, we have to keep moving."

"Oh come on, Sokka, we can't go on forever." Katara glared at him and he turned back away from her, not wishing her to see the emotions on his face which he knew were too visible. He'd never been good at hiding what he was feeling or thinking. He allowed his eyes to wander across the horizon again, though the shallow light had grown so murky that he couldn't see very well into the distance. Still, it was enough to see that there was no firelight or settlement anywhere.

He had been driving them forward for several hours now, knowing that moving would help keep them warmer and give their minds hope. Now he could feel his body lagging unwillingly, even though his brain told him to keep up a quick pace. Katara was falling further and further behind him. It was just too cold and they had been walking too long. They needed to rest, though he didn't want to admit it to her.

The wind blew harshly, sending tiny icy shards stinging across his face. That too had been increasing. Now they had to deal with the bitter cold and the wind. Katara suddenly cried out behind him and he whipped around to see her falling. He quickly retraced his steps back to her, almost slipping on the ice himself. She was slowly, sluggishly, trying to pull herself to her feet. As she came off the ground, a deep black stained the snowy bluish ice: blood in the darkness.

Sokka gently helped her up. "You're hurt, let me see." He looked at her knee, badly scraped, but the blood had already frozen over. She stared wide-eyed at him, seeing the frozen red slickness on her knees. He hastened to take her mind off the unnaturally clotted wound. "Maybe you're right, Katara. Let's stop for a few minutes and rest. I'm tired too and it's hard to see with it so dark."

They sat down against an outcrop of ice and rock, their legs glad for the rest even though their muscles jumped and ticked as they rapidly cooled after the constant movement. "Sokka, my fingers and toes are already stiff from the cold."

"Keep wiggling and clenching them."

Another icy blast of wind whipped around them and she silently moved to bend a small, jagged ice wall up to block the worst of the gust. She stared at her hands for a moment. "That was difficult. To bend, I mean. My fingers didn't want to move."

He could see her more clearly as she continued in silence, clenching and unclenching her hands, the darkness having now sunk into starlight which bathed the ground in soft white light. The wind had at least cleared away much of the clouds, even if it bit in through their parkas. It was amazing how quickly true darkness had taken over the landscape, giving way to the faint star shine. Unfortunately the moon wasn't visible at this time of month either, except for a sliver on the horizon which quickly dipped back below.

After a time he heard her tentatively start to ask him something before falling silent for a moment, which caused him no small amount of trepidation. "Sokka, where are we?" she asked again, more softly this time.

He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to answer her. He was tempted to make up something, but Katara was smart. "We're about a three day walk from the coast…from any settlement or camp." She gaped at him for a moment before quickly turning to look up at the sky again. He stared up at the stars, so like tiny ice crystals, wishing they'd see Appa flying swiftly toward them. The sudden hush stretched between them. There really wasn't much else to say.

"Do you remember all the stories mom and dad would tell us about the stars?" She spoke so softly, he had to strain to hear her.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"It was nice."

He smiled a little sadly at her. "Yep." They sat in silence again, the long minutes passing with only the occasional gust of wind to mark the passage of time. "Maybe we should keep moving," he said quietly.

He waited for a long length of time before she finally replied. "We can't keep walking through the dark night. Besides, I'm still worn out from all that walking."

"Katara, if we don't…"

"I know." She answered too quickly and he stared hard at her, but she didn't look away from him or his searching gaze. She finally sighed and began to pull a wrapped package from her pocket. "Come on, Sokka, let's eat. I have some lion seal jerky left and a biscuit. We can share it." He salivated at the thought of food and his stomach growled loudly. She laughed, the sound soothing him. "I knew you had to be hungry by now. You're like a bottomless pit." He grinned at her and quickly gulped down the food she clumsily handed to him, both of their fingers stubbornly refusing to bend much.

They quietly finished their tiny meal and he leaned back more comfortably. "It is nice here- under the stars, I mean- now that the wind has cleared the clouds away and we can really stop and look at them." A cold gust of wind whipped around the makeshift wall and blew bitingly at their faces, seeming to emphasize his words. He peered at his sister as she fearfully scanned the frozen waste, unconsciously still wiggling her fingers, trying to retain warmth in them. "Do you know what my favorite story was about the stars?" he asked, drawing her attention back to him.

"What?"

"The story of Alsha and Keon who walked into the sky, hand-in-hand, after they were told by their parents that they would never be allowed to marry in this lifetime."

"That is a beautiful story. I figured your favorite would be the one about the pig penguin that tried to fly." He chuckled. "Yeah, that one's good too. It's pretty funny actually."

Katara yawned loudly. "It's nice resting after all that walking." They again lapsed into companionable silence, each staring up at the dark sky and the tiny twinkling stars, lost in their own thoughts. "It isn't so cold anymore. Sokka." He heard the fear clawing at her voice and opened his eyes to look at her, huddled against the icy rock. He hadn't even realized he had shut his eyes, so content was he to think about the stars.

He opened his arms to her and she crawled to him, cuddling up against him, their arms wrapping around each other. "Look at the stars, Katara, they're so clear and bright- here against the warm black sky…warmth enfolding us," he muttered sleepily. He felt her shift against him, half turning so she could see the stars too.

Her words drifted softly to him. "I'm not afraid anymore."

"Me neither."

He glanced down at her, her eyes blinking wearily up at him as she stumbled for words to form. "It will be nice to sleep under the stars…feels like I could sleep forever now." He smiled down at her and she gently laid her head against his chest, seemingly intent on listening to the beat of his heart.

He heard her steady breathing against his chest while he blearily watched the softly glittering-white stars overhead. The stillness around them was abiding and profound. He felt a deep contentment steal over him, so that he was slightly startled when she spoke again, though her voice was now light and breathy. "Love you, Sokka."

He buried his face in her hair and breathed her scent in deeply, summoning a little more strength to pull her closer. "I love you too, Katara."

Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed the fic. I know I enjoyed writing it, as much as it made me sad. For those of you who've read my other stories, you'll see I'm still on that Sokka kick, apparently. Anways, next posted story will be a Jurassic Park fic (next Friday, I think), but the week after that, I'll post another ATLA fic.

[1] These lines come from the poem, "There Will be Stars," by Sara Teasdale. It is a wonderful poem (it inspired me to write this story) and I highly suggest you go and read it in its entirety. Don't worry, it's really short. Also, check out other Sara Teasdale poems. She's one of my favorite poets. :)

Interesting Facts:

- This story's title is derived from the short story, "To Build a Fire," by Jack London. When the idea for this fic flitted through my brain, I naturally ended up thinking of London's short story. Give it a read some time. It's creepy...or 'disturbing' might be a better word.

- The names, Alsha and Keon, just jumped into my mind. I didn't even know they were actual names, but thought I should check them out anyways. Turns out Keon (also spelled Kian) means "God is gracious" or "ancient." Works well enough for the story, I guess. ;) I did know the name Kian though, so I probably just came up with an alternate spelling in my head. As far as Alsha goes, I couldn't find any kind of meaning, but I did discover that there was a monster on FFXI called Alsha. Oops. Oh well, I like the name, so decided to stick with it.

Copyright 2011 by Stardust of Orion