As the sky before him blazed in Fire Nation red, gold, salmon and every shade in-between in a spectacular seaborne sunset, Sokka idly stroked Appa's shoulder. When did colors become political, he wondered, and when did I learn to look for the difference?

At least his head didn't itch anymore, the sides finally grown in sufficiently so he no longer felt preternaturally aware of exactly where his head was in relation to everything else in the friggin' world! How must it be for Aang? Luckily, he'd slept through the worst of it.

Katara and Toph were huddled with Aang around their campfire on an island not far off-shore from Roku's Crescent Isle. They were bringing him up to speed on all he'd missed while he recovered from his …death. Katara had suggested that Sokka was, for all his good will, somewhat lacking in the tact necessary to tell this story properly, and his Fire Nation uniform still obviously made Aang's eye twitch.

So there he was, sitting on the ridge watching the sun set with Appa.

No big.

It meant he didn't have to hide dealing with the strange dichotomy of his skin crawling at the thought of willingly donning Fire Nation garb – and admitting how comfortable it was, except for the weight of the damned armor.

It meant he didn't have to hide how terrified he felt at the loss of the Earth Kingdom forces, and how much he'd relied on the rule of force to route the Fire Lord. Much as he'd outwardly accepted that Aang's role, and thus his friends' role in supporting him, was to face down the Fire Lord, Sokka had struggled mightily with the sheer prospect. Everything his agile mind told him, even with the evidence of Aang's victory at the North Pole, insisted that taking the battle to the Fire Lord himself meant grappling with forces beyond anything they'd ever dealt with.

Sokka wanted something he could understand to counter it with. A natural understanding of physics suggested that a young, not fully trained Avatar may not measure up so well against a fully vested Fire Lord, surrounded by maybe battalions of fire-benders prepared to die in his service. Sokka was fully prepared to be there by Aang's side, but he'd feel a hell of a lot better if he knew he'd done his best to line up the rest of the world's finest in reserve.

As he saw it, that was still his role. The girls would continue to strengthen Aang as the Avatar. Sokka would bring as much of the ordinary world's support to his effort as was humanly possible. This was still possible! He knew he had a ready tongue, and he resolved to use it, even if it meant taking him away from his friends for a short time.

And here Sokka's promise to his father grated. Katara was so damned competent as a warrior that she actually spurned Sokka's now admittedly tacit attempts to protect her. Much as it galled his pride to admit, she was far more competent as a protector than he was. As for protecting Aang? In terms of physical wherewithal, it was, and had been for longer than anyone would admit, a joke. Still, Sokka had one up on everyone else that was a point he was well prepared to exploit. For all Aang's slipperiness and willingness to lie, he did it badly. And for all Sokka's pontificating on the virtues of truthfulness, he lied rather well. He suspected it betrayed an unhealthy understanding of what it was that drove others to deviate from the truth. Unpleasant of a truth as it was to confront, on the sands of Chameleon Bay Sokka had seen no other recourse.

He wouldn't get to play hero, and the spirits would know that he'd be a far cry from being able to claim a clean heart. Ah well, so many lives had been already paid to the goal of a free world against the Fire Nation; maybe the sacrifice of his soul was not so very much.

And so Sokka drew a line. There were things he was prepared to do, pain he was prepared to bear, and even approbation over time his soul would endure to make the world a better place.

As the azure twilight overcame the brilliant colors of the setting sun, the bowed shoulders of what appeared to be an aged soldier straightened into a young man's full height

As the full moon came into her glory, the moon spirit smiled, content in the evidence of her lover's strength.