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missturtleduck · 3 years

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Hi, could I request a sokka x reader fic? Where the reader has really bad vision/with glasses and is super insecure about the way she looks (along with her body, not just her face) and she always jokes about her appearence. But one day sokka realizes its not a joke and he tells her he likes her for who she is, not how she looks? And its just super fluffy and sweet? Thank u! :)

So, I began writing this Xmas morning, and finished it sometime the day after? It’s short and sweet, and I hope you like it <3

Soft

Sokka x insecure!Reader

TW: Themes of insecurity/body image

Out of all her siblings, Y/N felt as though she was always a little different.

Being in the middle, she had looked up to her elder sister, who was beautiful and kind for no reason. Y/N had looked on in silent awe as her sister evaded conflict and quietly defied the Fire Nation troops who has invaded their village. Then, she had watched her younger brother grow up from some chubby baby with dumpling sized fists and rosy cheeks to the blueprint for a warrior. By the age of fourteen, he had grown adept in his earthbending – an ability he fought hard to keep from the soldiers outside their door. Even his parents, both non-benders, were remarkable in her eyes.

When she looked at herself, however, it was a different story.

After she turned three, her father fashioned her some glasses out of copper wire and sea glass until they could afford to buy some proper ones when she stopped growing so fast. She saw the world through green tinted lenses for many years. It was only many years later that she was given a proper pair of them and they became the most precious thing she owned.

When she didn’t have them on, Y/N was practically blind. This was extreme enough that her mother had trained a goat dog to be her animal guide if she ever lost or broke her glasses. Yes, they were precious, and Y/N loved seeing the world, but there were certain things she didn’t like.

Impressed by her astute observations and quick manipulation of some Fire Nation soldiers, the Avatar – yes, that Avatar – invited her away from her small village to come and help save the world.

“I don’t know why yet,” The young monk said with an honest smile, “But I feel like you have an important destiny and it intersects with mine.”

Whatever that meant.

Being away from home was marvellous. Of course, Y/N missed her family, but she felt like suddenly she could carve her own path, separate herself from the unit that was her family. No longer did she feel compared to her patient, stunning sister or her talented, muscular brother. She could breathe knowing she could just be her, and that was okay.

And then she looked a little closer.

There was the natural bender envy that came with travelling with the Avatar – who could live up to him anyway? But then Katara comes along, younger than her and completely beautiful, and masters so much so quickly. Toph was even worse. Y/N loved Toph; she was quick, funny, and they could relate on quite a few things, but she was powerful, and never had to worry about how she looked. Even Sokka, sarcastic and reliable, was good-looking and extremely useful on the battlefield.

She watched, absorbed, and learnt what she thought was best. How does Toph come across as so tough? Ironically, she was very ‘earthbender’ in that approach; she deflected. And Sokka? Well, he was the funniest person Y/N had ever met.

It was good, for a start. If she could joke about how she was feeling, she could be more self-aware, become more empathetic.

“Hey, Sokka,” Toph grinned, for once enjoying riding on Appa’s back. “You know what’s great about being blind?”

He sighed, a smile toying on his lips. “No, do go on and tell me, oh Blind Bandit.”

“Firstly, I don’t have to see you in a morning, or ever!” She said, that joking malice seeping into her voice, much to Sokka’s chagrin. “Also, I don’t ever have to worry about my appearance! I don’t even know what green looks like, and apparently it’s all I wear.”

Y/N snorted. “You’re lucky you don’t have to see me in a morning, Toph. I look like a floundering tiger seal. Sometimes I take my glasses off just so I don’t have to look in the mirror!”

The two girls cackled between each other, dissolving into conspiratorial snickers. Truly, Toph was Y/N’s best friend, as much as she loved everyone else. Even Noodle, her beloved goat dog, seemed inclined to love the earthbender too. Seeing if he was also in on their joke, Y/N looked at Sokka with a grin. He wasn’t. In fact, his face was scrunched up into a frown.

“You good, Sokka?” She asked, her smile slowly seeping away the longer she looked at him.

“Yeah,” He said, still frowning. “I’m good, don’t worry about it.”

When someone said don’t worry about it, Y/N usually understood that to mean she should worry about it, but that was just her experience. How, in laughing with Toph, had she could she have offended Sokka?

Trying to ignore the festering feeling in her stomach, Y/N continued to joke with Toph about a number of things in the same vein. Somehow that one look from Sokka made all of her jibes feel poisonous. It wasn’t exactly his fault, but she felt sick with every self-deprecating joke, her laughter dwindling until she settled into an uncomfortable silence, cheek rested against Toph’s shoulder.

As they came to the ground somewhere in the Fire Nation, Y/N hopped off Appa’s back with haste, that ache in her stomach increasing to a swell of nausea. She hadn’t felt this way in months. If she could, she’d step out of her skin. A word floated through her mind, swirling and deepening into her psyche: inadequate.

Breathing a bit heavier, she moved away from her friends, taking solace by a river. Distorted in the ripples, she saw her reflection. All the negative feelings pent up in her chest were flooding back. In a fit of rage, marred with far more complex emotions, Y/N ripped her glasses off her face and threw them to the ground. Her mind felt loud, clouded and thundering. The thoughts were sharp bursts of flurrying intensity.

“Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.”

Y/N whipped her head around. She didn’t have to see to know Sokka’s voice; he must have followed her, she thought, rubbing the heels of her palms into her tear-filled eyes.

“Hey, you dropped your glasses,” Sokka said, gently prying one of her balled fists open and placing them there. “Are you okay?”

She sniffed, fiddling with her glasses. “Are you upset with me?”

“No!” He said, sounding taken aback by her question.

“It’s just,” She sighed, “You seemed mad at me when I was joking about with Toph.”

Sokka, too, sighed, grasping her shoulder. “Y/N, I was worried.”

His hand was warm, and Y/N slipped her glasses back on her face. He wasn’t frowning; a smile soft enough to make her melt was playing on his lips. Concern was painted across his face, delicate and understanding. Sokka wasn’t mad at her.

“Can– “ Sokka began, hand falling, voice stammering.

“Yes?” Y/N prompted, looking up at him, shy beneath her lashes.

“Can I tell you something?” He asked, fiddling with his thumbs.

Y/N nodded, looking at him with patient curiosity. A small smile was blooming on her face as she watched him trip over incoherent words, until he quietened. Sokka inhaled sharply. In a moment, his hands were cupping her face, his lips on her, ghosting softer than a feathers touch. Soft.

“Oh,” She gasped as he pulled back, hands staying close to her, thumb brushing over her cheek.

“You’re beautiful,” Sokka said, face honest as he looked at her with unbridled affection.

Guilt settled in her stomach as she looked down. “I don’t feel beautiful, Sokka.”

“That’s okay,” He smiled, pecking her cheek with a kiss; he seemed to punctuate each of his words with a kiss on her cheeks, lips, head, and anywhere else he could reach. “We can change that, yeah?”

Taking a deep breath, Y/N let his words wash over her, drowning out her spiralling thoughts. She rested her head on his chest and welcomed the arms he wrapped around her. “We can try.”

“Try is good enough for me.”

Y/N could hear the grin in his voice as held her tighter. He was meticulous with his kisses, whispering sweet nothings that felt like everything to her. Yes, she wasn’t like her siblings, nor the benders that surrounded her, but Sokka sure seemed glad that she was her.

#atla #atla fic #fic request #sokka x reader #sokka x insecure!reader #oc #f!reader #toph #soft #angst #fluffy #happy ending #im-just-star-dust #missturtleduck

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