This was getting ridiculous.

A glance to the left, some lovey-dovey couple. A glance to the right, and BAM! Another one. Even right in front of his face, there was yet a third. The young man slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand, dragging it down the length of his face in over-exaggerated exasperation, accompanied by a not-so-quiet sigh.

He was sure that at least one of them gave him a meat-mincing glare, but the Water Tribe warrior couldn't have cared less. He remembered the days when it was just him, his sister, and Aang, the Avatar. When did they get saddled with a zillion and a half other people? From a tactical point of view, they were going about it all wrong. How do you infiltrate a highly organised, almost totally martial law-run country? By attempting to sneak around with a giant six-legged, supposed-to-be-extinct air bison, and about a dozen other people, of course!

Not.

But, it wasn't like they didn't need these people. When it came time for them to enter the Fire Nation, they'd need all the reAangforcements they could get. Sokka smirked, nearly guffawing out loud. "ReAangforcements". Ahahaha, amazing. Sometimes, he just really out did himself. Almost too funny, if that was possible. Is it possible? the young man wondered briefly.

Nahhhh.

It seemed like ages since he and Katara had left their home in the South Pole... and yet, it had gone by so quickly. He watched as Karena went through all the phases of her pregnancy (gag!), watched as his baby sister grew up and matured before his very eyes... so much had happened, it was almost overwhelming.

Movement out of the corner of his eye snapped Sokka back to the present. His fellow Water Triber, Lakano, was leading his ... boyfriend, firebender Hatsuharu out of the common area. Boy, did that relationship throw him for a loop! He remembered when they had first met Hatsuharu. A redheaded whirlpool of hyperactivity and just so... out there. Something about Hatsuharu had originally rubbed Sokka the wrong way. He was such a touchy-feely kind of person, hanging all over Lakano. Well, that was explained soon enough, much to his chagrin. It wasn't that he had anything against man-love, it was just...

...well, weird. Maybe he just didn't understand; before Haru, Lakano, and Makaro came into his life, love was between men and women, not men and men or women and women. It took a while getting used to, but Sokka could deal with it now. Still, every so often, there were instances where the young man would just do a double-take. Like, when Sokka saw Haru and Lakano kiss each other. That was just a little unnerving.

Then he realised he was staring at their retreating backs. Quickly, he shifted his gaze —- and met startling amber eyes so like Hatsuharu's. Xiaoyu, Haru's sister, was staring at him, eyebrow raised, a hidden smile dancing on the corners of her lips. A blush crept up the young man's neck and flushed over his cheeks; he turned his head, and was met with the sight of Karena and Zuko engrossed in one another, wrapped so tightly together he couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

He blanched. Why did these people feel the need to advertise their relationships to the public? It was if they were oblivious to the whole world, constantly wrapped in their own little bubble. So little regard for people around them that just absolutely did not want to see that rubbish. Sokka stared, unable to look away. It was like watching an accident in slow motion — made you want to turn away in horror, maybe loose your lunch, but you just couldn't tear yourself away from watching. When they started whispering to each other — sweet nothings, Sokka assumed — that's when he had enough.

"Well!" His voice seemed to be unusually loud as it shattered the near-silence. "This has been fun, but I think I'm going to step out for a bit. Oh no —" Sokka held up his hands in mock-apology. "--don't mind me, no need to apologise for making me feel uncomfortable. I'll just step out for a bit..." Hastily, he excused himself from the common area. Disgusting, really.

The rest of the inn was relatively quiet; an employee passed him in the hallway, carrying an armload of blankets or towels, he couldn't quite tell which. Sokka wandered a bit, glancing casually at the paintings on the walls, when a windowed doubled-door at the end of the hallway caught his attention. It was partially open, and the draperies on either side blew gently in the breeze. Maybe a little air would do him some good. He glanced to the left, then to the right, then just sliiiiiped out to the balcony.

Fresh air seemed to be exactly what he needed after being shut up in that 'room of lo~o~o~o~ove'. The brunette took a deep breath, the wind cooling his apparently warmed skin. It was just what he needed to clear his head and think about the impending battle.

In all reality this was, he felt, the calm before the storm. Not that he was a novice to fighting; at least, not anymore. He'd had two other battles against very formidable opponents, but this —- this was different. It was one thing to pair off, to go face to face against one or two opponents; it was another thing entirely to ambush an entire village full of trained military personnel. Not to mention, Sabaku was being used as a weapons creation facility. Trained military personnel, with an entire arsenal of weapons at their disposal. The element of surprise was the only thing going for them, and Sokka hoped that nothing would happen to jepoardise that.

Their numbers were many, that was true, but there was still a drastic difference between a dozen people, and a company. The way he figured, a company would consist roughly of sixty or so people. The BoomerAang Squad's able fighters consisted of: Lakano, Kanea, Hatsuharu, Makaro, Akita, Katara, Quan-Li, Zuko, and himself. Maybe Haru's sister too, what was her name again? He knew it a second ago. Shoyu? Shayu? No, no, wait, Xiaoyu. That was it. Nine or ten people, against roughly sixty. That would be about six people each - a drastic difference from one-on-one or two-on-one battles.

Sokka sighed. It was so daunting, the reality of the situation. Maybe he and Lakano could come up with some sort of ambush plan that could swing the favour to their smaller group. Maybe attack from different points around the village at staggered intervals, to cause disarray. It was a risky gamble, spreading their already-few numbers so thin. But, maybe together, he and Lakano could come up with a plan to tilt the scales in their favour. He had already been training with Makaro (Kanea had joined them just a few days ago) to improve his skills, so that was a plus. Still, though, they'd need some smart planning to try and get things going in their favour as much as possible.

Yeah, that was it. The warrior turned to go back to the others —— and realised that someone had shut the doors. Sokka frowned, and pulled on the knob. The door didn't budge. Sokka's frown deepened, and he jiggled the knob again.

Nothing.

"AUGH!" Sokka banged his head against one of the door's window panes; the glass shook with the impact. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." He moved to bang his head again, when he noticed a (pretty) female employee staring at him from the other side of the door. Feeling rather sheepish, the young man grinned so widely that his vision blurred. He pointed at the handle repeatedly. Open the do-o-o-o-or, he mouthed, hoping that she understood him.

How embarrassing.