Summary: Fire Nation!Katara AU After being kidnapped as a young child by the fire nation, Katara is raised by Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa as Princess Katara of the Fire Nation. Katara/?
ARC 2, CHAPTER TWELVE
It was strange, eating like this. After so long of just eating dinner with her siblings, she wasn't used to a large and happy family dinner. Once Thago got home, Katara was surprised to see two others with him. The man was short but stocky with short cut black hair and bright, twinkling green eyes. The woman on the other hand was tall and delicate looking with pinned brown hair and kind grey eyes. Thago introduced them as his younger sister, Shosha and her husband, Lee.
The conversation was loud and happy, with Lee and Thago going off about different sorts of topics that Katara couldn't add to. She kept quiet, listening to the conversation and comparing it to the less loud Fire Nation capital. Katara picked at the food, not hungry and also unwilling to eat the strange looking food. She missed the spices of her home nation and the quiet conversation between her siblings.
Finally the dinner seemed to end, conversation winding down. She watched Lee and Thago take off outside, heading towards town while she, Shosha and Ora began cleaning up. It was a strange process to Katara but she quietly helped while Shosha and Ora talked loudly, obviously comfortable in each other's company.
It wasn't long before the two older women ushered Katara out of the kitchen and she found herself wandering outside. The Earth Kingdom was beautiful, even she could admit that, and yet she still longed for the long hot days and happy conversations she had at the palace.
The sky was turning darker with every second that Katara stood outside and off in the distance, she saw a strange golden light on the other side of the town. She frowned and squinted as if she could see better, but a voice cut her off.
"That's the guardpost." Katara turned and sighed at the sight of Kichi. He was smiling broadly at the light while half hanging off a large tree near the house.
"Guardpost?" Katara asked.
"Yeah, the strongest men take shifts every night and if some nasty firebender shows up, they show him the true strength of the Earth Kingdom." Kichi looked pleased, a bright smile on his face. "Papa takes the first and last watch every night. He won't be home till sunrise."
"Oh," Katara said. She turned back to the light. "I didn't know."
"Really?" Kichi said, his voice taking a strange, confused tone. "Didn't your town have a guardpost?"
Katara froze, instantly berating herself on her slip. "Uh, yeah but I didn't know anything about it."
"Oh, okay." Kichi shrugged. "I shouldn't know much but I like to listen to Uncle and Papa talk. Apparently, there's a squadron of Earth Kingdom soldiers heading our way to help. It's gonna be awesome!"
Great. Zhao and her plans would have to be moved up, if that was the case. It would be easier to take over the town without formal soldiers already defending it. Katara knew she'd have to sneak out that night and return to the ship, but it would be tricky. She would have to maneuver around the guardpost and manage to get out of town quickly and quietly. That or she just went to direct way, but that was a dangerous choice.
"I can't wait till this war is over," Kichi sighed. Katara flicked her eyes back to him.
"Me too," She agreed.
"Papa and Mama keep their spirits up, but secretly I know they're scared." Kichi said quietly. "It won't be long before Papa joins the war efforts and me and Mama are left here alone." His eyes were downcast and sad and it almost made Katara sad for him but she shoved that feeling away.
"I'm sure it will be over soon, Kichi," Katara reassured him. "And everyone will be happy."
"Even you?" Kichi asked, looking at her with wide, hopeful eyes.
Katara couldn't hold in a laugh as a calm, cold smirk flicked over her lips. "Oh, Kichi, especially me."
The engagement necklace looked especially beautiful around Yue's neck, Sokka couldn't help but think. She wore it proudly, a warm smile always on her lips and she and her betrothed were barely a few steps from each other. The days seemed to stretch outh but Sokka barely noticed. Time was moving too quickly for him and even with all of the future plans, he and his betrothed and his best friend still had a firm plan in the making.
Saving Katara from herself was top priority in all their minds and thinking of it even made Sokka tolerate Tarkik, his stepfather.
Sokka leaned back against the frozen, snowy wall as he watched Tarkik and Kya quietly speak to each other, giddy smiles on their faces. He wanted to be disgusted by the happy news they had just given him but he couldn't. Kya was pregnant, surprising for her age, but the two parents were pleased. Sokka wondered if she was trying to replace Katara, and the very thought made him want to throw up.
"What do you think it's gonna be?" Sokka finally asked, eyes catching Kya's.
She smiled softly. "Well, I'm hopeful for a little girl but it wouldn't surprise me if our new baby was a boy." Sokka nodded but he was uninterested in the new baby. He knew that she wanted a girl to replace Katara but in his mind there was no replacing his little sister.
"Hmm," Sokka said lightly. He watched Tarkik stand, brush a stray lock of hair away from Kya's face and move across the room to fiddle with something on a desk."I'm going to go find Hahn. He wanted to show me some new, fancy bending move."
"Sweetheart, please," Sokka stopped to look at his mother. "This is a good thing, sweetheart."
"Sure Dad would agree," Sokka said dryly. A hurt look flicked over his mother's face but he ignored it as he quickly grabbed his coat and fled the home. He hated staying there with them for a short period of time. Part of him still loved his mother and wanted her to be happy but the other part wanted to hate her for breaking up the family he had left.
He was given nods and cheerful greetings from different warriors, healings and civilians as he walked through the town and he felt his chest relax under the warm embrace of their community. It wasn't long before he entered the waterbending training grounds where Hahn was waiting with an audience.
Kyala and Yue waited patiently, sitting on hastily made snowy seats. Sokka's engagement necklace hung on Yue's necklace, nearly hidden by the large amount of furs she constantly wore. He found it hilarious that she could barely handle the cold unlike their brothers and sisters in the tribe.
"Sokka!" Yue called out, her eyes brightening. He made his way to her and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
"You look beautiful," He said quietly.
"You always say that," Yue said in a teasing voice.
"It's always true," Sokka retorted. He nodded at Kyala. Kyala had grown taller since Hahn first started playing pranks on her but her eyes were still pale blue and her hair was still the thick, rich darkness always in a messy braid. He smiled at her and she simply gave him a swift nod of her head.
"Bout time you got here," Hahn said in a cocky voice. Sokka rolled his eyes. Over the past few months, he and Yue had noticed that Hahn had been getting more cocky and arrogant. It was irritating.
"What's this fancy new move?" Sokka said, moving behind Yue to slip his hands onto her slim shoulders.
"Oh, wait till you see it!" Hahn said with a large grin. Sokka relaxed as Hahn began this new move. Sokka barely registered it, too distracted by the warmth underneath his fingertips. "Cool, huh?" Hahn said, a large grin on his face as he landed easily.
"Best waterbending I've ever seen," Sokka said jokingly.
"Why thank you," Hahn said. He turned to Kyala, a hopeful look on his face.
"It was pretty cool," The girl admitted, a soft smile flicking on her lips. Her praise seemed to make him even more pleased. Sokka shook his head lightly and Yue looked up at him with a kind smile.
"Thank you, thank you," Hahn said arrogantly. "I'm supposed to be sparring with Kael tomorrow."
"He's an amazing bender," Yue commented. "Maybe I'll show up to watch you lose." Hahn's mouth dropped and Sokka began laughing at the snark that came out of her mouth.
"You're such a kind and gentle princess," Hahn halfheartedly sneered. Kyala laughed.
"Oh, I must support my warriors," Yue said seriously but there was a flicker of a smile on her lips. Sokka squeezed her shoulders gently, grinning down at her.
"Yeah, yeah," Hahn shrugged.
Sokka relaxed at the easy atmosphere that he was surrounded in. Maybe his mother wasn't completely in his family anymore but these three definitely were.