Tatiana walked through the market looking for a decent enough looking shop or stand. She would have to make this quick, she thought as she eyed the gathering clouds with a little foreboding.

Several dresses hung on rails in a large stand. An old crone with missing teeth, those that were still in her mouth were blackened jumped out at her from behind a wall, her long grey and white hair was kept out of her face by a shockingly bright green bandana.

"Hello young one," she said with a hoarse cackle.

"Hello," said Tatiana as she walked in behind the old woman.

"I have just the thing for you! My grand daughter just finished it this morning, and it will go beautifully with those green lamps in your eyes," she said cackling every time she ended a sentence. Tatiana smiled as the woman grabbed a beautiful dress with a dark green skirt and a black bodice with a light green top whose sleeves looked like they would fall down too her elbows off of a counter. It was lovely, and would go nicely with her eyes. But she could never afford it.

"Don't worry about the cost young one, I think we can strike a bargain if we haggle," the old crone said leaning against the counter and looking outside the shop at something. Tatiana turned with the dress, hugging it close to her frame and looking at the reflection of herself in a mirror hanging on the wall.

"How much is it?" she asked. The dress matched her perfectly and looked exactly the right size. The old crone cackled and turned back too Tatiana, her blue eyes bright in the lines of her face.

"Seven silver pieces my dear, but I will settle for four if you will do some bending for the sake of an old heart," she said a sad gleam in her eyes. Four silver pieces? That was practically as if the woman were giving it to her. She looked at the dress.

"I'll take it," she said and opened her small purse. She had added in her own savings of the last week with it. A total of seventeen silver pieces, three gold pieces and twenty four copper pieces. She would still have enough to live on, she would have had even more if she had refused on doing things for free. But most of the villagers were too poor to pay her, or they just gave her food.

Tatiana yanked out four silver pieces and dropped them into the old woman's outstretched hand. She began to walk out of the shop eager to get home and try on her new dress.

"Wait!" said the old crone as she grabbed her shoulder with surprising strength in her old grasp. "There is the small task of bending for you to do for me before you leave," said the old woman grinning her ghastly smile. Tatiana smiled back.

"Yes, I'm sorry it's just that the dress is so beautiful," she said, "what did you have in mind?" she asked setting the dress on the counter. Thunder threatened in the background and she winced. She had been afraid of storms since she was small.

"Just a little spell for my garden," she said as she folded and wrapped the dress in some brown paper. "It's water proof so you don't half to worry about it getting wet," she said. "For seven silver pieces it's going to be gift wrapped, and more so for the favor." The old woman cackled again.

"RUN AANG!" yelled a voice from outside of the shop.

"What in the-" said the old woman as a boy of about fifteen flew into the shop carrying a dangerous looking boomerang.

"Hurry Katara!" he said as he held the door open for a blue-eyed girl with a long dark braid hanging down her back.

"Sokka hurry and shut the door!" she said.

"What on earth are you doing in my shop!" yelled the old woman advancing on the boy called Sokka with a thick roll of paper. She hit him over the head with it with a loud smack.

"Ow!" yelled Sokka.

"Shhh!" said the girl called Katara as she clamped a hand over Sokka's mouth. "Please mam, we have to hide from the fire benders! They're after our friend and he can't get away with us slowing him down. Please let us stay!" she pleaded taking her hand off of Sokka's mouth.

"Ha! You are not staying here! I already have enough trouble with the fire benders, if you stay here that is just an invitation for trouble! Now get out!" she said waving the roll of paper in the air as she spoke.

"Wait!" said Tatiana as she stepped between the roll of paper and Sokka, intervening before the old crone could hit the boy again. "They can stay with me for the time being," she said. The old crone eyed her with contempt.

"What about my garden?" she asked wryly.

"I promise that I will do it for you tomorrow," she said offering her hand to seal the agreement. The crone scowled but took the offered hand and shook.

"See that you are! Or you'll regret it!" she said. Tatiana nodded and looked over at her two temporary refugees. The boy looked about her age, but the girl looked younger. Both looked frightened. She looked out the window and saw red fire bender armor passing by.

"Search every shop! Do not let them escape!" cried a voice as more fire benders passed by. She looked worriedly at the owner of the shop.

"Fah! This way to the back door," she said throwing up her hands and motioning toward the back where a large black curtain drug the floor. Sokka and Katara raced ahead of her and threw back the black curtain, a large old door stood behind it. Sokka opened it slowly and peered out, the street was deserted.

"Come on!" he hissed and jumped out the door followed by Katara and Tatiana. Sokka closed the door behind her and she heard it lock.

"This way," she said and walked behind more buildings. A hill was behind the east side of the market and if they got over it then it was a short run through the forest too her home. Tatiana led the way up the hill hearing Sokka and Katara following behind her.

She turned to see if anyone were watching. An old man was watching them from a second story window in a building. "Hurry, someone is watching," she said as they topped the hill and disappeared over the side.


"Thank you for helping us," said Katara as they raced through the woods.

"Don't mention it. I hear that it is good luck too help frantic strangers." she said grinning. She saw Katara's eyes grow suspicious. "Actually anything to spite the fire nation. They have been patrolling our village for years now," she said thinking of the land slides. "And refusing to clean up their messes," she added gritting her teeth.

"How much further?" asked Sokka panting by her elbow. The sky rumbled above them. Tatiana jumped.

"Not far," she said.

"Good… we've been running for almost half an hour," he said holding his side. She looked down at him smiling. He would have been a tall, maybe taller than was if he would have been standing straight. He had really beautiful eyes, they reminded her of the river. Tatiana looked away realizing that she had been staring at him.

A few minutes later they arrived at her home, well it was what she called a home. It looked like an abandoned barn in the middle of the forest. It still had a well outside of the barn, but it was obviously old although not in disrepair. The wood was faded in the shady light, but it was what she called home.

"This is it," she said as she walked out of the protection of the trees and into the clearing. Sokka and Katara followed behind her into the shelter as it started to rain.


"So, who is this friend that you both get into so much trouble with the fire benders for?" she asked as she dished out the soup that Rani had gave her for moving rocks off of his roof, Katara and Sokka glanced at each other.

"Aang… he's special," said Katara.

"I understand. Just don't be mad at the people of this village if they give information that gets you caught. Sometimes it can mean your life if you are on good terms with the Fire nation," she said knowing their worry.

"Aang is-" Sokka began, Katara clamped a hand over his mouth and gave him a stern look. He glared at her over her hand.

"Sokka and I need to talk Tatiana," she said.

"Of course," she said. She frowned as they passed her, she couldn't help but feel a little hurt that Katara still didn't trust her, although it seemed that Sokka did. They retreated too the back of the barn, just beyond earshot. She could hear a few words from Sokka, and a muffled shout at him from Katara but other than that she couldn't have possibly pieced the conversation together. She decided to eat her soup. It was wonderful, like anything that Rani made. After a few minutes they came back.

"Our friend Aang… he's the Avatar," said Katara.

"What?" she said. Obviously this was some kind of joke.

"No, he really is," said Sokka seeing the disbelief on her face.

"No, I understand," she said.

"He really is the Avatar!" Katara said.

"The Avatar died a hundred years ago," she said beginning to get angry that they weren't telling her the truth.

"No he didn't!" said Katara. Tatiana raised an eyebrow. "He was in an ice burg for a century, Sokka and I found him when it thawed out!" she said. Tatiana looked at Katara, her eyes were lighter than Sokka's. For some reason she believed that she wasn't lying.

"That makes you from the water nation," she stated.

"More like the Water tribes," Sokka murmured. Tatiana directed her attention too him. "There is no Water Nation anymore. The Fire Nation has drove us apart, not that if we came together we would be a rival. All of our men are fighting with them in the Earth Nation," he said. "Except me," he mumbled a split second later.

"The Fire Nation killed our mother," Katara said, "I did have a necklace to remember her by, but the Fire Nation took that too." Tears welled up in Katara's eyes and she looked away from the small fire. Sokka's eyes remained hard as he gazed into the fire, it was an odd sight to see the fire reflected in such icy blue.

"It seems that we have all felt the sting of Fire," she said looking outside as the rain pelted down. Katara looked at her although Sokka kept staring into the fire. "My father and brother were fighting for the Earth Kingdom, I haven't heard from them in more than a year. And my mother died during a rockslide three years ago," she said. The fact no longer made her sad. She had cried that well dry a long time ago even though she still thought about it everyday. She often told herself that to forget was to forgive, and she was still very far from forgiving, or forgetting.

An awkward silence stretched out in which no one even made the loudest hint of a breath.

Tatiana finally fell asleep on her blankets.

"I don't think that you should have told her about Mom," Sokka finally said after he was sure that Tatiana was asleep.

"Why not, Sokka?" Katara said yawning.

He hesitated, "It made her remember," he finally said.

"Every time I see a fire bender or smell bread cooking... I remember," she said. Sokka glanced at her. "Almost everything reminds me of her, doesn't it make you?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Then don't you think that she understands?" she put her hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Aang doesn't understand because he never knew his parents," she said. Sokka looked back at her.

"Let's go to sleep. We have to find Aang tomorrow," she said before settling into the borrowed blankets. Sokka looked down at his sister before he settled into his own blankets.

"Katara?" he asked quietly. For a second he thought she was asleep.

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"I love you," he said. That was they first time they had ever really talked, and he hadn't told her he loved her since before their mother had passed away.

"I love you too," she said.

(A/N: Yes, some fluff and a warm moment. But I don't think that Katara and Sokka act like siblings enough. They act more like cousins in the show, so I thought that I would put in a brother/sister moment because I thought they needed it. -crouchingbunny)