Saving Innocence
By WaterHeart
The war that had raged for a century… was over.
The Fire Nation had won, and was bestowed an iron-fisted tyrannical rule. They reveled in extreme luxury, while the rest of the world suffered in a meager existence.
Whispers floated from eat to ear… Whispers that the war's end could not be so. Whispers that hundreds of people had seen the Avatar with their own eyes. They prayed for the Avatar's arrival, and deliverance from their plight.
Their prayers were for naught. The Avatar had vanished… again.
Only Sokka and Katara of the Water Tribe knew the absolute truth. They had been closest to Aang, the Avatar. Together the trio of friends conquered every obstacle, traveled through every nation. Katara and Sokka watched as Aang mastered element after element. He became worthy of his title. A full month before the war-ending comet was prophesied to reach Earth, Aang professed himself the youngest Avatar in history.
There was just one more task before he could reach greatness.
Former Avatar Roku appeared to Aang in a dream. Roku instructed him to visit the Spirit World. Aang was to journey to a cave in a hidden island deep on the ocean's waters. Go in alone, Roku said, and the power to save the world would come to him.
The three travelers found the cave. While his friends smiled, Aang entered. Katara and Sokka were happy to wait.
Faithfully they awaited his return. For days they stayed on that island. But those days stretched into weeks… then into months… Those months became two years.
Meanwhile, the foretold comet came, and the Fire Nation delivered a crippling blow to the Earth Kingdom's forces. It took another year to completely overthrow the Kingdom's rule, (King Bumi proved to be exceptionally difficult) but it was not long before the Fire Nation's victory was sealed.
Even the exiled Prince Zuko reaped rewards from his nation's newfound rule. He personally delivered the heads of several leaders and kings to his father's feet. Against his will, the Nation's king was impressed. Though the Fire Lord continued to deny his son the throne outright, Zuko was awarded his own small nation. The land was still property of the Fire Emperor, but the prince was allowed to govern it under Uncle Iroh's assistance. This all suited Zuko just fine, now that his honour was restored.
Back on the island, Sokka finally convinced Katara to leave. Desperately homesick, and unaware of the Fire Nation's control, Sokka wished to see the Water Tribe. The two siblings returned to their homeland in search of friends. They found only despair.
The Water Tribe had been massacred. Cold weather preserved their long-dead bodies, each blue face wide-eyed in the snow. Between them, Katara and Sokka knew every one of those faces. Every person from the Water Tribe was there, even the warriors. No hope remained for survivors.
Aimlessly, the last of the Water Tribe traveled through the sky with Appa. The clouds seemed so free… but they could not stay that way for long. Eventually Fire Nation troops shot a fatal wound into Appa's chest. Too sick with hopelessness to fight back, Sokka and Katara were imprisoned. Soon they were sold as slaves to a rich Fire Nation general, Lord Ryu. The general set the siblings to work in his fields tending crops with twenty or so other slaves.
Their first instinct was to escape.
"Tonight," Sokka instructed his sister as he dug into the soft earth, "you can use your Waterbending skills to get us out of here. The guards don't know about your powers, so we'll have the element of surprise."
"What then?" Katara whispered, looking around to make sure no other slaves were within earshot.
Sokka paused in his work, then shrugged. "I don't know. We don't have Appa anymore… I guess we can just run for it… Steal a boat… I really don't know."
But Sokka never found out if his plan would have succeeded. That afternoon, Lord Ryu caught his favourite house-servant Earthbending. The slave was killed on the spot. He tried to run, to Earthbend, but as Sokka watched in fear, the slave was surrounded and brutally murdered. It became very clear to Sokka that only those of the Fire Nation were allowed to Bend. He immediately called off the escape, for fear of his sister's life.
"Our first priority is to stay alive," he explained to Katara that night. The slaves all shared a small barn behind Lord Ryu's mansion. Sokka pulled Katara closer and wrapped a blanket tight around them. "Besides, the work isn't that hard, and I can do some of your chores if you can't manage them all. We just need to stay alive, and wait… wait for…" The boy swallowed, his voice hoarse. "Something… Something to come…"
Katara looked up at her brother's face; he looked as hopeless as she felt. She touched his cheek.
"Aang will come back," said Katara, blinking back tears. Her brother scoffed. "Aang will come back! …He has to come back…"
"I wish I could believe you, Katara," whispered Sokka. "But he disappeared for a hundred years before. Who knows how long it'll be this time around."
"Aang will come for us. You'll see," Katara insisted. Sokka did not reply. He merely held his sister tighter.
And still they waited. Amongst numerous pale-skinned, dark-eyed slaves from various nations, Lord Ryu prized Katara and Sokka for their bright blue eyes. Many other slave owners wished to purchase them, but Ryu kept their price so high that no one could match it. It disgusted Sokka and Katara to be treated like horses. Katara was sorely tempted to use her Bending skills, but she never did. She was soon "promoted" to a house-servant, where the general flaunted her in front of his friends.
Of course, it was not only slave owners that noticed Katara. She had grown to be extraordinarily beautiful. The city's brothel owners kept an eye on her. It was not long before one of them approached Lord Ryu with an offer.
"I want to purchase the blue-eyed girl," said the owner of the city's largest whorehouse. He was a disgusting man; rich, fat, with a constantly hateful expression.
Ryu laughed and poured his guest a drink. Sliding it across the table between them, he grinned, "You and every other powerful man who steps through my door. However, I would need a great deal to satisfy my loss of that particular gem. For that kind of money you'd be better off buying three other girls."
The brothel owner didn't care. He knew that Katara's looks and rare dark skin would make him lots of money. Katara's potential was "wasted" as a house-servant, he said. The two men began to haggle. A terrible fate would have befallen the blue-eyed girl if their bargaining had gone unnoticed.
But Katara overheard their plans. She knew that if she was sold to that horrible man, her chances of seeing Sokka again were slim to none. She ran from the house and into her brother's arms.
Sokka stopped his work immediately.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Between sobs, Katara told him. Sokka was horrified.
"They're going to what!" he shouted, disgusted by the very idea. He squeezed his sister protectively. His voice became a low growl. "No. I won't let them. They won't do that to you."
It didn't take long for Lord Ryu and the brothel owner-- Katara's new master-- to discover her location. They approached the two siblings, both looking uncomfortable in the afternoon sun.
"Hand her over, boy," Lord Ryu instructed pompously, as though destroying families was a tiresome affair. Katara hid behind Sokka and clutched the back of his shirt. She pressed her face between his shoulder blades. She would never let him go… never, never…
Lord Ryu spoke again. "That girl is leaving with her new master. There's nothing you can do."
"You can't separate us!" Sokka cried wildly. Lord Ryu's eyes narrowed, his hands sparking yellow flames.
"It is not your place to decide that, slave," said Ryu in a dangerous tone.
Sokka swallowed. Katara could almost sense his strategic mind working furiously. "What I meant to say was," he tried again, his voice a little more smooth, "to separate my sister and I would be terrible business sense." He turned to the brothel owner. "We work best together, as a pair. Why settle with just selling my sister to your…" Sokka searched for the right word, "…your particular 'clientèle' at one price when you could sell both of us for three times as much?"
The brothel owner's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. He looked the dirt-covered boy up and down, imagined Sokka clean and paired with his sister… He knew a good deal when he saw one. Many men would pay five-times as much for two dark-skinned, blue-eyed pleasures…
He and Lord Ryu instantly began to bargain the price of two slaves. In the end, it was decided that Sokka and Katara would be sold as a package deal to the brothel's patrons, advertised as twins. ("They look so much alike, who would question it?" Lord Ryu pointed out.) Throw in Lord Ryu's unlimited access to the brothel's girls for a year, and the bargain was irresistible. Sokka and Katara were sold.
"I'm so sorry."
Those were the first words out of Katara's mouth when she and her brother reached their new home. They were given a small room in the whorehouse, where starting the next morning men would pay high prices for the siblings' "services." Katara sank onto the small bed on the floor, tears streaming down her face. It seemed that ever since Aang disappeared, all Katara did was cry.
"I'm… I'm so s-sorry…"
Sokka cupped her chin. "Don't be. None of this is your fault…" He looked away as thoughts of a certain Airbender came to mind. He murmured, "Not your fault, Katara…"
Katara caught his meaning. She pulled away. "It's not Aang's fault, either!"
"Then where is he!" Sokka yelled, unable to control his anger. "Where is he, Katara! Look around! He's not here to save you!"
"He didn't vanish on purpose!"
"I know that! But I also know what awaits us in the morning! It seems you're too blinded by your memories to realize our fate."
Katara's anger melted from her face, replaced smoothly by despair. She tried to rub the tears from her eyes.
"I'm fully aware of what awaits us…" she whispered. "I'm… I'm so scared, Sokka… I've never…"
She couldn't find the right words. Instantly, Sokka felt his rage wash away. He pulled his sister close.
"You're a virgin," he said. His voice was half relief, half surprise. "I just assumed you and Jet… I mean, he was older, and you two seemed so close…"
"No. I've never been 'with' anyone." Katara hiccuped through her tears. Their eyes met. "What about you?"
Blush spread across Sokka's cheeks and nose. Katara laughed, her tear-stained face lit up for the first time in weeks.
"Is that a yes?" she giggled.
Slowly, Sokka nodded. He let Katara laugh for another minute before he said, "That doesn't change the fact that you're still innocent. Aang isn't here… But I'll protect you. I'll save you, I swear."
"How?"
Sokka held her out at arm's length, hands on her shoulders. He looked deep into her eyes, seriousness etched in every feature. "Listen to me. I cannot protect you for every evil. Many men will pass through that door, and every single one will want a piece of you. You will be touched… But you will not lose your innocence. I'll make sure of that. Do you understand?"
Katara believed him. In her brother's arms she could no longer feel afraid. With such a heartfelt promise to protect her, it was impossible not to trust him completely.
The next morning came, and then many days thereafter. Things were exactly as Sokka said. Word spread between the noblemen about two twins that could provide the best time money could buy. The girl was nothing, they said. Mere foreplay. But the boy… Oh, the boy… He was a constant means of pleasure and attention. He handled anything you could deliver, and then some. Sokka's desperate attempts to protect his sister had become legend.
Katara couldn't have been more grateful. Sokka sacrificed himself daily for her… She never watched. All she could do was wait and try to block out the sounds of her brother's torment. Afterwards, Sokka would just lay there, unable to move. He would then ask his sister if she was alright.
"I'm fine," she always replied. Then, quietly, "Thank you."
They thought they could live this way, that Sokka could save Katara's virtue without fail. But then came a day… A day that a Sokka could not slake a man's prurient thirst.
Sokka fell back, utterly worn, his body limp as a boned fish. Usually the client would be satisfied before Sokka reached such exhaustion, but not this time. This time, the man reached for Sokka's sister.
"No," he panted, grasping the man's hand before he could touch Katara's bare back. "No…"
"Move," was the man's only reply. He slapped Sokka away and the once-proud warrior toppled from the bed. The man clamped greedy fingers around Katara, who had long ago turned away, and forced her towards him.
Katara gasped and instantly struggled. But the man was too strong for her. He assaulted her with his mouth.
NO! Katara thought desperately, tears streaming down her face. This isn't how it's supposed to be! My first time… It's not supposed to be with some pervert--it needs to be special… with someone who loves me…!
She let out a scream.
And all at once Sokka attacked the terrible man, his fist connected squarely with jawbone.
The man cried with rage, blood spilling freely from his mouth. But Sokka didn't care. He had already scooped his little sister into his arms.
There was hell to pay later, naturally. Sokka took all the blame. Katara spent those long hours in darkness, wishing for many things, including a window so that she might see the stars. She knew that it was nighttime, but she hadn't seen the stars in so long… or the sky… It seemed a millennium ago that she, Aang and Sokka used to soar through the clouds, completely free…
At long last, Sokka returned. He carried a small stub of candle, which illuminated his face with a faint glow. Just how careworn he looked, wearing nothing but a robe supplied by the brothel, cannot be described.
"Katara," he whispered, crossing over to the bed. "Did he hurt you? How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Katara assured, more confident than she really felt. She rose and wrapped her arms around him, but stopped when he gasped in pain.
"I'm sorry!" she said at once, drawing away. Sokka did not meet her eyes. Biting her lip, the Waterbender moved behind him and pulled down his robe. There, in long, deep welts, lay evidence of her brother's punishment. "… my god…"
Sokka laughed bitterly. "What? You didn't think the 'master,'" he spat the hated name, "would let me get away with attacking a client, did you?"
Katara felt herself blush. "No… of course not… Here." She left his side and returned with a water-filled gourd. "I can heal those easily."
"They'll question how I recovered so fast," warned Sokka. Katara smiled.
"Just say it's the mysterious healing abilities of the Water Tribe," she teased. "They can't question it; we're the only ones left." The water surrounded her hand, and she pressed it against his wounds. Immediately she felt the skin repair itself and the pain wash away. Her brother sighed at the cool touch, and Katara used this silence to add, "… Thank you, by the way… I was really scared there, for a moment… I didn't want my first time to be… to be like that…"
To her surprise, Sokka pulled away, even though she hadn't healed all of his injuries. Grasping her forearms, he sat her down on the bed and stared down at his little sister.
"Katara…" Sokka paused, his voice choked, desperately trying to keep his despair hidden. "I can't protect you… like I did today. If I lose control again the master will kill me, and you'll have no chance in a place like this, none! The next time someone tries to touch you, I won't be able to stop them… And you'll lose your innocence that way…" Sokka looked away, clenching is fists as though he could somehow fight the unfairness of it all. "I… I'm sorry your first time can't be with someone who cares about you… I've failed you."
Katara's eyes met Sokka's. "Don't say that! You've done more for me than anyone ever has!" After a moment, Katara lowered her eyes again. "And nothing's happened to me. Not yet."
Sokka's voice was harsh as he said, "It's only a matter of time! I can't protect you forever! There's…. There's nothing I can do…"
"But there is." Katara spoke just over a whisper. "It doesn't have to be that way. Not... the first time."
Sokka stared at his sister, his face strained with the effort of deciding the meaning in this statement. After a pause, he spoke again. "You don't... you can't mean... me." When Katara continued to look downward, Sokka added, "Can you?" Katara just nodded feebly in response, her eyes still fixed to the ground.
Sokka settled himself next to her on the bed.
"So you really want me... To be your lover?" Sokka's voice was disbelieving.
Katara forced a smile across her face. "What option do I have? If not you, it'll just be a greasy big-shot fire nation lord out for a good time, no matter who he hurts in the process. Besides," Katara turned her bright blue eyes to Sokka again, "I'll worry about sins in the afterlife if I can make it through this one."
And for the longest of moments they were suspended in silence, Sokka's throat working furiously as he decided between the lesser of two evils. However, the choice was clear.
"Alright... Close your eyes. Keep them closed…"
He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the mouth. The touch was shy, unfamiliar… The two lingered for a moment, adjusting to the feel and taste of one another.
Katara blushed as his tongue caught hers. He tasted like home.
Before she knew it, she was on her back, Sokka pressed on top of her. While Katara's fingers gilded through his hair--long enough now that it reached past his shoulders--he parted the front of her robe. Nothing but bare skin lay underneath.
Sokka broke his lips away from hers. He kissed his way down her face before gently sucking between her neck and shoulder. Katara breathed warm, happy breath into his ear.
This is how it's meant to be, she thought. It's more than physical desire… It's this tenderness… This tenderness of someone who loves you.
Sokka's head had trailed lower, and with his talented mouth he captured her nipple. Katara moaned.
And then she felt it. His fingers between her legs. He slid two inside of her, and with amazing swiftness, found her most sensitive spot.
The effect was almost instant. Katara felt her body rushing at something… something warm and wonderful. Her breath grew ragged, she needed to feel it… she needed…
Katara gasped as she came. Her blue eyes flew open.
To her disappointment, she found that Sokka's eyes were shut tight, a look of complete self-loathing on his face. Katara's heart melted. He still thought they were doing this out of necessity. Didn't he realize that she wanted this?
She pulled his face closer and kissed him, long and slow. His eyes opened and met hers.
"It's okay…" she whispered. "I love you. I'll always love you." She grinned, and with trademark boldness, opened his robe.
Sokka, too, smiled. With one hand he cupped the back of her head, the other he used to brace himself.
"Spread your legs," he said softly.
Katara obeyed.
Sokka positioned himself at her entrance. Then came one last question.
"Are you sure?" He was barely audible.
"… yes."
Pushing forward softly, Sokka entered her. Katara took a sharp intake of breath. She was so small, so tight and innocent… She threw her head back and twisted the sheets between her fingers.
Sokka continued to press forward until he came to the full of her innocence. Unable to speak, he mouthed the words, "I'm sorry"… and broke her barrier.
Katara cried out in pain. Tears came to her lovely eyes; Sokka had closed his once more.
It seemed forever that they lay there… until Katara at last loosened. Sokka began to move slowly, steadily, getting her used to his length. In, out, never removing himself completely…
Finally, Katara laid back, releasing the sheets from her grasp. She had strength for but one word.
"More."
Relieved, Sokka drove himself deeper and deeper into her core. Now using both arms for leverage, and encouraged by Katara's moans, Sokka couldn't help but feel his own pleasure rise.
The room was filled with their panting breath, their faster, pounding thrusts… the sounds of their elegant dance.
Katara was close. As she writhed beneath Sokka, she felt the edge of ultimate pleasure approach. Desperately she tried to fall.
"Please.." she begged, arching to meet her brother. "Please… Plea- Sokka!"
The boy at last opened his eyes. He wanted to see… to see her face when she came…
And then she reached it, the wonderful feeling that made her cry out his name. Katara sank into the pillows, limp, and enjoyed the warmth that spread through her veins.
Sokka moaned as her folds tightened around him. It was not long before he, too, climaxed, his seed erupting within her. Pulling out, he fell forward, halfway landing on his sister, and quickly tried to catch his breath.
"Katara…" he panted. She did not reply. Tilting her head towards his own, he kissed her fiercely; her chin, her forehead, her eyelids, her lips… "Katara… Are you alright?"
Her eyes fluttered open.
"I'm fine," she answered, as was their custom. She touched his cheek. "Thank you."
"I'm sorry," Sokka said immediately. His eyes were full of remorse. "I'm sorry it had to be this way-"
"Don't be," Katara interrupted. Her tone was firm. Then, miracle of miracles, she smiled. "You saved me. I don't regret what we did; do you?"
Sokka looked away, knowing he should feel disgusted with himself… but in his heart he knew the absolute truth. "No. I don't. …I love you, Katara."
"I love you, too, my protector… my savior."
And it is here that the lovers fell asleep in each other's arms. Life was far from perfect, but they were happy to live it, so long as they had each other to protect, to hold… and to love.
Part One End
To be Concluded in Part Two, in which:
Sokka and Katara continue trying to survive, until all hope is lost when they are sold to a certain Fire Nation prince.