Rating: K
Genre: Suspense (?), First Meeting
Summary: Sokka doesn't really want to risk bunking with someone blatantly described as a possible Fire Nation spy, especially right after the North Pole, but there are no other options.
The cottage is a ways outside the village, down a small overgrown path that Sokka only barely sees in time. He couldn't see the cottage from the main road, which worries him, but the vendor in the village had said that the woman who lived here had a soft spot for kids and he'd already checked practically the whole village for a place to stay. This was their only option.
"Come on, Sokka," Katara says, pushing ahead. "It's almost nightfall." Her voice is heavy after a long day of flying and searching for lodging. Appa's tired yawn comes from somewhere back on the main road, where Sokka said to leave him for a bit. They're already taking a chance by coming here - he doesn't want to take any more than they absolutely have to.
(He doesn't want to lose someone else he loves.)
He pushes at the branches on the trail as he finally makes his way into the little not-quite-clearing that houses the cottage. "I know, Katara. Just -" He doesn't say anything more. They've already gone over it a hundred times, and he knows they have to be here, that there isn't any other option, but that doesn't mean he likes it.
Aang bounces up to the door and knocks primly, three times. He's still in - Tui and La, he's still in his monk's robes! What if the spy recognizes them? What if she (the vendor had said it was an older woman) sent word to the Fire Lord, or just decided to try and take them down herself?
He draws in a breath, pushing aside his moment of panic. There's nothing they can do, now that he can hear footsteps from inside, and even if there was they didn't have any clothes for Aang to change into. And besides, she might not even be a spy.
The door opens with a whisper. Beyond it stands what the vendor said - an older woman - but the vendor didn't mention how few signs of age there would be, or the calculating look she gives each of them, or just how utterly, undeniably Fire Nation she is, with her black hair reaching down her back and golden eyes burning from a ghostly white face. But the calculations melt quickly into warmth as she realizes their youth, and she smiles at them softly. She reminds Sokka dually of his own dead mother and the Fire Nation raid that took her.
Oh, this is not going to be an easy stay.
Aang speaks when he realizes that neither Sokka or Katara are going to. "Hi, Miss..." He trails off, and Sokka wants to smack himself for not thinking to ask the vendor her name. But this is someone who is definitely Fire Nation and maybe a spy so he restrains himself.
"Please," she says, and her voice is warm like the memories of Sokka's mother. "Call me Ursa. What brings you children to my doorstep?"
This is where things get tricky. Sokka takes over and recites their practiced cover story, hoping that she doesn't remark on their clothes. "We're traveling to Ba Sing Se, but we got a bit lost, and there's no room in the town so we thought we'd come ask you if we could stay for a night or two." He gives her a smile, a genuine smile that's still rimmed by loss and fear and maybe a little hope, and she immediately agrees.
"Of course. You're only children. Honestly, you shouldn't be travelling alone like this. Oh, but first, make sure your sky bison doesn't get into my garden - many of the plants there aren't exactly safe to eat."
Everyone jumps a little at her casual use of the term 'sky bison.' Does she know? Aang immediately jumps down, careful not to use airbending, and shouting for Appa. Clearly there won't be any use in trying to hide him. Ursa beckons Sokka and Katara inside, and they follow, with Katara's hand drifting ever closer to her waterskin. Out of all of them, Katara seems least affected by the events at the North Pole - her main thing there had been beating and then training with Pakku - but she had still witnessed Yue's...death? Ascending? Tui and La, Sokka didn't know - and Aang's rampage, and of course Sokka has noticed the way she worries over him and Aang.
Privately, he wonders if this strange woman named Ursa reminds Katara of their mother too. It would be so much tougher on her. (She'd been there, after all, but the spirits had decided to be merciful on Sokka that terrible afternoon. He didn't think he could ever quite feel what she felt.)
The inside of the cottage is warm and cheery, with a fire roaring in the fireplace and hot soup bubbling in a small pot above it. "You're welcome to the soup, children, and your friend once he gets inside, but be aware that I really only made enough for a couple of servings. I didn't expect to have visitors. Don't worry, though, you'll have enough to eat if I refill the pot, and I think I have some rice to fill you up."
They thank her and grab small bowls of the spicy-smelling soup. Aang's not gonna like that there's meat in it, but Sokka lets himself grin a little, even lick his lips, before grabbing chopsticks and diving into the rice-meat-veggies mixture that tastes way too spicy but still so much better than even Katara could make on the road. A paranoid thought flits across his mind - is it poisoned? - but there's no discernible taste and he's too hungry to care. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Ursa smile at his gusto.
Aang slips in the door while Sokka's eating. "Um, Miss Ursa, I tied Appa a ways away. He won't get into your garden."
"I hope not, for his sake!" she says, gently laughing. Sokka doesn't really see what's funny.
Aang is...uncharacteristically subdued, if you don't know what happened at the North Pole. The Fire Nation is evil, and those soldiers obviously deserved it, but Aang is so young and idealistic and he didn't deserve to have to do that. Sokka just hopes that Aang gets back to his old self soon. That he forgives himself soon.
(A false hope, something cynical and bruised inside him whispering. It's not like Sokka's managed to forgive himself for what happened with Mother yet.)
"Um..." Aang says. It's gonna be about the meat, isn't it.
"What is it?" Ursa asks.
Aang looks at her with a sheepish look. "I, uh, don't eat meat."
Called it. Kriffing called it.
She raised an eyebrow. Maybe she was surprised that anyone could simply not eat meat. Sokka had been, too, when Aang had told him. "You can simply take the meat out of the broth, right? Give it to your friend. I hear teenage boys can eat half their weight in a single sitting."
Aang giggles a little. "Okay, I guess."
"You hear?" Sokka says, the tone of his voice too suspicious.
But Ursa doesn't notice it. "Yes. I...didn't get to stay with my son long enough to see him become a teenager." She looks at Sokka then, her eyes sad yet full of resolve. "He'd be about your age. And my daughter would be about hers," she says, inclining her head to Katara.
Silence falls on them. None of them really know what to say, aside from muttered condolences, and they finish their meal without speaking.
They go to sleep that night full and tired, and sleep well. Sokka's now confident that Ursa isn't going to hurt them, and it's too late to care about the information she might pass on. And in the morning, they find Appa healthy as last night, which meant that he really hadn't broken into Ursa's garden and that they could still fly. They bid goodbye to Ursa, and then they set off to find Aang an Earthbending teacher.
There's no real consequence to the meeting. Sokka can't tell if she's passed on any knowledge to anyone. But then he begins to think on Prince Jerkbender's vague references to a mother, to a woman skilled with poisons, a woman who had dark gold eyes, whenever there'd been a chance for them to talk, but it wasn't like that could really be Ursa...could it?
Maybe one day, if Sokka ever runs into the idiot again, he'll demand answers.
Started and finished the last day of the month, as usual, but hey. 1500 words ain't too shabby.
