Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the musical The Music Man by Meredith Willson.

Author's Note: Due to the sort of stream-of-consciousness nature of this particular song, it was kind of hard to figure out where to break it, and there are an awful lot of words. This is Sokka's take on most of the action of The Fortuneteller.

Ya Got Trouble

Well, ya got trouble, my friend.
Right here, I say trouble right here in River City.
Why, sure, I'm a billiard player
Certainly mighty proud to say, I'm always mighty proud to say it.
I consider the hours I spend with a cue in my hand are golden.
Help you cultivate horse sense and a cool head and a keen eye--
Didja ever take an' try an' give an iron clad leave
to yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?
But just as I say it takes judgment, brains and maturity
to score in a balk-line game,
I say that any boob can take and shove a ball in a pocket,
And I call that sloth, the first big step on the road to the depths of degreda-
I say, first- medicinal wine from a teaspoon,
then beer from a bottle

"I don't know, Sokka. These people seem pretty happy."

"Not for long."

The people of Aunt Wu's village irritated Sokka. How could you put your life completely in the hands of some fortuneteller? Science and logic were the only ways to really understand the world. If anyone had asked him, Sokka would not have been able to give a good reason why he felt the overwhelming need to upset the idyllic existence of these people. He just felt a keen sense of wrongness about the whole situation. Maybe part of it was that the idea of handing your life over to someone else simply rubbed him the wrong way.

In any case, he thought it the height of insanity to be living near an active volcano and not even bother to check it once a year, as they had previously done, to make sure that there were no signs of impending eruption. If it were up to Sokka, he would probably check it more often than that.

So, Sokka traversed the village, trying to find any flaw in Aunt Wu's predictions, while the people blithely ignored him. He quickly found that Aunt Wu was a clever woman. Her fortunes were phrased in such a way that there were multiple ways they could come true, and they could even be self-fulfilling. For example, there was the guy who always wore red shoes because Aunt Wu had told him he'd meet his true love wearing them. Naturally, the man would find his love wearing those shoes under those circumstances, unless he never found his true love at all, and even Sokka wasn't pessimistic enough to find that likely.

Katara hadn't revealed her fortune, although the way she kept going to Aunt Wu for advice on making every mundane decision was driving Sokka crazy. She'd had no trouble deciding what to have for breakfast before coming here – why did she suddenly need help now? He had no faith at all in what Aunt Wu had said about him. As for what she had told Aang, well that seemed pretty obvious. Even if the posters of him hadn't made it this far, if the fortuneteller knew anything about airbenders at all, she would have recognized his tattoos and realized that he must be the Avatar. After that, it was simple child's play to foresee him participating in a massive battle between good and evil.

Given how much Katara and Aang seemed to be taken in by Aunt Wu, Sokka considered that perhaps he should have been trying to get out of there as soon as possible. However, he was stubborn. Not quite as stubborn as Katara, maybe, but he didn't really want to leave without at least making the attempt to show the villagers the error of their ways. They would have to be on their way soon enough.

And the next thing you know your son is playin'
for money in a pinchback suit
and listenin' to some big out-o'-town jasper
Hear him tell about horserace gambling.
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no,
but a race where they set down right on the horse!
Like to see some stuck up jockey boy sittin' on Dan Patch?
Make your blood boil, well I should say!
Now, folks, let me show you what I mean.
You got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table,
Pockets that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum
With a capital 'B' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'

When Aang and Sokka saw with their own eyes that a volcanic eruption was imminent, Sokka's quest became more urgent. However, being a known skeptic, nobody would take him seriously. Fortunately, his sister knew him well enough to know that he would not lie about something this big. Either that, or she just trusted Aang. Whatever the reason, Sokka was prepared to accept her help.

As a true believer in Aunt Wu's abilities, Katara did her part to try and convince the people they were in danger. Their faith was absolute, however, and they refused to be shaken. Sokka wanted to tear his hair out in his frustration. Even when they pointed out the ash and steam rising out of the cone, everyone wanted to believe they were safe.

"That volcano is just about to send hot lava running through your town!" Sokka fairly screamed at one point. "Don't you people care?" A part of him was about ready to leave the villagers to their fate. He knew Aang would never go for it, and he probably couldn't have gone through with it, either, but it was still tempting.

And all week long, your River City youth'll be fritterin' away,
I say, your young men'll be fritterin',
Fritterin' away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too.
Hit the ball in the pocket,
Never mind gettin' dandelions pulled or the screen door patched
or the beefsteak pounded.
Never mind pumpin' any water 'til your parents are caught
with a cistern empty on a Saturday night and that's trouble.
Oh, ya got lots and lots o' trouble.
I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers, shirttails,
young ones peekin' in the pool hall window after school,
Ya got trouble, folks, right here in River City,
with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'

When he was calmer, Sokka and the others developed a plan. It was a sort of "if you can't beat them, join them" proposition. Katara and Aang would re-shape the clouds into a formation that would cause Aunt Wu to make the correct prediction. Sokka hated to play a part in this ongoing ignorance, but he was pragmatic enough to realize that there was no other way.

Once the people were convinced that there was a real crisis at their door, Sokka stepped in to stave off the panic with the solution he'd devised. He was able to mobilize the people of the village - men, women, and children - to carry it out. It seemed to be working, but unfortunately, there was too much lava and too little time. Aang had to step in and stop the overflow by himself. Sokka never did understand Katara's reaction when he commented on how powerful a bender Aang was. Surely that couldn't have been a complete surprise to her?

Now I know all you folks are the right kind of parents.
I'm gonna be perfectly frank.
Would you like to know what kind of conversation goes on
while they're loafin' around that hall?
They'll be tryin' out Bevo, tryin' out Cubebs,
tryin' out tailor-mades like cigarette fiends
And braggin' all about how they're gonna cover up
the tell-tale breath with Sen-Sen.
Now one fine night they leave the pool hall
headin' for the dance at the Armory
Libertine men and scarlet women and ragtime,
Shameless music that'll grab your son, your daughter
into the arms of a jungle animal instinct- mass hysteria!
Friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground, trouble!

Sokka was very glad to turn his back on this place when they finally left. He'd hoped that the villagers would realize after this that it wasn't wise to place such absolute trust in superstitious nonsense. One particularly irritating guy, however, had the temerity to point out that Aunt Wu hadn't really been wrong, since she hadn't actually said the volcano wouldn't erupt, only that it wouldn't destroy the town. It was probably a good thing that Katara pulled Sokka away before he could completely lose his temper.

On a side note, Sokka noticed that Aang didn't seem to give Meng any special goodbye when they departed. Had he been wrong about his guess? Sokka frowned. Who else could it be? Aang didn't really know any other girls, except…

Sokka's frown deepened and his brow creased as he turned his head slowly to regard his sister. She was staring straight ahead, wearing a thoughtful expression. Sokka thought back to his teasing earlier and tried to recall Aang's reaction with a little more detail. It was difficult due to the distraction of the fish, but maybe he'd been more right then than he had realized. He resolved to keep a closer eye on those two from now on.

Even though he didn't believe in any of this stuff, Sokka found himself wondering if he should ask Katara about her fortune after all.

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: Granted, the people of Aunt Wu's village were facing a much bigger crisis than the folk of River City, but in a way, I think that makes this match-up all the funnier because Harold Hill was trying to blow this idea of a pool table up into a major problem, while Sokka was having trouble convincing everyone that their lives were actually in danger. Some of you connoisseurs of Broadway may recognize that there are still more words, but I thought this was enough for me to deal with.

Review responses:

Softmints: Actually, this one is almost over, but if you liked these, you might also enjoy my slightly older Boys & Girls collection. There are a couple of songfics in it, but they're mostly just oneshots. I am planning a new songfic collection as well, so watch for that.

redskin122004: Some people (like Aang) are lucky enough to have wisdom young, but it's true that it usually comes with age.

Kataang's-Loyal-Devoted-Slave: I'm trying to post something new every two days or so. I have plenty of ideas, but my writing can't always keep up.

Justcallmewolfy: Well, the penguins and the tiger-seals, yes…maybe the occasional passing whale.:)

libowiekitty: Thanks! I'm kind of sorry your alphabet collection is coming to an end.

Snows Of Yester-Year: I'm glad it was interesting. For a few of these, I wonder if the concepts are a little too mundane to make a good story.