A/N: I don't own Avatar, the Legend of Aang. I just love it to pieces.

Switching Sides

Chapter Three: Opposition

"Sokka? Sokka! Psst! Sokka!" Katara leaned over the side of her bed and called to her brother, trying to be quiet but also needing for him to be awake right this moment.

"Uh? Katara? Where… where are we?" Sokka's mind felt as though it was full of fog. He couldn't carry out a thought to the end – couldn't even think in words, just pictures. Flashes of blue and white and, oddly, red splashed across the backs of his eyelids. When he opened his eyes, his sister's face was right above him, round and worried.

Katara shook her head at his question, biting her lip. Sokka noticed that her eyes were red and her hair was matted. Her cheeks looked hollower than he was used to.

"No, seriously Katara. Where are we?"

"I – we're in the Fire Nation," said Katara. She could barely choke out the words.

"What?" Sokka sat bolt upright immediately, his hand automatically grasping for his boomerang – but it wasn't there, and neither were his clothes. He was wearing his underwear and an old, red robe that smelt strangely musty, as though it had been worn once, but its owner had left and never returned.

Katara nodded gravely. "Somebody took us in," she said suddenly and distractedly. It was clear that there was something else on her mind.

"Who?"

"An old lady," said Katara quietly. "She told me her name, but I – I was thinking about other things – and – Sokka –"

"Calm down. Let's think about this logically. Here, come and sit next to me." He patted the pillow beside him. Mutely, Katara shook her head. "Why not?"

"You smell," Katara wrinkled her nose pointedly, "like fish."

Sokka looked offended, but then he laughed. "Okay. You can think about it logically from up there, and I'll think about it logically from down here. Maybe then we'll get somewhere. Firstly: How didwe get here?"

"… I don't know." Katara drew her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. A bandage stood out pale against her dark skin. "All I know is that this isn't home – and I woke up, before, and we were in a boat…"

"I think I remember a boat." If he tried very hard, Sokka could just about recall the stars shining bright above his head, the sloshing of water against a canoe paddle, the ache in his arms after rowing for hours – and his sister paddling beside him, her expression unreadable as shadows and light passed across it in turn. "But what happened before that? Why were we on a boat – and how did we get here?"

"The lady found us."

"But why'd she take us here? This is her house?"

"Yes."

"But why? She's Fire Nation. They aren't exactly renowned for their kindness."

Katara merely shrugged. She wasn't feeling very talkative. After an hour of trying to stop herself sleeping, she felt more like curling up and falling into nothingness. When she had been asleep, in the boat, she had had the faint feeling that there was something left undone in the waking world, and it had tugged at her mind and made her sleep fitful and her dreams unpleasant – but now she wished for that level of oblivion. The only reason she'd woken Sokka was so he could keep watch for a bit.

"Come on, Katara, you must know something." Sokka was getting impatient. "Tell me about the woman."

"She's old. And Fire Nation."

"You told me that already!"

Anger flared up in Katara's eyes. "That's all I do know! She's Fire Nation – and that's all I want to know! I don't care where we are, and I don't care how we got here, I just – I want to – to go home!" Katara's eyes stung – whether with anger or sadness she neither knew nor cared.

Sokka didn't bat an eyelid. "You lie down – no, now, Katara. I'm going to find this woman, and get this all sorted out, and then we're going to think of a way to get home. You understand?"

Grudgingly, Katara nodded. Sokka had a way of making things sound so perfectly simple and easy that it was impossible not to agree.

Then – with all the fight draining from her in a second, leaving her limbs loose, her expression slack – Katara whispered, "She is alright, isn't she? Mum?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't she be? We'll just have got lost on the sea, and maybe something happened – something that took us here and hurt your leg." But Sokka wasn't sure at all, and he knew Katara knew that, because she narrowed her eyes at the shake in his voice, and folded her arms.

"Don't go to the lady."

"Why not?"

"Why do you think?"

"I'm not scared of any old women, Fire Nation or not." Sokka hoped she would not bring up the subject of how Gran-gran's disapproval had terrified him when they were young.

"Well I am. I don't want you to leave me here alone." Katara's voice was stony, but her eyes were soft and pleading.

Sokka did not meet her gaze. I don't know said that small movement. I can't predict the future. I'm not as all-knowing as you want me to be. And I am not your mother.

"Don't be a baby."

Sokka stood up – and immediately his head banged so hard it felt as though his skull was splitting. "Ow." He pressed a palm to his forehead; there was a rough bandage there that he hadn't noticed before.

Gingerly he unwound it and, to Katara's great disgust, felt the source of the hurt. A cut, long and deep, raked its way across his temple.

And with a clarity that terrified him and had him glancing around for the source of the sound, he remembered a scream, high and piercing, and it shattered his eardrums and made all his nerves give a great shaking jolt with the wrongness of it –

"Wow," said Katara, kneeling up on her bed, oddly transfixed by the sight of the brown dried blood in the dim lamplight. "It didn't look so deep before."

"It's nothing," lied Sokka. He drew the robe tight around him – there didn't seem to be a clasp of any kind, and how should he know how to wear Fire Nation clothes anyway? – and left the room in search of answers.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. Warm, rich, spicy aromas seemed to be emanating from somewhere, and his stomach groaned as soon as he smelt it. Clasping his stomach with one hand, Sokka walked round the rooms of the house. His head hurt more with movement, but there was nothing he could do about that.

"Hello? Old woman – I mean, Fire Nation lady? Is anybody here?"

There seemed to be endless rooms in this house. Then again, Sokka was finding it hard to walk very fast without feeling sick.

All his footsteps echoed too loudly. Cursing his clumsiness, Sokka tried to be as silent as possible. It occurred to him that he had not asked Katara whether the old lady was the sole member of the household.

The walls were made of a deep brown wood. There were hangings on almost every wall; some depicted battles, others appealing scenes of mountains and fields, things that he had never seen in his life before. Sokka thought how strange it was that Fire Nation people had pretty embroidered patterns decorating their houses. He had always imagined them as being cold, metal buildings much like those dreaded ships.

He had never been in a house like this before, the ones at home being made of cloth and ice and filled with furs, and it fascinated him. Whoever thought of wooden floors? The ones at home had been covered with animal skins to keep their feet warm…

All of a sudden, homesickness threatened to overcome him. Swallowing it down, Sokka continued.

"Hello?" he called again. The smell of food was getting stronger (wow, was he ever hungry), and Sokka knew he had come to the right place when he hit a wall of warm air outside one door, and he could hear something bubbling inside the room… He stood outside for a second before going through, wary, though not afraid of, who he might find on the other side.

Ailin was cooking when she heard the sound of the door swinging open. She turned around, expecting to see the little girl, but no – it was the boy. "You're awake, then. Just as well. I'm making you some food." She wasn't sure what else to say.

Sokka struggled with his instant, instinctive like of anybody who gave him food for a second before speaking. "I want to know where we are."

Ailin shot him a sharp glance. "I would have thought your sister filled you out on that already. The way she was screaming on about it, you would think it was a bad thing, being here –"

"Bad thing?" Sokka gritted his teeth, one hand unconsciously clenching into a fist. "This is the Fire Nation – you could say that's a bad thing!"

Ailin didn't respond, turning around instead to stir a rich, sweet mixture in a pot above the fire. She wasn't getting into any fights here – not another one. If she ended up quarreling with the boy, her own anger might force her to put them both back out on the street, and then she would be alone again, and she didn't want to think about that.

"Where are we?" Sokka repeated.

"We're in a port town on the eastern side of the Fire Nation, a couple of miles from the Palace City. How's your head?"

"I –" Sokka sighed. "I don't know. It feels pretty bad."

Ailin scowled when she saw that he had unraveled his bandage. "You were supposed to keep that on, you know."

Sokka shrugged. "It'll be fine." He folded his arms. "Why are you helping us?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"You and the rest of the Fire Nation aren't exactly well-known for your hospitality," said Sokka angrily. "In case you didn't know."

Ailin didn't reply. How dare he be so ungrateful? When he was that age, Taj had had some manners. Swallowing down the hot irritation that had started to rise in her chest, Ailin reminded herself just what the boy and his sister had been through. They had probably never even seen a house before. "How old are you?"

"Where is this going?" Sokka, suspicious, took a step back so he was standing right in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "Are you seeing how much you can get if you sell us off to slavery?"

Ailin's frown deepened. The stirring-spoon dropped into the pot and she turned around. "I'm not planning to do anything of the sort," she said hotly. "In fact, I've been nothing but helpful to you since you arrived – surely you realized that? Or did you think the spirits made that bed for you, and bandaged you and your sister? Is it just my imagination, or am I making you a meal right now? Show some respect for me! You should be grateful."

But Sokka refused to back down. "I know what you're like. Your whole Nation is corrupt and bloodthirsty and I don't trust you one bit –"

"Then why are we even this moment fighting to enlighten you? To help you see the way to a better, more prosperous future, one where which we can all – as a world – benefit from! If that isn't generous I don't know what is –"

"What?" Sokka's eyes widened. His entire expression changed from suspicion and anger in one moment, utter shock the next. "But – but you –"

"But I what?" Ailin glared at the boy.

Sokka sighed, and the anger was back. "You sounded like you were reading from a propaganda poster."

"Nonsense," retorted Ailin, all the angrier because it was true. "What I said was the truth. You are fools for not wanting to share in our greatness. In our glory."

"I don't know anything about glory!" shouted Sokka, incensed. "All I know is that there's a big black ship on the shore near our village from when the Fire Nation came and raided us. All I know is that my tribe has turned into just a load of tents and women since you came and attacked and my dad, my dad left to fight you, and I don't know why we're here now but I bet it has something to do with you!"

"Stop this silly nonsense right this instant."

"It's not nonsense!" And to his great shame and surprise, the corners of Sokka's eyes began to sting.

Hot tears threatened to pour down his cheeks; he turned away so that Ailin would not see, and wiped them away from his eyes in one angry, frustrated gesture. He felt completely drained – even the act of shouting had used up his energy and made his head throb more.

For the first time, Ailin remembered she was talking to a child, a boy who knew nothing of the designs of Firelords, or of war itself. He couldn't see all the good things about the War – and besides, he wasn't in his right mind, hurt and homesick as he must be.

"I'm sorry," said Ailin quietly. "I shouldn't have shouted. No – really – I shouldn't. What's your name?"

"Sokka." When he could trust himself not to lose his composure, he turned back around to face the old woman. Both of them stood uncomfortably on opposite sides of the room, neither having the right or the need to move closer. "And I'm fourteen."

"You don't look that old." He looked younger, but maybe that was because of his ill health. Ailin paused, and then, delicately: "Dinner's almost ready, Sokka, if you'd like to have some."

Sokka nodded wordlessly.

"Your sister, Katara, she can have some too, if she'd like."

"I don't think she would like – but I'll ask her anyway." Sokka turned to go, but then another thought occurred to him. "This doesn't mean I'm agreeing with you. I still don't trust the Fire Nation. And I don't know you. But –"

"Let's agree to disagree."

"Exactly."

For now, at least, thought Ailin. She knew the subject would have to be brought up again sooner or later, though, if they were to live in this world until they were healed; and she was sure, without a doubt, that there would be more confrontations along the way.

"Katara," said Sokka quietly. His sister was asleep on the bed, breathing deeply in and out. He took one look at her calm face, untroubled like it hadn't been since she'd woken him up, and knew he was not going to disturb her. But as he left the room, she woke up anyway.

"Sokka? What did you find out?" Shaking sleep off her like a blanket, Katara sat up, wincing at the pain in her leg.

"Not much. Only that it's going to be hard to get home – I don't think even the spirits knew how we got here in the first place. We're in the Fire Nation alright; not far from the Palace City, actually."

"The Firelord lives there." Katara could swear that, just for a second, her heart stopped beating. "And firebenders, and soldiers, and –"

"Shush." Sokka paused. "That woman isn't a bad sort of person, you know. Well. She's got some pretty ridiculous thoughts, but she's got food."

Katara laughed. "You think anybody with food is good." Then, her whole expression changed, becoming as grave and hard as stone. "I won't eat it."

Sokka grinned – but then he realized she was serious. "Katara, don't be stupid. There's no way you can go without food."

"I'd sooner eat rotten penguin meat than anything she's made."

"She's helping us, you know."

"I don't care. The next time I eat, I want it to be when we're back home. I want stewed sea prunes with mum." Katara jutted her jaw. "And that's final," she added, sounding just like their mother and Gran-gran, and it was obvious that she could not be swayed, just like them; but Sokka had to try.

"Katara –"

"No. Don't say anything, because I'm not going to change my mind."

"You will. In a few days, you will. See sense, Katara. You're twelve, you can do that. It's going to take months to get back home from where we are. You can't go months without food, you'll die!"

"If I don't eat," said Katara quietly, "then the last time I ate was at home."

Sokka sighed. For his sister, logic didn't even matter. Nothing would sway her now, but in a few days, when her stomach was almost eating itself in desperation, she would change her mind. Sokka knew his sister, and he knew that without a doubt.

Still, he was worried.

"I'll bring some back up for you," he said, "so that you can change your mind."

"I'm not going to."

Sokka, after striding over to her and stroking her hair once, left the room. "We'll see," he muttered to himself as he headed towards the room where Ailin had been preparing the food. "We'll see."

A/N: Another chapter. Tell me what you think, please! So long as you're reasonably polite and can back up your complaints and stuff, I don't mind bad things being said ;)

Was it too long? It's certainly quite a bit longer than the other two – but it still didn't contain everything I wanted it to. Ideas for new things just keep running away with my brain at the moment, so what can you do?

I love writing Sokka, but constantly worry whether I've made him too angsty. Still, I tried to get his 'logical' side across, and some sarcasm too, though maybe that was lost somehow. Also, was this repetitive? It has the words 'Fire Nation' in it about a million times.

Be warned:This is not going to have Aang in it. My intention was never to rewrite the entire series only with Katara and Sokka being Fire Nation and stuff, and I just couldn't think of a way to include Aang without the story getting too long-assed for its own good. It will be a wrench, since Aang is one of my favourite characters and it'll be weird just not having him there with K and S and will maybe make the fic feel incomplete…? You can be the judge of that, and can decide whether to continue reading or not.

Have a sweet night, ladies. Please review. Hope to see you next chapter!