Author's note: There's quite a bit of secret history revealed before the 'good stuff', so have patience.
And yes, this tale is sort of a Katara/Sokka 'lovestory', although the principals can't admit it, either to themselves or to each other. How close will they get? Read on and see.
"Oh!" Katara exclaimed. "It's, it's so big! I don't know how I'll be able to get it all in my mouth!"
"Y-you can do it, Katara!" Sokka gasped, as his sister moved her mouth inside his pants. "You have to...Or we're done for!"
Chapter 2: Sucks To Be You
This, the most bizarre day in her young life, when she learned about 300 year old conspiracies, the oppression of female waterbenders, the secret tragedy of her homeland and the origin of mouthbending (not to mention poking her nose into her brother's pants - again!), had started easily enough, Katara recalled, with she, Toph, and Sokka gathered around the breakfast table, chatting amicably.
Although her brother acted stranger than usual.
"Sokka, aren't you going to finish your tiger seal jerky?" Katara tenderly asked. "It's your favorite food, after all."
"Why are you so interested in my meat, Katara?" Sokka challenged his sister.
"I'm not, I'm just asking why..."
"You love it's meaty tender flesh, just bursting with juicy goodness, don't you? Admit it!" the very wound-up Water Tribe warrior said.
"Whatever, meathead!" Katara dismissed her brother's rantings. "If you want to starve, it's your business!"
Then the only waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe got up from the table and, with a final, withering glance at her only sibling, exited the room.
"Then maybe I will starve!" Sokka brayed in the direction of his departing sister. "I won't eat just anything! Unlike some people!"
Due to the door being shut behind her, it's unknown if Katara heard that last bit.
But Sokka wasn't done spewing his emotions all over the kitchen like an uncooked meal.
"Did you see the way she was staring at my package?" Sokka sputtered to Toph.
"See?" Toph said. "Helloooo! Blind girl here!"
"How can she do that, Toph?"
"Do what?"
"Act like nothing happened! But I know the truth!"
"Yeah, whatever, Snoozles!" Toph replied to her out of sorts friend. "Hey, if you really don't want that seal jerky, I'll take 'em!"
"Here." a glum Sokka passed the untouched dish to his dining companion. "I've kind of ...lost my appetite for meat."
"Not me!" Toph Bei Fong declared, then happily shoved the meat jerky down her gullet. "Ahhh!" the very satisfied Earth Kingdom girl uttered, then picked her teeth with a tiny bone. "Got any more?"
Later, Katara, Sokka and Toph visited the regional Earth Kingdom army commander...
"Thanks for all of your assistance!" the General in charge complimented the three heroes. "We've been after those smugglers for some time! But why didn't you report them to the local authorities?"
"That whole town seemed pretty skeevy!" Sokka commented. "We figured the police were already in the smuggler's pockets!"
"Well, it's a good thing you came to us! We should have them all rounded up very soon!" the General said. "However, I must warn you: These are dangerous, desperate men and will probably seek revenge! So I'd be careful if I were you!"
"Thanks, but considering we're a master waterbender, a master earthbender, and, mmm, a master warrior..." Sokka said, making a fist and proudly pumping his bicep as he voiced that last bit. "...We're not worried about some smugglers!" Sokka smiled. "Goodbye! We have to get back to our own mission."
" 'We're a master waterbender, a master earthbender and a master warrior! We're not afraid of some smugglers!' " Toph teased, in a deep voice to make her sound more like Sokka. Then she became sarcastic. "Yeah, unless they take us by surprise and then the only way we can escape is if Katara sucks all the water out of your..."
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Sokka forcefully interjected. "I get it, okay? We got unlucky! But what are the odds of that happening again? And I don't need you blabbing the gory details to the whole world! Understand?"
"Yeah, I understand!" Toph relented.
"Katara? You've been awfully quiet. What do you think about the smugglers?" Sokka asked.
"I think you're right." Katara replied. "We would be able to deal with them if we ever ran into them again. But..."
"But what?" Sokka inquired.
"There's something I've been meaning to say, but I don't want you getting all angry."
"Katara, you can tell me anything! You know that!" her brother cheerfully stated.
"Okay. Fine." Katara breathed a sigh of relief. "Sokka...I didn't want to mention it in front of the General, but...your pants are on backwards." she helpfully pointed out.
"What?" The stunned Water Tribe teen looked down at his dressing malfunction, then turned to his sister and screeched "Quit undressing me with your eyes!"
"I knew it!" a peeved Katara replied. "Oh, you're impossible!"
The trio continued their bickering, and didn't notice the furtive figure stalking them.
Then Sokka announced "I'm going to find someplace to fix my pants. Someplace private!"
"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" an annoyed Katara declared. "He acts like I shouldn't have saved all our lives!"
"Imagine that. Being upset because your sister's way better than your girlfriend." Toph dryly stated.
"What?"
"I was just saying how you always dressed Sokka better than Suki. Those pants he's wearing that he got from her? They make way too much noise, with the legs always rubbing against each other!" Toph deadpanned regarding the leather leggings Suki gave to Sokka.
"Yeah. O-kay." a puzzled Katara responded. "Why can't he be more mature about this?" Katara fondly wished. "It's like, Sokka's mad at me because he thinks I wanted to do that to him!"
"Yeah, he's crazy about you, too."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Katara spotted the stranger.
"Hey...Did you see that? I think that guy in the hat is watching us!"
"Well, I can't 'see' him, but I have felt him following us for the past half hour." Toph revealed.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I've been bored. I was hoping something would happen."
"Act natural. I'm going to have a word with our 'friend'." Katara boldly stated.
"And here we go! Bye bye, boredom!" Toph snickered.
"Hey! You!" Katara yelled at the man, who immediately turned tail and began to run away!
Quick as a whip, the waterbending master (mistress?) formed a liquid lasso that twirled around the fleeing suspect's ankles and brought him down!
Then, to Katara's shock, the man sent watery knives right at her face!
She easily bent them away from her, but one inescapable fact remained "He's a waterbender, too?"
His trick having distracted his pursuer just long enough, the mysterious stranger made a clean getaway and rounded a corner...
...Where he ran right into Sokka!
"Oofff!" the runner uttered as he bounced off the wiry teen warrior.
"Hey! Where's the Fire Nation, buddy!" Sokka quipped to the man, now sprawled on the ground. "You okay?" he said as he offered his hand.
"Sokka! That man's been following us!" Katara shouted to her brother. "Don't let him get away!"
Plucking the man's hat from his head as Sokka held him in an armlock, Katara gasped in amazement and said "I know you! You're from the North Pole! You were in the waterbending class taught by Master Pakku! Songo, something..."
"The name's Sangok! And you're the abomination! A female waterbender! Ptui!" he spat.
"Disgusting!" Katara emoted, referring to both the spit and the bile behind it as she easily bent the sputum to the side. "What's your problem? Pakku said I was worthy of being a waterbender, so why do you care?"
"He may have said that, but only because of your grandmother!" the Northern Water Tribe waterbender replied. "I know how Master Pakku truly felt! He allowed me to discover the secret history of our tribe, to continue his work!"
"What are you talking about? Master Pakku was very supportive of my training! He didn't have a problem with it!" Katara declared.
"And what's this 'secret history'?" Sokka harshly inquired.
"There are good reasons females are forbidden to learn waterbending." Sangok stated. "I didn't know what they were until one day when I went to see Pakku for a scheduled, private training session. He wasn't there, but an ancient scroll was laid out and it displayed exactly what happens when females become waterbenders! It leads to the destruction of society!"
"What? How dare you?" Katara brayed. "Women are just as worthy of being waterbenders as men! It was done in our Southern Water Tribe for centuries!"
"And what happened to the South Pole waterbenders? They were all wiped out!" the North Pole antagonist challenged.
"That was because of the Fire Nation!" Katara furiously responded.
"The Fire Nation army cleared away the scraps." the young man sneered. "But it was women waterbenders who laid low that great civilization!"
"Bastard!" Katara cried, the tears running down her face. "My mother sacrificed herself for me! Neither she, nor my ancestors, would ever do anything to harm our people!"
"I'm sure you believe that. But I know the truth!" the male waterbending zealot declared. "Master Pakku meant for me to see that scroll! He knew what youi were capable of, and feared what would happen if you were left unsupervised. However, he couldn't do anything about it himself, so it was up to me to carry on his very important work."
"You're loopy, pal! Pakku loves Katara!" Sokka laughed.
"So you decided you were going to follow me around? For what?" Katara demanded.
"You know the answer to that, mo-"
"Hey! What's this?" Toph asked, presenting a scroll she found on Sangok's person. "It must be important, or he wouldn't have hidden it in his pants!"
"Toph, it really isn't appropriate for you to rummage around inside a man's clothing." Sokka admonished his earthy friend. "Especially when he's still wearing them!"
"I know!" Toph grinned. "That what makes it so much fun!"
"That's not yours! Put it back!" the Northern Tribesman helplessly protested.
"It's, it's a waterbending scroll!" Katara said upon receiving the parchment from her sightless friend. "And it's been ripped out...You stole this from that waterbending scroll book, didn't you?" she angrily questioned the perpetrator.
"All that is not appropriate must be suppressed. That is the only way we can survive!" the autocratic Sangok defended his actions.
"But there's nothing on here but some waterbending moves...huh...Wonder what 'bodybending' is?" Katara commented as she scanned the ancient document.
"Stop!" the agitated waterbender of the North screamed. "If you care about our people at all, you will give that scroll back to me and forget it ever existed!"
"I'll take that!" a gruff voice said as he jumped in front of Katara, grabbed the valuable piece of parchment, and sprinted away!
"Thief! Stop!" Sokka helplessly commanded (helpless because, as long he maintained his grip on the mysterious man from the North Pole, Sokka was unable to give chase).
"I got him!" Toph announced. Then she stamped one foot on the ground and, twenty feet away, the earth responded like a rocket, launching itself upwards as soon as the fleeing felon stepped on it, sending him flying!
Katara recovered the important waterbender document but then received another surprise: A gang of armed men gathered on the rooftops of the nearby (and rather short) buildings.
"Stop! Put the scroll down. Consider it a downpayment for ruining our business!" the man threatened as he and his associates wielded long-range weaons such as bullwhips, throwing knives and bow and arrow in a menacing manner.
"Yeah! Your eathbending friend can't beat us as long as we stay up here, but we can hurt you!" another smuggler warned.
Katara didn't move, but her bright blue eyes burned with considerable fury.
"Katara..." her brother worriedly said. "Maybe you should give it to them. It's not worth..."
"You think you can do whatever you want?" Katara challenged the shady men as she discreetly moved her fingers, mimicking one of her signature waterbending moves.
Immediately, 'octopus arms' of water, 8 liquid limbs, formed around her.
"Ha! What's that supposed to do?" one of the crooks laughed.
"Think again!" Katara yelled. She thrust her arms around her body, and the 8 watery arms became 8 whips of flowing fury that leapt to the rooftops where the smugglers cowered, knocking the weapons out of the mens' hands as well as laying them low!
They fell clumsily to the ground, where Toph prepared her own special 'welcome' of earth legcuffs and handcuffs.
"Good work!" the Earth Kingdom General said moments later when his forces arrived to take the mobsters into custody.
"Take this piece of trash with you!" Sokka curtly said, pushing Sangok toward the army troops. "He's been stealing scrolls!"
"My only crime has been protecting everyone from this foul mouthbender!" the sexist North Poler declared, looking straight at Katara as he said it.
The smugglers, who had been unresponsive until now, looked at each other. Glints of greed lit up their eyes.
Without warning, some of the criminals burst their rocky bonds, either by striking them against the hard ground or the wall they were standing against. Some didn't break free, and instead used their incredible dexterity to jump up and pass their legs over their arms, so their trapped wrists were in front of their body, making it far easier for them to fight their captors.
Immediately, the hapless Earth Kingdom soldiers faced a flurry of punches, kicks and other dirty moves before being thrown to the ground!
With so many of the newly free mob flying through the air and bouncing around on the soil, Toph could hardly get a bead on them, although she did manage to down a few gangsters.
The speed and dodging ability of the smugglers similarly handicapped Katara, who couldn't strike the mobsters in such close quarters without also harming her friends or the EK armymen. Since waves were out of the question, and water whips were ineffective, Katara was forced to play defense.
Unfortunately for Toph, this time the crooks were prepared for the earthbender.
One of the hoods, hanging off a low porch roof, stuck a wooden hoop attached to a long pole around the blind girl's neck and yanked her head back, crashing it into the hard, blunt object affixed to the back of the hoop.
Suffering a severe blow to the head, Toph was instantly knocked out!
Two mobmen leapt toward Sokka, who couldn't fight back because he was still holding the Northern ninny. They pounced on him and threw a bag over his head while their associates did the same to Toph.
Finally, one of the greedy felons launched himself at his prize...
Katara!
Instinctively, she threw up a wall of ice, stopping the man cold.
Literally!
Unfortunately, his impact with the frozen shield fractured it, sending sharp shards of glasslike ice into Katara's face!
Thus distracted, and separated from her friends, there was no way for Katara to stop the dastardly gang as they speedily made off with their ill gained booty - Toph and Sokka!
"Forget her for now!" the gangleader told his men as they dragged their criminal associate, the woozy human missile, away with them. "We'll get her later!"
Meanwhile, Sangok, the mysterious man in black from the North Pole, made his own getaway.
"Well?" Katara demanded as soon as the EK forces recovered. "Aren't you going to pursue them? They kidnapped my brother and my friend!"
"Miss, we'll do everything we can..." the officer sensitively began.
Then another soldier whispered in his ear.
Instantly, the officer's tone changed.
"Leave your location with the commanding officer, and we'll get back to you when we have something." he gruffly told Katara.
"What does that mean? Will you even look for them? Why are you all standing around here when Spirit only knows what they're doing to my..." Katara railed before being cut off.
"Miss...I think it'd be best if you leave." the Army officer tersely replied.
"Don't need your kind 'round here." another trooper muttered under his breath.
"What's all that about?" Katara cried as they slammed the door to the base behind her. "They don't like me because I'm Water Tribe?"
"They don't lahk that yore a female waterbender who dared ta challenge th' patriarchal system of au-thor-i-ty." a voice from the shadows, a woman's voice, confidently declared in a Southern Earth Kingdom drawl.
"Huh? Who?" Katara uttered.
"Isn't thaht truue...mouthbender?" the middle-aged woman emerged from the blackness of the alley and posed the question that had Katara's emotions tied up in knots!
"Again with the 'mouthbending'?" the girl from the Southern Water Tribe cursed the ugly term! "I didn't do anything wrong! Has the whole world gone crazy?"
"Ah didn't say whut yew did wuz wrong at all, child." the woman stated. "But yew did open quite th' can a' worms. Come wit' me and I'll tell yew allll about it. And then mebbe we kin help each other."
"You'll help me find my friends?" Katara implored.
"Ah kin give yew information that will help yew understan' what's going on and so will help yew deal with th' present sitch." the Southerner stated. "But, unfortunately, ah lack th' strength ta rescue yer loved ones."
"But..." Katara was conflicted.
Search for her friends, with no idea why this is happening, or go with this strange woman, whose promise of knowledge seemed hghly suspect?
"Wahll?" the woman asked again.
"I...Okay." Katara relented. "But if this is a trap...?" she warned.
"Ain't no trap lahk ignorance!" the woman wisely said, then spat out some seeds. "If it makes ya feel any better, them crooks whut took your friends will prob'ly contact yew. Yore whut they really want, after all! Th' gran' prize!"
More confused than ever, Katara meekly followed the woman to her home.
If you could call it that.
It was a large carriage pulled by two scruffy ostrichhorses.
And inside?
Well, let's just say it was more like a zoo on wheels!
There were farm animals and other...creatures Katara didn't recognize all over the place!
Shooing a possumchicken off of a...bed?...the Southern Earth Kingdomer motioned for Katara to sit down.
Careful not to step (or sit) in any, ah, 'droppings', the girl from the South Pole did as she requested.
"Care fer goomba juice? Or catgator milk?" the woman inquired. "Only th' best fer muh guests!"
"Ah, uh, goomba juice will be fine. Thank you." Katara politely replied, while trying to ignore the shifting bed beneath her. Is this a waterbed? Katara thought. Or could it be filled with something besides water? Forget it, I don't want to know!
"Your home is very...interesting." Katara made small talk while the woman squeezed fresh goomba juice out of the ugliest fruit she had ever seen in her life! (The fruit even had hair on it!)
"Wahlll, ah live in th' carriage 'cause ah don't lahk ta stay in one place too long. It's not safe!" the stranger mysteriously said. "Name's Boni Su." she added as she handed Katara the goomba juice in a mug that looked like a small head. Had to be a novelty item, Katara told herself.
Had to.
"Hi. My name's Katara..." she introduced herself.
"Of th' Southern Water Tribe, right?" Boni Su asked, though she knew the answer already.
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Ain't too many female waterbenders in th' wurld." Boni Su replied matter-of-factly. " 'Specially ones that hang wit' th' Avatar! Yore actually kinda famous!"
"Oh! Thank you!"
"Don't be so pleased wit' yerself. Yew've only made yoreself a better target fer our enemies!"
"I don't...I don't understand. What do you mean? What's going on? Why did those men want to capture us after that horrible man from the North said I was a 'mouthbender'?"
"They didn't want ta capture yore friends. They wanted yew! Ah 'magine they'll use 'em as leverage aginst yew!"
"But, but why? Why is me being a 'mouthbender', whatever that means, so important?"
"Don't be shy. Ya know whut a mouthbender is! And th' reason why it's so important is a long, ugly story!"
"Then please...tell me."
"It all started hunnerds of years ago, in th' waters off th' Northern Earth Kingdom. Th' Water Tribe from th' North Pole fished them waters a lot, so rich it wuz wit' fish! But th' Earth Kingdom didn't lahk that, so there was yore typical conflict!" Boni Su said, then took a swig of catgator milk, freshly milked from the catgator at her feet. "Ahh! Good milk!" Then she wiped her mouth. "Anyway, th' EK forces captured a unit of th' North's military, and held 'em prisoner in a place wit' no water, and really hot, but lahk a dry heat. Ah think they used volcanic rocks or somethin' they stole from th' Fire Nation. Whatever it was, th' Northers couldn't use any waterbendin' ta escape."
"Why couldn't they use their sweat?"
"Heck, they wuzn't that good! Only a master waterbender could do thaht! And th' Earth Kingdom kept 'em in special pants so no water could seep out, if ya know whut ah mean!" Boni Su added, referring to diapers to soak up their urine.
"Then one of th' gals had an idear..."
"Gals? You mean the Northern Water Tribe had female soldiers?"
"Sure did! Thaht surprise yew?"
"But, they don't even allow women to learn waterbending, let alone fight!"
"Back then, they did. Things wuz a lot different."
"I had no idea."
"Yeah, 'cause they don't teach wimmens history, do they? Yew ever heard of th' woman whut discovered hot rocks?"
"I...can't say I have. No."
"Exactly! Anyways, th' woman in charge of th' unit..."
"Huh? Not only were women in the army, they led it?"
"Yep! Now, gettin' back ta muh story...th' female commander had an idear. Can yew guess whut it wuz?"
"Oh my Spirits! You mean she...?"
"Yep! Not ta worry, though. Th' man she mouthbended wuz her husband! At that time, they let couples serve together. Pretty sweet, eh? Plus, she convinced th' other couples wit' them to do it, too! 'Course, it wuzn't as easy as all thaht. They had ta playact like th' men wuz punishin' the wimmen, th' better ta fool th' guards, who were a buncha Earth Kingdom groundcrawlin' sloths! They don't have much respec' fer wimmen in th' Earth Kingdom! Yew ever seen any wimmen in th' Earth Kingdom army?"
"No."
"See? Proof raght there! So's after they fooled th' guards, they got ta work, and mouthbended so much water outta their men they had enough ta escape! And if it woulda ended there, all would still be right wit' th' wurld!"
"But...If it was done out of necessity...Why would it cause so much trouble?"
"Because th' Northern Water Tribe way have been a mite more progressive back then, but they were still very traditional in many ways. Th' Commander made everyone swear an oath of secrecy, but some...couldn't keep their mouths shut. They lahked it too much. Th' single wimmen troopers especially lahked th' money they could make from th' single male soldiers. They were stationed in lonely outposts, after all, wit' not much ta do. Sighhh. Word spread. Before too long, some military gals were mouthbendin' guys left and right! And when this led ta a major military defeat, wahl, thaht's when th' cacapo hit th' fan!"
"So that's when...women were forbidden from learning waterbending?"
"Ya got that raght! And when th' leaders of th' Tribe decided that wuzn't enough, thaht wimmen were still too 'dangerous' and forced th' wimmen ta marry men they didn't love, there was pract'ly a civil war!"
"Oh my! I never knew!"
"Nobody does. It's all been erased from th' records. A buncha wimmen left rather than let that happen. Some went ta th' Southern Tribe. Some even went ta th' Fire Nation. But most wound up in th' Earth Kingdom. Which turned out to be th' worst thing they coulda ever done!"
"What happened?"
"Being in a strange land, knowing no one, with little skill at farmimg, seein' as how they used ta live in snow and ice, and th' only valuable skill they did know involved plopping their piehole on a man's jiba? Whut do ya think happened?"
"They became prostitutes?"
"Yeah, but not just any prosties! They were celebrated as th' most 'mazin' whores whut did ever suck th' jibajuice outta a man ever! They even turned it into a bending art all by itself, with new moves and techniques passed down from whore ta whore at whorehouse after whorehouse! And then th' mob moved in. They saw th' real potential, and it wuz more than money!"
"More? You mean..."
"Power. Them mouthbendin' gals were so good at whut they did, they could get a man ta do pract'ly anythin'! Pay money. Leave their wife. Pass new laws. Yew see th' problem."
"I guess?"
"Th' money was so good, and th' mob loved th' 'fringe benefits' of power so much, they traveled th' globe lookin' fer female waterbenders they could use in their whorehouses. They promised them everything! Money. Food. Fine clothes. Jewels. Stuff a gal in th' frozen South Pole could only dream of!"
"Oh no! That's why there were so few waterbenders in the South Pole? That horrible man was right?"
" 'Fraid so, darlin'. Wit' fewer females of marryin' age in th' South, their numbers declined. And then it got even worse!"
"How could it get any worse?"
"Some...decided ta test their new power. Soon, th' whores and their mob masters were runnin' whole cities and towns! They were th' power behind th' throne, gettin' royalty to dance to their tune in exchange for th' best BJs ever! Then the Earth King got wind a' whut wuz going on, and he didn't like it one bit! He wuz spared 'cause, being so isolated like he wuz, them waterbending powerprosties of Ba Sing Se couldn't touch him! Although there's tales of mouthbenders beng able ta bend dicks from a distance. But that has ta be a myth. Anywho, th' ol' Earth King called in Avatar Kyoshi. He figured she wuz th' only one whut could stand up ta th' powerful mouthbenders of Ba Sing Se 'cause she wuz a woman. His generals wouldn't be any good. Them gals woulda twisted them dudes 'round their little fingers! Can ya guess what Avatar Kyoshi did?"
"She...stopped them?"
"Not just stopped. Eliminated! She formed th' Dai Li ta take care of th' problem, and boy, did they ever!"
"But I thought the Dai Li were created by Avatar Kyoshi hundreds of years ago with the goal of protecting the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se? That is, to stop a peasant uprising against the government of the 46th Earth King?"
"That's what th' history books say, but it's a lie. There wuz a peasant revolt around th' same time, but it wuz quickly put down by th' Earth King's armies. And when they say 'cultural heritage', do yew really think they meant stopping peasant revolts? Or even guarding museum artworks?"
"I guess that does sound...odd."
"Th' only 'cultural hertage' th' elite who ran th' Earth Kingdom wanted ta protect wuz th' one where men ran everythin', and wimmen were second class citizens! The Dai Li mercilessly hunted down alla th' female waterbenders, even th' ones who weren't whorin' themselves out, and locked 'em all up! They even joined wit' the Northern Water Tribe to flush 'em all outta hiding! It wuz a horrible time ta be young, female and a waterbender!"
"Oh no! That's, that's terrible! And what...happened...to the female Commander who started it all?"
"What ya expect. She got thrown outta th' army! So's at least she didn't die. But she had ta live wit' whut she did ta her people fer a long time! Ah kin only imagine th' pain she felt! Oh, don't get me wrong. There wuz some good that came outta th' mouthbender/wimmen empowered movement. Th' wimmen of the Fire Nation did achieve equality wit' th' men, fer instance. 'Course, since that Nation was then using th' resources of ALL its citizens, they progressed much more rapidly than th' other Nations. Which caused more problems later on, but thaht's another story."
"I never imagined...! They don't teach any of this in school!" Katara marveled at the revealed truth behind her world. "But...How do you know this hidden history?"
"My people ran for th' hills, and th' swamps. Any way ta escape th' Dai LI! We found a few male waterbenders campin' in th' Swamp, and made a new life there."
"The Foggy Swamp! Of course! I wondered why there were waterbenders living there! It all makes sense now!"
"Yeah, and fer a while my people were safe and happy, living a quiet life away from th' dictators in th' North and th' slimeballs in th' Earth Kingdom cities! Until th' Dai Li tracked them down! Now th' females of the Foggy Swamp Tribe live in hidin', afraid ta come out in case th' Dai Li are waitin' ta take 'em away!"
"That's...so sad. I'm so sorry! Is that where you're from, the Foggy Swamp? You...sound like one of them."
"Yep! Thaht's me. Foggy Swamp refugee!"
"So you're a waterbender?"
"No. Ah wuz not given thaht particular gift. But ah wuz given th' gift of knowledge, th' knowledge of th' truth, and how ta fight back!"
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"Katara, there haven't been any mouthbenders fer hunnerds 'a years! The Dai Li made sure'a that! No one's even known how it wuz done...Until yew did it!"
"But...what do you want me to do?"
"Join us! Help us free our sisters from male oppression! With yew on our side, we kin re-learn mouthbendin' and take back our rightful place in th' wurld!"
"No, I can't do that! I never want to mouthbend again!"
"Katara, yore a waterbender, and a mouthbender, so it's gonna happen agin! But if'n ya join us, we kin make sure it happens on yer terms! We kin make mouthbendin' a force fer good, insteada some perverted sex tool!"
"I understand what you're saying, Boni Su, really I do, but I can't do it! I only mouthbended because I had no choice!"
"Katara...Ah unnerstan'. It wuz a traumatic experience fer yew. Th' wurld's a cruel place, forcin' a child lahk yew ta make a horrible decision lahk thaht! But if'n ya follow me, yore only gonna havta do it once more."
"Only once? Huh?"
"There's someone ah'd lahk ya ta meet." Boni Su said as she escorted Katara out of her carriage and down a dirt path to a tent camp. "Ah've been on a quest ta find others wit' forbidden knowledge, knowledge suppressed by th' Dai Li, and ah met a very interestin' girl. She's a bendin' sensitive."
"A bending sensitive? What's that?"
"She kin copy any bendin' moves she sees! Ah mean lahk, perfectly, wit' all th' chi energy flows and everthin' lahk that!. Bendin' sensitives can't bend themselves, but they kin teach others. It's how bendin' used ta be passed from generation ta generation, before they started writin' it all down. It's also how forbidden bendin' wuz taught. Stuff they didn't want ta leave no paper trail. When ah found this girl, she wuz imitatin' water bendin' moves AND air bendin' forms! So she musta ran into th' Avatar once."
"Oh! Then it's possible I know her!"
"Mebbe." Boni said as she called to the bending sensitive girl. "Meg! Get yer butt out here! Got someone fer ya ta meet!"
"Coming, ma'am!" the girl responded. "And it's not Meg! Like I told you, my name's..."
"Meng!"
"You!"
"It's so good to see you!" Katara went to give Meng a hug, but the skittish girl backed off. Katara acted like she didn't mind, and continued. "Um, how is Aunt Wu? Still telling fortunes?"
"Yeah, she's fine."
"Ah, did your fortune ever come true? Because, well, I don't like to brag, but mine did!" Katara cheerily said, thinking of her relationship with Aang, 'a very powerful bender'!
"Wow. That's...great." the very underwhelmed girl replied. Then she got a mischeivous gleam in her eye. "My fortune will come true very, very soon, too, according to Boni Su!"
"That's good!"
"Meng, Katara is here ta teach yew thaht new bending form. Th' one we discussed?"
"She's here to teach me mouthbending? Her?" Meng hissed the diss through her big buck tooth.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara huffed.
"So, you finally did it!"
"Did what?"
"Mouthbended the bald kid!" Meng impolitely gave her summary of the events that led Katara to her door.
"Meng!" Boni Su chastised the cheeky youngster.
"What? Spirits, no! It was Sokka! The, the ponytail kid? But only because I had to!"
"Really? Hmmm." Meng said, dreaming that Aang is still available.
"Meng, this is important, so please be on yore best behavior!" Boni Su implored the young girl.
"Sorry, ma'am."
Speaking privately to Katara, Boni said "Ya'll havta fergive Meng. Growin' up in th' foul Earth Kingdom, she ain't had th' best breedin' as we all did!"
"Oh, right, of course! I forgive her!"
"Thank yew!"
"Anyways, Katara, lahk ah told yew..." Boni spoke once more to both the waterbender and the buck-toothed bending sensitive. "...Yew only havta do it th' one time, and Meng here kin copy it! Then yew kin be on yore way!"
"But...I don't know. I never wanted to do it in the first place, and to do it again? I mean, it's..."
"Ah know yore uncomfortable wit' it, child. So tell ya whut...Th' man we get ya ta perform on, we kin make him wear a hood! He'll never even know it wuz yew. And Meng kin watch from behind a screen, so she's not raght next ta ya."
"That's...very kind of you. But I don't know if I'm ready for it. Maybe in a few years..."
"I'm ready for it now!" Meng proudly announced. "Boni Su said I can have my pick of guys to practice on! Isn't that right, Boni?"
"Meng, please restrain yoreself!" an annoyed Boni Su said through clenched teeth. Then she adopted a much more motherly attitude towards the Southern Water Tribe girl. "Katara, ah unnerstand whut yore going through. Learning 'bout sex is difficult fer young wimmen. Unfortunately, th' wurld won't wait fer yew! Them smugglers are only th' beginnin'! Once word spreads 'bout whut yew kin do, ya'll have no peace! Th' best thing yew kin do is come wit' us."
"I'll think about it, Boni Su." Katara said as she left the campsite. "But right now, I have to save my friends!"
"So, that's it?" A disappointed Meng said, her vision of snagging the man of her dreams going up in smoke.
"No. Follow her, Meng. Th' sitch bein' whut it is, and teenage hormones bein' whut they are, a new opportunity is bound ta rise agin!" Boni Su sinisterly intoned. "In fact, ah kin make sure'a it!" she cackled.
Making her way back to town, Katara ruminated on the day's events.
I can't believe how crazy my life's become! Mouthbending? 300 year old conspiracies? Mobsters who want me to, to...No! It's not happening! I refuse to allow it! But how will I save my friends? The police or the army won't help, since that idiot from the Northern Tribe blabbed that I'm a 'mouthbender'! What am I going to...
Suddenly, a rock landed in front of Katara.
And attached to the rock was a note.
Looking up to see where the rock came from, she could barely make out a furtive form darting along the rooftops, a form that soon disappeared.
Boni said they'd contact me. Guess she was right. Katara thought as she scooped up the note. The message said where to go, and included the command 'Come alone, or your friends are dead!'
With no other choice available to her, Katara sadly complied.
Upon arrival at the crooks' meeting place, mobsters armed with fire cannons tied her hands behind her back and escorted her inside.
"I trust you notice the weapons we have. Enough firepower to bake you like a pie if you get out of line, waterbender!" the leader of the gang warned her.
"Where are my friends?" Katara demanded.
"They're safe." the man leered. "As long as you do what we want!"
"Take me to them!" she commanded, keeping up a brave front, although the very idea of what they planned to do to her and her loved ones made her feel sick to her stomach!
Upon seeing Sokka and Toph still alive and unharmed, Katara's spirits soared!
"Sokka! Toph! I'm so happy you're okay!"
Though Sokka was tied up and on sitting on the floor, and Toph was held in a wooden cage suspended over the ground so she couldn't use her earthbending, they were uninjured and in one piece.
"For however long that lasts!" Toph mordidly said.
"Toph! Don't talk like that!" Sokka implored. "Katara, did they tell you what they want? A ransom? What?"
Then Katara remembered why she was here, and her heart sank again.
"I, uh..." But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
However, others didn't share that problem.
"Your girlfriend's here to be the new star in our whorehouse!" the smarmy gangleader said.
"What?" Toph blew her top.
"Katara, you can't!" Sokka cried.
"Sokka, I...They'll kill you if I don't...They have fireguns, I can't...I'm sorry!" the young girl bawled.
"Aw, don't cry, little girlie!" the cruel man teased. Then he got angry. "Seriously, don't cry! Don't do anything that makes water, or we'll have to hurt your friends!"
Reining in her emotions, Katara closed her tear ducts, and held it all in.
"Yeah, your girl's a wonder, all right! There hasn't been a mouthbender for hundreds of years! It's a legend among us types! She's gonna make us all rich as sin! Right, doll?" the gangster exclaimed.
"Just don't...hurt them. And I'll do whatever you want!" Katara pledged with a heavy heart.
"Katara..."
"Sokka, don't. Don't make this harder than it already is."
"But..."
"Ho! Looks like he's hard already!" the crooks all laughed upon seeing the bulge in Sokka's pants. "Ha ha haw!"
Immediately, Katara's mood flashed to anger.
"Sokka, I can't believe you're doing this now!" she brayed.
"It, it's not what you think!" he defended himself.
But the assembled criminals continued their banter.
"Maybe we should give 'em some alone time!" they howled.
"Let 'em get to know each other a little better!" they teased.
Then, Sokka altered his attitude .
"Katara, I'm sorry, but...I really have missed you." said the bound Water Tribe boy. "Come here."
"Excuse me?" the teen queen of the waterbenders yelped.
"I mean it. C'mere, baby!" Sokka sweetly said.
It was so uncharacteristic of her brother, Katara knew something was going on, so she listened to him and approached.
"You can talk to your boyfriend, but no tricks, or else!" the mobster threatened.
"Yes, I know! But I, I have to be with him. For just a moment, at least. If that's okay with you?" Katara said, playing along with the boyfriend/girlfriend bit.
"Sure. Go ahead."
"Sokka, what are you doing? Why, why talk to me as if we're...together?" she whispered to him once she got close enough so that their conversation couldn't be heard by the gangbangers.
"Katara, I have something in my pants I need you to get."
"Sokka!"
"No! No! It isn't that! It's boomie!"
"Huh?"
"Ever since they took all our weapons away from us the last time they knocked us out, I've been hiding boomie in my pants so I wouldn't lose it! So if you act like you're, you know, you can fish it out with your mouth and, uh, use it to free us!"
"That's it? That's your great plan? Or is this how you get your kicks?"
"No, it's not like that! Look, it's the only weapon we got! You can't use your waterbending because those guns will evaporate your water, right?"
"Yes. That's about the size of it."
"So unless you got a better plan..."
"No."
"Um, better make this look good."
Speaking in a much louder voice, Sokka intoned "Oh, baby! I've missed you so much! Gimme some sugar!"
"Is this how you talk to Suki? I mean, seriously?" a very peeved Katara whispered.
"Katara, it's not like I want to do this! I mean, ew, sister! Now shut it and kiss me!" he whispered back.
Inclining her face toward her brother's, Katara closed her eyes and met his lips with hers. Though there wasn't anything special about the kiss, Katara felt a surge of electricity run through her body. Must be 'cause this situation's got me all nervous! she thought.
After a moment of mashed lips and pressed bodies that went on way longer than it should have (the better to fool the crooks, Katara told herself), she finally broke their liplock and breathlessly whispered "Now what?"
"Now, ah, you gotta go to town!"
Immediately, Katara's eyebrows raised in horror, as she understood just what Sokka meant!
Bravely dipping her head low, Katara got to work, and opened Sokka's trousers with her teeth.
"Whoo hoo! The lady's putting on a show! Ha!" one of the crooks guffawed.
"Do you mind?" the assertive young woman shot back.
"Sorry, girlie, but we ain't going anywhere! And don't think you can use any water down there to escape, either! We're wise to all your waterbending tricks!" the mob boss pointedly informed the master waterbender while his goons brandished their fire weapons.
"Ya know, it's times like this I regret being blind the most!" Toph cracked, confusing the captor near her who had no idea she was blind.
"Man! I have a rule about not using my own merchandise, but I may have to change that rule when it comes to you, doll!" the perverted leader of the gang barked.
Ignoring the wicked comments from the jackass gallery, Katara continued her mission and buried her head in her brother's pants, ostensibly for 'privacy' from the leering hoodlums.
But finding boomie was a little more difficult than she expected, as there was...another object down there to deal with.
"Katara! That's...!" Sokka whispered excitedly.
"I know the difference between your cock and your boomerang, Sokka! But it's not that easy to..."
"Um, I think you better say something to keep up the ruse!" Then Sokka thought to himself And my mind off of what you're doing! If I hear you talk about my cock again, I'm going to lose it for sure!
"Oh!" Katara exclaimed in a loud, theatrical tone. "It's, it's so big! I don't know how I'll be able to get it all in my mouth!"
"Y-you can do it, Katara!" Sokka gasped, as his sister moved her mouth inside his pants (driving him crazy!). Then he whispered to her "You have to...Or we're done for!"
With a clomp of her teeth and a whiplashing of her neck, Katara latched onto the boomerang and tossed it straight at the rope holding Toph's wooden prison aloft!
With a 'snap', the cage plunged to the floor!
Emerging out of the splintered remains of her non-earth, non-metal trap, the bare-footed earthbender made immediate contact with her element and equally quick work of the surprised mobsters, all of whose weapons were geared to combat Katara the waterbender.
After swifty building an escapeproof rock prison to hold all of the defeated smugglers, Toph decided she had something to ask Sokka.
"So, Snoozles...Have a little accident in your pants?" she teased.
"What?" Sokka gasped, and then tried to cover up the watery stain on his trousers. "How, how'd you know I did that?"
"I didn't...until you told me." she giggled.
"it's understandable, Sokka, seeing as how they didn't let you go to the bathroom." Katara covered for her brother.
"Yeah, it's perfectly understandable! Thanks, Katara!"
"Sniff sniff. Funny. Doesn't smell like urine!" Toph snickered.
"I can bend the urine out of your pants if you want." Katara helpfully offered.
"I think I can clean my own underwear, Katara!" Sokka said, quickly becoming very defensive.
"Really? Then how come you never did it when we lived at the South Pole? I had to clean all your soiled underwear, and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty!"
"Wow. You had to go through all his intimate undergarments? You have all the fun!" Toph leered.
"I was training to be a warrior, Katara! Warriors don't clean underwear! They, they don't even wear underwear! Why do you think they call it going 'commando'?"
"You can always go commando around me!" Toph suggested. But the two squabbling siblings weren't listening to her.
"You're impossible, you know that?" Katara turned away from her combative brother, folder her arms and refused to engage in any more useless banter. "Toph, you're going to have to take these crooks to jail! I can't, uh, you'll just have to do it!"
"No problem! Soon as they find out I'm a Bei Fong, they'll be glad to take 'em off my hands!" Toph confidently replied.
Without saying a single word to each other, Sokka and Katara traveled silently together to the domicile they shared in the village.
With Toph still gone, and he and Katara safely back home, Sokka finally popped the question on his mind that wouldn't go away (No, not that one!): "Katara, what was that all about with those crooks? Why couldn't you dump those sleazeballs with the police?"
"Sit down, Sokka." Katara bade her brother. "There's a lot I have to tell you."
Uh oh! Sokka thought. When a woman says they have to talk, it's never a good sign!
Meanwhile, beady little eyes watched their every move!
Later, Toph returned from the police station.
"Toph! How was it? Did the police give you any trouble?" Katara asked.
"Nope! They jailed those punks right away! Why?"
"Katara just told me she's...going to have a lot of people interested in her after what she did yesterday. People like those smugglers, or maybe even worse!" Sokka whined.
"Like that girl with her face pressed against the window in the apartment across the alley from ours?" Toph innocently inquired.
"What?" Sokka cried as he rushed to their unit's picture window.
"Don't look. You'll scare her a-" Toph began.
"Darn! She's gone!" Sokka exclaimed.
"way..." Toph sighed.
"It's okay, Sokka! I got a good look at her. It's Meng!" Katara stated.
"You mean that girl who was with the fortuneteller?"
"Mm-hmm. And who now works for Boni Su!"
"Who's Boni Su?"
"Another problem. She wants me to...repeat what I did to Sokka so Meng can 'record' my mouthbending moves, then use that knowledge to fight some war to liberate women! She's a bit...off, and I don't want to get involved in her mad crusade! Oh, just ignore Meng! They'll leave when they don't get what they want!" Katara fumed. Then she noticed Toph eating an unusual food item they didn't buy at the local market. "Toph? What is that, and where did you get it?"
"Flavored sea prunes. Isn't it sweet?" Toph cheered. "I met a woman on the way back who said she was giving them away to promote some new restaurant!"
"Yeah? Free sea prunes? Let me have one!" Sokka jumped up and reached for the rare delicacy.
But was stopped by his sister.
"Not so fast, Sokka!" Katara commanded. "I have to...sniff sniff...Hmmm, these sea prunes smell funny."
"No kidding! They're flavored! Now step aside, sis!" the teen warrior said, gleefully rubbing his hands in anticipation.
"Sokka, we don't even know where these prunes came from!" the South Pole waterbender cautioned. "They could be..."
"I know where they came from..." Toph giggled. "...the looooovvvvve factory! Wheee! C'mere, Sokka, and pucker up! You're not getting away from me this time!"
"Eep!" Sokka gasped, and tried to get away from the randy earthbender. What a time for the Earth King to send Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors on a mission! he thought.
"Ha! You can't escape an earthbender, Sokka!" the blind girl who used earthbending to 'see' laughed as she bent the spaceearth on her wrist into a 'lovecuff', which she then snagged the Southern Water Tribesman with. "Mmm mmm mm" her lips uttered as she inched ever closer to Sokka's unwilling mouth.
"Toph!" Katara yelled. "Get ahold of yourself!"
A whip of water from Katara's sack lassoed the errant earthbender and brought her firmly back to terra firma, as well as slicing the 'lovecuff' off of Sokka's wrist.
"What's the matter with you, Toph?" Sokka screamed. "Have you gone insane?"
"Awww! Whatever happened to 'all you need is love'?" the heartbroken Toph moaned.
"Sokka, calm down!" Katara held her furious brother back. "It's not her fault! This food has been laced with something! I think it's an aphrodesiac!"
"What? Are you serious?" Sokka croaked. "But who would...?"
"Boni. She must be the one who gave the sea prunes to Toph. She was probably hoping you and I would eat the tainted prunes and, you know."
"Man, she is one twisted sister!" Sokka huffed.
"No kidding, and she's not going to give up that easily!" Katara cried. "I don't know how we're going to get rid of her!"
"Simple! Give her what she wants!" a much more clear-headed Toph suggested, finally 'down' from her lovehigh.
"Are you still hopped up on goofy prune, Toph?" the Water Tribe boy railed at the earth girl. "Katara can't just 'mouthbend' some guy!"
"Hold on, Sokka! I think Toph has a good idea."
"Katara, you can't seriously be considering doing some dude because this Boni person wants you to!"
"What? Sokka, do you really think I'd have oral sex with someone I didn't know just to please some crazy woman?"
"Welll...Of course not! That's silly! What was I thinking? You'd never suck the dick of a stranger! You're not that kind of girl! Whew! Had me worried there for a moment, sis! So, what's the plan?"
"You'll support me in this, no matter what, no matter how crazy?" Katara pleaded.
"Katara! I am your brother! Have a little faith!"
"I'm glad you feel that way! Because I'm going to need your help if I'm going to pull this off!"
Curious, and slightly unnerved, Sokka meekly asked "My help? In, uh, what way?"
"...There isn't any easy way to ask you this..." Katara began.
"Ask me what?" the disturbed Water Tribe teenager inquired.
"...Sokka...you're going to have to pull your pants down, and let me..."
As soon as he heard his sister's request, Sokka fainted dead away.
"Sokka? Sokka, are you all right? Oh. Only unconscious. Thank the Spirits."
"You've really got a way with men, you know that, Sugarqueen?" Toph snarkily said. "No wonder it took you a year to land Aang!"
"Oh, be quiet and help me move him to the bedroom! We have a lot to do before the big night!"
"Now you're talking!"
Next:
Katara sucks the big one!
And then she does Sokka!
Kidding!
Katara really does demo her mad oral skills using her brother's tool!
Stay tuned right here for the 'blow-by-blow'!
And it's definitely not for kids!
Notes
If I hear you talk about my cock again, I'm going to lose it for sure! Sokka would love phone sex, don't you think?
Sangok appeared in Episode 119, The Siege of the North, Part 1. He was Katara's unlucky waterbending sparring partner. But he was given a name, so he gets cast here.
Headhunters of the South Pacific (I forget exactly where) used hoops attached to long poles to catch their prey, hooking them around the neck. Then they jerked the victim's head back, impaling it on a very sharp stick attached to the inside of the hoop, killing them instantly. I saw it at the museum.
Meng appeared in Episode 114, The Fortuneteller.
Sea prunes are a Water Tribe delicacy, and not often found in the Earth Kingdom. Boni figured Sokka and Katara would eat 'em up without questioning their origin.