"Don't tell me what to do."

He had heard it all before, but Katara had never hissed it with an edge like this. Since his baby sister had learned to speak, she had always emphasized her independence, always insisted she could function without her brothers' wisdoms or keen, watchful eyes. But today her tone was fierce and stark; she was not the toddler in diapers and pink booties anymore. She was the young woman in revealing blouse and mini skirt that left little to the imagination.

He narrowed his eyes, his voice cross. "I told you, if you're going, you're not going like that!"

"I can go any way I damn please!" she shot back, picking up her coat and slinging it over her shoulders.

He asked, hoping to dissipate the focus of her anger to someone else, "What, did Zuko ask you to come looking like his hooker?" Her eyes opened wide at him. "Look," he continued, his hands up in defense. "I'm worried about you. Rough Rhino's might as well be a brothel."

"Then why are you going?"

"Because I'm a guy - "

"Ah!" she yelled, her lips pouting. "There we are, that blessed, genetic double standard! Beautiful, beautiful. Thanks for the lesson in universal fairness, Gran Gran. You want to play that game?"

How the sarcasm chaffed his neck! "Katara - "

"Which one of us is the bender? The non-bender?" She poked his chest with two fingers. "I'll be perfectly okay in a dark room full of cups and liquid. You, on the other hand, mister boomerang guy - "

"Knock it off," her brother yelled at last, smacking her purse from her hands. It landed sideways, its contents spilling like toys from a chest. They both turned to looked at the makeup and car keys on the carpet. She almost dodged down and grabbed her bag, planning to make a run for the exit. But she held fast. They were too old for the cat and mouse chase.

"I said I'm worried. It's his birthday and he's going to get wasted. When the guys told me they were going tonight, I wasn't planning on going with my little sister... much less when she looks" - he motioned at her body and turned his face, blushing just over the cheekbones - "like...like this. All hot and young and... I'm worried, okay? We'll both go. Forget I asked you not to."

They were quiet for a while. Katara rubbed her arm. "I'll go change the skirt," she said at last, quietly. "You're right. No one needs a free show." He smiled at her and they hugged briefly. She made her way back upstairs and returned with a different outfit. Sokka still didn't approve - her halter top a little low cut, the jeans a little too tight. But he resolved the issue, asking why she never wore the shawl he bought her last Solstice, and she made a guilty face and went and got it. This, Sokka thought, was a lot better.

He had no reason to fear for Katara's safety, and he knew as much, but he couldn't help being overprotective. Katara was beautiful and - the kicker - too approachable. Everyone on campus loved her. She made instant friends, her bright eyes and engaging smile... a recipe for trouble. "Too beautiful, too dangerous," Hakoda warned, but she would kiss his cheek and hug his neck, and then he'd give Katara all the permission in the world.

Truth be told, Sokka was a little jealous. Suki couldn't come out tonight because of her junior qualifying exams tomorrow morning. He would have to settle for his knucklehead friends, some pro-benders and non-benders who frequented Rough Rhino's for cheap beer and easy girls. Maybe he'd ask Aang to come later. But it wasn't like having his girlfriend there. Often, Sokka would express his frustration with boring plans on Katara, and she knew it. If he wasn't hyperfocusing on Suki, he was hyperfocusing on Katara. At least Suki knew how to dilute it. Maybe he really did have ADHD.

When their Oldsmobile stopped behind the club, Sokka locked the doors and threw the keys in his coat pocket. "Text me when you want to go home," he said to his sister, "so we can drive home together."

Katara crossed her arms, her right brow raising to a sharp pinnacle. It was chilly here, September surrendering to October, but she didn't seem to notice the temperature. Sokka wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck and chin. "Oh? And what if I have different plans tonight?"

"What other plans can you possibly have?" he snapped back. "I thought you were fighting with Zuko. You're coming tonight as his friend, right?" He knew he was overstepping some unspoken boundary, but he couldn't help it, thoroughly annoyed with his sister and her choice of lover. "Are you seriously telling me you're going home with him tonight?"

He saw her pupils constrict to pinpoints, her irises as bright and crisp in the dark as neon lights. She answered loudly, insulted, "That's none of your business. How dare you."

"I'm looking out for you," he said in his defense. "I don't want you with him anymore."

"Don't tell me what to do! Don't tell me what to do!" She covered her ears with her gloved hands and turned her back to him, facing the night sky as she walked away. He knew then he had lost her. She was going to do everything she could tonight to piss him off.

The brawny pro-bender who had lost his shirt was not a pro-bender at all, and his shirt wasn't lost. He had tied it around his brown hair like a turban to soak up his sweat and show off his chiseled chest. When Mai joined him and Ty Lee at the bar, he ordered two Lechee Margaritas and a bottle of Spirit Water. "In honor of good company," he said, and Mai suspected he was already a little past tipsy but she was depressed and didn't care.

"I love love love your necklace," Ty Lee beamed, reaching to touch the tooth that hung from the boy's neck. He pulled Ty Lee's arm so that she was sitting on his lap.

"What a coincidence! My necklace loves you!" He looked at Ty Lee with a slack-jawed smile.

Yes, Mai thought, rolling her eyes. Well past tipsy indeed.

Ty Lee giggled, swinging her legs around his thigh. He grinned coyly. "What kind of tooth is this?" she asked, her hand pressing the tooth to his chest. Clearly, Ty Lee was not above his advances. She thought he was gorgeous and wasn't attempting to hide her attraction; she was practically drooling, dizzy with his attention.

"Moose-lion," he answered. "My friend Foo-Foo-Cuddly-Poops passed away recently. I raised him since he was a cub." The boy shot a glance at Mai, who was unintentionally glaring at them. "You haven't touched your Lechee, sweetheart," he coaxed.

With the boy and Ty Lee looking at her now, and with her gift to Zuko left stranded on the counter in front of her, she shrugged and tipped the glass to her lips, surprised at the sweet taste. She thought alcohol was supposed to taste bad. Her only experience was a sip of tonic from her parents' cabinet while they were away on holiday. It had tasted strong enough to deter her from continuing. But the sweetness of the Lechee was welcome. It reminded her of a candy she used to crave all the time as a child. She sipped again, remembering cavities and card games.

"Atta' girl!" the boy bellowed, raising his bottle of Spirit Water. Ty Lee and Mai clinked their glasses politely. But then he looked at Mai intently and frowned with concern. "Why do you look so down?" he asked her. "What's bothering you? Tell us. We are all friends here."

Mai looked deep into his eyes then, trying to find the sober version of this Adonis. He was attractive, but she didn't think he used his looks to his advantage often. There was kindness and softness in his voice and his mannerisms that made him less intimidating than some of the other guys at the bar. Mai noticed miserably that it was the same 'big brother' protectiveness that she had come to love in Zuko. Good, misunderstood intentions. Gentleness. Mystery shrouding a deceptively simple mindset. She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head at her own stupidity.

What did she know? This boy probably wasn't a big brother. She didn't know him. For Ty Lee's sake - because the acrobat was making it so clear with her body language and pitch that she wanted very badly to go home with him tonight or at least get a kiss or two before leaving - Mai replied coolly "I'm okay. I always look like this." She forced a tight smile and he took a swing of his Spirit Water, his eyes not leaving her. "You never told us your name. The barbie doll on your lap is Ty Lee. I'm Mai."

"They call me Sokka. At least, in the Water Tribe. I am not an oaf." Ty Lee and Mai exchanged glances. He laughed, "What? It's a haiku! You don't like it?"

"I love it!" Ty Lee answered immediately, hugging his neck. "I love poets. And this Lechee is really good."

"Two more," Sokka called to the bartender with a wink. "Drinks on me tonight, ladies. I don't want to see your purses. I don't want to hear 'no.'" He jogged his leg up and down so that Ty Lee's breasts bounced. Sokka closed his eyes and grinned at the ceiling. "There is one more lap for you, sweetheart," he called to Mai. "What do you say?"