The boy from down the road with his pickup truck and charming smile was Azula's childhood friend. As a girl her father would let her wander, barefoot, down the road for a few miles to go and see him. Of course, Zuko was always lingering somewhere behind. He wasn't too thrilled that he had to watch her instead of playing with Mai or Tylee. But that was okay because Mai and Tylee were her school yard friends first. The first time Azula met Sokka was when she'd snuck out of the house and got herself lost. She stumbled upon their summer barbecue and bonfire party. She was only three, maybe four. And she spent the whole night chasing fireflies around his backyard and stuffing them into unused jam jars. By morning Sokka's mother had contacted Ozai and she was on her way home supplied with homemade waffles and strawberry jam. Katara and her mother had made it special. Naturally she and Zuko took a stern yelling; Zuko for not watching her and Azula for leaving the yard in the first place.
To this day Azula would often make her way down the road, when chores were in short supply, to watch her childhood friend plow the fields or unload bales of hay down from trucks. His skin was always a shade or two darker than normal after hours in the sun. And lordy, lordy the way the sun accented his muscular arms.
With a 'woo-wee, it's hot today', Sokka swiped at his forehead with his gloved hand.
"My bad." Azula grinned as she hopped over his picket fence. Her boots hit the grass with a soft thud. Costly cowgirl boots at that, Ozai would surly kill her if he found out how close she'd just come to landing in the mud. He'd kill her twice over for making the offer she was about to. "You look like you got yerself a lot to do today."
Over the country music he had blasting from his pickup, he couldn't hear her. Not until she stood right beside him and repeated her greeting louder than necessary.
"Yup, almos' harvest time." Sokka replied. He cranked the car stereo down a notch or two.
"Well lucky for you, daddy recruited Zuko to do the field work this year and Zuko sweet-talked Mai into milkin' the cows. Unfortunately, TyLee and her sisters have some preparations of their own to make. I hear that her family is holdin' our annual county fair this year. I reckon TyLee is practicin' her ridin', she really wants the blue ribbon this year."
"I heard about that too." Sokka stabbed his pitchfork into the ground.
"Which means I have nothing else to do." Azula flounced down onto the nearest square of hay. "I could give you a hand."
"Well I already good 'n got mos' the animals fed. 'Sept the chickens." Sokka replied. "Ma and Katara's already tended the garden. They're werkin on the pastries. Ma's got a killer pie cookin' she reckons we'll win the baking contest this year. 'Stead of the BeiFongs and that adopted boy, Aang."
Azula considered for a moment. "Perhaps you will. But ya'll going need some help if you wanna do that." She plucked a piece of hay from her shorts.
Sokka rubbed the back of his head. "Well what I'm sayin' is that all that's left ta do is the combine work and…" He gave the bale of hay a pat. "Movin' hay about."
"Remember when you told me that I couldn't fish none, 'cause I'm a girl?"
Sokka nodded.
"And then I won the fishin' contest?" She added with a lazy flick of her hair.
"What that got ta do with this here conversation?" Sokka questioned.
"I think that you think, that I can't drive a combine harvester." Azula half sing-songed. "Well I guess I'm just going to have to get to provin' you wrong again." She shot him one of her snide smiles.
"A'right then, go ahead." Sokka brushed a hand over her hair. "If ya ken start the combine, you can use it. But only 'cause we gota lota work ta git done yet." He handed her the keys and watched her climb up and into the large machine. She took her cowgirl hat off and set it to the side.
"I'll have yer crops done in no time Sokka." She guaranteed. With a smile, a promise, and a healthy dose of friendly competition she got to work.
Sokka shook his head and chuckled. Ever since that girl found her way to his family's farm, she impressed him. She was a girl with her heart set on making it big in the country music world. He cranked the radio back up, he hoped that he'd one day get to hear a song of hers while he went about his daily tasks. But all at one she could work a farm as good as any. And despite childish banter he had his suspicions that she knew her way around the farm work and machinery better than he did. He rolled his eyes and brought down another bale of hay.
Between she, the horse-savvy TyLee, and Mai with her surprisingly green thumb, these ladies were going to run he and Zuko out of jobs for sure. Whether Azula's father wanted her to or not.
The sun was finally coming into full view, the last traces of early morning brightening into afternoon. He watched the combine and it's dutiful driver, make good time going up and down the field. His stress fell away; maybe, just maybe he and his family would make enough cash to get by this year.