This is set in more or less the same universe as my previous fics "All Hallows' Eve" (and sort of the same one as "Someone Else," but with different ships), and it takes place several months after "AHE." In this AU, the characters are in their late teens/early twenties, and live in our modern world, though Zuko and Azula are still royalty.
I'd always thought I'd known him. Sarcastic, full of himself. Attractive, admittedly. But I'd never understood why so many girls — Toph Bei Fong, Princess Yue, even my Ty Lee — had seen in him. But that night in Paris, I began to understand.
I said as much to Zuzu once, and he told me that I'm equally sarcastic and full of myself. (He was right, but then, I have reason to be.) He also said that he didn't expect me to be such a romantic. I thought that was funny, considering how soft he goes with Bei Fong, but I suppose he had a point. I am a very serious woman who doesn't often submit herself to foolishness.
If I were more sentimental, I might say it was the effect of Paris, the so-called city of love, or something. Luckily, I have enough sense not to fall for such ideas. I fell for Sokka because of how we were thrown together. Anyone could have, really. We were only in Paris because it was Katara's silly idea. She decided she wanted to go see the supposedly beautiful city. And where she went, so did Aang, and where they went, so did Toph and Sokka, and if Toph was going, my dumb brother was. And someone had to keep him from humiliating himself too badly. I was the only person up to the task, frankly.
I was, of course, already bored by the second night. If we were in France, I thought, we ought to be admiring the sites of Napoleon's rise to power or something of that nature. It would have been educational. For me, at least. Everyone aspiring to world power ought to have a rolemodel. But instead, we'd been going to all the common places: the tower, the arch, the palace... mundane, I thought. Even the blind girl was enjoying herself more than I. But then, she had Zuzu to kiss and cuddle, and generally cling to at all times. He never acknowledged the grimaces I made for his benefit whenever they were being especially grotesque, but I know he saw them. And naturally, it was only made worse by Aang and Katara, the little lovebirds, apparently determined to fill our days with as much saccharine-sweetness as they could. So I spent most of my time trying to amuse myself at least slightly, lest I appear too careless and my brother start comparing me to Mai. (I've told him that mocking his ex-girlfriend is unbecoming, and he should just publicly humiliate her and be done with it. He won't listen.)
Avoiding boredom was especially difficult that night, sitting in a vulgar little café with a musician in the corner playing the accordion. What a poor excuse for an instrument. It completely lacks in pomp and circumstance. But the two perfect couples seemed charmed. Well, they would be. I looked around, assessing the situation to determine a way of escaping it. As my gaze passed across Sokka, he met my eyes. He gave me his sweet but sardonic little smile, and I knew he saw through the peasants' silly trappings almost as well as I did. If I were one to socialize with my lessers, I would have said something, but I decided that I had best just leave the little group without a word. If they noticed my absence, they could think I'd gone to the restroom; I wasn't about to reveal my true intentions. But Zuzu and Toph were spending their time gazing at each other with those disgustingly sweet expressions, and Katara and Aang pressing against one another and watching the musician. And I doubted Sokka would care enough about my absence to think anything of it.
On that count, I was wrong. A rarity.
My chair scratched against the floor as I rose from my seat, folding my arms across my chest as I turned away from the table. I didn't need to stay in here if I didn't want to, I decided. I am hardly someone to be subdued, after all. So I looked for an appropriate escape, and when none presented itself immediately, I confronted the maître d'hôtel.
"Let's say I want to get away from my silly friends and have a smoke by myself," I said. The man didn't seem sufficiently afraid of me, so I leaned even closer to his face. "Where could I step out of the room for a moment?"
He remained unruffled. These Frenchmen, I thought. They show such unmerited haughtiness. "May I suggest the front door, miss?" he replied mildly and looked down at his diagram of the café's tables, apparently thinking he was done with me. I corrected him.
"You may not!" I hissed. He looked back up to me, now with a bit of the look of fear and awe that he should have had to begin with. Good. He'd begun to comprehend the gravity of whom he was speaking to. "There must be a back door somewhere..." I prompted. "I suggest you tell me where it is, or suffer the consequences!" It was, I admit, not one of my better threats; I didn't really know what consequences I could impose on the man. But it ended all right, since he gestured toward the kitchen and spoke up.
"There's a door to the outside just past the kitchen entrance," he instructed. I walked away, not giving him the thanks I didn't think he deserved. From my peripheral vision, I saw him slump down onto his lectern, seemingly relieved to be rid of me. Well, I can be a very intimidating person. When it behoves me, that is.
I swept into the kitchen and ignored the variously puzzled and angry cries of the chefs and their underlings. When you're a princesss, you see, you needn't listen to such unimportant people. Even if your kingdom has fallen and few people appreciate your title, you have an innate dignity, I believe. I found a large metal door immediately to my left and swung it open to find myself in a poorly lit alley, with obnoxious dance music coming from the discothèque across the way. I sneered in the sound's general direction as I took out a cigarette and lit it. The next day, I decided, I was getting away from that awful place.