He stalks a shadow down the street. It's like following a trail from his dreams, her dark robes and footsteps reaching up to prod and pierce his eyes and nose and mouth.
She's there. He knows he's found her.
Stalking down the dark alleys of Harbour Town, Sokka feels her presence.
The Evil One. Azula. Oh man.
More than once, he has to lean back against a wall in the dark alleyway to still his breathing. His heart is beating like a hammer, his blood pounding through his veins.
It's her. She did it.
She's free. At large.
Zuko charged me to stop her.
Spirits. If I fail, Katara will… And Suki….
He shakes his head and takes a deep breath. Emerges out of the dark alleyway. One shadow stalking another.
On the right hand side is a dark canal, water glinting tantalizingly, stars mirrored in its depths. He momentarily considers the escape attempt of jumping into it. The temptation of dark silky waters swallowing him up-
He trudges on.
So. It seems she's heading down into the Red Light District, just as he'd surmised. Down to meet her co conspirators at their secret headquarters.
Not that he knows where that is, of course. That's all carefully hidden, coded. But for some strange reason, he realized how to find her.
Like he had some secret tracker on her.
No. It really makes no sense.
But at night, he can feel the smell of her. Feel the smooth sensation of her skin under his hands and the soft silky texture of her hair. The bright gold yellow of her huge eyes burns into his mind, shattering his dreams.
Sokka hasn't had a decent night's sleep for over five years.
Not since he looked into the yellow eyes of the Fire Nation Princess on the day of the Black Sun. He's been undone ever since, and no one knows it.
Heart cleaved by a Fire Nation dagger, he's soldiered on, ever so carefully ever since.
She went down. And then she rose.
The smell of roses always makes him want to cry.
The streets are damp with the recent rain. Clutching his boomerang for support, the boy with the wolf's tail takes a deep breath and prevents his tears from falling. Falling at the thought of the beaten girl, breathing blue fire to keep herself alive.
NO.
Just NO
She's evil
Katara said so
She's the enemy
Her brother said so
He's one of us
*stay away Sokka
Soft regular breaths, counting, edging them along to time them with his steps. The shadow glides along before him softly, all dark cloak and slinky velvet.
She's grown taller. He can tell. Okay, so that he should have expected. Both her parents are tall, above average height. Zuko's pushing 6 foot 4. Fucking Fire Nation Royals. Like they have to put their bloody stamp on the Four Nations even after releasing their territory. They're still larger than life.
And The Girl's still sharper than the lot of them. Her shadow still looms tall.
She's the Dangerous One. She might still put her thumbprint down to mark the map and change it. Forever.
No. He can't allow that to happen. Basically everybody, his family and hers and the whole world around them, has begged him to do it. Oh, he's occasionally stopped to consider:
WHY ME?
WHY NOT ONE OF THEM?
But the thoughts always end up fluttering out of his mind like frightened sparrowkeets.
WHY NOT?
Why not indeed.
Why not follow a dark shadow down deserted streets while imagining the glory of her yellow eyes? So what if I'll slip and fall, so what if I'll…
The smell of fire lilies, stark, intensified. Frowning, he squints into the bright opening of a town square, breaking up into a maze of charged up, lit up options.
A spider of light emerging from above, leering and laughing.
So, Sokka, my dear boy! Guess which one of them your pretty fly went down?
His mother's face flashes briefly before him.
No!
Instinctively, he turns and flees. The sharp grasp on his shoulder stops him.
"What do you want? You've been following me around town for some 20 minutes. Just fucking speak to me instead of acting coy."
She's got him slammed back against the hard bricks of an alleyway wall, staring him down with those bright yellow eyes of hers. A tiny vein in her neck's marking the quick beating of her pulse. It cheers the boy perversely.
"I-I was looking for you-" Telling the truth causes him a ridiculous amount of pleasure.
The black haired girl leans back to stare him down, hand still locked over his throat. He can feel the grasp softening as she cocks her head slightly to one side.
"Why the interest, Water Tribe boy? Zuko sent you? Or maybe that Avatar fangirl sister of yours?" She almost spits the words.
The hand on his neck is soft. His breath is getting unexplicably heavy. His mind's swimming with unwanted images of naked bodies interlocking.
"No, Azula. I came…"
A deep breath.
A tiny frown from perfect winged black eyebrows chops his heart in half.
"Yes?"
LET'S POWER UP
He looks her straight in the eyes.
"I came to see you."
As she rises naked from the bed, her shadow invades the walls.
The boy watches her from between sweat soaked sheets, admiring the taut curves of her buttocks. A trickle of something white and wet and sticky slides down the insides of her thighs, creating glistening trails.
She doesn't even bother wiping his semen off her. This strikes him as infinitely erotic.
In these parts of Harbour Town Red Light District, the two hour per stay hotels don't even have gaslight. It's all candles and fireplaces, just like in the Fire Nation. Possibly, this makes the girl feel at home.
As she pushes the tangled fall of black hair off her back to fan herself, the unstable firelight gilds her skin into a smooth pale ivory. She leans forward, pours herself some water, then leans back to down it from the tiny battered tin cup that comes with the room.
Again. Again.
She returns to bed to hand him the filled cup. All Sokka can do is stare at her bare breasts.
A sneer. "Don't get your hopes up. There isn't a drop of milk in these."
He downs the water quickly. Then, throws the threadbare covers back to invite her in.
Please.
A hard yellow stare. Then, a shrug.
"All right."
Within seconds, she is back in bed, securely anchored to his side, head resting on his chest. He's got his right arm slung around her, locking her firmly to him. She's reaching for his stirring cock, rubbing it into erectness with a few quick practised flicks. She keeps rubbing him with closed eyes as he attempts to speak.
AH FUCK
His mind is the Four Nations, torn apart by distracting images projected each onto it's own side of the room.
His cock swallowed up by a red-lipped mouth
His hands grasping firm full breasts, hard fingers pinching erect nipples
His cock entering a tight opening between perfectly rounded buttocks
His cock entering and thrusting between soft pink folds, watching his own movements, stunned at her request that he come inside her
Watching the sequence of events through mental mirrors, Sokka shifts his hips restlessly. The red-nailed hand keeps rubbing his hardon softly but insistently, at just the right pace.
Azula's eyes remain closed.
"So? Now tell me, peasant! Why did you seek me out again? Were you just looking to get laid?"
His mind's gone blank. So, he attempts a joke.
"Yeah. I was feeling horny, so I just followed the hottest girl I could find down the street. It was the way you swing your hips. I knew I'd get lucky."
A snort.
"So, you thought I was a hooker? Well then. Now that you've got to unload in my cunt, kindly pay me the courtesy of stating your true errand."
Sharp nails flick briefly over his glans. Sokka draws a deep breath.
A weary sigh as the girl twists on top of him to shoot him a bright gold look.
"Oh, please spare me. I bet that my brother had something to do with it. And the Avatar. And that tiresome waterhose of a sister of yours."
She rolls her eyes and collapses back with her smooth cheek against his chest. Sokka really doesn't know how the handle this.
Let's try out telling The Truth, shall we?
"Well Azula, a number of prominent Government officials have been found dead here in Harbour Town. Your brother's very worried. So…"
"Yeah, well that's Dum-Dum for you. He's always been fucking dense."
Somehow her breasts have sneaked into his hands. He can't understand how that happened. Perplexed, he keeps on fondling them and rubbing her nipples into erectness.
He makes a hard effort to focus on the topic.
"Someone's been murdering his Ministers, Azula! Getting rid of them systematically, one by one. Zuko and Aang discussed it. And Katara, of course. They all…"
Uncomfortable silence.
The speed of the hand rubbing his hardon picks up. A trill of laughter as she vibrates against his chest.
"Don't tell me! And then they all agreed that I was the prime suspect? Ha ha, that's absolutely hilarious! And then they set you out like a trained polar dog to hunt me down? Aw, poor little puppy! Harbour Town's a dangerous place for cute little Water Tribe boys. You've no idea of the kind of trading that goes on here, do you Sokka? You're lucky I found you."
Found you and saved you.
Even though she's two years younger than him, she's always taunted him. Toyed with him and made him feel like prey. Even now, when he's fucked her in every possible manner and made her come multiple times, screaming loud enough to break through the walls of the Spirit World, she's poking fun at him.
A hard ball of rage mushrooms up inside him.
A big calloused hand tangles in her long hair. Taking it in a firm grasp, he yanks her head back forcibly. Golden eyes widen in something like shock. Then, that tiny smirk.
"This is fucking serious, Azula! Zuko set me out to investigate your involvement in this. The next step would be to…"
A flick of a winged eyebrow.
"Have Aang remove my bending and then throw me into prison. Lock me up and let me rot. Yeah, I know the procedure."
A bitter laugh.
"Well let me tell you, Sokka-
She lets his name hang in the air, lingering-
"If I really wanted to stage a coup and rob poor Zuzu of the throne, I wouldn't waste my time killing off his Ministers one by one. I'd just sneak into his room at night and fry him in his sleep. Now, you may return to your master, little polar dog. Make sure he gets the message."
She's off the bed in a flash, washing herself and donning her dark outfit quickly. But not before he's noticed the telltale tear sliding down her cheek. Dumbfounded, Sokka rises slowly from the still warm bed.
Damn! I just blew my chance for a rerun. How stupid can you get?
"But Azula…"
But I had no idea that she'd be hurt!
He also had no idea how fast that topknot of hers can be piled up. By the time she's dressed and moving towards the door of the seedy room, he's still bare-chested, hair loose, unarmed, down to boots and pants. He steps in to stop her nevertheless, risking third degree burns.
"Azula! Azula, please listen! I never said that I believed any of it. I just… Well, I just wanted a chance to see you. So I took it."
An inscrutable yellow stare. Then she nods briskly.
"All right, Sokka. So you're not Zuko's pet dog. Point taken. Well, this was nice. And now, it's really time for me to go."
A brief kiss, hard, aggressive chafes his lips. He feels teeth on his lips, tastes blood.
The door slams in his face. She's gone.
The boy collapses down onto the bed, head spinning. A long black strand of hair finds his hand, sticks to it like a snake.
Down in the street below, a shadow hurries away and disappears.