She isn't at all familiar with the place. Frankly, she doesn't know why Zuko has even brought her along. It wasn't as though it was an event of any importance. No, it was little more than a fancy get together hosted by Earth King Kuei. Azula isn't one for parties, especially not after her first experience with one. Political gatherings, sure, but this…this is just for entertainment. 'To relive stress', as Zu-Zu put it. She couldn't see it soothing any of her tension. In fact, she had every intention of ditching the party scene at first opportunity.

She sticks around only long enough to seem polite, which entailed some socializing over an appetizer platter or two. Mostly she sips at a bottle of peach sake. It sooths her nerves and takes some of the edge off. A little further into the drink than she had intended, she worries that her tongue will become too lax and excuses herself.

For a moment—she likes to blame it on the drink—she forgets that she isn't at home. The Earth Kingdom palace is larger than she has anticipated and she thinks that she may be lost. No, she knows that she is lost, she is wandering rather aimlessly. She doesn't even recall where she had planned on sneaking off to. That's right, she tells herself, she'd forgotten where she was and for it she had planned on finding her bedroom. She supposes she'll just have to find another, hopefully with a balcony. Balconies seem to be the place to be if one loses interest in the party itself.

She travels to the third floor and pushes on the first door she sees, only after having done so, she considers what she might find. Granted she hadn't heard any sort of racket coming from behind the door. So she assumes that she is safe.

The room itself is quiet, indeed so she finds the bed and drops onto it, laying with her hair fanned out and her hands tucked under her head.

The moment of quiet doesn't last, she hears a rustling from across the room. She bolts up again to see Sokka's bear ass. His pants and underpants are only half up. His face is as flushed as hers, maybe even more so. He quickly scrambles to tug them up the rest of the way.

"Wha-what are you doing?" There a very few things that can catch Azula off guard, and he has discovered one of them.

"I spilled some juice on my pants so I ran up here to change!" Everything about his tone is on the defensive. "Why are you here?" And that fell on the accusatory side.

Azula sighs, trying to cool her cheeks. "I don't much like social parties, like this." She confesses. "I came up here for some quiet."

"You had to pick this room?" Sokka sputters, "you're a royal, you're supposed to know about knocking."

Azula shrugs. "I'm a royal, I go where I please. I don't need permission." She replies with a dismissive wave. "And besides, I didn't hear anything so I figure this room wasn't…occupied." She pauses. "Not like the others anyways."

Sokka narrows his eyes. "I guess."

She crosses her arms. Sitting in silence, it doesn't take long for her eyes to wander. He is still topless. Topless and in very good shape, with the kind of abs worth trailing her fingers over. A sculpted chest…

She shakes her head, what is she thinking? He's Sokka, the water peasant's brother. The idiot. Again she tries to blame the sake for tainting her vision and bringing out her libido.

But he isn't really, she knows it. She just needs an extra push to keep herself in check. She picks up his shirt and thrusts it at him, "have some decency."

Sokka blinks. "Decency? I don't know if you know this, but men run around topless all the time."

"Great for men." Azula mutters, only because she knows that he has a point. "Just put your shirt back on, before you make things weird."

"I make things weird?" He points to himself. "You made things weird when you barged in here without knocking."

Another good point. She was an a losing streak—a petty, trivial losing streak—but a losing streak no less. "Well perhaps you should have put a sign up. Or, if you are too uncultured to write, you should have spoke up when you heard the door open. You know, instead of letting me get cozy." She smiles smugly because it is, in her opinion, a satisfactory argument.

He opens his mouth only to close it a few times and she knows that she has won this silly verbal spat. Her mind goes back to her initial task. She tosses the shirt at him. "Put it on."

Sokka rolls his eyes and tugs it over his head. "Happy?"

She nods. But a part of her actually is not satisfied. That part still wants to take in his sculpted abs and toned arms. "Quite."

He is staring at her now and she doesn't know how to feel about it. She averts her gaze, brushes a sweep of hair over her shoulder, and pretends to pick some fuzz off of her top. She finds herself hoping that she at least looks presentable in his eyes.

She thinks that her face might have colored again and it frustrates her. She didn't think she had drank that much.

.oOo.

Sokka doesn't think that he has ever seen Azula so flustered. He can smell a faint tinge of sake and he wants to blame the drink for the pink in her cheeks, but somehow he knows that it is an old fashioned blush. Despite it all he feels bad for making her feel so awkward and out of sorts. Granted he is rather embarrassed himself.

He let her see him with his pants half-down.

He stuffs his hands into his pockets and looks at the ceiling. When he finds the courage to look back down, she is sitting with her arms propping her up, weight shifted more-so onto the right arm. She crosses one leg over the other and seems to stare at her lap as she taps one foot. Her cheeks look less pink now. He can't help but note that she does look rather lovely tonight. She looks nice with her hair down. And the gown she has chosen is rather elegant. It suits her well and accents her figure. It is fuller than he remembers, more grown up. Her face is some sharper too.

But her expression.

That is notably softer. It takes him a moment to realize, but he thinks that, that is why she looks extraordinarily wonderful tonight. It is because she doesn't have such an evil presence about her. She, for the situation, almost seems relaxed.

She crosses her arms again, holding them against her middle as opposed to her chest.

Against his better judgment, he tucks her bangs behind her ear and brushes his thumb over her exposed cheek. He can't quite believe that she is letting him do it. So when he feels her fingers wrap around his wrist, he expects a lash out. But she simply holds his wrists and stares at him. He doesn't think that she knows what to do next.

Briefly he thinks of kissing the princess, but before—and perhaps mercifully—before he gets the chance, she effectively ruins the mood. "Just so we're clear I'm not going to be that person." She declares. "I'm not getting knocked up at a party."

Sokka rolls his eyes, the woman really is hellbent on making things as weird as she can. Truly she must have been a thrill downstairs. "I wasn't planning on doing anything like that with you!"

He can't possibly fathom why Azula looks so smug. He senses that it would be a good time to get back to the party scene. But she still has him by the wrist and the smug look is gone. It takes him a second to realize that she is rubbing her thumb over his wrists. But again, she seems to be at a loss as to what comes next.

He doesn't want to make her uncomfortable so with a sigh he asks, "so you up for going back to the party or…?"

Azula cocks her head and withdraws her hand. "I think that I might be."

.oOo.

She doesn't exactly know what is going on in her head. The feeling is foreign and somewhat disorienting. In avoiding the first, she has put herself in another, different situation she doesn't know how to navigate. She is grateful that he hasn't taken advantage of that. He takes her hand and leads her down the hall. She thinks that it might be a good idea to jerk away, but she feels safer as they are. She admits to herself that she is a little lost here and it is reassuring to have a familiar face so close. Even if the face belonged to someone she hadn't particularly gotten along with in the past. They don't say much to one another for a while. Not until they reach the second floor. Finally Azula finds the courage to thank him for respecting her boundaries, as grey as she had made them.

He smiles. "It's no big deal."

She lets the conversation drop again and it takes until the first floor to set her pride enough to the side to thank him for accompanying her back to the party. She didn't want to return alone. Even with a rekindled friendship, Mai and TyLee weren't much use here. They had conversed in the beginning but eventually Mai had gone off with Zuko and TyLee's attention was tugged by a herd of boys.

He nods. "Yeah, no one likes to be alone at a party. You don't mind talking with Aang, Toph, and Katara, do you?"

She shrugs, "I suppose that it can't hurt."

"Great!" He says boldly, "I'll re-introduce you."

That was just one more thing that was oddly reassuring. She is glad that things took a turn from awkward to something rather promising.