Day 1: Wedding

Pairing: Sokkla (Azula x Sokka)

Genres: Angst/Romance

Rating: T

Setting: Katara and Aang's wedding in the Southern Water Tribe (after North & South)

Wedding

Weddings were supposed to be a joyous occasion. A time to celebrate the joining of two people. A time to celebrate love.

Love was such a foreign concept to Azula. She thought she had a chance at it once, not too long ago, but it was clear that that was never going to happen. Not after that fateful night. She didn't want to think about that night, but the more she tried to forget it happened, the more it replayed over and over in her head like a perpetual torture device.

It's not like she hadn't tried to distract herself. She had. Desperately. First, she started by trying to make small talk with her old friends, Mai and Ty Lee, throwing them compliments about their dresses and overall appearance. But it became very apparent that they were not interested in renewing their friendship with her, and Azula did not want to waste any more of their time.

Then she tried the blind earthbender, but even in her inappropriately intoxicated state, Toph said there was no way she could ever trust someone who could pass her otherwise failproof lie detector test, her feet. Toph and her superpowers.

So she moved on to the bride and groom, graciously thanking them for the invitation. She was pretty sure she didn't come across as sarcastic. But Katara immediately snapped at her, saying the only reason she was invited was because Zuko forced them to include her. And to stay out of their way and try not to ruin anything. Aang just stood there smiling awkwardly. Azula couldn't blame him. He couldn't disagree with his bride on their wedding day after all.

She did manage to successfully converse with her uncle. That lasted a solid minute or so. But his body language told her he was more interested in trying to chat up a young lady than speak with her, and Azula didn't want to be in the way.

She hit the peak of her desperation when she decided to ask her own brother to dance. It was better than sitting alone, right? Well, he turned her down. He said he was trying to get back together with Mai so he had to save all his dances for her. How romantic.

There was no way she was going to interfere with her mother dancing with her husband and favorite daughter. Their family was complete without her. When people thought of the Fire Nation royal family, they pictured Fire Lord Zuko, Ursa and Noren, and little Kiyi, the young prodigy firebender. Not the one who went insane.

So that was that. All she could do was sit at the table by herself and watch everyone else have a good time. She was certainly not going to approach Suki. No. Suki was the last person she wanted to talk to. Not after that night. Not after what she did with the Kyoshi warrior's boyfriend. Sokka…

Every once in a while, she noticed some of the other guests stare at her and quickly turn away. Sometimes she'd see them whisper to each other. They probably thought she was still crazy. Or maybe they were just trying to figure out why she was there.

That was a great question actually. Why was she there? Why was she subjecting herself to this torment? Why couldn't she fit in? Why wasn't anyone asking her to dance? Why were people so hesitant to trust her when the war ended seven whole years ago? Why did her mere presence make people so uncomfortable? And why, for Spirits' sake, couldn't she peel her eyes away from Sokka and Suki dancing together? Holding each other so closely. Gazing longingly into each other's eyes.

Sokka had looked at her like that too. Once. She thought everything would be different after that. And in a way it was, just not in the way she had expected. Life was full of disappointment. She probably should have known better.

No, things didn't pan out the way she had hoped. Sokka didn't want her. And she really only had herself to blame. After all, she was the one who kissed him. She was the one who ruined their friendship. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have thrown away the only good thing she had going for her? Sokka. The only light in her life.

But even Sokka hadn't been so welcoming at first. As a favor to Zuko, he had helped her get settled into her new office in the Fire Nation Embassy and given her a quick rundown of the work she was expected to do, but he was as cold as the Southern Water Tribe itself. He hadn't wanted her there. Not at first anyway.

"I'll be reporting to your brother on your progress so no funny business," he threatened, puffing out his chest.

She laughed, crossing her arms. "Remember what happened the last time you tried to pull that no-nonsense attitude with me, Water Boy?"

"Yeah! You zapped me with lightning!"

"No," she corrected, "I zapped your boomerang with lightning. Your hand just happened to be in the way."

"Yeah, well, I-I'll tell Zuko if you lightningbend at me again. I'm keeping an eye on you, Missy!"

And he did keep an eye on her. He monitored everything she did at work. That micromanaging pest. He scrutinized every little detail of her assignments. It annoyed her to no end. But even so, she kept her head low and did the best job she could. It seemed like the only plausible way to get people to stop looking at her like she was infected. Sokka had kept things strictly professional between them. Until one day when he decided to try and make small talk for whatever reason…

"I, uh, must say, Azula…" He placed his hand on the back of his head in an awkward stretch. "You've been doing some really great work here. You've actually been quite valuable in mending global relations between our two – "

"You sound surprised."

"Well… it's just – "

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Intricate plots. Schemes. Not this."

She sighed with irritation but decided it was in her better interest to hold her tongue. "Well… thank you, I guess."

"You're welcome, I guess."

She expected him to leave after that, but he kept hovering over her shoulder.

"So… are you, I don't know, homesick?" he asked, his voice squeaking.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Uhhh…" He looked puzzled. "Do you miss home?"

"It's hard to miss something you don't have."

"The palace…?"

"The palace hasn't felt like home to me in a very long time."

"What about your family?"

"Oh," she laughed snidely. "Do you mean my mother who willingly chose to forget my existence, my new sister with whom I've been replaced, my brother who shipped me off to the South Pole because nobody wanted me around, or my sociopathic father who's in prison?"

"I, uhhh, I guess I never – "

"I'm sorry," she sighed, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No! I'm… I'm glad you did." He paused. "Well, you know… you do have a new home here."

"No offense, Sokka, but the Southern Water Tribe doesn't exactly feel like home either."

"But you've been here for almost a month now!"

"Yes, but besides where I work, where I sleep, and where to find food, I know nothing about this place."

"Well, then…" He smiled warmly at her. "Let's change that."

So he took her out for a night on the town. She would have thought he'd have better things to do with his time, but he seemed thankful for any excuse not to hang out with his sister and Aang who were swimming in wedding plans and giving him a constant case of the 'oogies'.

That night, he had given her a proper tour of the Tribe and walked her home like a gentleman. Nothing too exciting, but it was nice to get out of the house for once. But a few days later, he said he had a surprise for her. So after work, he led her to his Aunt Ashuna's house where he presented her with some foreign meat-like substance.

"…What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You eat it, of course!" He grinned and took a bite out of his.

She watched him struggle. It seemed a little tough to chew. "What is it?" She eyed hers suspiciously.

"Blubbered seal jerky," he mumbled through a full mouth, "No one makes it better than Auntie Ashuna."

"Hm." She continued staring at it with skepticism for a bit. "Well… okay." She sank her teeth into it and ripped off a bite.

"Well? What do you think?!"

"It's… kind of sturdy, but… surprisingly tasty!" She smiled.

He returned the smile, seemingly pleased that she was enjoying it.

"So, Sokka… what does one do for – "

"Hold on. Back up a second." He smirked. "Did you just call me by my real name?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Not 'water peasant' or 'snow savage'?"

"Well," she laughed. "It's clear from your thorough tour that you are not the peasant I once thought you were. The Southern Water Tribe is actually quite lovely. It's cold, way too cold, but beautiful nonetheless."

"It is, isn't it? But you know…" He looked down at his feet. "It wasn't always like this. When I was growing up, we lived in tiny huts. We only had what we needed to survive."

"As someone who grew up with every sort of luxury imaginable, I wish I could have seen what it was like…"

"Hmm," he droned, cocking his head to the side and looking up and to the left. Then he abruptly turned back toward her. "You can! There are still some parts on the outskirts that haven't been renovated yet. Let's go!"

Once they had gotten far enough away from town, the whole environment changed to blankets upon blankets of white. Azula had never seen so much snow in one setting. It was almost blinding.

"Wow. So this is the environment in which you grew up?"

"Mmhmm."

"There's nothing to do out here at all!"

"Hey, that's not true!" He looked up over a hill in the distance. "I'll show you." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the top of the snowy mound where they found a cluster of black-and-white whiskered critters.

"What are these things?!" she asked, laughing nervously.

"Penguin-otters!"

"Oh…"

"Come on, you can admit it," he teased, "You think they're adorable, don't you?"

She smiled, blushing a bit. "Okay… they're kind of cute." She began laughing when a group of them waddled up to them, surrounding them with their fuzzy bellies.

"They like us!" he grinned.

"They like us because we smell like food."

"This is true," he acknowledged. "So… would you care to go penguin sledding?"

"…Penguin sledding?"

"Yeah! We get on their backs and ride them down the hill."

"Ummm… okay hotshot, show me how it's done."

"Fine," he said smugly, "Watch and learn."

Azula remembered his demonstration well. Especially the look of sheer fright on his face as he began his descent. His landing was pretty rough too. She wouldn't have guessed that he had ever done this before. But his panicked display had been enough to encourage her to give it a try. And so she grabbed one of the creatures and pounced on its back, screaming her head off as she torpedoed down the hill. Her landing was also less-than-graceful.

"That was fun!" she giggled, lying on her stomach and panting.

"Yeah? You really think so?" he laughed, "I kind of forgot how much of a terror that was."

"Oh. I was going to ask if we could do it again."

"Well… okay. Just for you."

So they marched back up the hill and proceeded to ride penguin-otter after penguin-otter, gradually building their confidence.

"Race you!" she challenged.

"You're on!"

"Three, two, one…" She started before saying 'go'.

"Hey no fair!" he screamed, barreling down the hill after her.

To her surprise, he nearly caught up to her. She could see him flying next to her in the corner of her eye. That is, until she crashed into a snowbank and then fell harshly onto her back, getting the wind knocked out of her. Following suit, Sokka proceeded to make the exact same mistake, and ended up landing directly on top of her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, staring into her eyes with concern.

She stared back up at him, noticing for the first time the intense blue color of his eyes. Her cheeks reddened. "I'm. Fine," she choked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I just. Had the wind. Knocked out of me." She tried to laugh.

"Oh," he chuckled, "Glad you're okay."

"…Uhhh, Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"Y-You can get off me now."

"Oh!" He rolled off of her. "Sorry about that."

She could have sworn his cheeks had become a little more rosy. "It's okay."

That night sparked somewhat of a tradition. From then on out, most nights after work Sokka would show her something native to the Southern Water Tribe. And soon after that, they found themselves hanging out every single night. Even if they had nothing to do. As long as they had each other, it was a good time. They became inseparable.

Azula learned a lot about him during their time together, but one of the things that stood out to her the most was his love of poetry, particularly haikus.

"Check out my sick rhymes, I make 'em up on the fly, I bet you're surprised," he rapped.

"Yeah I liked your verse, but that was fully rehearsed, unlike these fresh words," she spat back at him.

He looked at her with shock. "You're tough for your size, but these words are improvised, don't go spreading lies."

"I wouldn't have guessed, now I'm sorry to confess, but I'm not impressed."

"Then what can I do, to impress a girl a like you, uhhh…" He grinned awkwardly, his cheeks flushing. "…I guess I lose?"

"I guess so," she giggled, thankful that he forfeited because after that poem, her mind was drawing a blank.

Why had he wanted to impress her? That still remained a mystery to her. At the time, she had wondered if that meant he liked her, but even then she quickly ruled that out. Boys never liked her, even the ones who were single. So there was absolutely no chance that a boy with a girlfriend would ever care for her in that way. Still… it was nice having his attention, even if it wasn't long-lasting.

The night where it all changed was on the day he asked her to the first annual Glacial Spirits Festival held on the winter solstice. She usually despised the winter solstice, it being the day with the shortest amount of sunlight and all, but she was actually giddy to go to the celebration with him. The way he had asked her, it almost seemed as if he were asking her out on a date! She knew better of course, but it didn't stop her from primping and preening until he picked her up.

It appeared he had cleaned up a bit too. He looked diabolically handsome that night. And he was quite the gentleman too. He escorted her by the arm all the way to the town's center where the festival was being held so she wouldn't slip on any dark patches of ice.

After he treated her to some ice cream, they went off to play carnival games, which quickly turned into a competition of who could win the most stuff. Azula beat him at dart-throwing and the ladder climb, but Sokka beat her at whack-a-badgermole and the ring toss.

"Guess we're tied, Princess."

"That last one was no fair. You've had all that practice throwing that boomerang of yours – of course you'd be good at ring toss."

"No one likes a poor sport, Azula," he teased.

She pouted.

"You know, if you'd like… I can teach you how to throw it sometime."

"Really? You'd teach me how to throw a curved piece of wood?!" she taunted, smirking, "Why, I'd be honored!"

"I'll have you know, it's a lot harder than it looks!"

"Okay." She smiled. "Teach me sometime, Sifu Sokka."

"Sifu Sokka, eh?" He grinned. "I like the sound of that. Ooh! There's the water shooting booth!"

"Good. We need a tiebreaker."

She'd never forget the triumphant beam on Sokka's face after he beat her fair-and-square. He picked out his prize quickly – a stuffed penguin-otter. It seemed he had already had his choice picked out ahead of time.

"Here," he smiled, handing her the stuffed animal.

"Please," she scoffed, refusing the toy and rolling her eyes. "Spare me your pity."

"This isn't a pity offering! I, uhhh, wanted to win this for you." His cheeks reddened.

"W-Why?" she asked, flustered.

"Because, we're friends and… I had a fun time penguin sledding with you." He tried handing her the stuffed penguin-otter again.

She accepted it this time, locking eyes with him as her hand unanticipatedly grazed his. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Uh, hey!" he squeaked. "Looks like a performance is about to start!"

After he dragged her off to join the audience forming by the stage, a spectacular show commenced. It was the most beautiful waterbending demonstration Azula had ever seen. She was blown away. The way the water and ice shot through the air, sparkling in the night's sky, it was nothing short of magical.

"I didn't realize Katara and Aang would be performing."

"Oh yeah, they've been practicing for a while," he informed. "Pretty amazing, huh?"

"It would be better with fire, but I guess," she teased.

"Um, you're not too cold are you?"

"It's a little chilly," she admitted.

"Come here," he smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Her heart stopped.

"Better?"

She smiled back at him. "M-Much better."

He walked her home like that, with his arm around her. And she even mustered up the courage to slip her arm around his waist. He didn't seem to mind. If he did, he didn't say anything. But it was the next part she regretted. The part where he was saying goodnight to her. The part she wished could be undone. Why, why, WHY couldn't she have used some self-control?!

"I… I had a really fun time with you tonight." She smiled warmly at him, looking into his sea blue eyes.

"Yeah?" he grinned. "I had a really fun time with you too, Azula."

She fidgeted with her new, cherished stuffed penguin-otter in her hands.

"H-Have you named it yet?"

"Yes. I think I'll call him Sir Waddles."

"That is an excellent choice," he laughed. "Well… I guess I should be going. It's pretty late."

"Okay." Her heart pounding, she walked closer to him and gave him a hug. "Goodnight, Sokka," she whispered against his ear.

"Goodnight." He hugged her tightly.

But when she pulled back, there was an odd moment where he lingered. Or she lingered. Or they both did. It was hard to tell. Her arms were still around his neck and his hands were on her waist. She didn't know what to do. And so she did something stupid. Something so absurdly stupid, it made her want to shoot herself with lightning. She pressed her lips to his.

It was a soft kiss. Nothing too intense. But it still made her tremble just thinking about it. How the lightest touch could have such an effect on her was beyond her comprehension. Especially knowing how little it meant to Sokka now. She must have been defective or something.

"Sokka," she breathed, feeling regretful. "I'm – "

He cut her off by pulling her against him and kissing her deeply. Passionately. Madly.

She kissed him under the moonlit sky. On the porch. Up against the door. And somewhere in the middle of it, she let him into her home where the make-out session continued at full force. Whether they were on her couch, in the kitchen, on her stairs, or up against a wall, his tongue was in her mouth. And he wasn't stopping.

Naturally this led to her bedroom. No time was wasted. No words were exchanged. They tore each other's clothes off like they were on fire. And once they were fully undressed, he kissed her on her bed, lying on top of her, anchoring her down with his whole bodyweight. It was unbelievable. She had wanted this for so long but never thought it would actually happen.

And he seemed like he wanted her. Really wanted her. The way he kissed her. The way he gazed into her eyes. He made her feel like she was the only one. And the way his stiffened manhood rubbed between her legs… she had never felt so desirable in all her life.

So they got carried away. He wasn't gentle with her, but it's not like she had told him it was her first time. He had no way of knowing that. In retrospect, she was glad he hadn't been gentle. She didn't deserve gentle.

Just feeling him moving inside of her like that with such fire was enough to distract herself from the physical pain. His lips on her ear, his hands on her chest, his tongue on her neck, his hips… oh his hips! Crashing against hers over and over in an impassioned fury until he was done, drained of his contents.

She lay panting on her back as he rolled off of her. But when she tried to put her arm around him to cuddle, he sat up. That's when her dream turned into a nightmare.

He covered his head with his hands. "How," he exhaled. "HOW could you let me DO this?! I-I have a GIRLFRIEND!"

"I – " she choked, her stomach knotting. "I'm sorry! I – "

"I thought we were friends!"

Her chest felt tight enough to constrict her. "I won't… tell anyone."

"Yeah," he breathed, enraged. "You'd better not."

And then she watched him collect his clothes and leave. She blinked, unable to move, wondering if that really just happened. She couldn't even get up to clean herself up or lock the door after he let himself out. All she could do was think about what she did wrong. She always did something wrong. This had to have been her fault. She must have misread something.

Her lips trembled and soon the tears started spilling in hot streams down her cheeks. She wanted to disappear. To fade from existence. What had she done?! Sokka was her only friend in the world and she had messed everything up. Why did she have to go and kiss him?! Why did she let him into her home? Why didn't she stop him? She knew he had a girlfriend and she was too selfish to care. She didn't deserve a guy like him. She deserved to be alone.

After that night, Sokka went back to being professional with her. He never brought it up. It was like it didn't happen at all. Azula thought that was probably for the best. She had heard a saying once that time healed all wounds, but every time she saw him, the more she realized that that wasn't true. Each time they had to interact, she only felt emptier and emptier.

Wondering if the emptiness would ever go away, she felt the familiar stinging of tears pierce her eyes, blurring her vision of Sokka and Suki dancing the night away. Well, she'd be damned if she let herself cry in front of everyone. How humiliating that would be. So she stood from her table and quickly walked out of the frozen ballroom. She felt a little rude for leaving so early, but surely no one would notice her departure.

Holding her dress up over her shoes, she hurried down the icy steps. She needed to get away from there as quickly as possible. No one wanted her around. Not Mai and Ty Lee, not Toph, not Katara and Aang, not Iroh, not Zuko, not Ursa, Noren, and Kiyi, not Suki, and certainly not Sokka. She only ever made things worse for everyone.

Maybe it was time to leave them all behind. To change her appearance and run far, far away where no one would know her history. She could be somebody else, somebody better, somebody deserving of love, somebody…

"Azula!" a voice shouted. "Azula! Wait!"

Her head screamed at her to keep running, but for some reason her feet refused to move. She stood frozen in place, paralyzed.

"Azula!" he panted. "Please. Don't go."

She didn't have to turn around to know it was Sokka. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. "What do you want?" she spat in a low whisper.

"I just," he continued to pant, "I had to tell you." He took a deep breath. "I'm breaking up with Suki."

She bit down on her lip, still refusing to turn around. "So? Why are you telling me?"

"Because, I… I thought you'd want to know."

"Why?" Her tone was bitter. "Are we friends or something?"

"Azula," he breathed. "I'm… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know I fucked up. Big time. And I'd understand if you couldn't forgive me, but…" He sighed exasperatedly. "I miss you! I miss you so much, I think about you all the time. I – "

She squeezed her eyes shut, allowing two scorching tears to trail down her face.

"I was confused and angry. At myself. For letting myself take things too far that night. And I took it all out on you. It was unfair. You didn't deserve that."

"Sokka, don't…"

"But the truth is, the way I felt with you… I've never felt like that before in my entire life. And it scared me. I felt like… like everything had finally fallen into place and everything was the way it was supposed to be… I know it sounds silly, but I've never felt that with anyone else, not even with Suki. And I've been thinking of breaking up with her for a while now. I just… I wanted to do it in person, you know?. Please look at me, won't you?"

Slowly, she turned around, but refused to make eye contact with him.

"Do you think you could ever forgive me? Every day we don't spend together, I – I feel like I'm drowning."

"I don't…" She shook her head. "I don't know."

"Azula, please. I'm sorry I hurt you, it kills me. But I'll never do it again, I prom – "

The truth was, she could forgive him. Maybe she already had. But she knew if he were back in her life, she'd do something to screw it all up. And she didn't want to take him down with her. "No. I… I don't think I can forgive you." She turned back around and started to walk away, but he stopped her by grabbing her hand. "Let me go."

"No. I won't let you walk away from this. Because I know you feel the same way I do."

"And what would that be exactly?"

"Like… like this!" He pulled her in close to him and kissed her deeply, passionately, madly, just like he had on her porch that night, clutching her cheeks with his hands.

Again, her head cried at her to stop this madness, but she just couldn't fight it. It felt too good kissing him. She surrendered to him, to the feeling, closing her eyes and deepening the kiss. The world spun around them in a dizzy whirl, like they were the only two people to enjoy its beauty. It rendered her completely breathless.

He gazed affectionately into her eyes, breathing against her lips.

"Damn it, Sokka," she trembled.

He laughed. "So does this mean… you want to be with me? You'll give me another chance?"

She smiled. "Break up with your girlfriend first. Then we'll talk."

"I will," he grinned. "And after I do, I'm taking you out on a proper date." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then darted back to the celebration.

Azula stood there for a moment, trying to process everything that had just happened. She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling, but the dumb smile on her face and the skipping of her heart made it seem like everything was going to be okay. For once in her life, she felt hopeful.

Maybe weddings weren't so bad after all.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for all the angst, my fellow Sokkla shippers! Please forgive me!