Prompts: Danger & Addiction

Context: Five years after the end of the series

Location: Fire Nation Capital, Palace

The night was quiet. Too quiet.

But Sokka didn't care. The quiet was challenging.

In the middle of the night, he was stealthily making his way down to the kitchen. Fire Nation guards roamed the hallways on their regular patrols. Those who did not recognize him as the Southern Water Tribe Chief would stop to question him. He especially didn't look like the "diplomat" that he was in his night shirt, night pants, and with his long brown hair left free to fly behind him as he ran. It was a good thing that he had developed his espionage skills. He slipped by every guard like a shadow.

Brings back old memories, Sokka thought to himself, although back when it was him and his friends against the Fire Nation, he would have bashed someone on the head and stolen their uniform at this point. In the five years since the end of the war, his new friend Mai had taught him the virtues of stealth and sneak attacks. iReal/i sneak attacks, that is.

Ten minutes after he had left his room, he finally reached the kitchen. White moonlight poured through a large open window that was meant for ventilation.

He startled a baker who was preparing sweet rolls for that morning's breakfast, but the elderly woman simply gave him a smile and went back to her work.

"Master Sokka, what brings you here at the middle of the night? In need of a snack?"

"Shh, Shima," Sokka said with a whisper. "I'm supposed to meet someone here tonight. Don't tell anyone, please."

"Alright, young man, I just hope that you're not doing something that your fiancé wouldn't want you doing-she's a sweet girl, but I'd hate to see her upset."

Sokka sat on a stool and waited for twenty minutes, not even interested in the sweet rolls. Then, the sound of hoofs was heard. Sokka looked out the window and saw a man on an ostrich horse had just stopped outside the kitchen door. He opened the door quietly afraid that the creaking might wake the whole palace.

The man, dressed entirely in black, with his face covered, got off the horse. He approached the open door, and from out of his cloak, produced a large black bottle.

Sokka reached for the bottle, but then the man held the bottle back and put forth his hand.

"Oh, right," Sokka said. He pulled out a bag of gold pieces and handed them to the man. The man nodded, mounted his ostrich horse once more, and disappeared into the night.

With a smug smile on his face, Sokka held the bottle close to himself and turned on his heel, only the face down Toph, in a sliverish nightgown that was surprisingly feminine and flattering on her.

"YOU." She said sternly, pointing a finger at him, and looking to the side.

Shima merely shook her head and made the classic "tsk, tsk, tsk," sound as she continued her work.

"Toph, I can explain…"

"You don't need to!" The earthbender yelled, "That's Cactus Juice, isn't it! You told me you were going to stop!"

"Toph, please, you're going to wake up the entire palace…and that was a one time thing!"

"You did it three times! Don't think I don't know about the incidents in Omashu iand/I Ba Sing Se! I got it out the whole story out of Aang!"

Toph snatched the bottle out of Sokka's hands and pulled the cork out. She sniffed the liquid contents. Her expression of anger turned to one of confusion.

"It's Fire Lily Wine." Sokka explained. "Only one place in the Fire Nation makes it year round, and I wanted it here for our anniversary."

"You could have just asked to have some delivered." Zuko's disembodied voice called out. Startled, Sokka took a fighting stance.

"Where…?"

"Store room." Toph replied, pointing.

Off to the side was an entry way that lead to a store room, or at least what used to be a store room. Zuko popped his head out, an expression of grumpiness on his face.

"How long…?"

"Since before you got here, obviously." Toph answered.

Mai's head popped out, and she waved for the other couple to join them.

Sokka and Toph entered the store room, which had been decked out with lanterns, tapestries, and carpet, plenty of plush pillows, and a small table set up with a tea pot and two steaming cups of tea.

"What…?"

"It's just a little get away I had made up." Mai answered, wearing a red silk robe that revealed plenty of cleavage and a lot of thigh. "I sneak out of my room and slip down here in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, and Zuko usually follows me when he realizes that I'm not in bed. It helps us to forget who we are for a few hours."

"Uh, and you do it wearing nothing but that?" Sokka asked, trying to keep eye contact with Mai, lest he have two angry benders wanting to come after him. One was enough.

"It makes things more…dangerous." Mai said seductively as she pecked Zuko on the lips.

"Well, you might as well join us." Zuko said grumpily. "But don't think that this'll become a regular thing-this is our spot, you go find your own."

The four sat down and got comfortable as Shima brought two more tea cups and some of the sweet rolls.

Sokka got right down to munching on them, and everything was back to normal.