Just as a heads up, in case it's not clear in the story, the cavalry battle is the kibasen, a Japanese game.


Hahn's yell of frustration was music to Sokka's ears. Achieving victory in this competition was certain to make him happy no matter what, but knowing he had surpassed the Northern Water Tribesman just seconds before his boat crossed the finish line was all the more uplifting for him. So as Hahn kicked and fumed over his perceived unfair loss on his vessel, Sokka hooted and hugged his sister and Yuro, the last member of their sailing crew.

"We did it, Sokka!" Katara exclaimed, beaming. "We won!"

"First gold for the Southern Water Tribe!" Sokka shouted, laughing happily. "We're the best!"

"In sailing, that's for sure!" said Katara, as the three of them climbed onto the dock.

Sokka laughed as he saw Hakoda cheering for them at a distance. This particular competition had mostly featured Water Tribe participants, four teams from each of the tribes, along with one from the Earth Kingdom and another from the Fire Nation. The participants had been mostly non-benders, albeit benders were free to join in as well. Yet having earthbenders in a competition that involved no earth whatsoever, and having firebenders in the middle of large masses of water, was simply pointless.

So the contestants from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation had been solely non-benders, while the Water Tribes had brought in benders and non-benders alike. Sokka's team had only featured one waterbender, but as Katara proved, she was more than enough bending power for their team. Sokka's leadership and command helped him, Katara and Yuro to overcome all obstacles and complications, including a crack in their ship's hull, courtesy of Hahn's two waterbenders, who attacked their ship under their leader's orders. Katara's quick actions salvaged their run, though, as she froze the water on the gap in their boat, and after great efforts, the Southern Water Tribe's team came out triumphant.

"How could this be?! After all the time they lost, we fell behind?!" Hahn roared at his teammates at their boat.

Sokka chuckled proudly as he walked towards his father, who gave him and Katara a bear hug. Hakoda laughed happily and lifted his children with his tight hug.

"Dad, stop!" Sokka laughed, patting Hakoda's shoulder as Katara laughed too.

"You've made me real proud, you two! Great job!" he exclaimed, mussing their hair. He also patted Yuro's shoulder, and the younger man smiled at him. "And you too, Yuro! Fantastic! Now old Arnook can't keep flaunting their gold medal, can he? Haha!"

The gold medal in question had been won after a waterbender from the North had triumphed in the ice-sculptures competition, beating Katara by a very thin margin. She had accepted her second place without making a fuss, despite her brother had grumbled about the poor art taste of the judges if they found any flaws in his sister's work.

Yet now the judges were granting them their medals, and the Southern Water Tribe and Northern were tied in their numbers of gold and silver medals by now. So far the competitions were only beginning, and all participant nations were mostly even in their medal numbers. The earthbending sculpting competition had ended with Toph's unsurprising triumph, closely followed by Haru, but to the Earth King's chagrin, an earthbending girl from the Fire Nation colonies, Kori Morishita, had taken the third place.

Despite her medal, and Ty Lee's second place in the non-bending fighting competition from opening day, the Fire Nation hadn't been doing quite as well as other nations until that day. Sokka took his medal gratefully, eyeing the golden material with a broad grin before lifting his eyes, wondering if the firebending competition was over yet. It had been unfortunate for it to take place just at the same time as the sailing one, but he had hoped it might be over by the time his own had ended…

He didn't see her, though, so he guessed it wasn't over after all. Maybe he'd have a chance to watch her compete against the other firebenders, though! He smiled, figuring he'd let his family know he was off to the firebending stadium, when a voice behind him startled him.

"Oh, dear. First place as your sailing team's leader, you'll never stop bragging about this, will you?"

His eyes lit up as he turned around. There she was, of course. It certainly was a pity that her competition had ended and he hadn't had a chance to watch her, but at least this way they could talk and…

He had been about to give her a witty answer when he noticed the medal around her neck. Azula smirked as Sokka's jaw dropped, but he closed his mouth quite quickly before smiling enthusiastically at her.

"You did it! You won too!" he exclaimed. Azula laughed before he threw his arms around her.

"Now, now, stop getting mushy. It's nothing to be so clingy over," she said, as he chuckled and pulled away.

"So now you guys are probably winning, huh? All winners were Fire Nation?"

"Well, we're doing better than you, that's for sure," said Azula, smirking proudly. "In terms of quantity, no other nation has as many medals as we do. How does that make you feel?"

"Bad, but we'll get back on track eventually," said Sokka, smirking. "There's a lot of competitions waiting still, like the one in the afternoon. Katara and I are joining the cavalry battle…"

"Is that so?" Azula asked, smiling. "So I'll have my chance to get back at you for the martial arts fiasco there? Now that's certainly good news…"

"Wait, you're joining too?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening. "The cavalry battle? W-who's going to do it with you?"

"Three Royal Guards," Azula said, shrugging. "All they have to do is carry me after all, so as long as they do their job I'll be satisfied."

Sokka's eyebrow twitched and he pouted a little. Azula looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What? Don't tell me you're jealous…" she said, smirking. Sokka's cheeks flushed.

"Jealous of what?! I-it's not like I would be, what's there to be jealous about?!" he exclaimed. "I-it's just a competition, so even if you'll get lifted by three guys I have nothing to be jealous about. I mean, even if it wasn't a competition I wouldn't, now, would I? I mean…!"

"You wouldn't? So does that mean I can hire them to carry me everywhere from now on in our trips?" said Azula, smirking. "That's wonderful to hear. Here I thought you'd be unreasonable about it, but this is great. I do miss traveling by palanquin after all…"

"Our trips? Y-you wouldn't…" Sokka said, his eyes wide.

"Well, why shouldn't I?" Azula asked, smirking. Sokka blushed. "Oh? And what's the redness in your cheeks supposed to mean?"

"I-it means nothing! I just don't think they should come because they're… t-they're not White Lotus agents like us!"

"Or you think they shouldn't come because you had hopes we'd be alone together so you could…"

"Hey! HEY!"

Sokka jumped upon recognizing the menacing voice. He turned as Hahn stormed up at him, his silver medal held in a tight fist. Azula frowned.

"You got lucky today, you prick, but you're not getting lucky again after this!" Hahn roared. "You're going to get creamed in every other competition and I'll see to it, you…!"

"Woah, I got lucky? So it's not like I had to work twice as hard after some jackass ordered his goons to break my ship's hull?" Sokka asked, snarling menacingly. "You've got some nerve, you pretentious hog-monkey!"

"You just stay out of my way if you know what's good for you!" Hahn shouted. "Or else…!"

"Or else what?" Azula intervened, folding her arms and tapping her forearm with her index finger. Hahn frowned upon realizing he'd been interrupted. "You'll keep yelling and spraying us all with your spit?"

Hahn remained frozen where he was, as Sokka bit back an approving smile. Azula's glare defied Hahn to keep going on his rant, but since he remained quiet she only glanced at Sokka now.

"For all I called you a savage, I find I was sorely mistaken to say that now," she told Sokka. "You're a peasant, no doubt, but you're no savage. I expected the Southern Water Tribe to be the less civilized one, but now I find that it's the Northerners who can't seem to have enough manners to stop from interrupting conversations just to make complete fools of themselves…"

Hahn snarled at her, but he shook his head and stormed off with that. Azula smirked as Sokka beamed at her.

"Say what you will about my hideous morals, but how I love destroying people's confidence like this…" Azula said, smiling proudly. Sokka chuckled.

"Your morals certainly are hideous, but I have to admit that it comes in handy for situations like these," he said, patting her back. "Thanks there, Azula."

"You owe me one now," she said, smirking. Sokka sighed.

"Yep. That's absolutely the answer I should have expected," he said, with a small smile as Katara and Aang approached them hand in hand, gazing over their heads at Hahn as he walked away.

"Is everything alright with you guys?" Aang asked, stopping before them.

"Did Hahn do something to you, Sokka?" Katara said, frowning.

"Other than doing his very best to be a monumental jerk…" Sokka said, rubbing the stubble on his chin.

"Why, give him more credit than that. He actually succeeded at being a monumental jerk," Azula added. Sokka snickered and Katara raised her eyebrows.

"Glad you two are getting along so well, despite it all. I really thought you wouldn't last over a week of partnership, but…" she said. Sokka smirked.

"All things considered, since we haven't killed each other after all this time, I'd say we really are the best team there is! Right?" he said, surrounding Azula's shoulders with an arm and smiling at her. Azula blinked blankly as Aang laughed softly under his breath.

"Depends on what your standards for 'best' are, naturally," said Azula, looking at him disapprovingly. "I'd rather have a partner who will follow my orders when I'm serious about them, though, so I wouldn't know if we're all that set to be a great combination, Sokka…"

"You're still mad about that, huh?" he said, with a sad smile.

"Eh, well, dad was wondering if you were joining us for lunch," Katara said, looking at Sokka. "He says it's all his treat, since we must celebrate our success, so…"

"Woo! His treat! Heck, yes!" Sokka exclaimed, throwing a celebratory fist in the air. Azula looked at him with a quizzical eyebrow raised, and he blushed and smiled awkwardly at her. "Oops. Got a little overexcited, huh?"

"When it's about food, don't you always, Sokka?" Aang said, smiling before looking at Katara meaningfully. The waterbender swallowed before addressing Azula now.

"You could join us too, I think… if you'd like," Katara said, looking at the Princess somewhat apprehensively. Still, it wasn't open hostility, which was what Azula had grown to associate with Katara ever since they'd become acquainted. It was some progress, there was no denying that.

"You really should join us!" said Sokka, beaming. "We should celebrate your victory too, after all."

Azula smiled and shrugged, and Sokka chuckled. He knew that was as good as it got with her. For some reason, it seemed she didn't really know how to accept displays of kindness from people. Either she'd act arrogantly or she would seem to be at a loss for words, there was no in between. The first reaction often led them to bicker over her inflated self-image, but the second often made Sokka swoon as he gazed at her. His heart fluttered in his chest just upon seeing that smile.

It seemed Katara didn't notice Sokka's momentary daze over Azula, as she was busy letting Hakoda know that they'd be joined by Azula, too. The Princess was hardly acquainted with the Southern Water Tribe's Chief, and she feared he might be affected by her very widespread dark reputation, but he surprised her by being was rather warm and welcoming. He even made to hold out Azula's chair in the restaurant they went to, but Sokka beat him to it.

"Everyone wants to hold out Prissy Princess's chair, huh?" Toph asked, smirking as she sank in her own seat, her feet on the table. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Well, I am a Princess. It's simply the way it should be," she said. Sokka snorted. And there it was, the arrogant response instead of the shy one. Despite he felt compelled to retort at her, he was also delighted upon realizing he could read her so well by now.

Toph had joined them at the restaurant, busy as she had been arranging her team for the cavalry battle. Why she had chosen to join the cavalry battle, nobody knew, but she had insisted on it and it seemed she'd finally found three Earth Kingdom guys to join her in it. All the same, it didn't bother Azula in the slightest that she'd take part in the event. It only made the earthbender her first mark for the competition, and she was certain she'd beat her at this non-bending competition with ease.

"I just wish I could join the cavalry battle too, though," Aang pouted. "Why can't I participate in these group events with the Air Acolytes?"

"They're actually Earth Kingdom citizens still, and King Kuei said he wouldn't let them join you," said Katara, sighing.

"Besides, you already have three medals. So please shut up, Twinkle Toes," said Toph, scowling at him. Aang smiled.

So far he had taken home more medals than anyone else. The non-bending martial arts tournament had resulted in his victory, for he had resorted to evading and dodging attacks, a skill he had in spades. His fights had mostly ended when he evaded an attack while standing too close to the edge of the ring, causing his rivals to fall off it clumsily. Suki and Ty Lee had been the last to fall against him, the first of them in the semifinals and the next in the finals. Aang had taken his gold medal after defeating both of them effectively.

The other competitions he took part in were the aesthetic bending competitions, like the one Azula had resulted victorious in just today. Aang had joined the waterbending one, but only landed the bronze medal. His other gold had come from a non-bending short-race competition, in which he had outrun everyone with his outstanding agility yet again.

"Still, I couldn't join the sailing competition, or the cavalry one," he complained. "It'd be more fun if I could have a team, you know?"

"We can try to change the rules for the next one," said Katara, caressing his arm. "Maybe we'll find a way to let you make a mixed team, who knows?"

"Isn't it bad enough that he's the Avatar, you want to give him a team?" Sokka said, grimacing. "The rest of the competitors won't stand a chance, you know?"

"Oh, shush. He's got every right to have a team too," said Katara.

Aang chuckled as a waiter approached, bringing all the drinks they had ordered. Their dishes would come later on.

"Finally!" Hakoda exclaimed, beaming before standing up. "Very well, then, it's time for a toast, younglings!"

"Sure thing," said Sokka, smiling too and lifting his glass as Hakoda did the same.

"To my children and their remarkable gold medals! May many more of them come our way in the future," he said, winking at Sokka and Katara. They smiled warmly as Azula and Toph moved their glasses to their lips.

"But Azula won one too, remember?" Aang said suddenly, looking at Hakoda. "We should toast for her too, right?"

"Oh, how could I be so foolish," said Hakoda, shaking his head. "I stand corrected. To my children, and to my future daughter, and for their prolonged success in…!"

"Your WHAT?!" Katara exclaimed, as both Azula and Sokka did a double take at Hakoda's words. He blinked blankly, looking at them in confusion.

"Well, is that not the case? I mean, with all Sokka talks about her I thought…"

"T-that doesn't mean that they're dating!" Katara exclaimed, as Azula looked at Sokka in surprise. His cheeks were as red as ever. "They work together, that's all it is!"

"Oh, really?" Hakoda asked. Toph grimaced, and Aang looked at her with uncertainty. Either the three of them were making too much of the relationship between Azula and Sokka, or Katara was blatantly refusing to see it…

"Really. Right?" said Katara, looking at them. Azula huffed.

"Clearly," she said, with her most convincing voice. Sokka gulped and nodded.

"Yep. We're just… business associates. Partners. Friends, just that…"

"Yeah, pretty sure that list carries on after that," said Toph, smirking. "Like with Lovers, Boyfriend and Girlfriend, Each Other's True Heart's Desire…"

"Not funny," Sokka growled, his eyebrow twitching as the earthbender laughed.

"Relax, Sokka, if anything you should be happy we even think she's within your league, right?" she said. He actually frowned at that.

"Wait, you guys really do?" he asked. Azula snorted.

"You'd need to start taking baths on a daily basis if you wanted to be, but I'm quite certain that will never happen…"

"H-hey! I do bathe on a daily basis!" Sokka squeaked, blushing again.

"Oh, you certainly do. Your sleeping bag's eternal stench proves as much," she said, raising her eyebrows as she sipped her drink. Sokka pouted.

"Never did I think I'd meet someone who likes sarcasm as much as I do," he grunted, before following her lead. The others grew easily distracted with other conversations, and it carried on that way as they waited for the food to arrive.

They parted ways once the meal was over, but Azula and Sokka stayed together, as always. They took off to the cavalry battle's grounds, despite they still had around an hour to kill before the match began. Most people would choose to kill said time by spending time sightseeing, watching other competitions or seeking out their friends since that they had a chance to reunite with them… and yet all Sokka and Azula craved was a chance to be by themselves if they could get away with it.

Yet the open stadium where the cavalry battle would take place was slightly more crowded than they expected it to be. Other teams were already there, flexing and readying themselves for the competition.

"I guess we won't be all alone, huh?" Sokka whispered. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Were you hoping we would be? Why's that?" she asked, smirking. Sokka blushed.

"You know why," he muttered. She smiled and took her seat at the empty stands, as she watched an Earth Kingdom team stretching at the opposite end of the field. "Uh, about what my dad said earlier, I hope you're okay with it…"

"With becoming his daughter-in-law, you mean?"

"T-that's not what I…! I mean…! I-I mean, that you're okay despite he said it. I figure how awkward it must have been for you, and…"

"Huh, so I cannot expect to become his daughter-in-law, then? Well, I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes high…"

"What the…? N-no! I-I mean… it's not that you can't expect it! Although, d-do you even want to be? I mean, heh, you… you realize you're talking about marriage here, right?"

"Ah, I do. Such tedious business that is, huh?" she said, sighing and shaking her head. Sokka swallowed hard and took his seat beside her.

"Sounds bad to you because of your parents, huh?"

"When that's the best example you have of what marriage is like, it's not easy to have a favorable opinion of it," said Azula. "I suppose you must disagree, your family wasn't bound to be as messed-up as my own, but…"

"It wasn't, that's for sure," said Sokka. "Though dad certainly had it hard to woo mom. But after that they had a pretty good marriage, I think. I never heard or saw otherwise."

"Well, that's lucky," said Azula. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"You don't hope to get that lucky too one day? I mean… with someone?" he asked, trying not to blush. Azula snorted.

"As if. Don't believe Zuko when he repeats my father's words, the last decade has proven I was not born lucky at all," she said. "And I really don't have hopes to find someone with whom I can live in harmony or so. Frankly that just sounds… boring."

"Heh, so you want no relationship like Katara and Aang's?" Sokka asked, smirking. Azula laughed.

"Absolutely not. The mere idea makes me sick," she said. Sokka chuckled.

"See, that's why I like you. We have very similar thought patterns," he said, stretching back and resting against the stands where they sat.

"Though we're not that similar in all regards," Azula commented. "Just comparing where we've come from proves we're as different as can be."

"And yet we both think my sister and Aang's marriage is annoying. So there you go, it's not that farfetched to think we're alike!" Sokka declared. Azula chuckled.

"Well, I mostly meant to say that I don't really want to have a relationship like theirs. But wouldn't you want something like what they have, if just so you can annoy your sister in return?"

"Uh… not exactly like it, though," said Sokka, frowning. "I mean, would I like to get married one day? Sure, but I may need a bit more spice in my life than what they have, just saying…"

"Spice. Funny wording," said Azula, smiling before glancing at him with uncertainty. He was frowning still. "Something wrong?"

"Nah, just… I guess I had two relationships that were each what I wanted and what I didn't want at the same time, you know?" he said, scratching his head. "With Yue I was… well, head-over-heels, really. But there was no stability, we couldn't possibly stay together and then she… she became the Moon Spirit, so that was that. With Suki, though, there was all the stability I'd never have with Yue, and yet… and yet I never felt the same urgency to be around her as I did with Yue. Which is probably why that failed like it did…"

"Are you over it?" Azula asked. "You hardly ever talk about it, so…"

"Honestly? I think I am," said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. "I thought I might react when I saw her with Zuko now, but… I didn't feel jealous. Somehow all I could think is that they fit better together than she and I ever did."

"Possibly. She seems to be the only person on the face of the earth who could tolerate my brother's tantrums," said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled. "Still, I didn't mean just about Suki. I also meant Yue, since… since you always stay up late in full moon nights. Does she pay you visits, or…?"

"Oh, no. I only ever saw her spirit once, in this crazy swamp in the Earth Kingdom. Gives everyone crazy visions about their past or their future… it's a pretty weird place with hideous creatures and a tribe of swampbenders who have the weirdest eating habits I've seen. We should go there sometime!"

"Sounds like yet another of your Team Avatar memorable locations that I'd rather never travel to," said Azula, smirking. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"What, like the Cave of Two Lovers? Come on, Azula, we totally should go there one day. It's probably our best chance to actually be alone, and hey, if the badgermoles try to kill us I can sing to them and they'll calm down!"

"They what?" Azula said, her eyes widening. "They calm down over your singing voice? Are you kidding me? Are they deaf on top of blind?"

"What the…? Hey! That's mean!" Sokka pouted, Azula gave him a meaningful stare "Plus, your surprise isn't that they might kill us, but that my singing soothes them?"

"Sokka, your singing voice is awful," she said, smirking. "Just remembering that one time I walked into your room at the inn and you were bathing and singing… the spirits know my hearing was permanently damaged by that."

"Not true!" Sokka exclaimed, as Azula laughed. "Laugh all you want, and tell everyone your crazy exaggerated version of the story if you want, but it's still not true!"

"You know they believed me. Every last one of them," she said, smirking. Sokka huffed.

"Yeah, sure they did. Unfair Princess…" he grumbled, as she chuckled still.

They stayed silent briefly, as Azula pondered whether to ask him a few questions or not. Wouldn't he rather continue talking about fond memories…? It seemed likely to her that he would. Questioning him about whether or not he was interested in new relationships after his previous failures didn't seem wise, but the thoughts lingered on her mind all the same…

"But yeah, either way, I wouldn't say I'm over Yue," he said, bringing back the topic on his own. Azula swallowed. "Not in the sense you might expect me to be. I'll always care for her, is what I'm saying, and… and she'll always be important to me, whether she's keeping an eye on me or not. I'd hope she is, but she's a spiritual being now, after all…"

"At the very least she's more likely to keep one on you than on Hahn, right?" Azula asked. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Heh, that's probably why he's so angry," he said, chuckling. "We never got along, him and me. He acted like Yue was just… a position to gain rather than a wife to care for. He rambled on about the political complexities of his people, and all I got from that was that he didn't give a damn about her, not for real. She was gone before they could marry, though, so his chances to become a royal disappeared with her. I guess he holds me responsible because I'd been tasked with protecting her, and I failed to keep her alive. Her father knew it was her destiny, and he accepts that, but Hahn refuses to do it simply because he couldn't tie the knot before she had to fulfill it. It's… sickening, really. I hate that guy."

"And he hates you," said Azula. "Quite an equal relationship you have, really."

"He's hell-bent on winning against me now, I think," said Sokka. "He got all cocky and rubbed in my face that he was the best spear-thrower in the world, saying that I'd better watch my back in that competition… I can't wait for a Fire Nation soldier to beat him at it, seriously."

"That'd be quite amusing," said Azula, smiling. "Do you think he'll join the cavalry battle?"

"What, Hahn? Heck, no," said Sokka, smirking. "I can't even imagine him going through the trouble of lifting someone else above him. There's no way he'd be part of this."

"So I can expect you to focus on fighting my team, then?" Azula asked. Sokka chuckled.

"I'll try, but I might go for Toph's first," he said. "She's likely going to be an easy target, but hey, she insisted she wanted to join the cavalry battle, so…"

"It will be rather amusing to watch her struggle with figuring out her bearings while being carried that way," said Azula, smirking. "The winner is whoever takes the most headbands, right?"

"Yup. So watch out for yours, Princess," said Sokka, smirking as well. "Katara might just want to steal yours even before we get Toph's."

"I'll brace myself," said Azula, shrugging. "Though I wonder how much of a threat your team can be…"

"I only wonder if things will go weirdly for us again," said Sokka, laughing softly. "I don't know why, but I get the feeling that if we get pitted against one another in competitions things just won't go well for either one of us."

"Well, whatever gave you that idea …?" Azula said, sarcastically. "We just got singled out of a martial arts tournament in the most foolish of ways, that's not such a big deal…"

"Certainly not," said Sokka, smiling. "I've just wondered what's going to happen when we go against one another again, though. I do hope we survive it in one piece."

"What, both of us in one same piece? How do you propose we do that?" Azula said, smirking until she noticed Sokka blushing, his eyes wide. "Oh, curses, you… for a man who's been chaste for years you have the filthiest mind I've encountered."

"Don't you think that's probably the reason it's so filthy?" said Sokka, chuckling. Azula smiled.

"It really must be," she said. "You should have done what I did, though. You didn't have to stay dry for so long."

"I didn't really feel like doing anything else," said Sokka, shrugging. "And while there might be something fun to having one-night-stands, they're really not my thing as they were yours, you know."

"Your loss," said Azula, smirking. "Though I haven't done that in quite some time now…"

"Yeah, I… I've noticed," said Sokka, with a small smile. Azula shrugged.

"Either way, we're not going to wind up stuck to one another in any way, Sokka," she said, looking at him meaningfully. "You're supposed to fight my cavalry while I fight your sister, remember?"

"I'll try to keep that in mind," said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. "But I can't say I won't try to go for you myself just for the sake of reprising our fun from the other day…"

"Which part of it? The one where you groped me?" she asked. Sokka bit his lip.

"Well, if you want…"

"At times I think you couldn't possibly be more shameless, and yet you prove me wrong without fail," said Azula, smirking. "Baffles me how you do it, but you certainly do it, huh?"

The shameless warrior smiled and scratched the back of his head. Azula grinned back before shaking her head and breathing deeply. Sokka bit his lip, looking at her with uncertainty.

"So, anyways, about what happened back at the restaurant…" he said. Azula raised her eyebrows. "We both denied what was happening, but I don't think Toph, Aang or my dad are convinced. Still… should we keep things a secret, or should we…?"

"Tell everyone and bask in their horrified reactions over our relationship?" Azula asked, with a smirk, before laughing and shaking her head. "Considering we don't really know what we're doing yet, there's probably no point to telling anyone about anything, Sokka. Kissing has been fun, but…"

"But it doesn't have to mean there's a real relationship between us yet? Geez, you princesses are seriously complicated," said Sokka, smiling. "Yue kissed me and told me she was engaged to someone else, you kiss me and then claim that doesn't have to mean we're really together… how's a guy supposed to go through life with so many mixed signals, eh?"

"By being smart about reading them," said Azula, smirking. "You keep talking about how smart you are, well, think about why I don't dare assume we're together yet. You have three guesses."

"Just three? Damn," said Sokka, gulping. "Okay, uh… you would be embarrassed if people heard you're with a guy like me."

"Wrong. Two chances left."

"What, wrong?! Y-you wouldn't be?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide. Azula blushed.

"Focus, Sokka. Two more guesses to go."

"Uh, sure then," he said, blinking blankly before rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "Eh, is it what we said at first? Your parents damaged your perception of what a romantic relationship is like, so…?"

"My parents damaged my perception of marriage, not romance. I've seen enough romance out there between enough people to know that sometimes, miraculously, it pays off. Like it did with your sister and her Avatar, boring as they might be."

"Oh. S-so just one shot left?"

"That's right," said Azula, smirking.

"Uh, well…" he said, breathing deeply. He had to think. What were Azula's possible fears about this? What could she be uncertain of?

If he thought about it, there were countless reasons why they should be uncertain of telling others about their relationship, but eventually they all seemed to come back to the same thing. He frowned before looking at her, biting his lip.

"You don't know how well it'll go, and you're thinking things might backfire between us," he said. "And if everyone knew, they'd be asking questions all the time, as they already do when they tell me all about how Suki and I were great together, asking why on earth didn't it work out… So you don't want that to happen with us."

"Close enough," said Azula, sighing. "I guess the main problem isn't so much about how much they'd harass us over why it didn't work out, or how they'd tell us that it was obvious it'd never pay off… but just knowing that there's a chance it might not work is foreboding enough. I won't dare make any assumptions about this until… until I have some sort of assurance, I guess, that we won't end up in a bad place if things go sideways."

"Well, as long as we respect each other fully and don't act like idiots, I think we'll be able to accept it if it didn't work," Sokka said. "It's just a matter of maturity, right? And as we both know, we're the mature siblings of our families, right?"

"Right," said Azula, with a smirk.

She couldn't help but remember that their first good conversation, the one where they began bonding, was precisely over realizing that they were the better siblings in their respective families. The ones with the senses of humor, the less dramatic ones, the more cold-blooded ones – if that counted as a good thing, of course, which it did according to them –, the tacticians, the overlooked ones. She still remembered how he'd given her an unexpected smile of complicity, and despite herself, her heart had jolted at the sight. At the time she had been surprised because she had never expected to forge a bond with him, of any kind. She had only wondered if it meant they were on their way to becoming friends.

Yet as time went by, her heart started jumping in different ways whenever he laughed at her jokes, joined in with his puns, talked to her about his memories and confessed truths he'd always kept deeply buried in his heart. She had been shocked to hear that the only one he had ever spoken to about Yue was her… and yet it was true, for she knew he wouldn't lie about something like that. His lies were usually so ridiculously easy to pinpoint she had often teased him about giving him lying lessons, since he needed them direly. He had somehow taken it as a compliment, and Azula guessed it'd be better not to bother correcting him.

"So, if it's that you're worried about, it's alright," said Sokka, clasping his knee with his hands before leaning back, staring up into the clear blue sky above. "I'll live if you dump me. As Toph said, it's surprising enough that they thought we're in the same league, to begin with, so…"

"If I dump you? And how about if it's the other way around?" Azula asked. Sokka snorted.

"Like I'd ever," he said. "You don't really think I'd…"

"Well, there's a lot of relationships I've had that I never thought would backfire on me, and yet they did. In fact, most of them have," she said, clenching her jaw. "And none of those were romantic, to begin with. So as you might imagine…"

"You don't know if you can trust in things working out between us because of all that?" Sokka asked, gulping. "You think I'll be the one to back down on you?"

"You wouldn't be the first. Likely not the last either," said Azula, lowering her gaze. Curses, how had the conversation grown so dark so suddenly?

"Huh. Well, I get it now," said Sokka, frowning. "And I guess it doesn't matter if I say that I won't do that, you'll still dread that I'll change my mind at some point, right?"

"You might meet someone who's everything you never knew you wanted, or so," said Azula, shrugging. "I wouldn't want to get in your way with that…"

"Oh, you wouldn't? That's good to hear," said Sokka, smiling. "See, I already did meet someone who's pretty much all I never knew I wanted, despite we didn't start off in the best of ways… but after spending four years with her things have changed for the better quite drastically, you know?"

"Come on. I mean it," said Azula. Sokka sighed.

"So do I, even if you might not believe it," he said, hunching over, his forearms resting on his knees. "All in all, Azula, I just want you to be happy. If I'm not the one who can make you happy, I'll deal with it and try to move on yet again. But if I were, I…"

"If you were, what would you do?" Azula asked, her breath hitching. Sokka bit his lip.

"Well… I'd try my best to keep you happy, heh. I'd try to give you nice gifts but I know you already have most anything you could ask for… but that wouldn't stop me from trying either way, you know."

"Stubborn as ever, aren't we?" said Azula, smiling.

"I'd take you to great places, too!" Sokka declared. "Like all the places you said you don't want to go to… but there's also other nice ones I haven't even mentioned and that I'm sure you'd like!"

"Like the Library that sank into the Si Wong Desert, the one with a crazed human-hating owl spirit?" Azula asked, smirking. Sokka cringed.

"Okay, yeah, not that one but there's other places we could see! Lots of them!" Sokka said "And… I'd do my best to leave the best food for you."

"Wow, that'd certainly be a sacrifice for you," said Azula, smiling. She couldn't help but be warmed by his promise, though, mostly because he had been fulfilling that one for quite some time already. Nevertheless, she had to tease him for it, and Sokka blushed and pouted.

"Well, if you don't believe it yet you'll see later on!" said Sokka, proudly. "Ah, and we can spar as often as you like, and stay up late watching the stars and…!"

"Here I thought you'd hope we'd stay up late doing other things," said Azula, smirking. Sokka blushed.

"O-only if you'd like to," he said, gulping. Azula's smile softened.

"To be perfectly honest, Sokka…" she said. "I expected offers with more grandeur than that."

"I… I know. I'm sorry, I just need more time to think about ideas and…"

"Because you see, you're always trying to take me to places you visited before because you think it'd be fun. I know for a fact that you've sacrificed some of the better food in our journeys so that I can have it instead. We do stay up stargazing quite often, and we spar all the time, don't we?"

"E-eh… yeah, I guess that's true," said Sokka, grimacing. "So I have literally offered you the same things we already have. Smooth."

"It's probably smoother than you think," Azula whispered. "All it means is that… that you're not offering you'll be a better man if I become yours. You're already doing your best, whether I am or not. It's… it's moving, in a sense."

Sokka swallowed hard and Azula smiled, avoiding his gaze.

"I suppose the only change would be that we'd do things we don't yet, right?" she asked. "You'd be allowed to grope me, you pervert…"

"I-I won't do it if you don't want me to," Sokka said, pouting and looking away. Azula laughed.

"Might be I'll want you to. But for now I'll just make fun of you," she said, before stretching out a hand and reaching for his.

Sokka bit his lip and looked at her. There were unusual sights in their world, and Azula's heartfelt smile was one of them. He felt his throat drying as he felt the urge to kiss her again, yet before he could make up his mind to either move in or stay still, the Princess was leaning towards him, her forehead pressed against his.

They had well forgotten all about the potential onlookers as they kissed, though the sudden silence in the field served to alert them that they were most likely being watched. Azula pulled away, feeling awfully self-conscious, but Sokka held her hand all the same, a smile on his face as his cheeks remained flushed.

Azula's eyes shifted towards where the now silent people were, and Sokka turned as well to realize they were indeed giggling and watching them with interest. To his chagrin, Haru was there. He smiled shyly and gave Sokka a thumbs-up, to which Sokka answered with an embarrassed smile. Azula sighed.

"We really should just do this when we're alone," she said, swallowing hard and pulling away, to his disappointment. "Anyways, whatever it is we are now, we have a fight to undertake now, and we'd do best not to lose focus for it, right?"

"Yeah. But afterwards we could, I don't know, go out and get something to drink?" he asked, biting his lip. Azula smiled apologetically.

"My uncle and brother insisted I went to the Palace tonight. It seems they want to celebrate the Fire Nation's first gold medal, so…"

"Eh. Can I go too, then?" Sokka asked, smiling. "I'd like some Palace food myself…"

"Who knows. You'll have to ask Zuko, or just sneak inside wearing a disguise," she said, smirking. "He might want to celebrate with the Fire Nation delegation alone, you know…"

"Really? That's not very logical, these events are about nation cooperation, but… oh well," said Sokka, shrugging. "We'll find a way to be alone eventually, won't we? They can't keep us apart forever!"

"Ask our respective siblings, I'm positive they'd love to give it a try," said Azula, smiling. "But we're smarter than them for sure. We can get away with this if we try hard enough to do so."

"Yeah," said Sokka, smiling as they heard footsteps approaching the field. "But for now…"

"For now we're enemies. Again," said Azula, winking at him. "Good luck beating the Fire Nation's teams this time, Sokka."

"Good luck to you beating us!" he said. She laughed softly as she approached the three men who would join her for the cavalry battle, who had only just arrived at the field.

It was around thirty minutes later that the cavalry battle was finally ready to begin. The teams of four were comprised by three men and one woman. The men would form the 'horse', by lifting the woman through a triangular formation, and they would have to run in the direction of other teams so that the women, or 'riders', would steal the headbands around the heads of the other riders, knocking them out of the competition as they did. The competition would end once all the teams were taken out, and the winners would be decided depending on the number of headbands each rider had stolen. Whoever had the most headbands would be the winner.

Sokka was joined by Katara, Haka and Kattan; the last two were other Southern Water Tribe competitors. Azula's team was comprised by herself and the three guards she had mentioned: Rui Shi, Tai Wei and Fei Li. Toph had managed to convince the Duke, the Dark One and Ho Tun to be on her team. The Duke's friends, Longshot, Smellerbee, Sneers and Pipsqueak, had joined together in another Earth Kingdom team, while Kori Morishita had joined other Fire Nation colonials in her own Fire Nation team.

"This competition sounds like so much fun," Aang sighed, looking on at it with disappointment. Suki smiled next to him.

"I would have liked to join too, honestly, but we made the mistake to forget to invite any Kyoshi Island men to join us," she said, chuckling.

"It's just the Kyoshi Warriors?" Aang asked. She nodded.

"Except for Ty Lee, who's in the Fire Nation team, of course," she said.

She jerked her head towards Ty Lee, who stood in the field, already being lifted by three burly men while others pouted, disappointed that she hadn't chosen them for the job. The chi-blocker's popularity had not dimmed at all with time.

"There's more Fire Nation teams this time than in previous events," Zuko commented, swallowing hard as the three of them took their seats at the stands. "I only hope that it means we'll get one of the medals…"

"You have a lot of great competitors there," said Suki, reassuringly. "I know you're worried Azula will blow it like she did in the martial arts one, but surely she'll be more careful now…"

"Let's hope so," said Zuko, sighing. Suki smiled and clasped his hand.

"I just wish I could be out there too…" Aang sighed again, as the other Heads of State arrived and took their seats to watch the new event.

"We'll have to arrange something to allow you into team events next time," said Suki. Zuko cringed.

"Next time?" he asked. Suki smiled.

"Come on, it's been fun, right?"

"I beg to differ…" said Zuko, his eyes wide as Piandao walked into the field.

He started organizing the teams, setting them to start in different corners of the stadium. He would not be in the fighting grounds, or else he'd risk getting trampled by the teams, but he was still set to keep an eye on the non-bending competition either way. He was not happy over this arrangement even now, but he had survived several non-bending competitions with benders as it was. Surely he could do it again now.

"Are you ready?" he asked, from the edge of the field.

A few people answered with nods. The 'horses' were already formed, and the riders stood in place. Toph Beifong, in particular, seemed to be regretting this arrangement just now as she realized she couldn't possibly sense anything other than the bodies of her friends while she was being lifted. But it was too late to back down now, and even if it wasn't, she wouldn't have done it anyways. She was going to work her hardest to take those headbands no matter what.

Azula's eyes found Sokka's at opposite ends of the field. Instead of focusing on his sister, she could only look at him. She smiled and nodded in his direction. Sokka, the head of the Southern Water Tribe horse, grinned back and nodded in response. This event would be certain chaos, but they were determined to see it to the end just like everyone else was.

"Set…!" Piandao shouted. "Go!"