DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Avatar: the Last Air-bender.

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028. China Doll (Set in the December AU after Ink)

It was a regular day in the Southern Water Tribe. The children were all playing with each other, the men and women went about their business, and Azula was busy straightening up their home.

As the woman went about reorganizing Sokka couldn't help but chuckle. "If you have time to laugh, then you have time to help clean, and where are the kids?" Azula stated hectically.

"Calm down 'zula," Sokka said smoothly. "We still have plenty of time until your family arrives. Just relax and everything will be alright."

Following her husbands advice, Azula closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. When she reopened her eyes, she found her husband staring at her chest with a stupid grin on his face. "Eye's up here buddy," she stated pointing to her eyes. "I can't help it," he stated humorously. "They've just gotten so big!"

Sokka attempted to grasp his wife's inviting flesh-pillows only to have his hands slapped away. "Not right now," she scolded. "My family should be arriving soon, and I won't stand to have my house looking sub-par. Everything must be excellent."

Azula went back to cleaning the house, causing Sokka to pout. She never turned down a full-body rub. He sighed as he helped clean the house. Just as the two finished rearranging everything, Xifeng and Kouen both entered the house with company behind them. "Azula, sweetie, are you here?" Sokka heard Ursa call out.

Deciding to give his wife some time to get herself dressed up nice, Sokka went to greet his in-laws. "Hello, Ursa. It's good to see you again," he welcomed.

"Come now, Sokka," Ursa replied giving her son-in-law a hug. "How many times am I going to have to tell you to call me mother, or mom?"

"You know him, mother," Azula said as she entered the room. "You'll have to tell him something millions of times over before he finally memorizes it."

The older woman smiled broadly at the sight of her daughter. The two gave each other a warm hug before taking a seat in the tea room. "So, mother, how was your trip?" Azula asked curiously.

The Fire Lady let out an exasperated sigh. "Long and boring," she replied. "The deckhands were no fun. They made sure that I was as far away from the railings as possible. I never even got a chance to see the whale-fish."

Azula chuckled at her mother's dismay, before she noticed something. "Where is Uncle Iroh, he was suppose to be joining us wasn't he?"

"Oh, Iroh is just taking a tour with Hakoda. It is is first time here in the South Pole after all," Ursa informed the younger woman. The two women were interrupted, however, when Xifeng and Kouen barged into the room.

"Grandma Ursa, Grandma Ursa!" the two called out. "I want to show you the penguins!" Xifeng exclaimed excitedly. "Forget the penguins," Kouen said. "Watch watch watch what mama taught me.

The little boy then went into a fire-bending stance and began making elaborate hand movements. The groups eyes went wide when lightning started building up. "No, Kouen! NOT IN THE HOU-" but it was too late, the boy released a bolt of lightning straight through the back wall, creating a large opening to the outside.

Kouen faced the shocked group, and received stern glares from his parents. The tension was alleviated when everyone heard clapping coming from Ursa. "That was wonderful!" she said. "You really are your mother's child." Kouen beamed at the praise.

"Xifeng, sweetie, could you do daddy a favor and fix up the wall," Sokka asked. The little girl nodded and went to the large hole in the wall. Using her water-bending, the little girl repaired the wall, good as new. When she heard Ursa clapping behind her, Xifeng beamed as well.

"That was very impressive," the group heard coming from the entrance. "Uncle Iroh!" the children called out. Xifeng and Kouen immediately charged after the aged man and gave him a warm hug.

"It's good to see you children," he said joyously. "You've both gotten so big since I last visited. Which reminds me," Iroh placed his pack on the ground and pulled out two small boxes. He handed them to the children, and they both opened their respective box with haste.

Kouen pulled out a stuffed platypus-bear and Xifeng received a delicate looking china doll. The two siblings looked at each other before shrugging. As the adults went about catching up, the children left to go play with their new targets.

--xXx--

029. Pattern (Set in the December AU)

Everyone in the Southern Water Tribe had a role they each played. The water-benders made sure that each of the buildings were well kept. Whenever a hut looked like it was about to collapse, they would repair anything that was wrong. They also provided medical attention whenever needed.

The non-bending warriors were usually the hunters. They would go out daily and capture a vast assortment of fish, turtle-seal, and even the occasional whale-fish. They would provide the manual labor for anything that couldn't be done with bending.

The children had a duty as well. They would give assistance to the adults whenever they were asked. It was their training for when they would later join the tribe as hunters/warriors and benders.

But above all, the most important role in the village was that of the Chief, which Sokka had just recently become. He would join in the hunts, he would supervise the benders when performing repairs, he would instruct the children and give them sound advice.

And so that became his daily routine, his pattern, and Azula came memorize it. He would always wake up first now, get ready, and, after eating a small breakfast, he would join one of the morning hunting parties. When he returned, he would speak with the villagers as he wandered the tribe, checking if anything needed tending to.

Once noon came around, he would go and instruct the children. He'd teach them the lessons they would need when they became adults. Anything from how to capture a sea lion, to repairing a crack in a wall without water-bending. By the time the lessons were finished, it would be time for the daily council meeting.

At the meetings, he would receive information on things he might have missed during the day. If there was ever a problem he was not present for, he would hear about it there. It was there that he had gotten news of hunting parties returning with dead members.

As the group discussed the status of the dead members, Sokka came to one conclusion. They were being attacked by a Polar Leopard. When the group noted that the sun had set, the meeting was concluded, and the council agreed to continue in the morning with their decision on what to do about their Polar Leopard situation.

With the meeting concluded, Sokka began to walk home sullenly. He was accompanied by his father, who decided to strike up a conversation. "It's not your fault," he said. Sokka looked to his father curiously. "It's not your fault the men died. There was no way we could have known there was a polar leopard waiting out there."

Sokka looked back to the path in front of him. "I know, but... I still feel somewhat responsible," the younger man replied. "What would you do, dad?"

"Me," Hakoda started. "I would organize a hunting party, track the beast down, and kill it," he paused however when he continued thinking about his plan. "Essentially, it wouldn't be any different than a regular hunt."

Sokka took in his father's advice. He mulled it over some and came to his own conclusion. "No," he said. "It's not like a regular hunt. While the group is hunting the leopard, the leopard is actively hunting you as well. A larger party would be easier for the large cat to find, and if he gets the jump on you, then you'll have a problem dealing with the wounded and the beast."

"So, what do you have in mind," Hakoda inquired. Sokka's face went blank for a moment. He knew what his oldest son was thinking. He planned on hunting the creature alone. The older man frowned deeply. "At least take some water-benders with you," he pleaded.

"Sorry, dad," Sokka declined. "They'd be too much of a liability. They have no experience with fighting something like a Polar Leopard."

Sokka turned to look at his father when he reached the door to his home. "This is something I have to do. I feel like I owe it to the people who've already been killed by this thing."

The former chief looked at his son intently. The look in Sokka's eyes showed ever ounce of his conviction. He would face this beast and he would fight it. Hakoda let out a sigh as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "You've grown up so much and I never really realized it."

Sokka gave his father a hug before entering his home. When he made his way to the kitchen he found Xifeng and Kouen feeding Ozai, Azula was busy cooking an arctic hen with her fire-bending. When his kids saw him, they immediately gave him a warm welcome. They both began to talk about how their day went, and what they learned with their bending practices.

When Azula finished, she placed the roasted fowl on a plate and brought it to the table. As they ate, the woman could tell something was wrong with her husband. He loved arctic hen, especially the way she made it. The way he ate was more subdued and careful. Somehow, his daily pattern had been shaken up. The dark haired woman made a note to talk to Sokka about it when the children went to sleep.

After everyone finished eating, Sokka made sure to tuck in both his son and daughter and give them both kisses on the forehead before rejoining his wife in their own bedroom. He entered to room to find Azula standing in the middle with that 'what's wrong' look.

He sat down on their fur lined bed and began to relate to Azula the events of the day and his plans to deal with the polar leopard. Azula took the information in and became apprehensive. "Take me with you then," she begged hysterically. "I can hurt the leopard more than any water-bender could, we could do this together!"

Sokka hugged his wife tenderly, her frantic tears cascading onto his chest. "What if something happened to both of us," he asked softly. "Who'd watch after the children?"

He could feel her sobbing slowly coming to a halt. Silence filled the room as Azula realized that Sokka was right. He had to do this himself. She pulled back slightly and looked deeply into her husbands eyes. They were so blue, like the vast ocean. "Promise me," she demanded. "Promise me you'll come back."

Sokka brought his lips down onto Azula's, every ounce of his love pouring into her. He held her close, her arms firmly wrapped around his neck. "I promise," he said when they pulled apart. Slowly, the two lowered onto the bed and made love for what Azula feared to be their last time.

The next morning, Sokka woke up at his normal time. Unlike every other time, Azula was nowhere to be seen. He quickly got out of bed and got dressed. When he entered the main room, he found Xifeng, Kouen, and Azula all standing at the door with his equipment.

"We heard you and mom talking last night," Xifeng said through her sobs. "You show that stupid leopard who's boss," Kouen added as he fought back his own set of tears. It broke Sokka's heart to see his children cry like that. He enveloped his family in a hug and kissed each one of them before he took his gear and headed out into the frozen tundra.

He didn't know how long he had been walking. The light reflecting off of the snow made it difficult for Sokka to tell much of anything. All he had to rely on was his instincts, and right now, they were telling him that something was wrong.

Tightening his grip on the spear, Sokka prepared for an attack. Just as he reached the bottom of a rather large hill, a large figure loomed over him. He took a defensive stance as he observed the creature. Sure enough, it was an adult Polar Leopard, male judging from the size of the beast.

He met the large animal's gaze, it's golden eyes piercing into his very core. It was studying him, figuring how best to deal with the new threat. Sokka readied himself for anything. Without warning, the beast lunged at him, it's large fangs bearing onto the spear, easily snapping the weapon in twain.

Sokka stumbled back and fell onto his back. The leopard now stood only a couple of feet before the young chief and released a mighty roar. It was about to lunge forward and bring it's large saber-like fangs onto the warrior when, to Sokka's astonishment, Ozai leapt onto the Polar Leopard's back and clamped his jaws tightly onto the beasts neck.

The larger animal began to thrash about in an attempt to remove the polar bear-dog from its back. Ozai finally released his hold when the leopard slammed himself against a nearby rock wall. The dog, however, managed to recover and attempted to go for the beasts jugular, only to be slammed by the larger animals paw.

Sokka heard Ozai yelp in pain as he was instantly sent flying back several feet from the sheer force of the blow. He was pretty sure that his faithful pet had a fractured rib or two. He steeled himself as he brandished his straight sword as well as his machete. As the leopard charged at the dog to finish the job, Sokka swung the machete as hard as he could.

Unfortunately, the beast managed to avoid a lethal injury by quickly jumping to the side. The shallow wound on the leopard's shoulder began to stain its fur red with its own blood. It growled angrily as he began to size up Sokka. Without warning, it began to swipe its large claws at the man.

Slash after ferocious slash, Sokka barely managed to avoid what would have been certain death. His coat, however, was getting torn to shreds. As the beast lunged after him once again, Sokka was able to pull off a side-step and cut two large gashes into the leopards side.

It let out a terrible roar and slammed its head into Sokka's side, sending him flying back a few feet. The polar leopard seemed to go into a frenzy, no longer concerned with merely killing the chief. Every time Sokka would attempt to get up, the beast would slam him with its massive paws, sending him sprawling to the ground once again.

After several minutes of being tossed around like a rag doll, the Polar Leopard stood above the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, a deadly paw on each side of his head. It leaned forward and bared its deadly fangs. The beasts face merely inches from his own.

It suddenly reared its head back and gave out a loud cry of pain as Ozai, once again, attacked it from behind. This time, Sokka capitalized on the distraction and attacked the leopard's jugular with his survival knife. The creature began thrashing wildly, its terrible paws slamming against Sokka in an attempt to free itself.

Through the entire ordeal, Sokka managed to keep the knife dug deeply into the leopards neck. Its thrashing becoming weaker and weaker as its life slowly drained from it. When it finally ceased fighting, Sokka removed the blade and dropped the dead animal on the ground.

Sokka just stood in his spot for a moment, allowing himself to recover from his adrenaline rush. He suddenly felt very cold, then he remembered that his entire coat and undershirts were torn to shreds, his skin marred with shallow cuts from the leopards claws. He realized that if he wanted to make it back to the village alive, he would need something to keep himself warm.

Remembering his lessons, Sokka went for his machete, and proceeded to gut the Polar Leopard. Once the carcass was relieved of its innards, Sokka placed it on his back, an arm on each shoulder, and began stagger back to the village, Ozai limping beside him the entire way.

Azula stood at the entrance to the village. Xifeng and Kouen had both fallen asleep against each other on a stone bench. The sun was almost completely set, and Sokka had yet to return. She felt a hand fall onto her shoulder. Turning around, Azula was met with the sight of her sister-in-law.

"He'll come back," Katara said. "Ever since we were babies, Sokka always picked fights everyone thought he would never win; fighting a group of bullies, wrestling with sea lions, dating you. But in the end, he would always come out on top, he would always find a way." Azula smiled at the reassuring humor. "After all," Katara added. "He manages to put up with you, and that's gotta be the hardest thing in the world."

The two shared a laugh at the little joke. They were broken out of their laughter when one of the guards sounded an alert. "Someone's approaching!" the two women heard.

Sure enough, a figure started appearing over the horizon. Slowly, everyone gathered began to make out a figure carrying a large animal. As Sokka grew closer and closer to the village, he could feel his limbs growing weaker and weaker. Halfway through the journey back, Ozai had collapsed due to his injuries, and the chieftain had to carry the large dog as well.

As Sokka reached the edge of the village, he fell to his knees. Immediately everyone was by his side. "Take Ozai and heal his wounds, would you Katara?" he asked nonchalantly. Katara nodded her head and, with some assistance, took the dog to be treated.

Several men took the polar leopard carcass off of their leader and carried it to be skinned and stripped for anything of value. Water-benders would wash the blood off of Sokka, with Azula and Kouen heating up the cool water. Once Sokka was rid of the leopards blood, he was immediately covered with layers of thick furs, and dragged into the medical hut to treat his wounds.

As he was being healed, Sokka relayed the events that had transpired through the day. "That's amazing," one of the council members said. "The last person to ever kill a Polar Leopard and survive was Avatar Kuruk. It's quite astonishing that you did it all by yourself especially since you're a non-bender."

"But I didn't do it by myself," Sokka corrected as he scratched Ozai behind the ears, the dog chewing intently on the leopards cleaned femur. It was true as well. Without his trusted Polar Bear-dog, Sokka would have been dead. When everything was taken care of, Azula wrapped one of Sokka's arms around her shoulder and helped him get back to their home.

After Sokka and Azula put their children to bed, the two went to their own room and laid down. "I was afraid you wouldn't come back," Azula said quietly. "I when the sun began setting, I had thought the worst. I had thought I lost you."

Silence filled the room for a moment as Sokka looked at his wife. "Well," he said as he kissed her gently on the top of her head. "I'm here now and that's all that matters. Tomorrow, I'll have dad take over my duties, and I'll make sure to spend the entire day with you and the kids. How's that sound?"

Azula smiled and kissed Sokka passionately. "That sounds wonderful," she said as she laid her head down on his chest and fell asleep. Sokka closed his eyes as well and slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.

--xXx--

030. Flaw (Set in the Desert AU after Wrath)

There must have been some logical flaw in Sokka's plan. There just had to be. He had spent the entire week in the little desert village, and every time he tried to speak with Azula-er.. Lei Lien, she would glare at him and then proceed to go about her day. "She either really hates me," he said to himself. "Or she really just doesn't want to open up."

"I'd say it's the latter of the two," the barkeep inferred. Sokka responded by giving the man a harsh glare. He simply shrugged before going about his business.

As Sokka thought about how he would get the former princess to open up, it hit him. Not an idea, no. A mug actually hit him in the back of the head. Without even realizing it, Sokka had ended up participating in a barroom brawl.

Just as quickly as the fighting started, Sokka found himself locked in the local prison. "How in the nine hells did this happen?!" he asked himself flabbergasted.

He waited several hours as one by one, someone would pick up the other brawlers. Finally, once the sun was beginning to set, he found Azula standing outside the cell. "Hello, Lei Lien," he said amused. "What's a pretty gal like you doing in a jail like this?"

His attempt at humor was lost to the woman. He let out a sigh as he realized there would be no joking with the former fire-nation woman. "So am I being released or what?"

Without saying anything, Azula opened the cell door, and left. Sokka sat in his cell for a moment looking at the gateway to his freedom.

"I guess that's an improvement..." he said to himself.

His plan may be flawed, but it was working... albeit very slowly.

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A/N: So yeah, new chapter after almost a week. Hope you all enjoy.

Read and Review Please!