It had been almost a week since Sokka had started that bar fight. The cut on his forehead was almost completely healed over. Most of his bruises had disappeared, except for some of the bigger ones. He was feeling pretty good. Since the fight, things with Azula had been pretty good too. Neither dared to speak about the kiss, though. And Sokka thought that was probably for the best right now. But he most definitely didn't regret it.
They still argued on a daily basis, though most of the time, Sokka thought she was just trying to be more sarcastic than he was. Didn't she know that he was the sarcasm king, though? Obviously not. But Sokka did have to admit Azula was pretty good in the sarcasm department. A lot of their arguments had turned into nothing more than friendly banter, which was nice. But most of all? Sokka noticed something about her in the past few days that was different. She was smiling more. A lot more. And it wasn't just that obviously fake smile or that evil 'I'm plotting your demise' smile either, it was a real one. So that definitely led him to believe that she was happy. That he was making her happy. And that made him happy. Made him relieved too. After that kiss, after that stupid stunt he pulled at the bar, Sokka had been almost certain he had ruined absolutely everything between them. But now he thought he had been stupid to worry about it so much. For the past few days, they actually had been acting like friends. Real friends. Sokka liked that.
Suddenly, a piece of paper slapped down on the seat of the chair, in front of Sokka's face. The sound got his attention. He looked up to see Azula standing above him, her arms crossed.
"What?" He questioned. She stared at him and made a small motion towards the piece of paper. Sokka sighed and picked it up. He started to read it, "The 24th annual Golden Lotus art exhibition in Ba Sing Se," Sokka read, "What about it?"
"I've gone every year for the past four years," Azula explained, "This year, I expect you to come along. Even though I doubt you'll be able to fit in with high society."
"What? Who says I don't know how to behave in high society?" Sokka barked, standing up straight at his full height, towering over the smaller woman.
"This isn't just high society though, this is in the palace. The King will be there," She explained.
"I'm very good acquaintances with King Kuei, thank you very much!" Sokka raised his voice.
"Because you're the Avatar's little friend. Take that away and you're just a Water Tribe peasant," Azula explained.
"And what, you're not a peasant?" Sokka sneered.
"No, I'm an artist, and I make a fine living off of it," Azula said, "I also have plenty of experience with royalty and high society, or have you forgotten that so quickly?"
"I haven't forgotten anything, but what makes you think I don't know how to be all prim and proper?" Sokka demanded.
"The fact you can't stand up straight, you smell like an ostrich-horse, and the fact that you don't have any manners might have something to do with it," Azula said.
"My manners are fine!" Sokka protested.
"Maybe for a barbarian," Azula scoffed.
"If you don't think I'd fit in, why do you want to take me so bad?" Sokka asked.
"If you want to get technical, you're my apprentice. I think it would be a good experience for you."
"But you say I'm the one with bad manners? You're pretty much demanding that I go with you to this thing. Where I'm from, its polite to ask nicely, not demand," Sokka said.
"I knew you'd say yes so I didn't bother," Azula smirked.
"You knew I'd say yes?" Sokka growled. She was making him a bit angry. So much for being friendly.
"Mhmm," Azula replied, examining her fingernails.
"You know what?" Sokka said, getting a rather devious idea. He smirked, moving behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders before she could turn around to face him.
"What?" She spoke the word through gritted teeth.
"I'll go with you…if…"
"If what?" She grunted, her patience growing thin with him. What was he up to?
"You work too much, " He said as he started to rub her shoulders a little, "You're so tense."
"Part of that's your fault," She remarked.
"I know, I know. But do you want me to go with you to this thing or not?" Sokka questioned slowly, still massaging her shoulders. He was feeling particularly daring today; he moved his fingers to the base of her neck as well. She sighed. Sokka wasn't sure if it was a response to his question or a response to his hands. "I'll go with you to this thing in Ba Sing Se if you take the day off. From everything."
"What do you mean?" She demanded sharply.
"When's the last time you took a break?"
"I don't need breaks," Azula insisted. Sokka snickered to himself, moving a little closer to her and leaning down towards her ear.
"Azula," He breathed her name barely above a whisper, "You're only human. Humans need little vacations every once in a while."
"I have things to do. I have to clean the house, I have commissions I need to finish and-"
"All of that will still be here tomorrow. The universe will forgive you for taking one day off, I promise."
And that's how Azula got roped into spending the day with Sokka, trying to have fun. To Azula, there wasn't any time for fun. Fun was for slackers and underachievers. And she wasn't either of those.
Currently, they were walking into town. Sokka was carrying a picnic basket full of…Azula had no idea what. She was carrying a leather book that she used for sketching, along with some leads. Maybe she'd find some time to do a little sketching sometime during the day. Then the day wouldn't have been a total complete waste
"What are we even going to be doing?" Azula demanded once they got into town.
"Well, first I wanted to do a little shopping, but then I thought we'd go fishing," Sokka told her. Azula stopped in her tracks and stared at him incredulously.
"You can't be serious."
"Serious as I can be," Sokka grinned.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Azula grumbled, "Let's just keep going and get this over with."
Eventually, once Sokka had finished his shopping, he and Azula headed out towards the river. Sokka handed the picnic basket to Azula and took He got down on his hands and knees and started digging in the mud, searching for worms. Azula gave him a disgusted look and walked away. She was so tempted to just go home but against her better judgement, she stayed. She found a relatively flat spot of ground and laid down a blanket. She sat down on it and started sketching. Bugs and butterflies started to grace the pages of the book. Little snippets of scenery also started appearing. As well as just some mindless doodles that ended up looking quite a bit like Sokka.
Upon that realization, Azula quickly turned the page, ignoring the heat that had flooded to her cheeks. Oh how she hated that man sometimes. Most of the time. He wasn't supposed to make her feel like this. He was an idiot. A peasant. Not the kind of person Azula ever saw herself wanting to be with. Mentally, she slapped herself. This was no time for silly school girl crushes. She was far too old for that anyway.
Azula barely noticed as he approached her, she was too caught up in her thoughts, denying she had anything that resembled a feeling towards him.
"Come on," Sokka said, grinning down at her and holding out his hand. Grudgingly, Azula placed her hand in his and let him pull her up to her feet.
"This better be as fun as you say it is," She scoffed, realizing she was still holding his hand. Azula quickly let go and distanced herself from him a little. She quickly shoved everything back into the picnic basket, she made no attempt to be neat about it, for once. Just getting it to fit was enough for her right now. She'd fix it later.
"It will be," Sokka assured her, leading her over to the riverbank. As they made their way down the river, he watched Azula, trying to figure out what she was thinking. What she was feeling. The expression on her face showed nothing. Her gaze was focused forward and was unchanging.
"Just a warning, you're gonna get wet," Sokka grinned. She gave him a dangerous stare.
After a quick lesson in the art of fishing, Azula found herself standing knee-deep in the river, holding a fishing rod awkwardly. (Which was quite an amusing sight considering the fact that most things came natural to the princess.) Sokka was a few feet away from her, standing in deeper water. It didn't bother him as much as it bothered her.
For what seemed like a long, long while, Azula stood there. Not one fish had even tried to take the bait on her line. Frustrated, she pouted a little when she looked up to see Sokka reeling in what seemed like his tenth or eleventh fish. It was a small one though, so he just threw it back into the water.
"Haven't you caught anything yet?" Sokka called over to her with a big, happy smile.
"No," Azula growled. Sokka snickered a little. He was enjoying this more than he should have been.
"Why don't you come over here by me? You might have better luck," Sokka suggested. Azula contemplated it for a few moments. If she was closer to him, then it'd be easier to make him miserable and regret forcing her to take the day off. Cruel insults were usually effective.
"Fine," She grumbled. In one hand she held her fishing rod, in her other she hiked up her dress so she wouldn't get it any wetter than it already was. With an exasperated sigh, she waded through the water towards Sokka. She didn't quite make it all the way over to him though because even Princess Azula wasn't immune to sometimes losing her balance and falling. Her foot slid right out from under her in the mud, causing her to fall backwards into the water, making a big splash. She thrashed around for a second, trying to regain her balance and stand up on her feet again. Before she managed to do this, however, Sokka came rushing to her rescue. He grabbed her by her waist and set her upright.
"Are you alright?" He questioned, trying to suppress a laugh, his hands still at her waist.
"I am fine!" She snapped, "Now hands off!" She ordered immediately. Sokka obeyed without question.
"You sure?" Sokka asked again.
"Yes!" She insisted, reaching behind her and pulling the tie out of her hair. She started twisting the wet mess of black to squeeze some of the water out. As she did that, Sokka reached forward and touched her nose, wiping something off, "What was that for?" Azula demanded.
"You had mud on your nose," He replied with a nonchalant shrug.
"…Oh," Azula responded awkwardly. Sokka then picked her fishing rod up and out of the water. He handed it back to her. She held it tightly in her hands as she took a few steps away from him.
A few minutes later, Sokka caught another fish. Out of the corner of her eye Azula saw this and grimaced. Sokka noticed and sighed.
"You need to relax," Sokka said.
"I'm perfectly relaxed," Azula growled.
"You have a raging death grip on your fishing rod," Sokka pointed out. Azula immediately loosened her grip and denied it.
"No I don't!" She protested. Sokka grinned. He reeled in his line and tossed his rod on the riverbank. He was pretty gutsy again and this little trick had worked on her this morning so… Sokka placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her so her back was facing him. She gave a small displeased grunt but did nothing to stop him. He massaged her shoulders, just like he did earlier.
"No, you're not tense at all," Sokka said with sarcasm, "Your muscles are all knotted up."
"Like I said this morning, part of that's your fault and this little day of what you call fun is doing nothing to help," Azula remarked sharply to hide the fact that she actually was enjoying it. Sokka continued, his hands moving over her neck and shoulders.
"This is helping, isn't it?" Sokka murmured in her ear. She snorted and spun around so she was facing him. She met Sokka's eyes with a glare. He smiled, "It was, don't deny it."
"I'm not denying anything," She replied, staring him down.
"Then admit it," Sokka smirked, leaning down over her, their noses were almost touching.
"Admit what?"
"You liked that."
"Liked what?"
"Azula, playing stupid just doesn't work for you," Sokka snickered a bit. She smirked.
Then time just seemed to freeze. Azula couldn't really hear anything around her except for the ba-bum, ba-bum of her heart. She was almost certain he was going to kiss her again. She could feel his warm breath against her cool face and she was just standing there. Did she want him to kiss her again? Not really, right? So then why wasn't she doing anything to stop him?
The stillness was driving her a bit crazy. Why wasn't he making the move? Azula arched her neck towards him a little, tilted her head and parted her lips a bit. She wanted to see if he could resist the bait.
Truthfully, Sokka would have kissed her in that moment. If it wasn't for the sudden tug on her fishing line. When she felt her line being pulled, she instantly turned away from him. Caught a bit off guard, Azula's face lit up as she started reeling it in. Sokka sighed, cursing the fish. It just had to pick that particular moment to bite, didn't it?
The grin grew on Azula's face as she pulled her fish out of the water. It was huge. Sokka stared at it with a mixed expression. More than anything though, he was a bit angry. Stupid fish just had to ruin a perfect opportunity!
"This is a really big fish," Azula commented with a smirk, watching it flail.
"Yeah, very big," Sokka replied, "I can already smell it cookin'," He smirked, taking the fish from her.
"So you mean we're actually going to eat it?" Azula raised an eyebrow.
"Of course we are, you didn't think we'd be having fish for dinner after a day of fishing?" Sokka asked her. She didn't respond. Sokka sighed, "Why don't you go start a fire while I take care of this big guy here."
Azula crossed her arms and stared him down.
"There's spark rocks in the picnic basket!" Sokka assured her. She grunted and climbed out of the river and started collecting sticks to start a fire. As the pile of sticks grew in her arms, Azula's features withered into a scowl. If that fish hadn't have interrupted, he would have kissed her, she knew it. But that wasn't why she was scowling. She was scowling because she was a tad angry with herself for even giving him the bait.
She went back to the spot where she had left the picnic basket and just dropped the sticks beside the blanket so she could go get more. She watched Sokka for a second and sighed. He was so caught up in whatever it was he was doing with that fish he didn't notice her standing there.
After gathering another armful of wood, Azula sat down and started arranging the sticks in a precise way. Sokka glanced in her direction for a moment. She had such a ridiculous eye for detail. "No wonder she went crazy", he thought. Having such an obsession with perfection just couldn't be healthy. But for some reason, Sokka found it rather endearing. He couldn't imagine her any other way.
When she was finally finished meddling with the sticks, Azula dug through the picnic basket looking for the spark rocks. When she found them she stared at them in her palm. She could almost hear them mocking her.
"This is pathetic," She growled as she struck the rocks together, getting them to spark and set one little stick on fire. The tiny flame traveled up that stick and grabbed onto another one quickly but Azula was impatient. If she had still had her firebending, there would have been a big, beautiful fire burning in front of her in less than a second. But there she was, stuck with those infernal rocks.
Getting sick of striking the rocks, Azula threw them off to the side and waited for the fire to grow on its own. She never realized how slow fire could be before and it was really irritating her. She sat back and pulled her knees up to her chest. She closed her eyes and a small smile grew on her lips as she started humming, then singing quietly to herself.
"An extraordinary beauty from the North, the most beautiful being in the world," Azula was never entirely positive why she sang that particular little lullaby, but it was awfully fitting. It just seemed to always be on her mind.
"From her first glance, the city bows before her, from her second the empire falls to ruins…" She continued, Sokka made his way back up by her. He heard her voice singing quietly, almost matching the uneven crackle of the fire.
"Hey," Sokka interrupted her. She cracked an eye open to see him, then replied.
"Hello," She said softly. Sokka sat down next to her and held a long branch that had the stabbed-through fish sitting on the end. He held the fish above the fire, letting them start to cook.
"You look tired," Sokka commented.
"A little," Azula said, her eyes focused on the fire.
"Its a very nice fire," Sokka said stupidly.
"I'd hope so," Azula snorted. Sokka sighed. That hadn't been a very good thing to say.
"I don't think any less of you, you know," He added. That probably hadn't been good thing to say either.
"For what?"
"For you not being a firebender anymore. You're still just as scary."
Azula looked up at him with a "Are you serious?" kind of glare.
"Well, some of the time you're just as scary," Sokka clarified.
"Am I scary right now?" Azula questioned, there was a slightly playful air in her voice.
"Naw. Slightly intimidating, yes. Scary, no," Sokka said. Azula smiled.
"Only slightly?"
"I guess I'm just getting too used to you," He grinned.
"I guess so," She looked back at the fire. Adjusting his grip so he could hold the branch with one hand, he reached over towards her and draped his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her closer to him, she didn't pull away from him.
"You really miss it, don't you?" Sokka questioned quietly, referring to her bending. She looked up at him for a second before her attention turned back to the fire.
"A lot," She replied quietly. Sokka glanced down at her, her face was twisted into a sad expression. He would have expressed some sort of pity for her but he knew she didn't want it. He just squeezed her shoulder a tiny bit as a comforting gesture.
They stayed like that until Sokka declared the fish done enough to eat. He untangled his arm from around her and pulled the fish out of the fire completely so they could start cooling down. He touched them a few times each before they cooled down. When it didn't hurt to touch them anymore, he pulled one off and held it out for Azula. She stared at him incredulously.
"You expect me to eat it…with my hands?" She questioned with mild disgust.
"Yeah, why not?" Sokka shrugged.
"Just isn't something I'm used to."
"Chopsticks are overrated," Sokka joked, "The river is right there for you to wash your hands in when you're done," He pointed out. Azula raised her eyebrow for a second before she grabbed the fish from him.
For the most part, their meal was quiet, until Sokka laughed as he watched her meticulously pull the bones out of the fish. She didn't even notice his childish giggling. Or at least she didn't notice until she was almost done.
"What's so funny?" She demanded.
"You," Sokka said.
"Me?"
"You. You're so obsessive over tiny details," Sokka stated.
"I'm a perfectionist, there's nothing wrong with that," Azula defended herself.
"No, but you're missing out on a whole lot of things by focusing on such tiny things. You really need to learn how to lighten up once in a while."
"I thought that was the whole point of today?" Azula questioned.
"It was and you haven't learned anything," Sokka sighed.
"One day of fishing and eating like a barbarian isn't going to change my ways. I'm stubborn," Azula grinned.
"No kidding," Sokka laughed.
They were quiet again while they finished eating. Until Sokka found something else she was doing to be unintentionally hilarious. She was licking her fingers.
"That's not very lady-like," Sokka pointed out. Azula shrugged.
"That's the point."
"So you're licking your fingers to prove me wrong?"
"Sounds about right."
"You're frustrating."
"So are you."
They paused for a second.
"This is going nowhere," Sokka declared.
"No, not really," Azula agreed, licking off her index finger. Sokka found this to be unbelievably sexy. He wasn't sure if that was the intention or not.
"You need to stop being so spiteful," He gulped, feeling awfully warm.
"I need to do a lot of things," Azula commented. Sokka's eyes moved around frantically, searching for another conversation topic. He found one. Poking out of the picnic basket was her sketchbook. Sokka wiped his hands on his pants and then reached over and grabbed it.
"So what were you drawing before?" He questioned. Azula bolted from her spot to grab the book back from him.
"Nothing important! Just sketches, nothing worth seeing!" Azula said, her voice slightly frantic as she tugged on the book. Sokka tugged back, though.
"I think you're hiding something," Sokka eyed her carefully.
"Hiding something? That's silly, why would I hide something?" Azula said, forcing a laugh.
"Then why won't you let me see what's in here?" Sokka asked. Azula paused for a second.
"Because you didn't ask if you could see it first!" Azula shot at him.
"Alright, may I please see what's in your sketchbook, Azula?"
"No!" Azula declared, tugging on the book again. He still wouldn't let go. She growled, "Just give it back?"
"No!" Sokka mimicked her, yanking the book from her hands. She glared at him. Murderously. He ignored it and opened it up, flipping to the most recent pages. He recognized some sketches that were of the plants surrounding the river, some just a general depiction of the landscape. And on the last page there were sketches of a man. A man that looked a lot like Sokka himself. He glanced up at Azula. She had a slightly horrified expression on her face. Sokka could tell she was trying to hide it. He looked back down at the page. She obviously spent more time on these, they were quite a bit more detailed.
"Are these of me?" Sokka asked, holding up the book so Azula could see.
"I was practicing my male anatomy," Azula barked, "Don't get too excited about it."
"Then why didn't you want me to see it?"
"Because what I draw in my sketchbook is none of your business," she snapped. Sokka sighed, closing the book and handing it back to her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm in it. You know I like seeing your drawings and stuff," Sokka said. Azula took the book and tucked it back into the picnic basket.
"Apology accepted," She said, averting her eyes from him.
"We should probably pack up and start heading back to your place anyway, its getting pretty late," Sokka said, grabbing the old bucket he had used to throw bait in and getting up on his feet.
"Sounds like a plan," Azula stood up as well. She was going to start packing up other things until she saw Sokka was walking back down towards the river. She decided to follow him instead. He noticed and smiled to himself.
"So did you have fun today?" He asked, squatting down on the river bank to fill the bucket with water.
"I suppose. Wasn't my typical idea of fun but it was still enjoyable," Azula replied nonchalantly.
"Then what is your typical idea of fun, princess? Ordering servants around, playing God, that sort of thing?" Sokka said, laying the sarcasm on as thick as he possibly could. If the devious gears hadn't already been turning in her mind, Azula would have probably gotten angry at him for that statement. But she was planning something and he was completely oblivious.
"You know me so well, Sokka!" Azula said with sarcasm of her own, "But you're forgetting one little thing. This."
And then Azula proceeded to push him into the river. She laughed as he thrashed in the water to get his bearings. When he stood up, he was covered in mud, but he was grinning ear to ear and laughing.
"You're going to pay for that," He said as he crawled out of the river and stood in front of her.
"How?" Azula smirked, putting a hand on her hip.
"Like this," Sokka whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled their bodies together and jumped back into the river, taking Azula with him. She shrieked before she hit the water.
When they both surfaced, Sokka still had his hands at her hips and her arms hand snaked around his shoulders. Both still had a few giggles left in them as well.
"I should have seen that coming a mile away," Azula snickered.
"I'm glad you didn't," Sokka replied, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers.
"Why?"
"Because hearing you scream like that just made my day," Sokka explained.
"I didn't scream!"
"Yes you did."
"Hypothetically speaking, what if I did scream? Why would that make your day?" The smirk on her lips was obvious in the tone of her voice. Sokka laughed softly.
"You did scream when I pulled you into the water and it made my day because it was kind of adorable," Sokka explained.
"We should go," Azula said sternly, pulling away from him and climbing up the riverbank. She squeezed as much water out of her hair and her clothes as she possibly could before she walked back up to the fire. Sokka sighed and watched after her as he got out of the water for the second time. He grabbed the bucket again, filled it up and also headed back towards Azula and their little camp. He dumped the water on the fire, effectively putting it out. Azula packed everything she could back into the picnic basket. She held it at her side and stared at Sokka, waiting for him. She hoped the glare would motivate him to move a little faster. Azula wanted to get home so she could change into some dry clothes and immerse herself back into a painting. Paintings weren't complicated like relationships with people were.
"You look freezing," Sokka said as he slung the rest of their things over his shoulder and started walking with Azula back into town.
"No, I'm fine," Azula insisted. If her pride would have let her, she would have stood closer to him.
"You sure?"
"Of course I'm sure, now stop talking, I was enjoying the silence," She snapped. Sokka stopped in his tracks for a second, a little surprised she used that tone with him. It had been a long time since he had heard that particular strain of malice in her voice directed at him.
Though they took their time on the way back, the walk was quiet. Sokka was contemplating what he could have done wrong. Honestly, he didn't think he had pushed his limits too far! Then again, limits with Azula were such a fine line that most of the time you could barely see them. Azula was mentally scolding herself for acting like such an idiot in front of him. She was better than that and she couldn't believe she was developing feelings for that…that thing. It frustrated her. Azula was just the type of person who would have been perfectly content living alone for the rest of her life, not having to worry about anyone but herself. But then came Sokka, that stupid Water Tribe peasant who just had to mess things up.
Both stood outside of Azula's home. She stood near the door, Sokka stood in front of her.
"I know it probably didn't seem like it, but I did have fun today," Azula admitted, "And that fish was very good."
"I'm really glad to hear it," Sokka smiled," And thanks, about the fish. I was worried you wouldn't like it."
"It was…wonderful," Azula bit her lip, unable to find a more fitting adjective at the moment.
"I had fun today too, it was a nice break from our everyday routine," Sokka said, stepping a little closer to her.
"It was and I really want to go change, I'm still soaking wet," Azula said in a slightly broken tone. She was uncomfortable, Sokka could tell. It was painfully obvious. To him, at least.
"Alright, go," He said with a shrug, but as she started to open the door, he stopped her. Sokka slid one of his hands over her cheek. She swallowed hard. His first thought was he was going to kiss her on the lips goodnight. But then he thought that might not be the best idea in the world so he opted to kiss her cheek instead. He leaned in and pressed his lips against her warm cheek. When he pulled away, Azula was standing there in something that resembled a state of shock. He could have sworn there was a reddish tint to her face that hadn't been there before, though.
And in an instant she threw the door open and slammed it behind her. Sokka could only laugh. She was so funny. She must have forgot that he was staying with her for that split second. So he stood outside a few minutes and waited before he entered. Hopefully, she wouldn't kick his ass.
A/N: Well, my surgery went fine but then I missed so much school it took forever to catch back up. But Winter break is just around the corner so hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner!
I hope you all enjoyed this fluffy chapter. Its going to be the last fluffy one for a while. Muwahaha~
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, REVIEWS, BANANAS?
~miss frerak