Zuko did not like to think of himself as a male chauvinist, however he had grown somewhat used to having dinner ready when he got off work. Suki had been texting him early that day about what they were going to have and had seemed excited about it. So when he came home to a totally clean and empty kitchen he was confused, but mostly worried that there was something wrong with Suki.

He walked to their bedroom, finding Suki in their bed behind the closed door. "Hey baby." He whispered as he walked to her, gently rubbing her arm.

She turned her head away from her pillow to look at him. He could tell from the redness in her eyes that she had been crying, and could tell by the look on her face that she did not want to talk about it.

Zuko kissed the side of her head lovingly, his eyes closed, "Are you ok?" He still had to ask, that is what boyfriend did after all, it's what he did.

Suki answered by getting up off the bed, grabbing his hand firmly. "What is it?" He asked as she pulled him out of the bedroom and into the living room. She let go of his hand, walking over the door that was Sokka and Azula's bedroom.

Zuko raised an eye brow as Suki pounded on the door a few times, clenching her teeth as she spoke: "Out here, now."

"What's going on?" Zuko asked, watching as Suki stood next to him. Sokka and Azula emerged from the bedroom a few moments later.

"This better be good." Azula snarled, standing next to a shirtless Sokka.

Suki looked at Azula, her head held high. "I want you out of my house."

Both Sokka and Zuko snapped their gaze to Suki, their eyes wide. Azula just looked at Suki, a smile on her face. "Wanted till your man got home to be bold I see."

"Now." Suki said through clenched teeth.

"What is going on?" Zuko said to her girlfriend, turning to her.

"Sokka, you are welcome to stay. But Azula is no longer welcome in this apartment."

"Suki, what is going on?" Zuko reached out for Suki's arm. She let him take it, but her eyes were still on Azula who was just giving her that same devilish smile.

"I'm not letting you kick her out." Sokka was holding Azula's hand now, a frown on his face. "If you throw her out, I'm going with her!"

"Then go." Suki said simply.

Azula's mood snapped from arrogant to angry. Throwing her out was one thing and was, frankly, understandable. However Suki throwing Sokka out made Azula's blood boil.

"Suki, you don't mean that." Zuko said with a frown, "We can't kick them out, they are family."

"I don't care." Suki said in a low voice, "I don't want her living here any longer."

Sokka's eyes went to Zuko's, "Are you going along with this?"

"I don't even know what this is!" Zuko protested.

"Whatever." Azula just rolled her eyes, pulling Sokka back to their bedroom. "I don't want to live in this ugly place anyways."

Suki watched them go before going back to her bedroom alone.

Zuko was left standing alone in the living room, running his fingers though his hair and wondering what the hell had just happened.

Zuko was sitting on the sofa when Azula and Sokka walked out with their bags. They could only take the things they could carry, as their only mode of transportation was Sokk'a motorcycle. It made Zuko's stomach churn to see it.

"So you are really going?"

"We will not stay someplace we are not welcome." Azula mumbled, her eyes down as she walked though the front door and into the hall.

"Where will you go?" Zuko asked Sokka.

"Oh, so now you give a fuck?" Sokka smiled mockingly at the fire bender.

"I've always given a fuck." Zuko sighed, "I don't want this."

"But you won't stop it, will you?"

Zuko sighed, shaking his head. "Just please... let me talk to her, give it a day. I'm sure that we can get to something worked out."

"You just stood there and left her kick your sister out! How can you stand by her when she's being so reckless?" Sokka's voice had been raised, his hands out beside him.

"I'm not letting her do anything, I'm trying to fix this, and I'm on nobody's side!" Zuko was half pleading at this point in time, his hands going to his head and pulling on his hair.

"Well, you're doing a great job at it! Go ahead, stick to Suki. I'll stay with Azula, since you're clearly not a good enough brother to stay by her side"

"Dude, don't fucking go there." Zuko himself was getting mad, his face flushing over as he pulled on his hair.

"You and me are the some of the only people she has Zuko! If you are ok with letting your girlfriend sever one of the only ties to humanity that your sister has, then you are less of a man than I thought you were."

Zuko was left speechless in his living room as Sokka went to Azula in the hall. He cosed the front door quite forcefully, wanting to make his anger be known.

"Are you ok?" Sokka asked, reaching out and taking her cheek into her hand. He looked into those golden eyes of hers. She was trying to fight the sadness she felt in her heart from showing in her eyes, but he knew her better than that. He could see the pain.

Azula had a funny smile on her face as she moved her face into his hand, "You already know the answer to that, idiot." Despite the sadness she felt she knew that as long as he was there, as long as she was not alone, she had no real reason to be sad.

Sokka just laughed and kissed her quickly, leaving the building hand in hand.

Zuko stood in the living room looking at the door for a long while. He was trying to process what had just happened. He thought that if he just talked to Suki he could figure this all out, that he could make things better. However he knew her well enough to know that she needed time for herself right now.

What she also needed was food, that always made her feel better. He set to work making dinner, her favorite pork dish. Once it was ready Zuko went to their door, knocking on it lightly before walking in.

She was in bed just like she had been when he came home, "Hey Suki..."

She just pulled the blanket that was over her closer to her chest, saying nothing. He walked over to the bed, kneeling on the bed as she leaned over and kissed her shoulder lightly, "I made pork chops if you're hungry."

"With applesauce?" She mumbled.

"Of course." Zuko smiled into her skin, his arm going around her waist.

Suki just smiled to herself, her hand going on top of his. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She wanted more than anything tell him about what Azula had said, to explain to him why she did what she did. The truth was that she was afraid. She was worried that if Zuko heard what Azula thought, he would in turn think that too. She thought that he would kick her out, that she would loose the thing she loved most in life.

She sat up in bed, her arms going around his neck. Zuko just held her close, rubbing her back softly with his lips locked on the side of her head.

Azula was surprised when his lips crashed against hers as soon as they had let down their luggage in the hotel room. She had thought he would try to be rational about this, to talk it over and make some sense out of it, but she was most pleased to discover otherwise. She was stressed, annoyed and troubled: She merely needed an escape from all those emotions and it seemed Sokka was perfectly willing to provide it to her. Or he could in fact need it himself.

Clothes flew all over the room even before they were lying across the bed, their hands running all over the other's naked body. It was a release in a million senses; it was a moment to forget about all their problems. No more thinking about their situation with Zuko and Suki, no more fretting over how they'd afford this hotel room for over a week when they pretty much had no savings. It was time to devour each other, to drink on the essence of their mutual desire.

The rabid exchange became softer after a while, their bites turned into kisses, their sweaty bodies were no longer crashing with anger. They were joined together in something different now, the one bond that would always remain even if the rest of the world fell apart. As long as they were together, there was nothing they couldn't face.

Azula didn't claw at Sokka's back for once in a long time. Her arms surrounded his neck as they shared cries of passion and ecstasy when reaching their climax in perfect harmony with the other. Sokka rolled over to one side, surprised when he realized they hadn't said a word throughout the entire exchange. It seemed words had been completely unnecessary so far: actions spoke louder than words, and all they needed to tell each other was that they were a team, they would stand by the other no matter what. Azula climbed over his heaving chest, waiting for her body to calm down after the wild activity they had enjoyed just now.

It was here, in bed with one another that she told him everything. She told him about walking in on Zuko and Suki, about the argument earlier in the day, about the horrid things that she had told Suki, even her behavior the day before. Sokka listened intently, his eyes focused on his love as she told him these things. It was not like her to so easily lay things out like this, even for him. The only time she would is when she was truly upset about something.

"Do you really think that about her?" Sokka asked, his fingers running though her fair, dark hair.

Azula pressed her lips to his strong chest, her amber eyes looking up at him. She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "I did at first." She mumbled into his skin after pulling her head up a little bit.

"At first?"

She nodded, sitting up in bed with her hips on his thighs, exposing herself to Sokka, "When she slept with Zuko, ending your relationship, I just assumed that she had done so because of money." She tried her best to cover it, but a blush crept over her cheek. "I liked you so much at the time and so when she left you for my idiot brother the only way that I could explain that was to say that she did it for that reason."

"I can see how you would think that." Sokka's hands went behind his head, his fingers locking in his hair.

"I changed my mind after a while," She smiled ever so lightly, "Once I saw how happy they made one another." She shook her lead lightly, "I'm a monster, arn't I?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause she has been taking care of us. Zuko may be the one who is making the majority of the money but she helps in other ways. She cooks and cleans and always makes sure that we are alright." Sokka's heart broke at seeing the defeated look on Azula's face. "Even though I'm horrible to her, I think of her as a friend." Azula shook her head, "And I did not mean what I said."

Sokka ran his hands over her thighs comfortingly, his finger nails scratching her lightly, "Just give it a few days... things will clear up, you will see."

Zuko and Suki ate their dinner as if nothing had happened. She asked him about his day, wanting to know about work and how he did. She did not ask about money like she usually did, the topic still being a little sensitive in her mind. She did not want to even drop the idea that she cared about the money.

Even though she knew what Azula said was wrong, she could not help but feel a lingering churn in her gut.

It was after they had finished eating that he finally touched on what was really on his mind, "Is all this about what happened last night?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." She protested before taking a drink of her white wine.

"But we need to talk about it." Zuko looked at her with a soft frown, reaching out and holding her hand.

"There is nothing to talk about Zuko." Suki said with a sigh, "I've made up my mind."

His thumb stroked her hand comfortingly. "Can you at least tell me why you made the choice?"

"I just could not do it anymore," She took another drink of her wine, trying to stop her hand from shaking.

"I know it's been hard, but I think there have been some good times."

She laughed a little bit, shaking her head, "What about having them here has been good?" Suki looked at him with a soft frown. "Was it good seeing her naked all the time? How about hearing them fucking at all hours? Or is it the constant ungratefulness that she carries? Or even better, has it been good how you have seen her consistently made my life hell since day one? What about this has been good?"

Zuko said nothing, but just held her hand softly. She was not wrong. It had not been easy with them living here, and he knew that it was hardest on Suki. He was gone during the day, Suki was not so lucky.

"You've let her walk all over us, all over me, and I can't - I won't deal with it anymore." She took her free hand and wiped away the tears that were gathering on her cheeks.

"I know... and I know that it has not been easy for any of us." He reached out and ran his hand over her auburn hair, sighing softly. "Let's just... give it a day. We will figure things out."

"I have figured things out, Zuko." Suki said sharply, glaring at him for a second. "And I can't have her here anymore." She reached out and ran the tips of her fingers over his scar, "I know you love her and want to help her but..."

Zuko reached out, taking Suki's cheek into his hand. "I know." He could feel her shaking softly as she cried silently, making him frown as he pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, Suki."

She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him tenderly.