Author's Note: Happy holidays, everyone! I can't believe it's almost been a year since I started writing this story. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 20: Tales of Ba Sing Se: Third-year Thorn

Two years ago…

"… and then I'll tie him up. That's when you come in," Jin slurred, inebriated. "Wearing a strap-on."

"Spirits," Kori groaned, rolling her eyes.

Azula smirked.

"And we'll fuck right in front of him," she giggled, rolling onto her stomach on the princess's bed. "And make him watch."

"Okay, okay, hold on," the firebender laughed before hiccupping. "Let me write this all down." She pulled out her notorious notebook and began scribbling. There was a clear deviation in her usually flawless penmanship, with her letters written sloppily and diagonally down the page.

"Yes!" Jin cheered victoriously. "It's going in the book! That means we have to do it, you know."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me how binding these words are." She hiccupped again in her drunken state.

"When two very straight girls are willing to fuck each other for the sake of revenge…" Kori was much too intoxicated to finish her train of thought. Instead, she just shook her head condescendingly.

"When did I ever say I was 'very straight'?" Jin challenged. "Besides… it's just a harmless prank. Just a little payback for him lying to me about being a circus performer when he was really the PRINCE OF THE FIRE NATION! Who never even bothered to look me up after we kissed!"

"Well that was just little Zuzu being his painfully awkward self," Azula chimed in. "According to Ty Lee, he's grown to be as suave and charming as a… Spirits, what did she call it? A weasel-snake in a… damn it I need to stop drinking!" She hiccupped.

The girls giggled, all red in the cheeks from the copious amounts of alcohol they had imbibed at a University party. All of a sudden, they were interrupted by a messenger hawk flying in through the window. It perched on Azula's bed.

As soon as the princess untied the scroll from the bird's leg, it squawked and flew back outside into the darkness. The words scribed on the parchment were messy, but more legible than the firebender's in her current state. She read to herself, "Dear Azula, Are you telling me that you've never seen snow before?! Yours, Sokka"

"Who's it from?" Jin questioned, grinning with curiosity.

"Just look at the smile on her face!" Kori snickered. "It's clearly from Sokka."

Azula's already flushed cheeks grew redder. "Why, as a matter of fact, it is."

But then the girls watched her face fall.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jin asked, concerned.

"Nothing, it's just…" She sighed, slamming her notebook shut. "I'm considering not following through with my plans for revenge and burning this book to a crisp."

"What?! But you've spent so much time on it!" Kori shouted in disbelief. "More time than you've spent on your school work…"

"I know, but… what if… what if – "

"What if you and Sokka become boyfriend and girlfriend?" Jin finished for her.

Azula shrugged, smiling self-consciously.

Jin smiled warmly. "You'd really throw all your plans away to be with him?"

"Well…" She shifted her eyes from left to right as she deliberated. "Yes, I think I would." She hiccupped, just about ruining the heartwarming moment.

"Then I think you should tell him," Kori asserted.

Azula's eyebrows furrowed. "Tell him what exactly?"

"How you feel about him!"

"You… really think I should?"

"YES!" the girls answered in unison.

"Okay, fine!" the firebender groaned before hiccupping again. She clutched her chest. "Ooh, that one hurt."

The girls giggled.

"You're such a mess," Jin teased, throwing a pillow at the princess.

Azula threw it back at her. "Oh, hush."

"So, what would you like to do now?" Azula asked Sokka, falling down on her back on her bed, satisfied from a full dinner.

"Besides you, you mean." He grinned roguishly.

She smirked and made room for him on the mattress.

But instead of joining her, he began rifling through his luggage. "Well, considering it's my last night here, I thought we could do something a little more extraordinary." Upon locating some specific items at the bottom of his bag, he pulled them out and placed them on the bed.

"I didn't realize you were into wearing women's clothing," she laughed.

"And I didn't realize you'd judge me!" he teased before taking a seat next to her. "Actually, they're for you."

"A winter coat and snow boots?" Her eyes brightened with sudden revelation. "Ohhh, I see where this is going."

"You do?" He found that hard to believe.

"Shall I try these on?"

He nodded, watching her disappear into her closet. "You're not going to change in front of me?"

"Not this time," she hummed.

He could hear mischief in her voice. "So… I had Kori go through your clothes and shoes to get your size. Hope you don't mind."

"It's fine," she shouted through the closet door. She stepped out adorned in the clothes he bought for her: a periwinkle blue coat with a white fur hood and matching white fur trim around the sleeves and waist, and ankle-high brown boots, also with a white fur trim. She wore the hood but conveniently left the coat completely unbuttoned, revealing that she was not wearing anything underneath it.

A lustful glaze washed over Sokka's blue eyes as they honed in on the princess's breasts, trailing down to her hips and between her legs. "Sweet Spirits," he breathed.

"So, who am I exactly?" she purred. "A lost Water Tribe girl? A visitor, perhaps?"

"Yeah so those clothes weren't exactly for roleplaying…" He blushed. "Don't get me wrong, you look crazy sexy right now, but I actually had something else planned for us tonight."

"Oh…"

His eyes roamed over her body once again. "But hey… since you're already dressed like that, why don't you come here for a second?" He gestured to his lap as an invitation.

She smirked and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and straddling his waist.

He bit his lip and placed his hands on her hips underneath the coat, letting them wander down to grope her voluptuous bottom. Kissing her hungrily, he moaned into her mouth, giving her a few playful smacks on the ass to encourage her to keep grinding her hips against his growing manhood.

Running her fingers wild through his hair, she yanked off the tie holding up his wolf-tail, devouring his mouth and tongue with hers.

"Ohhhhh," he groaned upon feeling her hot mouth move to his ear, where she sucked and nibbled on his earlobe. His fingers dug into her hips as he ground his pelvis back against hers. But when he felt her hand fumble for the sash on his pants, he stopped her. "Zula," he panted, trying to cool down. "The date I planned for us is a bit time dependent."

She pouted.

"So please put on some warm clothes and I'll fuck you into oblivion when we get back, okay?"

"Okay," she grumbled, reluctantly hopping off his lap. As she started to dress, she could hear him snickering to himself. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing," he chuckled.

"Tell me."

"No, you really don't want to hear this." He kept on laughing.

"SOKKA, TELL ME!"

"Okay, okay. It's just…" He sighed. "… when you wear that coat and those boots, you kinda look like Katara."

"EXCUSE ME?!"

"Well you don't really look like her, but she has similar clothes."

She glared at him.

"They look much better on you," he squeaked, shrinking into the bed.

"Of course they do." Her cheeks lifted into a smile as she sauntered back over to him and took his hand. "Now let's get going. I'm curious to see what you have in store for us tonight, especially the 'fucking me into oblivion' part."

Following a long walk away from the dorm, the pair arrived at a large pond that Azula normally jogged past during her morning run. Only this time, it was unlike she had ever seen it before. Frozen.

Considering the semiarid climate of Ba Sing Se, which was only mildly cooler than that of the Fire Nation, this change startled the princess. "H – How did you do this?"

"Oh, a man has his ways," he grinned. "And a little help from some random waterbending students."

She stood there speechless, taking in the beauty before her.

"Shall we skate?" he asked, offering her his hand.

"Yes!" She took his hand and began sprinting toward the pond.

"Hey, slow down!" he warned. But he should have known how well she would take to the ice. With only a minor falter when she first stepped on, she skated around as if she had done this every winter, as graceful as a cat-deer.

"Check this out!" she cried before demonstrating some firebending katas, minus the fire.

He couldn't help but watch her with astonishment and glee. "You're a natural!" But then, to his surprise, he watched her leave the ice and take a few strides away from it.

She smirked and got into a sprinting stance.

"Azula, what are you doing?!"

"Think I can make it to the other side?" She took off before he had a chance to answer. Somewhere toward the second half of the pond, she lost her footing and fell onto her side, continuing to slide along the cold, nearly frictionless surface.

"Are you okay?!" he called out.

Just as quickly as it took her to fall, she slipped her arm behind her head to prop it up, put her other hand on her hip, and crossed one leg over the other, striking a pose as she slid.

To Sokka's surprise, she did in fact make it to the other side of the pond.

"Yes, I meant to do that," she simpered.

"Come here!" he laughed, extending his arms out to give her a hug.

She skated over to him and threw her arms around his neck, the momentum of which caused them to spin around in a circle several times. As he picked her up by the hips, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist like a koala-otter climbing a tree. He proceeded to skate with her latched on to him like this, that is, until he lost his balance and slipped. Using himself to cushion their fall, she landed on top of him, straddling his hips.

"Sokka!" she giggled. "Are you hurt?" She suspected he was just fine by the way he was smiling.

He would have been laughing had he not had the wind knocked out of him. "No," he coughed. He held up his finger. "Just give me a moment."

She gazed down into his blue eyes and stroked his frosty cheek. Then she leaned down and kissed his lips.

He cupped her reddened cheeks between his hands and pulled her down closer to him.

"Feeling better?" she inquired innocently, breaking the kiss.

"Much better," he grinned before kissing her again and rolling her onto her back. As much as he wanted to take her right there on the ice, it didn't take him long to realize that this fantasy would be better in theory than in reality. "Azula…"

"Yes?" she breathed against his lips.

"Maybe we should head back to your dorm room."

She flashed him a naughty smile. "Yes, maybe we should."

Azula probably should have predicted something else was up Sokka's sleeve, especially given that there was nothing inherently "time dependent" about ice skating, besides the ice eventually melting. She grew progressively more suspicious with each step through the quad just outside her dorm. "There are way too many students out here…"

As the two approached the center of the grassy field, the students ceased their random chitchat and turned their attention inward.

"Sokka… what's going on?" she asked, her curious eyes begging for answers.

He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Just wait for it."

The perimeter of the quad was now lined with students, with more and more filtering in. Then all of a sudden, they synchronously reached for the water skins on their sides and bended a stream of water high into the dark sky, forming a large circle above the princess's and the warrior's heads.

She looked back at Sokka, panicked that she was about to get very wet, but he just smiled back at her in a way that ensured everything would be just fine. She trusted him.

The students held their arms in the air, swirling them in fluid, circular movements, like a choreographed dance. But then their arms became sharp and rigid, causing the water to freeze. They held the sheet of ice overhead for a moment.

If Sokka hadn't been holding her so tightly, she would have jumped into a fighting stance out of instinct.

Before long, their arms relaxed and slowly began to fall. The ice in the sky dissipated into snow.

"Snow! It's snowing!" Azula thought ecstatically, her eyes wide with wonder. "Sokka! It's – it's beautiful!"

"I figured if you couldn't go and see it for yourself, I'd bring the snow to you," he smiled.

Breathless, she tilted her head back, letting the white flakes kiss her cheeks.

"Would you care to dance, Princess?" he asked, offering her his hand.

"Why, of course I would." She placed her right hand in his left and her left hand on his shoulder in a proper ballroom position. It didn't matter to her that his footwork was a little sloppy and his dance vocabulary was not very sophisticated. Dancing under the snowy sky with him, gazing into his sparkling blue eyes, she fell for him even harder. "I had no idea you could dance like this."

"Didn't think a snow savage could sweep you off your feet, now did you?" he teased.

She laughed. "No, actually I didn't. I'm really quite impressed."

"Okay, to tell you the truth… I've been taking lessons."

"You have?"

"Well I just started… but I figured I ought to learn before Katara inevitably marries Aang. Wouldn't want to have two left feet at their wedding!" He gave her a twirl.

"Ah, and here I thought you were doing this for me," she sighed, half joking.

"I guess you could say that… I have no idea when their wedding would be, but I'd be honored if you'd be my date." His cheeks reddened.

Her heart climbed into her throat. Her cheeks rouged, matching his. This meant more to her than anything, knowing that he saw a future with her. "I – " she choked. "I'd love to."

He pulled her in close to him, kissing her deeply.

As they kissed, kissed, and kissed some more with the fallen snow spiraling and swirling gently in the wind all around, Azula had made up her mind. She was finally going to tell Sokka she was in love with him.

Sokka had never seen Azula undress faster. It seemed as soon as the door closed, all of her clothes fell to the floor, including the garments he had purchased for her. He didn't mind seeing his gift tossed aside so carelessly though. Not when she was standing there completely exposed, her hands on her hips with a devilish gleam in her eye. The longer he stared at those full round breasts, that taut abdomen, and that inviting pink slit between her legs, the more constrictive his underwear became. To ease his discomfort, he ripped off his clothes, letting them mix with the princess's on the floor, and pounced on his prey, pinning the naked woman to the mattress.

Kissing him ardently and sloppily, she entwined her legs with his, rubbing herself up against his long erection. Her hands roamed up his muscular arms and down his toned back, eventually landing on his bronze ass, forcefully kneading each cheek to intensify their contact.

His erection slid along her wet folds, up and down, up and down, brushing past her beckoning entrance with each roll of his hips. The harder he pressed his pubic bone against her clit, the wetter he felt her become.

"Sokka, Sokka," she groaned into his ear upon feeling his predatory mouth on her neck, his hot breath against her delicate skin.

He flicked his tongue in the crook of her neck, allowing her to imagine where else his tongue could be. He felt her thrusts against his hard cock pick up in response. Of course, he knew he could make her cum this way, but the more he licked her, the more he wanted to taste her sweet cunt. Moving his rough hands to her soft breasts, he began to kiss her lower and lower, down her sternum, down the space between her breasts, down her stomach, finally delivering a firm kiss on her coveted royal jewel.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," she moaned, scratching up his back with her claw-like nails. Bucking her hips wildly toward his face, she yanked out his hair tie and began sadistically raking her sharp nails against his scalp, pushing his head closer to her heat.

Switching between licking her methodically with long strokes of his tongue and ravenously running his tongue from side to side, he pawed at her breasts, bouncing them playfully in his hands and pinching her pink nipples between his greedy fingers.

"More, Sokka, more," she hissed through her teeth, getting dangerously close to her orgasm. She gripped him by the base of his head to push it down even lower, grinding her pelvis erratically against his skilled tongue. She didn't care if she was hurting him or if he could breathe. She just needed him to make her cum.

Her need only increased his arousal. Drowning blissfully in her scent and taste, he soon found himself thrusting his groin into the mattress like a horny teenager seeing a naked woman for the first time. Eagerly lapping up her cream, he inserted two fingers into her sopping core, slowly pushing and pulling the digits in and out of her.

She arched her back and squeezed her eyes shut. "Fuck, Sokka, yes, yes, yessss!" It always astounded her how attuned he was to her body language. Each time he ate her out she was dazzled by his skills. He played her body like an instrument, and she was just about ready to sing. Just a few more laps of his tongue and she'd surely surrender.

He pounded her harder with his fingers, burying them deep inside of her over and over. And for the cadenza, he shook his head side to side with his nose resting on her pubic bone, sucking and sucking on her engorged clit like a wolf tearing apart its next meal.

"SOKKAAAAAAAA!" she wailed in a fit of euphoria, bursting in orgasm around his slick fingers. Loosening her grip on his head, hers sunk back onto her pillow as she struggled for breath.

But he didn't give her any time to relax. Instead, he rolled her to her side and positioned himself such that he was lying beside her, with his pulsing erection a breath away from her smoldering lips. He needed to get his dick wet.

Her eyes fluttered open just long enough to see a pool of precum beading out of him, which she hungrily licked off, savoring the salty substance.

He grunted with pleasure before he wrenched her legs apart, proceeding to demolish her sweet pussy with his tongue once again.

Eager to cum a second time, she clamped her legs down on his head and thrust herself against his face with growing desperation. Moaning in ecstasy, she took his long hard cock into her mouth and began sucking him fervently.

The humming of her moans on his erection sent him into a frenzy. He licked her faster and faster, bucking his hips savagely, overwhelmed by the immense pleasure brought by her wet mouth.

Wanting to drive him even more animalistic than he already was, she reached a hand between his legs and began tenderly massaging his testicles.

He groaned into her heat and took her clit into his mouth, sucking and twirling his tongue around the swollen gem. With his nose poking slightly into her soaking wet entrance, he breathed in her distinct scent, which drove him to suck her even more wildly.

She sucked him harder and harder to match him, taking his length deep into her throat. Her hips jolted erratically against his face, and soon her legs began to spasm violently around his head. With her release nigh, she took him into her mouth as far as it would go, sealing her lips around the base. And when his tongue finally brought her to orgasm, she moaned hard around his cock. "MMMM, MMMMMM!"

The vibrations nearly sent him over the edge, but he fought back the urge. The desire to cum inside her tight, wet slit just outweighed bursting into her dexterous mouth. While her walls were still pulsing, he flipped her onto her stomach and plunged his erection inside of her, firmly holding both of her wrists over her head. He was not giving her a choice. She was going to take it from behind whether she wanted it or not.

But of course, she loved every minute of being plowed so barbarically. The pain of his grip on her wrists and his teeth on her shoulder contrasted so beautifully with the pleasure of his cock filling her up and the soft mattress bouncing against her clit with every slam of his hips.

Spirits, she was wet. More and more white cream spilled from her the harder he thrust into her, coating his stiff cock with her essence. He knew her bed would be a filthy, disgusting mess when he was done with her, but that just turned him on even more. "Azula," he growled, releasing one of her wrists. "Touch yourself while I fuck you."

"Yes, Sokka," she panted, lifting her hips to make room for her hand.

He loved having her obey him so submissively. Having her at his mercy.

A string of gibberish and obscenities escaped her lips as her nimble fingers went to work, stroking her clit in tempo with the jerks of her hips. Her other hand, limited in its movement by the warrior's hold on her wrist, clutched the satin bedsheets.

"Cum for me, Princess," he grunted, ruthlessly pushing his hips into her backside over and over.

"Yes, Sokka! I'm close, so so close." Her fingers continued to vibrate rapidly against her most sensitive area.

He could tell that she was about to cum by her ragged breaths and the quivering of her legs. When he saw her feet begin to flex, he propped himself up on his knees and pulled her hips up into the air, taking in the glorious view before him.

She screamed into her pillow, exploding all over his aching erection.

Digging his fingers into her pale cheeks, he rammed into her flawless backside again and again, her rippling orgasm finally triggering his own. "AAAAAAAAZULA AHHH FUCK!" he cried, burying himself to the hilt, releasing his white, hot load into her. After thrusting his hips a few more times until he was completely empty, he gave her a hard spank and collapsed onto her back, nuzzling his face in her hair and delivering soft kisses to the top of her head.

With deep synchronous breaths, he stroked her hair behind her ear, lethargic from his monstrous orgasm. "Have I ever told you…" He kissed her ear. "… that you have…" He kissed her jawline. "… the best butt…" He kissed her neck. "… in the whole world?" He kissed her shoulder.

"Is that so?" she giggled lightly, fighting the urge to fall asleep. "Are you some sort of butt connoisseur?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," he chuckled. "And yours…" He brought his hand down along her waist to grope her ass. "… is a superior specimen."

"Well, if I have such a hot commodity, then perhaps I should start charging admission to play with it."

"Oh, I'd pay it! Any price."

She laughed, turning around to face him. "Sokka..." Her heart fluttered nervously. "I need to tell you something." After the romantic week they had just spent together, their perfect date, and the all the crazy hot sex, she felt that this was the perfect time to confess her feelings. "Don't be weak. Tell him. Tell him you love him."

"You know what? I have something I need to tell you too."

Her heartrate sped up even more. "I can't believe it! He's going to say it first." She gazed into his oceanic eyes longingly. "What is it?"

"I know our arrangement doesn't come with any strings attached, but…"

"Yes! Say it already!"

He sighed. "I just want you to know that I'm seeing a few other girls."

Her stomach dropped. Her heart shattered. She felt as if she had just been thrown off a cliff only to be trampled by a stampede of wild dragon-moose.

"It's nothing serious or anything," he continued. "I just care about you so much, and I don't want there to be any secrets between us."

She nodded meekly, unsure of what to say. "Is this really happening? Am I in a nightmare?"

"Besides, I'm sure you've been getting plenty of other male attention. How could you not be? That's what you were going to tell me, right?"

"Oh, no," she choked. "Why didn't I lie?! That would have been so easy!" She took a deep breath. "I'm not seeing anyone else."

"What?! But you could, you know. Guys must be throwing themselves at you left and right."

"Yes… perhaps my standards are just too high…"

"Well, I guess I'll take that as a compliment," he laughed. But then he noticed something was off. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she lied. "I'm just tired."

"Are you sure? You're okay with me dating other girls, right?"

"Of course." She swallowed hard. "I told you that I didn't want to hold you back from anything, and I meant what I said."

"Okay great." He kissed her forehead. "I knew you'd be cool about it." He kissed her nose. "So… what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"I…" She sighed, faking a smile. "I'm just really happy we're friends."

"Me too, Zula," he smiled affectionately. "I'm lucky to have you in my life." He chuckled. "My friends are gonna be so shocked when they find out. Anyway… I'm crashing." He kissed her lips. "Good night, Princess."

"Good night, Sokka." As soon as she turned away from him, she felt his strong arms pull her close against him. She shivered with each tender kiss he delivered to her shoulder as he drifted off. The tears didn't start spilling until she was confident he was asleep.

"So how'd it go?!" Kori asked upon entering her room after being sexiled for the duration of Sokka's visit.

Jin followed in after her. "We're dying to hear all about it!"

Azula's jaw began to tremble. "No, no, no. Don't you cry. Not in front of them." Kori's and Jin's faces became progressively blurrier as her eyes welled. She burst into tears. "Damn it."

Kori and Jin exchanged worried looks before sandwiching the princess on her bed, hugging her on both sides.

"Oh no, sweetie," Jin cooed. "It's going to be okay."

"Yeah," Kori agreed. "Who needs him anyway?"

"Boys are stupid." Jin rubbed her back until she felt the princess's breathing begin to regulate. "Do you… want to tell us what happened?"

Azula remained silent as she wiped tears from her eyes and cheeks.

"Did he not say it back or something?" Kori guessed, sympathetically.

"I didn't even g – get the chance to t – tell him!" the firebender wailed. "He's s – seeing other g – girls."

"That jerk!" the girl in pigtails spat.

"Let's kick his ass!" the earthbender roared.

"No." Azula shook her head. "This… this is all my fault."

Perplexed, the girls waited for her to elaborate.

"I was the one who initiated our arrangement. He was supposed to mentor me and nothing more." She took a deep, strained breath. "He did nothing wrong – he's been… he's been great to me."

Kori handed her a handkerchief.

The princess blotted her eyes. "I was the one who got attached." She sighed exasperatedly. "I'm a fucking idiot."

"No, you're not!" Jin argued. "You couldn't help it – "

"I should have known better!" she interrupted. "I should have known he would… never fall in love with me." Burning hot tears continued to pour from her stinging eyes. It was in those words that all her doubt and insecurities rushed back, snuffing out all the progress she had made in improving her self-esteem. "I am unlovable. Nothing has changed."

"So… what're you gonna do?" Kori questioned. "Are you going to keep being his friend with benefits?"

Azula shrugged. "I'm not sure…" But then her demeanor changed. She straightened her back. Her sobbing ceased. "I may not be sure about how to proceed with Sokka, but…" Her eyes narrowed. "I'm certain about one thing."

The girls looked at each other with concern and then back at the princess.

A wicked smirk spread across her tearstained cheeks. "My ultimate revenge will continue as planned."

Author's Notes:

(1) If you're a Sokkla fan, please check out my new story, "Prisoner's Dilemma", which was written for Sokkla Appreciation Day 2016. I promise it has a much happier ending than the end of this chapter!

(2) Back to Zucest in the next chapter! And Kori's wedding will be coming up soon. Get ready for some drunken debauchery!

(3) I'm not completely sure, but I foresee this story only having 10 more chapters! Don't hold me to that though :D