"Kiss me."

Sokka blinked, confused. He couldn't have heard it right. She would never ask him that. She wouldn't… But then, why… why was she looking at him like this? Her eyes going from his lips to his eyes, and then, back to his lips.

"W-what?" He was finally able to mumble.

Azula felt her cheeks burning, every part burned. Her heart was pounding so hard against her chest. She couldn't believe he was going to make her say it again. She barely had the strength to say it the first time.

The smirk she gave him was somewhat awkward but also wicked. "You heard me, you idiot." She whispered, raising her chin to him.

Azula had barely finished the sentence when Sokka slammed his mouth against hers. Her eyes widened for a second, and then she just melted under him and kissed him back.

It all felt like being hit by thunderbolt. It was all a turmoil. It all burned. He kissed her roughly. Her mouth, her jawline, her neck. His hands exploring her body, desperately. Every time she moaned he thought he was going to lose his mind.

Azula loosened his warrior's wolf tail, with her fingers, letting his hair down. He looked messy like this, and for some reason, she loved it. She was pretty messy herself, with her hair all spread and tangled on the floor. But she didn't care. She didn't care about anything but what he was making her feel. It was… too much. However, she wanted so much more. Suddenly she felt his hands on her belt. She froze when she realized he was opening up her dress. His hands were already touching her stomach's bare skin when he stopped, gazing her eyes. He looked at her as if he was waiting for a permission… To go on. She felt lightheaded and dizzy. Her whole body was burning, desperate for something she wasn't really sure what was. All she managed to do was to pull him to another kiss.

Sokka understood that as a positive sign. He kept kissing her as he explored her upper body with one hand. He knew he was supposed to slow things down. She was Azula. His friend's sister. The Princess. This had brought him problems before, and things hadn't even gone that far… But damn it. He needed that. He needed her.

Suddenly he heard her, "Hm, Sokka…", her voice was muffed, almost groggy.

"Hm, I know, my Princess…" He mumbled back to her and kept kissing her neck, believing she was just reacting to what he was doing.

"Sokka, stop…" She whispered. He immediately froze, his hand was on her breast, he pulled it back immediately. He just looked at her confused. "Someone is coming…" She finally said it.

His mind was completely off. He didn't seem to compute what she was saying.

"Wh-"

Azula looked alarmed at him, and quickly rolled him over to be on top of him, covering his mouth with her hand. His eyes widened at her. Then, he heard it. Voices and steps.

She took her hand off his mouth slowly, looking down at him, nervously. Their faces were only a few inches apart.

"What does that always happen to us?!" He whispered angrily to her. Was that what? The third time they were interrupted while doing something like that?

The voices became louder. Zuko and her mother. They went in the living room. They didn't seem to notice Azula and Sokka though. The couple were on the floor, behind the couch. Also, the lack of light seemed to help.

They stopped walking.

"Mom, it's all my fault…" They heard Zuko's voice.

"Okay, fine." Sokka sounded impatient. "Next time you want to beat your brother up, I will help you…" He said, gritting his teeth.

"Shh!" She scolded him, covering his mouth again.

"Zuko, calm down. Nothing is certain. Azula hasn't left yet. We can still make her stay." Ursa spoke in a soft voice.

Sokka was struggling to pay attention on the conversation. It was really hard to concentrate in his peculiar situation. Mostly when the girl he was making out with was on top of him, so close he could feel her breath on him.

"I don't think it will work. She hates me now. She barely looked at me earlier today. You saw it." Zuko groaned, angrily. "I can't believe it… After all this time… I ruined it!"

"Oh, dear, you didn't…"

"But what was I supposed to do anyway? I don't get how Sokka gets her so well… I mean she actually listens and respects him. But with me…" He laughed angrily. "She thinks I am an idiot… and a traitor. She doesn't tell me what's going on with her. How am I supposed to know how to deal with her?!"

"Zuko…" Ursa started. "Look at me. I know Azula is difficult, okay? And part of this… Well, probably most of it is my fault."

"Mom…"

"Yes, Zuko, it's true. I shouldn't have forced her to have that conversation with me. She was already in a bad place with everything that has been happening. And I made it worse." Ursa's voice sounded weird, as though she was about to cry. "She doesn't want me… And I can't blame her."

There was a second of silence and Azula wished she could see what was going on. Was Ursa crying? What was Zuko doing? Why didn't he say anything?

"But it's different with you…" Her mother went on. "My dear, even with all the problems and fights, it's not hard to see that Azula does care about you. She probably won't even admit that to herself, but it's the truth. And I'm sure she doesn't want to lose you. Just like you don't want to lose her…" There was a silence and Zuko, apparently, sighed. "We all have made a lot of mistakes… But right now, we need to focus. We want Azula to stay, right? So we need to do everything we can to make this happen, even if it means… to let her have some things on her way…"

Azula was frozen. She wished she could see them, because then she would be sure it was really her mother who was saying those things. It made no sense. Her mother never defended her, her mother didn't even want her to be there, her mother told Zuko it was a bad idea to have her as his advisor… Now, that couldn't be her mother.

"But…" Zuko started. "I thought you were afraid of the things she might do, I thought you wanted me to control her more…" He sounded both upset and confused.

"Yes, Zuko… But I think after hearing some hurtful truths from her, I think I need to demand less from her… from both of you, and work harder to fix and rebuild… everything."

Sokka looked worried to Azula. He had no idea how she would react to that. She seemed to be in shock. She didn't move, she barely breathed. He could feel her heart pounding hard, since her chest was pressured against his.

A few seconds later, they heard the Fire Lord and his mother leaving the room.

Azula rolled over and lied down on her back staring at the ceiling. She was still trying to understand everything that had just happened. When she finally managed to sit up, she heard, "Azula?" Sokka asked softly. "Are you alright?"

Sokka. For a moment she forgot Sokka was there with her. For a moment she forgot what they were doing before her mother and brother come in… She flushed. When she looked down she saw her clothes were opened, her brassiere exposed.

"Y-yeah…" She swallowed, as she closing up her dress. "I'm fine… I-I'm sorry I jumped on you… I was afraid they would hear or see… anything." She blushed deeper. And she could see his face turning red as well.

"Uh, yeah… I'm glad you did that…" He sounded nervous. "I mean… I get why- Uh, I'm glad they didn't see us." He said awkwardly as they stood up.

Azula just gave him an embarrassed smile.

They walked to their rooms in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Azula didn't even know what to think about. What just happened between her and Sokka… Or the weird conversation between her mother and Zuko. Both things made her so anxious she thought she would vomit.

When they get to their doors, they stopped facing each other. Every thought on her mind disappeared for a seconded when she faced him now. She almost smiled, for some reason she found him even prettier with his hair down like this. She wondered what he would do. Would he kiss her again? Would he come to her room with her? Her heart raced again.

He looked at her for a while, smiling in a way she didn't understand, but it gave her a fluttered feeling in her stomach. "What a night…" He joked.

Azula raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "Yeah…"

"Are you sure you are okay? I mean…"

"If you are asking this because of my mom and Zuko, yeah, I am. I mean, I just don't get why they would have this crazy conversation, but whatever." The words came out of her mouth quicker than she expected and she sounded more nervous than she wanted. "My mom clearly doesn't care if I stay or not… Neither does Zuko. They only care that their happy little family will be broken once again…" She rolled her eyes.

Sokka sighed and shook his head. Then he frowned, looking at her, and said, "I'm not going to discuss with you, because it's late and both of us need to rest." Azula's heart skipped a beat when he came closer and lifted her chin with his hand, so she would look into his eyes. "But I know you are too smart to actually believe in something like that." He gave her a soft smile. Then he leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Good night, Princess." He whispered, before walking to his door.

Azula entered the room and leaned on the closed door. She felt dizzy, her legs were numb as if she was melting, her heart was beating so fast it hurt. She was mad though. How could he simply say and do these sort of things? And how could he simply say goodnight and leave like this? She needed him, she thought as she crossed her legs uncomfortably.

Gosh, I hate him.

Sokka sighed as he entered his room. He felt tired and… sore. All he needed right now was his bed. He was about to drop himself onto the bed when he heard a knock coming from the door. Azula. His heart skipped a beat. He couldn't help but smile. He couldn't believe she would actually come to him. When they were at the corridor, all he wanted was to kiss her again and get into her room with her… But he couldn't- Suddenly, all his hopes went away. He had opened the door and there was only a guard standing there. With a note in his hands.

"This is for you, sir." The guard delivered the note, nodded and left.

Sokka read the note and groaned. "Damn it."

Once again the assassins had called him in the middle of the night. Because of that, Ty Lee was the one designated to make sure Azula would be safe that night. The girl was at the Princess' room, right now.

"Wait, did he simply leave? Without saying anything to me?" Azula, already in her nightgown, crossed her arms angrily.

Ty Lee simply rolled her eyes.

"He was in a hurry and thought you were already asleep. He asked me to come here because he was worried about you. Why are you so angry anyway?" She asked with a genuine curiosity, but also a little impatient. She was tired of Azula's bad moods, mostly when it had to do with Sokka.

Azula turned around walking towards her bed, her friend followed her.

"I'm not angry!" She replied, frowning at Ty Lee. "I just… Well, he should have told me he was leaving…"

"I told you, he thought you were already sleeping…" Ty Lee raised one eyebrow. "Azula, when are you finally going to tell me what is going on between you and Sokka?" The girl sounded more serious than usual.

Azula swallowed. She couldn't help flushing.

"It's not what you are thinking… I mean, nothing really happened."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Azula!" She seemed to be losing her temper with the Princess. "Something must have happened otherwise you wouldn't act so weird every time I mention his name! Well, yeah, obviously you haven't slept together or anything, if you did, you probably wouldn't be in such a terrible mood! But still, there is something going on!"

Azula's eyes widened, her face burning.

"I-I… What? I'm not in a terrible mood, not because of that!" Azula's voice came out squeaky, she groaned. "I'm just… tired and stressed out with the party and… you know… assassins, riots..." Ty Lee just sighed and shook her head. "What?" Azula asked, impatiently. "It's the truth! Yeah, the fact Sokka is a bold idiotic annoying peasant does bother me sometimes!"

Suddenly Ty Lee looked at her with judging eyes.

"Wow, Azula. That is really mean… Even for someone like you!" Azula looked confused at the other girl. Ty Lee did seem upset with her now, but she couldn't see the reason for that. She used to say stuff like this about everyone all the time. "How can you talk like this about someone who cares so much about you? Also, I know you will never talk about this… because you are weird…" Ty Lee waved her hand dismissively at Azula, who opened her mouth outraged. "But if you don't want anything with him, you need to stop playing with his feelings!"

The Princess stared a few seconds at Ty Lee, her jaw wide open. "W-What the hell are you talking about?" She finally managed to speak.

Ty Lee just rolled her eyes again.

"Seriously, Azula? The guy has protected you, defended you, he is literally risking his life to help you… He even discussed with Zuko, one of his best friends, because of you! He clearly likes you! But instead of doing something about it, you simply… well I don't even know what you are doing… But this is not okay!"

"Who do you think you are talking to?!" Azula shouted. She couldn't believe what Ty Lee was saying. Yes, maybe Sokka had wanted something with her before… But after so many fights, he clearly just wanted to be her friend, right? Once again, she remembered the night at the tavern… All the things he had said to her, what happened after… Then he had done nothing but being kind and caring with her… And tonight, if Zuko and her mother hadn't shown up, they would have… Suddenly, she felt really stupid. No, this can't be right… Ty Lee, of all people, can't be right…

After a while, Ty Lee simply sighed. "You know, what, Azula? I think you are so scared of having something nice and normal in your life… That you don't even allow yourself to see it's right in front of you. You prefer lying to yourself…"

"Enough!" The Princess shouted again, but this time she didn't sound mad, just upset. She rubbed her forehead as if she was trying to think of something to say. But before she could do it, she felt Ty Lee's arms around her, hugging her.

When the other pulled back, Azula simply frowned at her, confused.

"I'm sorry…" Her friend gave her a gentle smile. "I know this must not be easy to you either. I'm sorry I didn't want to hurt your feelings…"

Azula shook her head. "You didn't…" She always had a hard time to deal with this side of Ty Lee. She could be an excellent fighter and a helpful friend, but sometimes she was so sentimental and kind for no particular reason and it just let the Princess either mad or very confused.

"Just… make sure you are not locking feelings up out of fear. That's what your brother did and it made him lost Mai, maybe forever… I'm sure you don't want to repeat his mistakes…"

Azula just stared at the other, biting her bottom lip. She couldn't find anything to reply to that.

"Good night, Azula." Ty Lee finally said softly and left the Princess alone with her thoughts.

Zuko appeared at Azula's door very early to wait for Sokka. Azula decided she would ignore her brother the best she could for she didn't want to think of his conversation with her mother the night before. She didn't want to think why the two of them would even say those things.

I know you are too smart to actually believe in something like that.

She remembered Sokka's words and felt sick. She was now at her brother's office waiting for Sokka.

Luckily for her, before Zuko could try to start any real conversation with her, Sokka arrived. The Avatar and the rest of the group came along too.

"So they are not trying to invade the party?" Zuko asked confused, after Sokka had explained what had happened.

"That's what they said. One of them said that they were not allowed to do it, but then they changed the subject. Also, I think they are doing something in the city, because they asked if Azula would leave the Palace at the any moment during the feast."

"Why would they not be allowed? They aren't allowed to do any of this, they are outlaws!" Toph shouted, impatiently.

"No. Wait, actually it makes sense. Jiang will be here. He wouldn't want anything that could expose him to happen." Azula concluded, staring at the nothing as if she was talking to herself.

"I thought Sokka had said he wasn't helping them anymore." Zuko asked.

"That was what I thought. But maybe that was his condition to help them again. Let the party happens normally…" Sokka answered. "Now, I couldn't find out what they are doing in the city. Maybe start some riot during the feast?"

Zuko frowned, worried. "I will put more guards there."

"But don't exaggerate!" Azula started. "You don't want the whole town to be scared in a day like this and cause more chaos, do you?"

Before Zuko could answer anything, Aang replied gently, "Maybe Zuko and I could also go there at some point. To check everything…"

"It can be dangerous…" Katara held his hand, worried. And he kissed her and told her it would be fine.

"Sokka, this isn't enough! Next time you need to find out more about them!" Zuko complained in such a harsh tone that made everyone look at him startled.

He and Sokka hadn't really talked after the fight they had about Azula. So, both of them seemed to be ready to pick up a fight at any moment.

"Well, why don't you do something useful then?!" Sokka shouted, standing up and glaring at the Fire Lord.

"Who do-" Zuko stood up as well, but was cut off by Katara and Azula who were already between the two men.

"What's wrong with you two?" Katara scolded both of them as if she was talking to children and for once Azula completely supported the waterbender. "Things are already a mess and you want to make it worse. Zuko, I'm sure Sokka is doing the best he can."

"Yeah, of course he needs more time to gain their trust. Come on, Zuko, please, stop being dramatic and don't make things explode on your face for once in your life!" Azula thought that would make her brother snap at her, but for some reason he just stared at her looking both incredulous and hurt.

"Guys…" Toph started. "I think you are all stressed out and wanting to start a fight to feel better. I really understand that, but I think we have more important things to do now, right?"

"Toph is right." Aang said, sighing. "Come on, let's not waste more time with this. Let's stick to the plan…"

Azula nodded at him.

Katara dragged Sokka out of the room with her and Aang and Toph followed them. Azula was leaving too, when her brother held her by the arm.

She looked at him, frowning. Her look demanded an explanation.

"Azula, I just wish you understood I am at your side in all of this…" Zuko spoke in a weak voice.

"It doesn't change the fact that you have been making terrible decisions…" She replied sharply. "Let's not do this now, okay? We are both tired and have a lot to do…" She pulled her arm back and left him alone.

Sokka was waiting for her at the corridor. "You okay?" He asked immediately. She just nodded and gave him a weak smile. "Thanks for standing up for me." He smiled awkwardly.

"Don't worry, and don't take my brother seriously. He is just acting like the angst idiot he is…" She rolled her eyes, and then touched his arm squeezing it softly. "You are doing a great a job…"

That made him smirk brightly.

"Princess?" A servant called her. "Come on, you need to get ready…"

She gave him a look he didn't really understand, but made his heart race faster.

"See you later…" He whispered to her as she went to her room.

Azula stood in front of her mirror, finishing her make up. Unlike her usual outfit, these clothes didn't have Fire Nation's colors. On commemoration of the end of the war it was considered more proper not to use the colors of the Fire Nation, for obvious reasons. Therefore, Azula was wearing a lilac fancy dress with golden adornment. Her hair was partially down, and her crown was on the small bun on the top of her head.

When the servants were done helping her getting ready, they left her alone in her room. And as she stood there, in her room, all alone, facing her own reflection, she felt as if she was back to her coronation day. Even though this time her hair wasn't this time and she hadn't banished almost the entire Palace… she felt helpless and scared. It would be first time she would be in event like this after what happened to her. She would have to face the people who witnessed her fall. Suddenly, she saw someone behind her through the looking-glass.

Azula felt a shiver going down her spine when she saw her mother's reflection. She was there. Just like on that day. Once again, she came to watch me fail. For a second she wondered if her mother was really there or she was just hallucinating again. The Princess turned around quickly and there she was. She was real.

"What are you doing here?" Azula asked, coldly.

Ursa only smiled and walked towards the girl. "I wanted to see my daughter before the party." Azula faced the mirror again and avoided her mother's eyes. She couldn't do this right now. If she argued with Ursa, she would probably have another meltdown and everything would be ruined. She would not let this happen again. When Ursa touched her hair softly, her teeth gritted so hard, she thought she might break them. She didn't say a word though. She only stood there, trying to calm herself down and waiting for her mother's next action. "You have such a beautiful hair…" Ursa paused studding the Princess' face. "Well, you are so beautiful."

Just play along with her and she will go away.

"Thanks…" The Princess muttered after a while.

Ursa frowned then, looking at her daughter's head. "Your crown is falling off, though. Sit down, let me fix it for you."

Azula's eyes widened at her mother. What the hell was she thinking she was doing? But before she could think of anything to say, her mother was already making her sit on a chair, facing the mirror.

The Princess' only reaction was to blink at her mother as the woman took off her crown and started fixing up her hair. Suddenly, Azula realized that anyone who watched that scene from the outside, anyone who didn't know them, would think of this as a heartwarming scene. A mother and a daughter having a bonding time together. That was what Ursa wanted, right? To pretend they were a normal family. Azula felt as though there was something breaking inside her chest. They weren't normal. They would never be. Her mother couldn't be that hypocritical.

"I thought we agreed that we were not doing this kind of thing." Azula finally spoke, glaring at her mother.

Ursa looked at her daughter, raising one eyebrow.

"What? That I couldn't fix your hair?" She asked in a playful tone as she finally placed the crown on Azula's hair.

Azula just stood up abruptly, turning around to face the other woman.

"We agreed you would stop pretending things are fine between us! We are not a regular family! And you know that. You may be hypocritical but you are not stupid!" The Princess shouted, losing her temper. She felt a lump on her throat. She swallowed hard, fighting back the tears.

"I'm not pretending anything, Azula." Ursa sounded tired and upset now. "I know how things are… and I know how much you resent from me… But… I'm your mother. I want to be close to you, even if you hate me." She gave Azula a sad smile.

The Princess froze and the first thing that came to her mind was what Ty Lee had said to her the night before. I think you are so scared of having something nice and normal in your life… That you don't even allow yourself to see it's right in front of you. Her friend was talking about her relationship with Sokka, but this wasn't only about Sokka, was it? No, this was ridiculous. Was she admitting Ty Lee knew her that well?

Azula just remained in silence. Anything she could or wanted to say would just turn things into a fight. It would just make that pain in her chest increase. However, when she finally looked into her mother eyes she felt some strange kind of relief. A relief she didn't exactly understand.

She was still looking at her mother when Sokka came in.

"Hey, Princess, you re- Oh, I'm sorry, Ursa. I didn't know you were…" He lost the train of thoughts when he looked at Azula. She was so beautiful, for a second he wondered if she was real. He swallowed, flushing, as he realized he had been staring at her from a few seconds. "Sorry, I didn't want to bother you."

"Hey…" Azula first reaction was smiling too. For some reason, looking at him made her feel warm inside and much calmer. "Uh, it's okay. We were already done here." She answered quickly, feeling her cheeks burning.

Ursa raised an eyebrow to him, then glanced at Azula from the corner of her eye, before smiling. "It's fine, Sokka. I was just helping her with her hair. See you at the party then?" She said as she headed at the door, giving the two of them a last look.

Azula wondered why her mother had such a weird smile when she left. But she immediately let that go as she looked at Sokka again.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, concerned, glancing at the door.

Azula sighed.

"Yeah… She just wanted… Well I don't know what the hell she wanted…" She shrugged. "But I don't want to think about it right now." She admitted as looked at the door nervously. "We should be going…"

He nodded at her.

The whole capital was a great party. At the Palace's gardens were the nobles and the Fire Lord's special guests but at the the town center, commoners were having their own party at the streets. There was dancing and fairs and people from all over the country. All of them drinking and commemorating together.

The Avatar and Zuko planned to go to the town at some point, not only to greet the people, but also to check if something weird would actually going to happened. In a normal day, Azula would never want to go to the town see the commoners' commemoration. However, now that she knew that she couldn't go there, since it would be too dangerous, it made her feel like a prisoner again.

When she arrived at the royal gardens, every single person stared at her. But not as people usually look at royalty, with admiration and respect, they were perplexed. They seemed to be so puzzled by the Princess' presence they didn't even notice the announcement of her brother's arrival. So he stood at the garden's entrance awkwardly for a few seconds, until people finally noticed it and bowed to him.

Her brother approached her as the party went on normally – not exactly normally, since everyone was still looking at her from the corner of their eyes and whispering.

"I should be already used to have you stealing everyone's attention…" He joked, smiling at her.

He immediately regretted saying that when he saw Azula's eyes widening in horror.

"You think I want this?" She asked, higher than she should. Her cheeks flushed when she noticed more eyes on her. "Do you think I'm enjoying it?" She whispered.

"No, Azula…" Zuko whispered back, sighing. "Sorry. I was joking."

She frowned at him, incredulous. "And since when do you make jokes?"

He rolled his eyes.

"I said I'm sorry… Where is Sokka? Shouldn't he be around you?" He asked, feeling impatient now.

"He is with his friends…" She glanced at the dark-skinned boy on the other side of the garden. Aang was talking to him, but Sokka's eyes were on Azula. The Princess cursed herself when she felt her cheeks burning. She had to suppress a smile. "We thought it would be better if I didn't show up with a bodyguard…" She shrugged. "But I guess it couldn't be worse than this…"

"Don't worry, people are just curious because it's the first time they see you-"

"Yeah, yeah, Zuko, I know…" She said dismissively, walking towards the group of friends.

Azula took a deep breath trying to ignore all the eyes on her, all the whispers. She could hear people asking each other why was she back, what had happened to her… if she was really crazy or not. She forcefully smiled at people, pretending not to hear anything. She started to feel nauseous when she felt her brother glancing at her worried. You can handle it. It's just a party. Soon it will be over.

"Hi." Sokka smiled at her when she got closer.

"Hey…" She replied, feeling a little calmer now that he was close again. "So, you two, have you talked to anyone yet?" She asked, looking at Katara and Aang, who were just next to Sokka.

"Not yet… But Toph was talking to one of the represents who was closer to Jiang." Aang answered.

"Is he already here?" Zuko asked, anxiously.

"Yeah." Sokka nodded and glanced at his right. The man was not so far from them, talking to a group of people. "Suki showed us who is he, since we hadn't seen him before."

"Okay, good. Let's spread out." Azula commanded impatiently. "Wait, just one thing, has anyone seen Mai yet?"

They shook their head negatively. "I saw Ty Lee talking to a guy, but Mai wasn't with her." Katara answered.

Azula just nodded and walked away from them. From the corner of her eye, she could see Zuko saying something to Sokka. Probably telling him to stay close to her. But as far as they knew there would be no attacks there, and she didn't want people to notice she needed a guard, she didn't want them to think she was weak.

"She stayed one year in a mental institute…" She heard someone whispering as she walked to a table to get a beverage. "She almost killed her brother…"

The group of people who was near the table looked at her with eyes widened, startled. They bowed shyly and stepped away from the table quickly. Azula just sighed. She should be more than used to have people scared of her. She wanted that, didn't she? But not like this, she thought. They should fear her, but in a way that they would respect and obey her… Not run away from her, as if she was some kind of monster. She hated that word and how it always came back to her mind, letting her nervous and anxious.

She picked up a drink as she tried to calm herself down, to breathe normally. Suddenly, she realized someone was standing next to her.

"Princess…" Azula froze when she saw Jiang smiling at her.

Sokka usually enjoyed social events, but the Fire Nation's aristocracy was just so boring. Most of them clearly despised him for being from the Water Tribe and the ones who didn't wouldn't say anything interesting to him. How was he supposed to get any information like this?

He looked at the crowd, looking for Azula. Every once and while he would check if she was okay and no one suspicious was near her. Even though the assassins had said they wouldn't attack the party, he was still worried. Maybe they had lied. Maybe someone else could do something. That's why his heart almost stopped when he saw Jiang next to Azula on the other side of the garden. This can't be good.

Before he could think of what he would do about it. Someone bumped into him harshly. He didn't seem the person's face, because he or she was too fast. But the subject had handed him something. A note.

Sokka's eyes widened as he read what was written. They are already here.

Shit.

A/N: Hi, guys! Again the chapter was too long. I know some of you were waiting for MORE stuff to happen between Sokka and Azula, but... well, it would eventually happen, I promise!

I really hope you enjoy it. I will try to post the next chapter as soon as possible! :)

Please review it! :)