"Wait, the Avatar knows?!"
Sokka stared at her, his mouth opened, his eyes widened. He didn't know what to say. He could see the panic in her eyes, he was panicking himself. Not only Aang, but Mai knew about it too. If Mai decided to tell it to Zuko, he would be so screwed.
"How the hell did he find out about this?!" Azula shouted before he could say anything. "I should have known! That was what you were talking about when I came to your room, wasn't it? You two looked suspicious but I didn't think much about it!" She groaned.
Sokka grabbed her shoulders, nervously. "Okay, Azula. Breathe. Calm down, please."
"Calm down?" She looked incredulously at him. "Sokka, he will tell your sister! And my brother and everyone else! Do you have-"
"No! He won't, okay?" He cut her off. "He promised he wouldn't. I know what you will say, but Aang doesn't lie. Believe me. What about Mai? How did she find out?"
The Princess only sighed, shaking her head angrily. "Long story." She said shortly. "She told me she wouldn't tell anyone either. I believe her. At least for now. She might want to use it against me later if she needs it. Now, the Avatar? He's a complete idiot! He might just let it out without thinking!"
Sokka groaned, frustrated. "Oh, come on, Azula! Don't say that!" Azula just glared at him, angrily. He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I really am. It was an accident. I swear. When I left your room this morning he was at my door and saw me. It didn't take him much time to figure it out…" Sokka stepped towards her until they were only a few inches apart again. He was looking down at her, his eyes filled with worriedness and sadness. "I get that you are mad at me. Just… try not to insult my friends for once, okay? I don't like when they say bad stuff you… So… I don't want you to say it about them either."
That caught her off guard. She blushed, suddenly feeling guilty and childish. And she hated him for making her feel this way. But maybe she was overreacting. It wasn't his fault anyway. He didn't say anything. Actually, she was guiltier than him. Mai only knew it because she was an idiot and decided to tell everything to Ty Lee.
"I…" She sighed staring at the floor, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I know, I know…" He lifted her chin with his fingers. "I'm really sorry, Princess."
She rolled her eyes. "Stop apologizing. It's not your fault! You should be mad at me. I mean, two of three people know it because of me."
"Two?" He frowned, confused.
Azula bit her tongue. "Yeah… Ty Lee has known it for a while. I mean, she already knew some things had happened between us." She felt her face flushing, feeling self-conscious. She acted like a stupid teenager, talking to a friend about her love life. What was wrong with her?! "And this morning… I… I don't know why I went to talk to her… about us…" She blushed even more. "And I didn't see Mai was there."
Although Sokka was worried that too many people already knew about their secret, he also couldn't help but enjoy this situation. Had Azula talked about him with Ty Lee? About them. He wanted to know what that really meant.
The Princess suddenly crossed her arms and glared at him. "Why do you look amused by this?"
Sokka suppressed a smile. "I'm not amused! I just remembered something Aang said earlier today. That it will be hard to hide… this..." He waved his hand pointing to both of them. "For a long time."
Azula sighed deeply, and rubbed her forehead, feeling stressed out. "I know…" She admitted.
Then, Sokka felt a wave of panic taking over him. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't have said that. That would trigger her. She would realize this was too much trouble for her to deal with. It would be better just to break up. Yeah, that was it. She was going to end it for good now. And it was all his fault. He and his big damned mouth.
"Azula, I-" He tried to start.
"I'm sorry…" She mumbled to him, cutting him off, as she dropped herself on the edge of her bed. Her voice was barely a whisper. He looked at her startled. Why the hell was she apologizing? "I know this is not how things were supposed to be."
He sat next to her and reached his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.
"What are you talking about, Princess? You don't have to apologize for anything."
She just shrugged.
"I mean, it's my fault we have to hide it like this." She sighed. "Not only am I your former enemy but also I'm the Princess." She said the last part rolling her eyes. "If people find out about this, it will be hard for many different reasons."
Sokka gave her a soft smiled and pulled her by the chin to a quick kiss.
"Yeah, I should have known by now that it's not that easy to date Princesses."
Azula elbowed him, suppressing a smile. Her heart raced when she heard the word date. Was that it then? They were dating? A part of her liked the idea. Another part of her felt like panicking. But before she could stop to actually think of all this, she thought of something else Sokka had just said and frowned, confused.
"Wait…" She said, stopping him from kissing her again.
"What?!" He looked startled at her.
"What do you mean by you should have known? It's not like you have dated another Princess before…" The Princess commented with certain disdain.
Sokka looked her, wincing a little. "Actually…"
Azula narrowed her eyes at him. "Actually what?" Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Wait, you did date another Princess?"
"Maybe?" He winced again, his voice had an apologizing tone.
Azula only blinked incredulously at him, shaking her head. Her mouth opened in shock. "How- how is that even possible?"
"I-" He tried to give her an explanation but she went on.
"This is not fair! You have dated more people than me, and you have dated another Princess? This is unacceptable!"
Sokka had to admit a part of him was having fun with that situation and mostly with Azula's reaction. He couldn't help laughing at her. Her death glare to him made him want to laugh more but he tried to control himself.
He held her shoulders. "Come on, Princess… It's not a competition…"
She slapped his hands away, annoyed. Azula knew she was being childish. She wasn't even really mad at him, but it was so frustrating to be the inexperienced one.
"So, what's her name?" She rolled her eyes, looking away. "Are you friends with her as you are with your other ex?" Her voice was filled with bitterness.
Even though it was really funny to see Azula of all people jealous like this, he felt a lump in his throat when he thought of Yue.
"She's gone." He muttered as he gave her a sad smile.
Azula frowned for a second, and then she widened her eyes. Now she understood why he had never talked about this girl. She flushed and swallowed, having no idea of what she should do.
"I see…" She bit her bottom lip. After a while, she muttered, "I'm sorry...".
Sokka smiled weakly and reached his hand to caress her face. "It's fine, Princess." He leaned and kissed the corner of her mouth. "And you have nothing to worry about…"
Azula felt electricity running down her body as he kissed her. She cursed herself. Would this be ever over? When would she even be used to him?
"So, I guess we are keeping this as a secret for a while…" He whispered as he started kissing down her neck.
"Well, if our friends don't open their mouths…" She replied, trying to keep her voice normal, as she shivered with his touch.
"Fine by me."
"Really?"
"Mmhmm." He answered, sliding his hand down her body to open her robes. "I really don't mind, Princess. Plus, it's kind of exciting." He smirked as he exposed her body.
Azula lied down on the bed, dragging him with her. She pulled him closer by his collar. That burning feeling was back. Gosh, she couldn't control herself anymore, could she? She lifted her chin expecting him to lean down and kiss her. He didn't do anything though. He only observed her with an amused face.
"Come here…" She said impatiently.
He seemed to be enjoying her desperation.
"Be patient." He answered, calmly.
The Princess groaned and before he noticed, she rolled over to be on top of him. She heard him gasping and looking at her a little surprised.
She leaned forward to whisper into his ear. "You're not calling the shots this time."
Sokka smirked as he looked up at her.
"As you wish, Princess."
###
Sokka lied spread on Azula's bed, his bare chest was exposed and a mess of sheets was covering the rest of his body. He frowned as he observed the girl sitting up and starting dressing herself.
"What are you doing?" He reached his hand to try to pull her back to bed. "Come back here…"
Azula stood up though, stepping away from him. "Later. I'm going to talk to Zuko now."
Sokka sat up grimacing at her. "Seriously? You want to talk to your brother after… this." He sounded disgusted.
Azula rolled her eyes at him as she combed her hair. "I need to talk to him, you idiot. And I want to do it before he decides to gather everyone together again."
"For crying out loud, Azula!" He complained as he put his own clothes now. "You are just paranoid because he said he wanted to talk to you later and not when you wanted. Seriously, you need to stop expecting everyone to do exactly what you want when you want."
Azula stood across from him, folding her arms. "Well, I never expect you to do what I want since you never do it."
"Well, I think I did exactly what you want just now…" Sokka grinned, glancing at the bed.
Azula's eyes widened and she felt her face burning. "I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT THAT!"
Sokka laughed and pulled her closer to kiss her cheek, ignoring her protest.
The Princess only took a deep breath, trying to stop blushing. Spirits, she hated him so badly.
"See you later, Princess." He said, before kissing her once again and leading to the door.
###
Azula tried to open her brother's door, but it was locked. She frowned annoyed. Respecting Zuko's privacy wasn't something she was really good at.
"Just a moment." She heard him saying from inside.
After a few seconds, he opened the door.
"Oh, Azula? I didn't expect you to come here." He looked at her a little alarmed. He was wearing his night robes, his hair was down and messy as though he had been sleeping or at least on the bed. "Can I help you?"
The Princess rolled her eyes and walked in, ignoring her brother's odd reaction. Zuko had been acting weirdly around her since he had forced her to see that doctor against her will.
"Please, come in." He said with some sort of sarcasm.
Azula crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you wanted to talk to me, right? I'm here now. Talk."
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Azula, I told you I was tired."
"You had enough time to rest! What's the matter? Until yesterday you were annoying the hell out of me to have this conversation. But now you seem to be avoiding me! What changed?" Azula asked with exasperation as she glared at him. "I'm doing you a favor coming here, you know that? But well, if you don't want to say anything to me anymore, fine. Great. I want to listen to you whining anyway!" She was about to storm off when Zuko held her arm making her stay.
"Wait, Azula!" He shouted, still holding her arm. "And you say I'm the dramatic one…" The girl gave him a death glare before pulling her arm from his grip abruptly. "Okay, stay calm. Come on, sit down."
She sighed still glaring at him. Then she walked forward to sit on the bed. He sat next to her, resting his head on his hands and rubbing his forehead.
"Okay, fine. You are right. I was avoiding you." Azula's eyes widened. She didn't expect him to admit it like this. Before she could say anything though, he went on. "Not this morning. I actually needed to go downtown. But after that, yeah. It's not what you are thinking! I really wanted to talk to you Azula. I still do. It's just…" He took a deep breath. "Look, I know I screw it up with you, okay? I should have never forced that situation over you. You were finally getting to trust me… I acted without thinking…" He shook his head. "And I know how mad you are."
"Oh, you have no idea, brother. And just because I haven't done anything against you yet, it doesn't mean I won't do it. At some point." She said it in a threatening tone.
"I know, Azula. That's exactly why I didn't want to have this conversation now."
She frowned. "I don't get it."
"I'm not well, okay? Not well enough to handle you!" He admitted almost shouting at her.
The Princess looked at him startled. "Handle me?"
Zuko winced in an apologizing way. "Azula, you are not exactly the easiest person to deal with." He kept talking before she could say anything in protest. "Mostly when you are mad. Even worse, when you have a good reason to be mad." He gave her a short smile.
Azula rolled her eyes at him. "At least you know that. But I don't get, are you sick?" She asked confused.
"No, it's not like that." Suddenly, he looked away from her, ashamed. "Look, I don't know why but what happened in town earlier today really took the best of me. I know you are going to call me stupid and weak… After all, it's part of my role as Fire Lord to receive criticism. But honestly, listening to people claiming father would do better than me always drive me crazy. And after everything that happened these past weeks… The thing is, I knew you would use this against me. And yeah, maybe I deserve it… but I was not ready to deal with this today…" He sighed. "I guess I will have to anyway…"
The girl looked at this brother kind of shocked. She didn't really remember the last time he was so honest with her. Had he simply opened up with her willingly? That was so unlike him. Yes, he was a drama queen, but he never let down his walls like around her. No, that was something both of them had in common. They hated letting each other seeing their weaknesses. However, Zuko had just been totally honest with her. What was the matter with him?
"I think it's funny how so many people still worship our father." She commented casually, ignoring her own thoughts. "It's ridiculous. I mean, they might not agree with your ways, I don't either. But at least you actually did something. In three years you accomplished more goals than father ever did."
That caught the Fire Lord off guard. Zuko just stared at his sister with his jaw dropped.
The Princess frowned at him confused by his reaction.
"D-did you just say father was a bad Fire Lord?" Zuko asked, his voice unsure.
Azula shrugged.
"Well, he had one of the shortest reigns in history… Unless you count my reign that lasted what? Half a day?" She let out a sarcastic laugh. "But I was never really crowned and I was literally out of my mind…" She shrugged again. "So I guess it doesn't count." Azula couldn't help but feel a little shocked with herself. Being obsessed with the throne seemed something so far right now. It seemed stupid to want something like this. Something that was clearly her father's plans for her life and not her owns.
Zuko looked at her even more shocked.
"And you think I'm a good one?" Zuko asked with disbelief now.
"Don't push it, Zuzu." She rolled her eyes. "But yeah at least I can assure you that history will remember you for a long time. That's for sure."
Zuko swallowed and looked down. He didn't seem to know what to say to her.
"Well, that if I decide to let you live, of course…" Azula completed after a while, giving him a threatening grin.
Her brother only shook his head and smiled sadly. "Azula," he started after a while. "I'm so sorry. Really. I should have never done that."
"What? Treating a person who had actually been mentally ill as she was crazy again or making a decision over my life when you promised me you wouldn't?" She crossed her arms again, facing him seriously now.
"For everything. I shouldn't have dealt with this situation like that. But it wasn't easy, okay? You have lied and manipulated me before…"
"Oh. So now it's my fault?" She raised an eyebrow.
"No, I didn't say that!" Zuko groaned. "Gosh, you enjoy to make me miserable, don't you?!"
"Yeah, but that's not what I'm doing. I just want to understand what you want with this, Zuko!"
Zuko gazed her exasperatedly. "I want a second chance, Azula! To prove that you can trust me. Come on, I gave you a second chance after you literally tried to kill me! Several times!"
The Princess' eyes widened at him in disbelief. He didn't just say that…
"WHEN I WAS OUT OF MY MIND! AFTER I HAD LOST EVERYTHING I CARED FOR, INCLUDING MY SANITY!" She shouted. She used all her strength to fight back the tears that came up to her eyes.
"I know-"
"No, you don't!" Azula glared at him. "You talk as though my whole life I had planned your death, as though it was something I always wanted. The truth is, if there is something that happened during the damned day of our Agni Kai that I'm grateful for was that I didn't actually kill you!" That shut him up. He only faced her with widened eyes. "If you were dead, I wouldn't have anyone to torture after all…" She muttered after a while.
Zuko ignored the last comment. He seemed to be still shocked. "I didn't mean that." He finally managed to say. "I'm only asking for a chance to fix things…" His voice was low and shy.
"Why?" Azula asked roughly. "Why is that so important to you? I know that I'm the best advisor you could ever get, but it can't be only because of that! What? Do you like the fact people think of you as the generous brother who was so benevolent with your crazy evil sister?"
"NO!" Zuko shouted. "Of course not! Azula, you are my sister! We are family. That's why I care!"
"Oh, come on, Zuzu! Since when family meant anything in this family! Look what our father did to you! To us!"
Her brother looked so horrified to her right now. There was something in his eyes, a mixture of disappointment and sadness. She felt a weird lump in her throat. If she didn't know herself better, she would think she was feeling guilty for making him feel that bad.
"I'm not our father…" He said still glaring at her incredulous. "Father is a monster! A real one. He doesn't care about anything but himself. He never loved any of us! I'm not like this! I love you, Azula! And I don't want to spend the rest of my life fighting with you…"
Zuko kept talking but Azula couldn't hear anymore. It was as though there was a ring in her ears. Did Zuko actually say that? That he loved her? That was so stupid. She might agree that they didn't hate each other as they used to, but love? No. That was ridiculous. People didn't love her. And mostly not people from her family.
"Azula, are you listening to me?" Zuko interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Yeah." She lied, not facing him though.
"So? Do we have an agreement?"
Azula frowned, confused. "What?"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Were you even paying attention?" He asked, scolding her. She couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. "Let me prove to you that I can be trusted, okay? That I will never make any decision like that for you again. Then, you decide if you are going to leave the Palace or not."
The Princess sighed. "I don't know, Zuzu. You say that, but you are the Fire Lord. Your word is the law. Which is fine by me. Really, I don't want the throne, I've told you that. But you can literally do whatever you want. Last time, you forced me to see a mental doctor, next time you might decide to throw me in jail or in another institute, and no one will be able to stop you." He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "I need to be free, Zuko. I know I probably don't deserve it. But I need it, okay?!" Her voice came out more desperate and broken than she expected.
Her brother just gave her a serious look and nod. "Azula, I'm not putting you in any kind of prison. Never. Well, maybe if you kill someone…" He joked, giving her an awkward smile but her unamused face made him immediately went on. "You have to give me chance. Come on, do you really hate your life here that much?"
Azula swallowed, licking her lips. What was she supposed to do? She knew the reasonable thing to do was not to trust him. Trust was for fools anyway. But at the same time, she didn't want to simply give up on her life here. It was the life she chose. Sokka had told her to wait before she made any kind of decision. He also told her Zuko wanted the best for her… Maybe it would not be so bad to give Zuko a second chance. He was right after all, he had given her one, when everybody, including their mother, thought she was nuts and dangerous.
"No, I don't." She finally admitted. "I really don't." She paused, but Zuko didn't say anything. He seemed to be waiting for her decision and after what seemed to be an eternity, she said softly, "Fine."
He looked shocked. "Fine?"
She nodded. "Yes, we have an agreement."
Zuko smiled genuinely to her, and she frowned. It was quite odd to see him smiling like this. "Great! I mean, it will work this time, Azula! I promise…"
She rolled her eyes but smirked back. "Well, let's see…" Suddenly, the Princess caught herself thinking of what her brother had said. That he loved her. That gave her a weird feeling in her chest, so she decided to push it away. "So, ready to discuss last night events with everybody?"
He sighed. "Not really… I'm sick of this mess."
"So am I." She made a grimace. "At least, Mai is here." She gave him a teasing grin.
Zuko flushed. "O-oh, really?"
"Yeah…" The Princess gave him a knowing look. "I'm shocked that you haven't-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence though. Their little sister opened the door roughly and cut her off.
"Zuzu!" The little girl screamed. "'Zula! You are here too! Are you going to have tea with us?"
Azula frowned, "Tea?"
Before the girl could answer her, their mother came in with a trail. "Oh, Azula! I didn't know you were here." Ursa looked alarmed at her older daughter. The woman froze in her place, as though she was afraid to scare the Princess away. "I-I heard Zuko wasn't feeling well, and I want to check on him."
Azula couldn't help giving a laugh of disdain. "Of course…" She said, standing up to leave.
However, Kiyi held her arm. "Please, Azula, stay?"
Zuko raised from the bed as well, smiling at the kid. Then he gave Azula a smile and the Princess was sure he was mocking her. He knew how much she hated these situations. "Come on, it won't be that bad…" He whispered to her.
She cursed herself. And her siblings. She should have just left. She needn't give them any explanation. However, for some reason, she stayed. And although part of her want to run away, another part of her didn't totally hate their company. They all seemed a bit tensed with her there, but they also seemed quite happy that she didn't leave. She felt quite stupid when she realized she was also quite happy herself.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please, review it! :)
Thank you for reading it!