Blueandie: I have a great time working with the story from each of their POV's. I feel like it's a pretty good way of tackling a couple fight-at least for me it is.

Impulsiveness is a bit of a lingering effect of the Ruby Tears, among other things. That and she still has to break her habit of playing mind games; she's still Azula after all. It sort of was a struggle for control for her in many ways. She did kind of have something to prove to herself in a way, but really she only proved that she's not a souless demon lmao. At least she tried. xP

While Azula is still Azula, she did do a lot of changing and what not. She is a tad jealous of Aang, of course not in the way that Sokka is jealous of Chan though. And of course she's a little bitter about how he expected her to open up to him but hasn't done the same for her. In this chapter you'll see how her actions are going to affect people around her. I do have a more sturdy plan in place now though.

Thank you, that was something I put a bit of thought into. At first I was going to actually have him start hurting her while she was on the Ruby Tears but I literally just could not see Sokka doing that to her at all. It just wouldn't have fit his character and I feel like if I had started it at that point their relationship would be pretty much doomed. Oh yeah, this part was a huge risk, I wasn't sure how people would take to a borderline abusive Sokka. As mentioned I do have a solid plan for it and a reason for choosing that route, which I'll explain after going through with it. I think that at this point in time Sokka is at a very big Zuko style crossroad and he can either destroy things completely or he can fix himself for the better. And thank you again, I felt as though dialogue with this chapter could possibly ruin some of the atmosphere.

xP Sokka is just so over Chan and co. Unfortunately for him, as you said, for him to earn a point he has to say it to Chan's face! :P I decided that Suki's death alone probably wouldn't be enough to push Sokka over the edge like that so I decided to bring the war in at least a little bit. Both Sokka and Azula were war children and it has impacted them in different ways.

Javaxe1: Thanks! I'm very thrilled to hear that I'm writing it in a believable way. Thank you again and enjoy!

FireAndIce123: This is something that will be revealed very shortly.

He hadn't seen Azula in days, something he couldn't seem to figure out how to take. It might have been a good thing, but it was also means for concern. When he came to think of it, he hadn't even seen her clinging to Chan. Sokka realized, that she must be hiding away in her room again, which was never a good sign. It didn't come as a surprise to him, she had toyed with him but, in some way or another, it didn't go as she had planned. He briefly thought of going to visit her, but he felt as though such would be detrimental. She probably didn't want to see him anyhow. Even if she did, he wouldn't have gone. He was still resentful, especially with images of Chan stroking her hair and cheeks still fresh in his mind. He found his face hot all over again as he made his way towards the guest room where the gang waited. He had the length of the hallway to put on his happy carefree face.

If he couldn't pretend he would end up driving them away.

He couldn't afford that.

They were all he had, to keep him from falling completely apart.

.oOo.

A tease, that's what she was. She'd given Chan a little taste and then pulled away. It was nice to have had his touch back on her body, at least for a short while it was. Though it never compared to the care Sokka had given her. Sokka was more for pleasuring her whilst Chan liked to be on the receiving end, that was the difference. At the end of the day, Azula felt nothing for Chan other than infatuation in the vaguest sense. But not enough to spend even one more night beneath the sheets with him. Those days were long over and she found it in herself to let him know such.

He was pissed.

What was it that he had said? "After all I've done for you." She recalled. To which she replied and quite coldly, "you got me high and let me destroy myself."

A few harsh words later and she was a tease that he wanted nothing to do with. To that, she could hardly protest. She knew very well that she had used him to prod at Sokka—which seemed to have worked sublimely. So when Chan asked what he was to her, she could only answer that he was a close friend.

"Close? I'll say." He accented it with the most bitter laugh she'd ever heard. And just like that they were friends no more. Azula wanted to say that the fallout would have been tenfold if she dragged their pseudo relationship out for days. But it would seem that the intensity of their argument would have been the same no matter how long or short she had strung him along for.

Such became increasingly obvious as she watched Chan gather his belongings. He refused to look at her, only doing so when she offered him money for the road. His pride almost kept him from taking it, but he had. It would be enough to get him home to his father. As quickly as they had come, the Ash Pit members had left with their leader save for Khoza, who was not yet done living the opulent life, and Yoona. Yoona who had grown very attached to her language teacher and most everyone else who would listen to her endless prattle.

Azula wondered if Chan would even make it out of the Capital. She couldn't see him leaving Yoona nor Khoza behind. Deep down she knew that he wouldn't. She might get her chance to revive what she'd lost with Chan. But at the moment things seemed bleak and she wouldn't allow herself to raise her hopes, lest they crash and crumble.

As far as she was concerned she was alone again.

Alone and cut off.

Alone because she was still a liar.

Alone because she liked toying with people.

And four days was a long time to be alone after having seen what it was like to have company…real, genuine, and caring company. Four days was enough to make the princess long for things she hadn't thought about in a while. An old friend that never left her until she had left it. She buried her face in her palms and exhaled a very long breath. She didn't want to go there again, yet she had no one else and nothing else to turn to…

Of course, she could no longer talk to Aang and the others. She was playing mind games with their close friend. At least this time she had the decency and displeasure to feel bad about it. Her game had always required indifference on her part. That was why she was losing her own game.

She laid down all of her cards and studied them. She still had one left in her deck, one that she was ambivalent to lay down. But in a losing deck, it would seem that this card was her only option.

If only she hadn't assumed that the avatar and his friends were against her.

If only she had tried talking to them before setting that card on the table.

.oOo.

Sokka should have seen it coming the minute she watched Chan shimmy out with his gang in tow. But he didn't. Not at first when such a hollow victory had flashed in his face. Chan, homewrecking, vile, petty Chan was showing himself out—the only polite thing he'd done since arriving. Sokka almost wanted to leap in the air and bid him a grand and peppy sayonara. That was around the time he started seeing less of Azula. Another thing he couldn't help but revel in; he had won, he had finally beaten Azula at one of her games. In doing so, he beat Chan too. For once he had come out on top. He forced himself to smile the smile a victor ought to wear. But after the initial euphoria of seeing his rival leave the smile could only be forced. He couldn't seem to taste the sweetness everyone said came with victory. No matter how much he of it he tasted, he couldn't get himself to like the flavor.

He figured that playing redemption with Aang and the others would take his mind off of things. Though he was never fond of the game—being as it reminded him of being stuck in the Great Divide where Aang had invented it—but it was much better than dwelling on more pressing matters.

Sokka had the ball in his hand and was about to score a point and cry, 'redemption', when Azula made her way over the garden grass. He should have known what was coming when she looked him in the eye and he saw nothing but a sense of resigned desperation. She looked worn and spoke quietly and elicited a hushed buzzing from Sokka's own friends. As they murmured, he caught the princess' eyes again.

In them he could see a look, one that was almost remorseful as she tugged her shirt up and revealed the bruise. His heart sank and his stomach succumbed to a queasy feeling. Of all the cards Azula had at her disposal, she had played the victim one. A card that didn't seem to fit her at all.