Chapter Rating: T (Language)

A/N:

Published on 09/09/2020

Chapter 19: Perceptions

Night set in sooner than Sokka realized, he sat Azula down onto her bed, and poured another cup of medicinal tea for her; as she sipped at the tea, Sokka pulled up a chair and sat across from her.

"So, this whole deal about your mom…" He saw her eyes twitch with his words. "I'm sorry," he stopped himself. "Just try to relax for now."

"Mother never thought I was good enough," Azula answered with a whisper; Sokka bit his lip and listened. "I was a firebending prodigy, but I wasn't good enough to be loved." Azula's voice grew, she pulled her blanket closer and hugged herself. "Do you know what she said to me once?" Her voice quivered.

Sokka shook his head.

"She said: 'what is wrong with that child?'" Azula turned up to him; he saw a glimmer in her eyes, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was only a little girl, but even a child knows when she isn't loved." Azula pulled her knees in close and quietly sobbed into her arms. "What type of parent says that to a child?"

"I—" Sokka pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Azula. I promise we'll figure this out." Sokka placed a hand on her cheek and lifted her up to face him. "I'm here for you." He wiped away her tears with his thumb. Azula placed her forehead onto his, Sokka leaned closer and met her lips with his. He felt heat rush to her cheeks, like a warm fire, and gently pulled away. "I'll be back soon, good night, Princess."

Azula nodded and laid herself into her bed. Sokka stayed with her and held her hand until she fell asleep, then blew out every candle before stepping out, and heading to the Firelord's room.

...

"I need to talk to the Firelord." Sokka bowed to the Kiyoshi Warriors who stood guard in front of his quarters. They nodded and knocked on the door.

"What is it?" Zuko's voice came from the other side.

"Sokka wants to speak with you!" One of them answered.

"Let him in." The warriors nodded to Sokka, opened the door for him, and he stepped through.

Zuko sat behind a large desk, bright flames danced on the candles and torches that surrounded his room, in his hands, the Firelord held an age piece of parchment.

"What's the problem, Sokka?"

"Firelord—I."

"Stop the formalities, please." Zuko waved to the chair in front of him. "Sit down."

"Alright, Zuko." Sokka did as the Firelord requested. "I need to know more about your mother." Sokka thought he saw disbelief and anger in Zuko's face but pressed on. "If I'm going to be there to help Azula tomorrow, I'm gonna need to know about what happened." Zuko sighed, Sokka breathed in. "Look, I just helped Azula find enough peace of mind to go to sleep, before she could calm down, she said a lot about how her mother didn't care about her."

"That's not true!" Zuko's face twisted in anger.

"Look," Sokka held his hands out. "I'm not saying it is, all I'm saying is that is how she feels. And I need to know why." The Firelord calmed himself. "Please let me know, I just want to help."

"That's not entirely true." Zuko let a breath out that heated the air around them. "It wasn't that Mom didn't love Azula, she was just never allowed to show it; Ozai would take Azula away, training her and molding her into an image of himself. Mom gave her time to me instead, she didn't hate Azula, they just never spent any time together, and I don't have any doubts that Ozai fed information to Azula that painted Mom in a bad light." Zuko shifted the parchment in his hand. "Ozai was constantly poisoning Azula's mind with false information about Mom. She never got a real idea about how Mom truly felt about us." Zuko took another deep breath, his voice cracking as he recalled the events. "The last time I saw her, I was just a child, she kissed my cheek, told me that everything she's done is because she loved us, and then she left."

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't be. It was a long time ago," Zuko held the parchment up to a candle. "and tomorrow we're going to find her."

"You know where she is?"

"This is an order that Ozai signed, it details the search for—and banishment of my Mother. We know where to start looking."

"Right, right…" Sokka rubbed his chin. "Wait—can't you just cancel the order and bring your mom to the palace?"

Zuko sat there, blinking.

"You don't think I tried that?!" Zuko's hands slammed into the desk, the candles that lit the room flared up.

"Did—did it work?" Sokka shrunk into his chair.

"It was made years ago. Ozai eventually forgot about it, with the occupation of the Earth Kingdom becoming more important, he lost track of her." Anger gave way to sorrow. "They searched but found nothing. I don't even know if I'll recognize her, it's been so long."

"Ah…" Sokka nodded. "I understand…Sorry." Sokka shook his head and continued. "But you think that Azula losing her firebending has something to do with your mother?"

"I'm not sure, but it's worth a try." Zuko nodded. "I has to do the same when I trained Aang. I had to find another source."

"If this doesn't work, can we use that other source? The one that you learned from."

"Aang and I made an oath to not tell anyone, but," Zuko sighed. "we'll see. Check on Azula one more time before you turn in, won't you?" Zuko asked.

"I'll take care of it." Sokka reassured him and stepped out. Just down the hall, he reentered Azula's room, in the weak light of the candle he held he saw her shift in her sleep; her arm hung off her bed.

"That's going to hurt in the morning if you keep it like that." He whispered to himself and moved her hand to rest at her side. As he pulled away, she shifted in her sleep again and grabbed his hand; her grip tightened, it shook and she muttered painful, fearful whispers in her sleep, her expression twisted with uncertainty. "Okay," Sokka kneeled down next to her bed and laid his head down. "I'll stay." As if Azula had heard him, her expression relaxed, and he spent the rest of the night by her side, even as his eyelids became heavy.

The sun's heat struck his back. Sokka opened his eyes to see Azula open hers just after.

"Did I drag you out of bed again?" She asked; his hand still wrapped in hers with a firm grip.

"No," Sokka yawned. "I just figured you needed me—even if you didn't have it in you to admit it." A smile and a sense of calm came over Azula's face.

And Sokka felt another flash of heat radiate through her hand towards him.

A/N: Do you want to know why "Zuko sat there, blinking" gets its own line?

I had to acknowledge that plothole somehow, right? *shrugs*

I promise that The Search Trilogy had no such plotholes(that I've seen).

Thanks for reading.