After a few minutes of "conversation" with Azula, Ozai let her know as much as he knew. The last time he had checked up on her years ago she was hiding out in the fire nation colonies. The next time he had some troops question about her whereabouts she seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. She had either stumbled into the Earth Kingdom, gone into deep hiding, or perished. For Zuko's sake, and deep, deep, deep down her sake she hoped it was one of the former options.
Sokka and Azula were aboard her royal sloop ship as it was the fastest boat available. She was rather surprised that Zuko had kept it in sailing shape. Perhaps despite his thoughts to the contrary he also hoped that she would recover her mind. Unlike the regular fire nation cruisers and Empire class ships hers had the latest technology available so they could make the trip almost twice as fast. Even still, it would take them about a week, which was rather droll. The only upside being extra time spent with Sokka, when he wasn't training or behaving like a buffoon with the crew anyway.
To her surprise many of them got over their initial reservations once they began conversing with him. Some could not believe he was the brains of team Avatar, the puppeteer who's schemes in large part helped end the war while tallying up quite the body count. It seemed very difficult to dislike him while he was cracking jokes or giving them Pai Sho tips. Some still found it slightly offputting that even though he appeared to be a functioning idiot he actually thought several moves ahead in any game involving intelligence. Pai Sho did have a reputation for showing how much of a tactical mind one had after all, which only lead credence to some of the darker rumors about her beloved.
She hadn't noticed as much when she was in the royal palace and had her own responsibilities, but in his "relaxing" moments he usually spent his time training. He said something about not being able to do the element magic stuff so needing to stay in top shape at all times. She smiled while shaking her head. He was a fool, but he was her fool. Right now he was doing something involving two large buckets of water fully outstretched to both sides to help with his strength and balance. There were probably simpler ways to accomplish this task but she let him be. It's not like they had much else to do.
As she was on the upper deck those below were not aware if she was in her room or not. On previous trips if she was not training or planning she stayed within her quarters since the continued presence of others had the tendency to annoy her. Watching her shirtless muscular lover was ample excuse for her to leave her quarters though. Although this meant she had to listen to the chatter of the crew below. Some were on about what they would be doing after the latest assignment as usually, some about which guards they found attractive as her group was rather mixed in terms of gender, one conversation in particular between two of her female guards caught her attention though.
"I admit he has a certain charm, but why did the princess choose a savage?" A soft voice said. Azula clenched the railing so hard that her knuckles began to turn white. If she threw this person into the ocean it wouldn't look great in front of Sokka. Maybe this conversation will take a better turn and she will not have to intervene.
"Perhaps she was a gift from the firelord? Its not the best situation but it shows a true bond between the nations. The Southern water tribe was nearly exterminated by us." The voice was deeper but still definitely feminine.
"Yes, that is sad. We only learned of the conditions of many other nations after the war. We could hand them a paltry amount of money, they don't deserve a princess of her caliber. Helping the firelord did not erase what he has done. He killed thousands, by himself. One man should not have that much blood on his hands."
"Is it different if I have the ashes of two people on mine?"
Azula heard shuffling on the lower deck and jumped down the the fifteen or so feet before they could stumble away. She was still in her night robe, makeup undone and hair in a ponytail but it didn't matter. They would be easy enough to incinerate.
"Princess!" Both women said while groveling as quickly as possible. It was almost comedic.
"How dare you filthy peasants speak of my betrothed in such a manner. I will use your bones as kindling! You will die screaming! I will…." Before she could spew out in vivid detail how she would punish them, a familiar set of arms wrapped around her waist. The world seemed to fall away as she leaned her head back into Sokka's shoulder.
"Good morning my ethereal princess. What's wrong? Your little evil outbursts are cute, but I don't like seeing you mad."
Azula's gaze fell back to the two ladies on the ground, they were now cautiously peering up at her but swiftly looked back down when she looked them in the eye. While she could get away with a lot in front of him, she didn't think casual murder would result in her getting the usual soft kisses. Though she did have a fun idea.
"I heard these two insulting their superior and I was deciding on how to punish them." She held in a smirk when she saw the two of them hitch their breath.
Sokka brushed away her ponytail and kissed her neck, she let out the cutest almost silent little moan. "Well that would depend on what they said wouldn't it? How bad could it be?"
She smirked as a bead of sweat began to drip down one of their foreheads. She always enjoyed moments like this. "Well, I know for a fact that he has been nothing but kind to them, and he has gone out of his way to make their lives better despite the fact that it holds almost no long term benefit to him. "
"Then what would they even have to insult him about? Seems kinda weird."
"Oh, he came from one of the poorer parts of the fire nation so despite his accomplishments they do not view him as their equal. Also, they fear and loathe him because of the blood he had to spill during the war. They had the audacity to call him a savage."
Sokka kissed the top of her head and smiled. "Why don't you give them a chance to learn from their mistakes? I'm sure that's what their superior would want, for the first time anyway. He sounds like a very thoughtful, generous, and caring guy despite what he had to do during the war."
"But-but the things they said…."
"Princess, if you didn't want to follow my suggestions why did you ask my opinion on the matter?"
Azula glared daggers at the two women who's foreheads were still glued to the ground, shaking, they were lucky she was not one of the benders that could set fire to the air with her mind. With a huff she said "I suppose."
Sokka let Azula go and stood before the two women, who only looked up for a split second to see who was approaching them. "Although maybe they should think about this moment in the future, and realize that he might not be caring enough to stop the princess from expressing her wrath next time. Is my meaning clear?"
"Yes Lord Sokka, forgive us for our impudence."
"Rise."
They stood but their gaze remained fixated on the ground until he slapped a hand on each of their shoulders, which caused them to jump. Had he changed his mind?
"So, who wants lunch? Looks like its almost noon. I'm staaaarving" He said with the goofiest smile possible on his face.
Azula facepalmed and groaned but he seemed to pay her no mind. The gaurds nervously laughed but followed him to the cafeteria. No doubt because they assumed something terrible would happen to them if they declined his offer. She knew better though. The fool was just hungry and thought that was an appropriate transition.
He was a functioning idiot, but he was her functioning idiot.
Sokka was awoken by Azula stirring in his arms. It happened, he wasn't mad at her. His eyes would soon be closed in pursuit of dreams in a few short moments, but he took the disturbance as a blessing and looked at her blissful face as she rested on his chest. She really was a vision of beauty. He would have never thought the girl who shot her own uncle in the chest and caused a small localized explosion on their first meeting would become his betrothed, but here they were. Honestly he never took the time to admire how beautiful she was until after the war, at that point it was obviously too late since she was in the asylum. The whole trying to kill each other thing put a huge damper on him even seeing her as anything but an obstacle to overcome.
Now was a different time though, and he could admire her as much as he wanted. Sokka ran his fingers through the tresses of Azula's hair and watched her. He noticed she was still jumping a bit in her sleep, and it was not a reaction to him. As he paid more attention to her he noticed she was also whispering to herself. 'I'm not a monster, it was an accident!'
Huh. One part of him was glad that even in her dreams she was echoing his words to her, another was wondering just what the hell she could be dreaming about that would make her even need to say it. Maybe the original root of the problem?
'Father would have been proud of me, it's just a stupid animal.' Harsh, but he wasn't about to judge her over an accident she had as a child. She probably thinks differently now. Even if she didn't it's not like she hunts and carves up animals like he had to in the south.
'But I finally got my fire to turn blue. Mother!' Maybe it was the inordinate amount of his free time he had been spending with Azula since they left the asylum, but at that his eyes took on her catlike quality after he heard that. Going after her mother dredged up old memories, which lead to this. She had a bad reaction any time her mother was brought up since she was the first person to call her a monster. He needed to pull her out, now. This could trigger more visions if he keeps just leaving it to fester in her mind.
He gently slid her up his body and began planting soft kisses on her lips. After mumbling a bit she stirred awake. Anger filled her eyes for a few seconds before she calmed upon resting her eyes on his face. She was a little shaken from her dream, but she had an idea of what he wanted that would also calm her.
"You didn't have enough earlier tonight?" Azula kissed his jaw. "Would you like another rendition of the peasant and the princess? 'My peasant, you are dashingly handsome but my standing will not allow us to be together. However, you can have me, just for this night. I'll do anything you desire'"
Sokka groaned and tried to keep his blood from flowing downward. She was insatiable. Well, they both were but this was more important. He help her by the sides of her face and stroked the hair over her ears with his thumb, she always loved that. He knew she wouldn't love this conversation.
"Azula, what were you dreaming about? You mumbled something about stupid animals and it being an accident."
The smirk on her face was wiped away. Her eyes grew cold and so did his. She quickly realized that she had likely said more, and that he wanted her to be honest of her own accord. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Azula."
"What? I didn't lie. You only said not to lie to you. You never said I had to tell the truth. Also, technically that is the truth."
Sokka held back the urge to laugh. She was technically correct. He should probably phrase his requests better in the future. "Azula, it's important to me. I know you don't like seeming weak but everyone has some sort of emotional vulnerability."
"And why do you want to know my weaknesses? Are you plotting against me?"
Sokka rolled his eyes as he had finally grown to understand her deadpan jokes. "No….honestly I'm scared."
Azula was taken aback. "You fear me?"
"No...no of course not. I just fear what could happen if you meet your mother in your current frame of mind."
"My mind is sound, it is clear. You know this."
"I know….It's just….You always flip out when Zuko talks about your mother. I was just thinking if something traumatic did happen between you, and you never resolved it, then you could fall apart when you see her."
"Fall apart?"
"The visions."
"Oh…." Those had been far removed from her mind since the first night she spent with Sokka. At times she felt on edge but even that had been growing more distant over the past few months. She felt like herself. Better actually. "Those are not a concern anymore."
"That dream sounded pretty heavy Azula. What if….."
Azula reached up and stroked his cheek. "Do you trust me?"
"You know I do." He smiled softly "With my life."
"So sweet. So, If I were to kill you right now you wouldn't mind?"
"At least I would die in the arms of the most beautiful girl in the world." He said while brushing some hair behind her ear.
"I may just have to spare you if you continue being that charming" She smirked after a breathy laugh. "Sokka, just know I will tell you when I believe the time is right. There are some things that shake even me."
"Promise me."
"I promise. When it is too much to bear I will come to you."
I wanted to apologize for the slow uploads on all of my stories. I recently got my first long term job and most of the time I would have previously spent writing is spent on that. I love writing but it doesn't put money in my pocket _. Anyway I have a lot of story ideas that I can't wait to share with you all. two new ones but I wont upload them until I complete one of my current stories or I finish them and know I can upload regularly for it.