CHAPTER 15
"Azu!" Kiyi whined, placing her hands on her hips. "You promised, remember? In fact," she said, walking towards Sokka. "You both did. You both promised me you will take me sight-seeing." she looked at them accusingly.
"Listen, I'll propose something to you; why don't we reschedule it for next week, huh? And instead, today I can show you a new firebending form, does that sound fair?" Azula had proposed.
Kiyi pouted for a couple of seconds before uncrossing her arms. "Fine," she acceded, "But no more bargains, okay? We are going next week." she said, warningly pointing at her sibling.
"Alright, next week." both agreed.
"And you are coming." she noted and pointed at Sokka, too.
"Ah… That," the Princess muttered, cursing inside. "Yeah, I don't remember it." she lied. Right now, she wasn't in the mood to tolerate an entire day either with Zuko or Sokka. She was still angry at both of them. And for one day she only wanted peace and to be alone, away from them and their friends.
Kiyi turned towards the warrior. "But you do, right? Tell her." she pleaded, making puppy eyes. She had to convince her old sister one way or another. And she wasn't going to give up.
"I-I…" his eyes went from the kid to the Princess, back and forth, feeling pressure by both girls' glances on him. Azula glance was a clear shut up, while Kiyi was a please... He sighed. "I do. I remember." he said with resignation under the deadly eyes the Princess was giving him.
Azula rubbed the inner corners of her eyes with a big sigh, vexed.
A huge smile appeared on Kiyi's face. "See, Az? He remembers. So be done quickly with that, and let's go," she said with urgency, "We still need to find Zuzu."
I'm not getting anywhere close to Zuko today, she thought.
"Kiyi," Azula said, trying to remain calm. "We are not going today, okay?" she didn't know why Kiyi was being so insistent about it.
She frowned. "But you promised me!" she accused her, pouting. Kiyi was smarter than girls her age, and after spending so much time with Azula, she had learned one or two things about how to make things go her way. So, it wasn't normal for her to throw a tantrum. In fact, Azula had never seen her do it. But maybe, this would be the first time.
"I know. But right now, I can't stand Zuko." she admitted between gritted teeth. Just the idea of breathing the same air as him annoyed her. And she hoped with that the girl would desist.
But Kiyi had other plans.
"Well, let's go without him then." she proposed with a smile. There was nothing that could make her change her mind. She was determined to convince her.
The Princess' eyes went from her half-sister to the warrior behind her, who seemed to be avoiding her glance by looking around the room. She stared at him fixedly, and when he finally dared to look at her, he noticed her annoyed glance and understood it as; say something, damn it!
"What?" he said, innocently.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" she grunted between teeth with a deathly glare.
"Don't look at me. It's her idea," he said, accusing and pointing at the nine-year-old. "And she seems pretty determined to not change her mind." he remarked at how stubborn Kiyi seemed.
Azula sighed before supporting her elbows on the desk and leaning forward. "Listen, Kiyi, today isn't a good day. Why not…"
"That's what you said last time," she pouted, crossing her arms. Her eyes were starting to get watery. "You said… that you would… take me sight-seeing… and that we…" she said, beginning to sob. Her shoulders shaking. "You said…"
Azula crossed her eyes. Wicked child. She had never thought that Kiyi was going to use blackmailing. She had seen it being used on Zuko, -mostly under her own suggestion- but trying to use it against her was traitorous at the least.
She closed her eyes and began counting to ten, trying not to lose the little patience she already had,
Sokka panicked when he saw the little one, eyes filling with tears. He kneeled in front of her to be at her height and held her by the shoulders. "W-wait, don't cry. Don't cry... We can…" Kiyi's lower lip trembled. And his heart broke at the sight of this. "Tsk! Fine, fine. We'll go!" he accepted, defeated.
"We will?" Azula asked, aghast, snapping her eyes open.
"Awesome!" said Kiyi with an enormous smile, no trace of tears on her face or eyes.
"W-wait…" Sokka was astonished at her quick change of mood. "W-were we… Did you just scam us?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, stunned. He felt cheated.
"You. You were scammed, beast." the Princess pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning backwards on the chair. She was not going to be dragged into this.
"Perhaps." muttered Kiyi with a mischievous smile.
"Tsk! I knew it," Azula grunted, vexed. "Kiyi, no... we're not going today."
The nine-year-old turned towards her older sibling and, whilst frowning, gave her a fixed stare. The Princess did the same. They remained like that for a couple of seconds, just staring at each other with narrowed eyes, not even blinking.
It was a contest of glances. They would often do it, whenever they disagreed on something. They could last hours until someone else intervened.
Then, a gigantic smile spread on Kiyi's face. "'I'll see you both in ten minutes at the Main Entrance." she said, heading towards the door.
"For the last time; No. And that's final!" Azula stated, firm with her words.
...
"Come on! Hurry, you pair of snails! You two are too slow." Kiyi screamed in front of them as they walked towards their destination and she trailed in front of them.
Azula's eyebrows twitched for the eighth time in the last five minutes.
"That little brat…" she cursed under her breath. She had done it. She had tricked her into agreeing to come. Kiyi had managed to drag her along.
"She's quite bossy, huh?" Sokka asked next to her. He had attempted to begin a conversation with her since they had left the Palace grounds but she kept ignoring him.
Azula gave him a quick look and ignored him once more as they kept on walking. She wondered how that little evil spirit had tricked her into coming along. She had done the same thing to Zuko when they were little to convince him to play with her. She cursed and considered that perhaps she was having too much influence on the little one.
They were heading towards Lake Laogai.
Apparently, Kiyi had heard from some servants in the Earth Kingdom Palace that the lake was a pretty popular place for people to gather nowadays. It seemed that you could have a picnic by the shore, buy ice cream, food, and different desserts, or even take a small trip in a boat and she wanted to do all that.
As they began to visualize the waters of the Lake in the distance, the road they had taken -under Sokka's suggestion- became a little rocky. It wasn't hard to walk through, but they needed to be very wary of their steps if they didn't wish to end with their foot stuck between rocks or tripping and falling face down. They even had to jump from one rock to another more than once.
At some point in the path, a division between two rocks became so wide that Kiyi had trouble jumping it.
Sokka rushed to aid her. Sliding a hand under her legs, he carried her over. After putting her on the ground on the other side, he turned towards the Princess extending his arm.
She raised her eyebrows with her arms crossed over her chest. "What are you doing?" she asked, deadpanned.
"It's called chivalry." he replied with a little smirk, offering his hand and hoping she would accept it.
"It's ridiculous." she said, before rolling her eyes and jumping towards the other side and landing flawlessly.
He sighed as he saw her get ahead, leaving him and Kiyi to trail meters behind.
"She seems to totally despise you right now." said Kiyi, matter-of-factly, her eyes on the back of her sister that had left them behind.
"I suppose she does right now." Sokka admitted, staring at the Princess' back. She was doing an amazing job pretending he didn't exist.
"That's why you asked for my help, right?"
"Kiyi," said Sokka when he had found her earlier that morning in the Palace's hallways.
"Hey, husband." she had replied, casually.
"Hey, listen, didn't you say the other day that you wanted to go explore the city?" Kiyi nodded. "Well, I have an idea."
He explained her his plan in detail.
"Got it," she said, "You go in. Then I go and I insist until she agrees." She made a circle with her index and thumb fingers as in an 'okay' sign.
"Exactly," he said, giving her a thumbs-up, being thankful that she was such a smart child.
"Huh, still..." Kiyi crossed her arms and placed a hand under her chin, pondering. "I'm wondering, what do I get out of this?"
"The pleasure of helping me amend things with your sibling?" he said. Kiyi grimaced. "Fine," he sighed. "What about if I… save you tonight my portion of dessert?"
Kiyi narrowed her eyes at his proposition. "Make it for a week and we have a deal." she offered her hand to seal the deal.
Sokka smirked, taking her hand and closing the deal. "You are surprisingly brilliant for your age." The more time he spent around Kiyi, the more he realized that she was a younger version of Azula.
"I spend way… too much time with Azula. Now go." she said, taking a few steps back from the door to wait for her signal.
He knocked with his knuckles and a second later a 'Come in' came from the inside of the room.
"Yeah."
They joined her a little after by the shore of the lake.
During war times and back when the lake had been under the control of the Dai Li, Lake Laogai had been a secured place. Private. And mostly patrolled by the agents, hoping to avoid curious eyes about what was truly happening under it. Now, years after the war, the lake was open to the public, and it was a place where families and couples could come to have a nice day at the shore, take a swim or even rent small boats to fish on the waters of the lake.
All over the shore there were dozens of food stalls selling stuff from kebabs of every kind to ice cream of every possible flavor. Also, there were stalls with different entertaining games for every member of the family.
"Now, what?" the Princess asked Kiyi, still nettled.
"Now, that," she pointed at the middle of the lake where a dozen boats with families and couples were floating. "I want to do that."
"Great." Azula huffed, cursing on the inside.
It took them a moment to find the place where a man was renting different boats. Sokka ended up paying the rent of the boat, as he had been the only one to have thought about bringing any money. After hopping into the boat, Sokka was the one in charge of rowing as Azula refused to help and found her spot at the farthest end.
He stopped rowing a few minutes later when they were away from the shore, but not too much. Just enough to be able to fish.
Glancing in the distance, they could see the part of the Lake that was used as a pier for the bigger ships. And if they paid enough attention, they could even see the Royal Barge at the far distance.
"Kiyi, have you ever gone fishing?" Sokka asked her. She denied with her head. "Then it's your lucky day." he said, pulling out a fishing rod.
"Where did you get that?" Kiyi asked as he pulled out the bait from a little container.
"The old man back there told me that people usually take advantage of their time in the lake and use it to get some fish to later have a picnic by the shore," he said, struggling to get the bait into the hook. "So, I thought why not, huh?"
"Great!" she said with a smile as she searched the back with snacks that she had brought, suddenly feeling hungry.
Azula scoffed, crossing her legs. "If I were you Kiyi, I wouldn't sound so excited. It's obvious he doesn't even know how to do it." she said with venom, seeing him struggle with the bait.
"For your information, back in the day, I used to do our fishing while traveling," he said, "Got it!" he exclaimed with excitement once he could put the hook through the worm and throw it into the water.
"No wonder why you all looked poorly fed," she muttered, irritated, placing her elbow over her knee and resting her chin on her palm. "Why did you drag me here, anyway?!" she burst. She was blaming this on him because he had been the one to say yes to Kiyi.
"You think I wanted to bring you?!" Sokka retorted, "It's your fault!"
Azula didn't know all this had been his plan, and he attempted to keep it like that. He didn't want her to get more furious at him for dragging her there. So, he had to pretend he wasn't happy with the situation either.
"How is it my fault?! When did I say I wanted to come to have a picnic?! I never wanted this!" she said, vexed.
"Anyway, this is your fault!" he pointed out. "You told her; you were going to take her sight-seeing." he reminded her. That part was true.
"B-But…" she began, but he didn't allow her to refute him.
"If you made a promise to a little girl, then you should follow through!" he remarked. "If you can't, then you shouldn't have said anything!" he scolded her.
Azula raised her eyebrows. "You were scammed by her! You get to say nothi..."
Both of them blinked, astonished
Kiyi sighed after shoving an onigiri into each of their mouths to stop their bickering. "At this rate, you two are going to end up liking each other," she said, pouting. "Why do you keep fighting over nothing?" she questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's her fault!"
"It's his fault!" they shouted at each other, glancing in opposite directions.
They remained in silence for a while eating the onigiri and waiting for the rod to hook on something. Nothing happened until the Princess felt something moving on her shoe.
She screamed with a shriek in disgust. The bait had dragged out of the bag and it was crawling on the floor of the boat.
"What?! What is it?!" Sokka inquired, concerned for her reaction.
"Ugh…" Azula complained, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them after shaking off the worms. "They crawled out of the bag. It's disgusting." she pointed at the floor with revolt.
"Oh…" he muttered, pulling them back into the bag. "There. They are gone." he said, once the floor of the boat was clean.
"Thanks." she said, almost inaudibly so.
"Wait… Are you afraid of worms?" he asked, raising a brow with a smirk.
"No," she replied, "I'm disgusted by them."
"And by insects, rodents, reptiles, every kind of bug." Kiyi listed, realizing something important she hadn't noticed until that moment.
Sokka huffed. "So, not only nature hates you, but you hate nature as well." he said, mockingly.
"Shut up."
"You two aren't going to start fighting again, are you?" Kiyi interjected, making a grimace of discomfort. "Because, whatever it is… I think we should turn this boat around…"
"Why?" both asked.
She smiled nervously. "I-I might need to pee…"
…
Sokka had remained in the boat as Azula stood guard while Kiyi peed behind a bust. They were no bathrooms close, so it was the best they could do before her bladder exploded.
The Princess crossed her eyes, thinking about what she had done to deserve to be in the situation she was in. She rubbed her temples, trying to gather patience for the rest of the day. When she opened her eyes again and glanced towards the boat, she was stunned of finding it empty. She looked around but didn't find him. Sokka was nowhere to be seen.
This can't be happening, she thought.
"Sokka? Hey, Sokka, it's not funny... Get out!" she shouted at the shore of the lake. Nothing. There was no response. "Sokka, seriously get out!" she insisted again, but once more there was no response. "Damn it! This can be happening." she cursed, afraid that something had happened to him.
Without thinking twice, she walked into the lake, thinking that maybe he had fallen from the boat and hit his head and was about to drown. She called him again, worried. Nothing. Her heartbeat rushed, thinking the worst. The water was already at her waist. If something had happened to him, everyone was going to blame her.
Her breathing shortened as she desperately looked around for him. Her pulse increasing.
He was there a second ago, he couldn't have gone too far.
She was about to dive in when a splash of water startled her not too far from where she was.
"See? I got one. I told you I was good at this," said Sokka with a smile and raising a fish in his hand. Azula stared at him, displeased. "And what happened to you?" he asked, befuddled, tilting his head, when he noticed that she was also in the lake. He glanced at her and noticed her worried expression and that her eyes were blinking in tears. "Are you…"
"Agh…!" she grunted before she splashed him violently with water in the face. "You're unbelievable!" she muttered, as she got out of the lake all wet.
"What?!" he instead again, not understanding the situation.
Tsk!" she snarled, before turning and shooting a fire blast at him.
He ducked under the water to avoid it. "Are you crazy?!" he yelled. Then he understood her reaction and smirked, pleased. "Don't tell me you were worried about me?" he joked.
"Yes! Because I told you! If something happens to you, they'll blame me. It would be my fault!." she snapped, turning her back at him.
How could he have done something so reckless? He is an idiot; she thought as she used her bending to dry her clothes. Steam surrounded her. Stupid peasant and his stupid jokes. I got really worried for nothing. What if he had hit his head and drowned? All because he had to prove that he knows how to catch a fish.
"Do you think she got angrier?" Sokka asked Kiyi at the shore of the lake. He was teaching her how to throw rocks and make them bounce in the water a while after the incident.
Kiyi peeked over her shoulder and saw his sister frowning deeply, with her arms crossed over her chest. She was obviously fuming. "Noo…" she replied, ironical and grimacing.
"Yeah, I thought that too." he muttered, discouraged, throwing a rock that bounced two times before sinking in the water.
"Well, you'd have to think of another way to make her... not so angry." she scowled when her rock sank without bouncing.
He sighed. "I suppose I would have to think about something else."
Kiyi eyed something that made her stomach growl. "Well, I can think of something."
"What?"
"Do you have money?" she asked, mischievously.
He only raised a brow.
…
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sokka asked the little one.
"No, but it's worth the shot," she replied, devouring her last mochi. "Plus, Azula can't say no to a mochi, no matter how hard she tries. According to my mom, she had an obsession with mochi since she was little. Now, if you wish to have some privacy, then…" she extended her arm in his direction, "I will need money to buy food and to keep myself busy."
His eyebrows twitched. "Isn't your brother the richest human on the planet?"
"Do you see him around? You can charge him later," she refuted. "Do you want a moment alone with her or not?" she insisted with her extended hand.
He sighed, defeated. "Fine," he grunted, pulling out some gold pieces from his pockets and giving them to Kiyi.
She quickly counted them. "Are you this cheap? This barely buys me one round of kebabs." she pointed out, scowling.
"O-one round?" he stammered, baffled. Kiyi had an enormous appetite for her age and side. And sometimes it amazed him how big it was. If anybody knew about ferocious appetites, it was him. "How many rounds do you want? Aren't you a bit too greedy for a nine-year-old?" he grunted.
"Aren't you too whiny? I mean, you asked for my help after all." she refuted.
"Tsk!... Fine," he agreed, lending her more money. "Just don't get too far, okay?" she nodded.
He followed her with his eyes until she stopped at a small food stand before heading in the other direction towards the other sibling.
"Hey." he muttered, sitting next to her and offering the bag of mochi's Kiyi had told him to buy.
Azula raised her eyebrows. "What's this?" she asked, glancing at the bag.
"Call it an apology." he said with a little side smile.
She looked away, not taking it. "For what? For tattle-tailing me on Zuko and creating a mess? Or for your little stupid joke from earlier?" she said, irritated.
"Well, both."
"It would take more than this for me to forgive you about the mess with Zuko." she stated.
"So, you don't want it?" he raised his eyebrows. "It's mochi." he said, moving back and forward the bag.
Azula scoffed before extending her hand. His side smile grew pleased as he gave her the bag. Point to Kiyi.
"Just for the record," she said, tasting it. It was delicious. "Just because I accepted it, it doesn't mean I'm not angry at you."
"I know." he replied. But at least it's something, he thought.
"Where's Kiyi?" she inquired.
"Over there." he pointed at the food stand where she was eating a kebab very eagerly and her last mochi, alternating them. He sat next to her.
They remained in silence as she ate a couple of mochis. He couldn't find the exact word or figure out what to say next. He hadn't thought this through.
"Sorry," he spoke finally, "For what happened earlier. I didn't mean to scare you like that."
"I wasn't scared," she clarified, "I was worried, -just like in Yu Dao-, about what would have happened if something had happened to you while being with me. I'd probably be blamed for it."
He remained silent for a moment. "Sorry, it was stupid on my part." Soka muttered.
"Pretty stupid." Azula agreed, before she began to cough as if she was choking.
"Are you okay?" he asked, worried when he noticed her coughs didn't stop.
"What was the mochi's filling? Was it... strawberry flavor?" she asked, between gasps.
"Yeah, why?" he affirmed, patting her on the back.
"Are you... trying to kill me?!... I'm... allergic to strawberries!" she squealed in horror.
Sokka panicked. "What?!" he yelled, agape, "But Kiyi said you'd like it!"
A smirk appeared on her face and her coughs suddenly stopped. "And she was right," she said, "Got you. See? It's not that fun when you're on the other side, huh?"
He blinked, dumbstruck. "Tsk! You're evil. It wasn't funny!"
"For me it was," she shrugged, amused. "It's just as fun torturing you like that, as it is with Zuko."
"Do you think it was funny? It was not! I panicked!" he said.
"I know. That's what made it funny. You should have seen your face. It was pretty hilarious." Azula smiled.
"Azula, it's not funny to trick people like that, it's cruel," he chided her. "I got really worried."
"And you think I went into the lake because I felt like going for a swim? I also got worried, shithead," she insulted him, before realizing something and raising her eyebrows, agape. "And did you… Did you just scold me? Do you want to die?"
He shrugged, amused. "Well, at least now you're insulting me again. I would mark it down as progress."
"Don't. I'm still pretty angry at you."
"I know," he muttered, before standing and offering her a hand. "Still, we should better head back now. It's going to get dark soon, and we shouldn't be outside after the sundown."
She sighed. "Agreed." she said, accepting his hand.
"H-have you…?" she raised her eyebrows, deadpanned. "Have you always been this short?" Sokka asked, realizing their height differences.
It was the first time he really noticed that she was actually really short compared to him. Not even in Lian Yu had he noticed. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder. He must have totally ignored that aspect as he knew that even if she was short, she could still kick ass like nobody else.
Also, in her defense in the last couple of years, he had gotten really tall. Taller than the average, making people next to him look shorter.
His mind instantly began working on at least a dozen jokes he could make about her height.
"Have you always been this dumb?" she snapped back, expressionless.
He tilted his head. "T-that's… Fair," he said, pressing his lips in a thin line. He knew he had asked something really stupid.
"Oh good! You two already made up!" exclaimed Kiyi, arriving next to them with a smile. Her stomach finally full.
"We haven't," clarified Azula, "I'm still mad at him."
Kiyi tilted her head. "Then, why are you two holding hands?" she asked, pointing at their hands.
She was right. They still haven't let go of each other.
They instantly removed their hands away from each other as if they were on fire and glanced in opposite directions, trying not to blush for their minor mishap.
The nine-year-old sighed and shook her head. "You two are a piece of work." she muttered, thinking that maybe she should find another husband.
The walk back to the Palace was done in silence and at quick pace. They managed to arrive before the sky went fully black.
In the hallways, Kiyi wished them a good night with an enormous yawn, before heading to rest. And as they headed to do the same, they crossed paths with Zuko.
"Where have you been all day?" he questioned Azula as soon as he saw her in the hallway outside of her room. He had looked for her and when he hadn't been able to find her, he got worried.
As an answer, she only slammed the door of her room at his face without saying a word.
Zuko dropped his head forward. Then, he turned to his friend. "Were you two together?" he inquired. Sokka nodded, "Where were you two?"
"We took Kiyi to Lake Laogai," he explained, casually, "She wanted to go sight-seeing, remember?"
"Oh, right," he muttered, remembering how the little girl had insisted a few times about that. "Sokka, do you have a minute?"
"Of course. But what for?" he asked.
...
"So… what do you wanna talk about, buddy?" he asked, after wandering from the halls of the Earth Kingdom Palace for a moment.
Zuko remained in silence for a few seconds. Since his last fight with his sibling and everything she had shouted at him, he had pondered her words, and even if he would never admit it, he had concluded that her words held more truth than he had ever dared to see.
Now, after thinking this matter through all day, he had finally acknowledged that he had been the one to take things out of proportion, the one that had misread the situation and unfairly judged her. She was right to be mad at him. He was also mad at himself.
He had been the one to make the condition of trusting each other back in Lian Yu, yet he had been the one to hide things and distrust her. He was doing everything he didn't want her to do. He had been ruining things lately, but he wished to make amends. Still, he didn't know how to do that.
Usually in their younger years, when they argued they would lash out at each other, ignore each other for a couple of hours or a few days, and then suddenly, Azula would find a way to piss him off, and everything would be back to normal. They never asked for forgiveness from each other. They had never said sorry to each other. So, he didn't know how to do it. Or what to say.
All he knew was that this time, he wanted to make things right. And for that, he needs the advice of someone who might have been in the same position he was right now. Someone who could -perhaps- understand him.
"It's about… everything I suppose." he finally managed to say.
"Everything, meaning?" Sokka asked, confused.
"Azula." said Zuko.
"Ahh… I see," he uttered, "So you wanna talk about how you told Azula about what I told you that she told me and told you not to tell her, right?"
The Fire Lord frowned. "What?" he asked, dazed. "Wait, how do you know that she is mad at me because of that? Did she tell you that we fought?" he inquired, intrigued that his sister had been sharing that kind of stuff with him.
"Well, she didn't need to tell me anything, because she kind of lashed out at me for telling you, because apparently you lashed out at her, right?" he asked, but he didn't need confirmation, his friend's expression confirmed it. "She was furious." he said, recalling the way she had stared at him, with her eyes full of hate and anger.
"She was. We had a discussion, and everything just came out of proportion," Zuko sighed, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "She can't just ask for things like this… It's not... It's…" he couldn't find the right words to express himself. He took a deep breath before staring at the warrior. "Sokka, what would you have done in my case?" he asked, really intrigued about his opinion. "Do you think I might have overreacted?"
He took a moment to respond. He was capable and smart enough to see and understand both sides. To understand Azula's reason behind the request and to understand the reaction behind Zuko's reaction.
He tried to see it objectively.
He shrugged. "Maybe?" he said, "Listen, you and her have always had this… complicated relationship that I'm starting to think that not even you guys understand it."
"What do you mean?" he tilted his head slightly.
"I mean, all siblings fight with each other. Katara screams at me and I scream back at her. She teases me and I annoy her to death. But in the end, I would die for her and I know she would do the same. I told you back then when we were near Hira'a; when it's about her, I don't mind taking the worst part of it, because I love her. But your relationship, it's… totally twisted.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is… If I recall correctly, you used to say that your father used to pin you against each other, right?" Zuko nodded. "Well, you two were always competing against the other one, trying to be better, stronger than the other one, but now, your father is not here. He doesn't hold power over you anymore and you don't have to compete against the other one any longer. Zuko, have you two ever managed to get along in the past?" he asked, calmly.
Zuko remained in silence for a moment. His words sank into his brain. "We did. Once." he muttered, finally.
"And how did your relationship begin to fall apart?"
Zuko took a deep breath. "I-I… I don't know," he admitted, "I think it was when I was around six?"
"What happened?" Sokka asked.
"My bending happened. Or more likely it didn't… We were playing around, and I don't remember exactly how, but she firebended accidentally," he recalled, "I think that the fact that everything came so easily for her bothered me. She was firebending at a really young age. Having advanced lessons. And my father was happy and pleased with her, while I…."
"You were a disgrace…"
He nodded slightly, staring at the floor. "I… Yeah, exactly. The thing is, I was angry because everything I tried, she was better than me. More graceful than me. Faster than me. Smarter than me. And my father kept saying 'She was born lucky, and you were lucky to be born' so that just enraged me," he swallowed hard, "But now that I think about it… I was probably angrier at myself than her for everything she was and I wasn't. But I couldn't see it." he admitted, ashamed. "Sokka, how did you do it?"
"Do what?" Sokka replied, tilting his head.
"How did you manage not being jealous of Katara for being a bender while you weren't?" he asked.
Sokka pondered for a moment with a hand under his chin. "I guess… having no bending, it never really mattered, actually. Yes, sometimes I felt bad about it, but in the end, it didn't matter because she's my sister and I love her no matter what," he stated, "She was my little sister and I'd always be there for her. Even if she doesn't need me."
Just by listening to his friend's words, he felt worse. Sokka was a better sibling to Katara than he had ever been to Azula. Maybe if he had acted differently. Maybe if he had acceded to play when she asked him when they were younger, even if he didn't want to. If he had stopped seeing her as a nuisance, as an enemy and instead just saw her as his little sister, perhaps all the bad blood between them would never sprout. Perhaps they could have been like Sokka and Katara.
He knew they would never be like them, but he could at least try.
But for that to happen, he needed to fix his mess first.
"Great." muttered Zuko, dejected.
"What?"
"You just made me feel horrible," he said, letting out a bit sigh. "You know, in retrospect, I'm realizing that I was wrong about some things I said, some things that… if she hadn't said them yesterday, I might never have realized. Things didn't come easy to her, either. Now, I remember how she would wake up really early to have a training session with her masters before breakfast. Sometimes till the point of exhaustion. Also, how much time she would spend in the library between books, scrolls, and texts. And how even after the academy she would have private lessons with tutors while I would… I would just stay with my mother."
Sokka quirked a brow. "Mommy's boy, huh?" he mocked.
"Quite a lot." the Fire Lord confessed, with a small smirk.
"Zuko, listen, maybe it's not my place to say it, but I think you should let her see your father." said Sokka after a moment, his hand on Zuko's shoulder in support.
"You think?"
The Water tribesman nodded, recalling what Azula had told him. "The same way you found your mother and closed a chapter of your life, maybe she needs this to achieve solace as well," he said, shrugging. "You know, she could have just gone to see him without you ever finding out. But the fact that she wanted you to know was because she wanted you to trust her. She wasn't trying to do anything behind your back. She was just trying to find the right moment to tell you because she wanted to avoid a misunderstanding."
"Which is what happened." he muttered.
"It was my mistake to tell you," said Sokka, recognizing his mistake. "I should have respected her wishes and waited for her to tell you, but I just wanted to help. I thought I would have more luck in convincing you than her… I guess, I underestimated how hot-headed are you." he said, joking with a smirk and poking him with his elbow.
Zuko shook his head with a little smile. "You wanted to help. Your intentions were good, pal. I'm the one who ruined it," he said, "When I heard she wanted to visit Ozai I… I kind of panicked. We've been getting along so well for the past year, and I was afraid she might…"
"Choose your father over you?" the Fire Lord nodded, staring at his hands. "Well, I believe she would have done it without a doubt years ago, but not now."
"How are you so sure?"
"I have faith in her. And you should too," said the warrior, "Back in Lian Yu…"
"Lian Yu?" Zuko cut him, confused, "Did you cross paths in Lian Yu? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't I know?" This was brand new information for him. Sokka and Azula had crossed paths in Lian Yu?
Just like he had decided to keep most of the events that had happened during his little trip in Lian Yu from Katara and Aang, due to Zuko's reaction he assumed Azula had done the same with her brother.
So, he told his friend about what had happened. How she had helped him, not only to patch him up but also during his recovery. She had stayed with him for two weeks until he was almost fully back on his feet.
"... She had nothing to win from helping me, but yet, she did," he said, "She could have just let me there to die, and no one would have ever found out that she had been there. Still, she helped me."
"I-I… I had no idea," he mumbled, perplexed at Sokka's words.
"In the time I have spent with her, I have realized that she is way more complex than she shows," he said. "I used to believe that she was just your evil, little sister with the freaky blue flames that tried to try and kill us dozens of times, but just like you were back then, she was confused about what's right and wrong. I mean, you both grew in the same twisted environment. You didn't end up that bad because of your banishment and your uncle. But she never had those.
"So, the fact that she's trying now in her own way, it's something. And instead of lashing out at each other, you two should talk it through. Listen to each other's reasons instead of going at each other's throats." he advised his friend.
"In that case... What do you suggest? What should I do? How can I fix things with her?" he asked, "I mean, you saw it earlier, she is so mad at me that she won't even talk to me. She practically ignored me and slammed the door in my face. How did you manage to make her forgive you so easily?"
Sokka smiled, denying with his head. "I didn't. She is still pretty fumed at me."
Zuko frowned. "How come? I mean, you said you went to Lake Laogai…"
"I asked for Kiyi's help," he confessed, "I asked her to help me convince Azula. However, it didn't go as planned, but at least she talked to me after ignoring my existence for a week."
Zuko huffed. "You've accomplished more than I have," he said, crestfallen.
"Look, all this mess happened because she claimed that you don't fully trust her, right?" Zuko nodded, "Then prove her wrong. That's all she wants, your trust. Prove to her that she has it."
Zuko grimaced. "And how the hell do I do that?"
Sokka snickered. "Hey, I can't do all the thinking for you, right?" he joked, "That's something you have to figure out. Think of a way to show her that you trust her."
He pondered for a few moments before an idea got to him. "I guess I can think of a way or two."
"That's all you need, buddy." said Sokka, patting him on the shoulder.
Zuko gave him a little smile. "May I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Well, it's actually two things; How do you do it? I mean, how do you always manage to see the good in people?" he asked, "I mean, even with me… after everything I did to you guys, it didn't take you long to begin to tease me and you trusted me right away when I told you about the Boiling Rock."
A slight smile appeared on Sokka's face. "You're asking because I saw the good in her? Because I saw the good in Azula?" Zuko didn't reply, but his silence told him everything. "I spent most of my life distrusting people because I had to protect the tribe, my sister, my friends. I mean, the first time I meet Aang, I accused him of being a spy of the Fire Nation, and life, more than once, has proved to me that there is always more than what meets the eye. And I believe that applies also to her."
The Fire Lord pressed his lips in a thin line. "My sister is much more complicated than I have ever realized."
"She is indeed. But you can try to begin to understand her by trusting her," he advised her. "In Lian Yu, I took a leap of faith with her. And she didn't let me down. Me. A peasant from the south. If you did the same, you as her brother, she might end up surprising you."
"I suppose." muttered Zuko, thinking on his words.
"And the other thing? What is it?"
"You said I should trust her," Sokka nodded, "And you? Do you trust her? Do you trust Azula?"
Sokka took a moment to ruminate on his answer. He was advising Zuko to trust Azula, but what about him? Did he trust her? Did he?
"I trust her with my life," he said, honestly. "After all, I wouldn't be here without her."
"Thanks, Sokka. For everything," said Zuko, "I knew talking to you would help me clear my head. And also, you're starting to sound a lot like my uncle, by the way."
Sokka snickered. "It's the cookies. I'm eating way too much of them. And what are friends for?" he replied, "Anything else I can do for you?"
The Fire Lord denied with his head, "No. Thanks."
Zuko wished a good night to his friend, before heading to his provisional study to write a letter. He was determined to do things right this time. He was going to fix his mistake. He was going to show Azula that he trusted her.
...
Sokka had been standing by her door for at least five minutes, debating on knocking on her door. Yesterday went about as he would have wished, and he hadn't had the opportunity to talk with her, so he wished to do it today. And this time, he wasn't going to ask for Kiyi's help. He had messed up; he was the one who had to fix it.
He took a deep breath and raised his hand to knock. Yet, he stopped in the air.
"Sokka?" he jolted when he heard his friend Kanto's voice.
"Hey, Kanto," he greeted him with a small sight.
"What are you doing?" he asked, noticing his raised fist.
"Nothing," he lied, dropping his hand and hiding it behind his back. "Were you looking for Toph? Her room is the next door." he said, pointing to a room adjacent to Azula's.
"Oh, thanks… but I'm not actually looking for her." he said looking at the ground.
Sokka frowned. "Then?" Kanto pointed at him. He tilted his head. "Me?" he said, confused.
...
"So… What do you wanna talk about?" Sokka asked the young Water tribesman when they were sitting on the steps at the back of the Earth Kingdom Palace.
Kanto bit the inside of his cheek, nervous about asking him. "Well, actually I wanted to ask foryouradvice." he mumbled, quickly and unintelligible.
"Huh?" he scowled not understanding a word he had said to him.
"I said; I want to ask foryouradvice." he repeated, still unintelligible.
Sokka blinked, confused, and made a grin, still not understanding a bit. "My what? Kanto, talk slower and clearer. I can't understand a word you are saying."
"Fine. It's just... I wanted to ask for your… a-advice." he said, embarrassed. During the years the man had been away, Kanto and the rest of the boys had seen Sokka as an older brother. He was the only teenager around and he was the son of the Chief, so they all have grown seeing him like an older sibling.
And when he had joined the Avatar and helped to end the war, he had become somewhat of a role model for them.
"My advice? About what?"
"Well… it's about… It's about… girls." Kanto mumbled, chagrined, and blushing slightly.
"Girls…" he repeated, then a mischievous smile grew on his face. "Wait, you mean Toph?!"
He widened his eyes. "W-wha…"
"You like her, don't you?" he teased him, poking him with his elbow. He found Kanto's nervousness adorable.
"I-I…" he was out of words as he turned redder and redder. His face was heating up drastically.
"I knew it!" said the older boy with a smile. "From the first moment, I knew you liked her." Kanto had been mesmerized by Toph since the start.
"Shush… Shut up! Someone might hear you!" he said, with a finger on his mouth asking him to lower his voice and looking around just to double-check nobody was listening to their chat.
But that didn't stop Sokka from sneering at his friend for his little crush. "Oh... little Kanto is in love…" he mocked. "I still remember like it was yesterday when you used to request potty breaks during training. And now you're asking for advice with girls. I'm proud. You're all growing so fast." he wiped invisible tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Shut up. And I wasn't the only one, Baki and Tenki used to do it too!" he refuted, crossing his arms, annoyed. He and his friends would often interrupt Sokka's lessons by asking for frequent potty breaks just to annoy him.
"True, but they're not here right now," said Sokka before the mischievous smile reappeared on his face. "Toph and Kanto sitting in a tree, K-i-s-s-i-n-g!" he mockingly began to sing. Now he would have something to pay back at Toph for the constant mocking.
"Oh my…" Kanto hid his face in his palms, vexed. "You are even worse than a child. You are still really embarrassing." he said with disapproval, rethinking about asking Sokka for advice.
"Embarrassing?" Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Still, you copied my hairstyle." he pointed at his head.
"And I'm regretting that decision." he muttered.
"First comes love. Then…" he continued singing the little song. He was having a blast for the first time in days.
"Tsk… If you keep acting like that, you'll never win over the Princess." the younger warrior grunted.
"Huh?"
"You think you're fooling someone? Everyone knows!" he stated. Sokka was too obvious for his own good.
"W-what are you…"
"Oh, come on. It's obvious by the way you look at her." Kanto pointed out. He had only seen them together a couple of times, but it had been enough for him to notice.
"I don't… I don't look at her in any particular way." Sokka retorted at Kanto's statement. Azula was his friend, or at least, she was... but that was it. Right?
"Pffftt... Yeah, sure." he rolled his eyes not buying his words.
"Pffftt... Yeah, it's true." he assured, wondering from where Kanto had gotten the idea.
Azula was fun to hang around. She was intelligent, just as sarcastic as him. He enjoyed their bickerings and the fact that she always had a reply to whatever he said.
During the past week, he had missed their silly fights and just generally being around her. She had avoided him like the pentapox. Other than the daily odd meeting, she would avoid being in the same room as him. She would turn around in hallways if they crossed paths. She would leave whenever he arrived anywhere. And if he tried to start a conversation with her, she would pretend she didn't hear him and ignore him completely.
Sokka had even tried saying a joke or something dumb to see if he got any response from her part, but nothing had worked.
Their little talk during their trip to Lake Laogai had been the most they had interacted with each other during the past week.
He missed her.
"Everyone knows you have some sort of a crush on her." Kanto stated. He and the boys had known even before Toph had mentioned it.
Crush? "Who's everyone?" Sokka frowned, baffled. He didn't have a crush on her.
"Baki, Tenki even Bato and your father." Kanto listed them. They had been having dinner a few nights ago when the Chief had brought up the subject.
His eyes widened, stunned. "My dad?!" He couldn't believe his own father was involved in that nonsense.
"Yeah…" he said, nonchalantly.
"B-but why do you all believe that?" he asked, dazed, tilting his head.
Kanto shrugged. "Well, you tend to like girls out of your league. Like the Kyoshi Warrior…" And no one seemed to be more out of league than a Princess. In fact, he suspected that the Princess of the Fire Nation might be out of everyone's league.
"Girls out of my…." he mumbled. His eyebrows twitching. He was a great catch! Right?
"... And Katara told us about the Princess in the North," he explained, "So…"
"They weren't out of my league!" Sokka snapped, feeling offended. His ego being hurt once more. Why does everyone keep thinking that about him? He was a great guy and an awesome catch!
"Says you."
"A-and I don't like Princess Azula." he clarified, with nervousness in his voice.
For a moment Kanto wondered if Sokka was trying to convince him or himself about that. Now it was Kanto's turn to smile mischievously. "You do. You got all red just now by saying her name." he noticed, teasing him with a chuckle.
"T-that's because… I'm not blushing! This is red as… as in mad not as in… blushed." he refuted, making Kanto laugh louder. Sokka pouted, vexed.
The younger warrior shook his head, amused. "Anyway, she's out of your league so…"
"She is not out of my league!" he yelled, annoyed.
Kanto scowled and tilted his head. "Dude… just make up your mind, would you? Do you like her or not?"
"I-I…" Sokka stammered at his answer and decided that it was better to change the subject before anyone -Azula- could hear them. "Weren't you here to talk about Toph, huh?"
He snapped his fingers remembering the reason of their talk. "Oh, right! Well… the thing is… I really like her. I think she is fun to hang around with and smart and pretty and…" he said, blushing deeply.
Sokka smiled. He was totally head over heels for Toph.
"Woah… wolf-tiger, you totally have a crush on her… Aww…" he said with derision.
The boy made a grimace. "Don't aw… me; it's unmanly."
"It's not!" Sokka complained. "But keep going about your huge crush on Toph." he surrounded his shoulders with an arm and gave him a little supportive squeeze.
"Tsk... Fine." he said, sighing. "I wanna ask her out…" he said, cutting to the chase.
Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Like on a date?"
"No. To the store," he replied, deadpanned. "Yes, on a date. I'm starting to think that maybe I should have asked Katara for advice instead." he said under his breath. If Sokka was being that oblivious about his crush for the Princess, maybe he hadn't been the best option to come seeking for advice.
"Hey, I can give better advice about dating than her. You know, I have dated two girls while she has only dated one boy." he exclaimed.
"Which… is the Avatar so…"
"Do you want advice or not?" he grunted between gritted teeth.
Kanto rolled his eyes. "Fine. Still, you know her better than I do, so any ideas? What does she like? Where should I take her?" he asked. He wanted to have a perfect first date, to hope for a second one.
Sokka placed his elbow over his knee and rested his chin on his hand, thinking of hobbies Toph might have. "Well, let's see… Hmmm... she likes… gambling, she's really good at that. She enjoys taking part in Earth rumbles, that's how we meet her, actually. She loves throwing flying rocks on fire at people." he recalled.
He scowled. "Sokka, even though your ideas are great," he said with sarcasm, "I was thinking of something more like… taking her to a nice restaurant. Or to the Zoo outside the wall. Or what about inviting her to the festival for the closure of the negotiations?"
"Festival? I didn't know there was going to be a festival." he admitted, tilting his head. It was the first time he was hearing of that. And the previous day he hadn't been too focused on what was on the walls as they strolled through the streets of Ba Sing Se.
"Yeah, the night of the feast on our last night," Kanto explained, "There's going to be a small festival with fireworks, games, food in the streets. You haven't seen the posters?" he had seen hundreds of them all over the city, so it amazed him that Sokka hadn't seen one.
He shook his head. "We haven't actually had a lot of chances to walk around the city, actually. We've been busy with the meetings almost every day."
"Oh, I see… Still, do you think she would like to sneak out and go to the festival?" he asked, hopefully.
Sokka raised a brow. "Toph? Choosing a street festival over a feast? Of course she'd like that." he said with a smile.
"Great!" the younger warrior exclaimed, pleased, "Any advice or something I should know about her?"
"Mmmm…" he scratched his temple. "I'm sure she'll let you know everything you need to know. But still, be a gentleman but don't go too overboard or she'll assume that you think of her as weak and would kick your ass." he warned him.
"Got it. Anything else?"
Sokka pondered for a second. "Take a bath that day, shave, comb your hair, and use your fanciest clothes. Her father is going to be present at the feast too and I'm sure you wanna give him a good impression, don't you?" he advised him, sternly.
"Noted," he said, thankful for that last detail. "By the way… All jokes aside, is something going on with you and the Princess? And I don't mean romantically speaking," he clarified when Sokka opened his mouth to refute. "I mean... It's just… Toph may have mentioned that you two were being… weird with each other and also something about her being more snarky than usual?"
Sokka sighed, a little dejected. "Yeah, well… we fought." he acknowledged.
Kanto leaned back on his hands. "I'm not saying that I'm assuming that it was your fault, but I'm assuming it was your fault. What did you do?" he inquired.
He huffed a little, peeved that everyone assumed that it had been his fault, because they were right, it had been his fault. "I… Tried to help her but I… I just made things worse, I suppose." he leaned forward, resting his elbows over his knees.
"Sokka, how did not see that coming?"
"Huh?"
"You have a talent for that." Kanto stated.
Sokka pouted with one eyebrow twitching. "Shouldn't you be like... trying to make me feel better or at least give me a few encouraging words like… 'You're going to figure it out'? Or you know; 'I'm sure she would forgive you kind of thing'?" he questioned, irritated.
"Nah…" he said, carelessly, making a grin. "I'm not your type of man for that," he glanced over his shoulder when he felt someone coming towards them. "But look! Here comes just who could help you… The Princess itself!" he said with a wide smile and extending an arm towards her.
"What?!" he exclaimed, aghast.
Kanto snickered at his reaction. "I'm joking… It's just your father."
Sokka breathed out, calming down after the little joke.
"Hey dad." he greeted his father when he stood next to them.
"Hey son, Kanto." the Chief greeted them back.
"Hey Chief," said Kanto with a smile and patting one of Sokka's shoulders. "Now that you're here, Chief, you might be able to help your son with his 'girl problems'."
"Girls' problems?" Hakoda glanced at his son, tilting his head slightly.
"I have to run…" Kanto excused himself. "Bato and the boys must be looking for me. Thanks, Sokka for your advice and good luck." he waved a goodbye by rushing down the dozens of steps.
The Chief turned to his son. "So… Do you wanna talk about girls' problems? Does it involve Princess Azula?" he asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"How do you know?" Sokka questioned his father.
"Well, I don't know what happened between you two, but the past week you both have been... different. And not just like with each other, it's with like… at everything. And I'm your father so I can tell when you or your sister are upset about something. So, what is it?" he insisted.
Sokka rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Do you have time right now? It's kind of long thing."
"Of course," he said, smiling warmly. "Tell me everything."
"It's just… Tsk…" he rubbed his head, exasperated. "Dad, why are girls so complicated?"
Hakoda smiled at his on. "That's the beauty of them, my son. If they weren't our lives would be incredibly boring."
A/N:
What do you guys think of Kiyi's personality? Are hating it? Are we loving it? Let me know.
And this is it! My last update of 2020. I'm going on a small holiday with my family (Only us, and following all the CDC indications) and I would be out of town and away from my laptop and computer for almost a month.
So... yeah, sorry if this chapter wasn't too cliffhangerish...? but I didn't want to be mean and leave you for a month with the cliffhanger from next chapter hehe...
Either way, thank you for the more than 110 reviews, more than 100 followers and almost 100 likes. This means the world to me!
Happy holidays and happy new year! I will update on January 8th.