"Really, Sokka and Suki? You think I wouldn't recognize you with ski masks on?"
Sokka shushed her. "Hey no names!"
Azula simply stared. "Why would I reduce inconveniences for my kidnappers?" she asked.
"Because you secretly want to join us," said Suki, leaning against the rental minivan. "And because we already sent your father a ransom note."
...and that was how Azula found herself in the dingiest vehicle she had ever been in. There were orange peels clinging to the side of one of the cup holders. She scowled at the sight, and of the overall musty smell of dried snacks and stale coffee before burning a metaphorical hole in the suitcase crammed onto the backseat. Her suitcase.
"He planned this," stated Azula with the barest hint of pride.
"Of course he did, you can't go on a three day hiking trip without planning," chuckled Sokka.
Azula narrowed her eyes. "You know very well what I meant."
"If you want, we can turn back," offered Suki with a disarming smile.
Azula brought her suitcase forward to the middle row instead of answering. She rummaged through her suitcase, double checking that all her necessities were there. only to find a few extra trinkets that she's sure Aang had grabbed from her room without fully knowing what purpose they served. She smirked as she picked up an, unplugged, alarm clock that she recognized as one of her many extras and resolved to make an attempt to teach Aang how electricity worked.
A cough.
Azula glanced up and caught Sokka staring at her through the rear-view mirror.
"So," he began when she met his eyes, "you and Aang huh?"
Azula put the clock back down. Having seen where she lived, both Sokka and Suki now knew of her status. They knew she was dating well beneath her means.
She promptly zipped her suitcase closed and folded her hands across her lap.
"Yes. Me and Aang."
She waited, but judgment never came. Instead, Sokka shared an indescribable look with Suki and said, "You guys make a cute couple."
Azula turned the words over in her mind, trying to find a hidden meaning.
"We do?" she said with a well-placed sneer.
Suki turned and looked her directly in the eyes. "Yeah," she said softly, "you do."
The minivan slowly came to a stop and Azula's mind was still turning.
It took a bit of time for Azula to realize that no one would be opening the minivan doors for her and, in that small bit of time, the startling reality of the situation hit her full force.
What am I doing here?
Mai and Ty Lee she could control. These strangers, on the other hand, she didn't know nearly as much leverage. And Sokka and Suki knew of her status. They had leverage. Leverage they could, no would, use against her in the future.
She could practically see her father's disappointed frown in the worn upholstery.
Her mind turned faster, whirring, as she clicked pieces into place and formed a plan. The kidnapping could be her leverage, but first she had to head home. Mind set, Azula fixed a familiar cold smile on her face and opened the minivan doors.
"You made it!" yelled Aang. Azula looked up just as Aang jumped down from his perch among the tree tops, and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
She froze, briefly, before realizing that they were in the middle of nowhere and thus had no witnesses. Then she wrapped her arms around him in return, and buried her face into his shirt, breathing in the smell.
"I'm mad at you," she murmured, not sounding mad at all, "How did you deliver the ransom note?"
"Mailbox," he said, dancing his fingertips along her back but not quite letting go. "You showed me how. Remember?"
She did. At the time it was in case she had to destroy her phone. Aang had learned how to mail a letter quickly enough, though he had seemed bewildered at the number of steps and claimed it would have been quicker to simply attach a scroll to a hawk.
Azula scoffed at the thought and pried herself off of him. "I remember," she said with an eye roll. "I'm surprised you didn't attach the note to Momo."
"Momo doesn't understand human speech," explained Aang with sincerity. "I didn't want to risk it."
"I'm glad you didn't," said Azula, crossing her arms as he smiled at her, and she truly did mean it. Putting the ransom note in the mailbox gave her time to intercept the note.
"Hey Aang, not to interrupt but which trail are we going on? I don't see any markers," called Suki.
"It's unmarked," said Aang, "the others are waiting for us in a clearing just up ahead."
Azula blinked in surprise. "You left them on an unmarked trail? That's how people get murdered."
"Murdered?" echoed Sokka, his voice rising in alarm.
"Katara has a water pouch, Toph can earthbend, and I left Momo with them," listed Aang.
Ah. So she wasn't the only one Aang surprised.
Azula looked around. Suki was right. There were no markers, no trails, no signs of civilization even as small as litter.
Azula turned back.
The road wasn't even paved.
"Oh they're with Momo. Why didn't you say so?" said Sokka, sarcastically, "I'm sure when a masked murderer comes after them in the woods, Momo will protect them by licking himself."
"Isn't Toph a cop?" interrupted Suki.
"She's more of a short, blind, involuntary mascot," said Sokka.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. They can handle themselves in a fight," said Aang with a diplomatic tone and a pleasant smile.
Sokka crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes at the woods.
Suki glanced between him and Aang before saying, "This is a bit different than vigilante work, Aang. If we get injured in these woods there's no hospital nearby, no phone signal, and, I don't know about you guys, but I've never been in a lethal fight. Even in costume my opponents were trying to arrest me not kill me. I hope."
Sokka laid his hand on Suki's shoulders in a comforting gesture. "I don't actually think we'll run into a masked murderer in these unmarked woods," admitted Sokka. "The chances of that are low, but the rest of what Suki said is true and maybe we should make this a short, day hike instead."
Aang shoulders drooped but he nodded in understanding and then turned to Azula. "What do you think?"
This was the perfect opportunity for her to cut the trip short or cancel it all together, but…
unrestrained bending.
No cameras. No authority figures. Three days of Aang and firebending and she could even spar, unregulated, against different elemental benders.
"Jet tried to kill me in the city, remember?" said Azula, "The woods are safer, especially with all of us together."
A lie.
Going in the woods would be safer as a group, only if the group was experienced. Azula had personally never went camping, though she was trained in the basics of wilderness survival in case she had to trek through the woods to escape into one of her family's safe houses. Judging by Sokka and Suki's wariness, Azula would bet that neither of them had spent more than a day in the woods.
Sokka shrugged. "I guess…but if we run into a serial killer I'm throwing Momo at it."
"I'm in too then," said Suki with an eyeroll and a smile. "Can't let Sokka fight a serial killer all by himself."
Aang reached for Azula's hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist before tugging her along.
This was a bad idea. A dangerous idea. Azula knew better than to go with them. She did. Trust was for fools.
But the strange woods looked so inviting, Aang so endearing, and the prospect of firebending in these circumstances was so damn enticing that Azula let herself be a fool for a moment.