Katara, evidently embarrassed to have been caught engaging in a mud fight with Toph, brushed the mud out of her hair as they walked and attempted to make small talk.
"I've never spent much time in the woods."
"I've gone hunting in the woods once or twice with dad, especially after mom died," said Sokka, then he glanced at Azula and elaborated, "Deer gives a lot of meat and it's a lot cheaper to hunt them than it is to buy the meat at the store, but it's a pain to carry them home and without fridge space most of the meat goes bad. So, after a deer hunt the meat is shared with the community and it becomes an event to mark a celebration or a remembrance."
Azula nodded, unsure of what to add. The confession: "My mother left," rested on her tongue. She turned away and stared at the dry leaves littering the ground.
"I don't have parents," said Aang without preamble. The group turned to him, but any elaboration he was going to offer was forgotten as he became enamored by a chipmunk.
"Those are rodents. Don't touch them. They have diseases," said Azula, grateful for the distraction.
"They're like baby squirrels!" he said, flicking an acorn in the critter's direction and pouting when it chose to retreat into a tree.
Azula hid a smile.
"Didn't you say you spent a lot of time in the woods?" questioned Sokka.
"He has," defended Azula, "he's sent me pictures."
"Uh huh."
"Don't be such a wet blanket Sokka," said Katara with a nudge.
"I'm not!" he protested, crossing his arms. "I'm just saying—"
"I don't have any parents either," interrupted Suki.
A pause.
"...I'm sorry?" offered Azula.
Suki shrugged. "Others make it a bigger deal than it is. I've never had them so it's hard for me to feel sad about it."
Toph spat onto the ground. "You can have my parents. They suck."
Azula eyed the earthbender carefully. This was the first mention of Toph's home life and the tone she used suggested a history.
Aang quietly reached for Azula's hand.
"What are they like?" asked Katara in a voice that, despite her earlier fight with Toph, withheld judgement.
" Let's see, they kept me locked inside the house for most of my life out of safety. The neighbors didn't even know they had a child, let alone a blind one. Then when I learned how to earthbend and got caught participating in an illegal fighting ring, they made me join the police."
"I'm sorry. That sounds awful," said Katara. Her apology holding concern where Azula's held awkwardness.
Aang echoed her sympathies before asking, "Did you ever try to run away?"
Toph snorted and jerked a thumb towards Azula. "Ask Miss Reeks-of-Nobility here how well that would work."
"Don't call me that," snapped Azula before relenting, "If you ran away they'd hire people to find you and once you were caught they'd likely make you join the police force anyways as a form of community service."
"Bingo," said Toph with a nod.
Azula felt Aang squeeze her hand and she hurriedly changed the subject.
"What were you two fighting about anyways?" asked Azula.
Katara winced and even Toph looked embarrassed.
"Stupid stuff," said Toph. "Let's talk about something more interesting. It's not like I can appreciate the scenery."
"Like what?" asked Katara quickly, her shoulders relaxing.
Toph grinned and turned to Azula who, despite knowing Toph is blind, promptly dropped Aang's hand.
"Twinkletoes says you're wickedly good at firebending. Sugarqueen here is skilled at waterbending. Then you have yours truly, the greatest earthbender in the world. I say we hold our own fighting ring."
"That's illegal," said Katara, but her face lacked conviction.
"We can go near a river," offered Azula.
Aang looked at her curiously so Azula elaborated, "Firebending especially is illegal to practice outside of a designated bending area because of it's ability to create uncontrolled fires."
"And the other elements?" asked Aang.
"Waterbending is restricted to apprentices. I'd technically need Pakku to supervise a bending fight," answered Katara, fidgeting with her hair.
"No restrictions for me," shrugged Toph. "Police perks."
"Airbending?"
"I think there are restrictions on flying," answered Suki, "but since airbending is considered peaceful I believe it has the fewest restrictions."
"Well," said Aang with a shrug, "I won't tell if you won't."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Suki in a tone that hinted it wasn't.
"Positive," replied Toph, cracking her knuckles.
"I'll bet you this beef jerky that Katara will win," said Sokka, waving a piece in Suki's face.
Katara wrapped the river around her. "Thanks, Sokka."
"And if she loses then she owes me beef jerky!" continued Sokka.
"I take back my thanks."
"The important thing," said Aang, as Azula internally debated whether lightning was too lethal for this spar, "is to have fun!"
BOOM!
Toph cracked the ground open.
Take the earthbender out first, thought Azula, dodging a fast moving mound of earth. Burning the leaves will burn her feet.
Azula swept her legs out, sending an arc of flames towards the other two.
"Oh you fight dirty," grinned Toph. "Want to take care of these flames for me, Sugarqueen?"
"Why would I help you?" grumbled Katara as she put out the flames.
"Teamwork. We'll take her out first and then fight each other."
"She's lying," said Azula, sending a volley of fire to separate Katara from the river. "But I'll gladly take you both down."
Katara responded with a smirk. "Toph. Mud fight?"
"Mud fight," echoed Toph, kicking up dust.
Mud fight?
Katara swirled her water around herself, then she drew back and, too late, Azula realized it was a combo attack.
"Mud fight!" cheered Katara and Toph as Azula was hit with a wave of mud.
"I concede," said Azula, wiping the mud off her face. Upon which, Toph immediately pivoted to launch Katara into the air and directly back down into the mud with a FWOOMPH!
"Greatest earthbender in the world!" proclaimed Toph before holding her arms spread-eagle and falling backwards into the mud with a splash.
Ugh, grimaced Azula as she worked on getting mud out of her hair, pinching strands between her fingers and rolled them through her fingers before critically assessing for any remaining specks.
Then Aang waved his hands and the mud floated off her with a swoop.
"Thank you Aang."
"Anytime," he said with a thoughtful expression on his face.
She wondered if he was going to ask but instead, with a shrug and a smile, he said, "That was fun, wasn't it?"
Azula scoffed.
Aang tilted his head. "You didn't have fun?" he asked.
"I did, but I also know you're avoiding asking me why I lost," replied Azula, crossing her arms.
He pressed his lips into a hidden smile, making Azula roll her eyes at him in an exaggerated motion.
"To answer your unspoken question, if I defeated them too badly then they wouldn't spar me again."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Aang, pointing behind her to a muddy Katara who was storming angrily over to Toph, "Katara can hold a grudge."
"Yes, well," Azula winced at the shouting match. "There's a difference between a spar and a mud bath."
Aang rested his arms around her shoulders and hummed thoughtfully as they both watched, with varying levels of amusement, as Katara and Toph decided to forgo bending to settle their argument via who could make the best mud angel.
"Aren't you going to stop them?" ventured Azula.
"If I do they'll just start again. Best to let them get it out of their system."
"Coward."
"That too."
Azula huffed and Aang cheekily leaned forward to press a kiss to the side of her jaw.
Back home, Zuko frowned as he read a letter.
A/N: mmmh unsure of this chapter. may rewrite depending on feedback