"How about here?" Sokka asked for the hundredth time as they climbed off the bus. He had been persistent since they sat down together on the bus, despite the amount of people around them who were in the middle of their morning commute to work. The light of the morning had just started to shine over the rooftops. Ursa and Zuko would be awake soon,
"Oh yes Sokka! The sidewalk is the perfect place for telling people secret information," Azula groaned, turning around and glaring at him,
"You could at least tell me where the hell we're going." He said, making an exasperated sigh,
"My house? Where else would I be taking you?" She rolled her eyes,
"Well- I don't know," He mumbled,
"Please tell me you're not stupid enough to think I have some secret hide out?" Azula said, narrowing her eyes on him,
"Hey! That is a perfectly logical conclusion okay!" Sokka said, quickly trying to defend himself,
"Sure Sokka," Azula shook her head, "If it makes you feel better, go ahead and tell yourself that."
She could hear him mumbling angrily behind her as she walked ahead of him. Azula was trying to think of what exactly she should tell him. Surely she couldn't tell him the whole truth, but she had to tell him something. Sokka would be able to tell if she was lying and if he decided to tell his dad the truth it was all over for her.
If only she had been more careful. Watched her back, and made sure no one was following her, maybe she wouldn't be in this mess. She sank her teeth down into her cheek. She was starting to slip, she could feel it. Azula knew she needed to stop indulging herself in her own anxiety and get her head in the game. Ozai could already be dead for all she knew.
They climbed over the fence that led into her backyard, being careful not to be caught in front of a window, they slid around to the side of the house. Before Sokka could talk Azula scaled the fence, standing atop of it, and leaping over to the roof. He looked up at her dumbstruck,
"What? Do you need help?" She taunted, smirking down to him and placing her hands on her hips. He hated the superior look in her eyes as she loomed over him,
"Don't be ridiculous!" He scoffed as he pulled himself on top of the fence. Sokka balanced himself as he stood up straight, trying his best not to wobble and fall over. The roof wasn't too far away from the fence, but it was by no means an easy jump. Sokka took a deep breath, trying not to look down, he threw himself at the roof. Sadly he was not as lucky as Azula was, and ended up scrambling for something to hold onto to keep himself from falling to the ground. He ended up latching onto the gutter. Gripping to it with all his strength, and attempting to pull himself up,
"So, you don't need help right now right?" She smirked leaning down to him as he struggled to hold onto the roof,
"Azula!" He groaned as he failed to pull himself up again. It made him wish he spent more time actually working out in gym class instead of messing around with his friends,
"What? You seem like you have it all handled," Azula chuckled, receiving a serious look from Sokka who had stop trying to pull himself onto the room, and was barely holding onto the gutter,
"Please," He pouted, giving her his best puppy dog eyes,
"Fiiinnnne," She sighed, rolling her eyes before finally reaching down and grabbing his arm. He gripped her arm back tightly as she struggled to pull him up. He was heavier than she remembered, "Fuck you got fat."
"I'm not fat!" Sokka complained as she continued to slowly pull him onto the roof. Her success was only met by Sokka practically falling on top of her, almost making both of them fall off the roof,
"Thanks," Sokka smiled as he looked down at her. She glared at him for a second as she held tightly to the roof to keep them from falling. He could swear he saw her face redden slightly when his eyes met hers,
"Don't mention it," Azula groaned, before shoving Sokka off and climbing up to her window. She pushed it open, hoping Ursa and her brother were still asleep as she climbed inside. The door to her room was still shut and the house appeared to be silent. At the very least no one had realized she was gone which was a positive sign.
Sokka followed Azula into her room. He hadn't seen it in years but it still looked somewhat the same. The bed and desk still sat in the same spot, but all her video game posters were nowhere to be seen. The shelves that used to be cluttered with toys were barren, now only filled with a few textbooks. He didn't even find her secret stash of stuffed animals she hid away from her father under her bed. It felt wrong almost, like it didn't belong to her anymore.
Sokka frowned as he turned to Azula, she was organizing what papers they had been able to take on her desk.
"Soo, you going to get to explaining or what?" He asked as he took a seat on her bed, making her turn to him,
"Who said you could sit on my bed?" She glared at him,
"Stop the stalling Zula-," He started glaring back at her before someone knocked on her door,
"Azula? Are you awake?" He could hear Ursa ask from the hallway. Azula didn't respond at first hoping her mother would just give up and walk away, but sadly she wasn't so lucky, "Azula!"
"What!" Azula finally shouted, drawing Sokka's attention to her fists that were now in tight little balls of rage. He blamed the darkness for failing to notice the bandages on her hands, a good friend wouldn't miss that.
The thought made him scoff, good friend.
"There's no need to yell Azula-" Ursa started,
"There's no need to wake me up at six am Ursa," Azula responded, each word dipped in venom. He could hear her mother sigh from the other side of the door,
"Breakfast is in the fridge downstairs, don't be a hassle on your brother while I'm at work," Ursa responded, waiting a second for a response that didn't come before walking downstairs.
Azula sighed, twirling her bangs with her finger as she fell down into her desk chair, "How annoying,"
Sokka wasn't sure what to say. He could bring up her mother, but that was always a bad idea. She probably wouldn't be too happy about him asking how her hands were either. It was best to stay on topic wasn't it? A sigh escaped Sokka's lips,
"Tell me what's going on," He said,
Azula looked over to him as she leaned back in her chair, a smirk taking over her previous angry expression, "Well I thought it would be obvious to you Mr. Smarty Pants. My father is clearly innocent and I'm trying to clear his name."
"You think I'm going to fall for that?" Sokka questioned,
"It's the truth," Azula assured with a smirk on her face, as she nodded her head,
"Then who was trying to kill us?" He asked, "And why?"
"The people who set him up obviously," She said rolling her eyes,
"Right right right- of course," Sokka nodded, clearly not buying it, "and clearly your father is a hundred percent innocent of all crimes?"
"Sure," Azula shrugged, counting to play with her bangs. He gave her a second to continue, but she was more interested in spinning her perfect little bangs around to care about sustaining the conversation,
"Cut the crap Azula, I can tell you're lying," Sokka said, deeping his glare on her. She refused to meet eye contact with him as she dropped her hands onto her lap,
"I did not lie, how dare you accuse me of such a thing," Azula said, gasping dramatically,
"Uhuh uhuh," Sokka rolled his eyes, "Come on, I know there's more too it then that,"
Azula crossed her legs, leaning further back in her chair, "and I can trust you with this information because?"
"Because we were friends for years!" He exclaimed before lowering his voice and rubbing the back of his neck, "I mean I thought we were- but still, we did all kinds of stuff and I never told on you,"
"You just threatened to," She countered with a sour look on her face,
"You didn't give me much of a choice Azula," He insisted, making her sigh again, "Fine- I promise, I won't tell anyone- no matter how illegal it is,"
"You sure you won't regret making that promise?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrow towards him,
"No I know I will, you'll make sure of it," Sokka chuckled, "But I still won't tell, unless someone's life is in danger,"
"Fine," Azula smirked, "It's not like you'll believe me anyway,"
"Try me," He persisted, leaning towards her,
"I wasn't technically lying when I said my father was innocent. The cops are currently after him for smuggling in drugs from out of the country, something he's never done himself." She clarified, "and I do believe the people who were destroying my house were trying to set him up,"
"Okay great, you weren't technically lying," He said, swaying his head from side to side, "But if your dad is so squeaky clean then why would they do that?"
"I wouldn't say he's squeaky clean," She muttered,
"So you did lie?" Sokka questioned, a smirk creeping over his face, "How dare!"
"Calm down," Azula rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Can I continue now?"
"Go ahead," He responded gesturing for her to keep talking,
"My grandfather is well, a very powerful person," Azula stated, "I think my father has pissed him off, leading to my grandfather framing him and kicking him out of the- lets just say family."
"Powerful person, huh?" Sokka muttered before sighing, "That means you're kicked out too aren't you?"
"I'd assume so yes," She nodded, "Which is- regrettable, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I was hoping I could use my father's information to find one of his more trusted associates."
"Makes sense I guess," He said, rubbing the back of his head, "You said files were missing? That someone stole them, but isn't it possible your dad took them before leaving?"
"No, he isn't stupid enough to get caught on the run with information he was likely using to blackmail people," Azula responded, "I don't know who took them, but all the information he had on my cousin and my uncle are gone."
"How would that be useful to someone though? I thought they were both missing?" He asked,
"I don't know-" She said, shaking her head, "Lu ten has been presumed dead since I was five, and my uncle well he disappeared soon after my parents got divorced. I can't imagine the information my father had was anything more than crimes they commited, and I can't see that being useful if both of them are missing."
"Then why did you want them?" Sokka said, raising an eyebrow, "Curious maybe about what happened to your missing family?"
"Don't be stupid. I took the files of everyone in my family-" She reasoned, "It would be bad if they fell into the wrong hands."
"Fine- I suppose that's fair," He nodded in agreement, "But aren't you curious?"
"Maybe," She muttered, "Father always told me they ran away, couldn't handle the pressure of being in the "family"."
"And you believe him?" Sokka asked, a doubtful look spread across his face,
"Does that really matter right now?" Azula responded, glaring at him,
"No- I guess not," He sighed, giving up on trying to reason her out of listening to everything her daddy tells her, "So what exactly are we getting into?"
"We?" She repeated,
"Yes I'm helping you," He assured making her scoff, "Get over it,"
"More like you will be following me like a little lost puppy while I keep you from getting killed?" Azula clarified,
"If that makes you feel better then sure!" Sokka nodded, "Now- What are we getting into?"
"Lots of big bad people with guns," She guessed, tapping her finger to her chin,
"You can't be more specific?" He groaned, throwing his arms towards her, "About anything?"
"I could- but where's the fun in that?" She smirked, watching him cover his face with his hands and fall back onto her bed,
"Must you be so complicated," He mumbled, rubbing his hands on his face. Azula always had to be so frustrating, in every way possible. She had always known how to drive him crazy. Suddenly Sokka felt someone sit down next to him, making him slide his hands off his face, letting them fall to his sides,
"Maybe-," Azula said, covering a yawn with her hand as she looked down to him, "But I just spent all night saving your ass and I'm very tired. Now do you mind getting off of my bed so I can sleep?"
"I don't know, it's super comfy!" Sokka said, stretching himself out over her covers, "It's not like you haven't slept in my bed-"
Before Sokka could finish he was faced with Azula shoving him off of her bed, pushing him towards the window, "We're not kids anymore, and I don't care."
"Ug- you're really going to kick me out without finishing aren't you?" Sokka whined,
"Of course," She said, "Now get out."
He looked back over to her to see that she was already laying in bed, covers pulled over herself, "Fine but we're talking about this more later."
"Yeah sure whatever," Azula said waving her hand at him, "Just leave, I can't sleep with such an annoying presence looming over me."
"Uhuh," Sokka rolled his eyes, giving her sleepy face one last look before climbing out her window. For some reason he felt compelled to stay. Maybe he was just feeling anxious about those guys hunting them down, or he just hated leaving without all the answers. Regardless, Sokka let out a sigh and climbed back over to his house. He quietly pushed his window open before sneaking back into his room.
He hadn't pulled an all nighter in a long time, so he was thankful it was the weekend. Sokka fell down onto his bed not realizing how tired he actually was until his head hit the pillow.
Half asleep he promised himself he would go back over later and force the rest out of her. Sokka pulled his covers over himself, she wasn't getting out of this easily, even though the idea of hanging out with her again brought a smile to his sleepy face.