That day, Sokka helped fight off two attacks by the forces of the Fire Nation. The firebenders had been trying to bust a hole through the makeshift fortifications but were quickly repulsed with little damage. The second attack was much more dangerous but when Aang showed himself on the battlefield, the enemy garrison routed and retreated to their defensive positions at the gate to the Middle Ring.
The confrontation that Sokka had been dreading between Azula and her brother had yet to occur. Apparently the wayward Prince was rooting out the last remnants of the Fire Nation in the Lower Ring. Perhaps it was best to delay that spark-filled reunion for as long as possible.
As much as he wished otherwise, Sokka knew that he needed to speak with Azula's uncle and that the air needed to be cleared fully if they were going to work together as allies to liberate Ba Sing Se. As the sun set, the normally bustling city grew quiet, except for distant sounds of small battles and skirmishes. He sought out the General in a small shop that had somehow miraculously withstood the constant warfare.
All the windows had been blown out in the fighting and a few of the tables and chairs were broken and lay in disrepair. The ruined furniture had been pushed into a heap and had been shoved in the corner of the large dining room that in better days likely might have been a popular spot for the locals. A lone table made of a vibrant mahogany sat in the very center of the room.
A rustic teapot stood on the lacquered wood, adjacent to a weathered cup. Iroh stared intently as he poured the liquid from the pot. Sokka stepped in front of the mysterious leader of the White Lotus. A thousand questions raced through his mind to ask the former firebending General, a few inspired rage in him. All of those of course, concerned Azula and what he perceived to be Iroh's failings when it came to his niece. Maybe that wasn't the primary concern now, in the middle of a warzone, but it still required an accounting for.
The wizened man bade Sokka to sit across the table with a wave of his hand. "Tea?" Iroh inquired.
He shook his head and Iroh looked at him quizzically. "Alright, one cup." Sokka said, relenting.
A second cup was pulled from a small satchel at the foot of the table. Iroh poured with a practiced hand. Sokka eyed him warily, not drinking as the cup was placed on a saucer directly in front of him. It was hard to hold back his accusations, and it was even harder to hold back his anger. Iroh sipped quietly, his eyes never leaving the younger mans.
"You must have a dozen questions for me." Iroh spoke at last breaking the silence.
Sokka shook his head. "Just the one question, actually."
Iroh's head drooped and Sokka thought for a moment that the teacup in the elder man's hand was trembling. The firebender looked up from the table, their eyes meeting again. Sokka's stare was harsh and unyielding. "Yes, I suppose that is the crux of everything you may want to know."
Iroh fell silent again. Sokka was preparing to angrily start ranting at the man, until at last he started speaking.
"It was a few months past that Piandao, one of the other ranking members of the White Lotus, first contacted me. He spoke of a young man that was promising in all the ways that mattered most. Loyal, dedicated, intelligent and willing to do what was necessary to help bring back balance to the world. It has been quite some time since our Order has taken on any fresh blood to revitalize us. I was thrilled, doubly so when I found out it was one of the Avatar's traveling companions.
The Order has been desperate to find a new generation of men and women to help lead this world, once the Fire Lord is defeated. Piandao is certain you're more than capable of being one of them. That you're the son of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe is another point in your favor… yet, I'm not sure if you'd be so interested." Iroh finished speaking and tilted his head, looking at Sokka inquisitively.
"I haven't quite planned that far ahead… I've been focused on keeping my family and friends alive. You still didn't answer my question, though" Sokka said his voice, quiet and dangerous.
"Well then, perhaps it's time for you to properly ask it." Iroh said solemnly.
"Why?" Sokka all but snarled. "Why? Where in the fiery hells were you her whole damn life?"
Iroh opened his mouth to respond but Sokka was far from finished.
"Maybe, you didn't understand something, but you're an uncle to two royals, not just one. You abandoned her. She needed help even more than her brother. At least he had their mom for some of their childhood. All she had was the attention of a mad man. You must have known, and you did nothing. When you left with Zuko on your wild eel hound chase did you even think about her? Or did you just want to pretend that Zuko was your child while Azula alone was Ozai's?"
"Prince Zuko was banished, what would you have had me do? Let him wander aimlessly across the wastes, till he ended up a pauper or face down in some Earth Kingdom ditch?" Iroh retorted, his eyes not breaking contact with the insolent young man in front of him.
"You left Azula to fend for herself, a long time before Zuko's banishment. I...She deserves to know why." Sokka finished, inwardly cursing his slip-up.
Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Sokka thought he saw a flicker of understanding on Iroh's features.
"I had no chance or choice in the matter." Iroh protested. "Ozai had sunk his claws into her from that moment it was clear she was a prodigy. Everything I had ever seen from the Princess just confirmed what I always believed. She was a carbon copy of her Father. I couldn't have pried her loose even if I tried."
"But you didn't try." Sokka exclaimed. "You never even bothered! For spirits sake, you said she was just like her father, and you knew her, you saw her every day, you lived with her! How in the hell could you have been so wrong, when I figured it out just a few times of meeting her."
"Princess Azula's every action was to please her father. She was the picture perfect disciple and heir apparent to Ozai's reign of terror." Iroh's voice was pained now.
"And here she is, fighting against him. I'd say you're a remarkably bad judge of character, General."
"Perhaps I was mistaken. Or perhaps you're blinded by-"
"Even half-blind I still see Azula more clearly than you ever have. Nobody gave a damn about who she was or how she felt. Her entire life, she was molded into a weapon, and no one cared. You saw her as an obstacle to be overcome on Zuko's path to the crown. Never once even wondering if she could be an ally of Zuko's. They are siblings for Tui's sake. Not everyone has the same messed up family dynamics as you and your brother. But… you just always assumed the worst of her, just like her brother does. Spirits, what more does she have to do to convince you?" Sokka was in no mood to let Iroh answer the question though.
"I saw her confront the Fire Lord, her father, on the day of the Black Sun.. Aang did too, you can ask him about it, I'm in no mood to tell you. If his words aren't good enough for you lot, then I don't think you really care about balance like you say. She's here, liberating the city that she once conquered. Have you made any personal amends for the thousands killed during your siege of this place? Because as far as I'm aware Azula's victory was bloodless."
Iroh's eyes narrowed and for a moment, Sokka thought the man was about to break into a rage like they had seen so many times before from the firebender's nephew.
"You have no idea the amends I've been trying to make for the last five years. The things I've seen and the struggles I've endured to help end my Brother's reign. Meanwhile the last time I saw my niece was in that abandoned town. I still bear the scar on my chest."
"And you think Azula hasn't had struggles too? You're both here, you're both in the same place even if the way you reached it was different. I'm asking you to give her a chance, Spirits know you've given Zuko enough. He at least had you, to see the errors of his upbringing. Who the hell did she have?" Sokka finished angrily.
Iroh looked at him in an abashed manner. The Former Fire Lord General was silent for some time as if he was carefully weighing his thoughts.
"Perhaps, I can start by giving her the chances and counseling I gave Zuko." Sokka had to fight back a snort. Like Azula would want his advice. "Piandao is quite certain of his belief in you, and I myself believe in his judgment. Iroh paused for a moment before continuing.
"I must ask, young Sokka. Are you sure you're not just trying to replace the Princess you lost all those moons ago?
Sokka's mind malfunctioned for a half second. At first he thought that he had misheard the elder, then he had to fight back the rage that swelled inside him as he considered diving across the table and punching the man's face with all the strength he could muster. He reigned in the impulse. The tea remained undrank in front of him. Sokka shook his head twice, before standing abruptly. The proper etiquette was far from observed. The General was just as infuriating as Azula had claimed.
He stormed out of the shop in a fury. His hands were shaking and his vision was clouded by tears that were unshed. Now, more than ever he needed to be alone. Maybe he should have sought out Azula and talked with her about it, but seeing her, with Iroh's parting words still swirling in his mind was likely only going to him doing or saying something he might regret. Putting it on Azula wasn't fair either, this was for him to grapple with.
Alone.
Okay, maybe not quite alone.
His sister found him in a courtyard. Rubble littered the area but a bench by the central fountain still stood. There he had sat for perhaps half an hour, ruminating over what Iroh had said.
"Fuck him, then!" Katara said angrily when Sokka had finally relented and explained what was troubling him.
Sokka looked at his sister after her outburst, an unexpected laugh overtaking him at Katara's profanity-laced exclamation.
"Well, that's an interesting visual, but I am dating Azula after all. I'm sure you could take him up on it, though you might make Aang quite jealous." Sokka teased his sister, smiling for the first time in what felt like ages.
Katara punched him in the arm in mock anger before settling down beside him. He sobered quickly though, as his sister reached her hand out to him. "You don't think he's right?" Sokka said quietly.
She looked at him with an appraising gaze, but there was no doubt in his sister's voice as she began to speak. "I can't profess to fully understand what you see in Azula, and I don't think I ever will, but if you were looking to replace Yue, you've failed horrifically." Sokka chuckled softly, rubbing his eyes wearily.
"Apart from the superficial title they share, they couldn't be any more different… Apart from… well, they both are...were so strong. Yue gave up everything to save the world, you included. I think Azula's given up her whole life to try and save it too. I didn't want to admit it at first. I only wanted to see the bad. But… she's fought alongside us now. Aang really does trust her. If anything I have been too harsh on her. It makes me feel better about you being with her. I never once thought you were trying to replace Yue." Katara finished rubbing his arm in a kind fashion.
Sokka exhaled a breath that he didn't even realize he was holding in. "Thanks sis. You know sometimes I forget I didn't get all the brains in the family…" A sly smile played on his features as Katara threw up her hands in mock exasperation.
"Well speaking of things that you should know, there's a whole fountain full of water just behind us." Katara smirked.
"Come on!" Sokka protested weakly. "It's uhhh cold right now?"
"It's the start of summer in the Earth Kingdom. You're from the South Pole." She scoffed at him, amusement still evident on his sister's face.
A huge wave of water settled over his head and Sokka braced himself for the inevitable, accepting his fate. However only a few drops drizzled down on his face. Katara bent the water over the fountain, staying the promised drenching. She hugged him and the water rushed back into the fountain aided by gravity, lightly splashing the both of them. They laughed together, holding each other tightly.
They separated from their embrace and Katara looked at him with a strange look on her face.
"What?" Sokka asked in confusion.
"Nothing." She responded quickly.
"Katara…"
"Okay, fine. I was just thinking. We only got through our childhood because of each other right. And we had Gran-Gran and the whole village supporting us, or at least we had a village to support so it gave us I don't know a purpose? A calling?. Right? I was just thinking about Azula and Zuko…"
Sokka sighed. "Yeah. I think we might not have been quite so well-adjusted if we had a homicidal tyrant for a father… and well. Azula and Zuko's mom… I don't know if you knew this. I don't know why you would, actually. She ran away. She abandoned the two of them to the Fire Lord. Even I'm not sure about everything that happened, Azula's really only told me bits and pieces but... I just can't imagine it. Mom gave her life to protect you, to protect our tribe's final waterbender. And Azula's just what? Ran away like a coward. How could someone do that to their kids?"
Katara's eyes were filled with tears. "I'm sorry Sokka. For how I treated her."
He smiled weakly at his sibling. "Don't apologize to me, tell it to Azula. I don't want you two fighting. Even if it does lead to you two constantly picking on me." He stuck his tongue in a childish manner, like they had done so many times at each other growing up.
She laughed at that and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll talk to her tomorrow if I can find the time. I think you're right though."
Sokka turned his head to look down at her. Katara had a smile on her face now. "I really do think we can bond over how much we plan on tormenting you." She said with a grin.
"I'll take what I can get."
They were given new lodgings nearer the command center. Sokka was given a quick update on the situation by Piandao before they retired for the evening. The Lower Ring was at last completely pacified. Any resistance now would be from lone wolf saboteurs that had remained hidden until now. Their efforts could be focused on taking the Middle Ring and upwards.
Piandao seemed hesitant to agree to Azula's plan of attempting to turn the Da Li to their side. Apparently they had wreaked unholy havoc on the liberating forces so far. They had always been some of the most talented Earthbenders in the world, and coupled with their campaign of imprisonment and subjugation of anyone who had been opposing them, their foes possessed the lion's share of the most talented benders residing in Ba Sing Se.
His former swordmaster promised to give it more thought and professed that they were likely locked in a stand-still and a protracted siege without any new ideas or strategies to break the deadlock. He talked to Aang briefly before retiring to the room set aside for him. Azula was already inside, sitting on the side of the bed, her legs dangling just above the ground reading a scroll by candlelight. She unconsciously brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and Sokka thought to himself that the sight might just be as close to perfection as he could have ever wished for in his life.
She looked up as he approached quietly. Sitting beside her as she smiled softly at him. His hand went to her back, rubbing in a circular motion over the fabric of her sleeping garments. Azula exhaled a sigh of contentment as she set down the scroll on the bedside table and turned to face him. A worried look passed over her face as she stared into his eyes.
"I saw Zuko today." She said abruptly.
Sokka fiddled with his hair, unleashing it from its customary style. He looked at her for a moment before speaking. "Well at least you're still alive. Judging by how the White Lotus didn't throw you in jail, I'm assuming he is too?"
Azula rolled her eyes and stood up for just a moment, stopping in front of him and pushing him onto his back until he was facing up at the ceiling, flat on the bed.
"How dare you accuse me of fratricide! Don't you know that it's patricide that I'm more interested in succeeding at?" Azula hopped onto the bed next to him, setting her head down on his chest.
"Yeah, well I don't know the fancy word for killing an uncle, but I definitely wouldn't hold it against you if you made an attempt. I'm pretty sure it's uncleicide? "
Azula turned her head slightly, to look at him, her head still on his chest. "It's avunculicide, actually." She said matter-of-factly.
"Of course you'd know." Sokka said with a laugh. "You're a wise princess and I'm just an uncultured snow muncher."
"Yes… but, you're my uncultured snow muncher."
"Y-You can't say those kinds of things."
"Oh? And why is that…" Azula's voice dropped to a seductive whisper.
"Because we have to go fight a war tomorrow, and you're making it so I never want to leave this room."
Azula lifted her head and shifted her entire body until she hovered over him. She pressed a light kiss to his lips and used her bending to snuff out the candles that illuminated the room.
They stared at each other in the darkness after their eyes grew adjusted to the absence of light. Sokka laughed unexpectedly and turned his head slightly as Azula leaned in for another kiss.
"What?" She said annoyedly at being denied the opportunity.
"How in the spirits do you know the word for killing your uncle?"
She looked at him confusedly. "There have been at least a half dozen cases in the Fire Nation's history of a nephew usurping the throne from an uncle. Four of them after the uncle killed their brother to take the throne themselves. Hasn't such a thing happened in the Water Tribe?"
"What!? No! I mean I can't speak for the Northern Tribe, but that has only happened once in our history, and all the people rose up to depose the kinslayer." Sokka protested.
"So it has happened in the Water Tribe." Azula's voice betrayed her mirth at the knowledge.
"Not a dozen times!" He whined.
"Half a dozen." She interrupted quickly, her face locked on a predatory grin as she traced circles over the fabric of his tunic.
"You said at least. There could be more!" Sokka looked smug as his hands grasped the sides of her hips and pulled her flush on top of him.
"Well, no one can really explain some of the mysterious deaths that occured. Poison has a long history of usage in the royal family."
"Gee, you're really making me want to eat in the Palace one day."
Azula scoffed at him, tossing her back over her shoulder. "As if you would turn down a meal from the very best chefs in the entire world."
Sokka opened his mouth to argue but the objection died on his lips. He really wouldn't ever consider turning that down and she knew it, dammit.
"You're doing a marvelous job of making me think about anything but the confrontation I had with my annoying brother." She said quietly.
Azula felt his shoulders shrug, his fingers ran through her hair and she gave a small moan of approval. "I'd say I've figured out that like me, if you want to talk about something, you will." His fingers massaged her scalp as he finished speaking.
She snapped her fingers abruptly, before laughing aloud and sitting up. Sokka looked at her in confusion. "I just remembered what Piandao said. He called you his greatest student! You spent what? Two weeks, maybe three, with him?" Azula broke into a fit of giggles that was so unusual for the usually restrained Princess.
Sokka's lips pursed as he tried to figure out the cause of his girlfriend's exuberance. "I thought I had told you this, but perhaps not, when we were children, Zuko trained with Piandao for many years, attempting to master the dao blades. Perhaps he has, but I know that he struggled. I heard him speaking with my mother once when I overheard…" Sokka gave her a reproachful look as he sat up next to her.
"Fine when I spied on them!" Azula snapped as she glared at him in the darkened room. Sokka couldn't hold back a laugh of his own at that.
"See it's better when you admit your misdeeds." A sharp nail dug lightly into the skin of his forearm and he gritted his teeth, pushing her onto her back and onto the bed.
Sokka closed the distance between the two and pressed a rough, sloppy kiss against her lips, relishing in the simple act. A content sigh escaped Azula's mouth when they separated.
"The most important thing, other than your passingly adequate skills at satisfying my whims, is you've given me yet another thing to mercilessly tease my dearest brother with. He spent years training with Piandao. And you, a peasant, water tribe barbarian became the swordmasters greatest pupil in only a few short weeks." Azula said, happily.
"What can I say? I'm simply that good." Sokka flexed his left bicep.
If he had been able to see better, he would have confirmation Azula was rolling her eyes. "For once, I'm more than willing to agree."
She untucked his tunic and started to lift it off of him. The cool air contacted his skin and Sokka gave a slight shudder as she ran a finger slowly over his pectorals. Azula's voice got unexpectedly serious as she climbed close to him resting her head against his chest.
"When I saw Zuko today, and he confronted me, Iroh showed up and intervened and… actually chastised Zuko for not giving me a chance. I didn't expect it. I still don't quite believe it. He always has an ulterior motive. There's always a plot to uncover with him." Azula's voice had an unmistakable edge to it.
"Guess some things run in the family." He was rewarded for his joke with a sharp pinch. "Okay I deserved that."
"Mhm."
"What else happened?" He asked nervously.
"Well, Iroh reigned in Zuko from attacking me, if nothing else. But-but, it all seems so disingenuous. Like they'll never believe me. Zuzu of course was apoplectic with rage. As if he has the monopoly on being a goody goody apparently… I-I wish you had been there. If I inflate your ego any more I'm certain you'll pop like a balloon, but I feel better, more confident and capable of dealing with them if you're with me. Okay… not dealing with them per se. I can do that just fine, unfortunately for my family it will likely involve flames and lightning if you're not present."
He chuckled a bit. The visual of Azula in combat was always one that excited and turned him on. She was somehow even more beautiful than normal in the thick of combat. "I'm sorry I wasn't with you today… I'm sure you guessed by my earlier comment but I also had a conversation with your uncle." Azula lifted her head to look at him.
"I berated him on a variety of topics including his piss poor understanding of you-"
"My hero." Azula faked a swoon. '
Playfully, he tickled her sides and she snorted in amusement, slapping his hands off of her. "Anyways, if you're quite finished with your sass?
Azula whistled softly as if prompting him to continue. "Well let's just say I won't be winning any awards or gaining the approval of any of your family members anytime soon. I wasn't the most couth person today in our discussion. If I cared, I'd be worried that he may eject me from his little resistance movement made up of board game enthusiasts."
The Princess of the Fire Nation snorted in a most unladylike way. "My family not liking you is a positive, Sokka. Besides you're my water tribe savage. I wouldn't want you to be couth. It takes away all of your magnetism."
Sokka twisted and turned until he had Azula pinned under him against the mattress. Azula mustered a halfhearted effort before she lifted her head slightly as if beckoning him towards her. He took in a deep breath, their faces were close. Sokka could feel her short, shallow breaths on his cheeks.
"Iroh accused me of wanting to replace Yue with another Princess." He said quietly, almost ashamed at the thought, even after his conversation with Katara.
Azula stared up into his eyes. She didn't say a word, it was as if she was carefully weighing her next action. Finally after what felt like an interminable silence, she spoke.
"At least you're aware, I wasn't exaggerating when I said, he is unbearable."
Despite the serious turn their conversation had taken, Sokka laughed uncontrollably. He at last settled down. "I still think your father is hard to beat in the category. No matter what you say." Azula inclined her head in agreement at that.
"The fact that it's close says all you need to know about the Fire Nation royal family." Azula said bitterly.
"It makes it all the more amazing that it produced someone as perfect as you."
Azula mock sighed. "Speaking of unbearable, your cheesiness truly knows no bounds."
Sokka stuck out his lower lip in a frown. "But you love it."
She looked at him, snaking a hand behind his neck and pulling him as close as possible.
"Against all odds, I really do... I never thought for a moment you were trying to replace her. I'm myself and Yue was Yue."
This time they met in the middle. Their lips crashed against each other roughly. Their hands exploring each other as more and more of their clothes came off and were sent tumbling to the hard ground.
"I want you." Her voice was breathless as he escaped his trousers.
He pressed his face against her neck, trailing a kiss down to her clavicle. His tongue brushed lightly against her pale flesh. "And you'll have me Princess."
"No." She clarified, her hand finding its way past the band of his undergarments and gripping his manhood. "I want all of you tonight."
A:N/ Hey everyone, hope you've been well! Sorry there hasn't been much in the way of War and Laughter lately. Never fear it is once again my sole focus. Other than a short story I'm working on right now, that pending approval from the person I'm making it for, I'll post around christmas:) Needless to say I bet you can imagine what is coming in the next chapter. Not gonna lie I'm very excited to share it with you:D As always feel free to talk to me here or on Tumblr at Deaddirector. Have a good holidays!