"I was waiting for you" her brother said, closing the door behind him, sounding tired.

Azula sighed "I told you not to. We can't see each other every night, Zuzu. People will start getting suspicious"

"I've dealt with much, much worse the gossip, Azula" he said, climbing into her bed, pulling her close to him and kissing her neck. The princess couldn't help but relax into the embrace for just a brief moment. She had never thought she'd be the type to love receiving physical affection from a lover so much, but she couldn't get enough of Zuko's gentle, yet firm touch.

Still, she knew this wasn't a good idea.

"You say that, but you freak out every single time you think anyone might have found out about us" she broke his hold on her and started moving away, only to be pulled back. She rolled her eyes "You said it's best for us to keep it a secret for now, so be discrete and go sleep in your own room, dum-dum."

"Your bed is more comfortable"

"You're being even more clingy than usual" she said, turning around to face him and seeing that all too familiar concerned look on his face "What's wrong?" her brother had a habit of seeking comfort in her every time something upset him. Why in the world did he feel better by being with her still confused Azula. She had never been as kind and sweet as he was, not even when they were little. She would turn to him for comfort, not the other way around. She still wasn't used to it.

"I'm just a little stressed" he answered a little too fast.

"You're a terrible liar. Come on, Zuzu. You've spent all day irritated and now you're desperate not to spend the night alone. Did you have another nightmare last night?"

His silence was all the answer Azula needed. She hugged him tight and kissed his forehead. Her brother seemed to cheer up a bit, but still did not say a word. It didn't matter, she didn't always tell him what her nightmares were about her either. There was no need to since they usually saw the same things - Azulon ordering their father to kill Zuko, their mother disappearing, the first time Azula got seriously hurt during training and Ozai didn't even seem to care, Zuko's disfiguring and banishment, their separation on the day of black sun, their Agni Kai during the day of Sozin's comet... it all continued to haunt them.

Luckly they seemed to have found the perfect way to make themselves feel better whenever they couldn't keep these thoughts away.

"I wouldn't have kept you waiting if you told me right away, dum-dum" she said, playing with his hair.

"Sorry" he grabbed her free hand and kissed it "But that wasn't the only reason I wanted to see you"

"Oh?"

"I heard you and mom were fighting again"

Azula started seeing red, but forced herself to sound calm "You know we have our problems. It wasn't anything serious, so just forget about it"

He kissed her cheek "Just checking. And you know you can talk to me if she does something that really bothers you, right?"

She nodded and gave him a sweet little kiss. That was the one thing she'd never get used to - turning to Zuko so she'd feel better about her relationship with Ursa. It just didn't seem right or even possible, since it always seemed like the deeper Zuko's bond with their mother got, the more she'd push Azula away. In a strange way, her affection was much more difficult to obtain than Ozai's, and made them compete against each other far more often.

But things were different now. She couldn't fully believe it yet, but nowadays there wasn't a single subject she couldn't talk to her brother about. There wasn't anything they couldn't move past to make their relationship work, and nothing made them feel safer than simply being with each other.

"I love you, Zuzu" she whispered, pressing a tender kiss to his lips.

"I love you too, Lala"