Sokka could hear his grandmother's voice, and he thought that the sea had actually taken him, that this was a post life dream. It wasn't until light filtered in through his eyelids and he woke up from his sleep. It was like he had turned into a piece of seal jerky the way his body constricted. He shrieked as he tried to suck in a breath.

"Ah, he's up," hearing his father's voice shocked him, and he looked around the igloo that he was in.

"What happened?" His voice cracked as he pulled the blanket tight around his shoulders.

"Some men were doing their early morning fish, and they saw you both not too far from shore. They brought you back here as soon as they recognized you." Hakoda explains and Sokka nodded as he took in the information.

"Where's Azula?" his voice was still coarse, barely there, but the question still reached his father's ears.

"She's in your igloo. We thought it would be best if she had her own space when she woke up." His father answered and Sokka's eyes widen.

"She's still sleeping? How long has it been?" Sokka asks, and his Grandmother quickly hands him his bowl of Sea Prune Stew.

"It's only been a day. She's been asleep since we found you two. How did you two even end up together?" Hakoda answered and Sokka sighed at the thought of answering that question.

How does he explain to his father that he was trying to stop Azula from killing herself.

Sokka shakes his head and is thankful that his father didn't ask again. He quickly swallows down the soup and began eating the whale jerky that his grandmother handed him. He ate and tried to wrap his head around the situation he was in. Stuck with Azula. And he thought seeing Zuko and Suki made him sick. He didn't want her to die, but he definitely didn't want to spend time with her. He could only hope Zuko could return soon.

The day went on, and he continued to recover from almost freezing to death or drowning or both. He had gone out with his father to get some more materials for their stay. They needed things for Azula to wear, and he didn't think Katara would appreciate Azula borrowing her things. He wanted to be proactive and reduce how much he'd had to help her with once she woke up. He wasn't trying to spend this extended time at home babysitting Princess Uppity.

The less he had to see her, the better.

The day went on, and soon one day turned into two and there was still no sign of Azula waking up. Gran-Gran had even managed some healers in the village to look at her to make sure nothing drastic was wrong. It seemed like she just needed more time to rest.

While Azula slept, Sokka eased his way back into the village activities. He had forgotten how stress-free it could be in the tribe since the war was over. It beat working late nights to finalize plans for Republic City, and it's districts. He loved the peace and focus building the city brought, but sometimes he needed a break. Sure he hated waking up early but at least he could go spear fishing peacefully instead of dozing off in some boring meeting. He also enjoyed catching up with his father during this time. It had been so long since they could just learn from each other. It felt like things had gone back to normal. The normal before discovering Aang had thrown everything up in the air.

The two days of what seemed like Southern Water Tribe bliss turned into three and then four as Azula continued to sleep. He had since sent a letter to Zuko and everyone else on the ship. He knew that they had to continue their trip back to the Fire Nation. That it was still too dangerous for them to take those waters to reach them, it probably would be until the season changed. He didn't know what he was going to do when the Princess woke up, if she woke up. He didn't know which outcome was worse for him. Sokka didn't need Zuko thinking he killed his little sister.

"Son, I know you didn't want to talk about before, but what happened on the ship?" Hakoda's question sat in Sokka's ears as he tried to think of an answer. He didn't know how to explain that the only reason he was out with her is that he didn't want to see Suki and Zuko. That he had been trying his hardest to stop Azula from jumping overboard and that a small piece of him wished he had never gone out there.

But that part of him knows that Azula might not be alive right now if he hadn't and that is something that makes it even harder to deal with.

"We were both out on the deck that night. I just wanted some fresh air and Azula just happened to also be outside. She-" He froze. He didn't know if he should say something, but he also didn't know if she would try it again when she woke up. If she woke up.

"Oh so you two weren't-"

"God no! Dad, what's wrong with you?" Sokka felt his skin crawl at the thought of it. Why would he ever be romantically involved with Azula.

"Sorry son, I was just trying to piece it together." A chuckle left Hakoda's mouth at the sight of Sokka's flustering.

"Well, those aren't the right pieces. I was just helping her that night. I was trying to be nice, but the weather was worse than expected," Sokka's answer was simply and his father nodded.

It made sense.

"Well hopefully everything is okay now. Once she wakes up, we'll send another note to Zuko and you guys should be back on your way."

"Yeah, hopefully," only a mutter left Sokka's mouth.

On the morning of the fourth day, he had returned from a fishing trip when news of the Princess waking up travelled through the village. He stopped in place and closed his eyes as relief flooded through him. He was actually able to save her. Sokka took his time putting up the fish and cleaning up the boat for the next trip that was bound to happen tomorrow. Sokka walked his way back to his igloo where Azula had been resting. He took up space in his father's in order for the princess to have more privacy. He didn't think he would have been able to sleep in his room with her there next to him. Sokka walked up to the igloo and paused before entering, he did not know what to expect, and he simply hoped she wouldn't explode or cause a scene. He was nervous, something he didn't expect from himself.

Snap out of it, he thought to himself, there's no reason to act like this, we've defeated Azula before, and now she's more mean than anything else. Right?

He took a deep breath and finally started walking into the igloo.

Everything would be fine.

"What is this?" He heard the disgust in Azula's voice, and he knew exactly what his grandmother did.

"It's Sea Prune stew." Azula's frown and narrowed eyes became visible to him, and he froze.

He could only hope that this would turn out better than he expected.