On the bright side, they had finally landed on the fire nation island that Azula's mother was banished to. On the not so bright side, Ozai never gave enough of a shit to remember exactly which village she was in, so they had been through three small towns already and had gotten exactly no information on her potential whereabouts. No one had come into those villages around six years ago. They were currently heading towards the largest one on the backs of mongoose dragons. They hoped that it had some information on her. The fire nation troops wouldn't just drop a fire lady in the middle of nowhere, even an exiled one. They finally touched down and received some odd looks.
They both looked like warriors for obvious reasons, but clearly out of place. It likely didn't help matters that they felt the need to both wear fire nation and water tribe colors. No one could place them until they saw Azula's topknot. As usual they began to bow at her feet, the assumption about who he was soon followed.
"Princess Azula, Adviser Sokka. We were not informed that you were going to grace us….."
Azula raised a hand to stop him from talking. "Instead of sniveling can you rise and give me information?"
"Y-Yes of course princess, what do you need?" The middle aged man said while getting back to his feet.
"This is not a social call. Six years ago a beautiful woman came into town. Highborn. Do you have any information on her?"
"Apologies. I have only been here around four years. I could try to see if one of my friends has been here longer and could possibly help you." The man then ran away as fast as they assumed he could, and the people around them were still on their knees looking at them or giving them a wide berth.
"Leave us. Thank you." Sokka said. Attempting to keep up with Azula's tone but slightly more polite. After they went relatively back to normal Sokka began scolding her. Despite the fact that he knew it probably wouldn't work. "Did you really have to do that? They were just greeting us."
"My patience is limited and the day has been long. Groveling peasants do not help us complete our mission."
Sokka grabbed her hand. "We'll just stop at a few more houses today and ask questions. After that we can find a place to sleep. We don't even have to go back to the ship if you don't want to. They already knew we might be gone for over a day so they shouldn't send a search party or anything."
Azula looked into his pleading big blue eyes and quickly crumbled. Damn him. "Three houses, then we're done."
He raised her hand and kissed it. "Yes my princess." He loved the way that she tried to maintain a serious look while blushing. Still...he understood likely better than she did that the very mission itself was stressing her out. She was lashing out from inner turmoil and he wouldn't be able to calm her down much longer if they kept walking around asking about the very thing pressing on her mind and soul. Hopefully one of the next few places they knocked was comfortable. Traveling with his friends and stopping a war was cool and all, but he did not want to go back to sleeping on the ground.
The man she had struck the fear of the spirits into came back about twenty minutes later. His friend knew very little about her, just a couple of people that she had spoken to before apparently leaving. Although they didn't seem to even know where she was heading.
Azula ignited cut down a tree with a wave of condensed fire when they were away from the public eye. "Fools, the lot of them."
Sokka didn't even bother calming down this one. He felt the same internally. It was tiring.
"They knew she was here but none can even remember which direction she went. She could be in the blasted north pole!" She said before clenching her teeth, then firing a stream of fire from her throat into the air.
He swore it was as big as Ozai's on the day of Sozin's comet. She was not in a good mood. Sokka was very, very, glad he suggested that they walk a ways out of the town before talking this out. "We still have one more family to hit anyway. Maybe they know something." He scratched the back of his head when Azula looked at him and growled. "Alright, look. We only have to go to one more house today then we can pretend we did our due diligence and relax for today. No idea where we're going to sleep though. Hopefully the town has an inn."
Azula performed a haughty laugh. "You want me to just go back to the firelord and let him know I failed the very first assignment he gave me? Why, he won't see me as an incompetent failure at all!"
"He's not your father Azula, pretty sure he doesn't expect you to scour every ounce of land on the planet for a person that might be dead."
Azula held up a shaking hand and pointed it at Sokka. "I don't even have a concrete direction she went in Sokka. He asked me to do one menial thing and I have disappointed on all counts. I'm a failure."
Sokka saw it now, the anger was directed at herself. Before she could throw out anymore firebending he firmly grasped her wrist and forced her to look at him. "You're not a failure and you're not a disappointment Azula. We will do our best to find her but I will not let you run yourself into the ground trying to please someone else again."
"Really? And what if I order you to let me do so. You did say you would do anything your princess demands to keep her happy."
"You'd have to kill me before I let you be that happy again. I won't watch you suffer anymore Azula." He pulled her into a hug around her waist and nestled into her hair, closing his eyes.
Azula smirked to herself. Oh, she was still a little crazy. That would probably never go away. She was glad he was seemingly fully dedicated to letting her tip over the edge again. He would never part with her.
Their tender embrace was interrupted by the sound of a medium weight stick snapping. Later they would both realize that they spent too much time in the woods being hunted to have the ability to know the exact size of a stick and they animal stepping on it from sound, but for now they were simply surprised and prepared for combat. Sokka raised his sword above his head and placed two fingers in front of himself with his other hand. Azula raised her two hands palm up and grit her teeth. The balls of fire she was preparing to throw were huge. The man standing before them dropped his rather large fish.
"My name is Noren. I didn't know fishing was illegal here!"
Once Sokka explained the misunderstanding the man invited them to his home, something about the fish being much too big for two people to eat by themselves.
Azula and Sokka sat on their couch while they seemed to make dinner at a brisk pace, although even with royalty in the home their gazes and smiles were mainly directed at each other. In some ways it was nice to be treated normally while they were on the road for once, in other ways…
"Their entire home could fit in two, no, actually, just our palace room." Azula said matter of factly.
"….It's not much bigger than a lot of igloos were in the south pole before the war, I'll admit that. Still, be nice Azula. They are giving us a room to sleep in tonight and dinner."
"No promises." Azula said with a huff. She tried her best to maintain her stoic face when he grabbed her hand, but it clearly failed.
"Well aren't you two just the cutest." The woman said, they assumed she snuck in while they were too focused on each other to pay attention to their surroundings. "Apologies for failing to introduce myself. I am Noriko. I still can't believe our fortune, to be able to host royalty of two nations in my home today. Thank you for the pleasure."
"Thank you for your hospitality Noriko. It's a pleasure." Sokka said. He was glad Azula put on a fake smile instead of talking. She may let something snide slip and their night here would be rather….tense.
"The food is almost ready sire and madam. I hope it is to your liking. We have a guest bedroom you can have after dinner, although if that is too presumptuous of us we would be happy to give up our bedroom as well so you can sleep separately. We are happy to serve."
Sokka quickly shut that down, but Azula's eyes grew a laserlike focus that apparently Noriko did not catch. She did a perfect curtsy towards prince Sokka whom she had been speaking to. Then went back to the kitchen to finish cooking.
"She's not from here." Azula said as a statement of fact.
"Do you know her?"
"No, I don't think so. However, her pronunciation is perfect, her mannerisms are odd for a commoner, and to do a curtsy that eloquently would require much experience to do so. She's highborn. I cannot understand why she would come here of all places."
"You got all that from a thirty second greeting?"
"Yes. You didn't?" She said with a smirk. "Although it's curious, I was not aware of anyone of significant lineage living in this area. Besides Roku's grandchildren but they likely number in the dozens now. They wouldn't exactly qualify as highborn though. Maybe a military family? No."
Sokka watched as Azula continued rambling to herself. If she thought this much about their actions during the war he could see how she caught up to them so often. She would have probably sat there all night, he snapped her out of it though by yanking on her hand. "Come on Azula. You could probably figure it out more easily if we actually engaged in a full conversation with them."
Azula liked to joke about being a people person, but she really was not one. Still, he was right. It would be better if she simply allowed him to make small talk with them while she thought about who they really were.
Noriko and Noren had already set the table when they got in. They pulled out the chairs for the royalty and allowed them to sit before seating themselves. They tried the best they could on short notice. They made fish, rice, and toasted and buttered sweet bread. Hopefully they wouldn't be too disappointed. They were happy when the water tribesman began stuffing his face. It was apparent he was restraining himself, but his eyes could not lie.
"What brings the crown princess and adviser to the fire lord to our humble village? It must be beyond looking at new places to invest in industrially, anyone could be sent out for that." Noren said.
"An observant one." Azula said. Her face not giving off if she was pleased or displeased that he had guessed so well.
"Well, it's not really a secret why we're here. We're looking for her mother. Ursa. She was Ozai's wife until her banishment about six years back."
Noren stiffened slightly, which they both noticed. Noriko had no reaction. "Is she in trouble? She has already been banished, I shudder to think about what you could have in store for her."
Azula chuckled slightly, Sokka answered. "No! We wanted to invite her to our wedding. Prince Zuko's orders actually. She's no longer banished."
"That's great news!"
"You seem oddly excited for someone with no connection to her." Azula said curtly.
Noren settled down. "I knew her in passing when I was a younger man. A much younger and more foolish man."
Noriko saw that her husband looked uncomfortable talking about this and did her best to change the subject. "You're getting married this young? You must be truly in love. How wonderful."
"Well, I love her and I know I want to spend my life with her. That's all I need to know to take the net step." Sokka said. Smiling when he saw Azula fiddling with her betrothal necklace even if she wasn't speaking.
Surprisingly , Noriko reached out and touched Azula's hand that was resting on the table. "I'm sure your mother will be very proud when she sees you again. You're a beautiful intelligent young woman and you've chosen a rather handsome man to marry."
Azula was so flustered that she didn't even comment on how inappropriate it was for a commoner to touch her in such a manner, even if it felt….nice and comforting. "Th-Thank you." After pulling her hand away and resuming her meal, she regained enough composure to continue her investigation of sorts.
"Truthfully, I'm aware that speaking about my mother makes you uncomfortable Noren, but I must ask. Did you see her enter the town roughly six years ago? And if so, do you know what happened to her?" She raised a finger when he shakily began to speak. "Do not lie to me. I can tell when you do."
"Y-yes princess." He said with a gulp. "I did. We spoke for a while but she didn't feel like she could stay with me. We were lovers when we were young you see..."
"How droll." Azula said with an eye roll. She fought to maintain her serious face when she felt Sokka squeeze her upper thigh. A stern warning she supposed.
"She seemed to have other things on her mind. She went into the forest to the south and I never saw her face again."
Azula noticed that his tone wasn't one of concern, more of dry acceptance. "You aren't worried about a woman you supposedly loved? She could be dead now."
Noren grunted into his hand. "Oh I didn't mean to seem callous. Apparently a spirit protects the people in this area. Although those that enter the forest do not exit the same as they entered. I'm sure she's fine. She just….had a lot on her mind that she needed to work out. I couldn't help her."
Azula was rendered silent since it reminded her of a situation she found herself in not very long ago. At last she had some idea of what happened to her mother after she left the palace now, but what was she thinking? The mood at the table turned somber and thoughtful. Sokka decided to play the fool for a bit to try to put smiles on everyone's face.
"Well then, enough about that dusty old ex." He said while rubbing Azula's thigh so she knew he was joking. "How did you two meet?"
That seemed to perk the two other lovebirds in the room right up. "Funnily enough I met Noriko just a few months after Ursa entered the forest. She told me she was leaving an old life behind and wanted to start anew. I lead her around or quaint little town and she fell for my charms that same day. I thought lost the love of my life to that forest, but I found it from that same forest.
"Noren." Noriko said with a lazy smile before grabbing his collar and pulling him into a kiss.
Sokka now realized how him and Azula must look to Zuko, but it was too late to stop now.
"By the way, he fell for me first. You should have seen his eyes when he first saw me." Noren playfully nudged her with his elbow.
The menial conversation trudged on and Azula interjected herself into it just enough to not seem rude, but she had other things on her mind. Noren had not lied to her, she was sure of that. Still, it felt as if he was holding something back. He did not seem dangerous, but appearances can always be deceiving.
Apologies for taking so long to update. Honestly I didn't feel any inspiration for the story for a few weeks, and then after that I simply lacked the time to put my thoughts into action. I have moved into a new home now and take care of my disabled parent by myself while working from home...so. You can probably get a feel for the amount of free time i have now. We are drawing close to what I feel is the Apex of this story. I hope you all enjoy it and are excited for the next update.
As for updates on other stories, I am working on the second chapter of the sequel to I know your heart, the 9th chapter of this story, and outlining my next steps for hidden affections.