Howdy y'all, and welcome to the next chapter of A Walk Through Fire! Not much to talk about here. Please keep the reviews coming! It makes writing a whole lot more fun with feedback! See y'all next week. Don't forget to Follow Favorite and Review. YeYe
I don't own ATLA
Early the next morning, Azula awoke to the sounds of vomiting. She untangled herself from Ty Lee's grip and walked out of her shared tent to find no one around and sighed. She then heard the sound once again and went to investigate it. After walking for a couple minutes, she smelled something and quickened her pace. Once she found what she was looking for, she stopped in her tracks.
Balled up in a quivering pile was Suki. She had been vomiting up everything that she had eaten the previous day and was quite annoyed by it. She had been having spells of vomiting and nausea for the past nine or so weeks and sometimes it would go away, but other times it would be there every day, morning to afternoon. Today was just one of those days.
"Suki?" Azula asked cautiously as she rubbed the sleep from out of her eyes. It was still fairly early in the morning and she was not used to being up that early.
Suki turned her head and saw what looked like a figure but couldn't quite make out who it was as the sun was beginning to rise. "Wh-who are yo-"
Unfortunately, she was not able to finish her sentence as she was overcome with more nausea. She quickly turned her head and proceeded to vomit on the ground.
Azula flinched at the scent of the bile on the ground and sighed to herself. Aang wouldn't want me to be an asshole to his friends. Who knows, maybe I can get her to see that I've changed, the Firebender thought to herself as she proceeded to kneel down next to the Kyoshi Warrior. She then applied some heat to her hand and started to rub the poor girl's back.
Suki felt the hand. Immediately knowing who it was, she flinched. Azula? What's she doing here? I thought I was far away from the camp so I wouldn't wake anyone up. She let out a low groan as she continued to heave up the contents of her stomach. She slightly relaxed as she felt Azula's warm hand rubbing her back.
"Shh," Azula hushed at Suki, though it sounded a bit unnatural to her. "Don't try to talk. I'm here to try to help you," Oh, Aang, how you've managed to change me is still beyond even my comprehension, she thought to herself as she rubbed the girl's back.
Suki nodded her head and groaned as she clutched her stomach. For the next twenty minutes, Suki continued to vomit sporadically and have her back massaged by Azula, who was, to her own surprise, feeling a lot of sympathy for the girl.
Once both thought the vomiting spell was finally over, Suki stood up, albeit weakly. Azula was quickly up on her feet to help the girl and smiled at her. "Can I get you some water?" she asked the warrior. She received a nod, so she led her to a large rock and lay her down. "Okay, I'll be back with some water."
Azula headed back to camp to grab a bowl and fill it with water from the canteen on Appa. As she started walking back to Suki, she thought she heard a noise from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw some disturbed bushes and smirked.
"You know, if you're trying to sneak up on me, it's not going to work," the princess said nonchalantly to the bush as she continued walking.
"Wow, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were an Earthbender with the way you found me," Toph responded as she stepped out of the bushes and strolled next to the Firebender.
"Toph Beifong," Azula said as she glanced at the short Earthbender. "Self-proclaimed greatest Earthbender in the world; heir to the Beifong fortune; left home at sixteen and joined up with the Avatar's crew not too long after."
"Well, Princess, I'm flattered that you know who I am," Toph replied as the duo continued to walk towards Suki.
"Of course I know who you are," Azula said with a fond smile on her face. "Aang wouldn't shut up about you at times."
"Twinkle Toes talked about me?" Toph asked with audible surprise.
"Yes," said Azula as they rounded a hill. "He said that you were a good teacher and an even better friend."
"Wow. I didn't think he would do something like that," Toph admitted as she looked at the ground.
"How could he not? There are few things Aang loves more in this world than his friends," Azula calmly stated to the girl. She found it unusually easy to talk to the Earthbender and she could not figure out why.
"And I'm guessing one of those few things is you?" Toph asked with a smirk on her face, which made Azula lightly flush. "It's okay. You know, not many people could be held up with him for six to seven months and not either get changed by him or fall in love with him," Toph explained.
Azula raised an eyebrow at this comment. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Katara was falling for him...then she met your idiot brother. And now they both are oh, so magically in love," Toph gushed without trying to hide her sarcasm.
"Yeah - is she always like that?" Azula asked as they continued to make their way to Suki.
"Well..." Toph trailed off as she saw Suki lying on the rock. Her eyes widened.
Azula observed Toph's reaction with some confusion. "I thought you couldn't see because you were blind."
"I'm shocked Aang didn't explain this to you - I see with my feet." Toph then went on to explain how she sees with her feet through the vibrations in the ground. She explained how the vibrations form a mental image of what is going on in the outside world. Azula then facepalmed, recalling that Aang did the same thing sometimes.
"You know you can do it on metal?" Azula asked as she approached Suki, who was trying to get some rest after heaving so many times.
"Yeah...it's because of the small particles of Earth in the metal," Toph explained as she stood next to Azula who was trying to wake up Suki.
"That's cool, Aang never explained to me how he did it partly because I don't think he knew how it worked." Azula said with a chuckle as she slowly poured the water into Suki's mouth.
Once she was finished she got up and started walking to a distance and Toph followed her so that they could give Suki some space. "Do you know what's wrong with her?" Azula asked the Beifong heir.
Toph, for her part, was conflicted as to whether or not she should answer the question. After a few beats, she replied, "I do. But if you can figure it out it would be more helpful."
Azula smiled a little and walked back over to Suki, who, by this point, was somewhat awake and coherent. "Good thing I love a good challenge," she said to the Earthbender as she shook Suki slightly.
Suki was still trying to figure out what was going on. She had heard voices walking up to her for the most part, but couldn't identify them. She thought that one of them was Toph, yet couldn't for the life of her identify the second one.
"Hey...Suki, was it?" Azula asked the poor girl, who nodded in return. "This is Azula. I was the one who tried to rub your back. Are you feeling better?"
"Princess...Azula?" Suki mumbled to herself as she thought about what was going on. She had a very bad headache and was attempting to focus on the name when it finally hit her who she was. She suddenly sat up quickly and tried to get into a fighting position, but it didn't work when Azula put her hand on her shoulder.
"I'm not a threat," the Princess assured Suki in the most sincere tone of voice she could muster. "I'm just trying to help. When I was little, I learned some basic medical knowledge and how to make medicine out of herbs. I'm just trying to make you feel better."
Toph was watching the situation from afar. More importantly, she was watching Azula's heartbeat to try and sense any deception or malintent from what she was saying. Hm...maybe Aang did manage to change her for the better, Toph thought to herself as she watched the scene play out. Though, I must say that she's gotten over his sacrifice quickly...too quickly.
Suki just wanted to feel better, so she decided to play along with Azula. She didn't think that the Princess would actually try to kill her for some reason that even she didn't understand. "O-okay," she replied shakily.
Azula smiled lightly. "I was the one who gave you the water. Do you want any more?" she asked politely. Suki nodded her head and Azula gave the bowl to Toph, asking her to get some water. Toph obliged and left the two alone.
"Alright, Suki, I'm gonna ask you some questions so that we can figure out what's wrong with you. Is that okay?" Azula asked the ill warrior. Suki complied and tried to sit up. "What seems to be wrong?"
"Well, my stomach has been nauseous, I feel really sour in my chest, and I have a headache," Suki explained simply as she tried to study Azula's face.
Azula, for her part, was very out of her element. While she was trying to be as kind and nice as possible, she wasn't used to doing this. She wanted Suki to trust her, but was positive that the poor girl didn't understand the full scope of the situation.
Alright, Azula: nausea, chest sourness, and a headache. That could be a lot of things. We need to narrow it down. I wish Ty was awake, Azula thought to herself as she tried to think of more questions to ask the girl.
"Zula!"
Azula looked over her shoulder to see Ty Lee carrowing a large bowl of water. Toph was smirking at the Princess, who had a look of pure relief on her face as both the Earthbender and acrobat walked over.
"I thought you might need some help, so I brought this bright bowl of sunshine with me," Toph said as she walked over to where she was originally standing.
"Zula, what's wrong with her?" Ty Lee asked as she walked over to Suki with the water. "She looks like she's been vomiting and very dehydrated."
"Well thanks, captain obvious," Azula mumbled as she glared at her best friend. "Suki, this is my friend Ty Lee," she continued aloud, gesturing to the acrobat. "She was the best medic when we were in school together. We both are going to try to help,"
Suki nodded her head and gratefully accepted the water that was brought to her. She eagerly drank and in about fifteen minutes, all of it was gone. Suki thanked the girls and sat up more.
"So...Suki, right?" Ty Lee asked, which made the girl glare at her.
"Yes, it's Suki," Suki replied with a slight edge in her voice, which made both girls shiver.
"Okay, can you tell me anything abnormal that has been going on with your body?" Ty Lee asked in a sweet voice.
"And why would you want to know that?" Suki snapped back in a crabby voice.
Alright, so, mood swings. She was sweet and kind then she just turned into this crabby bitch. Wait...mood swings, sore chest, nausea... Azula continued to ponder these attributes as Toph continued to question the girl.
"Hey Suki, can I ask you a question?" Azula chimed in as she found a place to make herself known in the conversation.
"What would you like to know?" Suki asked suspiciously as she glared at Azula.
"Well...do you have a boyfriend?" Azula asked. Ty Lee then thought about the question and, instantly, the thought process that Azula was aiming for.
"I do...why does that matter?" Suki asked as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Have you had sexual relations with this partner?" Azula asked calmly.
Suki lightly blushed. "No!"
"Oh, don't you start lying now, fanny!" Toph shouted at the girl, making Suki flush a deeper crimson.
"Toph! You weren't supposed to say anything about Sokka!" Suki shouted at her friend.
"Toph, when was the last time they had any sexual relations?" Ty Lee asked as she began to figure out what was wrong.
"Maybe like, ten weeks ago?" Toph estimated for the two girls.
"Has it been about eight to nine weeks since you started feeling sick?" Azula asked as she hopped that Suki would catch on.
"Yeah, actually...that's how long it's been." Suki explained all the times that she felt sick or vomited during their adventure running away from the Snufferes in the Fire Nation.
"Well, it's safe to say that you are nine weeks pregnant!" Ty Lee yelled. "Congratulations!"
There was silence in the air for a solid few minutes while it went through all of their minds that Suki was pregnant. Toph, though she already knew, was allowing it to sink in for the first time that her friend was going to have a baby.
Ty Lee and Azula didn't really care since they didn't know Suki that well, but they were still happy for the newly expecting mother. Azula, though, was looking at Suki and was picturing herself with Aang one day, pregnant with his babies after the war.
Suki was a tornado of emotions. She was pregnant with Sokka's baby. She was going to have a baby with Sokka. They were going to have a baby in the middle of a war. Was she going to keep the baby? How was she going to tell Sokka? What about Katara?
"Suki, are you okay?" Toph asked as she walked over to comfort her friend. She looked back at Azula and Ty Lee and told them to head back to camp to try and give Suki some space and comfort.
Ty Lee and Azula nodded their heads and started to make their way back to camp. Azula was lost in thought the entire time and was only pulled out of her daydreams when she stumbled on a rock and nearly fell.
"You okay?" Ty Lee asked as she caught her friend.
"Yeah...just wasn't paying attention," she replied hastily as she regained her footing.
"What were you thinking about?" Ty Lee asked as she let go of her friend's arm.
"Just life," said Azula as she continued to walk down the path to the camp.
"You were thinking about if you were pregnant with Aang's babies, weren't you?" Ty Lee playfully assumed as they walked.
"I mean, yeah," Azula said. "He's my boyfriend. I've already given him head before. I've kissed him. I love Aang, Ty. I'm hoping he asks me to marry him when this nightmare is over." She held a fire in her eyes that said that she was going to get what she wanted.
"Well, I know that he's alive, but how are we going to find him? We have no clue where he is!" Ty Lee pointed out to her friend.
"Don't worry. We'll find him," Azula said defiantly as they strolled into the camp to get their breakfast.
"And where were you two?" Sokka asked as he was looking at a map on a flat rock.
"We were with Suki and Toph. Why, is something wrong?" Azula asked as she raised an eyebrow at the teen.
"No, no. Just wondering where you were, that's all," Sokka replied as he resumed searching on his map. "Just don't go causing any trouble for us. We need to find Aang right now and, honestly, you three are the last people he was with."
"Oh, so you DO have a brain!" Azula said with a smirk as she got elbowed in the side by Ty Lee.
"Yes, I do in fact have a brain. How do you think we got out of the Boiling Rock in the first place?"
"Well, to my recollection, it was my boyfriend who saved all of our asses," Azula stated as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Right...your boyfriend," Sokka said without looking up from his map. "Congratulations on that by the way," he added with a smile.
"Yeah, you got a - wait what?" Azula asked as she raised her eyebrows at the man in front of her.
"I said congratulations. He's a good guy who deserves a literal Princess. Just don't hurt him and we don't have a problem," Sokka stated as he walked over to the fire pit to check on the stew.
"Well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry about Suki and her friends from the Kyoshi Warriors," Azula said in a somber tone, which made Sokka stiffen immediately. "I was in a really rough state mentally and so were my friends. We honestly didn't mean to kill or hurt them."
Sokka, for a moment, studied the two girls in front of him and smirked a little. "Listen. If Aang was willing to kiss you, hug you, trust you with us, AND sacrifice himself to the Fire Nation, then the least we can do is trust you back. But you might want to tell that to Suki. One of you killed one of her soldiers and that still hurts her to this day." He gave both girls a reassuring smile and walked back to his tent to get ready for the day.
Both girls looked at each other, nodded their heads, and walked towards the stew to help in any way they could. By the pit, Mai was talking to Zuko, who wasn't paying much attention to whatever she was actually saying. When he saw Azula, his eyes immediately hardened into a glare that sent a shiver down her spine.
"Good morning, Zuzu. How are we doing today?" Azula asked as she made her way over to her brother.
"You got fat," Zuko stated bluntly. "What happened to always being Ms. Perfect?"
"Well, I got a good boyfriend who loves to cook and fed me well," Azula replied as she patted her stomach to emphasize her point.
"You actually ate that fiend's food?" Zuko said as he shifted his gaze from Azula to Ty Lee, who was now glaring at him.
"Um, excuse me, but did you just call my boyfriend, the love of my life, a fiend?!" Azula yelled as she balled up her fists.
"Woah, calm down, fatso. Don't want blood pressure spiking," Zuko said with a smirk on his face. "Listen here, Azula, and listen well: I don't like you. You've lied to me my entire life. You got everything you ever wanted and now you're at the bottom. You've lost everything. So don't come walking up to me pretending you're all prim and perfect. You aren't!" He stood up and bumped into her, purposely trying to throw her off, and stormed away.
Mai looked at Azula who, at this point, had tears in her eyes threatening to fall from her face. She was mumbling curses under her breath and was clenching her fist.
"Hey, don't listen to him, Zula," Ty Lee said as she comforted her friend. "He's just being an ass right now."
"What? You think I'm gonna listen to that dick?!" Azula asked incredulously as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"No, because Aang wouldn't want you to crumble to the likes of him!" Mai said as she pointed and glared at Zuko's back as he moseyed into his tent.
"You're right," Azula concurred with Mai. "Aang wouldn't want me to start crying over some words." She looked up at her friends and gave them all a hug. She then looked out at the beautiful sunrise and smiled to herself.
"Aang, wherever you are...we're okay...and it's all because of you."