Sokka had not tried to disturb Zuko anymore, had not joined him and his other guests for breakfast, and ignored his request/order for them to talk things out. Even Suki had trouble convincing him to come to the meeting to discuss the attack against the rebel forces, and when Sokka showed up, he made it perfectly clear he was only doing so because his sister and his friends were also part of Azula's insane mission and were, for some reason, refusing to come back to the palace.
Luckly he seemed to forget his rage for at least a few moments while he helped Zuko, Iroh and the Kyoshi Warriors to better organize their plans. He had a few ideas for weapons that could be easily made in such a short time, while still being more than effective enough. To Zuko's surprise, after they had decided what weapons would be used and who would be in control of them, Sokka was the one who brought up Azula and wanted to know if she had already decided what she wanted to do during the conflict.
"If she did, she didn't tell me" the young Fire Lord answered, giving a somewhat annoyed look to Iroh, Ty Lee and Suki. The acrobat was the only one who seemed to be at least a little apologetic for not having pressed Azula for an answer.
"Do you have any idea why your sister wants to speed things up?"
"No" he didn't even try to hide the resentment in his voice. His sister was going to have to explain to him why she didn't want to say what was going on, because it was taking all of his strength not lose his mind thinking about any and all possible reasons why she had suddenly changed her plans.
"Well, either way, Suki has a few guesses, and I think it's safer if we get her away from the field when the fighting starts. We better not take any chances if she's sick or... something like that."
Zuko didn't even pay attention to what Sokka could be implying. He was just happy that someone was on his side and wanted to keep Azula as safe as possible. That made him a little less upset that his friend wasn't supportive of their relationship.
"We could have some of the girls take her somewhere safe once it all starts right?" Ty Lee asked her leader, looking at her with those huge, childlike eyes.
"Yes, they should probably stay with her, just in case whatever it is she's not telling us is affecting her bending"
"Plus, if she's safe we know Zuko won't ditch us in the middle of the battle to go protect his beloved sister" the acrobat said, causing Zuko to blush and making everyone else in the room uncomfortable.
"There's a fort near the field" Iroh said, trying desperately to ignore Ty Lee's words "Azula would be safe there. It is also secure enough that the prisoners would not escape, and big enough to accommodate our troops so we can all rest before coming back home."
Zuko nodded, and they went back to discussing who would do what. Obviously, most of the responsibility fell on Aang's shoulders. He was by far the most power bender in the world, especially now that he had managed to fully control the Avatar State, so it was only logical to use that advantage, even though Zuko felt somewhat bad for making his friend bear the weight of being the biggest hope to solve a conflict - and this wasn't even his fight to begin with.
But it had to be done. Zuko didn't want any of the people he loved to take any risks, but the simple fact was that that was the surest way of keeping the Fire Nation safe.
The meeting lasted nearly four hours, and everyone looked exhausted by the end of it. Zuko had their strategies sent to Azula, and had something to eat before doing the only thing he could do for the moment - truthfully, the only thing he had been doing since his sister left.
Waiting for her to come back to him. Waiting to see her again, hold her in his arms and then never let her leave. And he just knew that she was also burning for him.