"Exactly! Just like that." Azula praised as she watched Ku-San copy her movements. He was correct in that he was a good student. Nothing like her, of course, but good enough. He wasn't a bender, so as he requested, they focused more on the hand-to-hand combat and defense. Azula eased into the next move and the boy followed. She stuck to things she knew as to ensure she was teaching him the correct move. Ku-San didn't seem to mind, as he simply wanted to know what she was teaching next.
Azula never thought she would enjoy doing something like this. She never liked children, she didn't like being a child when she was one but there was this warm feeling when he looked up at her, anticipating her next move, excited to learn from her. She felt again when he did something exactly how she showed him. Of course, she kept this all in, butthe feelings were there and they only got better as they progressed through their training. She wondered if this is what it meant to be proud of someone, to share that excitement with them.
"Ku-San, time for your lessons," both the Princess and the boy look up to see his mother standing at the edge of the igloo. They both straighten their positions and now to each other.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Azula!" Ku-San waves as he runs past his mother, Azula nods her farewell before bowing to his mother.
Since their conversation, it's been an easy routine that they've settled into. Azula was still up with the sun, but now she made the quick journey to meet Ku-San and train him in the mornings. The Princess had actually taken a liking to the boy and found training him rewarding. He was truthful when he said he was a good student, following all of her directions to a tee. He also liked to be challenged, which made it easy for both of them to keep on their toes. Azula stays back, doing extra stretches, as she always does when a voice stops her.
"So, it is true," the man's voice was new and instantly put her on edge.
"Who are you?" Azula had to fight her own instinct to light a flame.
"Chaska, new captain of the Southern Water Tribe Warriors," the man holds a hand out, and she narrows her eyes at him as continues her stretch. She stands again, ignoring his gesture as she tried to determine why he was there.
"And why are you here?" Her voice was sharp enough to cut him, and it quickly dawned on him that she was as ruthless as everyone said.
"I was simply lucky enough to walk through the village at the right time. That and I thought it was finally time that we met," Chaska tells her, and her suspicion of the man on grew as he smirked in front of her.
"Why is that?" She asked him.
"You're a prodigy!" He exclaims and she raises an eyebrow again. "You're known all over the world for your bending, the pure skill you possess," He smiles, hoping to flatter her, and she merely stares at him with a blank stare. She didn't think that was all she was known for, especially now. As Azula finally decided to reply, she could hear Sokka's voice grow closer. They were supposed to go to the library this afternoon, and she was looking forward to it. Sokka was the closest thing she had to a friend in so long, and she refused to let her tiny crush ruin that.
"Is your boyfriend coming?" Chaska smirked, and the Princess's face grew bright red at his insinuation.
"Sokka is not my boyfriend!" Azula exclaimed and the Tribesman chuckle as her defensiveness.
If he's not her boyfriend, she at least wants him to be, Chaska thought.
"I'm just joking," He tells her, and she glares at him, not finding his antics funny at all. The Princess didn't like thinking about Sokka romantically because she found herself getting stuck there. They weren't even good friends, yet her mind went there. Maybe she was just very lonely or wasn't used to having someone so kind in her life, but when she was alone her mind drifted to that place where they are more than almost, soft-of friends.
"Hey," Sokka called as he rounds the corner and is surprised to see Chaska with his friend. He had never liked him, but this just put him on edge. H
"Hello, Sokka," Chaska instantly took over, standing confidently next to Azula. The princess looked between the two, a raised eyebrow as she watched Sokka clench his jaw.
"I can assume you two know each other," Azula said, and Sokka nods.
"Shouldn't you be training?" Sokka tries his best to be polite, but he fails and Azula snorts. It was interesting to see him like this, all wound up like he would start shouting any second now.
"Well, that's actually why I came over here. I wanted to ask the princess if I could attend one of her training sessions," Chaska gives Azula all of her focus as his words sink in.
"Why?" She asks immediately, now weary of him. People didn't just randomly want to get close to her, they wanted something.
Kanna and Hakoda have been kind to you, Ursa never fails to show up at the worst times.
"Ku-San hasn't stopped talking about it, and I thought that maybe we could help each other. I still train some older boys for winter hunting so if it worked, it could be a learning experience for everyone," Chaska has no shortage of charisma, and she can feel Sokka's stare on her as he waited for her answer. As much as she wanted to say no, she needed to prove that she could work with others if she wanted to step out of the shadow the war left over her.
"I'll think about it," she tells him, and he nods before bowing in front of her.
"Well, I hope to hear your thoughts on it soon," Chaska tells her, nodding politely at Sokka before leaving the pair alone.
"So, what's your deal with him?" Azula asks a few minutes into their journey to the library. Sokka slowed his trudging until they were walking perfectly side by side, he looked over at her and his heart stopped when he saw her face. Snowflakes sat on her eyelashes, her skin pink from the cold, but what really stopped him was the look of concern in her eyes. Her voice wasn't teasing per se, but he expected a small smirk at least. Not the warm golden eyes that seemed to stop all of his thoughts because he didn't think ever seen them so kind.
"He's a jerk," Sokka doesn't want to talk about Chaska or how seeing him next to Azula made his blood boil.
"I'm assuming there's more to it than that," Azula says, and he nods.
"He wasn't the best friend growing up, that's all," Sokka leaves it at that, and they go back to walking in silence until a sound from above gets their attention. They both stop, looking up to see something flying towards them.
"Is that a messenger hawk?" Azula squints as the object in the sky grew closer, gliding towards her and Sokka as they strode through the snow towards the igloo.
"I think so, Sokka followed suit, squinting to see the hawk searching for a place to land. Sokka held his arm out and the hawk circled around before perching on Sokka's forearm, a message strapped snug to its leg. Sokka grabbed the message from the bird's legs before it moved to stand on his shoulder.
"I can assume that this means they'll be arriving soon," Azula comments, and Sokka nods as he opens the scroll. Azula stands next to him, reading over his shoulder, and Sokka grow nervous. He knew that Zuko could speak about Azula as if she was a burden
Sokka,
it should be less than a week until our arrival. I hope you have been able to enjoy your extended time at home, I hope my sister hasn't made it difficult for you. We are all very excited to see you and spend a little time in the water tribe before going back to sea.
See you soon, friend, Zuko.
Sokka wanted to ball up the paper when he felt Azula sigh against him. He knew what was to be expected of the letter but still he held out some hope that it would be kinder towards the princess, especially since the last one where he made it clear that Azula was anything but trouble since she had been there. He folds the letter up, shoving it in his pocket and as she continued walking, grabbing her hand, pulling her back. She looks straight ahead, avoiding his eyes as she speaks.
"It's okay. Let's just go to the library," she says, and he shakes his head. She hated that he knew Zuko's words had upset her, she hated that they upset her in the first place. And now she can feel Sokka's sad eyes on her, and dread fills her.
"Please, can I say this first?" He pleads and she looks up at him. His eyes weren't nearly as sad as she expects them to be, a different emotion over shining that.
"Go on then," she's sighing again, but that doesn't deter him.
"Zuko is a jerk, and I won't hesitate to knock some sense into him when he gets here. You have made this trip more enjoyable than you could ever know," Sokka swallows the fear that he was saying too much when Azula's look softens.
"Thank you," it was a soft whisper but to Sokka, she might as well shouted it. He smiles and nudges her arm, causing her to look back at him again.
"Anytime," a smile returns to her face, and they continue on through the snow, warmth spreading through the both of them as they snuck looks at each other.
"Please, don't eat all the food before it's even ready," Azula scolds him as she continues cutting up the cooked meat. She glanced over her shoulder to see him putting down some food that he planned on sneaking into his mouth.
"I just want to make sure it tastes good," Sokka whines as he moves closer to Azula, looking at the meat in front of her. While his eyes were focused on the food, Azula noticed that he was almost pressed against her back completely. She could smell the saltwater in his hair, one of his hands was just out of reach of her waist, and she felt the blood rush to her face. She had to get him away from her, especially when he made her feel like this.
"It's your favorite, you know it tastes good," the Princess swats his hands away as they reach for the food in front of her. He pouts at her and goes back to his task as he keeps his steady on the food in front of his friend.
Kanna watched from the side as the two cut up ingredients together. Anyone with eyes could see that there was something there. Over the months, she had grown to cherish Azula and her company. Kanna knew she was smart, that she had strength as well as kindness in her. What Azula needed was someone to show her she could be kind without losing the strength she valued a part of her. That she could be respected and liked.
"Sokka, let the Princess work. The more you distract her, the longer you have to wait," Kanna teased him, and Sokka pouted as he went back to lightly pestering Azula as they worked. Azula glanced over at Kanna, mouthing 'thank you' as she continued.
Dinner went as it usually did and when it came to cleaning up after, Kanna insisted Sokka help her this time. Her grandson groaned but began grabbing the dishes from around the table. Azula chuckled an watched from the table next to Hakoda as Sokka looked misreable trying to wash dishes.
"I'm glad you two are getting along well," Hakoda speaks up and she looks over. Her response sits at the tip of her tongue but it felt like she would be giving too much of herself away.
"Sokka is a good friend," she decided on that and Hakoda nods.
"So are you," he tells her and her cheeks go red. It was strange to see her shy, he would have never expected of her yet he assumed she kept it that way for a reason.
"I'm trying to be," she disagreed and he shook his head.
"Trust me, you are. Sokka loves having you around and Ku-San is talking about you non-stop," Azula takes in his words as he looks back at Sokka, who had his back to her as he washed dishes.
"You like her," Kanna whispers and Sokka nearly chokes. He never expected his grandmother to say something like that. He tries his best to play it off as he continues to scub dishes.
"What are you talking about?" He whispers back even though he knows exactly who his Gran-Gran is talking about and his grandmother nudges him. Of course, he planned on acting like he had no clue what she was talking about. He was stubborn.
"I'm not blind, child. I see the way you look at that girl," Kanna raised an eyebrow as he passed her a dish to dry. He sighs as he stares back at her.
"Is this why you wanted me to wash dishes? To see if I liked Azula," Sokka looks at his grandmother as if she grew a second head as she nods.
"I already know," she smiles and he sighs.
"We're friends, Gran-Gran. She's Zuko's sister," Sokka had been telling himself these things for weeks, repeating them and hoping they would make his feelings go away.
They did not.
"Boy, that means nothing. There's no reason why you two couldn't be together," Kanna goes on and Sokka shakes his head.
"There are plenty of reason as to why we couldn't be together," Sokka hands her the last dish and as she dries it, he kisses her cheek and moves quickly to leave the igloo.
"Sokka, leaving already?" Azula asks as he puts on his parka. He looks back at her and see her concerned eyes staring back at him.
We're friends, she's Zuko's sister, Sokka has to repeat the mantra as she smiles softly back at her, spitting out an excuse about being tired before bidding them all goodnight.