A/N:

So... not a sequel! Surprise! XD This time, I bring you guys yet another ridiculously long story, a Modern AU that is, in itself, an AU of our world anyway. It's one very wild ride, featuring the first time I've ever dipped my toes into anything to do with LOK in a fic, as two LOK characters have a cameo here.

All in all, this story is honestly the product of tons, and tons, and TONS of research, you have no idea how many Youtube videos I watched (and rewatched! xD) to get things right... and, fortunately, I had a pretty good advisor who knew plenty about the science that goes into everything in our chosen setting and corrected my many mishaps and misunderstandings. I would make a public shout-out, but my mysterious helper has elected to remain anonymous... still, this story wouldn't be what it became without that pillar of support and inspiration alike, so anonymous shoutout to them anyway!

If there's any terms you don't understand or questions you'd like to ask about the setting, feel free to reach out and I'll clear them up :D Beyond that, I sure hope you guys enjoy this AU!

She hadn't truly processed what was happening, not even after getting the results of her physical and psychological evaluations, confirming she was in fit shape for the challenge ahead. It still wouldn't sink in after climbing onto the first airplane that flew her out of Burma. It only started kicking in once she was in New Zealand, awaiting the flight that would carry her to her next stop… and she suspected the reality of matters only truly started to take proper shape for her because of the chatterbox of a traveling companion who sat beside her on the plane, a companion who would be with her during the last leg of the journey and…

And for a whole year. Hell, she knew she hadn't done anything to deserve this, but being stuck with Aang this way, for that long, was the pinnacle of cruelty out of her father's latest choices.

"… So always make sure to step outside while fully covered in proper cold gear, alright? I have this friend who was so reckless, he and another of my buddies wanted to play out in the snow with this foosball table we have in the station? They took pictures without covering their faces while they played, which, well, is fine as long as you cover up quickly after, but they didn't do that, and I mean, it's -58 degrees in the station right now…! That's -74 Fahrenheit degrees, by the way. You do know how to do the calculations to swap between both measures of temperature, right? I can show you if you forgot, but I think you must have learned it back in school… maybe high school? Anyway, just for future reference, we generally work with Celsius degrees at the station? But, you know, keep the formula in mind for the future if you're used to Fahrenheit. I don't know if you'd be used to Fahrenheit, but I think you were abroad for a couple of years, so maybe you are…!"

Azula stared out the window of the airplane, eyes wide with utmost frustration: the plane was moving now, they were finally setting out – not in first class, of course, because there was no first class in this flight, nor would there be first class in anything in her life for the next year…

And she was stuck with him. Stuck with him for a year. He had sworn he would look after her and watch over her during this year… and she almost wished he hadn't. Curse him, and curse her father, above everything else…

She hadn't needed to learn any damn lessons, she was sure of that. There were no objective reasons for Ozai to do such a thing to her, and yet she recalled that dark, unpleasant morning, a week after her twenty-fifth birthday, when she was supposedly fully independent, at long last, and no longer weighed down by her alleged duties to the Kingdom of Burma…

"Azula, as we already told you: you are out of line. Your decisions don't make any sense!" Ursa had said, exasperated. Azula had rolled her eyes and shaken her head.

"What the hell is the point in being as rich as we are, one of the last remaining monarchies in Asia, a leading country in our continent, only to force your daughter to study Business Administration when she never wanted to learn that?" Azula snapped, tapping the Palace's marble flooring with her foot. "I'm not going to be heir to the throne, that much is beyond clear to me, so why is it such a problem if I want to do this?!"

"It's not reasonable, it's not right, it's too demanding and you have a duty to your family!" Ursa said, huffing and shaking her head. "You don't need to learn science to have a good life: you're rich, like you said…!"

"Oh, come on, Mother: Brian May!"

"Oh, not this again…"

"If that guy could be a member of one of the biggest bands in the world, and still have a career in academic science and physics, so can I!" Azula declared, proudly. "Yes, maybe I won't be that brilliant at it, but I'd much rather do that than… than waste my whole life attending ceremonies and parties and waiting for everyone else to decide what I'm allowed to do and what I'm not…!"

"Do refrain from using examples from the British Colonizers again, Azula…" Ursa sighed. Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"They lost in the war against us. Their whole damn empire crumbled: what's the big deal if I bring them up?" Azula hissed, glaring at her mother. "Burma retained its independence, and it will stay happily independent without needing me here to… what, posture? Act like I'm somehow relevant to the throne? I'm not! The two of you know I'm not, so…!"

The conversation fell silent when Ozai waved a hand in the air, calling for their silence. Azula and Ursa frowned, glancing at the Second Prince of the Kingdom of Burma… only to find one of his typical, deathly glares in his golden eyes.

"You're serious about this commitment you wish to make to return to university and study science, Azula?" he asked. Azula swallowed hard but nodded.

"I am. I know you think it's pointless… but I can do this," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "All I ask is… a chance, really. I can go to local schools, you don't have to finance sending me abroad to someplace too prestigious…!"

"Oh, but the money is no trouble. Surely you already know that," Ozai said, raising his eyebrows. Azula scowled. "It's tradition that holds us back… it's the fact that you're not meant to have a significant professional career, altogether. You have duties to your family, duties to your nation, and a meaningful scientific career could be a detriment to that…"

"I can renounce my right as a successor to the throne, if that's what it takes," Azula said. Ozai raised his eyebrows.

"Oh? That's how far you're willing to go with this whim of yours?"

"It's not a whim! I've wanted this for years now!" Azula huffed. Ozai scoffed.

"Very well, then: what exactly do you hope to major in, if so?" he inquired. Azula clenched her fists.

"I… I'm torn between Chemistry and Physics," she said, truthfully. She had been good at both subjects in high school, but… well, she was no fool as to believe college-level education would be easy. It would be challenging, but she was confident she could pull it off…

Ozai suddenly chuckled, shaking his head dismissively. Azula scowled.

"I see. And you're certain this is the path you wish to take? Because, if so… perhaps we shouldn't let you do it right away," he said. Azula groaned in frustration. "Oh, now, no need for such histrionics. I'm merely thinking… you should be completely certain before you make a choice quite as catastrophic as committing to a career and abandoning your royal duties for good, forsaking your right to the throne…"

"I'm literally fifth in line, why would I ever be eligible for the throne at all?" Azula growled. Ozai shrugged.

"You never know. Either way, though… you've lived a life of luxury as a princess of the Kingdom of Burma. You've had everything you've ever wanted, except for this. Perhaps, then, you should actually see for yourself what this career in science would be like, if you truly wish to follow this path. Say… let's make it a year, or so, of preparation. Of testing the waters with some initial education for you in this field to make sure this is, indeed, your vocation."

"I… don't have any doubts, but if that's what it takes for you to let me do it, fine," Azula said, frowning warily. Ozai's devious smirk widened.

"Then… I'll arrange matters to make it so, Azula," he said.

She should have known all along that he was up to no good. She didn't often rebel against her family's designs, but it was no surprise that, once she'd dared to do so, Ozai would deliver a blow as low as this one…

Aang's family had been connected to theirs since a long time ago, even though he wasn't Burmese like her and her family. The young man had been born in Tibet, but his parents had raised him quite nomadically, across the world, as they were diplomats… and he had become a physics student in college shortly after finishing high school. Azula had envied him, when she first heard as much… but she hadn't wanted to study with him at all, of course: she couldn't even hear her own thoughts over the loud ramblings of her flight companion. Ozai had reached out to Aang, though, and found out about Aang's second assignment to a very distant base, in which a complex physics experiment was being operated…

And somehow – rather, through a sizable and generous donation, Azula suspected –, Ozai had gotten her a job there. In the same station Aang would be working at, in the role of a winterover, a member of the skeleton crew that would keep the station running over a whole year:

The Amundsen-Scott Station, located in the South Pole.

"… Still, if you want to write down the formula, I'll just tell you what it is right away: you have to multiply the…!"

"The Celsius degree by nine fifths, then you add thirty-two," Azula finally snapped: Aang froze over. "That is, if you're swapping to figure out Fahrenheit. You subtract thirty-two, then multiply by five ninths, if you're trying to get the Celsius. Not that it matters all that much that I memorize the formula though, because…"

She offered Aang the most insincere grin she could muster before raising her smartphone and showing it to Aang: Google's tool offered her not only the possibility to input the degree she wanted to convert, but the formula to do it right underneath the input boxes, which was what she had recited to him just now. Aang blinked blankly before laughing carelessly.

"Right, right…! But you know, if the power dies or something and we can't access the satellites…!"

"How likely is that to happen…?" Azula asked, with a prominent scowl: she wasn't sure whether she wanted to know the answer to that question or not. A blackout in a place where the highest ever recorded temperature had been minus twelve Celsius degrees (thus, almost ten Fahrenheit) sounded like one of the most unnerving ways to die she could possibly envision…

She had researched the place, yes, after her father had announced he was shipping her off to her year-long test to prove whether she had what it took for science or not. She hadn't found a lot of useful official sites for the station, many of them had broken links, so she was slightly scared of what that place would be like. Photos of the IceCube Lab, the project she and Aang were supposed to work for, had blown her mind in the worst of ways: stalactites clung on the railings of the external staircases that led up to a building that was probably the size of a simple sitting room in the Burmese Royal Palace. She shuddered just to think about it. She had to survive a whole year there, and if blackouts were a possibility at all, she wasn't sure she would succeed…

"Well, not that often. Hasn't happened while I've been there, at least," Aang said, with what he thought was a reassuring smile. Azula grimaced. "It's better to be prepared, though! You see, my friend Kino told me about…!"

And he took to another outlandish, weird story that probably would conclude with the guy sticking his tongue to one of the metal buildings or so. Azula rolled her eyes and tuned him out again: this was going to be a long journey… a year-long journey, no less. She could only hope Aang would be so happy with all his scientific friends that he'd give her plenty of room to be alone once they finally reached the South Pole.

That moment wouldn't arrive just yet, though: their plane landed in the outskirts of Antarctica and they wouldn't reach the actual South Pole Station until the atmospheric conditions for flights were ideal. Thus, their plane landed in McMurdo Station, the so-called largest city in Antarctica, and Azula was astonished to find actual ground, earth, underneath her feet, although there was plenty of ice to go around in the distance – unsurprisingly, the settlement looked utterly hideous to her. Then, they had to wait five days for the flight conditions to be optimal once more. When the time finally came, they had to board a small bus with a group of people who were also traveling to the station. Afterwards, all of them had to huddle together in another small airplane. This time, Aang was chatting animatedly with other people, so Azula could ignore him far more easily… but her dread continued to pile up and surge at the prospect of what awaited her for a whole year. A whole, damn year in the South Pole…

She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not when the airplane descended on the runway. Fully covered in extreme weather gear, an outfit that included goggles and a balaclava, three layers of outerwear, one of which was the thickest jacket she had ever worn, and the strongest, sturdiest winter boots she had found, Azula finally stepped out of the airplane… to find herself in the whitest landscape she had ever seen. Yes, the skies above were blue, but everything else… everything was white. For someone who had seldom seen snow before, this was certainly a temporary relief in her circumstances: it was a beautiful view, although she feared she might not find it quite so wonderful once she grew used to it…

"And that's the station, Azula!" Aang exclaimed behind her, overcoming the rustling noise of the abating wind to speak to her.

Azula turned her gaze towards one of the few splotches of color among the snow. Her eyes widened as she realized her research hadn't been all that thorough: the station itself was certainly bigger than the sitting room she had compared the lab to… but then, where was the lab? Was that picture a trick of some sort, or were her search engine skills that bad…?

She didn't get the answer to that question that day: she climbed down the staircase as safely as possible, with Aang tailing her, all the way to the first entrance of the station. Azula noticed, in the distance, that there were several large containers that wouldn't be out of place in a port. Aang grinned and pointed at them once he realized she was staring in their direction.

"That's the cargo from the planes that arrive in the summer! Oh, did I mention this place runs on jet fuel?!"

Azula would have made a joke about the station being some sort of Gundam or Transformer, but the bite of the icy weather deterred her from doing so: frost had started forming over her outfit, and the sooner she was indoors, the better.

Most of the other passengers had already entered the station, welcomed by old friends and new acquaintances alike… but when Azula and Aang stepped through the threshold, they were welcomed by none other than the station's director:

"And here you are! IceCube's two winterovers have finally made it!" Goro grinned, as Aang waved happily in his direction. Azula swallowed hard. "Welcome, welcome! There's a coat room right here, Princess, you can take off all your winter gear safely now, and I'll escort you to your room afterwards"

"Thank you…" Azula said, though her voice was muffled in her gear anyway. She bowed in the man's direction before entering the coat room…

She froze in place upon glimpsing a functioning popcorn machine, sitting right past the door, against the one wall of the coat room that wasn't lined with racks of winterwear.

"Ah! The popcorn!" Aang grinned, marching in right after her. "I forgot to tell you: you can eat all the popcorn you want! There's ALWAYS popcorn in the station!"

"Right…" Azula blinked blankly: it felt out of place, to a fault, but she suspected she would understand the actual reasoning behind the popcorn machine once she had been here for long enough…

It was but one of many strange surprises that awaited her in the station, but she wouldn't know that just yet. She took off all her winter coats, removing everything until she finally felt light again – she suspected her weight had doubled while wearing so many thick clothes. Goro waited for her outside, smiling kindly as Azula and Aang returned to him.

"I take it you'll share rooms with young Kino again, winterover Aang?" Goro asked, with a kindly grin. Aang smiled… but then he glanced at Azula with unnecessary compassion.

"I thought I would, but I don't know… could be it's better if Azula shares with him. He's a pretty great guy, and…"

"Oh, no. He's your friend! Why would I deprive you from his company?" Azula said quickly: there was no way she would give Aang double the excuses to check on her in this place. It was big, way bigger than she had anticipated it would be… and that meant running away from her fellow winterover would be doable, at least for the months until the actual winter began… "It's fine, Aang, don't worry at all."

"I'm afraid you will have to share rooms with a young man regardless…" said Goro, eyeing Azula with uncertainty. "Is that a problem?"

"I suppose there are no single rooms?" Azula inquired, with an awkward smile. Goro shook his head. "Then there's not much to be done, in that case…"

"There are more men than women in the station… and all of the women have roommates of their own by now, too," Goro said. "I could ask if anyone would be willing to switch, but… ah, at least when winter arrives, you can choose a free room for yourself! Surely that's promising, right?"

"It's perfectly fine," Azula said, with a dry smile.

"Very well, then!" Goro said, smiling too. "If that's so… come along. I'll guide you to your room. You can find yours, right, Aang?"

"Yep! See you for orientation later, Azula!" Aang grinned, waving at her before dashing off to navigate the station expertly, rushing up the stairs that led to the second floor. Azula supposed orientation would be a necessity, but she almost wanted to fake exhaustion to skip it, just to enjoy some respite from the cheerful, boisterous young man…

Goro guided her away from the area Aang rushed off to, to Azula's delight and relief. They passed many people on their way to the dorms she would be staying at, most of whom greeted Goro casually, even if he was the station's director… he seemed an amicable man, though Azula suspected he wouldn't be in the station all along. He'd surely only drop by during the summer months, and who knew for how long on each opportunity…

"Aha, and here we are: the A-1 berthing area," Goro grinned, turning on a corner and guiding Azula into a new corridor with white walls and several doors, some leading forward, others to the left and right. The latter bore the labels for men and women, so Azula immediately suspected what their use would be… "There are bathrooms right outside the dorms, where you can shower… though you're advised not to take over two minutes when showering. Water is a scarce resource, as we have to melt the ice in order to obtain water. That's one of the uses of our jet fuel."

"I see…" Azula blinked blankly, following the man to the dorms' corridor. Sharing a bathroom with dozens of strangers sounded terrible, but she wouldn't have any other choice for a whole year…

They didn't have to go too far inside the corridor before Goro slowed down at one of the rooms. Azula waited by the door, bags strapped to her back, as Goro knocked gently… and a male voice, of course, responded to the call.

"Oh, shit!"

Azula raised an eyebrow as Goro smiled awkwardly at her: suddenly, the door swung inwards and the same voice as before addressed the uncomfortable station director.

"I'm almost done clearing up some space! I've made the second bed, opened up room in the closet, going to leave some things for skua…!"

"Uh… right. Good to know. Your roommate has just arrived," Goro said, smiling awkwardly as he gestured at the woman standing with him.

His words silenced the nervous young man immediately as he froze in place, halfway through folding a blanket.

The lighting in the room wasn't remarkable, and the room itself was certainly the smallest one Azula would ever call her own… thus, all her attention went to the man standing inside the room. A tall man with dark skin, darker hair and astonishing blue eyes… she wasn't sure she had ever seen eyes quite so blue until that day.

Just as she had admired the scenery earlier, she found herself immediately taken by the man in front of her. Maybe she would be happy to have a room for herself once the young man's period of working in the South Pole ended and winter began… but right now, she could only be grateful she had refused Aang's very generous offer to let her share rooms with his friend. It certainly seemed she had finally been granted a moderate, minimal blessing in all her chaotic circumstances, if her roommate would be a guy as good-looking as this one.

He froze solid for a moment, staring at her with eyes open wide, with lips parted… until he came back to his senses when his blanket unraveled from his hold, almost hitting the floor. He winced and yanked it back up, offering her a most awkward, flustered grin over his loss of balance. Well, maybe he liked what he saw, too… or maybe he was one of those awkward science nerds who had never seen a woman in his life? Azula could only hope it was the former, truly…

"U-uh… right! I, uh, I'll be ready for my roommate, of course," the young man laughed, with an awkward grin, eyes flickering towards Goro before returning to Azula. "Just got a few things left to do, so… um, are you a VIP, maybe?"

"A VIP?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry for assuming, it's a little unusual for the director himself to… to give anyone a tour," he said, glancing at Goro with uncertainty. "Is she from the arts initiative, those who come by to check out IceCube for a few weeks, or…?"

"She's not," Goro said, with a deadpan voice. "She's your roommate."

His blue eyes widened. His mouth opened and then closed, without a single sound leaving his lips… and Azula couldn't help but smile for it. Better someone who could be speechless rather than a chatterbox, for sure…

"M-my roommate. Wait. What?" he smiled awkwardly, looking at Goro with disbelief. "I… I was under the impression my roommate was going to be a winterover?"

"Is she wearing some sort of sign that says 'not a winterover', perhaps? I didn't see anything like that, but…" Goro said, eyeing Azula with confusion. Her roommate winced, blushing crimson.

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume!" he exclaimed, though his eyes returned to Azula. "It's just…! W-well…!"

"I'm not what you expected for a winterover," Azula concluded, with a simple grin. His cheeks reddened further. "That's fine, I take no offense to that. If I still look dignified at all after over five days on the road, it's actually a compliment, all in all."

"Heh… it wasn't meant as an insult at all," he said, with an awkward grin. "Sorry if it came off as that, I'm just… really surprised."

"No need to apologize," Azula said, reassuringly. Next to her, Goro let out a deep sigh.

"If this arrangement displeases you in any way, please let us know," Goro told her. Azula's roommate grimaced, perhaps mortified that the man would think he could be a problematic roommate. "I can always ask around if any of the other young ladies would like to share rooms with you…"

"No need to worry. I'll be fine… or, at least, I hope I will be," Azula said, smiling a little. "If he causes any trouble, I'll certainly bring it up."

"Very well, then… very well," Goro said, smiling as well. "Please, come to the B-3 lounge for orientation in fifteen minutes, Princess. I'm sure Sokka can guide you there if need be, it's right next to the entrance…"

"Ah, it won't be difficult to return there, then," Azula said. "Thank you."

Goro smiled and nodded in her direction: he shot Sokka a stern glance next and then marched off down the corridor, perhaps to prepare himself for the orientation meeting. Azula watched him go before turning towards the room again, glancing at the limited space with a curious eye: her roommate still stood there, at the small corridor between the two individual beds, eyeing her awkwardly.

"Well, then… he called you Sokka, was it?" Azula said, stepping inside the room. He nodded quickly.

"Y-yeah, yeah. I'm Sokka. Sokka Harkin," Sokka explained, smiling at her. "From the University of Ontario. I've been working on IceCube for the last three years, but at a distance… this is the first time I've traveled to the South Pole."

"It's my first time here, too," Azula said, setting her bags on the floor by the free bunk: Sokka scrambled to fold the blanket properly, placing it at the foot of her bed, still smiling awkwardly at her. "I'm Azula."

"Oh… just Azula?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly. She nodded.

"You're used to names and surnames, I'd imagine," Azula said, with a shrug. "We don't really do that in Burma."

"Oh. Oh! You're from Burma, I see!" Sokka smiled. "I've met people from lots of places here, but you have to be the first one from Burma. At least, that I've known personally… anyway, it's great to meet you, Azula!"

"Likewise," Azula said, glancing at him nonchalantly. Sokka grinned in such a casual, careless way… he hadn't noticed the title the Director had referred to her with, had he? Perhaps he had simply ignored it…?

"So… which university did you study at?" Sokka asked, with a gentle grin. "I have no idea if Burma has a good tradition with science, but if you're eligible to come here, you absolutely have to be good at what you do…"

"Huh. You'd think…" Azula said, dismissively. Sokka blinked blankly.

"What was that?" he asked. Azula sighed before smiling at him.

"Well, if you must know, I'm a graduate from Yangon University," she confirmed. Sokka nodded.

"Are you a physicist?" he asked. Azula shook her head. "Oh. Then… an engineer? No? A top-of-the-line programmer, maybe?"

"Not even close," Azula smirked: this was a weird game to play, but at least she'd enjoy blowing Sokka's mind with the answer he'd likely never expect to hear in a place like this…

"Uh… huh. Are you a technician, maybe?" Sokka asked, warily. Azula actually chuckled. "I'm sorry, I just… don't know what other career an IceCube winterover could possibly have majored in. Guess I'm overlooking something, sorry…"

"No need to apologize that much. The answer is bound to be so absurd you'll be tempted to chuck me right back into the airplane and demand they get someone qualified to make sure your fancy IceCube experiment doesn't combust in my hands," Azula said, sitting by the edge of the bed nonchalantly. Sokka raised an eyebrow, suddenly wary of the woman in his room. "My major… was Business Administration."

His jaw dropped. Then, his knees gave way as he took his seat too, across her, on his own bed. He stared at her intently, as though she were a completely strange entity he couldn't begin to puzzle together… and Azula's gut was pleasantly tickled by that. Had someone told her she'd find anyone appealing in this station, she might not have believed them at all. Her roommate certainly tempted her to change her mind in that respect, with those dazzling blue eyes…

"Wait. Uh… then you did a second major, right?" he asked. She shook her head. "A… masters' degree in physics, despite not being a physics graduate?"

"Nope. Just your average Business Administration graduate: no further studies," Azula said, simply. Sokka froze in place, yet again.

"That… w-wait. Is this a prank?" he asked, eyes wide with panic. Azula shook her head. "Is it a… a mix-up? Did you switch places with someone else…?"

"No, and no," Azula sighed. "I almost wish it were as simple as that, but… the explanation is quite ridiculous. It'll probably baffle you…"

"Well, I hope I can handle being baffled by you…" Sokka said, with a weak smile. Azula bit her lip.

"My father thought he'd teach me a lesson by making a deal with the station's director so I could be hired as a winterover for this year," she said. Sokka's eyebrows drew together. "Apparently, the only available slot for a winterover was for the IceCube experiment and lab…"

"Yeah, a lot of people didn't really want to go from a pandemic to further isolation, now that things are getting better…" Sokka grimaced. Azula shrugged.

"I have no idea how much money was involved, but I assume my father got up to this because my family is familiar with that of the other IceCube winterover, Aang? We've known each other since we were children. In any case, the director decided I'd be allowed to work here for the next year, so here I am."

"Wait, but… okay, so you're very rich. I mean, makes sense, you do look like it…" Sokka laughed softly, running a nervous hand over his hair. "But, uh… what sort of lesson did your father want to teach you in a place like this? With a job as tricky as being a winterover, too…?"

"Ah, that I should stick to my royal duties and life without complaint, that I should stop trying to major in STEM fields of study because he plainly doesn't want me to do that, that I should…"

"Your… wait, what? Your dad doesn't want you to go into STEM, but did you say… your 'royal' duties?" Sokka repeated, blinking blankly.

"You, uh, didn't hear it when the director called me a princess, did you?" Azula asked, crooking an eyebrow. Sokka gasped.

"I…! I thought he was just…! I don't even know what I thought, b-but I…! Y-you're joking. You're joking. You're not actually a… a princess?" Sokka asked, eyes wide. Azula shrugged.

"I was expecting not to be one for much longer, actually, upon reaching my twenty-fifth birthday…" she explained. "Allegedly, it's when I can give up my royal title if I want to live a normal life… but apparently, I'm not allowed to have anything nice in life if it doesn't suit my parents' whims. So, yes, I'm still a princess, and one who would have loved to study something she could actually enjoy and be passionate about in university… but my parents controlled even that for me."

She couldn't restrain the vitriol upon speaking the last words. She shook her head, glancing at him again to find he remained frozen, utterly speechless, where he sat.

"So… yes. I'm a Business Administration major, and I'm a princess," she finished.

"And I'm… in some really weird Hallmark movie," Sokka said, blinking blankly. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Say what?"

"N-never mind!" Sokka grinned awkwardly, though the smile faded quickly. "So… let me get this straight: you did want to study something related to science?"

"Yes."

"And your royal dad decided you couldn't do that, so he made you take Business Administration instead?"

"After I graduated high school, yes, that's exactly how it went."

"And now that you should be at a point where you can abandon your royal title, your dad refused to let you go into STEM and now he's trying to… what, show you how hard STEM is by sending you here for a whole year, so he can scare you out of wanting a career in this field?" Sokka finally asked. Azula blinked blankly before shrugging and nodding.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"… I do understand saying this may be grounds for royal execution in the Kingdom of Burma, but your dad is a colossal piece of shit."

Azula couldn't help it. She truly couldn't. The corners of her lips tugged upwards, no matter how she tried to bite her lower lip to stop a smile from spreading over her face… and she failed, of course. She laughed after a moment before letting a happy sigh leave her lips.

"I'm so happy to finally hear someone else saying it. Thank you," she said, finding Sokka was grinning back at her: everything so far had been terribly unlucky, she thought, but he was a very lucky hit, instead. Yes, perhaps her father would demand he was killed for saying that… but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt Ozai, right? "Anyway, I know I'm going to be a trainwreck, in all likelihood. I won't pretend to understand the science that goes into… well, any of this, frankly? I've read a few things, but it's beyond me so far. So… yes, it's very fortunate that my fellow IceCube winterover is seasoned and experienced, right? Though I don't exactly like him, but…"

"You don't?" Sokka asked, puzzled. "Is he…?"

"Annoying, talkative and accidentally condescending? Yes," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka gulped. "I realize he doesn't mean to be any of those things… well, the talkative thing is completely intentional, that I don't doubt. But, frankly… as far as I can tell, he and I don't get along at all, and he thinks we're best friends. Fascinating situation, right?"

"Right," Sokka smiled sadly. "Well, I'd say he should teach you how to handle certain duties, so you can help with the less challenging things while he deals with the more technical side of being a winterover… but if you don't get along with him, that makes things complicated."

"Everything is complicated. That seems to be the only constant around here," Azula said. Sokka smirked a little.

"Well, there's technically a lot of constants… but sorry, you're probably not into science jokes," he said. Azula snorted and raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Okay, uh… do you think I'm accidentally condescending, so far?"

"Uh… no. You're awkward and make funny faces, that's all I know about you at this point," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka blushed but chuckled softly. "See? Awkward. Much better than chatty."

"That's, uh, good to know," Sokka smiled, still red in the face. "Well, I might end up annoying you after a while, my sister thinks I'm a pain in the ass, generally… but I thought, if you don't want to learn everything with the other winterover, I could, maybe, teach you a few things myself. I'm with IceCube too, so…"

"A few things?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "Such as?"

"Well… the lab, in general?" Sokka grinned awkwardly. "And, of course, the logic behind what we do there. How the DOMs work, how the neutrinos are detected, what it all means…"

"Uh… right. Neutrinos are certain particles. Rare particles?" Azula ventured a guess. Sokka smiled.

"If by rare you meant elusive, yeah. But there's actually a lot of them," Sokka pointed out. Azula smiled and shrugged.

"We both would do best to assume that anything I know about science is bound to be the product of near-complete misinformation," she said. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

"You surely have to know one thing or another, though. You weren't fighting your parents this hard over a STEM career if you didn't know a thing about it."

"Most of what I know is what little I remember from what I learned in high school. Can't even pretend Wikipedia was enlightening in most respects when I tried to read about IceCube's work," Azula said, with a shrug. "I'll probably take forever to catch up to the rest of you, if I ever do."

"Don't be hard on yourself," Sokka smiled. "I bet you can do it, you just need… well, someone to teach you everything your parents wouldn't let you learn, so far. And while I guess you might choose someone else for the task eventually… I'm going to be your roommate, right? Might as well help you find your bearings in the station before I leave when summer ends."

"Right…" Azula glanced at him, eyelids fluttering. Sokka swallowed dryly as he gazed at her.

"Though… before the science, we ought to get some fundamentals out of the way," he said. "And the most fundamental thing is… learning the layout of the station. I'm guessing you weren't toured yet, right?"

"Actually, no," Azula admitted. Sokka grinned and rose to his feet.

"Well, if your Majesty wills it…" he said, bowing his head and doing an awkward hand flourish that brought a smile to Azula's face. "I can be your tour guide, and at least explain what each place is on our way to the lounge for your orientation. How about it?"

"Sounds good," Azula smiled, pushing herself up too: they were a lot closer than necessary once they were standing face to face, as there was but a small space between their two beds. "Lead the way."

The station's first deck proved more interesting than Azula anticipated it would be: the first room nearby that triggered her interest was the sauna, though it was very busy at the moment. Sokka explained it was one of the more humid places in the station, and a great location to find privacy if visited at an unreasonable hour. The greenhouse surprised her, as she had never seen hydroponic gardens of that nature. There was a craft room, a reading room, a music room stacked with many instruments, and even a sports court where both basketball and volleyball could be played. She had almost marched upstairs right away to see more of what the station could offer… but it was time for her orientation to begin, so she stepped inside the lounge while Sokka smiled encouragingly at her from outside the room.

He waited for her until the orientation session ended, and by then they continued their tour: Sokka declared most bluntly that his favorite place in the station was the galley, the large cafeteria where they enjoyed dinner together, although it was still very bright outside – Sokka told Azula to get used to the strangeness of a world without night… or day, as it would be once winter began. They enjoyed a meal of much higher quality than Azula anticipated, and Sokka explained that the kitchen staff was comprised by actual cooking professionals. By the time they finished their meal, Azula was genuinely surprised to realize that, against her expectations, she wouldn't lose as much quality of life as she initially expected she would…

Sokka showed her the science labs next, a brief glimpse of the communications room, the administration offices, and eventually the weight gym, too, right above the basketball court on the lower deck. Everywhere she looked there were framed pictures that commemorated crews going back to the first ones in 1957, no less: her family's bloodline had been around for much longer than the first station in the South Pole, she realized. It was interesting to learn about the place's history, though she was fairly used to being part of ancestral, centennial happenings.

There was an observation deck too, from where Sokka advised Azula to be on the lookout for auroras and the Milky Way, once winter arrived: he'd seen photos of both natural spectacles in the South Pole, and he had no doubts witnessing them directly would be magnificent, much as he had witnessed them in the northern hemisphere with his personal telescope, back in Canada. After that, he led her into a rather loud and busy place: the B-1 lounge was where the station's residents spent most of their free time. It was furnished with pool tables, chess boards, a dartboard, all of which was connected to the lower deck's emergency power plant wing. There were dorms in that wing too, and a small kitchen… knowing that they were prepared for emergencies relieved Azula after her disturbing conversation with Aang about blackouts back on the first flight they'd shared.

The last feature in the lounge was a TV room with comfortable-looking couches… but Azula was startled out of admiring it when someone called Sokka's name, waving a friendly hand in his direction. Sokka smiled at the auburn-haired woman, though Azula sensed a slight tension to his grin.

"Sokka, you're late for today's movie! I thought you wanted to watch it," the girl laughed, stepping closer to them by the TV room's door. Only then did she realize a stranger stood next to Sokka. "Oh… oh! Wait a second, are you the winterover who's bunking up with Sokka?"

"That's right, Suki," Sokka said, swallowing hard as he gestured at Azula. "This is Azula. Azula, this is Suki, an engineer working on the BICEP telescope experiment…"

"Azula?" Suki repeated, blinking blankly. "That… sounds like the name of that guy, the king of Burma?"

"King Azulon?" Azula asked, with an awkward grin. Suki nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one," she said, tapping her chin. "Are you from Burma, too?"

"That's right," Azula confirmed with a nod of her own. "I was named after him, in fact."

"After the king? Well, I suppose it makes sense…" Suki smiled. "Though it must be a weird feeling, almost sharing names with your literal king…"

"Yes, well, he's my grandfather but we don't have much of a relationship anyway," Azula said, dismissively. Suki froze where she stood. "He might as well be the Emperor of Japan, for all I know of him…"

"Wait… what?" Suki asked, glancing at Sokka as though hoping he would confirm it was a prank of some sort… but Sokka shook his head solemnly.

"I'm sorry, guess it slipped my mind to use her full title: she's Princess Azula, of Burma," Sokka clarified, with a mischievous grin. Suki yelped.

"Y-you…? What? You're serious, here?!" she gasped. "Holy shit. Holy…! Goodness, you must be the first royal to ever set foot in the South Pole!"

"Heh. I suppose that should make me noteworthy," Azula smirked. Suki laughed and nodded.

"Well, that and your future work as a winterover, of course! I bet you'll do great, though I can barely believe someone who's part of a monarchy would ever come hang out with us in this station," Suki laughed. "I'm going to be a winterover for the BICEP Telescope myself. So is Yue, of course, but she's with SPT, so…"

"Yue?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled dryly.

"Suki's girlfriend," he clarified. Azula blinked blankly at the information, and it was Suki's turn to be amused over Sokka's words while Azula froze in place.

"You really shouldn't make that face when you say that, Sokka, or people will think it still bugs you," she smiled, patting his shoulder. Sokka snorted, waving a hand dismissively in Suki's direction.

"Bugs me? What would bug me at all about it?" he laughed, shaking his head. "No, no, nothing bugs me, seriously! You guys are happy together, you're practically soulmates…!"

"And we'll sit together, watching the stars, when winter arrives," Suki said, with a dreamy sigh. "Oh, you really ought to stay through winter too, Sokka. You'd love it, I know you would…"

Azula didn't miss the way Suki's eyes flickered towards her with a knowing, devious glint: Azula's cheeks flushed slightly as she realized that, whatever the young woman's relationship was to Sokka, she seemed to think Azula might be an interesting match for him… a thought that, truth be told, had crossed Azula's own mind far too many times during the day: strangely, she couldn't find Sokka's ramblings irritating. So far, he had always asked her what she wanted to do rather than pushing her into it impulsively, and while she was utterly ignorant about most things in this place, especially the science involved in it, he never acted arrogant about what he knew and he seemed ready to explain things on a basic level without flaunting his knowledge. All of it had warmed her up to him quite quickly – well, that and not having found him irritating since they were children, the way it did happen with Aang.

Still… as attractive and not-annoying as she found Sokka right now, she had only known him for one day. For all she knew, he might even have a wife and children waiting for him back in Canada…

"Oh, you know that's not how it works, but I don't know. Maybe I can try to apply for being a winterover in a couple of years," Sokka suggested, with a shrug. Suki huffed.

"Suit yourself, your loss, all that. Don't you worry, Princess Azula, me and the other girls will make sure you have the time of your life during the winter," Suki grinned, patting Azula's shoulder. Sokka's eyebrow twitched at her friendly gesture. "I've never been a winterover before, myself, but from what I hear it should be tons of fun."

"Well, I can only hope you're right," Azula let out a sigh, glancing around herself with uncertainty: the lounge was rather lively right now, though too crowded for her tastes. If anything, the only good thing about winter would be relaxing in places like this during her downtime without quite as much company, once the station crowded with 150 people during the summer saw its population decreasing to 50 winterovers, give or take…

Azula and Sokka returned to their room shortly afterwards, for Sokka decided to postpone the last part of their tour: she was tired, and she suspected so was he. After cleaning up at last after a long voyage – through a depressing, 2-minute-long shower –, Azula finally dressed up in her sleep clothes and crawled into her bed.

Sokka laid down beside her, not that far away. Only one nightstand stood between them – he offered her the top cabinet, and he would use the bottom one. If she reached out, she might just touch his bed easily… but she wasn't quite as crazy as to test something like that right now.

"So… do you have a problem with that girl?" she asked, casually, after a few minutes of silence between them. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

"Nah, I don't really have problems with Suki. Might have had some if she hadn't been honest about what she wanted…" he said. Azula frowned.

"Huh… did she dump you for her girlfriend?" she asked, puzzled. Sokka offered her a crooked grin.

"Don't feel too bad about me: we were only together for a week," he said. Azula raised her eyebrows, staring at him in disbelief. "I literally just worked up the courage to ask her out, and after the second date she just happened to drop by my campus area… she bumped into Yue on her way there, she was a year above me, and the rest is history."

"And they've been together for years?" Azula asked. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"They're a pretty good match. I can't even say it hurts anymore, but they always taunt me about it anyway," he said. "So, yeah, I'm a very talented matchmaker. By sheer accident, but I am. If you like anyone at all in the station, I'll go find them, ask them out and then introduce them to you: guaranteed they'll fall in love with you on the spot."

"Ah. Thanks for the offer," Azula smirked, as Sokka chuckled softly. "What a wild dating life you must lead, if that's how it is."

"Oh, I've never offered this to anyone else, if you want to know," Sokka said. Azula huffed.

"What? You mean I'm your first… well, second matchmaking experiment?"

"Yeah, the first one was totally accidental, this one would be more controlled," Sokka grinned.

"No way. And here I thought you were about to confess you're terribly slutty…" Azula said, smirking at him. Sokka barked laughter and shook his head, waving a hand in her direction.

"Now, don't call me that, I'll blush!" he exclaimed. Azula chuckled too.

"Seriously, though? You're not making further use of this superpower of yours?" she asked. Sokka shook his head again.

"Never have, but you've been pretty cool, so why not?" he grinned at her. "And no, I really am not a slut. Believe it or not… Suki's the only person I've dated."

"… Wait. For a week?"

"For a week."

"And you consider that dating?" Azula asked, with an awkward smile. Sokka snorted, turning in bed to eye her judgmentally.

"Are you trying to say that you have a lot of experience in that area…?" he asked, amused. Azula chuckled and shrugged as he sighed in defeat. "Well, figures. A girl like you couldn't possibly…"

"A girl like me?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows. Sokka cleared his throat and smiled nervously.

"Well, you know. Royal, rich… pretty," he finished, shyly. "You must have had all the guys in your hometown swooning whenever you walked by them…"

"Maybe I did. Maybe I did," she answered, enigmatically. Sokka huffed, tucking his hand under his head.

"Okay, now: I just told you everything I did about my raunchy, hectic love life, surely you can share a story or two of your own, right?"

"I shouldn't, though. Because if I do, I'm the one who's going to come off as a slut to a guy for whom a week of dating is already… uh, dating, I guess," Azula said, amused. Sokka huffed.

"Excuse you, but I live vicariously through the dating lives of my friends. I don't tend to have much time for my own love life, so…" he said, with a shrug. Azula gazed at him with more compassion than she expected to feel. "So yeah, please give me some material to work with. What kind of relationships did you have, huh?"

"Most of them were much faster than yours with Suki, if you want to know the truth," Azula smirked. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Thus why I'm struggling with qualifying that as 'dating', but… well, I did go abroad for a couple of years. Right after finishing my degree, I just went traveling for a while. I met someone and… well, I did like him. It lasted about two months, but…"

"But?" Sokka asked, eyeing her with uncertainty. Azula sighed and shrugged.

"It wasn't going to work out, that's all," she said. Sokka blinked blankly.

"Because you'd have to go long-distance, once you went back home? Or was it because he was incompatible with you, for some reason…?" he asked, his voice smaller with every word he said. Azula shook her head.

"He was Chinese," Azula said, simply. Sokka frowned.

"So?" he asked.

"Heh, this really will sound backwards to you, westerner," Azula smiled, glancing at him with sad eyes. "Women in Burma can't marry foreigners, Sokka."

Sokka's eyes widened. Azula offered him a sad smile before turning in bed, closing her eyes.

"Not that I was really planning on marriage right away, but… he told me he didn't like having a relationship without any hopes for the future, so that was that," Azula finished. "Thus, most of my relationships have been careless flings that don't last particularly long."

"I… I see," Sokka said, grimacing. "I had no idea. It… sounds surreal. I'd never heard of any countries that did something like that."

"Well, they have their reasons," Azula conceded, with a shrug. "But discussing them would take our conversation down a much darker path than necessary, so never mind."

"You can only marry another Burmese guy, then…?" Sokka asked, grimacing. Azula shrugged again.

"Not going to happen anytime soon, though," she said. "I'll do my best to enjoy life as it is and worry about marriage eventually."

"Huh," Sokka sighed, though he smiled upon noticing Azula was breathing evenly by now. "Want me to turn off the lights now?"

"Please… and thank you. And… uh, good night. Even if it's probably bright enough to be noon, out there," Azula said, quietly. Sokka chuckled as he climbed off the bed and made for the light switch.

"Good night to you too, Azula," he said. She bit her lip slightly upon hearing the comforting tone with which he spoke her name.

She fell asleep far more soundly than she anticipated… so soundly she didn't notice Sokka was tapping away at his smartphone, a frown on his face. It really sounded like a weird misconception of some sort, he had no idea why, but it just couldn't make sense that any such laws existed…

But they did. In order to prevent human trafficking, a crackdown on marriages between foreigners and locals – specifically, women – had been issued in the Kingdom of Burma some years ago. Sokka's jaw dropped at the information, utterly flabbergasted: couldn't they have gone about preventing such serious crimes in a more effective manner? Perhaps the excuse of marriage would make things easier for those who sought Burmese women in bad faith… but perhaps a stauncher screening, a crackdown on corruption, stronger security measures in other regards, could help diminish the cases of trafficking. This simply meant the criminals would have to come up with another way to go about their business, rather than deterring them for good…

There was some information suggesting marriages of this nature could be approved, so long as courts were notified beforehand… but halfway through reading articles on the subject he sighed and dropped his phone on his chest. What the blazes was he doing? Why was he sad to know that he wasn't likely to marry her, when he'd literally just met her and would only spend about three or four months in her company? He was being stupid, really stupid. Maybe Azula was the most beautiful girl he'd met. Maybe Azula was the most interesting girl he'd met. But maybe Azula would just be that: a girl he'd met, and with whom he certainly hoped to develop a good bond, but it wouldn't be a romantic one, going by her nation's laws. Yes, star-crossed lovers were a thing, he knew as much, maybe he could interpret their situation that way… but he would be an idiot if he filled his head with impossible fantasies only to wind up disappointed, later, when they didn't come to pass.

So… he would stop being an idiot. No, it really wasn't a Hallmark movie: the princess might have fallen out a window and right into his arms, but maybe all he was meant to do was catch her and help her find her bearings again, rather than setting off into the sunset while singing loving ballads to each other.

The image of them singing on horseback manifested in his mind – he smirked at the thought before rolling over in bed. He was lucky to know her at all… lucky to hopefully become her friend. If there was one thing he knew for sure, one thought that eased him, it was that the months he would spend in the South Pole station would be unforgettable, for as long as he might live.

"So… feast your eyes. I know you've never seen anything quite like this, but… this is it, Azula. This… is IceCube."

If this wasn't Sokka's idea of a joke, Azula's confusion about both her purpose in the South Pole, and whatever the IceCube Lab was supposed to study, had only increased further. Fully clad in her thick winter outfit, braced against the cold, Azula eyed Sokka in his own orange parka as he spread his arms dramatically…

There was nothing where they stood, though. It was just a large space, devoid of anything other than ice.

"So… you're telling me we're standing on the largest ice cube in the history of the planet, right?" Azula said, with an awkward smile that he couldn't see, for her face was fully covered. "And you and your fellow IceCube scientists are just… such big ice cube tray enthusiasts that you wanted to come here just to admire the biggest natural ice cube of all. Makes sense."

"You're being sarcastic, which I love, but that's not so far from the truth," Sokka laughed, stepping towards her. "It's the biggest ice cube you can possibly imagine. The experiment isn't just the bit directly underneath the lab, it's about a cubic kilometer of ice, in fact. The thing with neutrinos is that they're very numerous, but they don't interact with matter the way photons do. Photons are the particles that visible light is made of, by the way…"

"Yeah, I've heard the term before. Aren't they supposed to behave as particles and as waves, too?" Azula asked. Sokka grinned underneath his balaclava. "I think I heard about that somewhere… maybe a movie. Maybe a documentary, I don't know…"

"Whatever it was, that's correct," Sokka said, nodding. "The thing with photons is they interact with matter: neutrinos generally don't. So… neutrinos are passing through us right now, just like that, Azula."

"Oh, really? With all this outerwear we're clad in?" Azula smirked. Sokka nodded solemnly. "They're inside my clothes? What utter depravity is this…?"

"Oh, yes. It's a perverted particle," Sokka said, nodding still. "Sadly, though, neutrinos are so uninterested in us that they're not even slightly tickled by interacting with our undies, can you believe that?"

"We're not appealing to them? How outrageous," Azula huffed, shaking her head. "And here I had gone all out to look pretty for them…"

Sokka couldn't hold back his laughter anymore, and Azula smirked for it. It was terribly frigid out here, and they should head back indoors soon, but for now, she relished in this strange moment of privacy she shared with Sokka in the middle of the South Pole.

"Alright, then, jokes aside…" Azula smiled. "You're saying photons and neutrinos behave differently?"

"Yeah, photons are absorbed or reflected by the matter they interact with, neutrinos aren't," Sokka said. "Thus, detecting neutrinos takes a lot of work, and that's why, in order to do it, we've had to build this massive facility… below the ice."

"I had the feeling that was what you were going for, but you're unfairly mysterious," Azula chided him, and Sokka snickered.

"Gotta keep the magic alive, don't I?" he said. "Though, heh, I'll kill it now, never mind that: IceCube's staff had to dig lots of holes here, all the way to twenty-five hundred meters below the ice surface, and then set up eighty-six long strings all across this area, underneath the lab, of highly-sensitive light detecting devices, called DOMs…"

"Doms?" Azula smirked. Sokka blushed under his balaclava and glanced at her shyly. "Are there subs too, somewhere?"

"W-well…! Technically they're both? Because, you know, they're submerged. So, they're versatile, see…?" Sokka decided to say, wishing his face wouldn't be burning with embarrassment as he went along with her joke. Azula couldn't hold back a snicker, sensing just a bit of Sokka's awkwardness and shyness. "Anyway, the point is the DOMs perceive the photons that result from the neutrinos' interactions with the ice…"

"But… didn't you just say neutrinos don't interact with matter?" Azula asked, puzzled.

"They usually don't… it's a little tricky to explain out here," Sokka chuckled. "Boiled down to basics, neutrinos interact with atomic nuclei very rarely by ways of the so-called weak force that isn't that weak at all. There's a burst of light that results when the neutrinos interact with atoms… but I can get into it later, probably once we're back in the station. First, though… you're going to be the IceCube winterover, that means you ought to learn what the lab is like. So, let's get in there so you can learn the layout for now."

"As you wish," Azula said: it was ungodly cold out here, that was for sure. It was no surprise that most people were in their workplaces in the facilities near the station or directly inside it, while only a few others were busy driving large vehicles from the station to the other important locations, namely the cargo containers, the telescopes and IceCube Lab.

She and Sokka had stepped out to IceCube's area on foot, though, and it had taken them quite a while to get there. The air was terribly thin at the Pole's high altitude, and the cold still stung her while wearing all the protective gear she wore. Even though the IceCube Lab proved to be the not-quite impressive building she had seen in photos, knowing there would be warmth inside it was a great relief for the princess.

Sokka opened the door for her, and she stepped inside the lab in a hurry. The change in temperature was immediately noticeable, and she huffed while rubbing her arms with her hands, brushing off the frost that clung to her outfit. She felt at ease immediately, relaxing slightly in the warmer environment as Sokka offered to take her winter coat…

"Ah! Azula!"

A voice she had certainly not missed reached her right then and there. Azula flinched, shooting a wary glare in the general direction of it, only to find her fellow winterover standing with two tall men of dark complexions, who appeared to be joking among themselves until Aang's voice interrupted them.

"There you are!" Aang laughed, rushing towards her quickly. "I'm sorry, I was going to check on you sooner…"

"Well, I'm doing just fine, so there's no need for you to worry about me," Azula said, dryly.

"Awesome! Hope you've had fun in the station so far!" Aang grinned, glancing at Sokka next. "And you're… her roommate?"

"Yep. We haven't met, but yeah. I'm Sokka," he said, yanking off one of his gloves and shaking Aang's hand when the other two men approached.

"Well, we've met you, Sokka… and you should introduce us to your roommate!" said the buffer of the two, smirking at Azula. "My, my, to have a roommate like that…"

"Like Sokka? Yes, it's been quite the experience so far," Azula said, with a knowing, sarcastic grin. The guy laughed as Sokka sighed, gesturing at them.

"They're last year's winterovers for IceCube, I met them when I got here," Sokka explained. "Jet and Chan."

"We're supposed to give you and Aang a few pointers on what to do while you guys are stuck together all winter," said Jet, the lankier of the pair. He sounded slightly more professional than Chan so far, though his eyes raked her with devious intent. "Gotta say, I'd much rather be stuck with a girl as pretty as you than with this doofus…"

"Right back at ya', Jet!" Chan grinned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Clearly, they were good friends despite the barbs they sent at each other… and clearly, they were quite horny, Azula realized. An unsurprising development, after being isolated from the world for a full year, she supposed… "Seriously, though, Aang, you've been friends with a girl this pretty all your life?"

"Well, yeah! I'm closer with her brother, but Azula and I are still friends, right?" Aang grinned. Azula smiled awkwardly.

"Right. Uh, sure. Weren't you going to show me around, Sokka?" Azula asked, glancing at him as though hoping he would save her from three people she suddenly found remarkably annoying – yes, Chan and Jet were handsome enough, she supposed, but not to a point where she might welcome their blatant flirting as quickly as that…

"I was, yeah…" Sokka smiled, relieved to find she wanted to get going, too. Jet hummed.

"Well, I could do that for you, if you want. Don't you have stuff to do, Sokka?" he asked.

"Or maybe I could be the one to show her around," Chan smirked. Jet huffed, leering at him. Azula smirked.

"Or maybe you two just need to get a room for yourselves instead: might make you feel a lot better after you have your way with each other," she said. Chan gasped and Jet snickered. "I mean, I suppose a whole year of being stuck together may just mean you have a lot of pent-up tension, so…"

"Sure, totally the case. We should go make out in a backroom right now," Jet said, spanking Chan lightly. Chan scoffed as Jet grinned at Azula. "Wanna watch?"

"Oh, gladly," Azula smirked. "And afterwards… uh, Sokka, you said something about an HR office in the station, yes?"

Sokka snorted as both Chan and Jet paled instantly. Azula smirked deviously, waving in their direction before pushing Sokka towards the other rooms in the lab: he couldn't restrain his genuine laughter at her expert takedown of the lecherous pair.

"Sorry about that, those two love acting like idiots around every pretty girl they see," Sokka explained, with a weak grin. "You handled it great, but if you wanted me to step in…"

"There was no need for it, but thanks for the offer," Azula smiled. "Though… you will show me where HR is again later, right? For future reference?"

"Gladly," Sokka smiled, squeezing her shoulder gently before guiding her into the workspace of the IceCube Lab.

There were working desks inside the lab, a cargo area, and up on the second floor, several computers and a massive network of servers and power plants that Sokka warned Azula she might have to patch up sometimes, no matter how confusing the cables might be. Her eyes were wide as plates and she could only hope, dearly, that nothing would get busted during her time as a winterover, altogether. He finished the brief tour by taking her outside, if just for a quick moment, onto the roof of the Lab: the view from there was impressive, though the ever-extending whiteness certainly was overwhelming for Azula, freezing as she was upon stepping outside without wearing extreme cold weather gear.

"Yeah, we won't be out here long," Sokka said, with an awkward smile, as Azula hugged herself while watching the horizon intently. "By winter, you'll be able to come here and look at the night sky. It's bound to be amazing."

"And auroras?" Azula asked, curious. Sokka nodded. "Huh… I did always want to see one."

"Then you're in luck… sort of," Sokka smiled. Azula shivered and shrugged. "Okay, come on then, back inside. We're off to the telescope next. Well, one of them, anyway…"

"One of them?" Azula asked. Sokka nodded as he guided her downstairs and back to the heat inside the Lab.

"There's the SPT and the BICEP… which stand for South Pole Telescope, and the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization, respectively. You can probably tell by now that scientists just love funny acronyms. Anyway, I have friends working on both. Suki's one of them," Sokka explained, closing the door carefully. "She's in BICEP, her girlfriend in SPT… they like making these dramatic jokes about being Juliet and Juliet, belonging to different telescopes and whatnot."

"Star-crossed lovers if I've ever heard of any," Azula smirked. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

"Extra amusing considering their actual job is, indeed, to investigate stars," he said. "Anyway, off we go!"

Suki was very welcoming once they traversed a short expanse of the frozen tundra again to visit her at BICEP, though the telescope there was rather crowded. She asked Sokka to deliver a handwritten note to her girlfriend, which he agreed to in good nature: upon reaching the South Pole Telescope, SPT, they found Suki's girlfriend was hard at work, assisting someone else in an inspection of the telescope's hardware.

"Oh, Sokka!" Yue exclaimed, grinning brightly at him. "It's good to see you. Oh, and you must be Azula! Suki mentioned you're Sokka's new roommate. It's wonderful to meet you!"

Yue took Azula's hand very gracefully and smiled warmly at her: a voice behind the large structure she had been working at called her and interrupted their introduction.

"Hand over the new battery now, Yue."

"Right, Asami!"

Azula blinked blankly as she watched the two women working hard at the large telescope. She had supposed there would be women working hard in the South Pole station's many experiments, but it was delightful to confirm it directly: if her father truly thought she couldn't do something as challenging as this, the girls she had met in the station so far seemed the best way to prove his beliefs were totally misplaced.

"All done now?" Yue asked, as Asami rose to her full height, wiping a droplet of sweat off her brow.

"All finished, yeah," Asami grinned. "And look who's here! I'd been wondering if you'd drop by to visit soon, Sokka."

"I meant to, I did," Sokka chuckled. "But Azula arrived yesterday, and I've been showing her around since then, so…"

"Ah, this is your new roommate? The IceCube winterover?" Asami asked, eyeing Azula with clever eyes: she was a few years older than Azula, Sokka and Yue, and Azula suspected she might be one of the few people working in the South Pole who would go through the trouble of putting on proper makeup every day. "Nice! Yue and I are the winterovers for this telescope, so we'll get to hang out a lot during the winter. Awesome to meet you!"

"Likewise," Azula smiled, nodding in Asami's direction.

"Ah, and as we went over to BICEP earlier… here you go. A letter from Juliet to Juliet," Sokka smirked, handing over the small, sweet message Suki had written for Yue, who smiled giddily as she read it.

"Oh, thank you, Sokka," Yue grinned brightly. "Though… you've taken her to BICEP too? Goodness…"

"Are you getting any work done today at all, Sokka?" Asami asked, amused. Sokka blushed and shrugged.

"W-well, you know, I'll get to it after I'm done showing Azula around, no biggy," he said. "I haven't taken her to the beer can yet…"

"The what, now?" Azula blinked blankly. Sokka chuckled and shrugged.

"That structure I told you about, the one we couldn't see yesterday? It's at the other end of the station's entrance…"

"Ah, that cylindrical thing?"

"Yep! Head down those steps and you'll reach the tunnels of Antarctica…" Sokka said, ominously. Azula smirked.

"I'd say you should take me there next, then… but they're probably right. I'm distracting you from work, aren't I?" she asked. Sokka winced but shrugged.

"Well, a little, but that's okay…"

"It's not," Azula smiled. "Don't worry about it. You can show me whatever's left for me to see when you're in your actual downtime."

"Eh, if you say so…" Sokka sighed: he did have some information to relay to IceCube's institutes regarding the upgrade they intended to craft for the experiment across the next years. He'd rather spend more time with Azula… but at least he would be leaving her with Yue and Asami, rather than with Jet and Chan. "Well, alright then. See you for lunch, or dinner, or just… in our room, when you're done?"

"Yeah, whenever our schedules line up, I suppose," Azula smiled. Sokka grinned back and raised a hand at her before glancing at Yue and Asami.

"Take good care of her, alright? She's new, she's very important people, and she's got lots to learn still," he said, stepping back. Asami and Yue scoffed in his direction.

"What do you think we'd possibly try to do that warrants such warnings, huh?" Yue asked, innocently, as Asami smirked. Sokka let out a deep breath and shook his head.

"No idea. None at all. Anyway… see you, all three of you!" he said, smiling sadly: his eyes lingered on Azula, and she raised a hand to wave him away as he rushed back towards the telescope's front door.

The other two didn't wait too long before stepping up to Azula: she didn't notice it right away… but upon glancing at them again, he found their eyes were insidiously set on her.

"Uh… what's the matter?" she asked: here she had hoped to feel comfortable around them, but…

"You're Sokka's roommate," Asami said, blinking blankly. "You really are. This… this could be fantastic."

"Fantastic?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow: Yue, beside Asami, squirmed in joy, clapping her hands together.

"You're beautiful, and you look smart, and he's too smart too not to be smitten with you by now!" Yue concluded. Azula nearly jumped, cheeks flushing. "Oh, it's the start of a fairytale love story, or at least I hope so…"

"Well, I don't know if it's a fairytale, outright," Asami laughed. "But he has been alone for so long… the way he looks at you says he really likes you, if you ask me."

"Well… we've only known each other for a couple of days," Azula pointed out, smiling awkwardly. "I don't know if he really feels anything of the sort towards me…"

"And do you feel anything of the sort towards him?" asked Asami, raising an eyebrow. Azula's cheeks lit up, and not because of the cold weather: Asami smirked. "Good. Very good"

"I'm still getting to know him anyway. It's not like that just yet…" Azula mumbled, shyly. Yue sighed, shaking her head.

"It's such a shame he's not the winterover for IceCube, though. Even if you acted on your feelings right now, you two would have like… three months, at best, to be together," Yue said.

Azula's eyes widened: three months? She hadn't given the matter much thought so far. Yes, Sokka appealed to her in enough ways, but… even if she tried to start a relationship with him, he'd be gone in a few months. The realization was a low blow, and it felt as though the solid ice upon which their building stood was suddenly melting. She had been frantic, confused and irritable about this whole ordeal when it had begun… but ever since she had bumped into Sokka, the notion of living for a year in this place had stopped appearing as unpleasant as it had been, at first.

But it wouldn't be a whole year with him. No, it would be a whole year with Aang, instead. She grimaced: how she wished Yue were right, too…

"He's one of the coolest guys in this whole station, in my experience," Asami said, with a gentle smile. "He knows his stuff, but always goes out of his way to help other people… though I don't think I'd ever seen him going out of his way to this extent before. He's been touring you for two days, or was it just for today?"

"Two days, yeah. He showed me the station yesterday, everything outside it today," Azula confirmed, her chest tightening ridiculously: how could she feel such dread over parting ways with someone she'd only know for that long, damn it…?

"Well, that suggests he's interested, for sure," Asami laughed. Yue nodded.

"Absolutely. Though… well, considering the circumstances, he might not have thought about trying his luck in a relationship with her yet. At least, not consciously," she pointed out, glancing at Asami, who scoffed.

"Why not? Look at her, she's perfect for him," Asami declared, and Azula blushed again: was it that easy to decide something like that? Did they look that good together? Perhaps as far as appearances went, she might just come off as a good match for him… though they had gotten along fairly well in every other regard too, so far.

"Well, yeah, but I did say it was a fairytale story, didn't I?" Yue said, smiling at Asami. "Suki said she felt a strong vibe there too, but… she also said Azula is a princess. Which means…"

"Wait, what?" Asami's eyes widened. "She's… a princess? A real-life modern princess? You are?"

"Fifth in the line of succession of the Kingdom of Burma," Azula drawled, dismissively. "So far removed from the chance of succeeding my grandfather on the throne that I might as well just forsake my royal title, but… eh, it's pointless to think about it now."

"A princess…?" Asami repeated, blinking blankly. "Oh, shit. This really is a Hallmark movie."

"It is!" exclaimed Yue, grinning brightly at her friend. Azula snorted.

"I think he said something along those lines too, yesterday, but…" she said: Asami and Yue gasped, eyes wide as they covered their mouths with their hands. "What? What?"

"He said that? He said that! He realized it too?" Asami asked. Yue nearly squealed.

"Oh, Azula! Princess! He totally likes you!" she exclaimed. Azula's eyes widened. "I couldn't be fully sure yet, but I thought there was a good vibe too, and…! Oh, now it's definitely true! If he realized it's like a Hallmark movie…!"

"Okay, slow down for a second: I wasn't raised to know what that even means, so can you guys enlighten me?" Azula said, grimacing: clearly, this was yet another element of common life she was entirely ignorant of.

"Oh, you've never watched them? They're these super generic romantic movies, usually with a simplistic and shallow plot…" Asami recounted.

"And flat characters, typically," Yue pointed out. Asami nodded.

"There's a lot of them set in Christmas, so they're like… the girl who has a job in the city has to go back to her hometown because her parents' cookie museum is being shut down by her greedy boyfriend's business," Asami started.

"Then she reconnects with her first love, or the guy who crushed on her when they were growing up," Yue continued. "And of course, he's much cuter than the girl's actual boyfriend. Then, the girl has to save her family's museum, falls in love with the guy from her hometown, then dumps the greedy guy who happens to have a conscience in the end, so he backs out from taking over the cookie museum…"

"And then the protagonist and her new boyfriend kiss outdoors, while it snows," Asami finished. Yue nodded.

"They always kiss while it snows… and then the credits roll!" she declared. Azula blinked blankly.

"Huh. I… don't entirely understand what part of this situation correlates to that," she admitted.

"Ah, sorry! That's another type of Hallmark movie, rather than the Christmas ones," Asami laughed. "The 'my love interest is a prince/princess' genre!"

"Oh, basically a common nobody bumps into someone who's royal, they fall love at first sight before they even know one of them is royal…" Yue said, with a shrug. "Typically, it's a prince who falls for a common girl, who's the first person to like him without knowing he's a prince, and he's so fascinated with her that he throws every bit of caution to the wind, he's even willing to abandon his kingdom just for love, that kind of thing…"

"Right," Azula said, eyes wide. Yue smiled and shrugged.

"It's ridiculous, yes, but pretty romantic," she said. "And I honestly never thought I'd see the day when an actual princess would be in a similar situation…"

"I'm not, though," Azula smiled awkwardly. "He knows I'm a royal already, has known it from the start, so I don't know if it's like any of those movies anymore. Besides, do they happen in places as far off as this?"

"Eh, they'd likely prefer the North Pole rather than the South. You know, Christmas," Asami shrugged. Azula grimaced. "Anyway, that's not really the point: if Sokka realized it feels like a Hallmark movie, that means he absolutely likes you. There's no other possible reason for him to say that, and, well… you'd better get started quickly, if you really want a relationship with him. We scientists, uh… we can be pretty dense."

"Is that so?" Azula asked, amused. Yue giggled. "Doesn't look like Yue and Suki were dense at all."

"We weren't, but Asami? Oh, poor Korra…" Yue sighed, shaking her head. Asami blushed but smiled, covering her face with a hand.

"She loves saying we've been married for three years and I'm still not aware that we're dating," Asami explained. Azula snorted, chuckling at Asami's sudden embarrassment. "We're not married yet, no, but she claims that drives across how clueless I was better than anything else could…"

"And you think Sokka would be like that, too?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I don't think so: I know so," Asami smiled sadly. "You can ask Korra for advice on how to woo a scientist who has no clue what's going on, if you need to. She works in the arches, under the station, with the logistics department. But anyway, the point is you really should start testing the waters quickly, and by that, I mean as fast as possible. With any luck, maybe he'll realize you're actually into him before he takes off on his flight, whenever he does leave…"

"Heh… heh," Azula blinked blankly, thinking about Asami's words pointedly: that didn't sound promising at all, but Sokka was a smart guy. Clearly, if she attempted to hit on him, he'd respond… he had, so far, no matter how flustered he had been about her flirting. Maybe he thought it was just playfulness? But maybe he understood exactly what Azula wanted…

She wound up spending a few more hours with the telescope duo, though she wasn't allowed to look through the telescope herself because, as it happened, it wasn't a typical optical telescope. The information obtained through the very complex system would be digital, and they would deliver it to scientists around the world as quickly as possible… so she returned to the station later, accompanied by the girls, tired already, although the persistent weak sunlight suggested it wasn't time to get any rest yet.

In the end, she didn't see Sokka again until nighttime, and she had time to check out the gym facilities beforehand: that was where she met Korra, Asami's fitness nut girlfriend, whose duties related to all manner of work with the storage areas underneath the station. Theirs had been a perfectly nice introduction, though one thing stood out to Azula…

"You're Sokka's roommate, then?" Korra had asked, hands on her hips as she assessed Azula. "Do you work out half as much as he does?"

"I… oh? He works out?" Azula asked. Korra laughed.

"Everyone in the station should, it's the best way to stay healthy in this crazy place," she explained. "A lot of people do it, yeah, but Sokka and I tend to be gym buddies. We have a running competition, so far I'm beating him in weightlifting, but I know that jerk's aiming at dialing up his training just to break my record before summer ends…"

"Huh… huh," Azula smiled awkwardly: Sokka worked out, then.

Sokka worked out. Underneath all those layers he often wore, he was bound to be ridiculously fit, especially if he could keep up with the extraordinarily fit woman Azula was talking to right now.

She had admitted that she didn't work out remotely as extensively as Korra did, but expressed interest in exercising too: thus, she wound up jogging on a treadmill, if not for very long because of the South Pole's high altitude. Said altitude affected Azula whenever she overexerted herself, but she still exercised enough to feel her muscles properly strained once she returned to her room.

Sokka showed up about half an hour after she settled on her bed, constantly thinking about him as she toyed carelessly with her personal laptop. There was no internet access in the station right now, as their satellite wasn't working, so she couldn't do much to entertain herself other than play whatever games she had on the device until he arrived.

The girls' warnings earlier returned to mind once he entered the room: his eyes brightened upon seeing her, and he smiled and waved in her direction. He was unfairly cute… but now she paid further attention to his build and found herself eyeing his arms: the sweater he wore seemed quite tight around his biceps. Her chest tingled slightly at the realization, as she smiled back at him while he made his way to his bed.

"Got a lot of work done," he announced. "So, I'm not behind schedule anymore, if anything I'm ahead… which means, if you need any more touring or help of any nature, I'm available once again."

"Nice to know," Azula smiled. "Though it's too late for any tours anymore, right?"

"Yeah, probably," Sokka said, with a shrug and a smile. "I hope you had fun today at the telescope, though…"

"Yeah, I visited the gym later, too," Azula said. "Korra says you, uh… work out there, often?"

"Oh, yeah!" Sokka grinned enthusiastically. "I wanted to be in good physical condition since about three years ago, when I first started trying to qualify for this job, and I've kept it up ever since I got here. It's been really cool having gym buddies, though. If you ever want to, well…"

"We can work out… together?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows while speaking in a teasing, suggestive tone… Sokka grinned and nodded.

"Of course! It'll be fun. I like weightlifting but I think my favorite thing is kickboxing training, heh," he said: Azula grimaced. Had he really just taken her wistful insinuation fully literally?

No, there was no way Asami was right about Sokka's cluelessness. Surely that was an exaggeration. She hadn't been clear enough yet, that was all, but she would be clearer yet, as soon as the chance came up.

"I hope the rest of your telescope visit was nice," Sokka smiled at her. Azula nodded.

"Though… not very enlightening, I'd say," she confessed. "I realize it's a very sophisticated system, but I had hoped I'd get to see the cosmos or so… none of that, though."

"Well, they're very complicated telescopes," Sokka said, smiling weakly. "But, uh… if you wanted to see the stars, I have a telescope of my own. If you ever want to use it…"

"Oh? How very forward of you," Azula said, with a sly smirk: this was perfect. He couldn't possibly find his way out of this innocently… "I'd have thought it'd take more than two days for you to offer to show me your telescope…"

"I… uh, wait, that's not what I…!" Sokka gasped, grimacing. Azula giggled deviously, fluttering her eyelashes in his direction. "Uh… sorry. You're not, um…"

"Not what?" Azula asked, amused still. Sokka swallowed hard.

"Not going to report me to HR, are you?" he asked, with a very small voice.

Azula's heart sank and exploded simultaneously: oh no. Oh, hell no. How had he twisted her devious flirting in such a way…?!

"No! I… oh, if anything you'd be the one who should report me…!" Azula huffed, looking at him in disbelief. Sokka offered her a weak smile as he blushed, sitting on the side of his bed. "I was just joking. A bad joke, but that's not what I was going for…"

"Oops. Then I'm sorry for misunderstanding, too," he chuckled, running a hand over his hair. Azula smiled again.

"Those two were weird. You're… nice. No reason to report you, at least, not so far," Azula said, and Sokka grinned in relief.

"Well, the offer for the telescope still stands anyway," he said. "I can even leave it with you for the winter, if you want it. It's not much use when there's daylight anyway…"

"Wait, really?" Azula asked, eyes wide. "But… are you planning on coming back here early next year, or…?"

"Heh. I hadn't thought about that," Sokka blinked blankly before shrugging and smiling at her. "Would be great to see you again before you leave, though, so… maybe I'll apply again once I go back, yeah."

Azula's heart jolted again, returning to its proper spot in her chest. Oh, he was impossible. How could he be so wholesome and kind and…?

Yeah, screw all common sense, she was going for it. Maybe it was too soon, but he was by far the most appealing guy she'd met here so far, if not ever.

"Then, I… promise I'll take good care of it. For sure," Azula smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Sokka grinned back, removing his shoes: upon leaning down to do so, he caught sight of Azula's laptop screen. "What are you up to? If it's okay to ask…"

"Oh, I was just… thinking about watching a movie," Azula said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"We have lounges for that too, if you need a DVD…" he said. Azula eyed him skeptically. "I mean, there's no internet right now, so if you planned on streaming anything…"

"I didn't."

"… So, you've got torrents saved in there? Is that what you're saying, Your Majesty?" Sokka asked, amused. Azula scoffed.

"They're perfectly legitimate digital downloads…" she claimed, pompously. Sokka crawled off the bed and smirked as he read the titles of the files.

"Right. Utorrent, Xvid, 4K and mpeg, all in a file's name…?" he asked. Azula blushed but smiled guiltily. "How shameless. You're supposed to be rich, and yet…!"

"How is it my fault a bunch of these movies aren't available legally in my country?" Azula scoffed, amused. "Anyway, what exactly are you going to do about it? Take me to South Pole prison? Is there such a thing as a prison in the South Pole, for starters?"

"Maybe there will be, you'll wind up being the person to inaugurate it and everything," Sokka teased her. Azula laughed, shaking her head. "A torrenting roommate, truly… for shame, Azula."

"I'm utterly horrified and mortified. I suppose, though, if you truly think this is terrible of me, I'll just… not invite you to watch anything with me. Sure," Azula said, with a casual shrug. Sokka's eyes widened.

"You… were going to?" he asked, puzzled. Azula smirked.

"Well, it wouldn't be Netflix and chill, exactly, but…" she said. Sokka chuckled, jerking his head towards the shut window of their room.

"The chill's there for sure. Netflix, clearly not an option," he smirked. Azula chuckled, but she shrank towards the wall and offered Sokka some room to climb on the bed. "So… you really want to watch something with me?"

"If you're not too scared to get into bed with a felon like me… sure thing," Azula smiled, eyeing him intently. Sokka swallowed dryly, visibly… and then he smiled in that ridiculously wholesome manner. As though he were well and truly unaware that he was being flirted with.

Because he really was unaware of it, Azula realized, mortified.

"Alright. Let's see what you've got, then," he said, grinning as he climbed on the bed. "Oh, if you're uncomfortable or if I'm crushing you, I can just sit here…"

"Lie down, don't be ridiculous," Azula huffed, pointedly.

The bed wasn't that big, but the two of them fit snugly in it. Azula rolled down her folder with many torrented titles, to Sokka's amusement, until she settled for a movie she hadn't rewatched in quite some time. A movie that her father and brother found utterly tedious, though her mother thought it was quite romantic and Azula found it loveable too… though she suspected Sokka, being the scientist he was, wouldn't care for certain scientifically inaccurate aspects of it. Still…

"Huh. What's this?" Sokka asked, when the movie started. Azula hummed, rustling in bed as she placed half the laptop on his thigh, the other half on her own.

"An old movie I really liked as a kid, actually. Though I guess it might bore you," she said, dismissively. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "It's called Kate and Leopold. Have you heard of it before?"

"Not a clue," he admitted. Azula smiled.

"Great, then. Let's see how you like it," she said, leaning unnecessarily into his arm…

She felt him shift slightly. It took her a moment to realize he'd pulled away, casually enough that it didn't seem like he was repulsed by her, but he'd done it regardless. She frowned, puzzled by the gesture, but she decided not to make much of it: the movie was beginning, and as much as she had her devious purposes in mind, she unironically enjoyed it. Still, once the time was right, she'd take action with Sokka, whether the movie was fun or not…

Sokka was paying attention to the film at first, and Azula found that endearing again: did he want to unravel why she liked a period movie set in New York in the eighteenth century? Surely he did, but instead of asking questions, he was simply watching intently. The setting didn't bore him so far…

… And it bored him even less when the time-travel aspect of the film came up. His jaw dropped, and he started talking indeed about time traveling as a concept, how amusing it was in fiction, even if it wasn't doable in reality as they knew it, and then he was laughing at the jokes, and clutching his heart at the emotional moments, and…

And the movie ended with him smiling giddily at the sight of Kate and Leopold dancing together, a happy tear in his eye. Azula had enjoyed the movie too, but… she couldn't quite believe it. Had she really been so stupid as to play a romcom with a time-travel aspect to a known nerd? She had set herself up for failure, yes, but… oh, he liked it. He did like it, he wasn't faking it, he was…

He was perfect. He was amazing. He was a wonderful guy and she wanted to pull him in and make out with him, right then and there. She really would have, if she hadn't felt self-aware every time he shifted away from her whenever she pulled close. By now, half his body had to be off the bed, and she could tell he was supporting his weight with his free leg firmly planted on the floor, too. Curses… did he not like her? Were Suki, Yue and Asami wrong to believe so?

… Or was he just being the perfect gentleman, down to not ever taking any of her advances as advances, in the hopes of retaining a reasonable, appropriate working and professional relationship with her?

Then he would be perfect again. In an infuriating way, but still perfect. Oh, she couldn't believe him…

"Ah, that was a great movie," Sokka said, glancing at her with a happy grin. "You sure know how to pick 'em!"

"Yeah. Clearly," she said, trying to ignore the alarm sounds screaming in her head, telling her she would end up having wasted this grand opportunity with this very likeable man unless she did something, anything, to keep him interested… "Must be quite amazing, huh? To have a love like that…"

She glanced at him wistfully then, and his eyes met hers and… and there was a spark. Oh, he was thinking what she was thinking, at goddamn last. Maybe he understood what Netflix and chill really meant…!

"Heh… I guess you identify with Leopold, huh?" he asked. Azula's heart sped up. "Loved science but couldn't study it, his uncle had annoying expectations for him…

"I… I hadn't really thought about that, but yeah," Azula admitted, smiling awkwardly: yes, of course she had thought about it, surely this would do the trick…!

"Well… I hope you, uh, can find a really nice Burmese guy who can be the Kate to your Leopold, in a way?" Sokka said, with a gentle smile.

Azula's heart sank all over again. Probably about as low as the DOMs submerged in the ice and detecting the neutrinos, in fact.

"Heh. Sure. A Burmese guy from Massapequa," she said, with an ironic grin.

Sokka burst out laughing at her reference of the movie they'd just watched, though she knew he hadn't grasped her actual meaning anyway. Oh, he was hopeless. And she was hopeless too: the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him. Curse him to oblivion for being so damn dense…

Her struggle to make him understand she was genuinely flirting with him appeared to be fated to go to waste: for the next few weeks, she had a schedule in which she spent mornings with her fellow IceCube winterovers, whether she wanted to do so or not. She was entertained during such mornings by humoring Jet and Chan's ridiculous flirting up to a point: by now, they almost seemed to have made it a contest to see if either one could potentially avoid triggering the HR threat, but it always happened. Whenever Azula said the words, they promptly gave up and sighed in resignation, to Azula's utter amusement. Yet it was far better than putting up with Aang's constant rambling and attempts to explain and overexplain things she already had learned – even when she startled him by interrupting to reveal that she in fact already knew what a neutrino was, he would proceed to talk about them in-depth and she found herself tuning him out again. Why was it so damn easy to hear Sokka talk about these things, instead…?

Oh, because he was absurdly charming. Where Aang was unaware of how little patience she had with him, Sokka was unaware of how appealing he was. Some men, it seemed, were terribly oblivious, and Azula would continuously lose her patience with them because of that. The only ones who weren't oblivious, of course, were Jet and Chan: instead, she thought, they were vindictive, for she had a very hard time believing that Mount Everest challenge they put her up to could have been anything but their invention to take revenge for her frequent HR threats… despite Aang insisted that the Mount Everest challenge was, in fact, a tradition in the station.

The one place Azula didn't get to tour with Sokka was the 'beer can', a large cylinder of metal within which stood a long staircase linked to the station through which the South Pole tunnels could be accessed. The stairs were comprised by ninety steps, and after climbing them around six hundred times, Azula would allegedly have taken the same amount of steps needed to climb Mount Everest: that was the challenge. It was stupid, in Azula's opinion, and yet she had no choice but to endure it as part of her 'training'. Sokka had confirmed later that it was, indeed, an old tradition, that Jet and Chan weren't clever enough to come up with that on their own, and so, Azula's frustrations had only worsened.

Still, the afternoons were much better than the mornings: once Sokka was done with his workload of the day, he would share lunch with Azula and then proceed to spend hours teaching her as many lessons on physics as he could share with her. She was a quick learner and an insidious one too: she asked the right questions whenever Sokka forgot to explain anything, and with his guidance, she figured out how to resolve several physics exercises and equations. By then, she was her own saboteur: she wound up so involved in the explanations and exercises that her hopes to flirt with her mentor would vanish in thin air. And yet there were moments, occasional moments, when she would raise her head and find him gazing at her with tender blue eyes… eyes that she suspected were more honest about what he wanted than his typical bashful responses to her teasing and flirting would be.

By evening – at least, what passed as evening, in the South Pole –, they would have downtime and enjoy themselves with other people in the station. Sokka had joined a basketball game once, and Azula had watched it with undeniable interest while jogging on a treadmill in the weight gym, on the level above the basketball court. They would train together on occasion, sometimes – and Sokka somehow remained utterly oblivious to Azula's ogling of him, despite Korra even remarked once that she looked at him much like Asami looked at her. How he managed to not understand what Korra was saying, Azula had no idea, but Sokka somehow succeeded at letting the remark go over his head, no matter how tall he might be.

They would spend time in the lounges too – at one point they joined a rather wild pool tournament with their friends, and to Azula's utter irritation, Aang happened to be the winner. He didn't do quite so well at dart-throwing, where Sokka excelled – once most of the others had gone to bed, Azula asked him to help her refine her own technique. She took a bad stance, hoping he'd help her by positioning her hand properly… and instead he simply gave her instructions while languishing carelessly on one of the couches, laughing as she claimed she didn't know how to do it as well as he could. No, he still didn't understand what she wanted, but every time she was ready to give up on this pointless endeavor, he'd do something that would blow her mind – it could be something as simple as bringing her some hot cocoa he'd prepared after she'd spent hours working, it could be something as amusing as whispering quick hints in her ear so she'd outdo actual scientists at trivia games, it could be something as heartwarming as offering her his jacket if she was cold, or covering her with her blanket if she wasn't properly covered in bed. Somehow, she always seemed to be his top priority – he rescheduled some of his work on occasion if she would be up to very challenging things in her training with Aang, Jet and Chan, offering to be there too in case she needed the support. Somehow, he always seemed to show up when she needed him – she could text him while in the IceCube Lab while he was in the station, and he'd somehow arrive in a matter of ten minutes, even if it was just to bring her a bag of chips because she had casually mentioned the Lab's supply had run out.

Thus, he continued to be impossibly perfect, and utterly infuriating for his cluelessness, just as well.

The girls seemed to pity her the longer things dragged on: Suki, the one who had known Sokka best out of the group, offered her some ideas to appeal to him, like watching a sci-fi TV show he had liked and that Azula, of course, didn't have among her torrented titles – neither was it available in the DVD assortments in the station, for it was just that obscure. Yue typically offered cute ideas for Azula to continue testing the waters with Sokka, while Korra was adamant that she had to be blunt and tell him how she felt as soon as possible, to his face. She should even ask him, herself, if he wanted to be her boyfriend, for apparently scientists like Sokka and Asami didn't get the message otherwise, yet another notion that was utterly hilarious… until it wasn't, because Sokka continued to deflect or ignore every hint Azula sent his way.

He walked in on her when she was changing once and, after squeaking and apologizing rapidly, he closed the door again right away. Then, on another occasion, Azula had deliberately taken off her sweater in a most suggestive manner in front of him, in the IceCube Lab when everyone else had gone to the station… only for Sokka to step forward, a look of determination in his eyes as he reached for the sweater and slid it back over her body, telling her she couldn't be reckless with her health that way – even if the lab was generally insulated, it wasn't remotely warm enough to stand around in without a proper sweater, after all.

Busy as she had been attempting to get his attention the way she wanted it, and struggling to keep up with her duties, months passed and, before she knew it, Jet and Chan had said their heartfelt, playful goodbyes to her, Sokka and Aang before boarding one of the airplanes that would take them back to McMurdo Station.

"Oh, I'm going to miss those guys. They're pretty fun!" Aang chuckled, waving them away with his gloved hand. "Bye!"

"Well, they weren't half as bad as I thought they were, at first," Azula admitted, arms folded. "Though I wasn't wrong to think I'd be relieved to see the back of them, once they were gone…"

"Oh, don't worry, Azula! We're gonna keep doing the Everest challenge even if they're not here anymore!" Aang said, with what he no doubt assumed was reassuring enthusiasm. Azula's eyebrow twitched. "Okay, so I'm going to check on IceCube now: you guys wanna come?"

"Got some work to do back at the station," Sokka said. Azula hummed.

"Likewise. See you later, I suppose," she said: the one unpleasant thing about Chan and Jet leaving was, in fact, that Aang would likely try to spend more time with her, which would cut across her time with Sokka. Things were difficult enough already for Aang to make them worse, but Azula suspected that was exactly what would happen…

"Alright then! See you guys later!" Aang grinned, waving at them before rushing towards the IceCube Lab, treading heavily across the ice.

"Bet you had nothing to do in the station," Sokka smirked under his balaclava, nudging Azula with his elbow. Azula huffed, raising her hands defensively.

"I beg your pardon? I have to update my Instagram with photos of fields of snow, there's a machine full of popcorn, there's a fresh batch of ice cream in the fridges, … do you think they're going to eat themselves? Because no, they won't," she declared, pompously. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head.

Whenever the satellite internet was up and running, Azula would report her alleged anguish over her circumstances through her Instagram in cryptic photos: typically, it was only a photo of snow, never any photos of the actual station or the labs, with captions bemoaning how tedious this was – she knew her parents would always check her social media to see if their attempt to teach her a lesson had paid off or not, and if she ever said anything that might suggest she was having fun, they'd likely demand she was taken off the station and brought back home at haste. If they knew her main hardship was getting through to the guy she had grown to like, they'd most certainly do that, too.

"Well, good to know you're going to celebrate their departure that way, I guess," Sokka said. "I thought you were getting along better with those two lately, but you still would rather they leave, eh? No more need to threaten anyone with the HR office?"

"Not at all," Azula said, as they turned back to the station. "Sooner than later, it'll just be me and… Aang. Heh."

"And the other winterovers, I suppose," Sokka chuckled, shrugging in her direction. "I can only hope you'll be at least a little less enthusiastic about seeing the back of me when I leave…"

"Oh, heh… well, it will certainly be lonely, and admittedly, the gear won't make you much of a spectacle," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "So, I suppose it will be a waste in every sense of it, huh?"

"Hell, now…" Sokka smiled a little, running a hand over his parka's hood. "Good to know you'll miss me, if anything."

"Oh, I will, but I suppose you'll just go rejoice in a free life in a warmer place…" Azula sighed, dramatically. "Forgetting about your royal roommate in a matter of days, presumably, once you go back to your hectic life…"

"My life has never been more hectic than it is now," Sokka pointed out. "If anything, I might not want to leave at all when the time comes."

"Really?" Azula said, smirking as they climbed the stairs. "Would you miss this place that much?"

"I'd miss… a lot of things," he said: she glanced back at him, but the glare of his googles wouldn't allow her to know if he had spoken those words while checking her out. She had to keep pushing to confirm her hopes, then… "Like my telescope."

"Y-your… telescope," Azula repeated, freezing upon reaching the top of the staircase. Sokka chuckled and shrugged.

"And the weight gym! And the music room, that too…"

Azula sighed and shook her head as they marched inside the station once more. The popcorn machine was indeed at work, but Sokka only ignored it as he removed his outerwear slowly – thus, revealing his strong, appetizing body to her if just slightly, when his undershirt rode up after he removed his sweater. Just one glimpse of his abdomen and she felt her world catching fire…

"Though, hey, I'll still try to come back next year," Sokka said, with a careless grin. "So I won't miss things that badly anyway."

"Heh. Right, but I doubt I'll be here for that long next year, myself," Azula said, raising an eyebrow as she set aside her thick parka. "So… by then the roles will be reversed and it'll be you seeing the back of me, come to think of it."

"Oh… right," Sokka smiled awkwardly. Azula raised an eyebrow, turning around in a not-subtle attempt to flaunt her back and bottom in his direction… still meeting his eyes as she did.

"Unless, of course, you would rather not?" Azula asked, innocently. It was a trick question, of course it was, and whatever answer he dared give her, she'd twist it to coax him into saying anything damning, anything revealing about how eager he was to start a relationship with her, as brief as it might be…

"I… uh, heh," Sokka smiled awkwardly: his eyes did move in the direction of her ass, Azula noticed, they absolutely did…! "Can't say I'll be happy about it, no."

Her face froze with a disgruntled expression. This time, though, Sokka absolutely could tell something was wrong, as panic flared in his face.

"B-because I'd rather hang out with you, is what I was trying to say…" he said, with a nervous laugh. "Maybe by then we could just go back together, all the way to New Zealand, or wherever we wind up at, heh… rather than seeing the back of each other. That's all I was trying to say…"

"Heh. Right," Azula smiled awkwardly, dangerously…

Four hours later, she sank into the B-1 lounge's couch, a large bucket of ice cream in her hands, as her support group eyed her with concern and sympathy.

"I can't believe it's already two months in and he's still being that thick-headed…" Asami sighed, covering her face in her hands. Korra, sharing her couch, scoffed and elbowed her in disbelief.

"You're one to talk," she said. Asami blushed and shot her a pouty glare. "He's about as bad as you. Though I think Azula's taking it worse than I did…"

"I can't make up my mind. I don't know whether he's… he's trying to be the nicest guy in the world, or he's just not interested to the extent that he finds me utterly unappealing?" Azula said, dropping her head back as she languished on the couch. Suki, beside her, eyed her with hopelessness as Azula glanced at her. "How did you pull it off, exactly? You had to do something to get him to understand you were interested, even if it was just for a week…!"

"Well, I was the one doing the pushing for the most part, at first," Suki said. "But admittedly, I can't remember it being that hard… and heh, well, I think when he was finally starting to like the idea of being with me, I, uh…"

"Met your soulmate," Azula finished: Suki and Yue smiled at each other, reaching across the couches to hold hands happily.

"It's entirely possible that you fucked him up, though… have you considered that, Suki?" Korra asked, with a vicious smirk. Suki gasped in outrage. "I'm just saying…"

"What, so I made him paranoid that every girl he starts a relationship with will dump him in a week?" Suki asked, skeptical. Azula had eaten the first scoop of ice cream by then, but she frowned at Suki's question.

"Actually… that's a possibility," Azula pointed out. Suki's eyes widened. "He did say, jokingly, that if I liked anyone in the station, he'd try to start a relationship with them, then introduce me to them and ensure we fell in love madly by doing so…"

"Oh, shit," Suki's eyes widened. Yue gasped as Korra tsked, shaking her head.

"See? All your fault!"

"Wait! B-but maybe that's not it! Or, at least, not all of it?" Suki said, glancing at Azula uneasily. "How soon did you tell him about, uh, that Burmese law about no marriages with foreigners?"

"Oh, come on, he can date her without marrying her," Korra huffed. Asami raised an eyebrow.

"If he's seriously in love with her already, I can imagine him not going for it just because it'll hurt even more to say goodbye that way," she pointed out. Korra grimaced.

"Why're you scientist types so sensitive, damn it?" she groaned, wrapping an arm around Asami's shoulders: she laughed at the one-armed hug, as Korra glanced at Azula again. "Well? You think that could be a factor here, too?"

"I… don't know. Maybe. I told him about it the first night I was here, if I recall correctly…" Azula said: Suki cringed, shaking her head. "What? You think that's it?"

"Okay, see… you know him. He's a great guy, always so considerate and thoughtful, always putting everyone else ahead of himself?" Suki said, with an awkward grin. "He'd definitely think he doesn't want to cause you extra trouble by starting a relationship with you if you'd end up estranged from your family in consequence, or so. And, if you just wanted a short-lived thing…"

"It couldn't ever be anything other than a short-lived thing," Azula grunted, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "He's not a winterover, remember? He's leaving. So I have… about a month left to get through to him?"

"You do… which means you probably would end up brokenhearted too, once he leaves," Yue said, eyeing Azula sadly. "I think you really like him by now…"

"More than I should. Probably more than I've liked anyone else I've met," Azula said, bitterly, letting out a deep huff. "And… maybe he doesn't like me at all. Maybe that's all there is to it and we're all bending over backwards to get an explanation that doesn't exist."

"I mean… it's possible, but it's also possible he's being a dork," Asami said, with a shrug.

"He's one for sure: I've flirted with him so many times by now, I throw as many suggestive comments in his direction as I possibly can… and he still won't get the message," Azula sighed.

"How about… maybe he thinks you're just being playful," Korra said, with a shrug. "Guys can be dense that way because… well, some women can be pretty reckless, give them all sorts of signs that they don't know how to interpret, and then they suddenly reveal they just want to be friends."

"While cuddling half-naked in bed, from what some reddit posts suggest," Suki pointed out, with a lop-sided smile, "Those threads can be really fun to read, but so cringy…"

"Don't link them to me. I don't need a reddit thread to know how devastating it is to try to flirt with someone immune to signals," Azula huffed, scooping up more ice cream. She swallowed quickly before glancing at Korra again. "But I've definitely flirted with him far more than with literally anyone else in this station. Even when Jet and Chan tried to hit on me…"

"You had that running gag with them about reporting them to HR, right?" Asami finished. Azula nodded. Korra stroked her chin.

"Maybe that's the problem, come to think of it…"

"What, that I don't want to report Sokka?" Azula scoffed, eyeing her skeptically.

"Yeah. Ironically, yeah," Korra said, with a grimace. The others stared at her in such utmost confusion that she had no choice but to explain herself. "Look… you said you'd report them because they were being inappropriately sexual, right? So, you've never threatened to do that to Sokka, have you?"

"N-no, though he thought I would once, but… I didn't," Azula grimaced. Korra smiled sadly.

"Well, damn. He might think the only reason you're so happy to flirt with him is because he's not a creep about you in any sense," she said, with a shrug. Azula's eyes widened. "As you don't think he's being sexually inappropriate, he wants to keep it that way. He says he doesn't want to watch you walk away and he'd rather hang out with you… he's such a gentleman it hurts to even think about it."

"I… I know. Oh, fuck, it's why I'm losing it," Azula groaned, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "I… I have to be blunt. I do, I… I have to go all out. No point in holding back anymore."

"That's my girl! You go, Azula!" Korra declared, as Asami sighed and smiled.

"Well, I did advise you to do that from the get-go, but I don't think you're being all that subtle anyway…"

"You were worse than Sokka if that's possible, Asami…"

"You know? Maybe, if you hadn't been that blunt, I wouldn't have thought you were pranking me, and I would've understood faster!"

Their exchange devolved into a playful argument, resulting in laughter for the other three girls at the lounge couches. Azula only listened superficially after a while, though, as she reasoned with her own determination: she had to ensure Sokka understood he was different from Chan and Jet indeed… because she did want him. She liked him, more with every day that went by. They were stuck in the South Pole, near-isolated from the rest of the world, in a situation she'd never experience again in a lifetime with any guys, as far as she could tell… there was no reason, no point, in holding back if they both wanted this. So she simply had to lay it all out. She could do that. Once she did, as soon as she did, he'd understand what she wanted, at goddamn last…

"Hey, hope your time with the girls went well," Sokka grinned from his bed, once Azula returned to their room. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him intently. His smile waned. "Uh… did something happen? Is it Aang again?"

"You told me… when we first met?" Azula said, stepping towards her own bed, and sitting on the mattress heavily. Sokka blinked blankly. "That if there was someone I liked in the station, you'd introduce me to them and, therefore, ensure we both fell in love. Remember that?"

"Oh, yeah," Sokka said, with a weak grin. "It was a weird joke, I guess, but…"

"Was it just a joke?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "Say, if I did like someone here, would you, presumably, do your magic and ensure I could get exactly what I wanted from them?"

"I, uh… can't guarantee anything, but I'd try," Sokka smiled a little, sitting up on the bedside's mattress. "Though… you're sure about this? Whoever you're trying to get with, well… it'd be a brief thing unless it's a winterover, right?"

"Is that a problem?" Azula asked, defiantly. Sokka flinched. "Averse to people having flings, are you?"

"No! I mean, not at all, I'm fine with that! Totally fine, all the more power to you!" he said, with an awkward smile. "I guess, as long as you both agree that it's okay to do this, it's good. Not to mention, how's my opinion important, to begin with? You should do whatever makes you happy, Azula."

"Well, at the moment, I'm struggling with pulling that off," Azula said, with a dry grin.

"Oh… I know that, yeah. It's been a couple of tough months for you," Sokka eyed her compassionately, eyes charged with emotions Azula couldn't interpret yet. "I mean, your life's changed a lot, you must miss a lot of things. Two showers a week for two minutes were tricky for you to adjust to…"

"Don't even bring that up," Azula huffed. Sokka chuckled.

"But I guess not being able to date someone the proper way must suck, too," he said. "No outings to fun places… though, hey, if whoever you like is a winterover, you could totally go on frigid dates to watch the Milky Way and the auroras, once they start happening!"

"Ah, that so?" Azula asked, with a sarcastic smirk. "Guess you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, yeah. Auroras are… uh, though I guess it would be so cold any romance would just freeze along with the people trying to be romantic," Sokka laughed, shaking his head. Azula sighed, rolling her eyes at his newest deflection. "But still, if you want ideas…!"

"Sure thing, but only after you do exactly what you've promised to," Azula said, with a dangerous smile.

Sokka frowned, puzzled, when Azula dragged herself slowly over her bed until her knees touched his. He blinked blankly, eyes fluttering to meet hers… her very intense gold eyes, actually. He swallowed hard, and Azula didn't allow anything he did to deter her now. Not this time, not anymore…

"I want you," she said, bluntly. Sokka blinked blankly.

"To… set you up with someone, yeah, we established that," he said. Azula winced, dropping her head heavily as Sokka smiled awkwardly at her. "Azula…?"

"Is this really happening?" Azula said, with a desperate grin as she raised her head another time. "Okay: if someone liked you, how would you wish for them to reveal it to you?"

"Oh? Uh… I don't know," Sokka answered, running a hand over his hair. "I guess it'd be nice to just hear it from them directly, or to be asked out on a date, but then, should it be me doing the asking out? Though that's really stupid and dated protocol, isn't it? Girls should ask out guys just fine, don't you think?"

"I do," Azula said, earnestly. Sokka grinned.

"Well, then… though I probably should still try to show initiative, right?" Sokka said, scratching his head.

"And would you show initiative, if you liked someone?" Azula asked, with a dry smile. Sokka's own smile waned, and he bit his lower lip.

"Heh… maybe not," he said. Azula's eyes widened. "I mean, depends on the circumstances, but unless I really thought they liked me back, I'd probably not have the guts to go for it, honestly. And then I'd also have to consider what the situation is, so maybe there wouldn't be much of a relationship to be had anyway, depending on who the person is…"

"But if the situation were ideal…" Azula asked, with a nervous grin. "If this other person liked you so much that they're losing their minds about it…"

"No way that's possible," Sokka laughed, shaking his head, though then he flinched. "Wait! Oh, this is a hypothetical question! You're asking so you can know if the person you like also likes you back, right?"

"Yeah. Actually, that's exactly it," Azula said, with a wide grin. Sokka bit his lip and shrugged.

"Well, all guys are different, but I'd say… yeah, if someone I really liked happens to like me back, I might be too dense to get it, so they'd probably have to just outright say it to my face."

"Huh. Okay then: I like you."

"Yeah! Just like that."

Azula's face fell. Sokka blinked blankly. She snarled… and the snarl turned into a smirk. Was she truly that unattractive? Was he that dense when it came to emotions while being such a genius in most other regards? Oh, she was going to kill him. She was probably going to fuck him first, but she was going to kill him afterwards.

"A-Azula…?"

"It doesn't work. Clearly, you don't know yourself nearly as well as you think you do," she said, with that exasperated grin again. Sokka flinched, hands rising to her shoulders.

"Azula…?"

She clasped his hands, pinning them in place. Sokka froze when her hands let go of his, moving to his face. She raised her head, eyes meeting his: she was doing this. If he didn't want it, he could shove her off him, right back to her bed. Hell, he could report her to HR, finally making her bad joke come to fruition, but she was done. She was tired. She certainly didn't have enough endurance to keep going this way. He had teased her enough, whether knowingly or not, and the consequences were coming for him now, in the form of her approaching lips, inching gradually towards his. Her eyes closed, his own eyes widened…

"Sokka! SOKKA!"

Oh, no.

Now she was going to kill Aang. She absolutely was going to kill him…!

He knocked on the door hard, and Sokka winced as he pulled his hands back from Azula's shoulders, rising to his feet with what Azula hoped was an apologetic look in his eyes. He continued to look at her, as though puzzled about what she had been trying to do, as he pulled the door open…

"Sokka, you're not going to believe it!" Aang said: he looked like he'd just raced downstairs, chest heaving, cheeks reddened. "They just announced they were finally able to detect the neutrino background!"

"W-wait, what?!" Sokka's eyes widened as Aang laughed in disbelief.

"I would've told you tomorrow, but I remembered your dissertation was about this, right? You told me so! I thought to check it out right away, and when I did… Sokka, they cited your paper in theirs! Your predictions for the number density of the neutrino background are the most similar ones to what they observed!"

Sokka's jaw dropped, and Azula frowned as she listened to what they were saying: she didn't have enough understanding of that particular area of neutrino physics yet to piece together exactly what Sokka had proposed in his dissertation… but she didn't need to be a genius to understand what Aang was trying to say. Perhaps it would take a while before this discovery was fully unraveled and understood… but if Sokka had successfully predicted something about particle physics, this could be a major highlight in his career as a physicist, opening up countless opportunities for him in that field of study…

"You're kidding. You're…!" Sokka gasped, raising a hand to his head as he smiled… and then the smile waned as he turned towards Azula, upon hearing her standing up from the bed. "A-Azula…"

"Sounds like a major breakthrough," she said, with an earnest smile: and now she couldn't even be angry that her latest attempt to get through to him had failed. That Sokka looked discouraged, uncertain, that he stared at her as though he wished, much as she did, that Aang's interruption had happened just a minute later… it was enough, for now.

"It kind of is, yeah," Sokka said, with a nervous humility that only made him more endearing. "I mean, I thought my calculations made sense but there's always so many possibilities, and… seriously, Aang? My predictions were the closest ones to what they found? That's…"

"You're going to be a rockstar in neutrino science, from the sound of it," Azula smiled, stepping up and patting him on the back gently. Aang grinned and nodded.

"This is incredible!" Aang laughed. "I bet all sorts of journals are going to try to reach out to you, and your dissertation advisor will be stoked about it, too…!"

"Well, you're probably getting ahead of yourself there," Sokka smiled awkwardly, shaking his head. "I mean, yeah, maybe I made a good prediction, but I wasn't directly involved in the project that detected the cosmic neutrino background…"

"They're absolutely going to reach out to you, I know they will," Aang declared, grinning. "The internet's cut now, but when it comes back…! Oh, it's gonna be a wild ride when it does! Everyone I told about it thinks it's amazing, Sokka! I bet your friends will want to throw you a party and everything…"

"That'll be nice and fun, but uh…" Sokka said, glancing at Azula with unease. She smiled encouragingly, though.

"Come on, now: just how often does this sort of thing happen to you?"

"Well… this is the first time, but you know, a lifetime as a scientist means maybe I'll experience this sort of feeling again about, uh… eh, I don't know. One more time, before I die?" Sokka said, with a weak grin. "If I'm lucky, too…"

"Then you have no excuse not to make the most of it now" Azula smiled, shaking her head and pushing him out of the room: this wasn't about her, this really was an important moment for Sokka… and for once, the goofball appeared to want to focus on her. Just her luck…

Naturally, her chances with him appeared to go downhill as his professional success indeed led to Sokka being extremely busy across the next weeks. The party Aang had predicted was held two nights later, and after that, Sokka and Azula's hours of one-on-one physics classes transformed into general talks. They were held in a meeting room on the second floor, for those who were curious about Sokka's investigation and what he could share regarding the new detection of the cosmic neutrino background and its future uses. Once the talks ended, he had been in frequent contact with his advisor – whenever the internet satellite was working – regarding the new research opportunities that were opening up for him after the results of the cosmic neutrino background detection had been published. He was even vying for a position that had been offered to him in a university in Canada, a job opening he'd be foolish not to make the most of. Azula's personal support group appeared excited for Sokka, and yet they also sympathized with Azula's struggle, understanding why she wouldn't get in the way of his grand success while also understanding how frustrated she might be after her latest attempt to get through to Sokka had gone so poorly.

By then, Azula was moments away from giving up. He'd be very busy once he traveled north again, he had to capitalize on his unexpected success, and Azula suspected that the quick, temporary relationship she thought they might enjoy would wind up being underwhelming, in these circumstances. Maybe in the future someday, if their paths ever crossed anew…

Now that Jet and Chan were gone, and that Sokka was frequently busy, the main IceCube person Azula had to spend time with was Aang: he continued to be irritating by talking of certain subjects, as though forgetting she lacked the training and background to understand most advanced physics concepts, but she occasionally grasped a few interesting kernels of information from his frequent ramblings, lately. They worked together on IceCube projects with the others at the lab, and while things weren't any easier, Azula decided she could get used to this, three months in. Maybe the upcoming months would be a pain, but for now… for now, she was actually growing to like Antarctica quite a bit more than she ever expected to.

Still, there was one wonderful place where she could escape from everything that bugged her. A place Sokka had showed her a while back, and that she was happy to make use of late at night, once most people had tucked in or were too busy to use it…

The sauna was warm and humid. Nothing in the South Pole was warm and humid. She could sit there without wearing three layers of clothes on every part of her body, instead languishing in place wearing nothing but her underwear, eyes closed as she cherished the rising warmth while sitting comfortably on the wooden seats. A moment of quiet and self-reflection, a moment of realizing that, as hard as it had been, she suspected her survival so far, and her slow but certain adaptation to life in the station, meant she was proving her father wrong. He had counted on her giving up quickly at the first hurdle, he had thought he would punish her by sending her here… and yes, there were many things she missed, there was no denying that. Countless luxuries she had taken for granted weren't available in the station, but she had learned, to her surprise, that she could live without them. Yes, she would cherish them gladly once she experienced them anew but, for now, she could genuinely say she was content with the circumstances. Life in the South Pole really hadn't been that bad…

Sounds outside the sauna startled her. She frowned, unsure if she had hallucinated the noise by the door, or if something had actually happened… then she glimpsed a silhouette through the glass pane of the sauna's door. Her eyes widened.

Sokka rolled his bare shoulders back as he stood in his near-naked glory in the changing area. Azula's mouth opened for a moment as she thought to say something, to warn him that she was in here… but why was he visiting the sauna at all? She had assumed he'd be in bed by now…

And yet… should she warn him? She had seen people would use the sauna without the slightest concern for propriety so far: maybe she could test the waters anew, to see if the moment they had shared was still on his mind at all…

"Okay, it's up and running. Good, very good…" Sokka was mumbling outside: he was shivering. Had he been out in the snow? She knew there were some measurements that needed to be done for the IceCube upgrade, but was he really doing that right now?

He pulled the door open and squeaked when his eyes fell upon her. It was embarrassing, and it was adorable, to a point where Azula couldn't help but smirk in his direction.

"Didn't notice the clothes outside?" she asked, teasingly. Sokka swallowed dryly and shook his head.

"I mean… they're very neatly folded. C-couldn't tell it was yours, sorry…" he said, apologizing as ever. Azula laughed and shook her head.

"Come on, what are you playing at? The heat's going to leak out. Get in here, you look like you're freezing."

"I… I am, but, uh… you sure?" Sokka asked, biting his lip nervously. Azula huffed.

"I got here first, so no, I'm not going anywhere. You have frost in your hair, so you're getting in here, too. You can sit at the other end of the bench if you're worried you'll have to report me to HR for getting my hands on you…" Azula said, raising her hands defensively. Sokka smiled and shook his head…

But he stepped inside. He did. Azula's eyes widened as he closed the door, and the warmth in the sauna seemed to envelop him perfectly. He sighed in bliss, and while he didn't sit at the other end of the bench, he still sat at a certain distance from Azula while smiling carelessly.

"If I go into thermal shock, let it be because this feels wonderful," he said, beaming. He glanced at Azula then, though… and he didn't ogle her. Either he was making genuine efforts not to look, or he seriously didn't care one bit… "You know, there's a very weird tradition in the station, among the winterovers. I read about it, but…"

"I've heard about many of them so far. Already dealing with one of them directly, my thighs are not what they used to be… or my knees, after starting that Mount Everest crap," Azula huffed, closing her eyes and relaxing in the warmth. "Which one do you mean, though?"

"The 300 Club," Sokka smiled. Azula frowned. "It's… insane, actually. Okay, so the reasoning is that you crank up the heat in the sauna to 200 degrees, on a day when the temperature hits -100 outside. Fahrenheit, of course… but anyway, after warming up in here for a nice, long time… you power-walk outside, butt-naked, and do a lap around the Ceremonial South Pole before returning to the station and again to the sauna, to warm up."

"… They're mad," Azula said, eyes wide. Sokka chuckled and shook his head. "They'd actually get some sort of temperature shock from it, right?"

"Believe it or not, a bunch of people have pulled it off," Sokka laughed. "Korra among them, she did it a couple of years ago, when she first came here. I have no idea how it works, but… this way, you'll know what it is before anyone tries to rope you into it during the winter without your awareness. You can take the risk if you want but, well…"

"I don't think so," Azula said, bluntly. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"Fair, fair…"

"Would you do it?" Azula asked, amused. "If you were a winterover, would you actually run out there in those circumstances and… well, not die of heat shocks or frostbite in the process?"

"I… don't know," Sokka admitted, with an awkward smile. "I suppose, if I had the right kind of motivation, I might give it a shot."

"Competing with Korra wouldn't be enough, I take it," Azula smiled. "That works fairly well for you at the gym, whenever you can go…"

"She's still kicking my ass. I'll catch up one day, I will…" he said, sighing. "It's been some really wild weeks, though. Feels like I barely get to talk to you lately. This is probably the longest we've been alone together since…"

"Oh, not true. We spend every night together," Azula said, suggestively. Sokka chuckled and nodded. "Just… you have to run out every morning as soon as possible, so much stuff to do now that you're big and famous…"

"I'm not either of those things," Sokka smiled. "I've been reading about the new observations of the neutrino background in detail, and I've contrasted their results with my own… it's been cool and all, but I don't think I'm famous for it. Got to try a little harder for that, I figure."

"Eh, you're the smartest idiot in this tin-can of a station," Azula said, dismissively. Sokka chuckled and smiled at her warmly. "You'll end up redefining modern physics sooner than later, I know you will…"

"I don't think that's what my goal is, but I appreciate the sentiment," he said. "Has… has Aang been less annoying for you lately, at least?"

"Hmm. Just a bit. He's not so bad when I actually know some of what he's talking about," Azula said, closing her eyes. "Got you to thank for that, though… all those lessons."

"I'm glad they helped," Sokka smiled.

She had no idea if it was simply because of the late hour… or if it was over how comfortable she felt with him, right then and there. But little by little, she felt herself growing drowsier, nodding off slightly in the sauna. She heard Sokka laughing softly after the third time she jerked her head upright and rubbed her cheeks.

"It's three A.M., you know?" he said. Azula hummed, dragging her legs up and hugging them to her chest as she relaxed against the other seats in the sauna. "You probably should go to bed."

"It's… the longest conversation we've had lately. I don't need to… no need…" Azula mumbled, drowsily still. Sokka sighed, still watching her tenderly…

He didn't interrupt her nap, but after he had warmed up enough, he stepped closer and slid his arms underneath her body. It wasn't right, he knew as much… but he still carried her delicately outside the sauna, setting her down on the bench in the changing room. Azula groaned, still drowsy, and Sokka brushed a strand of hair delicately away from her face.

"Can you dress up yourself, or…?" he asked. She hummed.

"No clothes… you can't fuck me if we're dressed…" she mumbled carelessly.

Sokka's eyes widened at her blunt, bold claim. Despite himself, he smiled upon pondering she might truly be out of it, or that she might even be having a strange, wet dream starring him. He had no grounds to judge her if that was the case – she had become the protagonist of most of his fantasies, whether conscious or not, lately, and it was nearly impossible to hold back from doing or saying something stupid every time she showed the slightest hint of interest in him.

But this wasn't really a hint… this was a sleepy woman, beautiful and wonderful as she was, and he had to get her to bed.

So, for the first time in his life, Sokka dressed a girl he liked. As she had been wearing underwear in the sauna, fortunately, he didn't have to go too far to dress her up: he was careful with the shirt first, then with her trousers, then with her jumper. He didn't put on her shoes: instead, he would carry them in one hand while he carried her, too, back to their room.

It was awkward, but he made it through the corridor pretty quickly – thank goodness that their rooms were near the sauna, truly –, and he managed to open the door without waking her while she languished in his arms. He set her on her bed delicately, pulling the blanket over her body… and then he smiled kindly at her, sitting at the edge of the mattress, marveling about the fact that she had wanted to stay awake, if just a little longer, just to talk to him.

"You're damn beautiful, you know that?" he said, grinning. "Sleep tight, Princess."

Only upon ensuring she was safely tucked in and properly warm did he slip into bed. He guessed it might be wrong of him to fall asleep while eyeing her beautiful face from his own bed… but it was a wonderful sight that could soothe him into sleep, and the best one to glimpse, too, whenever he woke up. He let out a wistful sigh, wishing his future, his life, could be just like this, with her, forevermore…

And then he closed his eyes and fell asleep, knowing he'd likely see her in his dreams, just as well.

Azula had woken up in bed, fully dressed, with no recollection of how she had gotten there. Sokka was already awake and probably off working in the ice plains anew by then… but she knew she had been with him in the sauna. It was ridiculously late, yes… but they had bumped into each other there, and while she had no actual memories of what had happened after a certain point, all logic indicated that he had dressed her up and brought her to their room.

Which meant that the most physical contact she'd had with Sokka had happened while she was unconscious.

She groaned, unsure of what she even wanted at this point: if he hadn't done anything out of bounds, then he was a gentleman. If he had, then he was a pervert, but it meant he actually was interested in her. The gentleman side of things would be preferable, considering she had no actual memory of it… but she couldn't help but wonder if any naughty thoughts had crossed his mind in the process, at the very least.

She got out of bed for another long day of preparation for the upcoming winter: she and Aang went over some protocols in the IceCube Lab, he showed her how to fix some crashing servers if need be, and even offered her a rundown of the basic cable connections in the place. Azula managed to write most of it down, but she hoped, dearly, that she'd never have to tamper with any of those devices through the winter.

She glimpsed Sokka a few times while she was working with Aang, and he offered her that wholesome smile of his… though he seemed slightly more confident than usual, Azula noticed. Perhaps it was just a consequence of his professional success, as of late… or perhaps she'd said or done something stupid while she was unconscious? Who knew…?

Later that day, a small meeting for the winterovers was called at the B-1 lounge: it was presided by the winterover machinist, who somehow made everyone call him the Mechanist. It was a running joke in the station that nobody knew what the actual name of the man with the monocle might be.

"… Then, as last year the SPT winterover was in charge of designing the pole marker, I'd think it's only fair that they give the rest of us a chance this time," Korra smirked at Asami, who rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Fine, then, fine. You can leave us out of the draw," she said. Yue sighed but glanced at Suki.

"You'll let me help you if you get it, right?" she asked, with fluttering eyelids. Suki laughed and nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Sure: two different telescope crews poring over a pole marker are better than one," she said.

Yue laughed as the Mechanist, who was in charge of picking a name out of the eligible winterovers in a bowl, began scrambling the papers. Wouldn't it have been possible for someone to design a program to do that for him? Naturally, it would have been, but apparently the excitement of pulling a paper out of a glass bowl didn't hit the same way with a digital draw. Thus, the highly trained, top-of-the-line scientists settled for the analogic way to settle this contest, to Azula's utmost amusement.

"Wait, you left us in there!" Yue exclaimed, as the Mechanist glanced at her in confusion. "Did you pick out the names of the SPT crew?"

"Ah! Sorry, I just thought I'd do a second draw if I drew any of you…" the Mechanist grinned, scrambling the papers.

"I mean, the alternative would be to open every paper again to check who's who, so…" Asami pointed out. Yue sighed and shrugged.

"Go, team IceCube!" Aang exclaimed: he stood behind Azula, who had taken her seat at her favorite armchair on the lounge, and who cast him a dismissive stare. "What? We totally could do it! It'd be super fun, Azula, you'll see!"

"Well, one of you would be in charge, a specific one, if you happen to win… the other would offer support, I guess," the Mechanist said, smiling. "And afterwards, I shall make your design a reality!"

"The anticipation is going to kill us: please, draw already!" Korra groaned, staring at the papers with wide, determined eyes. The Mechanist laughed, scrambling the papers further.

Someone else entered the lounge by then, an amused expression on his face. He stepped around the Mechanist, and he caught Azula's eye immediately once he did. She smiled at him, instinctively… and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when he moved towards her, taking his seat on the armrest of the armchair she occupied.

"Oh, now, I can scooch over, you don't need to sit there…" Azula smiled.

Sokka chuckled as she did, and he dropped slowly next to her: the eyes of their friends followed them, most confused, others curious… a few of them, amused and triumphant. For a moment, the draw nearly went forgotten as Sokka leaned in, speaking in Azula's ear – she repressed a shiver as best she could when his breath tickled her skin.

"Is that the bowl in which he always eats his popcorn?" he asked. Azula grimaced. "The paper's already yellowing, just saying…"

"Good thing he's the one doing the draw, then," Azula said, eyeing him in chagrin. Sokka chuckled, turning to watch the Mechanist at work again.

"Alright, then: our designer will be…!" the Mechanist started, clearing his throat as he struggled to read the name… then he huffed. "Oh, goodness, that's me!"

"Wait, that's your actual name?! Hand it over!" Korra laughed, lunging for it. The Mechanist shrugged, letting the paper flutter towards her: her face fell upon finding it simply read: 'the Mechanist.'

"What's the point of having your own name in the draw?" asked Suki, raising an eyebrow at the Mechanist. "I mean, you're guaranteed to be a part of designing the marker, so…"

"Oh, I simply threw the name of every winterover in the bowl, that's why it happened," the Mechanist admitted, with a nervous laugh. "Careless of me, I know, but… ehem! New draw!"

"He's gonna be at it all night, at this rate," Sokka said, smiling as the Mechanist went back to scrambling papers. Azula bit her lip, raising her hand slowly: her knuckles brushed softly against his.

"Wouldn't be totally awful now, would it?" she spoke quietly so only he would hear her. Sokka swallowed hard but glanced at her…

"Aha! And the designer will be… oh, my! Princess Azula!"

"W-what, what?!" Azula jumped, breaking her momentary daze instants after losing herself in Sokka's eyes.

The others giggled, barely muffling their amusement at her blushing cheeks… as she caught sight of the yellowed paper in the Mechanist's hands. A paper that he had read out loud, just now, it seemed.

"It's you," he said, with a happy smile. "The South Pole will have… its first royal marker!"

Azula's eyes widened as the room burst into cheers: she was supposed to do what, now? She had seen the designs of the past markers, they were in display cases in the station… but she was tasked with crafting one of those, too? Her heart raced as she realized she would leave behind something important, something meaningful, in the South Pole, long after she was gone…

"Oh, it's going to be the best marker!" Sokka grinned, throwing an arm around her shoulders: her blush only strengthened because of it. "You can do this!"

"Yes, she can!" Korra grinned wildly.

"We're going to be around to give you a hand if you need it, but…" said Suki, smiling as her eyes drifted towards Aang, who grinned and cheered too.

"I'll be helping her out for sure, don't worry! We'll make a really cool design, with like… floating DOMs that glow with different lights, and…!"

"Isn't it supposed to be my design?" Azula asked, eyeing him skeptically. Aang grinned awkwardly. "If you'll help me, it'll be to make my ideas come true, not the other way around."

"Ooooh! You've been stopped in your tracks, Aang. Woops," Korra laughed, as Aang pouted.

"But I have good ideas, Azula, you'll see! If we join forces…!"

A sudden mix of ringtones, messages of different kinds, blared in the room at once. Azula grimaced upon feeling her own cellphone vibrating, and Sokka chuckled, an arm still wrapped around her shoulders.

"It's never not funny when the internet's working again," he said. "It's kind of like… you know, in Harry Potter? When the owls arrive, all during mealtime?"

"Just, without as many feathers and as many owl turds all over the place, I suppose," Azula smirked: she checked her phone to find a few more messages than usual… one of them from her brother. She wasn't particularly close with Zuko, thus, she always assumed his messages meant he needed something from her… this time, upon tapping it open, it seemed he wanted her to tell Aang to check his phone immediately. A strange request, she thought, and upon glancing over her shoulder she realized Aang was already doing as much…

"It's really unsanitary, isn't it?" Sokka said, suddenly. Azula blinked blankly and glanced at him.

"What, the owls at mealtimes?" Azula asked. Sokka nodded.

"I mean… what if owl turds fall into food, kinda like what you said just now?" Sokka smiled. "And the feathers… they could have parasites, you know? And bugs and bird lice, stuff like that…?"

"Could you stop killing the magic? Ew!" Yue squirmed, covering her face with her hands. Suki laughed, caressing her girlfriend's hair. "Now I'll never be able to watch those movies without thinking of Hogwarts, riddled with bird disease… what kind of diseases do owls spread, huh?"

"No idea. We can google it now that the satellite's up, though," Suki teased her – Yue only squirmed as Suki pulled up her phone.

"Y-you know what, don't do it, better not to know…" she groaned, though it seemed Suki was determined to follow through with her previous decision anyway, to everyone else's amusement.

Everyone but Aang, who wasn't paying any attention to the conversation by that point.

Standing behind Azula's couch as he was, the Princess couldn't tell something was wrong until the others in her field of vision reacted to it with confused, concerned stares. At unison, Sokka and Azula turned their heads around to find the usually jovial, cheerful Aang had suddenly been struck with a most uncharacteristic anguish… as he held his phone.

"Aang?" Azula asked, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"M-my… oh, no. Oh, shit…!" Aang gasped: everyone knew how severe the situation was when the innocent, careless young man blurted out a curse word without hesitation. "My grandfather is…! No, please, no…!"

He gritted his teeth… and then he dialed a number and raced out of the lounge. Every set of eyes followed him in sudden silence… and the enthusiastic atmosphere of the room faded away in a matter of moments.

"This can't be good," Korra stated the obvious, running a hand over her hair. Asami frowned.

"Does anyone know if his grandfather was ill?" she asked, glancing at Azula in particular. The Princess shook her head.

"Not before we left… but he's old," Azula said, frowning. "Aang's the son of diplomats, but he was raised by his grandfather, most of all. His parents traveled often, sometimes brought him along… that's why we even met when we were kids. But whenever he wasn't on the road, he was…"

"With his grandfather," Sokka finished, with a sympathetic grimace. Azula sighed. "Would his parents be around to help his grandfather with whatever's going on?"

"I would hope so, but… I don't know. Whatever happened to him could be illness, or it could be… well, worse than that," Azula said. "But whatever it is…"

Whatever it was, it seemed likely that Aang would have to leave the South Pole.

The next few days were a chaotic, depressing blur. As they only learned later on, Gyatso, Aang's grandfather, had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. He had started he most thorough treatments already, but the disease remained a difficult one to predict, and his full recovery wasn't guaranteed at all. Aang couldn't seem to make up his mind between leaving to check on his grandfather or staying to help out with IceCube: every time he was about to make the first choice, he would take one look at Azula and decide he couldn't leave her to her own devices, to deal with the complicated IceCube Lab on her own. Yet, three days after the news arrived…

"They've said I can't stay," Aang confessed to Azula, after leaving the medical wing. Azula frowned. "They did a quick psychological evaluation, you know, because we needed to do those before coming here…"

"I know, I had to take one myself," Azula admitted, frowning. "You were fine back then, but…"

"But I'm not anymore," Aang said, grimacing. "They say I… I'm not stable enough to stay. That I should go be with Grandpa Gyatso while I can. M-maybe he'll recover, but if he doesn't…"

"Well… you can't say no to a medical professional, can you?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Aang closed his eyes tightly before glancing at her compassionately. "No, no, none of that. I'll be fine, you'll be a bigger burden for everyone if you stay anyway."

"A burden?" Aang asked, with a weak, pained smile. Azula nodded stubbornly.

"That's right. Just… pack your stuff, get ready to leave with the next flight, if you get clearance for it," Azula said, biting her lip.

Strange, how desperate she had been to get rid of Aang when they had arrived… after a few months, she had built up a certain level of tolerance for him. But right now, she realized just how much she was relying on him, how certain she was about surviving this chaotic winter as long as Aang was around to take care of whatever difficult duties she wasn't prepared to handle yet.

Still… she couldn't keep him here, not when she knew exactly how important Gyatso was to him. She shook her head as Aang sighed, stepping forward to offer her a hug. Azula embraced him too, guessing he would need a slight bit of comfort… she supposed he assumed he was offering her some, too, as well as his gratitude for understanding his plight.

Yet there was a problem left to be resolved: how could she possibly endure the countless, complicated duties of an IceCube winterover without a more experienced partner to help her out?

Korra, Asami, Suki and Yue offered to help her out with her work… then, Yue herself had remarked that none of them truly understood how IceCube's systems worked, much as IceCube's people didn't fully comprehend the other telescopes in the pole. Later, a big meeting with the IceCube Lab's remaining employees was held: nobody was prepared, evidently, for a prolonged stay in the South Pole. Everyone had anticipated they would only spend a few months in town, they had meetings and appointments to keep upon returning home, families to go back to…

Little by little, Azula's enjoyable, calm, happy world seemed to take a turn for the worst. She had no idea what to do, not in the least: she had to stay, she was the only winterover for IceCube at this point… but even if she spent every hour of her day working hard to learn her way through the technical aspects of IceCube, even if she studied constantly to understand the programming of their systems, the theory behind everything she was helping them develop, she still wouldn't have a proper grasp of the investigation within the month left before the last flight left and the winter period began, officially.

Still, she tried. She took to studying on her own every night, to working hard with the other IceCube Lab scientists while Aang prepared himself to leave… to constantly reminding herself that she could handle this challenge. She had endured it so far… she could do it now. She had to be able to keep going…

Sokka had been strangely sparse during those days. Azula supposed he might be busy, still, with his own preparations for his return to New Zealand and then to Canada, for the new position he'd take once he was back home… but the fact that she seldom saw him, even in their room, seemed strange to her. She didn't see him working out on the ice with the other IceCube people, or in the lab… she had no idea where he was, and she was slightly too stressed to spend too much time figuring it out. She focused on preparing as best she could for the coming months, aware of how unlikely it would be that she'd be fully ready to face the chaos of winter alone…

A small pick-me-up party, if that description even worked for it, was held on the day before Aang left. He thanked everyone for their support, showing as much kindness as he could despite being deeply distraught. Azula didn't spend much time with him, leaving him to chat with everyone else in the station instead, especially with his buddy, Kino… thus, she wasn't all that preoccupied with Aang when she noticed, at last, that Sokka had crossed the doors into the galley, where the toned-down party was held.

He glanced around the galley for a moment, mainly greeting people in an off-handed manner… until his eyes finally found Azula's.

And then he smiled.

She wasn't sure what was happening when Sokka stepped closer to her, still grinning: everyone made room for him to reach her – and as ever, Asami, Korra, Suki and Yue eyed the upcoming exchange with no shortage of interest, eyes bright with illusion… though not quite as bright as Azula's. Her heart rate climbed steadily with each step Sokka took her way, and for a strange, wild moment she wondered if he'd be quite as crazy as to kiss her, right then and there…

"There you are…" Sokka said, upon reaching her. Azula blinked blankly.

"That ought to be my line, you're the one who's been nowhere around lately…" Azula pointed out, and Sokka chuckled before nodding.

"True, I… I've been busy," he admitted, with a nervous grin. "Had a lot of meetings with… with the station's director."

"What… director Goro?" Azula asked, frowning. "Didn't he go back north about a month ago?"

"Yep. Lots of internet meetings," Sokka clarified, with a sad smile. "Then I had to do some physical tests, and a psychological one too, reschedule and cancel a lot of things, then had a few stints in the crafts' room, but that's not relevant right now, to be honest…"

"Wait… what?" Azula's eyes widened: what Sokka appeared to be saying struck her like lightning right then and there. Her jaw dropped as he delivered the news he had meant to offer her, with a smile on his face.

"It's final: I'm the new IceCube winterover, in Aang's place."

For a moment, Azula couldn't even breathe. She stood, stunned, staring at Sokka with widening eyes, with parting lips… and he only smiled reassuringly, cheeks reddened as she suddenly reacted, shaking her head slightly.

"B-but… all that stuff you were going to do once you went back…!" Azula gasped. Sokka smiled fondly at her and shook his head. "You were about to accept a new position, weren't you? And all those opportunities that had come up for you…!"

"It can wait. I've reached out to them, and yeah, I've had to decline the position for now. I've let them know that I'll be in the Pole for the rest of the year, and that I'll reach out once I'm available if they still want to work with me," he said. Azula's hand rose to her mouth as she shook her head again. "I'll still start writing a new paper while I'm here, though, while analyzing the data, and they might still want me when I can go back north anyway, so no need to worry too much, alright?"

"Y-your family? D-did you tell them…?"

"Yep. They were surprised… but they understood," Sokka grinned. "My sister demanded I bring twice as many souvenirs when I get back, but that's no big deal…"

"T-then… everyone's fine with it? The director agrees, and IceCube's people…?"

"Everyone who had a say upon the matter has already given me the green light, so yep. I'm doing this," Sokka smiled. "I didn't want to tell you before it was final because I didn't want to give you any false hopes, in case some of my clearance didn't come through, but now that it's settled…"

He fell silent when she nearly tackled him to the floor with the force of her hug.

Not everyone understood what was happening, but the noise rose inside the galley as a wave might, as hoots and cheers startled Sokka and caused him to go beet-red, ears burning with embarrassment as he slowly let his arms fall around Azula's body. He chuckled softly, rubbing her back reassuringly as she sighed and squeezed him tighter: from the very worst possible scenario, it seemed things had taken a turn for the best in a matter of moments. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, her throat burned, tears left her eyes… and she couldn't let go of him. She wouldn't have to… he'd be here, with her, for the rest of the year. She wouldn't be alone at all… she wouldn't be alone, at all.

He had already been popular enough recently, but Sokka's latest stunt suddenly catapulted him into becoming the most popular scientist in the station, altogether: even girls Azula had never met before congratulated her on catching the eye of a man who was quite the catch, himself – they appeared to have assumed there was a relationship between them after her impulsive hug earlier. She could only laugh off the assumptions, much as Sokka did while most of the guys congratulated him, in turn, for getting a royal hug – and presumably being eligible for more than that, regardless of his shy responses to such words.

The party took wild turns from that point on, as many of the attendants went to the gym and the music room, where the resident amateur bands played a few songs for everyone's enjoyment: people danced to their music in the gym, though Sokka declined from dancing whenever anyone asked him to join in. Azula approached him too, after a while, and only then did he feel it was fine to confess his truth…

"I've got no idea how to dance, and I'm going to look like an idiot in front of all these people," he said, with a dry grin. She laughed, shaking her head as she patted his forearm gently.

"You'll need training, then. Guess that's one thing we can do, during the winter," she suggested, grinning at him. Sokka chuckled and shrugged.

"It's going to be a tricky process," he said. "It's bound to take a while to cure two left feet…"

"Eh, the winter's long. We've got plenty of time to fix that issue," Azula smiled. He chuckled and dropped his head back against the wall, in submissive surrender.

They wound up spending a lot of time together that night, just as they always should, in Azula's opinion: by the time everyone had to go to bed, so did they… but Sokka didn't climb on his own. Instead, Azula dragged him to her own bed, much as she did whenever they watched any movies together, but there was no laptop, no screen to focus on. No, this time Azula huddled against his larger frame, her face buried in his chest as he held her warmly, a blush permanently present on his face. As much as they might talk about what they would do – Sokka vowed to catch up to her with the Mount Everest challenge, and Azula was delighted to hear as much, just as she suggested he helped her design the pole marker during the winter –, there was one phrase, one line, Azula repeated constantly through the night:

"Thank you," she would say, again and again, whenever the conversation died down. Sokka would smile, pulling her close, pressing his face to her hair. And again, and again she'd say it… "Thank you, Sokka."

He always answered with reassuring words, with promises of how much fun this would be… but eventually, he answered with words that rang with such honesty Azula could barely contain the joyful tears in her eyes anew:

"I'd do anything for you, Azula."

The change in the atmosphere of the station was palpable on the next day: more planes would leave through the upcoming weeks, to the point where they'd stop taking off by the end of February, only a couple of weeks away. Lots of necessary supplies had been stashed safely in the tunnels by then, many containers lingered outside in the snow anyway… and the layout of the station had started to change, too, as the winterovers took to making themselves comfortable in the place they'd call home for the next months.

While Aang's circumstances were still tense and stressful, he was finally less insecure about leaving Azula alone now that he knew Sokka had decided to stay with her. Aang had thanked him profusely just before climbing on the awaiting airplane.

"You'll take care of each other… and of the lab, of course," he said, with a soft laugh. "I'll reach out whenever I can to let you know how my grandfather's doing, and if IceCube needs anything from you, too…"

"Don't worry about that. Focus on your family, Aang," Sokka smiled, patting his shoulder as Aang hugged him. "We'll be fine. And you'll get another chance to be a winterover soon, I hope."

"I hope so too," Aang said, smiling warmly at them as he pulled back. "I really looked forward to wintering with you, Azula… but I guess Sokka will have to be the one keeping you entertained for the time being, huh?"

"I'll do my best," Sokka smiled. A pleasant tingle rushed inside Azula's gut upon hearing those words: maybe he really wasn't looking for a romantic relationship, maybe he really was just looking after her because he cared about her, maybe even liked her, but thought they could never truly be together…

But his behavior had been different ever since she had nearly kissed him. Maybe he wasn't quite that convinced that there was no chance for them to start a relationship, in the end…

"And I'll do my best to avoid setting anything on fire while I'm here, too," Azula said, nodding sagely. Aang chuckled as he hugged her next. "But just to be on the safe side, I'll make Sokka join the firefighter team and learns their procedures in case I do anything stupid."

"I hope that won't be necessary," Aang laughed, pulling back anew. "Again… thank you, you guys. I'm leaving the lab in good hands, I know that for sure."

Sokka and Azula smiled and nodded as Aang raised a hand in farewell, climbing on the airplane quickly. Sokka escorted Azula back to the station after she snapped a few pictures of the departing aircraft: in a matter of weeks, the station would go from a hundred and fifty guests to fifty or less. The new privacy meant that, in all likelihood, they could get new rooms, anywhere in the station… new ones had opened up already, but Azula had no intentions to choose another room. She could only hope Sokka would also choose to stay in their shared room, for as long as they wintered together…

"Ah, already done seeing Aang off?" Korra asked, once the pair returned to the station: she had a large box in her hands, one that brought Sokka to raise a quizzical eyebrow.

"We are, and… what's that?"

"Oh, this? First load of condoms, actually."

Sokka froze, and his face reddened immediately. Azula failed to contain a snort of laughter as Korra grinned deviously, fishing out a few boxes and entrusting them to him.

"There's a pretty wide selection to choose from, yeah, might be you want to switch to other types later, no idea what your preferences are…" she said, as Sokka let out a nervous whimper, his eyebrow twitching – and yet he still grabbed the boxes, as much as he was utterly embarrassed about doing so. "It's all protocol, you know? Nobody needs a surprise pregnancy in the South Pole, after all. But hey, rest assured! You're only supposed to have like two hundred and fifty for yourself…"

"Two hundred and fifty?" Sokka repeated, with a skeptical smile. Korra nodded.

"But you know, we all get assigned that many condoms, whether we're men or women, so… you know," Korra said, smirking at Azula, who bit back the urge to laugh again. "Plus, me, Asami, Suki and Yue don't need them, so we'll hand over ours to you guys… bet you'll have lots of fun in the winter, eh?"

She winked at them and walked away, leaving Sokka standing there, with thick mittens full of condom boxes. Azula laughed a little more earnestly by then, and Sokka blushed profusely as he followed her into the room where they'd leave their outerwear.

"Ooh! All stashed up, are you? Good on you kids, good on you!" the Mechanist, changing into his own cold gear inside the room, grinned approvingly at Sokka, who flinched at the man's remarks. "Me and my wife will be very careful too, our son Teo's already too old to get little siblings at this stage, ahaha!"

Sokka swallowed hard as the man walked away before glancing at his still laughing roommate. She took off her coat and stared at him as he sighed in slight despair.

"It's like they actually expect me to make use of every condom in the station," he said. "Do I look like I'm that resilient?"

"Well, it's not an unflattering assumption, is it?" Azula asked, smirking at him from over her shoulder. Sokka laughed, removing his outerwear and stashing it safely on the available racks.

"If you don't think it is… then I suppose that's good," Sokka said, averting her gaze. "Because I'm pretty sure they all assume I'll be using them with you."

Her heart nearly stopped at his sudden words. She glanced at him with surprise, eyebrows raised… finding him blushing, but smiling. He shrugged in her direction before running a hand over his hair.

"Anyway, I, uh… got something to do in the crafts' room. No, not manufacturing more condoms, no…"

"I didn't think that was it," Azula smiled, and Sokka chuckled.

"I'll see you for lunch, then," he said, nodding in her direction. Azula nodded right back…

And she dropped down to sit on one of the benches in the room once he was gone, thrills rushing inside her body: yes, she had sensed people appeared to be assuming, outright, that they were together after last night. But that he'd take it in stride this way, that he wouldn't just shoot down the possibility altogether… he was wizening up, at last. He wasn't so scared of their Hallmark movie romance anymore, from the looks of it. She bit her lip and smiled, wondering if they would wind up kissing underneath falling snow eventually… it wasn't all that likely, it turned out that it didn't snow all that often in the South Pole and most of the snow that reached them was the result of wind, pushing snow from other places in Antarctica and towards their station. But a girl could dream…

She had no idea what Sokka was up to in the crafts' room lately, but if he didn't share it freely, she wouldn't ask: instead, she took to her own, personal project of updating her Instagram with a picture of Aang's flight as it took off, pretending she wished she were there. The fact that no one seemed to have caught on to how fake her complaints were always amused her: her many followers asked where she was, repeatedly, but she never answered any of their comments. She kept her circumstances vague and mysterious… that way, no one could possibly guess that the station was actually the most fun place she had ever been in. That she had learned countless things over the past months… that, if anything, her father's foolish punishment was certainly convincing her that she could absolutely have a life outside of monarchy.

To her surprise, Sokka acted slightly differently that evening. He did teach her more physics, moving forward to certain, slightly more challenging subjects, but he didn't seem as cheerful as he had been earlier. Had something gone wrong in the crafts' room? Azula had asked, he had dismissed her concerns with awkward laughter. Her puzzlement had only continued, but his mood had lifted again once they headed outside for another lounge night with the rest of their friends.

Weeks passed, and the final flight took off at last: the South Pole was well and truly isolated from the world now, and that meant it was time for the first of many winterover traditions in the gym. Couches were brought into the basketball court that night, where movies would be projected on a screen, with dim lights. Popcorn was distributed among the fifty winterovers, and everyone was ready to enjoy the marathon of the three different versions of The Thing: Azula determined this would be a good chance to get closer to Sokka, perhaps closer than she had been so far. They had chosen a couch of their own – a habit they had gotten into, slowly and surely – and Azula rested comfortably against his flank as the movie started.

"Have you watched these movies before?" she asked, innocently. Sokka bit his lip and shook his head. "Neither have I, actually. I suppose, if it's too terrifying, we'll have to comfort each other in bed tonight."

"Really?" Sokka asked, with a weak grin. "Don't say that, though. I'll want to be scared now if just…"

"If just to have an excuse to hold me?" Azula finished for him. Sokka chuckled and shook his head. "You could just ask, you know…"

"Of course not. You'll report me to HR," Sokka retorted, matter-of-factly. Azula smirked.

"I'm pretty sure we're both safe from HR and its clutches through the winter, you told me their offices are empty right now, didn't you? So, I'd have to report you through a video call or something, and the satellites are down…" she said, innocently. Sokka bit his lip.

"Is that some sort of twisted, backwards invitation to sneak into your bed, whether I shit myself out of fear over the movie or not?" he said. Azula fluttered her eyelashes at him, and he laughed again. "Oh, stop it, you…"

"You're going to be the one reporting me, at this rate? Is that what you're saying?" she asked, teasingly, wrapping an arm around his waist. Sokka chuckled, glancing at her with a lopsided smile.

"Sometimes I…" he started… but the lights of the projector came alive then, and his attention was stolen by it. Azula's drumming heart pushed her to nudge him.

"You… what?" she asked. Sokka bit his lip.

"Nothing. I'll, uh, I'll tell you later. Time to shit ourselves," he said, dropping his head gently atop hers. Azula swallowed hard, but settled for the intimacy of their embrace, nonetheless. It was wonderful that she could finally hug him freely, that much was true…

The first movie, from 1951, was sure to fail to intimidate the viewers: the winterovers mostly laughed it off, some even taking off to check that everything in the station was still on the right track rather than sticking around to watch the whole film. Sokka didn't wind up shitting himself in the end, to his relief and delight, which meant Azula could relish in trailing her hand tentatively over his chest. His own hand fell upon her waist, sometimes squeezing it gently, and Azula was sorely tempted to take it and push it down, to her rear… but perhaps not here, not yet. Maybe after they went to bed, that night…

The second movie, now from 1982, began right after the first one was done, and Azula was ready to dismiss it as easily as they did with the first one. Yet it was a lot more difficult to do so when Sokka, beside her, tensed up and flinched often as a reaction over whatever was happening on-screen. At first, he was outraged on behalf of the dog the strange Norwegian man was trying to shoot – only to wind up getting shot, himself. But then the dog transformed into a creepy creature, in a cage full of other dogs, and Sokka winced and panicked over the fate of the canines while Azula smiled fondly at his earnest reactions. The practical effects saw Azula grimacing over the unnecessary and over-the-top gore… though by the time said effects were in full-swing, Sokka was practically hiding his face in Azula's shoulder, only occasionally glancing at the screen, utterly foregoing any bravado or hopes to present himself as invulnerable to these sorts of movies. The conclusion of that one saw him wincing warily anew, upon wondering which of the two survivors might actually be the Thing, at that point. Azula couldn't help but snicker, leaning towards him to whisper her suspicions as to who, among their winterover crew, was the Thing right now. Sokka actually clutched at her, hard, hiding his face in her shoulder as she laughed with a lot more abandon than would be expected from someone who had only just watched a horror movie.

The final movie, far more modern, failed to impress Azula anew, though Sokka seemed so unsettled since the previous one that it still affected him, to a fault. By the time the movie was over he was the one hugging Azula so tightly, now with absolutely no romantic intent whatsoever, while she laughed as the others started to make a ranking on which one of them was most likely to be the first victims to the Thing, should it show up anywhere at all in their distant station.

Naturally, Sokka was so unsettled that nothing happened between them that night, but Azula was starting to find her own kind of comfort and intimacy in that. She held Sokka anyway, this time in his bed rather than hers, and she even dared press a few, soft kisses to the top of his head before he fell asleep – which took him forever to do anyway, as though Azula's company and affection couldn't soothe him enough right away.

They still had well over a month left before sunset, and the work as IceCube winterovers had only just begun: their first task was reflagging the path all the way to the lab, something that would be crucial by the time the sun hid away for the next sixth months, a moment that came closer and closer with every day that passed. The flags would be their means to finding their way to the lab whenever they had to check on it: clad in their full winter gear, Azula and Sokka took to work – while Azula playfully warned Sokka to keep an eye out for any dogs running towards the station, to which he responded with skeptical sarcasm that she couldn't help but laugh at.

On the next week, they had to perform a tour of their lab for the logistics team of winterovers – among which was Korra, who couldn't help but inform Azula that the bed in the lab's second floor looked terribly cozy and that she ought to make good use of it at one point or another, ever shooting meaningful glances at Sokka while she said so. It was no secret that the two of them continued to share rooms… though Azula thought Korra couldn't possibly know yet that she and Sokka had shared beds, more often than not, ever since Sokka had become a winterover in Aang's place.

They continued to do the Everest challenge, though Sokka ran a few extra flights of stairs every day so he could catch up to Azula sooner than later. He always wound up exhausted at the end of it, and Azula would gladly hold him up as he returned to the top of the stairs. More than once they had wound up gazing into each other's eyes after such moments, only to be, as ever, interrupted when the galley's exit was pulled open by someone who was quick to tell them to cover up quickly or they'd freeze over being in the beer can without enough extreme weather clothes to counter the cold in the non-insulated location.

At this point, it seemed as though they had let so much time pass by that their first kiss had to happen in a spectacular moment, or at a spectacular place, Azula supposed. It might be better to simply transition into it, to let it happen, and yet… it never seemed to. Sokka certainly wasn't fishing for it, he still seemed reluctant, and she wasn't entirely sure of why. Did he really think she would have cradled him against her chest after watching a trilogy of horror movies if she didn't like him? Then again, it seemed a man's mind was potentially more complicated than that of a woman – or at least, Sokka's was, for all she could tell. He would often take off to the crafts' room, and the one time she tried to go too, he had told her he was up to a very sensitive, dangerous and serious project, so she wasn't allowed to intrude, not at all. A silly, wishful side of her wondered if maybe he was trying to make something for her… but after all this time, getting her hopes up with Sokka was an exercise in futility. Perhaps it was simply the souvenirs his sister wanted, he probably should get started with designing those early on, if he really meant to make them himself…

Gradually, the sun started to sink in the horizon. Every winterover would take the chance to snap pictures of the occurrence, delighted by the visual spectacle of the darkening, yet colorful sky. The shroud of darkness approached slow and smoothly, changing the ever-blue skies into a deep hue that would soon turn to blackness… dotted with countless stars and the spread of green aurora lights, too. Everyone seemed eager for that moment to arrive, as was Azula… but to her surprise, Sokka appeared more eager to witness the last of the sunset with her, when it seemed it was almost time for the sunlight to vanish for the next six months.

"Come on, come on… we're getting a good, classic, dramatic view of it from over the geographic pole first!" he declared, grinning as he dragged Azula by the hand.

His other hand held onto something Azula couldn't make heads or tails of. It was a long container, such as those in which they had carried the flags they'd fixed on the path to IceCube Lab earlier in the month. She asked him what it was, he told her it was nothing to worry about: she, of course, had only found that more suspicious, but she had rushed with him to the geographic pole anyway. The marker they'd be replacing with her own design later that year stood there, along with a sign that immortalized the first explorers who had reached the South Pole back in the final months of 1911 and the beginning of 1912.

"Alright, alright… uh, you're sure it's going down now?" Azula asked, huffing: they hadn't worn their full winter gear right now, mainly their parkas with their hoods drawn up, because Sokka insisted they needed to take a good picture. Azula supposed she'd survive a few minutes outside without her face freezing altogether, but she certainly hoped Sokka would take the pictures he wanted quickly.

"It looks like it," he said, with a grin, gazing out into the sinking sunset. "It's such a great view, huh?"

"It is… and I'm a little apprehensive about a life without sunlight right now, to be honest," Azula admitted, stepping closer to him to bask in his closeness in order to stay warm. "It's really not going to come up again for the next six months, right?"

"Not even once!" Sokka grinned. Azula snorted.

"You seem thrilled about it, huh?"

"Oh, you just… you have no idea how crazy it is to be here right now," Sokka laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "Most people, even those who work in the South Pole regularly, don't get this opportunity. Fifty winterovers a year in the station get to experience this. We're part of one very small, select group of privileged people who get to see nature's wonders this way."

"Well… it's quite beautiful, I won't deny that," Azula acknowledged, wrapping an arm around Sokka's waist.

In the distance, other winterovers were taking pictures and enjoying the sunset, too. It was fortunate that they had chosen not to stand in the same place as them, Azula guessed… she might not have the same appreciation for the view as Sokka did, but she would rather share this moment with him without any interruptions from unwanted sources.

"Alright, then… picture time!" Sokka decided, grinning and spinning them around where they stood.

After a few steps, he finally found a proper angle where the marker, the sign and the sunset were in-frame while they stood huddled together in the snow. Their white breaths brushed against the screen of his phone and Sokka laughed about it as he attempted to tap the right button to take a picture – it was difficult to do it with mittens, thus, they ended up settling for using a timer, laughing at the ridiculousness of their situation while still hugging each other warmly.

"Okay… well, we could wait and see if we glimpse the green flash, if you want to," Sokka proposed, smiling at Azula. "But we can also try to look at that from another perspective…"

"Oh? Where to next? You're not going to take me all the way to the lab this late in the day, are you?" she asked, amused. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

"Nope… but I'm going to have to be very secretive about our next destination, yes," he decided.

Azula had no warning besides that when Sokka slid behind her, placing his hands over her eyes. They walked together at his behest, with Azula laughing about how much advantage he was taking of the lack of HR staff to be so utterly reckless with her. After a few minutes worth of walking in the snow, Sokka turned her around and made her stand in a very specific position, facing the station, she realized, once he removed the gloves from her face.

"Don't move now," Sokka smiled, biting his lower lip in anticipation. Azula raised an eyebrow but smiled, folding her arms over her chest.

"And what exactly am I supposed to do if I freeze on the spot, then?" she asked. "Are you going to manufacture an ice sculpture shaped like me? At this rate, I'm going to become a living sculpture myself…"

"I'm hoping this won't take too long, so no, that's not the plan," Sokka laughed… and then Azula frowned upon hearing the familiar sound of an ice drill.

"What…? What are you doing?" she frowned, but when she tried to glance back Sokka squeaked.

"No peeking!"

Azula huffed, rolling her eyes but smiling. Fine, then, if that was how he wanted it… she tapped her boot against the ice, rubbing her arms, waiting impatiently for the moment when she'd finally be allowed to turn, while Sokka worked hard behind her… until, at last, he let out a nervous breath to say:

"Okay, you can turn around now."

Azula was slightly surprised to find they were at the ceremonial South Pole now: the flags from the treaty signing nations greeted her, ever forming a semi-circle… but there was one new flag, standing out between them all, sitting much closer to them, diametrically opposite to the USA flag.

It was a white flag, with a peacock at its center.

Her heart nearly stopped upon realizing it was the flag of the Kingdom of Burma.

She raised her eyes to Sokka's, finding him smiling in that cute, humble way he often did. He squirmed slightly in place before chuckling guiltily, running a hand over his hood.

"Yeah, I know, I'm not much of an artist, the peacock looks like it's in a pretty shitty mood, but…"

"Sokka…" Azula gasped, staring at him in utmost disbelief. "Y-you… you did this? You…? D-did you get permission, or…?"

"Uh, no," Sokka admitted, with a guilty smile. "I just went out of my way to do it, yep. I got it wrong like ten times, the peacock looked dreadful: have you ever tried drawing one? They're just… u-uh, I don't think that's what you wanted to ask, though. Um, yeah, that's why I've been in the crafts' room so often lately. Turns out that trying to make a nice gesture to a girl who deserves it might be a tad bit easier if I had even the slightest artistic ability…?"

"Sokka…" Azula said, staring at the incomplete circle of flags in disbelief as she shook her head still. "T-this… i-it doesn't make any sense."

"I guessed you might think so, but…"

"B-Burma didn't sign the Antarctic treaty," Azula said. To her surprise, Sokka blurted out a bark of laughter, and she eyed him with uncertainty as he did. "It's true, though…!"

"That's the nerdiest reaction I could have hoped for with this. I'm so proud of you," Sokka smiled warmly, as Azula finally broke out of her shock to laugh softly, too.

"They're going to throw a fit, everyone's going to…!" Azula said, shaking her head. "This flag…! I don't think it can be here, I mean, it's… oh, fuck, it's the nicest thing anyone's done for me, Sokka, but why did you even…? It was a ton of work, you've been in the crafts' room every day for almost a whole month now? If not more often? I… I don't get it. Why…?"

"Why…?" Sokka bit his lip, as Azula stepped towards him. At this point, she had forgotten all about how cold it was, as she was so focused on her fellow winterover. "Huh. Well, if you really want to know…"

For a moment, she really thought he'd make a major confession, right then and there. She clung to that hope, because if it was going to happen, it was now or never…

Nothing prepared her for the next words he spoke, though:

"It's because of your Instagram."

The magic of the moment seemed to freeze in place. Azula blinked blankly, staring at Sokka in disbelief again as he breathed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck while grimacing.

"Yeah, reporting me to HR right away, eh?" he said, nervously. "I've followed you on Instagram for, uh, a while now. And you're the only account I follow. Because I didn't even have an Instagram until you mentioned it one day."

"Y-you… what?" Azula gasped. Sokka swallowed hard.

"I probably shouldn't have, but I looked up your account, and then I saw… well, all your latest posts are just pictures of snow. Nothing but snow," he said, nervously. "I checked what you'd posted beforehand, lots of nice landscapes and such, occasional pictures of your palace gardens and stuff? The family pets, too…"

"As well as a few pictures of myself, yes…" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled.

"Those were the best ones," he admitted, with a chuckle. "But… no pictures of you, ever since you got here. Just… lots of pictures of snow, where you can't really see anything nice about the South Pole. A picture of Aang's plane, captioned with…"

"'I wish that were me'?" Azula said, eyes wide. Sokka grimaced. "Oh, Sokka…"

"I just wanted to give you reasons to be happy where you were, even if you aren't all that happy," Sokka sighed. "I've tried to teach you physics but I know it has to suck to hear all these people talk about stuff you don't know much about except for the basics, and I know Aang's accidental snobbish attitude rubbed you the wrong way, and you hate two-minute showers, and you can't have a pet here or it'd freeze to death, you can't go to the movies to watch premieres, you can't sleep in a huge bed…"

"Uh, yeah, but Sokka…" Azula frowned, as he breathed deeply and finished his previous thoughts.

"So, well, I thought maybe doing this would encourage you, a little bit. I thought it might help you know that… that your presence here matters to me," he said, softly. "That you have a place here, no matter what anyone might say. And if the snow really bores you, well… we can always do other things. But, this way… there's something you can see in the snow, if just for a few more days, that I hope you'll like. We'll have to take the flags off soon, so I know it's kind of pointless, but I didn't finish it until two days ago, so I thought maybe I'd time things to do it on the sunset, but, uh… going by your reaction, maybe I played myself, eh?"

"In a lot more ways than you ever imagined, yeah," Azula said, with a weak grin. Sokka blinked blankly. "Sokka… goodness, you're too nice for your own good. Hell, I can't believe you…"

"You… can't?" he asked, with a soft whimper of a voice. Azula laughed, taking her hands up to her face before staring at Sokka intently.

"You goofball," she smiled fondly at him, shaking her head anew. "You know what my situation is. You've known since day one: my father sent me here to torment me. He wanted to punish me. He thought this would teach me to stop asking for things that I'm not supposed to be asking for. Remember?"

"U-uh… yeah?" Sokka bit his lip, eyeing her uneasily. Azula smiled, shaking her head.

"The Instagram posts are a misdirection, you ridiculous genius, you," she said. Sokka's eyes widened. "I had no idea you followed me at all, I…! What's your handle?"

"That's not important right now, is it?" Sokka asked, with a wary, nervous grin. Azula snorted.

"I bet it's neutrinoboy2000 or something like that…"

"N-no! I mean, w-what would the 2000 stand for, anyway…"

"Then it really is that? Great, then: I'll look you up," Azula grinned, as Sokka blushed over how predictable he was. "You really played yourself, damn you. I was posting all that because my father hasn't reached out to me, personally, a single time since I got here. He's absolutely getting all his news about me through Instagram, meaning, he's assumed his awful expectations have all come true, and that when I go back home, I'll be ready to play the submissive bland princess with no purpose in life but to pose for pictures and act nice and proper: if I take pictures of how great the station is, of the awesome times we all have together… he'd probably just decide it's unacceptable that I'm having fun and send for me in the middle of winter, if that's possible. I'm not exactly eager to let that happen, so…"

"So… you really weren't that bored?" Sokka asked, eyes wide. "Y-you don't hate the snow…?"

"Despite how long we've been standing in it today, no, I genuinely don't," Azula smiled, shaking her head at him. "Goodness, you're adorable and ridiculous. You really didn't have to go out of your way to do this, even if I had been feeling the way you thought I felt…"

"I did, though," Sokka smiled, gazing at her earnestly. "Azula… this place is pretty much a dream come true for me. All my life I've wanted to… to achieve lots of things I've been able to do here. I've fulfilled a lot of dreams and I've only been in the station for less than a year. Turns out I even got a pretty big professional breakthrough, by the standards of people our age, while I was here… I've learned lots of things, experienced life in ways I never had before. But the truth is, Azula, that as awesome as this place is… my absolute favorite thing about working in this station is that I got to meet you."

It couldn't be real. He hadn't actually said those words, with a straight face… she was definitely having some sort of strange brain-freeze, a completely ridiculous reaction over having stood out in the snow and the cold of winter for way too long…

But he had said that. He really had. And now he stood there, uneasily, smiling nervously at her, looking as though he were afraid he'd said the absolute worst thing he could have…

"S-so, uh, yeah. Well. That's what I, uh, probably should've said a while ago, but it never seemed to make sense to say it, I… I'm not even sure why I said it just now?" he admitted, flustered. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have…"

He had stayed. He had pushed everything aside for her, and he had stayed here through the winter, for her. He had crafted this flag, working constantly to make it look as good as he possibly could, no matter how difficult it was to design the peacock properly. He had seen her depressing Instagram posts, her claims of boredom… and he had assumed it was up to him to change what wasn't even a reality: she was having the time of her life in this place. She had never felt freer, she had never felt more alive…

There was but one thing missing to make the experience perfect. One thing she refused to dance around anymore. It had been too long, too much wasted time, and she was at her wits' end:

Sokka stopped talking when Azula stepped forward: her hands grabbed his hood, pulling him down to her level, before she pressed her cold lips to his.

He hadn't seen that coming, of course he hadn't, but Azula couldn't care less: she kissed him earnestly, eyes closed, putting her every contained emotion into the contact of their lips. How had he managed to be the perfect man for her on every possible level, Azula didn't know… but she stood here, in the snow, in front of her nation's flag as it rustled in the wind, as the flash of green of the sinking sunset burst through the sky, because he was. Because it didn't matter where he had come from, or wherever he intended to go after their isolation in the pole ended… the truth was that he had stolen her heart, whether by accident or not, across the months of their strengthening friendship. With every clumsy reaction to her bold approaches, with his every offer of comfort, with his every attempt to help her out whenever it seemed the situation was getting to her…

She had fallen in love with him, so deeply she had no doubt every neutrino crossing their bodies would realize as much, for she carried that knowledge in her every molecule, in her every atom. She had fallen for Sokka, far more thoroughly than she had ever intended to… and if the soft response he offered her was any indication, he might just have felt the same way about her.

She pulled back after a moment, missing his lips on hers immediately, but needing to gather herself as the wind buffeted them. Sokka clasped her shoulders, to ensure she remained stable, but his lips were parted as his eyes gazed at her in wonder. She smiled warmly, cupping his face with her mitten.

"A-a…" he blurted out, his voice cracking as Azula laughed softly at his reaction.

"Reporting me to HR yet?" she asked. "Come on, Sokka… you don't need me to spell it out even more clearly than this, do you?"

"I-I… might," he said, with a surprisingly clever, knowing grin. Azula raised an eyebrow, expectantly. "I'm… not that bright, you know? Maybe… maybe I need you to do that again, maybe I'll get it next time."

"Ah, really?" Azula laughed, as did Sokka. "Might be I ought to go the extra mile, maybe manufacture a Canadian flag, put it next to the Burmese one…"

"No, no, no, no need for that, just do what you did again, I promise I'll get it this time," Sokka laughed, leaning closer as he raised his own hands to clasp her face.

Azula smirked knowingly, pushing herself up to catch his lips with hers a second time around… and this time, he was bolder. This time, his arms shifted down to encircle her waist, pulling her in as Azula pressed warm, eager kisses to his waiting lips. The sky above them only had started to be dotted with stars in the midst of so many different hues of blue, but the glittering brightness of those sparks in the sky fell upon the pair regardless… bringing forth the first day of true winter, a winter they'd spend together, no longer holding back their surging emotions and affection for each other. That moment, by the ceremonial South Pole, marked a new beginning for the smiling, brightened pair who only pulled back after a chilly breeze reminded them of where they were, and of how dangerous their passion could be, if enjoyed in the middle of a frozen wasteland, many degrees below freezing temperatures.

"We… have to get out of here. And back into the station…" Azula said, her white breaths buffeting against Sokka's own. "Or else I'll end up riding your lap into that green-flashing sunset right here, and I don't think that will be a good idea in the ice."

"Y-you mean… oh, heh. My, uh… wait, huh?" Sokka blinked blankly, a wild grin of utmost disbelief spreading over his face.

"I suppose it would be an interesting experiment: how long before two idiots fucking in the snow become icicles?" she smirked, as Sokka let out a nervous laugh. "Though I bet you must already know the answer to that…"

"I-I just… guess, well, we'd definitely get hypothermia, but…" Sokka blinked blankly: Azula laughed, clasping his hand and yanking him away from the flag he had set moments ago. The station awaited them… and she certainly hoped the warmth of their room would be ideal for everything she intended to do with him next.

No more wasting time, no more chasing each other in circles… clearly, they had given each other every wrong signal while assuming they were sending out the right ones. If only they were half as good at understanding each other as DOMs were at grasping neutrinos… the thought brought a laugh out of her lips. Oh, they would work on that later, of course they would… but for now, they had finally crossed the damn hurdle, the line that had stood in their way so far, and she would make the most of it, for sure.

They climbed the stairs into the station, and Sokka rushed ahead to open the door for Azula. She shuddered once they weren't in the freezing cold anymore – they had spent hours outside too when reflagging the path, warming up in the Lab after making it the whole way there… they really should have warmed up in a better way, though, in the amazing way they would next. She grinned wildly as she reached for Sokka's hand, reeling him into the changing room where they removed their winter coats: Azula didn't even let Sokka prop his own up on the appropriate rack before pushing him back into an available wall, kissing him powerfully, fiercely… he was still cold, but the warmth she offered him infused him with energy anew. He tossed his mittens, the gloves underneath them too, and his cold hands reached up to her face: Azula flinched at the coldness, and Sokka smiled apologetically for it… but she clasped his hands, making him keep them in place, right before diving in to kiss him before he could apologize for anything, as he was wont to do.

She shrugged off her own mittens and gloves by then, running her hands over that strong chest she had been lucky to be in contact with lately. A soft moan spilled from her lips, a sound of sheer happiness upon finally attaining what had seemed inexplicably out of reach… and Sokka groaned at her sound. Not only did that enable Azula to become more adventurous, for his parted lips were a wordless invitation for her tongue to lunge through them, but it brought her to laugh softly: she could feel the twitching in his trousers when that sound left her throat. It almost seemed like he had wanted this every bit as badly as she did… that thought brought her to laugh out loud, breaking their kiss… only for Sokka to whimper, needily, pulling her face closer anew so he could be the one exploring her mouth this time. Azula let out an approving moan next, hands trailing over his strong arms as she shivered pleasantly against him.

"C'mon…" she mumbled against him, smirking. "Our room's…"

"At the other end of the station?" he asked. She laughed, pressing another kiss to his lips.

"We'll have every chance to do whatever we want once we're there," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "More of this… and more of other things, too."

She wasn't sure if she sensed hesitation from him, but even if that was what it was, he kissed her again. Eventually, she'd remark they should have been doing this for ages, that being roommates for about four months should have meant they'd let loose sooner than this… but not for now. Not when she could enjoy his tender kisses, packed with so much emotion and need that her every fear of not appealing to him had faded to oblivion.

She was the one who dragged him out of the coat room, in the end – the other winterovers outside, enjoying the sunset, would likely come back inside eventually, and she was done with interruptions and sabotage. Their relationship would reach whatever heights they decided to take it to, and it would be up to them to choose what those heights might be, them and no one else.

Thus, they progressed through the station's long central corridor, kissing frequently as they walked awkwardly, constantly holding each other. Sokka wound up pressing Azula to one of the doors that separated the two different sections of the station, finally letting loose with his own kissing, letting his tongue probe her thoroughly, his hands catching hers – and she took the opportunity to intertwine their fingers. Her legs trapped one of his, and she grinded against his thigh slightly… only to feel the bulge between his legs twitching against her own upper thigh. She couldn't help but laugh at his most instinctive reactions, and Sokka smiled guiltily for it before kissing her again.

More wonderful stumbling across the corridors saw them bumping into the greenhouse door, eventually into the sauna's too… one day, Azula suspected, she'd have her way with him in there. The one and only warm place in this whole station… it was probably a ridiculous fantasy in some regards, but she needed to make it happen all the same. Sokka wouldn't let go of her hands other than to wrap her in his embrace, exhibiting very little shyness anymore. Whatever doubts he had, it seemed he'd forsaken them for now, and Azula was thrilled for it.

Finally, they reached their dorms: the corridor was narrow enough that they had even more chances to stumble against the walls, kissing eagerly and laughing whenever they parted, until finally, Sokka's hand found the doorknob to their room and pulled it open. Azula yanked him inside, closing the door immediately after he was safely with her, and then she turned back towards him, kissing him greedily once more. Sokka's hands cupped her face, the nape of her neck, and he'd occasionally open his eyes as though to confirm this was really happening: when they made eye-contact in the middle of a kiss, Azula's whole body thrummed with excitement and anticipation. She didn't close her eyes again yet, and neither did he… and somehow, that only stirred her arousal all the more as she walked him back towards their beds.

"My place or yours?" she asked, teasingly. Sokka laughed between kisses, caressing her neck gently, and Azula hummed approvingly at that.

"What's the difference, at this point?" he asked. Azula smiled.

"I have no idea… but it merited asking anyway," she said. Sokka grinned, kissing her anew…

And he let her choose his bed, rather than hers. She pushed him gently until he was sitting on it, and she knelt before him to forcibly remove his thick boots. Sokka laughed, helping her as best he could, wishing they could pull them off without cutting off their lengthy kiss, but they were tricky to remove. He could only kiss the top of her head repeatedly until finally his feet were free… and then Azula rose up again, shoving him further onto the bed before removing her own boots.

Sokka leaned in awkwardly, reaching for her to help her undo the laces. Azula smiled at his eagerness, and he helped her pull off the footwear too… only to wind up pinned down on the bed by his lover once she was finally free from the trappings of her boots. He was heady, his brain sending all sorts of jolts and pleasant signals to him as she recklessly attacked him with voracious kisses…

Then, she started tugging at his sweater. Sokka's eyes widened when she yanked it upwards, and he broke off the kiss suddenly, to Azula's surprise. She raised her eyebrows at his reaction, finding he was blushing profusely.

"A-Azula…"

"What?" she smiled awkwardly. "You're not ready for this yet, by any chance?"

"I… mean, maybe I am, emotionally anyway, b-but you should know something," he swallowed hard. Azula frowned, puzzled by his hesitation anew. "I… uh, well, you know how most of my studies in physics are theoretical?"

"Right…?" she blinked blankly. Sokka gulped.

"Let's just my experience with sex is of a similar nature…?"

Her eyes widened. His cheeks blushed. Her jaw dropped.

"You've… never had sex before?" she asked. Sokka gritted his teeth, as though he were utterly ashamed of the truth he barely could bring himself to say out loud. "Hell… huh. Huh. I guess that explains a few things, actually."

"It does? In… a bad way?" Sokka asked, grimacing. Azula chuckled and shook her head.

"Not really, no," she admitted, caressing his face gently as she sat up, on his lap. Sokka gulped as he followed suit, sitting upright in hopes to kiss her again, if she truly wasn't appalled by his inexperience. "For a moment I just wondered how on earth is it possible that a man as good-looking as yourself would have spent so many years without any action of this nature… then I remembered we've been roommates with no supervision for about four months, and you've persistently managed to not pick up any signs I dropped around you, tossed at your face, screamed as loudly as I could in front of you…?"

"Y-you think I didn't, but I did," Sokka said, with a small voice. Azula gasped, looking at him in disbelieving outrage. "I did notice, but I wasn't sure if you were really going for what I hoped you were going for…"

"Right, I suppose I was very subtle about the nature of my interest in you," Azula said, with a teasing grin. Sokka blushed.

"You're literally a princess and the most beautiful woman I've ever known," Sokka blurted out. "Was I seriously supposed to think you were in my league?"

"Uh… yeah. You were," Azula said, with a weak smile. Sokka blushed profusely. "You certainly have a distorted self-image if you think you're somewhere below my league… maybe most girls didn't try to hit on you because you're too good for them, but I have a slightly inflated self-perception and I decided I wanted you anyway, regardless of who deserves what…"

"Inflated? You're being ridiculous," Sokka laughed, gazing at her warmly. "You're amazing, Azula. Most people need years to grasp what you've learned of physics in a few months, they'd be crying and whining constantly over leaving a life of privilege to wind up in the South Pole, and yet you've overcome every challenge, no matter how unprepared you might have felt to face them… you're incredible. Most of us here, we've worked towards being here all our lives… you got to that state of mind in this short time, and it's amazing that you did."

"Well… I don't know if it really is," Azula smiled, trailing her hand over his hair delicately. "It probably went that smoothly because of you, if anything…"

"I… no, I didn't do anything that big…" Sokka laughed… and to his surprise, Azula nodded.

"Yeah, well, I mean because surviving in this place, getting adjusted, learning physics, all of it was easier than getting you to understand I wanted you. So yes, focusing on that particular predicament made everything else a tad bit less demanding," Azula smirked. Sokka's cheeks heated up as she laughed softly. "I really had no way of knowing if you just found me utterly unappealing or if you were just shy…"

"How could I ever find you unappealing?" Sokka said, gripping her arms gently. "But… you did say you couldn't really have much of a relationship with anyone who wasn't from your country. So, well…"

"I said I couldn't marry them, according to Burmese law," Azula said, leaning closer, prodding his nose with hers. "But we're not in Burma right now, are we?"

Sokka's eyes widened as he blushed crimson once more. Azula smirked before kissing him anew, hugging him tenderly, pressing her lips lovingly to his repeatedly as though to drive across that her nation's laws didn't matter in the slightest to her right now. She wanted him, and if he wanted her, too, what was there for them to ponder?

Still, she was slower now. If he was new to this, all of it, she had to take a wholly different approach with him. How hadn't Suki ever thought to bring up she and Sokka had never gone that far? Was it that dating for a week was implied to be a relatively chaste thing…? For someone who had no shortage of one-night-stands to her name as Azula did, it wasn't an obvious implication in the least… still, it opened up a remarkably fun possibility, didn't it? He had been her mentor in countless ways ever since she had arrived at the station… it was time to return the favor, it seemed.

"Alright, then… we'll do this slow," she declared, breathily. Sokka swallowed hard, cheeks reddening: she wasn't appalled, then? Moreover… going slow meant they would take their time? His heart stirred at that thought. He raised his gaze to meet hers, finding her face merely a breath away from his own.

"H-how…?" he started, before clearing his throat. "I mean, uh… should we? I guess we don't have anything too urgent to do, but, well, I don't know if…"

"You're silly," Azula declared, and Sokka smiled shyly. "We don't have any immediate, urgent problems to resolve. But if you're worried…"

She pulled out her phone, setting it on the nightstand between their beds. Sokka hummed, following her example, and Azula clasped his hand once it was free anew.

"If anything serious happens, someone will text or call us," she said, simply. "Though… I guess the satellite's down right now, huh?"

"It is," Sokka grinned, smiling awkwardly at her. "There's supposed to be some big sunset dinner later, I think?"

"Well, then, we'll have leftovers if this takes us too long," Azula teased him. Sokka chuckled as she pulled him close. "We owe it to ourselves anyway. And it's my turn to become the teacher, this time."

"Oh? O-oh…" Sokka blinked blankly, as Azula pulled his hands towards her body.

He shivered when she brought his palms over her shoulders, dragging his hands gently over her torso. His mouth ran dry as he gaped at her, wordlessly, and he flinched – despite not pulling away – once she placed his palms over her breasts. Azula closed her eyes and arched her body into his hands, lightly grinding against him again.

"Well… just so you know, everything is allowed right now," she smiled, encouraging him to knead her mounds over her clothes. "I doubt you'll get crazy ideas yet, you're quite new at this, it seems… so, for now, you have full freedom to act on your wishes. You can touch anything you want to touch… kiss everything you want to kiss. Thus, with those very basic ground rules… what do you want to do now, Sokka?"

His mind appeared to have stopped working: Azula smiled as she wondered if his blood flow was simply rushing south by now, and he could scarcely string two thoughts together anymore. She tsked, shaking her head and prodding his nose with hers.

"Got to make it more academic for you? Let's make it an oral examination then… uh, well, not that kind of oral yet, we'll get there later," Azula smirked. Sokka let out a nervous laugh in response. "So… right now, we've made out and removed our shoes and we're safe from any interruptions until we choose to stop. Thus… what do you want to do? Option A: make out some more. Option B: stick your hand under my shirt. Option C: start taking off my clothes. Option D: … watch Kate and Leopold."

Her final option saw him bursting with laughter, dropping his head against her shoulder. Azula smiled, caressing his hair before kissing his ear softly.

"Come on, now… four options are right there, right in front of you," she smiled. "Pick one."

"You're… you're a real tease, aren't you?" Sokka laughed. "Hell, it crossed my mind that night, it did, that… that might have been what you were going for, but really…"

"Oh, so it occurred to you and yet you left me hanging for so long?" Azula gasped, feigning outrage. "Bad, bad Sokka…"

"I misunderstood a lot of things, clearly," Sokka smiled, cupping her face again. "Damn it… what do you want me to do?"

"Not important," Azula pointed out, smirking. "I want a lot of things and I'm not leaving this bed until I get them, but I can be patient and teach you the ropes anyhow. But you're the one making this call, thus… go for it."

"M-making out some more," Sokka mumbled, then, blushing crimson. Azula chuckled, shaking her head.

"You're too buff and handsome to be this shy, it's not fair to me," she responded, though she complied with his request.

Sokka's choice provided him with a chance to think things through, to prepare himself for what was next. Azula swayed suggestively against him, but she broke off their lengthy, deep kiss briefly to clarify something:

"The options I've suggested aren't mutually exclusive, you know?" she whispered. "Whenever you're ready…"

Sokka gulped but nodded. His hands rose nervously to her sweater, to the hem of it… and while he had dressed her once before, nervously enough at the time, his heart was drumming twice as fast and hard as it had been that night in the sauna. He pulled the fabric up slowly, and her shirt rode up slightly over her body when he did: seeing her skin exposed, knowing she wanted him to touch her… it induced a wonderfully feverish sensation in him as he pulled the sweater over Azula's head: she grinned brightly once that was out of the way, clasping his hands anew to encourage him further. Sokka's throat was dry as his fingers came into direct contact with her flanks, underneath her shirt, and Azula flinched slightly over the caress of his still cold hands against her warm skin… yet again, she arched into him, swaying and compelling him to go higher, as the sweetest goosebumps ran across her skin.

"New quiz…" Azula hummed, guiding his hands while they remained inside her shirt. "Option A: grope my breasts over the bra. Option B: take off all the clothes in the way right now. Option C… be sneaky and slip your hands under the bra too. Option D… run away to the crafts' room to make a new flag, I guess?"

"I… wasn't trying to run away from you by doing that," Sokka chuckled. Azula smiled, as his hands dared move higher. "I wanted to do something to help you feel at ease here, I already told you so…"

"And it's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me, along with becoming the winterover with me, there's no denying that," Azula laughed, kissing his cheek. "But we could've been doing this anyway, and you still could've done the flag thing after we had, uh, one-on-one lessons of this nature, maybe…"

"Maybe," Sokka smiled, biting his lower lip as he readied himself to cup her breasts…

Azula moaned, closing her eyes as she relished in the feel of his hands. Sokka's cheeks warmed as he groped her with a lot more intensity than he had intended to: her breasts were soft and smooth, and…

Oh, he wanted to do what she'd suggested, but did he dare?

One look at her earnest ecstasy upon being touched by him compelled him to go forward. He gritted his teeth before pulling his hands back… before tugging the bra's fabric nervously and sliding one hand at a time to cup her breasts directly. Azula's moan was more urgent this time, and Sokka was surprised that a moan of his own burst from his lips: her nipples were pressed against his palms, they felt delightful there, and they were perking up and growing more erect by the second…

Azula laughed as Sokka continued to knead her skin, throwing her head back in sheer delight. She reeled herself in to yank his head up, to kiss him fiercely, and Sokka responded with a groggy grin.

"You… like this?" he asked. Azula smirked.

"Do you really need to… hmm, ask?" she sighed, clasping his hands from over her clothes. "That's good… that's right. Oh, damn, you should've done this from the moment we met…"

"No, I shouldn't have," Sokka laughed, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to her neck. Azula whimpered further for it. "That would've been beyond inappropriate…"

"Fine, the second night, at least…" Azula moaned heartily, and Sokka chuckled as his lips rose: her natural scent infused him with more courage than he had anticipated to feel, and while it was difficult to remember whatever he'd read and seen about sex right now, it did seem like her neck was sensitive to his mouth, so perhaps focusing on it wouldn't be a bad idea…

She let out another joyful laugh as he continued to kiss her neck, hands fondling her chest smoothly still – goodness, he had no recollection of ever touching anything softer than her breasts –, and his heart raced as she pulled closer to him, spreading her legs completely so their bodies would collide… only, they were still wearing too many clothes, a realization that displeased Azula profoundly upon realizing it…

"Skin-to-skin… is my favorite way of going about this," Azula declared, letting her hands reach for his back, to yank his sweater and shirt up in one go. Sokka gasped, needing to pull his hands out of her shirt so she could remove his own upper body garments… and she smiled voraciously at the sight of his strong chest and chiseled abdomen. "Fucking finally…"

"Finally…?" Sokka raised his eyebrows as Azula smiled brightly.

"You've tempted me too damn much in the gym… for all this time," she grinned, leaning in to touch his muscled body directly. Sokka gulped but smiled. "Ah, damn it, what are you doing to me…?"

"I'm, uh… not doing anything right now, actually," he frowned, puzzled. Azula hummed, caressing his chest greedily. "And I should be. So I… am taking off your shirt."

"Please do," Azula moaned, trailing her fingers over his lower belly. Sokka drew in a sharp breath, and he got to work right away.

Her shirt slid off her body quickly, and her hands immediately returned to his strong biceps once they could… though she finally could sway against him, skin-to-skin, as she had intended. She laughed at the pleasant sensation, at the immediate intimacy, and raised his head so she could kiss his lips tenderly.

"You… really like this so far, huh?" Sokka asked, swallowing dryly once they parted anew. Azula nodded. "Am I annoying you by asking that question too much?"

"You're being terribly Canadian about this, yes," Azula acknowledged, causing Sokka to burst with laughter… to press his face to her shoulder, only for Azula to hoist her chest in his direction. His laughter froze on his face, though a smile still decorated his features as his heart raced faster still, and Azula could feel it against her own skin. "If I gave you a blowjob, do you think there's any chance you wouldn't like it?"

He froze where he sat, glancing at her as though she had made an impossible, unthinkable suggestion… Azula smirked, tugging his wolf's tail back to kiss his lips quickly.

"We're both ridiculously attracted to each other, Sokka. At least, I know I am to you," she said. "Unless I outright tell you to stop doing something, you can at least assume it's fine, and if I moan like I have so far, it means it's much better than fine. Understood?"

"F-fair. Good signals, all of them," Sokka grinned, awkwardly.

"As for the blowjob… like I said before, we'll get to that later," she winked at him. Sokka swallowed dryly: if she kept that up, he was going to explode right where he was, without any direct contact between her and his shaft… "First, deliver the obvious answer for the next question: what do you do now?"

"I… remove the bra," Sokka said. Azula smiled.

"I liked having your hands over them. Do that again after you're done taking it off, if you please…"

She wrapped her arms around his neck, amusing herself by kissing him and distracting him from his new task. He had no doubt the clasp of the bra was no more difficult than a regular button, of course it wasn't, but maybe his trembling hands were the problem, or his lack of experience, or his insurmountable anticipation…

Before long, he was laughing hopelessly as Azula smiled, covering his face with reassuring kisses. He groaned after a while, pressing his face to her chest.

"I can't believe I'm really going to be that guy. The one who's finally going to get laid… and can't remove the bra," he chuckled. Azula laughed too, stroking his hair affectionately.

"If you want the truth, it's just something you need practice with," she said. "Don't worry, I'll just wear sports bras for the next few weeks. Until your hands stop shaking whenever you're stripping me naked."

"I… oh, hell. Okay. Okay. Thank you," Sokka laughed, eyeing her with an apologetic, disbelieving smile: they would do this again, or at least, she thought they would. As much as it might have been obvious to anyone else, it wasn't quite that obvious for him until she had stated as much. Azula kissed the smile off his lips… then reached for her back.

She kept his hands on the bra's fabric, so he could see the trick to it once she unhooked it. Sokka hummed appreciatively, and Azula smirked before hooking it again.

"You try it now," she said. Sokka laughed and nodded.

"Please, work with me…" he said, with a small voice.

It took him a moment, but the clasp came undone indeed. Azula laughed at his enthusiasm over his success… and then laughed again when he froze on the spot, once Azula shrugged the bra down her arms. Her exposed breasts, peaked with pert nipples, enraptured him immediately.

"Like what you see?" Azula smiled. Sokka couldn't seem to respond with anything but further dry swallowing. "Still there, Sokka?"

"N-no. Probably died and went to heaven, I guess," he said, still with a small voice. "Oh, fuck…"

"Never saw any in person, did you?" Azula laughed, clasping his hands anew after shrugging the bra off completely. "Well, then… new quiz, I suppose."

"U-uh…" Sokka swallowed hard, looking at her with uncertainty. Azula smirked.

"Option A… kiss them."

"Holy shit…"

"Option B… grope them, which you already did, but now you can look at them too," Azula shrugged. "Option C… suck on them."

"Y-you're not serious…" Sokka whimpered, eyes wide. Azula laughed, running her fingers through his hair.

"Option D… put your face between them, I suppose."

"Wait, wasn't D always the joke option? Azula…!"

"Option E!" she exclaimed, grinning wickedly as Sokka gaped at her, eyes as wide as they could go. "Put my sweater on again and say I'll catch a cold if I'm too exposed in the South Pole."

"I…! Oh, fuck," Sokka tried not to burst out laughing, but he failed. He threw his head back at first, then forward, against her shoulder. Azula chuckled too, caressing his shoulders gently, pressing many kisses upon his exposed skin. "W-what did you want me to do, though? Pounce on you right then and there?"

"Sure, would've been fun," Azula smirked, nudging him playfully. Sokka laughed, raising his head to gaze at her tenderly.

"Well, I'm sorry for sabotaging your wicked plans by being a decent guy," he said. Azula sighed, shaking her head.

"I just know how to pick 'em, don't I? The most decent guy in the station, what a terrible thing it is to fall for him, of all people," she smirked, caressing his hair again before kissing his brow. "You were ridiculously endearing with your every dismissal of my every hint, you know? The more you showed me what a gentleman you are, the more I wanted to climb on your lap, just like this. Damn you for seducing me with kindness…"

"I'm terrible that way, yes," Sokka said, dramatically. Azula chuckled, clasping his face between her hands.

"So? What's it going to be, Sokka?"

He bit his lip before reaching up with his hands, doing what he'd done before… and yet now that Azula was so exposed, it was ten times more stimulating than it already had been. As his mouth remained free for now, Azula took to swapping further deep kisses with him, constantly swaying against him as he caressed her breasts softly.

"Say the word… if you're ready to go further," she whispered against his lips before pressing a quick kiss to them. Sokka swallowed hard, trapping her nipples between his index and middle fingers. Azula whimpered pleasantly for the pressure. "Hmm, that's too mischievous for a nice guy, Sokka… you're going to end up convincing me that I pegged you wrong…"

"Would that be so disappointing…?" Sokka asked. Azula smirked.

"Nice, mischievous, kind of a troublemaker… I think I'll like every side of you, damn it," she admitted, kissing him one more time. Sokka's heart raced upon hearing those words, and he smiled blissfully for it: how on earth had she grown to like him that much? He couldn't make heads or tails of it, but he cherished it so much…

He had to go for it, then. He had to keep pushing forward, for Azula's sake. She'd enjoy it, for sure…

"I'm… going to kiss them now," he announced. Azula smirked.

"Nice. Be my guest," she whispered, hoisting herself slightly so he could press his face to her breasts.

He did as much, burying his face in her chest as he laughed in bliss. She cushioned him so smoothly, so softly… he had never known a feeling quite like this one. He was so content, so welcome, utterly free to test boundaries with no fear of judgment… even then, he hesitated, for an instant. Thus, he decided to start slowly, kissing her sternum before moving to her left breast. Azula moaned already, feeling his lips traveling smoothly over the mound, teasingly, his breath tickling her skin… then his lips were on her nipple, and to her surprise, what started as a tender kiss soon turned into suckling. Her cries poured easily from her throat… and she found he was groaning, just as well. If he already liked tasting her, she couldn't imagine how much better it would be once his mouth found other highly sensitive parts of her body…

He continued to grope and caress her breasts, sucking gently on the nipples in turns until he seemed to have lost all sense of self-restraint. His hands didn't tremble much anymore, perhaps reassured upon knowing she was enjoying herself blissfully… and that meant it was, presumably, time for the next stage.

"Okay, now…" Azula said, biting her lip as she raised Sokka's head, almost unwillingly, for his mouth had felt delightful upon her sensitive nipples. She kissed his lips as he gaped at her cluelessly. "Thank you. That was damn good. Even better because you were the one doing it…"

"I want to do it again already and I literally just stopped," Sokka confessed, with a soft laugh. "Am I a pervert?"

"You might be. The good news is so am I, though, so I won't judge you for that," Azula smiled, pressing her brow to his. "But… it's time to move on to advanced lessons now."

"U-uh… oh. Oh, damn," Sokka blinked blankly as Azula pulled back, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"What do you think you should do next?" she asked. Sokka gulped.

"I… uh," he hesitated, unsure if he was reading the signs right… as usual, second-guessing himself. "I-I could… grab your ass."

"Ah? Want me close to you again that badly, do you?" Azula smiled. "Well, good. It was about time you displayed some initiative, if just that way."

Sokka grinned, as Azula clasped his hands and raised them to her waist. It was up to Sokka to slide them further down, fingers spread open… then he kneaded her rear, much as he had with her breasts, and Azula hummed appreciatively as she grinded against him anew.

"You should be taking off more clothes now that you have the chance, though…" she said, smirking. Sokka gulped. "Now that your hands are in the right place… please do that."

"Okay… alright," Sokka nodded, reeling his hands back to undo the button of her trousers.

That was much easier, much more familiar, and so, Azula's legs were bare quickly, and she rolled off him briefly to help him in the process. She tugged off her own socks, leaving herself in nothing but her panties, and Sokka's eyes nearly bulged as he gaped at them. Azula laughed at his reaction, then tugged his trousers gently. Sokka nodded wordlessly, hoisting himself up so she could pull that garment off him… and she hissed with delight upon running her hands over his muscular legs next, a devious smirk across her face.

"The fun of stripping each other… is groping plenty in the process, you see," she laughed, right after tossing his pants aside. Sokka laughed, cupping her face to kiss her anew. "And now… I could quiz you again, but I bet you're going to be shy and cute instead of doing what I want you to do. So…"

"You should tell me what you want, yeah," Sokka urged her, prodding her nose with his. Azula smirked.

"You're game for going further, then?"

"Of course, I… oh. Oh," His eyes widened as Azula clasped his hand, dragging it smoothly and slowly down her body, all across her sternum, then down over her abdomen, teasing her own navel with his fingers… and then her pelvis jolted with delight when his fingertips touched it. Sokka swallowed hard as she guided him further south: his mouth opened with a wordless gasp that appeared to be moments away from becoming her name. "Ahh… Ahh…!"

"Relax… and let's get this going," Azula chuckled, running her free hand over her hair, which she flipped backwards – the ponytail she used to wear had long loosened up by now, and she had no idea where the hair tie might have ended up at this point, but who cared, anyhow?

Certainly not her, not when she guided his fingers into her underwear, which she hadn't yet removed. A throaty moan poured from her lips as his trembling fingers touched her intimately, and she let him cup her sex at first, laughing at his shyness even at this point.

"Alright… that's the general area, sure. But, see…" she smirked, biting her lip suggestively as she spread her legs further: her nether lips spread open too, and Sokka gasped upon feeling her wet heat directly with his hand. "And now you know just what you've done to me over four months of keeping me on my toes, Sokka."

"W-woah. Woah…" he smiled awkwardly, unable to resist the temptation to let his fingers venture into her folds. Azula hummed again, moaning when his palm casually rubbed against her clit.

"This all feels great, but… come here. Come on, over here…" she laughed, reeling his hand back so his middle finger's pad would land right on her clit. She shuddered and laughed anew, her body rejecting the sudden burst of lightning arousal at first, but the instinctive reaction would fade away after he touched her as erotically as she knew he wanted to. "That's… the clit. The key to driving me nuts, so to speak…"

"Oh, damn," Sokka chuckled, rubbing the nub softly: Azula nearly crumbled in his arms, letting go of his hand only to retain her balance by clinging to him. "Should I stop…?"

"N-no, no, no, don't you ever think about it…" she moaned, pressing her face to his shoulder. "Keep going. Oh, shit, I'm going to finish before you do, that's almost embarrassing but to be fair, I've kind of wanted this for too long…"

"Wait, you're that close?" Sokka asked, eyes open wide. Azula hummed, with a guilty smile.

"You're not seriously silly enough to think the only one who's crazy aroused is you, are you?" she asked. "Oh, I want you… I want you everywhere, Sokka. Just keep going…"

He blushed as he obeyed, as she laid comfortably nestled in his free arm, looped around her waist. After a moment, though, Sokka's mischief reared its head anew… and said hand slid higher, to cup her breast. Azula gasped, looking at him in delighted surprise… and he kissed her, moaning against her own moans as he fondled her in two different and exciting ways…

"D-don't stop now, d-don't stop, don't…!" Azula said: to Sokka's surprise, she started bucking herself against his hand of her own accord, and then a different moan burst from her lips, an urgent one that accompanied her frantic motions perfectly…

He gasped in amazement as she continued to grind into his touch, a blissful smile across her face as she finally reached those heights by being intimate with Sokka. How she had longed for it, curse it all…

"Good… ah, good. N-now you know… what a female orgasm looks like," she laughed, kissing his lips gratefully. "Oh, that felt so damn good…"

"I'm glad to hear it," Sokka grinned, pressing his brow to hers. "You're… you're so wet now, damn."

"Your doing, that is," Azula grinned, gazing intently at him. "And I suppose it's my turn to return the favor…"

"U-uh, return it?" Sokka's eyes widened as Azula's hand trailed down over his defined torso. "Azula, you probably shouldn't. Touch me for one second and I'll probably make a fool of myself…"

"You weren't at it that long and I was a fool of myself in front of you, so do excuse me… but that's what returning the favor entails," she smirked. Sokka snorted, eyeing her in disbelief as she kissed him quickly. "Besides… it's fine for you to finish once or twice before we get to the most advanced lesson. I'll get you up and running as many times as you need me to."

"That… shouldn't be so hot," Sokka said, swallowing hard as Azula's hand cupped his erection. "Oh, fucking hell… oh, no, oh no, don't…"

"You're really sure about that?" Azula smiled, pulling her hand back. "Sokka…"

"O-okay, okay, do…" Sokka sighed, biting his lip. "Y-you have to understand, no one's ever touched it but – holy shit. Oh, holy shit…!"

Azula didn't hold back this time, upon receiving Sokka's clearance: her hand tugged at the elastic band of his boxers, and her hand slipped inside the underwear, trailing her fingertips gently over his shaft.

"Too much…?" Azula asked. He threw his head back and shivered pleasantly against her touch.

"N-no, no, oh, hell, no…" he whimpered, battling the mixed urges to put a stop to the powerfully swirling sensations that clouded his better judgment, and to beg her to keep going. "Oh, goddamn it, Azula…"

"I'm getting acquainted with it, so far… might be easier if I take off your boxers for that, though," Azula admitted, pressing her lips to his cheek. "What do you say?"

"I-I… I don't know, I don't know…" Sokka gritted his teeth, and Azula smiled warmly.

"Need me to slow down…?"

"No… oh, fuck, I don't know, I… I want to kiss you all over, and touch you everywhere, and go down on you, and… and fuck you until we black out and… oh fucking hell…"

"That so?" Azula smirked: finally he was letting go of his restraints, finally, he was blurting out every desire he hadn't dared embrace so far… "Then… what are you waiting for?"

She wasn't sure he would take her up on that particular taunt… but she wasn't disappointed at all when he did: suddenly they were lying on the bed again, and for once, he was the one on top: to her surprise, his fingers returned to her own groin, teasing her sensitive clit again as she laughed against his lips at his newfound eagerness. Sokka groaned as he bucked gently against her hand, his mind blank, his body as good as a direct channel to every single thought, every single fantasy, whether carnal or not, he'd ever had about Azula. He didn't simply kiss her lustfully: the kiss was packed with so much emotion Azula could have sworn nobody had ever kissed her like that before.

"Go on…" Azula moaned when their lips parted briefly: Sokka returned to kissing her then, but she continued to speak against his mouth. "Touch me more… kiss me everywhere… you can go down on me. It's… not that hard, not that different…"

Sokka let out a shaky breath before claiming another kiss: Azula took to yanking down his underwear, and he did the same with hers. He pulled away after a moment, brow dotted with droplets of sweat, blue eyes glistening with excitement as Azula hummed against him… but that moment's hesitation saw her taking the initiative in his place. Once more, she climbed atop him, focused now on yanking down his underwear and tossing it aside.

His erection sprung out from his final garment, and Azula admired it for a moment, impressed and amused. Sokka's rational mind appeared moments away from returning, but before it did, he smirked slightly at her evidently positive reaction… and then said rational mind fled anew when Azula leaned down on his crotch, wrapping her hand around the base of his cock.

"W-woah, woah, A-Azula…!" he stammered, gripping the fabric of the sheets underneath him…

Her warm breath enveloped his manhood, and he stopped breathing for a moment before her lips touched him.

Of all things he had believed they might do, let alone during a first time, this certainly wasn't one of them, regardless of her earlier words… and yet Azula was providing it freely, happily, her head bobbing back and forth, lips applying perfect pressure over his shaft, her tongue sliding over the underside of his cock…

It was too much. When the tip of his manhood brushed against the roof of her mouth, Sokka yelped and climaxed… and Azula didn't stop sucking at him, didn't stop stimulating him, until he was well and truly spent.

"F-fuck… that quickly, huh?" he whimpered, remorsefully. Azula laughed, pulling back after swallowing: Sokka's eyes widened upon realizing as much. "Hey… hey! Y-you could have…!"

"What, spat it out? I'm sorry, but I'd rather not walk all the way to the bathroom to rinse my mouth, or find anything to clean the mess I'd make in here if I spat it on the floor," Azula laughed, shaking her head. "Don't be silly. I'll just… get you back on track now."

"You… will?" Sokka asked, eyes wide.

"I'm going to be doing this with you for the foreseeable future, you know?" Azula said, leaning down and providing his cock with a lavish lick. Sokka moaned in response. "We're sleeping together… and that means we have time to get used to all this. But you know what? I'm greedy… and I like you. I like you way more than I should. Thus… I'll take this chance to help you enjoy a blowjob in full now that you've just finished. It'll be a while before you're ready for more, so… you can feel it in full now, much as you will over the next few months, anyway."

"Y-you mean… we're going to do this all over the station?" Sokka asked, laughing softly. Azula let out a mischievous chuckle as she licked him again. "Or in the lab…"

"There's a bed in the lab… what else would it possibly be good for, anyway?" Azula smirked, winking at him from her position between his legs. Sokka sighed happily as she engulfed him anew.

"This is so surreal… so surreal," he laughed, burying his face in his hands. "You're… you're giving me head and I'm… hey. I've got to eat you out too…"

"Sure you do, you glutton…"

"Seriously!" Sokka laughed: Azula did the same, pressing further kisses to his sensitive manhood. "I… I have so many things I want to do with you. We're already doing things and I still want more… I'm a greedy idiot, aren't I?"

"That's pretty sexy, mind you, but sure," Azula smiled, taking him in again.

Sokka laughed, watching her sucking him off once again: it was a delightful visual, and now that the initial peak had receded, his shyness and self-awareness ought to return… and yet they didn't. His previous petition to touch her and kiss her only seemed stronger now…

When he judged his cock was erect enough, he sat up again on the bed and reached down for Azula, pulling her away from his manhood. She raised an eyebrow, but returned the kiss he offered her without complaint.

"My turn," he said. Azula bit her lip and grinned.

"You're adventurous, huh?" she said. Sokka chuckled, pulling her closer and rolling them in bed: once again, she wound up beneath him, and Sokka's strong hands caressed her body before he dove in for another kiss.

"You're so beautiful…" he whispered. Azula smiled fondly, wishing she wouldn't be quite so foolish as to blush over his words.

"Might not be that beautiful once you're down there… but I accept the compliment anyway," Azula smiled. Sokka snorted and shook his head.

"Sorry, but you can't expect me to change my mind," he said, letting his fingers dip into her wet folds – she kept her legs open, and she moaned happily as he touched her. "Just look at you…"

"Arouses you to know you're arousing me?" Azula asked, playfully. Sokka chuckled and nodded right away. "You need to stop being so hot, Sokka, or you'll melt down this whole pole…"

"You're the one who's too hot for this place…"

"If that's the case, we're definitely going to melt it together, at this rate," Azula grinned. "The IceCube people will be so upset, too…"

"Well, they ought to have known better than to leave us unsupervised, if they didn't want any such accidents to happen," Sokka teased, grinning at her. "Alright, then… you want me to do what I did earlier, but with my mouth?"

"It's the most important bit, likely, but… feel free to explore everything you'd like, okay?" Azula said, caressing his face. Sokka grinned excitedly. "If you do anything wrong, I'll let you know. Otherwise… just have fun."

"Guaranteed," Sokka laughed, kissing her again before beginning his trek south.

He spent some more time lavishing her breasts with tender kisses and sucks, as well as the occasional licking. Azula moaned heartily, arching against him for that… muttering, under her breath:

"C'mon, eat me out, I'm so ready, damn it…"

Thus, it was only right for Sokka to obey her request: he slid lower, still teasing her with his hands and with his kisses… up until he wound up facing her groin, hands gently set upon her inner thighs.

"Woah…" he blurted out: his breath tickled her moist skin.

"S-stop teasing…" Azula mumbled, closing her legs to reel him closer. Sokka chuckled and smiled at her. "What is it?"

"Not that I have much of a point of comparison, but… even this part of your body is beautiful," he grinned mischievously. Azula huffed, blushing again as she smiled, inevitably.

"Someone's gotten bold after climaxing, huh?" she teased him. Sokka laughed again. "Come on… get right up there now, Sokka. Give me everything you've got…"

"No more Canadian niceness?" Sokka asked.

"Please, no…" Azula smiled teasingly. Sokka chuckled and shrugged.

"Well… it's the best feast I'll ever enjoy here, and I really do like the food," Sokka chuckled… before diving in, at last.

Her taste flooded his mouth, and he was surprised to find it quite pleasant. Her lips parted as she gasped several times, floored by arousal, as his lips trailed over her spread and exposed folds. It wasn't long before he took to adventuring with his tongue, poking and prodding her every weak spot, until he found her opening. Azula hummed, reaching into his hair and yanking it gently.

"T-that's… where it goes," she explained, and Sokka hummed back while continuing to lick her. "That's where you'll fuck me… t-though I'll help you aim it if you need me to, but still…"

"You taste so good…" Sokka groaned: her juices had become addictive by then, and her opening was ripe for him to savor thoroughly…

He dipped his tongue inside her entrance, and Azula hummed and shuddered in pleasure. A soft laugh left her lips as he continued to explore her with the tip of his tongue: judging by her pleasant reaction, she was certainly enjoying this.

"You're too good… t-too good for a rookie," she laughed. "No doubt all those gluttonous eating habits were good for something…"

"I knew they would be," Sokka smirked, kissing her wet skin. "I always thought the day would come… when I'd eat out a beautiful, amazing Princess, and here it arrived at last. Got to make the most of my training…"

"You sure are… hmm, y-you can go for the clit, too…"

"The… clit?" Sokka repeated, raising his gaze… to find a soft, small nub not that far from where his tongue worked right now.

He wasted no time pulling back from the entrance to savor the clit directly: Azula nearly screamed when his lips wrapped around the small nub, arching her body as she shivered violently. If he kept going at this rate, she might just climax again… was that what she wanted? She would surely tell him if she wanted him to stop… so, until she did, he would just keep going.

Said determination saw him greeting Azula's next climax directly into his mouth: out of sheer, mischievous curiosity, he dared slip his tongue into her entrance while his fingers continued to stimulate her clit. Azula moaned in the most seductive way ever, thrusting slightly against his face, wordlessly begging for more…

Until she suddenly seemed to come to her senses: Sokka had been enjoying her flavor so very much until she broke off the exchange suddenly.

"T-that was awesome… amazing, but… time for the final course now," Azula laughed, running a hand over her sweaty hair. Sokka grinned, hands at either side of her body.

"New quiz?" he asked. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"How do you want to do this?" she asked. Sokka gulped. "I can be on top, if you want… if just for now. You'll get used to being on top eventually, I'm sure…"

"It's probably for the best, for now," Sokka smiled, sitting up again. "If you want…"

"I do," Azula said, reaching over for their bedside table: she pulled Sokka's cabinet open expertly, yanking out a box out of the many available ones Korra had given Sokka several weeks ago. They had remained unused… until that night. "Come. Sit and I'll take care of it for you."

Sokka's eyes widened, but he smiled as he sat down on the mattress, watching as Azula ripped the silvery envelope and pulled out the condom. She smiled as she settled between his legs, placing the contraceptive on his tip and then rolling it down until it wrapped snugly around his cock.

"Feels alright?" she asked. Sokka gulped and nodded. "Well, then… are you ready?"

"No, but I want to be," Sokka laughed, pulling her closer. "This is going to be awesome, right?"

"Right. Though it might not be that great for you," Azula teased, smirking. "Most people don't have a ton of fun on their first times…"

"Uh, yeah, clearly I'm not among them. This is the best thing that's happened to me since… uh, since ever, I think."

"Better than being referenced in a big paper?" Azula smiled, hoisting herself carefully above his waiting, erect shaft. Sokka whistled and smirked.

"So much better, you have no idea. Totally different ballparks," he said. Azula laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You're quite the sweet flatterer. And I just love it," she grinned, kissing his brow. "Alright then… countdown to the stealing of Sokka's virginity in three, two, one…"

"Blast off?" Sokka smirked. Azula laughed… and then she sank on him.

Sokka immediately yelped: he was sitting up still, and he clasped Azula's body instinctively when that warm, soaked environment suddenly took him in, in the smoothest of ways. Azula smiled, pushing him down on the bed so he would lie down… then she sat upright anew and, bracing herself on his chest, she took to rolling her hips slowly into his, a bright grin on her face.

"Damn it… finally. Finally…" she laughed, eyes closed. "I knew it… I knew you'd fit me so well…"

Sokka could have found her words amusing to a degree, for how could she have been that sure…? And yet his brain had blanked to such an extent he couldn't even register what she was saying. He had never experienced anything quite like this, for it felt like ten times as heated, as exciting, as seeing his cock engulfed by her mouth. Now it was their sexes grinding together in perfect harmony, with Azula bracing herself perfectly against his chest, thrusting slowly as though to feel him in every ridge of her inner walls…

For a few minutes, they enjoyed that slow, steady rhythm, mainly to accustom their bodies to every exciting sensation they shared. But once her core was well and truly ready for further action, Azula began thrusting faster, and upon doing so, her breasts bounced with the momentum of her every motion. Sokka, as irrational as he felt right now, couldn't help but take notice of that delightful sight… and his hands rose to cup her breasts, to fondle them teasingly. Azula whimpered, leaning into his touch… leaning so much she wound up lying down atop him, her quickened pace slowing down again as she gifted him with another tender kiss.

"How close… are you?" she asked, between slow sways of her body. Sokka whimpered, hands in her hair.

"P-probably… close," he said, simply.

"Then… touch my clit."

She clasped his hand, lowering it from her chest and to her waiting nub. She sat up again, and Sokka did the same, so he could continue to touch Azula most intimately.

"Kiss me," he asked. Azula hummed, fulfilling his request gladly… and then they took to thrusting anew.

His fingers did wonders to her clit, and her walls squeezed against his stalwart erection. Their tongues twirled together, their moans flowed from one body to the other through their joined lips, and their hearts raced ferociously. Slowly, Sokka took to thrusting too, most easily once they wound up lying down on the bed anew. He kept her close, so much their joined bodies were crushing his hand… but it didn't matter. He had to do this, she asked him to, and whenever he prodded one very sensitive spot on her clit she would whimper and clench up, though now she was doing it even more intensely than before, and…

He yelped upon feeling that sudden barrage of warmth, of wet heat, squeezing his manhood upon every delightful burst of excitement. She had kept going, somehow, moaning through her climax… and the extraordinary feeling of those walls wrapped around him triggered his own orgasm, for he couldn't hold it back any longer. His open mouth welcomed her eager kisses, frantic after that thrilling, exciting finish… and he gasped happily once the last bursts of excitement receded.

"Fuck… oh, fucking hell," he said, with a growing smile. "I… we…"

"We fucked indeed," Azula laughed, smiling blissfully too. "Oh, damn it. Say what you will: you're a natural at this, Sokka."

"Theoretical studies help… sometimes," he chuckled, amusing Azula with his remark. "Damn… we're going to be late for dinner, aren't we?"

"Sure," Azula smiled, carelessly. Sokka chuckled.

"Doesn't bother you at all, huh?"

"Nope," she declared, beaming. He laughed again, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.

"They're definitely going to poke fun at us, though," Sokka pointed out, smiling warmly at her. "I'm going to look like I have neon signs screaming 'no longer a virgin' the minute I step out of here."

"You don't seem particularly upset about that…" Azula smiled. Sokka chuckled and shrugged.

"What's there to be upset about? This isn't quite the outcome I'd expect from a Hallmark movie, but it's way better than kissing underneath the falling snow…"

"Do they really always end up that way?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka chuckled and nodded. "Goodness. Well, we'll have to ask the others to throw snow at us while we kiss, maybe. Not sure how else to achieve that, frankly."

"Sounds like a plan," Sokka chuckled, cupping her face. "Azula…"

"Hmm?" she trailed her fingers over his chest, pulling higher so she could kiss his lips softly. "Something the matter?"

"You threw a thousand hints at me, and I wasn't sure what to make of them," he said. "But… now that we're on the same page, and we both know we're crazy about each other, are we… well, fully together now? Because, heh, I definitely would love it if we were, but…"

"But Burmese law, blah blah blah…?" Azula rolled her eyes. Sokka smiled and nodded. "Frankly, if my father wanted me to never break the law, he ought to have thought about it twice before sending me to the South Pole for a year. If he assumed I'd get no action here, that's his business. I'll do whatever I want… and I'll do whoever I want, too, if I feel like it."

"I agree with that sentiment for sure," Sokka smiled. "But… you're sure about this? About me? I mean…"

"It'll be a mess once we get out of here? Sure. But we've got about eight months left until that happens, so I can't pretend I'm worrying about that yet," Azula smiled, prodding his nose with hers. "Do you want me?"

"So much I can barely think of anything else, these days," Sokka smiled. Azula grinned back.

"Well, good. I want you too, just as much," she said, kissing him softly. "So… how about we stop worrying about the distant future, and cherish what we have right now? Winter's only just beginning… and it's off to a great start, don't you think?"

"The best start," Sokka laughed. "This is going to be the best night of my life… a night that will last six months. And as long as things continue this way, for us…"

"We'll be an item for those six months, and who knows how much longer afterwards," Azula said, with a teasing smirk. "As long as you want it, of course. You're not scared of the might of a Southeast Asian Kingdom, are you?"

"Pfft, not in the least. They'll never pry me off you, that's for sure," he declared, proudly. Azula grinned, kissing his lips tenderly.

"Ah, to think this is what my father assumed would serve as a strong punishment to me for stepping out of line…" Azula sighed, dreamily. Sokka snorted.

"Well… it was probably a bit of a punishment when I didn't act on any of your hints, wasn't it?" Sokka asked.

"Sure… but that wasn't the kind of punishment my father thought he was inflicting on me anyways," Azula laughed. "And besides… you seem to think I'm impossibly beautiful, right?"

"Right…"

"And I kept flirting with you, as hard as I could, for as long as I could, but you didn't act on your feelings because you thought you couldn't do that…?"

"True?"

"So, in a way, you were my punishment and I was yours, huh?" Azula smiled. Sokka snorted and laughed. "Not that you did anything to deserve being punished, but still… it must have tormented you, not sure if as badly as it tormented me, but…"

"You didn't deserve being punished either," Sokka whispered, kissing her brow. "But, even so… I'm seriously glad we met, Azula. Might not have been the best circumstances, but…"

"But we've made the most of them anyway. At least, we have now," Azula laughed, cradled warmly in his arms. "I don't know where the future's going to take us, but for now, Sokka…"

"For now?" he asked, with a gentle grin.

Azula was about to finish the sentence when their phones rang: it was satellite time, it seemed, and Azula sighed as Sokka smiled, reaching for their phones and offering Azula her own. To no surprise, they had plenty of teasing messages from their friends, all of whom had made very educated guesses as to what they were up to, if they were missing the grand sunset dinner.

"Well… we pulled it off, by now," Azula laughed, smiling at Sokka. "Maybe we can go have some food… then get back to it, once we return here?"

"I don't think I want to see anyone, myself…" he admitted, biting his lip. "But it's true that we should eat, heh. Neither of us should pass out from excessive exercise and exertion, right?"

"Right," Azula said, smiling as Sokka sat up with her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

"I know I can't fuck you if I dress you up, but… I'll undress you again later. And maybe I won't mess up the bra this time, too."

"Right… though, what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" Azula asked, smiling awkwardly. "That about dressing me up…"

"Wait… heh. You really were that drowsy?" Sokka grinned deviously, as they rose to their feet, getting ready to fetch new changes of clothes. "Oh, my. And here I thought that you were at least partially conscious the first time you asked me to fuck you…"

"What…? Wait, what?!" Azula gasped, eyes wide. Sokka chuckled, opening their closet.

"Come on. I'll tell you about how our sauna adventure turned out on our way to the galley," he laughed, pulling out a set of clothes for her.

After about five minutes – and quick visits to the bathroom to quickly clean up, if superficially, the two, fully-realized lovers stepped out of their berthing area between laughter and teasing: Sokka pointed the sauna out to Azula, letting her know that they would definitely make the most of the place sooner than later, and Azula agreed with the notion wholeheartedly. They were greeted by plenty of celebratory hoots and cheers by their closest friends once they reached the galley, and while Sokka was bashful about it, he couldn't seem to stop smiling as they sat together for dinner.

It was the first day of full-blown winter, and so, the first time they could see stars at all: despite they wanted to return to their room's privacy as quickly as possible, Sokka made a proposal Azula couldn't resist: they dressed up in their extreme cold weather gear anew, carrying Sokka's personal telescope, and made for the observation deck on the second level of the station. They wouldn't be out there for too long… but they delighted themselves with the first chance to gaze upon the beautiful, swirling stars that comprised the Milky Way as they brightened in the darkening skies.

"We'll get auroras soon, too…" Sokka smiled, kissing Azula's cheek softly as he hugged her from behind. She gazed through the portable telescope in utter awe, her heart racing at the spectacle they were witnessing. "But those stars will be watching over us for the next six months."

"The longest night of our lives, huh?" Azula smiled. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"And I'm pretty sure the best one, too," he concluded.

Azula grinned as she let herself rest against his larger frame: as cold as it was, the warmth she felt in Sokka's embrace seemed to chase away her every worry. It was an emotional reaction, utterly irrational… but she cherished it, regardless. For that canopy of bright stars offered them a shroud of darkness in which their blossoming relationship would strengthen and grow… for the winter that was about to begin would certainly be the brightest of them all.