Chapter 4: Foiled Again

And just like that, finals were over. Azula turned in her exam; her first semester of college was officially behind her. She felt good as she walked out the door, the sun on her face instantly lifting her spirit and distracting her from the cold autumn air. Knowing it would take some time for the rest of the students to finish up their exams, she decided to take advantage of their absence and head to the gym to practice her bending in one of the designated bending chambers, the only place on campus where students were allowed to bend. A long, disruption-free firebending session was just what the doctor ordered.

She practiced kata after kata, bending to her heart's content. When she was finished, she decided to treat herself to one of those overpriced iced tea lemonade drinks at the gym café. Just as she was about to leave the gym, however, something caught her attention. Through a narrow window peering into one of the many gymnasiums, she could see a large group of students dressed from head to toe in white with mesh masks on. Fencers. Sokka was a fencer. So instead of vacating the gym, she casually strolled into the room and made her way over to the bleachers to observe. It was hard to tell who was who with all the masks, but Jet noticed her immediately.

"Well look what the owl-cat dragged in," he sneered, removing his mask.

She scowled at him.

"Let me guess, you're here to watch me and only me fence, right?"

"You got it," she said sarcastically.

He grinned. "Well, you actually picked a good day to stop by. Today we're all going up against the team captain." He nodded his head over to the front of the gym.

Azula could see two people dueling, the shorter of the two clearly demonstrating superior fencing skills.

"That's Suki. She's insanely good."

"Are you worried?"

Jet shook his head. "I would be if I fenced foil or sabre, her specialty, but fortunately for me, I'm an epee fencer. Otherwise she'd totally kick my ass."

"And what about – "

"Sokka?" he finished for her, smirking arrogantly.

She rolled her eyes.

"Foil. Same as Zuko." He pointed to two fencers of approximately the same height who were sparring in the back. "They're very competitive."

"Who's better?" she asked, intrigued.

"Zuko. By far. He's the only one here who's any match for Suki. Sokka could beat her if he gets lucky, but last year, she wiped the floor with him. Sokka's improved a lot though – he's worked hard."

"Hm."

Suki finished her match victoriously and humbly shook her opponent's hand. "Let's see, next up is… uh…" She scanned the room for her next victim. "Jet!"

"Here we go." He shouted to his sparring friends in the back, "Hey, you guys wanna watch me win this match or what?"

Sokka and Zuko looked over.

"Also Azula is here!" he continued shouting before putting his mask back on. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck. You'll need it." Azula watched as Sokka and her brother walked over to her on the bleachers. Time always seemed to slow down when Sokka was near.

"Hey Azula!" Sokka greeted, hopping up on the bleachers and taking a seat next to her.

"Hey," she murmured, her heart racing.

"Azula…" Zuko awkwardly stood in front of them. "What are you doing here?"

"I…" She had to think of something fast. "…came here to see you, dum-dum."

"Really," he said flatly.

"I just finished finals and it suddenly occurred to me that I'd never seen you fence before."

"So? Why would you care about that?"

"Because we're siblings. We should know what's going on in each other's lives, don't you think?"

"You've never taken an interest before…"

"No time like the present," Sokka jumped in, seemingly trying to diffuse the tension. "Hey, let's watch Jet's match."

"You mean watch Jet get destroyed?" Zuko asked, chuckling.

"In epee? Nah, he's got this," Sokka disagreed. "Come sit."

Sulking, Zuko sat on the bleachers next to Sokka. "I still think it's weird that you all hang out – "

"Shhh," Sokka silenced. "It's starting."

All things considered, it was a fairly close match, though far from a nail biter. As predicted, Jet came out triumphant. He wasn't delusional about his win, however. He reiterated that Suki would have beaten him with any other fencing weapon. Epee, Suki's weakest style and Jet's strongest, gave him the upper hand in this match. Sokka and Zuko were quick to agree with him as they teasingly diminished his victory in a competitive manner.

Suki called upon some unfortunate freshman to take on after Jet.

"Hey, while we're waiting, Sokka why don't you give Azula a little fencing lesson?" Jet asked before giving Azula a mischievous smile.

"Huh, what?!" she questioned, turning to Jet, red in the face. A private lesson with Sokka?!

He smirked. "You were just telling me the other day how you wanted to learn. Sokka would be a great teacher – "

"And why not me?" Zuko cut in. "I've won way more matches than Sokka – I can beat him with my eyes closed!"

"Yeah right, asshole," Sokka laughed.

"I'm not saying Sokka's the better fencer," Jet clarified, "I'm saying he's the better teacher."

"But – " Zuko started.

"No buts. Sokka is more patient and way better with beginners."

"Hah!" Sokka blurted.

Zuko crossed his arms and grumbled. "Fine."

"And besides, we never finished that conversation about, uhh… what was it we were talking about again?" Jet asked, racking his brain. "Oh, anime! That's right."

"I didn't think you cared about my opinions on Dark Spirit Slayer…" Zuko muttered.

"What, don't be ridiculous! Of course I care," Jet lied. "Tell me all about it. Spare no detail."

Azula smiled an all-knowing smile at him. Jet was willing to let Zuko bore him to death all so that Sokka could give Azula a one-on-one fencing lesson. That was true friendship right there.

Jet smiled back at her, but his dark eyes read "kill me".

"Alright then, up on your feet!" Sokka hopped down from the bleachers before offering his hand to help Azula down.

She set down her drink and took Sokka's hand, blushing instantaneously upon touching him. She let him help her down and tried her best to listen to him as he walked her through the lesson.

It was hard to concentrate with him so near, with all his attention on her. He began with a quick intro regarding the rules of foil fencing and the necessary equipment. Then he moved on to the basic position, on guard, advances, and retreats. That's when the real fun began. He took it upon himself to put his hands on her to make slight adjustments to her posture and positions. She was in heaven. Every time he touched her, she felt electricity course through her body. However, the lesson was cut short when the team captain noticed what was going on.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Suki shouted.

"I was just giving my friend a mini fencing lesson – "

"She can't be here. She doesn't have the proper safety equipment. She never signed the waiver. Sokka, you know better than this."

"Yes, captain. Sorry, captain."

Azula narrowed her eyes. She knew she was being judgmental, and first impressions weren't everything, but she really did not like this Suki girl. Where did she get off? She must love the power trip from being team captain. But most of all, Azula hated how obedient and demure Sokka acted around her.

"You know what this means for you, don't you?" Suki questioned.

Sokka nodded. "I-I'll work the armory after practice today."

"Yes you will."

Azula didn't know exactly what this entailed, but in this moment, she felt just awful for getting Sokka in trouble. She knew it wasn't entirely her fault, but she felt horrible nonetheless. And the way Sokka acted like a lapdog trying to please its owner made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Now, come on," Suki continued in a softer tone, her authoritarianism fading. "You're up. Unless of course you're too scared to face me…"

"No way, bring it on!"

Azula could tell Sokka was eager for this match. "Sorry for getting you in trouble," she whispered quickly.

"Don't worry about it," he grinned before giving her a wink.

She nearly swooned. Relieved Sokka wasn't mad at her, she walked back to the bleachers where Jet and Zuko were sitting. "Guess I'll head out."

"No, stay!" Jet insisted. "Don't you want to see Sokka's match?"

"Yes, but… a certain captain clearly doesn't want me here."

"Eh." Jet shrugged. "Who cares what she wants."

She smiled and took a seat next to Jet, hoping to see Sokka destroy Suki in their duel. Unfortunately the match turned out to be far more drawn out and suspenseful than she would have liked. They were very closely matched, and foil wasn't even Suki's preferred weapon. Perhaps it was because Suki tired faster, given that she had already battled everyone else in the class besides Zuko, but Sokka ended up the victor.

"I won!" Sokka gloated. "Admit it, I won!"

"You got lucky," Suki muttered. "Let's see if you can do it again… next semester." She smiled softly at him.

Azula didn't like this change of tone. It was like Suki was looking at Sokka with admiration for beating her. Blech.

Finally, it was Zuko's turn to take on the captain. Everyone gathered around.

Sokka joined Jet and Azula on the bleachers, sandwiching the firebender between them. He eyed her drink. "Hey… mind if I – "

"Oh no, go ahead." She handed him her iced tea lemonade. Normally she was not one to share drinks, but she was willing to make an exception for Sokka. She watched his lips touch her straw…

"Ahh, thanks. That's refreshing."

"Don't mention it. Congrats on your win by the way. That was fun to watch."

"Next semester will be total annihilation," he grinned. "I guess I should be saying congrats to you too…"

She raised on eyebrow. "For what?"

"For destroying the curve on the physics exam. I just graded them yesterday." He chuckled. "The other students are sure gonna hate you!"

"Good," she laughed.

Unlike Sokka's match with Suki, Zuko's was much less climactic. He destroyed her. It almost didn't seem fair. Azula was happy to see her brother succeed at something. She had always viewed him as being fairly mediocre at most things, especially firebending. Things never came naturally or easily to him. But watching him wreck the team captain at fencing was quite satisfying.

Zuko walked over to the group with a cocky grin on his face before snatching Azula's drink from Sokka's hand and starting to drink it.

Azula had to stop herself from making a disgusted sound.

"If you're really such a hot shot, try taking her on in sabre next semester," Sokka teased.

"I'd still win," Zuko boasted.

"No way."

"Yeah way."

"Hey, let's hit the showers," Jet said. "You both stink."

"YOU STINK!" Sokka and Zuko shouted simultaneously before bursting out laughing.

The boys got up to go to the locker room.

"Zuko, wait," Azula said, hoping to clear the air with him a bit. "I… I'm glad I got to see you fence today. You were…" Her first instinct was to say something sarcastic or give him a backhanded compliment, but she decided to take the higher road. After all, Sokka was watching. "…quite impressive."

"…Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm proud of you."

"Umm…" He stared at her blankly for a moment. "Thank you."

She smiled. "We should catch up sometime."

"Uhhh, yeah… sure." He smiled back.

"It was sure nice of Azula to stop by, wasn't it?" Jet asked as they entered the locker room before turning to Sokka. "Hey, sorry you have to work the armory tonight… my bad."

"It's fine. I don't mind. I kinda like being in there."

"Alright, weirdo," Jet teased.

Zuko sat down on a bench and sighed dramatically.

"What's going on with you? You obliterated Suki – you should be happy…"

"He's never happy," Sokka quipped.

"True."

"I don't know…" Zuko released another melodramatic sigh. "I still think it's weird you're friends with my sister. She's… you don't understand how much of a nightmare she was for me growing up."

Sokka sat down next to him. "I don't want to downplay that or anything, but… have you considered that maybe she's changed?"

He shook his head. "She used to torment me. I… I seriously thought she was evil. And suddenly she wants to 'catch up'? I don't know, I just don't trust her."

"I think you should give her a chance," Jet said. "She's been through a lot too, you know. Not just with Ozai, but I think finding out that your mother had another daughter hurts her more than she lets on."

"Yeah… maybe." He shrugged. "I'll give her another chance, but I'm going to be very cautious around her."

"Fair enough. For what it's worth, though she can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, she's actually a really good friend."

"I think Jet likes her," Sokka joked.

Jet rolled his eyes. "For the last time…"

"I know, I know. You're just friends." He snickered, quietly at first, but then his laugher grew until he could no longer contain himself.

"What's so funny?" Jet questioned.

"I, uhh, I… I have a confession."

Jet and Zuko waited for him to elaborate. A confession?

"I used to have a crush on Azula."

Zuko instantly recoiled. "Eww, what?!"

"Yeah, seriously?! How?! When?!" Jet demanded. Was he for real? This was huge news.

"Relax guys, it was just a crush. Nothing serious," he laughed. "It was actually back in high school. My senior year, her junior. We were on our school's respective academic decathlon teams, we competed against each other during nationals."

"…And?" Jet asked, wide-eyed.

"And that's pretty much it. I watched her team demolish the entire competition. My team gave hers a run for their money, but hers still came out on top. She was so confident, powerful, and beautiful up there on the big stage. I was enamored. She's… brilliant."

"But did you, like, talk?"

"Oh no. I was a scrawny, nerdy kid with glasses back then – "

"You're still scrawny and nerdy," Jet interjected.

"Hey, I've filled out!"

Zuko nodded.

"A-Anyway, she probably didn't even notice me. Oh well."

"I'm gonna take a shower," Zuko huffed, grabbing a towel.

Jet didn't understand what suddenly pissed Zuko off, but he decided not to pry. Zuko was pretty hotheaded; the smallest of things set him off. But now Jet was left with this vital, juicy piece of information: Sokka used to have a crush on Azula. But what should he do with this info? As Azula's friend, should he tell her?