CW: Light drug use (marijuana)

Chapter 25: Going South (Part 1)

Azula was not used to being bad at things, especially physical activities, but here she was absolutely sucking at skiing. Nothing about it made any sense to her. From the time she put on those awkward ski boots that made her feel like she was walking on another planet, she knew she would be in for a difficult time. Logically she knew snow was a near-frictionless surface but feeling it firsthand was a whole other story. Just getting on and off the ski lift was terrifying.

She couldn't even blame it on the fact that she'd never gone skiing before – neither had most of the group and they were all starting to get it. Katara and Sokka were unsurprisingly fantastic skiers and had been patient trying to teach everyone the proper technique, but Azula could tell they were starting to get frustrated with her. Or perhaps she was just getting frustrated with herself.

Before long, most of the group had graduated from the bunny slopes and moved on to the green circles, while Azula was left behind. At least Zuzu and Sokka volunteered to personally coach her, and together they tried the bunny slope one more time, but Azula couldn't go five feet without falling.

"Hey," Sokka said calmly, helping her up, "remember you can always pizza." He demonstrated the pizza position for the umpteenth time, a technique used to slow down by pointing one's toes inward thus creating a wedge.

"Forget about me," she groaned. "I'm hopeless."

"No, that's not – "

"My feet just don't know how to cooperate on the stupid snow."

Zuko gave her a pitying smile. "It's okay, let's just keep trying."

She shook her head. "You two should go on without me. I-I don't want to hold you back – "

"You're not!" Sokka assured. "We're happy to – "

"It's fine." She sighed. "I think I'd do better on my own anyway." It wasn't a lie. Having everyone's eyes on her, particularly Sokka's, was way too much pressure. If she was going to be horrible at something, she wanted to be horrible by herself.

"You sure?" Zuko asked.

"Positive." She smiled half-heartedly. "You two go have fun."

"Okay…"

"Hey, you wanna try a green circle?" Sokka asked Zuko.

"You bet!"

Azula kept her smile as she watched them continue down the hill, but her face instantly fell as soon as the two were out of sight. She took a deep breath and decided to carry on. She had to get down one way or another anyway. Unfortunately, most of her trip down the bunny slope was on her butt, but nonetheless, she picked herself back up, got on the ski lift, and tried again. And again. And again. Until, finally, she was doing it. Her legs were shaky and unsteady, but she was skiing! With newfound confidence, she vowed she would attempt a blue square by the end of the trip.

But that's when Azula realized she had no idea how to stop. And the bottom was rapidly approaching. She tried pizza-ing, which helped slow her down a bit, but it wasn't enough. In order not to run anyone over, she ungracefully fell to her side and tumbled to a stop at the bottom of the gentle slope. Feeling bruised and embarrassed, she finally decided to call it quits and head back to her suite for a nice, hot shower.

However, something caught her attention right before she reached her room. She could see a light emanating under the door of the boys' suite. Wondering if someone could have possibly beaten her back to the rooms, she knocked on the door.

"No housekeeping, please!"

She instantly recognized the voice. "Jet?"

"Azula?"

"Yeah, it's – " Suddenly, the door flew open and Jet pulled her into the room, quickly closing the door behind her.

"W-What are you doing?!" Azula demanded.

He gestured with a nod of his head over to the desk where he had laid out a pipe and grinder full of weed.

Her eyes went wide. "Is that…"

He smirked.

"Jet!"

"What? Don't give me that look."

"You flew with that?! You could have gotten in serious – "

"It's legal in most parts of the world."

"Is it legal here?" she challenged.

"I dunno," he shrugged.

She rolled her eyes.

"You want some? I think you'd like it…"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you're always so uptight," he laughed.

"That's not true! I'm not – " she stopped herself.

He flashed her a cocky grin. "Well, you don't have to smoke, but I'm going to so…" He sprinkled some weed from the grinder into the pipe.

"What does it… oh, never mind."

"Hm?" he asked with a devious smile.

"What does it feel like?"

"Being high or smoking itself?"

"Both I guess."

"Umm… smoking just feels like you're breathing in hot air, and being high makes you feel more relaxed, in the present moment, and like everything is really fucking funny. It also heightens your sense of touch." He noticed her cheeks redden.

"You know what? I'm tired and sore from falling on my ass all day…" She gave him a mischievous smile. "Let's do this."

He grinned. Getting high with little miss perfect was bound to be an adventure. He held the pipe up to his lips, lit the bowl, and took a large hit. With his lungs full, he walked briskly over to the window and blew the smoke outside as not to smell up the room or set off any alarms. "Your turn, princess."

She walked over to the window, where he placed the glass pipe in her hand. Hesitantly, she held it to her lips. "I don't know how…"

"I've got you," he smirked, lighting the bowl for her. "Now take a deep breath. Hold it, hold it… good."

She exhaled the smoke cloud out the window.

"You're a natural."

"Well at least I'm good at something…"

"You're good at lots of things," he said encouragingly. "Who cares about skiing anyway."

"Hmph."

"So… how did it feel?"

"Similar to firebending," she noted.

"Let's do another," Jet suggested. "You probably won't feel anything after one hit."

"I don't know about that…" A goofy smile graced her features.

"Lightweight," he teased. He placed his lips on the glass pipe once more and lit the bowl, but before he finished inhaling, he heard his friends' voices from down the hallway. Oh shit.

"Jet!" Azula panicked. "They're coming back!"

Quickly he exhaled out the window. "Get the light!" he ordered.

She sprinted to the wall and turned the light off.

He swiftly shut the window, grabbed Azula, and pulled her into one of the coat closets with him. His heart was beating out of control as he heard the keycard swipe and the suite door open.

"Huh," Zuko said. "Guess he's not here."

"Maybe he's in the bathroom?" Sokka speculated.

"Nope," Haru confirmed. "Not here either."

There was a quick knock on the door.

"Hey, is Azula in here?" Mai asked. "She's not in our suite…"

"No," Zuko answered. "Jet's not here either."

"You don't think they're…" Sokka trailed off.

"What?!" Zuko gasped. "Ew!"

Azula couldn't help but snicker from inside the closet. This was a really bad time to be high for the first time. Or maybe it was the perfect time… it was hard to know.

Jet promptly covered her mouth with his hand. "Don't make a sound," he hissed into her ear.

"Maybe they're still skiing?" Ty Lee guessed.

"Or maybe they're in the hot tubs…" Katara muttered. "Hey, is it just me or does it smell like a skunk-bear in here?"

"Men and their body odor…" Ty Lee grumbled.

"Should we… wait for them?" Mai asked.

"Oh no," Azula whispered.

"As much as I want to wait for them, I'm also getting pretty hungry…" Sokka chuckled.

"How about we wait until you start getting into hangry territory, okay?" Zuko suggested.

"Okay! Then what should we do 'til then?"

"Ooh, I have an idea!" Ty Lee said excitedly. "Let's play a game. I call it… which boy does Azula like: Jet or Sokka?"

"What?!" Azula shouted under her breath, causing Jet to cover her mouth once again.

"Calm down," he murmured.

She could kill Ty Lee right now, she really could.

"I'm not sure this game is a good idea…" Sokka squeaked.

"Yeah," Zuko agreed. "We probably shouldn't talk about our friends behind their backs."

"Oh, come on," Ty Lee urged. "It's all in good fun. Let's just go around and say who we think she likes – it doesn't mean it's true! Here, I'll go – "

"I think she likes Jet," Katara cut in, stealing the first response. "Is this even really up for debate? I thought it was obvious…"

"I like this game," Jet whispered, chuckling.

"I'm going to set them all on fire, you'll see."

"Are you serious?" Ty Lee groaned. "She obviously likes Sokka!"

"How do you know?" Katara questioned.

"Because she gets all tongue-tied and flustered around him, uh duh!"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Sokka said bashfully.

"Really, Sokka?" Ty Lee questioned. "You're way too smart to play innocent."

"No, really! I don't know how she feels…"

"No one knows what's up with her or how she feels," Zuko stepped in, "so can we – "

"Not exactly," Ty Lee disagreed. "Mai might know…"

"Well, Mai?" Katara asked. "Do you?"

"I don't know anything about anything there," Mai replied casually. "Sorry, you'll have to ask Azula when she gets back."

Azula sighed with relief.

"Yeah, right!" Ty Lee sulked. "Like Azula's gonna come clean about that."

Katara groaned out loud. "Why can't Jet and Azula just face reality and hook up already?!"

Azula's mouth fell open.

Jet smirked.

"Don't get any ideas," she muttered.

"Ugh," Zuko grumbled.

"Well what do you think, Zuko?" Katara questioned. "Which one does she like?"

"Who says she likes either of them?!"

"For the purposes of the game though…"

"If it will make the game end faster…" Zuko paused. "I think she likes Jet."

Jet brought his hand up to his mouth to stifle a laugh.

"It's not funny!"

"You're right. It's hilarious."

"What?!" Sokka blurted. "Why not me?!"

"Do you want her to like you?" Zuko questioned with a biting tone.

"I don't know! I-I mean… it's nice to be liked…"

"Haru, you've been awfully quiet," Ty Lee noted.

"Don't look at me," Haru said defensively, "I don't know Azula or really any of you well enough to comment."

Katara cleared her throat.

"But I feel like it's in my best interest to agree with Katara so… I say Azula likes Jet."

"What? No way!" Ty Lee sighed with frustration. "Mai? You never actually answered."

"I'm staying out of this one," Mai insisted.

"Fine," Ty Lee conceded. "Okay, then the next question is… who does Jet like?"

Zuko and Mai groaned.

"Azula," Katara answered without hesitation. "Duh."

Jet's face fell flat.

"Oh look, the game is suddenly getting good," Azula sneered.

"How about we get dinner now?" Sokka offered.

"Okay, okay, fine, we don't have to play anymore," Ty Lee gave in. "But for the record, I think Jet's always had a thing for Mai."

"Ty Lee's a dead girl," Jet muttered.

"Calm down," Azula said mockingly.

"Really?" Katara asked. "What makes you say that?"

"Because before the dance, I flat out told him I knew about his crush on Mai and he didn't deny it. Oh, whoops!" She giggled. "I went and said something I totally shouldn't have."

"That could mean anything!" Sokka said dismissively. "Jet's sneaky – he could have been covering up for who he really likes."

"Hm, I didn't think of that… Mai, what do you think?"

"Huh, what?"

"Do you think Jet's ever had feelings for you?"

Azula suppressed the urge to laugh out loud.

"I don't know, I… I mean… I guess it's possible, but I really don't – "

"I'm surprised you don't have something to say about this, Zuko," Ty Lee interrupted.

"What would I have to say? This game is stupid."

"I don't know, I guess I would have thought you'd be bothered knowing someone else had feelings for your girlfriend…"

"Maybe I'm not the jealous type."

"No, I don't think that's it," Ty Lee tried to provoke.

"Would you cut it out?" Mai spat. "Why are you trying to push his buttons?"

"It's okay, Mai," Zuko said coolly. "Look. Even if Jet hypothetically liked Mai, that doesn't mean she ever reciprocated his feelings."

"Ouch," Azula whispered.

"He's not wrong…"

"I guess." Ty Lee sighed languidly. "I'm… I'm really sorry, Mai. And Zuko. I don't know what's wrong with me. It's just… I love love, and it's something I can't have right now due to my social media presence. Trying to figure out who likes who makes me feel like a part of it, you know? But I was totally out of line. Forgive and forget?"

"Okay," Zuko answered. "I accept your apology."

"It's all good," Mai added. "It never happened."

"Well on that note… shall we get dinner?" Sokka asked. "My tummy's rumbling! I'll text Azula and Jet. Hopefully they'll meet us there!"

Azula fumbled for her phone. "We need to – "

"Silence them," Jet finished for her, reaching into his pocket.

Fortunately they were able to silence their phones before they sounded.

Soon she heard the group start to gather their things and head out. The sound of the door closing was music to her ears.

"Whew," he exhaled. "I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to hear that."

"Yeah… that was awkward."

He smirked. "Awkward how much you want me."

"Oh please," she scoffed.

"You heard Katara. Maybe we should just relieve all this tension between us and do each other right here…"

Even though she knew he was being deliberately sarcastic in his delivery, she couldn't lie to herself… part of her considered it. Being trapped with him in this enclosed space, the mischievous gleam in his eye, how long it had been since the last time she'd been laid… not to mention that Jet wasn't kidding when he said being high heightened one's sense of touch. Suddenly she found it hard to breathe.

"You know you want to," he continued to tease, placing his hand on the closet wall behind her, cornering her in.

Oh spirits, if she didn't leave this closet immediately, she'd probably do something she'd regret. She ducked under his arm and pushed the closet door open, stepping out into the room.

"Oh, come on," he groaned, following her out. "You know I was just joking. I mean, you don't really think I…"

"No!" she laughed. "No way!"

"Okay good."

"Why, y-you don't think I…"

"N-No, of course not."

"Good."

It was quiet for a moment but then Jet started to chuckle.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

"So much for us trying to spend time away from each other, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled, laughing softly. "Who'd have thought we'd end up stuck in a closet together?"

"Seriously."