Azula was woken the next morning by the sound of snapping firewood. She opened her eyes and shuffled on the ground a little, her shoulder stiff after supporting her weight through the night. She raised her eyes towards the fireplace, finding Sokka in the middle of cooking again. The smell of the meat was slightly sickening… Being the Princess she was, Azula was definitely not accustomed to starting out the day with nothing but chunks of meat for breakfast. She groaned as her shoulder pained her, alerting Sokka of her consciousness.
"Oh… morning!" he said, enthusiastically. Azula raised an eyebrow towards him.
"You seem cheerful…" she muttered.
Sokka blinked a few times and smiled uncomfortably.
"It seemed a good idea to try to start off the day on a positive note," he muttered, as Azula sat up, rubbing her shoulder.
"Positive? Seriously?" she asked, glaring at Sokka. "We're stranded in the middle of a forest, having komodo rhino scrapes for breakfast… what's so positive about all of this?"
"Well… we're still alive," said Sokka, thoughtful. "And we have food, even if you're not a fan of it… and we have water. So we have chances to survive! We can be positive about that, right?"
"I'll only be positive once we're out of this hell hole," said Azula, sighing.
"You're just crabby because your stomach is empty" said Sokka, earning himself a disbelieving glare.
"That's why YOU would be crabby, not me," Azula retorted.
"Then why are you so upset and why am I fine, if my stomach is as empty as yours?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"For all I know, it isn't. You must have nicked some meat while I was asleep," said Azula.
"You really think I'd do something so low?" Sokka asked, feigning shock. "Because… yeah, I did. Seems like you know me better than I thought, huh?"
Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head, and Sokka just chuckled as he took the cooked meat out of the fire. Azula gazed at him sideways, impressed by how calm and cheerful he was. He had been acting quite annoyingly the last months; she had been able to sense the turmoil within him back then, the turmoil that had driven him to behave as he had… but right now it seemed like his grief had been replaced by relief. He really had never expected their relationship to reach a better place… but even so, he had fought to his utmost to try and set things right. And Azula could commend him for that, at the very least.
"I guess you're not as hard to predict as you think," Azula replied, shrugging.
"So all my efforts up to date were pointless? Well, that's disappointing…" he said, smiling, as he handed her one of the plates with meat.
Azula raised an eyebrow before beginning to eat. Meat was definitely not her first choice for a breakfast, but her stomach was craving to be filled with anything at this point in time. She already knew she couldn't be picky.
"So…" she asked, after finishing one of her slabs of meat. "What are we going to do now?"
"Well…" said Sokka, gulping. "I suppose we're off downriver to see if we find a village or town where we can get help."
"And what makes you so certain we'll find that by the river?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm certain that this river has to lead somewhere," said Sokka. "Rivers flow into seas… so if we follow this one all the way to the sea, we're bound to find our bearings, at the very least."
"Not all rivers flow into seas," said Azula. "Some flow into lakes. What are we going to do if there's only a lake at the bottom of this river?"
"If that were the case, then we'd be betting our luck on finding a road of some sort at either side of the river while we walk by it," said Sokka.
"And what if there is no road?"
"Why must you trample on all my hopes, Princess?" Sokka asked with a grimace.
"Because as much as you may be right on one thing or two… you might as well be wrong anyway," said Azula, frowning.
Sokka sighed and looked at her sideways.
"Do you have any better ideas, then?" he asked.
"I… I guess not," Azula admitted. "Our lives are in your hands now, though, and I have every reason to question your decisions because of that."
"I understand," said Sokka, nodding. "But I said it already and I'll say it again… I'm getting you out of this forest no matter what. It just… might take longer than we wish it would."
"I know," muttered Azula, gritting her teeth. "I know…"
Sokka stared at her worriedly. There was disappointment in her eyes, and he had no problem figuring out why. The Rough Rhinos… so far he hadn't even asked her about them, he had hardly taken her mission into account as they tried to survive. But given the frown on her brow, she likely couldn't get the matter off her mind. She had been so close to catching them, so close…
He had no idea how to encourage her, how to reassure her they'd get those brigands. How could he, if she hardly seemed to believe him when he said he'd get her out of the forest? Finding the Rhinos, sadly, would have to wait… and waiting when the criminals had slipped from their grasp was extremely frustrating.
"We'll be alright," said Sokka, after finishing his last piece of meat. "I know we will."
"Well, at least one of us does," said Azula, rolling her eyes.
"How's your hand?" Sokka asked, startling her. "Is it feeling any better?"
"Not really, if anything it seems to hurt more," said Azula. "Might be a sign of healing, but it also could be a sign of the exact opposite…"
"Do you want me to look at it?" Sokka proposed.
"And what would you do about it?" asked Azula, skeptic. "You already said you hardly knew anything about healing. Did you suddenly learn to cure wounds overnight, perhaps?"
Sokka frowned and rolled his eyes.
"Well, I won't deny it's a relief the bite's back at full force, but sarcasm should be my thing, Princess."
"It would be, if you didn't say stupid things that make me the sarcastic one instead," said Azula, with a small smirk.
Sokka shook his head but smiled as well. He stood up and went to the tree on which he had hung his drying clothes. It wasn't until she saw him putting his shirt on that Azula realized his chest had been bare all along. She became more attentive to his appearance upon this, noticing of the small bags under his eyes when Sokka turned around towards her again.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" she asked, eyeing him with concern.
"Huh? Well, I… I guess I dozed off once or twice," he admitted, with a weak smile. "But I tried to stay awake for as long as I could."
"Only once or twice? Hard to believe," said Azula, smirking.
"Can't let me look good not even once, can you?" said Sokka. "Well, our campsite stayed safe and you managed to sleep through the night, so even if I fell asleep, I did my job as expected!"
"Your job was to 'watch'," said Azula. "But not the inside of your eyelids…"
Sokka couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head and dropping next to his basket again, picking up the spare plants he had left and starting to thread them together. Azula would have continued making fun of him, enjoying teasing him just as much as she used to… but she was easily distracted by what he was doing.
"What are you…? Weren't you done with that?" she asked.
"Not quite… I'm making a lid now," he said, biting his lower lip as he slipped a leaf under another one. "Got to keep the meat as safe as possible"
Azula dropped her plate by the flickering fireplace, watching Sokka with interest. He weaved the plants carefully and swiftly. She couldn't help but notice he was quite skilled with his hands, no matter how rough they were.
"Seems like you know what you're doing…" she muttered. "How did you learn to make a basket?"
"I actually didn't," said Sokka. "But women in my tribe used to make them. I watched them at times, so I figured out how it was done… it wasn't easy to remember how they did it, but so long as it works, I say we're doing fine."
"Women would weave baskets?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, they did…" muttered Sokka, gulping. "I know, I know… we savages relegate women to measly tasks while men do the big stuff, we're all uncivilized and disgusting!"
"Indeed, you are," Azula agreed. "I'm also thinking that, as much as women might have been able to hunt or fish or do whatever it is men did, you're just proving men could do what women did as well. Doesn't make you less manly to do a 'woman's task', does it?"
"Doesn't it, now…?" he asked, earning himself a glare. Sokka chuckled and continued with his endeavor. "I guess not. But our cultures are very different. It's only logical you won't see things eye to eye with me about it."
"Very different is an understatement," said Azula. "You keep trashing the Fire Nation and claiming it's dreadful… seems to me that your people aren't flawless either, are they?"
"I never thought they were," Sokka admitted. "But I hope this means you're admitting your people aren't flawless …"
"Of course they're not…" Azula growled. "As much as it seems your tribe is worse off in this regard… it doesn't mean we're that much better."
"What… which regard? Women?" Sokka asked, surprised. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Azula glared at the river streaming beside her and clenched her teeth as her bitterness about the matter came back to her at full force. They had enough problems right now to add the sexist Fire Nation society to their discussion.
"Never mind," she muttered.
Sokka was about to tell her she didn't have to shut him out that way anymore, but for once he was sure he wasn't the source of her unhappiness. He focused on his basket, joining the lid with the main body of the container, and he tested it to ensure it wouldn't fall off. He placed all their provisions inside the basket and smiled when the basket proved able to hold all the weight.
"Well, we're good with this now!" he said, proudly, placing the basket on the ground and looking around himself. "Say… do you think we can use the rhino's horns for something? I brought them, but I have no clue if they'll be any use…"
Azula looked at the horns, raising an eyebrow.
"It doesn't seem like it to me… we could have used them for weapons, but you still have yours and I have my fire. It won't be necessary… unless we could use them for another purpose, perhaps?"
"Such as?"
"Using them to help us climb the slope," said Azula, staring at the mountainside they had left behind a while ago.
"Seems unlikely," muttered Sokka, studying the option and frowning as he tucked the horns into the basket as well. "They might hold our weight, but I really don't think we'll be up to climbing such a steep mountain with the wounds we have…"
"And even if we were fit to climb, there are only three horns…" Azula reasoned. "Forget about it, then."
Sokka was surprised by that last statement. One of them could climb the slope using two horns… but the other would be left behind with a single horn. For Azula to choose to stay with him instead of taking the horns and running off to the slope… he smiled and nodded, relieved and glad.
"Then down the river it is," he said, kicking the fireplace to stiffen the flames.
Azula stood up and stared at the forest that extended before them. This definitely was a situation she would have never thought she'd be in. She had spent the twenty-one years of her existence living amongst privileges and luxury… this was the entire opposite of that. She sighed before turning towards Sokka, who had just picked up the basket, which was larger than he thought it would be. He was forced to embrace it to lift it, and he immediately began regretting not having woven straps to carry the basket on his back. But half the morning was gone by now, and they had to move out already if they were to make any progress during the day.
"Let's go," he said, struggling to walk as he carried the basket.
Azula followed him, eyeing him with uncertainty as she watched the way he swayed from side to side while carrying the large basket. Sokka treaded down the riverbank, not focusing much on the road ahead since his attention was centered on the basket; he feared it wouldn't be strong enough to carry so much weight for an entire day.
They walked silently, and Azula kept gazing around herself warily, in case something unexpected occurred. They must have already covered a mile when she noticed the vegetation was becoming thicker. Sokka tripped on a few tree roots, and he had to duck to avoid colliding with low branches of trees. He managed to keep walking despite the obstacles until the bushes and vines were obstructing their passage completely. Azula crashed against his back when he stopped abruptly, facing their blockage.
"Why did you stop?" she asked, taking a few steps away and glaring at him from behind.
"The plants are in the way," he muttered, struggling to balance the huge basket in one hand as he tried to reach his knife with the other, but doing both things at the same time seemed impossible for him "C-come here, knife…"
Azula rolled her eyes impatiently before reaching out for his waist, startling Sokka greatly when her hand came in contact with his body. She gripped the knife's hilt and released it from his belt. Azula stepped in front of him and began hacking at the branches with her left arm. Sokka stared at her with a mild blush on his face, knowing her touch had been far more innocent than what he had made it out as.
"Y-you could give it to me…" he said, talking about the knife.
"Why? You've got the basket," said Azula. "Just as it is in your tribe, we shall leave the women to the meaningless tasks and the men to the heavy duty."
With that phrase, she turned around and smirked cruelly at him. Sokka's blush grew more intense, yet he couldn't help but glare at her after her irony.
"Fine, fine, I get it! Lesson learned!" he said, as Azula turned around and continued cutting up the plants, her smirk only growing wider. "Men have no right bossing women around! But you're still a woman, and I'm a man! At least let me keep that, will you?"
"Should I?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's a lot more fun not to."
Sokka fumed behind her, shaking his head as he stared at the river… which all of sudden wasn't looking as wide as it used to.
"Uh… Azula?" he said.
"What? You'd better know I'm joking, so don't even think about showing me you're really a man…"
"No, that's not… I wasn't going to do that!"
"Well, you haven't been the brightest person around lately, so I really wouldn't put that idea past you…"
Sokka glared at her and shook his head as Azula continued smirking proudly.
"The stream is getting smaller," he said, surprising her. "That's what I was going to say."
Azula looked to her left, frowning as she stared at the river, or what was left of the river. The stream used to be around one meter wide, but it had grown smaller to the extent that they could only see a trickle of water slipping down the earthy channel. Azula frowned and looked behind her: the river had been decreasing in size as they progressed through the wilderness, but they had failed to notice until now.
"Is it going to disappear completely?" she asked. "What will we do if that happens? What are we…? Sokka?"
"Calm down," said Sokka, frowning. "I'm sure it'll be fine, a river can't just fade away randomly like that…"
But after taking a few more steps forward, Sokka discovered otherwise.
"Well…" he muttered, staring at the dry ground next to them. "Maybe it can, huh?"
"What are we going to do?" Azula started, staring at him in despair.
"Wait, wait, the water couldn't have vanished just like that!" said Sokka. "It has to be somewhere, we just have to…"
"Didn't you bet on us finding a village or something near the river?" Azula asked. "If there's no river, there's no village!"
"T-true, but still…!" Sokka admitted before freezing on his spot. He frowned as he listened intently at nature, turning his head away from Azula and towards where the river should have continued, if the stream hadn't vanished. "Do you… do you hear that?"
Azula frowned as well when she sensed the rumor of water nearby… of far more water than they had seen in the stream in the first place. She clutched the knife tightly and hacked at the plants blocking the way, tearing them down as swiftly as possible…
And suddenly they found themselves facing a sight they hadn't expected.
They were standing by the top of a waterfall, but it wasn't just a regular waterfall. The water wasn't falling from the brink of the wall; instead it was leaking through the wall and it fell down to the base of the wall, creating a river about six meters wide. The river indeed hadn't disappeared, it had simply become groundwater for a while before turning into the large river they could see below.
"Wow… that's something," said Sokka, amazed. "Well, there you have it! It didn't vanish just like that, I told you so!"
"Why, congratulations on your correct guesswork," said Azula, glaring at him. "How did this happen? Why? Where's the water coming from?"
"I think the soil up there was somewhat loose…" said Sokka. "The water filtered into it, and now it's coming out through the wall."
"Odd," said Azula staring at the river with confusion. "I'd never heard of such a phenomenon. The river's a lot larger now, isn't it?"
"Well, that means there's less risk of this one vanishing," said Sokka, smiling. "Shall we climb down, then?"
"How?" asked Azula, looking at the tall wall they were standing on. "I don't see any easy way to get down from where we are. And it's too high to jump, we're injured enough as it is to risk a broken leg or two…"
"True, but we have something that should help us," said Sokka, smiling and removing the horns from the basket. "Yep, they'd come in handy eventually."
Sokka placed the basket on the ground and tucked two of the horns into his sash, holding one in his hand. Azula watched him with a crooked eyebrow as he used a root to help him hold his weight as he climbed down the wall. He stabbed the horn he had been grasping into the wall, and used it to get himself a few meters down.
The root he had been holding onto gave way, and he was left dangling with one hand on the horn. Azula gasped as she watched him remove another of the horns from his sash and stick it at the level of his knee. He released the last horn and dangled on the second one this time, repeating the procedure with the third horn and, fortunately, he was already close enough to the ground by then to let himself fall to the ground. His knees hurt, since they took most the impact of his fall, but he was able to keep his footing despite it all.
"Made it safely!" he called out to Azula. "Toss down the basket, I'll catch it!"
"I was just about to ask you what we were going to do with it…" said the Princess, turning around towards the basket and picking it up with difficulty due to its size and the injury on her right hand. "Ready?"
"Send it down!" said Sokka, spreading his arms out.
Azula threw the basket as far from the wall as she could manage, doing her best to keep it from colliding with the horns. Sokka had to take one step back to catch it, and it struck him fully on the face when it reached him. He embraced it carefully, doing his best to keep the leaves from breaking and to keep the content safely inside. Azula looked at him warily as he staggered with the basket, but she stopped worrying when he placed it on the ground and showed her a silly smile.
"Mission accomplished! Alright, it's your turn to come down!" he said. "Try to use the loose roots to help you if you can! Or the knife! Use the knife, it'll be better!"
Azula gritted her teeth and hoisted herself down the wall with a vine she had seen nearby. Sokka couldn't help but give a nod of approval at that, even though she hadn't followed with his suggestions. Azula managed to grip the first horn, but the vine ran out by the time she was trying to reach the second. Sokka's arms were far longer than hers, and the horn was far from her reach. She cursed her luck and dug the knife into the wall to support herself halfway between both horns. Azula did her best to grasp the second horn with her right hand… but it didn't go as well as she had hoped it would. As soon as she managed to make a fist around the second horn, the pain that shot up through her arm was dreadful. She opened the hand by reflex…and the knife wasn't strong enough to support all her weight. It gave way, and Azula was left gaping at the hole where the knife had been just a moment ago. Nothing anchored her to solid grounds anymore. And so, for the second time in two days, she was falling into nothingness. How wonderful…
She didn't scream, she wasn't going to bother doing such a thing… all she could do was watch the wall become more and more distant, and she gritted her teeth as she waited for the collision against the hard ground…
But two strong arms wrapped up around her, taking her by surprise. Sokka gripped her tightly as he struggled to balance his footing, and he placed her on the ground as soon as he was steady on his spot.
"You okay?" he asked, gasping.
"I… thanks," she muttered, turning around to face him in utter surprise.
"You're lucky I was watching you," he said, smiling and patting her head.
"Well, I'm not lucky you placed those things so far apart," Azula grunted, mildly embarrassed. Sokka couldn't help but smile wider at her bashfulness. He knew well enough that, in these circumstances, her retorts were just a way to mask how flustered she was.
"Sorry about that," he muttered. "Miscalculation on my part."
"Big miscalculation," Azula snapped.
Sokka eyed her with concern, staring at her stretched right hand.
"Are you alright? Is it worse?"
"It's worse if I tense it," Azula muttered. "I can't exert force with it, so as long as I don't do that, I'll be fine."
"Do you think we should change the bandages now?"
"I doubt it," said Azula. "We can do that tonight, if we're still stuck in here"
"Alright, then…" said Sokka, trusting her judgment.
"Come on, Mr. Basket. Let's get moving," said Azula, starting down the riverbank.
"Mr. Basket…?" Sokka repeated, staring at her in disbelief. He shook his head and smiled as he followed her.
The riverbank was far wider this time, so Azula didn't have to tear down any plants as they walked down the river. Nevertheless, she still gripped the knife tightly on her left hand in case it might come in handy later on. Sokka watched her from behind, eyeing curiously the way she held the weapon.
"Are you a lefty?" he asked. "You seem to handle yourself well with your left hand…"
"I handle myself well enough with either hand," said Azula. "I taught myself how to do so."
"Really, now?" said Sokka. "I've always done my best to use both hands too, but I favor my right one most."
"Any capable fighter should know how to use both hands," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "And I favor my left."
"It's not even surprising for us to oppose each other even on this," said Sokka, chuckling.
"Indeed, it isn't," said Azula, looking back at him for a moment. It seemed like he was quite keen to make conversation, wasn't he…? Did he enjoy their talks so much all of sudden?
"Say… this river is pretty huge," muttered Sokka, gazing at the riverbank. "Is there any chance you might know which river it is?"
"What?" Azula was taken by surprise by the sudden change of subject. "Why should I know what river this is?"
"Well, you're a well-educated girl from the Fire Nation… I figured you'd know more geography than me, and there might be a chance you knew which river this was… it would be helpful to know, that way we'd figure out where we're going to end up at."
"I am well-educated, and I did study geography… but mostly of the Fire Nation. I only know the most important rivers from the Fire Nation Colonies, and I don't recall having seen a river inside this mountain range on a map before. So no, I have absolutely no idea where it will lead us."
"I guessed it would be a long shot…" said Sokka, shrugging.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Azula asked, glaring at him. "You figured I wouldn't know, but you still asked? You thought I'd disappoint you?"
"No, no! D-don't take it that way!" Sokka said. "But… on second glance, I figured you should know because as much as these are Fire Nation Colonies, it's supposed to be Fire Nation anyway. Shouldn't you know the territory you'll rule one day?"
"Ah, so you're supporting me ruling over the Colonies? That's quite a surprise… I was certain you were still hung upon making the Fire Nation the bad guys…"
"Whatever I may think of the Fire Nation makes no difference at this point," said Sokka. "But you'll succeed your father one day, probably… so I thought you knew all you had to know about the Earth Kingdom's territories."
"Well, excuse me for not researching about the Former Earth Kingdom forests in which no humans live," Azula growled. "Why exactly was I supposed to know anything about this place? There's nothing here. I never thought I'd wind up here, and for that matter neither did you. So don't try to guilt-trip me about not knowing my nation. Because, besides…"
"Besides…?" Sokka repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"The… the Earth Kingdom are colonies. It's not the same as the Fire Nation," she muttered.
"That's an understatement," said Sokka. "Did it take you a trip to the Earth Kingdom to notice that?"
Azula stopped on her tracks and glared at him fiercely.
"Are you seriously going to lecture me about this now? Don't we have enough matters to worry about for you to give me that attitude?"
"No need to get so angry, Princess," said Sokka, smiling. The sight of his grin made Azula shake her head, turn around again and storm off. "Hey, I'll drop it, Azula! No more talking about the Earth Kingdom! I promise!"
Azula rolled her eyes and took a turn on the riverbank, since the river twisted to the right… and she stopped dead on her tracks right after passing the bend. Sokka was the one who almost ran into her this time, and he froze right behind her, his apologies freezing as well.
A black boar with spikes on its body had been sniffing a bush before he heard them approach. It had frozen all the same as Sokka and Azula, and it was currently staring at them in utter shock. It was, most likely, the first time it had seen humans.
Azula's eyes widened as she regarded the boarcupine, aware of its gaze upon them. It would be the last straw if the creature decided to attack them now… Azula raised her left hand defensively, threatening the boarcupine with her knife. Intimidating it might serve to send it off on its merry way…
"What are you doing?!" Sokka muttered in her ear, making her freeze. "Don't threaten it!"
"B-but…!"
"It's a boarcupine! If that thing gets us, we're done for!"
"Well then, we'll have to get him first!" Azula growled under her breath.
"No need for that! He's damn scared of us as well! If you attack, he'll attack too, but if you don't do anything he's bound to leave…"
"How do you know that?!" Azula grunted, fiercely. She glared at the animal, noticing it hadn't moved so far. If the beast killed them, she would make sure to chase after Sokka in the next life to take make him pay for causing their deaths on this one.
"Wait… wait…" Sokka grunted, gripping her left arm with his hand.
Azula continued holding the boarcupine's stare, knowing it would prance at them sooner than later… killed by a boarcupine. Oh, that was probably the most pathetic way to die, wasn't it?
But to her surprise, the animal turned around and entered the forest without further issue. Sokka and Azula remained frozen, watching the boarcupine make its way through the wilderness. They didn't dare move until they knew he was long gone.
"You seriously need to get out more, Azula," Sokka asked, releasing her. "That's not the way to deal with a wild animal."
"I've dealt with you enough, I'm pretty certain I have my share of experience on that regard," Azula grunted, starting down the riverbank again.
"Come on, I'm serious here!"
"You think I'm joking?" Azula asked, unable to hold back a laugh of disbelief.
Sokka glared at her again before sighing in irritation. He had nigh forgotten how easy it was for both of them to get to the other's bad side.
"Azula, you can't handle a boarcupine like that. You can't handle animals like that! Even a wooly pig would have attacked you if you had tried to hurt him! Surely this boarcupine was more scared of you that you were of him. He'd never seen a human before, I'm sure!"
"All the more reason it would have wanted to attack," Azula growled. "We're in the wilderness, after all. It's the wild animals' territory, and we're invading it for all they think, and they'll want us out. They'll expel us as quickly as they can, and killing us is the easiest way for them to do so."
"That's… no," said Sokka, shaking his head. "You're too aggressive. That may be true for humans, but not for animals, and not for boarcupines. They won't attack unless they feel threatened, and the best way to avoid them attacking is by not threatening them! Was it that hard to back down and let the beast be off with his business?"
"Yes, it was," Azula growled. "What if it had attacked us?"
"We would have been toast, because a knife wasn't going to deliver more damage to it than what those spikes would have done to us. And from behind you I couldn't have done much to save us either. If he had wanted to, he could have ravaged us to his heart's content, so all we had to do was not give him a reason to wish to kill us. See my point now? You can't be as ruthless with animals as you are with people."
"Says you," grunted Azula stubbornly, her head held high.
"Honestly, is it so hard for you to just back off a fight?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Azula muttered. "I don't back off, Sokka. I never have, and I never will. I'll do whatever I can to win, and even then, there's still a chance that I might lose… but the battle is done the minute you give up. And I refuse to become a quitter and a loser just because it's easier to back off than to fight."
"But there are fights that aren't worth fighting," said Sokka. "And the price you pay for winning or losing them can be beyond your expectations. Isn't it smarter to stand back and let things carry on as they should? A single battle won't decide the fate of a war, but it just might if you get yourself killed by picking the wrong fight."
"So you're saying I should turn my back on fights when I know I can't win them?" Azula asked. "I'm sorry, Sokka… but that's not the way things work with me. There aren't supposed to be fights I can't win. Perhaps I lost once against the Rough Rhinos… but I'll win again one day. I know I will."
Sokka stared at her with worry, not expecting her to see the issue from that perspective. He frowned, her undeterred determination bothering him a little.
"So you're fine with losing so long as you win later on?" Sokka asked.
"When you lose, you learn valuable lessons you can use to win later," she muttered. "When you fight a war, you can't expect to win at all times. You need to know you can lose as well, because if you take your battle for granted you might as well have made your death wish. I don't care if I lose time over and time again, so long as I win in the long run. It's the way I've always thought, the way I'll always think. And no, I will not back down. What do you learn from running away from battles like a coward?"
"I guess… I guess nothing, but you don't have to think of this boarcupine matter like that," said Sokka. "It's just a simple animal. He wasn't waging a war on you."
"I might not be talking just about the boarcupine, for all you know," said Azula, startling him.
Was she implying what it seemed she was implying? Were they fighting a war against each other? Was she stating she wouldn't back down while struggling against him, no matter what? She had already lost against Sokka a few times… he had lost against her, too. But, at this rate, who would win the war? It seemed to Sokka it was too soon to tell… unless one of them surrendered. But the mere thought of giving in to her… Sokka chuckled and shook his head, seeing things from her point of view for once.
"Huh… well, if you're talking about what I think you're talking about… rest assured, I'm not backing down either," he said.
"If you have any pride, you won't," Azula stated. "Though given that you back off fights, I'm surprised you'd say that."
"I choose my fights," said Sokka. "It doesn't mean I back off all of them."
"And you believe there's a chance you'll defeat me?" Azula asked. "Did you pick this fight because you thought you could win?"
"I didn't have much choice regarding this one," Sokka admitted. "I had to fight it, simply put. I may win, I may lose, but I'll fight to the end. Yet fighting a boarcupine is completely pointless. Even if you had killed it, we couldn't have used its dead body for anything. So yeah, don't back down on important fights. But this wasn't even a fight, so there was no point in fighting it."
"Fine, fine, fine…" said Azula, rolling her eyes. "The beast is gone, so you can drop the boarcupine matter already."
"Okay, then," said Sokka, sighing and staring at Azula worriedly. "Are we good?"
"We're never good, Sokka. Why do you even bother asking that question?" said Azula, staring at him matter-of-factly.
Sokka sighed and shook his head, still treading behind her. As ever, they were meant to clash and argue, their views would always go against the other's… but that was what made their relationship as interesting as it was: the challenge they posed to one another. Even if he set aside the feelings they held for the other, Sokka was certain he would never find anyone he would enjoy himself with as he did with Azula.
They stopped after noon and built a fire quickly to roast more meat. Azula seemed somewhat unwilling to use her fire for a task as mundane as cooking, but if she was opposed to it, she didn't speak her mind. She set the wood on fire and Sokka made sure to use the thinner chunks of meat they had available so that they would be cooked thoroughly and quickly.
They were engaged in a few more meaningless conversations over the span of the day, some ended with Azula glaring at him, others ended with Sokka glaring at her. They looked at either side of the river eagerly, in hopes to find any signs of human life nearby, but there were none. Azula's heart sank along with the sun once dusk arrived, frustration and disappointment threatening to overcome her as Sokka told her they should make camp.
"This is pointless," said Azula, collapsing by a pile of rocks and taking off her boots. Her feet had blisters after spending the whole day walking. "We're never going to get anywhere. We're lost in this forsaken forest."
"Well, this forest doesn't extend all over the world," said Sokka, dropping his basket. "We'll get out of here one day."
"When?" Azula asked, as Sokka began gathering wood again.
"I can't tell you exactly… I would if I knew," said Sokka, ducking and looking for brushwood under the nearby trees.
"This… this is a waste of time. I used to think I was wasting my time back when we were traveling fruitlessly through the continent, but now I know what wasting your time truly feels like," she said, dropping her head against the rock.
"Azula… this isn't the way I expected this trip to end either," said Sokka, carrying several sticks back to where he would build the fire. "Nevertheless, here we are. So… I say we make the most of it."
Azula frowned and eyed him warily.
"What's that supposed to mean…?" muttered the Princess.
"W-what…? No! No, no, no!" said Sokka, flushing as he realized his words had come across the wrong way. "What I meant was that you don't end up in the wilderness every day! When was the last time you had such fresh air? When was the last time you had to fend for yourself for real? It's… it's an interesting experience, don't you think?"
"I might think so once it's over," said Azula, lowering her guard again after he cleared up what he had meant to say. "Right now it's just a bother. I'm not surprised you enjoy it, savage as you are, but I'm not exactly eager to spend half my life lost in a forest. Maybe you're happy because your life outside this forest wasn't great, but mine was better out there than in here. Do you really blame me for wishing this would end soon?"
"I don't, and I never did," said Sokka. "I'd like it to end soon too, don't get me wrong. Even I can grow weary of eating only komodo rhino and walking all day long. But given the way things look right now… we'll be stuck in here for a while longer. So it would be best if we tried to enjoy the nice things about the situation and forget the lame ones. Should serve to cheer us up a little."
"Speak for yourself," said Azula. "What's so good in here anyway? Fresh air, you said? Sure it's fresh, but the purity of air isn't something I appreciate that much. You want me to enjoy the plants, maybe? The soil? The blisters on my feet?"
"How about you try to think of something you're actually enjoying?" asked Sokka, looking through the woods again. "It might be more helpful than sarcasm."
"I was quite certain you enjoyed sarcasm."
"I'm just trying to cheer you up, not to enjoy myself."
"So you're saying my happiness doesn't make you happy?" Azula asked, making Sokka walk back into the riverbank with only a pair of logs under his arms.
"Is that a trick question?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It might be," said Azula, shrugging and feigning innocence
"I'm quite certain my happiness doesn't make you happy…" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Why, it seems you're more observant than I gave you credit for" said Azula, smirking at his indignant expression. "So, there you have it. I've cheered up at your expenses. That actually does make me feel better, truth to be told."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he said, shaking his head but smiling at her anyways as he headed to fetch more wood.
Azula sighed and allowed her gaze to drift to the sky as her smirk faded away. Even though annoying Sokka would help improve her mood, it was very hard for her to keep her head level with everything that was going on. She hadn't been holding on too tight to the hope of finding a village nearby, but the longer they walked, the more she grew convinced that they'd find nothing no matter how far they went. She had left a letter behind for the Captain, instructing him to leave Ba Sing Se if she wasn't back with the Rhinos in two days, and she had told him to meet with her by the Kuaisu River. She had figured it could take her some time to catch the Rhinos… but she never thought it would take this long. Well, she hadn't envisioned she'd be blinded by fury by the time she faced against them. All her plans had gone to waste because of that…
Sokka gathered enough wood for the rest of the night, and he set up his customary cooking system. He searched through the basket to find that half the meat left was of the kind Azula most certainly wouldn't want to eat, starting by the liver. Sokka gulped and brought out the raw meat, placing some of the best chunks for Azula on the fire and, after a great deal of pondering about it, he decided to have the liver for himself. He'd leave the better-quality meat for her.
Azula set the wood on fire, but she didn't make out what Sokka had decided to cook until the food was done. Azula was already holding her plate in her hands as stared at him worriedly, recognizing the strange blubbery organ he had picked for himself.
"Y-you're not really going to eat that, are you…?" she asked, aghast.
"We're not in the situation in which we can get picky about food," muttered Sokka. "So I'm not going to let it go to waste, even if it doesn't taste good."
"Sokka, you really don't have to eat it…"
"Why, if you want it so badly I'm willing to trade…"
"Of course not!" Azula shouted, making Sokka chuckle.
"Then don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he said.
"I'm worried about myself, really," Azula lied. "If that thing gives you food poisoning, how are you going to fulfill your promise of getting me out of here?"
Sokka raised an eyebrow towards her, surprised by her question.
"Well… we'll see when the time comes," he said, smiling at her. "I suppose you'll have to nurse me to health if that happens…"
"Never," Azula growled.
"Yeah, I figured as much," he said. "Let's hope I don't end up sick, then…"
"Come on… you were telling me a while ago to pick my fights? Well, I'm telling you now to pick your food!" she exclaimed. "Seriously, Sokka, don't do it…"
Sokka frowned with determination before diving into the liver. Azula grimaced at the sight of dark liquid spilling out of the organ. Sokka grimaced but he smiled at Azula when he finished swallowing.
"See, that wasn't so bad," he muttered, his voice failing him slightly.
"Sokka…" said Azula, shaking her head.
"I'm fine, Azula, honestly," he said. "There are worse things than this inside that basket!"
"And that's supposed to reassure me?" Azula asked, aghast.
"It should, because I'm going to eat all the weird stuff and I'll leave the good ones to you. See, I know how to treat a Princess after all!"
"I beg to differ…" Azula grunted. "Y-yet, honestly, there's no need for you to eat something so disgusting…"
"If there's anything, there's need," said Sokka, sighing. "Don't worry about me, Azula. You make sure to keep your strength, and I'll do my best to keep mine."
Azula sighed and shook her head, concluding that arguing with him would be useless. If there was something they weren't opposites on, it was their stubbornness. She began nibbling her meat, eyeing Sokka's struggle with the liver with disgust.
Azula was long done with her plate when Sokka couldn't take it anymore. What had that rhino eaten in his life that had given his liver such an unpleasant taste? Because it sure wasn't a delicious one… Sokka knew good food when he tasted it, and this definitely wasn't it. Even when he kept telling himself he needed to fill his stomach with what he had available, his entire body seemed to reject taking another bite out of the liver. He sighed and put it aside, smiling at Azula, who was eyeing him with concern again.
"I'll have the rest of it on the morning…"
"Sokka…"
"I know, there's no need for me to eat it if it's yucky," he said, sighing. "But I assure you, I'll be fine. I've had other animals' liver before… though they didn't taste this bad, truth to be told."
"You're insane," said Azula, shaking her head and dropping on the grass. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you if you get a stomachache tomorrow?"
"You'll smack me with my club and drag my unconscious body through the wilderness?" he suggested.
"Well, that's a thought… would spare me from your wailing, because I'm sure you'd be complaining all the time if you got sick."
"You seem to know me better and better with every passing second," said Sokka, smiling.
"Your personality says everything that has to be said about you," she muttered simply.
"So I really am that predictable?"
"Indeed, you are," said Azula, smirking, but the smile froze in place for a moment. "Although… there's one thing you've taken me by surprise with recently."
"Oh? Is that so?" Sokka asked, pleasantly surprised. "Is it my manliness, perhaps?"
"What?" said Azula, eyeing him in utter confusion.
"Now, now, you saw me shirtless just a few hours ago" said Sokka. "Last time you saw me shirtless you were a mess, remember?"
"That… was a very long time ago. And that's not what I'm talking about anyway," grunted Azula.
"You sure it's not? Then what is it?" Sokka asked, amused.
Azula's smile returned to her face as she folded her arms over her chest, deep in thought.
"How was it, exactly…? Ah, I think it went: 'Molten, deep, rich gold… Unique eyes, unique Princess… you set me ablaze…'"
Sokka's cheeks began reddening only by hearing the first line of the poem he had written. He slammed his forehead with the palm of his hand and buried his head between his knees as Azula laughed unusually loudly at his reaction.
"Yes, yes, that's exactly how it went, isn't it?" she said, smirking proudly.
Sokka would have stopped to admire the sound of her genuine laughter, but his embarrassment was such that he could do nothing but eye her apologetically.
"How did you…? Oh, spirits, where did you get that? Why did you even read it?" he said, shaking his head.
"You were unconscious on the table and I happened to pass by where you were," said Azula, still smiling. "That very poem invited me inside so that I could take a look at all his siblings…"
"You did WHAT?!" Sokka exclaimed, shocked. "Y-you read more of them?!"
"Well, not all of them…" said Azula. "Why are you so surprised? Was one of them about my 'blue fire', by any chance?"
"T-that…" Sokka said, frowning as he realized she was referring to the innuendo that had come up several years ago. "If you're talking about what happened when we first met, then no, none of that…"
"Ah, I'm sure you had meant to write one about that, but you just happened to fall asleep," said Azula, sighing dramatically. "Well, then, I'll wait for the next haiku batch, you can rest assured on that."
"I… I don't want you to! T-they're lame, there's hardly anything artistic about them! If I were a poet I'd starve to death!" Sokka exclaimed, shaking his head.
"Good thing you're a gladiator then. A gladiator sensitive to art, that's a new one," said Azula, chuckling.
Sokka groaned, shaking his head. Out of all the embarrassing things Azula could have found out about him, why did she have to find out about his haiku?
"In any case, it wasn't such a bad poem, if you ask me," said Azula, shrugging. "It had the truth of it."
"The truth of what?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of me setting you ablaze," said Azula, smirking. "Seems like you have some fortunetelling powers, given that I put you on fire yesterday… nevertheless, it happened, so you should be proud of your seer skills."
"I didn't mean…" Sokka started, but he decided not to clarify the subject. If he explained to Azula what he had actually meant, the unusually cheerful atmosphere would be ruined. If they had come to a conclusion after these two days of being stuck in that forest together, it was that they both had feelings for each other, but that they couldn't act upon them. He wasn't going to break that non-verbal rule just to explain to her what his lousy poem meant. "I don't have fortunetelling skills. There would have been many things I would have avoided if I'd had the skill to see the future."
"Is that so…?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah," said Sokka, grimacing. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No reason…" she said, still smiling albeit not with the same cruel edge anymore. "So… since when are you a poet? Was it Piandao's doing, perhaps?"
"N-no, it wasn't…" muttered Sokka. "You told me I could go into town and do as I wished in Ba Sing Se, so I did… and I ended up in a poetry recital. They recited some really nice haiku, so I wanted to give it a try and see if I could write one. Though I think I failed on most my attempts… every time I finished a piece I felt like there was so much more to say, so I wrote more and more poems to try and say everything I wanted to say…"
"And… all you had to talk about was me?" Azula asked, slightly nervous at asking said question.
"W-well, you're quite an unusual person, Azula," said Sokka, blushing again. "No three sentences will be enough to describe you."
Azula felt her cheeks redden as well. She definitely hadn't planned for the conversation to wind up as it had, but she had been the one to bring the subject up after all. Hearing Sokka compliment her as he just had was exhilarating, but also painful. What he said didn't make a difference, couldn't make a difference… they both were perfectly aware of it. But it was impossible for her to remain emotionless if someone spoke of her as he had. Because it wasn't any random someone… it was him. And she knew already that he wasn't one to lie.
"So…" muttered Sokka, trying to relieve them from their current tension somehow. "Now you know what I was up to that day. But what about you? Given the way you were so eager to shake me off, I was almost sure you were up to something illegal."
"Why, of course I was. The Fire Nation Princess thrives in doing illegal activities, that's common knowledge," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "Was that really your best guess?"
"You're a woman of many secrets, Azula," said Sokka, smiling. "And every time I try to figure one of them out, I find out there's an even bigger mystery to unravel. So no matter what I guessed, I figured any of my assumptions would be wrong."
"Well, I assure you that one was wrong," said Azula, sighing. She frowned and eyed him with mild doubt, making Sokka feel slightly nervous and coy.
"Y-you know, it's okay if you don't want to tell me…" he muttered, her stare a bitter reminder of how little she trusted him.
Azula stopped looking at him, her gaze getting lost in the darkening sky above them. Sokka sighed silently. He had hoped that their conversation during the previous night would have eased her a little, that their constant arguing and bickering today had been enough to convince her that they could go back to what they used to be… clearly, he had been deluded.
He had been about to go look for more wood to replenish their supplies for the night when Azula's voice surprised him.
"My uncle led the First Siege of Ba Sing Se," she muttered. "By the orders of my grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, General Iroh took the best troops of the Fire Nation with him to vanquish the strongest city of the Earth Kingdom. Along with Iroh went his son, my cousin Lu Ten."
"I… I didn't know you had a cousin," said Sokka, surprised. All his previous intentions to gather more firewood were forgotten as soon as Azula started speaking.
"I did," Azula sighed. "As I said, he left with my uncle to fight in the war. Together they were supposed to take over Ba Sing Se and prove the might of the Fire Nation to the world, and to show the power of the members of the Royal Family. They were my grandfather's immediate successors on the throne after all… but my cousin perished on the battlefield. I never knew how, or why… he had always seemed so strong, I couldn't even picture anyone defeating him in battle – well, other than my father, that is. I never understood how it happened, all I knew was that, upon the arrival of a letter, my cousin was gone from the world. His grave stands on a hill in Ba Sing Se, and that's where I was while you were listening to poetry."
Sokka nodded, unsure of what to say. Did Azula get along with her cousin? Had she visited his grave because she felt it was her responsibility to do so? Or did she do it because she genuinely loved him? So many questions he wished to ask… but he didn't dare do it. He could tell by the look in her eyes how much this subject bothered her.
"Did you guys lose the siege because of that?" Sokka asked. "If he was that valuable a warrior…"
"In a way, we did," muttered Azula. "But the Fire Nation's failure wasn't Lu Ten's fault."
"Well, who can blame anyone for dying?" said Sokka, grimacing.
"That's not what I meant," Azula replied. "Lu Ten fought bravely, and he gave his life for his nation, just as so many other soldiers under my uncle's command did. Yet upon my cousin's demise, my uncle lost his wits and he brought down the entire siege. The operation collapsed on its own weight and the Fire Nation held the worst defeat it ever faced during the Hundred Year War. The soldiers had even managed to bring down the outer wall by then… and my uncle allowed all that progress to go to waste. He didn't care about it anymore. He never even apologized for bailing on his nation when he was needed the most."
"I guess the death of your own child can be quite a shock…" muttered Sokka.
"It doesn't excuse the way he acted," Azula responded. "A true military leader would have known the costs of war from the beginning. As soon as you take command of a unit, you know you're risking your men's lives. And if they sacrifice their lives for the cause, then all the more reason you have to keep fighting. It's the honorable thing to do, it's what my father taught me I should do when I was still a toddler. So how come a grown man like Iroh gives up battle and disappears into nowhere under the excuse that his son died in battle and he was overcome by grief? The same man who had commanded countless armies and triumphed in so many battles before; the very man who slayed the last dragon, too…"
"The last dragon?" asked Sokka, surprised. "He killed it? Really?"
"He claimed as much, at least," muttered Azula. "I don't think he brought back the horns, as he should have, but my grandfather was most eager to celebrate his grand accomplishment…"
"But… why?" Sokka asked, frowning. "Why did firebenders want to kill dragons? Is it you guys were trying to be the sole firebending race or something along those lines?"
"It's not that simple," said Azula, sighing. "Firebenders and dragons had bonded since the first man learned how to bend fire. Not everyone had the chance to bond with a dragon… they weren't a numerous race, and the cost of raising and feeding a dragon could be quite steep for most common folk. Only the high-born firebenders would seek to bond with dragons… but said bond wasn't as simple as jumping on the back of the beast and claiming it yours. For a firebender to bond with a dragon, he had to give him an offering of his own fire. The dragon would choose whether to accept or decline said offering. If he accepted, they would take the human as their rider, and they would be bonded forevermore. If he declined, though, the firebender would have to seek another dragon if he really wanted to become a rider, and as I already said, they were not easy to find nor were there plenty of them."
"Sounds like a hassle…" said Sokka.
"It was a privilege, though," said Azula. "Nothing spoke better of a firebender than having a dragon as his partner. Hence, dragons had accompanied the Royal Family's members since immemorial times. Fire Lord Sozin had quite a powerful dragon as his ally; the same goes for his son, Fire Lord Hizuo. My grandfather, Azulon, was just a young prince when his father presented him with the dragon he had procured for him. My grandfather performed the fire offering… but the dragon declined it. Enraged, Fire Lord Hizuo declared all dragons to be enemies of the Fire Nation, and he created the pointless dragon hunt that decimated the already small dragon population. Upon becoming Fire Lord, my grandfather added titles and nobility to the task of slaughtering dragons, and he genuinely basked in joy with every dragon carcass presented to him. Whoever killed a dragon would be granted the title of 'Dragon', and they would be presented with honors of the sort that not even war heroes would obtain. Fire Lord Azulon's resentment towards dragons knew no ends. Eager to please his father, my uncle killed the last remaining dragon and earned himself the title of 'Dragon of the West'."
"Wow… that's twisted," said Sokka.
"You said it," muttered Azula. "If there's one thing I never understood, it was Azulon's ridiculous notion of revenge. Why murder all the dragons just because one rejected him? His vengeance only served to damage the Fire Nation, to make our situation much worse. Just imagine how easy it would have been for us to conquer Ba Sing Se on the back of dragons… flying over those damn huge walls, burning the entire city down… But of course, my prodigious grandfather didn't bother trying to find another dragon that would accept his fire. It was as if he thought the dragon had offended his honor so terribly that his wrongdoing outweighed the war in his list of priorities, and said offense had to be punished no matter what."
"So… if your grandfather had had a better grasp of reality, he could have burned the entire world to ashes," Sokka muttered. "Well, can't say I'm not glad that the man was nuts, then."
"I suppose there's little chance that we would be here if that had been the case…" said Azula, shrugging. "Nevertheless, my uncle killed the last dragon and he didn't even mourn about what he had done. He got thousands of Fire Nation soldiers killed, and he murdered Earth Kingdom men with his own hands as well. Yet upon my cousin's death, he threw everything away in a fit of depression and disgraced his nation with his desertion of the battlefield. The fight was in the Fire Nation's hands all along, and he gave it up as he did…"
"You would have rather had him carry on fighting?" Sokka asked.
"It would have been the honorable thing to do. The right thing to do," Azula grunted. "My cousin gave up his life for a cause he believed in, and instead of honoring his sacrifice, my uncle disgraced him. It was almost as if he didn't realize that soldiers can die in wars until my cousin did. He never realized he was killing someone else's son, cousin or sibling… or that the Fire Nation soldiers perishing under his command were also someone else's family members. But nobody stopped the war for their sake. To my uncle, that was merely collateral damage. He murdered so many, and got so many others killed, without understanding the true cost of a life. What sort of a military leader is that?"
"I'm not eager to excuse him, mind you…" said Sokka, smiling a little. "But maybe there's a chance that he decided to stop the pointless violence?"
"If that's so, why did he join the Gladiator fights?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why, if he's so opposed to violence, didn't he tell my father to stop the war altogether? Why is he just standing on the sidelines, laughing stupidly, drinking tea and sending his niece on a goose chase while he plays Pai Sho and pampers Zuko? If his desertion of the frontlines hadn't meant a direct affront against Fire Lord Azulon's very authority and against the Fire Nation itself, if his suddenly new-found good will was more than just a pretense, why is it that he's doing absolutely nothing to change the world for the better? What is he trying to accomplish, really? What did my cousin's death teach him, if he actually learned anything at all?"
Sokka sighed and shrugged, his idea of the man growing murkier by the minute.
"He's older than your father, though, isn't he?" he asked. "Why isn't he the current Fire Lord?"
"My father took over the position when my grandfather passed away," said Azula. "My uncle was away from the Palace for over a year, and upon his return he didn't protest my father's rule. But even so, I always had the feeling that behind that calm charade he was hiding bitterness and jealousy upon knowing that Fire Lord Azulon had decided to give my father the crown instead of him."
"So he was supposed to be the heir, then…" muttered Sokka. "It would only make sense for him to be bitter about it, if that's the case."
"I don't even want to imagine what the Fire Nation would be like if he had ended up as its ruler," said Azula. "A coward and a deserter who hasn't got the guts to stand up for his people… what sort of Fire Lord could he have made? My cousin could have been a fantastic Fire Lord, but not my uncle."
"Did your grandfather change his mind about Iroh as his heir because of his desertion in the battlefield?" Sokka asked. "Do you think he realized Iroh couldn't rule, just as you believe?"
"No, I… I really don't know any specifics about what led Azulon to make my father his heir," said Azula. "The last I knew, he had refused blatantly to allow my father to succeed him."
"But… then you father became his heir? How?" Sokka asked, puzzled.
"As I said, I have no idea," muttered Azula. "All I know is that my grandfather passed away the very night he denied my father the throne…"
"Then…" Sokka clenched his teeth before delivering his newest question. "Do you think he killed him?"
"I don't know," said Azula. "I… I guess it's possible. But that's also the night when…"
"When what?" Sokka asked after Azula feel silent for a little longer than he had expected.
"When my mother vanished," Azula replied, her tone of voice shifting slightly as she spoke. Sokka didn't know what the change was exactly, but he could tell that there was something different about the way she spoke of her mother… "I don't know if my father killed my grandfather and my mother, or if she killed my grandfather and fled… I don't know anything, honestly."
"Would your mother have killed a man?" asked Sokka, surprised.
"I wouldn't be too surprised if she had," replied Azula. "For Zuko's sake, she would have done anything."
"Wait, what does Zuko have to do with this?" Sokka asked, confused.
Azula couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head.
"It's enough information for one night. If I keep talking your stomach will end up in a worse jumble than it already is because of that disgusting liver you ate."
"Oh, come on!" said Sokka, pouting. "You can't just give me half the pieces of the puzzle and hope I solve it on my own!"
"I don't have all the pieces, mind you," said Azula. "So you're not getting all the answers you want anyways. I'm not going to get them either any time soon. But life goes on, Sokka. We can't lose our minds just because we don't know the truth about what happened that night…"
"But talking about such things is a nice distraction for our current situation, though," said Sokka. "Will you tell me more later?"
"I might, I might not," said Azula, shrugging as she rolled over to the side, hugging herself tightly. "It depends on how much you anger me tomorrow."
"Oh, boy… I guess I'm not hearing anything else about this anytime soon, am I?" said Sokka, smiling.
"Surely not," said Azula, smiling back at him as she closed her eyes.
"Well, just as I said…" said Sokka, stirring the fire with a stick. "Every secret you hide is just a small portion of a larger mystery. You just reaffirmed my beliefs."
"I'm glad I did," said Azula, smirking still. "Where's the point in giving you the chance to figure everything out so quickly…? You seem to enjoy puzzles, so I'll let you have your fun with this one for as long as you like."
"I do enjoy puzzles, but I have to say I'm not exactly a patient man," admitted Sokka. "If the pieces don't fit, I'll just smash them into place!"
"You brute."
Sokka couldn't help but chuckle lowly at her response. Azula's eyes were closed, but he was certain she had rolled them behind her eyelids. He looked at her, deep in thought, pondering all she had just talked to him about, and as he did he managed to attach two of the puzzle pieces he hadn't noticed matched before.
"So… all this about your uncle, that's the reason why you don't give up, isn't it?" he asked. "It's why you don't back down from fights… it's why you win or lose, but you don't run away. Because that's what he did…"
"I'll never be like him," Azula muttered. "I'll never back down for my own benefit. If I lose once, I'll win twice. But I'm never going to give up, no matter on what regard. It's what my cousin deserved, and what he didn't obtain because his father was weak and cowardly. I'll never let anyone down in the way my uncle disappointed his son."
"I'm sure you won't," said Sokka, nodding. "You're much better than that."
"I… w-well, of course I am," she muttered, a blush appearing on her cheeks. Her previous sternness vanished instantly upon his words.
Sokka smiled again at the sight of her, deciding to leave Azula to her rest now. It had been quite a long and odd day… they had argued, they had talked, they had laughed, they had frowned… but even though they were lost in the middle of a forest, Sokka admitted to himself that there was nowhere he would rather be that night but here, next to the most interesting person he had ever met. He watched her as she shifted slightly until she found a comfortable position, and when she lay still for a while he muttered:
"Good night, Princess."
The smile on his face only grew larger when she replied:
"Good night, Sokka."
A/N:
I feel the need to inform you that no, I haven't lost my mind (at least, not completely) with a few decisions I've made to alter the Avatarverse lately… one of them being my addition of a new member to the Royal Family, Sozin's son and Azulon's father.
Because… have you ever given that timeline some thought? Azulon was born, apparently, when Sozin was in his eighties… and I can only assume Ozai was born when Azulon was around 60-70 as well. Adding to this the fact that during "Zuko Alone" we hear the Fire Sage on Azulon's funeral saying quite clearly that Azulon was Fire Lord to their Nation for TWENTY-THREE years… well, I reached the conclusion that there was a generation missing, and I decided to fill that gap because it made more sense than to expect two older men (and their respective wives) to give birth to children at such old age.
On the matter regarding the dragon slaughter, Sozin ordering to hunt down all the dragons when he had one himself seemed slightly absurd to me, still does. Maybe it was just meant to be a display of how wacky Sozin was? Nevertheless, I've altered that too because I thought that blaming Sozin for all the wrong decisions of the Fire Nation was needless, other Fire Lords could have been responsible for the slaughter of the dragons.
Well, I guess that's all I had to say about this, though you are welcome to ask any questions through your reviews or messages. Thanks for reading, as ever, and look forward to the next one!