Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

218. Chapter 218: The Spirit Library 9

Unforgiving winds usually crowned the tall mountains near the Northern Air Temple; Teo warned them to brace themselves for the dangers before they took off on their latest venture. Still, it seemed Sokka and Azula had lucked out for the day: the breeze was light and easy enough to navigate with the hot-air balloon they had borrowed for their latest quest.

"Alright, this marks the fifth attempt…" Sokka called out to Azula, as he steered the balloon closer to the nearest mountaintop.

He raised an eyebrow, though, finding his partner had been dozing off on one of the custom seats the Mechanist had added to his models recently, to make long journeys smoother for the balloons' occupants. His voice had woken her with a jolt, and she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her uninjured hand as Sokka smirked at her.

"My Princess is drowsy, seems like. You're usually more awake after spending whole nights trampling in the sheets with me, and there was no such mischief happening last night, to boot…" Sokka spoke haughtily, and his teasing brought a smile to her face.

"It's been a long few… months now, I guess" she answered, closing her eyes again "I think I want to nap for ten weeks without breaks. Might be I'll regain my energy that way…"

"What? Fire Nation Princesses don't hibernate, what nonsense is this…?" Sokka scoffed playfully, and Azula chuckled, shaking her head "Not to mention, it's not hibernation period: if anything, it's time to wake up and take in the world…!"

"I think I've seen enough of the world as it is" Azula groaned, slumping on her seat "Surely you'd agree with joining me in bed and not leaving for a very long time, wouldn't you?"

"Uh… well, if I'm invited too, we can be a pair of hibernating armadillo-bears together, then" Sokka finally acquiesced, grinning goofily as he continued to steer the hot-air balloon cheerfully.

Azula smiled warmly at him as he focused again on working with the airborne vehicle, guiding it higher by adding more fuel to the engine. His cheerful demeanor, that overpouring enthusiasm, was a way to distract her, to reassure her that life didn't have to change in any significant way, no matter what would happen now that Xin Long was off in the depths of a faraway mountain cavern, learning his ways around the group of dragons, warning their colony against traveling under the water the same way he had, so they'd stay safe and sound in their large, beautiful nest.

If it weren't for Sokka's occasional jokes and jabs, Azula's mind would be constantly drifting between visiting Xin Long's and drifting off to sleep. The dragon's absence couldn't quite be blamed for that last thing, but after four fruitless explorations of the heights of these mountains, they had yet to find the first specimen of the sunflower rosette shrub that Tenya had written about on his letter. He had added a helpful drawing of the plant as well, but until now they hadn't glimpsed it, not even once…

"I guess only airbenders ever found that weird plant, huh?" Sokka contemplated, finally guiding the balloon to a good enough landing spot in the nearest mountain "I can't imagine anyone else working so hard to track down this shrub…"

"See? They could have been pretty dangerous, if just theoretically" Azula smiled "I have no doubts they could use their bending to suck the very air out of your lungs if they'd had no moral code to abide by… but they also would have been the main, or only nation, with access to plants that could chi-block people with their pollen alone. Fancy that, huh?"

The hot-air balloon finally found solid ground again, and Sokka worked to stabilize the vehicle: they wouldn't be likely to spend too long here, so it was better to keep the engine running so they could take off at haste once they confirmed there were no shrubs to be found within this mountain as well.

So far, the peaks around the Northern Air Temple appeared to be mostly devoid of life, especially the tallest ones. They had chosen to inspect those that weren't quite so close to the cloud level instead, but a light mist still clung to the mountainside, sending chills down their spines and compelling them to stand close together to fend off the cold.

"Alright… let's see where we've landed this time" Sokka said, an arm wrapped around Azula as he guided her off the balloon.

The mountain was elegantly beautiful, with mist swirling gracefully around the occasional trees and vegetation that rose in patches through the rocky grounds. Sokka was ever wary of unstable grounds, most unwilling to topple down an abyss with a still-recovering firebender – as much as she claimed to be alright, Sokka hadn't forgotten that Song's instruction had been that Azula shouldn't bend at all, and naturally, she had already broken it again during this trip, just as she had in the Si Wong Desert. He'd rather give her no more reasons to break it again.

"There's some vegetation here, though. That's a good sign" Azula said, minding her footing. Sokka nodded, fishing in his pants' pocket for the drawing Tenya had sent them of the fabled shrub.

"It's supposed to have a lot of thick leaves… they're hairy, too, he says" Sokka said, crooking an eyebrow "Hairy plants are new to me, I guess, but at least it makes it a pretty unique thing to look for, right?"

"And the flower is yellow" Azula read as well, before glancing across the mountain they had landed on "So… let's find something yellow in all this brown and green, shall we? It's what we need most of all, there's not much use to be found in a shrub without a flower…"

"That's true, very true" Sokka acknowledged: together, they made further progress away from the hot-air balloon as they sought the plant, as intended.

Ten minutes passed, and they spotted many strange plants as they walked together, but none with a yellow flower crowning them. The thinning air wasn't quite as bad in this mountain as it was in the taller ones they had visited earlier, but it still wasn't comfortable enough for the Princess and her gladiator, both accustomed to living at a much closer level to the ground than where they were right now.

"Need us to go back yet?" Sokka asked, as Azula stopped briefly, breathing deeply.

"I'm… fine. My head's buzzing, though" she said, with a grimace "You?"

"I'm a little dizzy" Sokka admitted, grinning guiltily "But I think I can take it for a little longer. We might as well explore this place for a bit furth-…"

He trailed off at the last word, frowning and then narrowing his eyes as he glimpsed something strange, higher in the mountain, hidden between its ridges. Following the path of his gaze, it wasn't long before Azula spotted it too.

"That… could be it?" Azula said, cocking her head to the side.

"Let's… try to get up there. If we can" Sokka said, swallowing hard as he sought the easiest trek through the unwalked mountains.

If any airbenders had visited this place, they clearly lived in such harmony with nature that they never felt the need to build a proper path to reach the mountain's higher points. Azula had found herself envying other benders more often than usual as of late, but as she and Sokka struggled not to be overcome by the weather conditions, she couldn't help but wonder if the masters of air would have been entirely unaffected by the ever-thinning atmosphere.

After the better part of twenty minutes of hiking slowly, but steadily, through the complicated, slanted wall of the mountainside, they finally reached the yellow flower they had glimpsed from below… to find it was only a yellow flower indeed. The two huffed in disappointment, nearly dropping flat on the ground as they scowled at the petals.

"Guess we should just go back and find an even smaller mountain" Azula said, as Sokka took his seat and offered her his arms. She wasted no time falling into them, finding his body colder than it should be: she flared up her inner fire, warming up the two of them as she cuddled against him.

"Or maybe we should stop this nonsense?" Sokka suggested, with a sigh "Not like I'm even convinced about using that bomb against Toph…"

"Maybe you should save it for Combustion Man, then" Azula reasoned, smiling weakly. Sokka stiffened underneath her "You do know everyone's struggled to figure out how to disable that behemoth, so… why not?"

"Well… huh. I don't know, frankly" Sokka admitted, blinking blankly "Might not be the worst idea, come to think of it"

"But that means we should continue to search" Azula said, pulling away and cupping his face between her warm hands "It's best if we…"

Sokka waited for a moment, wondering if she'd finish her sentence. Yet it didn't take him long to realize her gaze was poised on something over his shoulder, nearly concealed by a strange, protruding chunk of earth…

The leaves were nowhere near as vivid a green as she had expected: they were of a muted, grayish color, and they were poised in a curious spiral, gathering together at the center in a protective, elegant manner. Yet Azula was sure she wasn't hallucinating that, at that very center, there was a hint of yellow…

"Sokka" she gasped his name, as he remained perplexed under her weight, his head twisted back uncomfortably so he could finally spot what Azula had seen.

"Okay… maybe we were luckier than we thought?" Sokka said, with a weak grin "Good eye, Azula"

The kiss he pressed to the side of her head was so sweet and warm Azula was tempted to ask him to stay like that, just for a moment longer… but her lover, for all his apparent disinterest in the bomb he intended to build, was thrilled to finally have come across a specimen of the strange shrub: he hoisted her to her feet as delicately as possible, guiding her by hand towards the earthen ridge. The closer they came, the more victorious they felt: they had found the shrub after all, and fortunately enough, it was spring: there were a few flowers blooming at the center, ready and ripe to have their pollen harvested.

"Well… here we are" Sokka said, grinning "How much do you think we'll need?"

"Whatever we can harvest, I guess?" Azula said, glancing over the earthy ridge… to find there were other shrubs not too far from where they stood. She smirked "Well, I'd say leave one flower untouched. Then we can move to harvest the other ones back there"

"What, there's more?" Sokka asked, happily surprised "Damn! Alright, then… let's pick up some pollen, shall we?"

It was fortunate that neither of them had any pollen allergies, for they had it easy to harvest the pollen and pour it into a small pouch Sokka had brought for this very purpose. Wearing protective gloves and masks they had borrowed in the Northern Air Temple, they proceeded from one plant to the next, until the pouch was full. By then, the gladiator couldn't have been more satisfied with their progress.

"All done! This has to be enough for a decent bomb or two" Sokka announced, finally removing the protections and beaming brightly at the closed pouch "And may we not need more of this pollen ever again"

"Surely the plants agree" Azula smirked, and Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I guess it's rude to take their pollen, but I was as nice to them as I could be" Sokka said "You don't think there's some weird plant spirit that will take vengeance against us because of what I did, do you…?"

"Regardless of our latest experiences with spirits, I certainly don't" Azula laughed "That's not what I meant"

"Then what did you mean?" Sokka asked, equally confused and curious.

"Well… you don't know a lot about plants, and their processes, do you?" she asked, biting back a grin that still twitched at the corners of her mouth.

"Not really" Sokka admitted, with a shrug "Not much point in learning about flowers in a frozen pole where the most vegetation we got was seeweed, is there?"

"Yeah, I guess so. As far as I can remember, from what I learned in my last years in school…" Azula said, raising a hand to touch the yellow petals of the flower "Pollen is, uh… the means through which plants reproduce"

"It's… wait, what?!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyebrow twitching. Azula snorted, covering her mouth with a hand fruitlessly to muffle her laughter "Y-you're saying I'm… harvesting their sperm?!"

Nearly overcome by her laughter as she was, Azula managed to nod. Sokka stuck his tongue out, shuddering as he inched away from the pouch Azula was holding.

"Who the heck has their junk riding in the wind that way?! Gross! And how the heck does that even work, Azula? It's not like plants can move…!"

"Usually they need birds, or bees, to carry off the pollen to other flowers prepared to receive it?" Azula smiled "Still, I'm far from an expert, so if we have time to spare you can always ask Tenya once we're back in Ba Sing Se…"

"Frankly, I think I already know more than I ever wanted to" Sokka repeated, shaking his head "The next flowers I give you won't have any pollen, I promise"

"Should be me making that promise, you're the one who's squicked out by the whole thing" Azula laughed, leaning close to kiss his cheek.

The way back to the balloon took less time, as each step forward led them to lesser heights: the richer air invigorated them, even if the cold continued to bite at their bodies, underneath their clothes and armor. But as tricky as this final quest had appeared to be, they had succeeded at it after all.

"Now it's just a matter of delivering the pollen to the Mechanist…" Sokka recited, with a sigh "Just that sentence feels wrong now. Thanks for ruining plants for me forever, Azula"

"My pleasure" Azula grinned, as Sokka closed the balloon's small door once the two of them were inside it.

The balloon's engine was warm and soothing: returning to its vicinity proved to be a great method to chase away the chill of their previous four stops, and it served the same purpose this time, too. Sokka fished for food and water in their prepared bags, offering some to Azula before taking his seat beside her. The Princess leaned against his arm, eating comfortably, without quite the same decorum and proper posture that was expected of her. Naturally, Sokka was delighted for it.

"Time to go back to the Air Temple, then?" Sokka mused, an arm draped around her shoulders. Azula hummed "It's really cold out here, no kidding… but it's nice to float about in the air like this. Doesn't feel so cold while we're in the balloon…"

"Are you implying what I think you're implying?" Azula asked. Sokka chuckled.

"Well, I would be, if we'd thought to bring blankets or so" he said, tapping the corrugated metal floor of the balloon with his foot "My balloon at home is much more comfortable than this one for escapades… though I guess we could just go for it on these seats, huh?"

He wiggled his eyebrows with that suggestion, and Azula laughed, burying her face in his shoulder. Sokka smiled, watching her affectionately: his entire body begged him to return to the subtle warmth of the Air Temple, but his heart and mind roared with the exact opposite demand. Truth be told, he didn't intend to be intimate with Azula right now… but he did want to distract her from her concerns and anxiety for as long as possible.

He had already succeeded at doing so many times in the past, most notably after he had nearly died at Jeong Jeong's hands all those years ago. By offering Azula a betrothal necklace during their private celebration of her birthday, the Princess had finally found the strength to move forward, overcoming the many sorrows that had clouded her heart. Perhaps, then, it would be a good idea to find something else to distract the Princess, giving her something else to think about outside of her dragon's solo trip.

She wasn't quite as distressed by it as she'd been before they reached the Northern Air Temple, and no doubt she had spoken properly with Xin Long about what would happen in the future. The dragon had said reassuring things, and Azula's mood proved as much… but she was still worried, even if she wanted to bury it deep down inside. It wasn't that Sokka wanted to help her bury her concerns, he knew that couldn't possibly be healthy, let alone for someone who, despite displaying such strength in most regards, was actually quite fragile when it came to matters of the heart. Still… a distraction might just help her feel that the world wouldn't end, regardless of whether Xin Long changed his mind about returning or not.

"You know, this balloon is better built, sturdier, than the old ones" Sokka mused, his thumb stroking Azula's shoulder softly.

"Guess the Mechanist upgraded the design…?" Azula mused, her eyes closed as she nestled against him.

"Yeah, he definitely did. I think the balloon itself is much stronger than before" Sokka said, biting his lip before nudging Azula "Which, well, inspires me to make a very mischievous request?"

"Mischievous?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows and glancing at him "You really meant what you said about the seats…?"

"Well, no, not really" Sokka chuckled, and now his fingers laced through her long hair "It's not that kind of mischief, believe it or not"

"That's truly hard to believe, coming from you" Azula smirked, placing a hand on his thigh. Sokka gritted his teeth, his blood rushing south despite his intent truly hadn't been erotic.

"Well, it's still true, but if you insist, I can just go for it right here and now, Princess. Don't tempt me" Sokka smiled, though Azula was perplexed now "See, well… these mountains are pretty tall, right? You'd say, maybe, the tallest in the whole world?"

"Uh… truthfully, I wouldn't know" Azula admitted "This mountain chain has barely been explored by the Fire Nation, as you know, and what has been explored was mostly for militaristic purposes. Sad as it may be to admit it, I can't say I know what the tallest mountain in the world might be. We should've asked Wan Shi Tong, if you truly wanted to know…"

"Heh. That would have been helpful" Sokka chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to her brow "Then, for my purposes… let's say the genuinely tallest mountain in the world is somewhere in this range, shall we?"

"What for?" Azula replied, with an intrigued smile.

"Oh, you'll see…" Sokka snickered, rising to his feet and working to engineer the balloon's ascent once more.

Azula watched him with curiosity, though she feared he'd had a leave of his senses. Instead of guiding them downwards, away from the thin air that was difficult to breathe in, Sokka seemed determined to go higher and higher still. He occasionally allowed the balloon to descend anew, providing the two of them with the much-needed opportunity to breathe properly. But his goal remained a puzzle for the confused firebender.

"Think this one's tall enough?" Sokka asked, glancing up at one of the most daunting mountains they'd glimpsed so far: it was so tall its peak was concealed by a film of white clouds.

"Beats me" Azula replied earnestly, with a shrug "What are you trying to do, Sokka?"

"Oh, you'll see! You and I are off to where no other people have been before…! Or, well, other Fire Nation and Water Tribe people, I figure airbenders had done this kind of thing in the past…"

"Considering how thin the air gets, I doubt it" Azula said, though she frowned "Strangely, it's not feeling so thin right now, though. But maybe it's just because we're getting used to it?"

"Might be. Still, we won't stay long" Sokka grinned, working with the ropes "Can you stoke the engine? It should make this whole crazy ordeal a bit faster if you do…"

Azula shrugged but smiled, pushing herself up to open the engine's small metal doorway: she should have used the bellows Sokka had kept near the engine at all times, but she chose to pour in her own fire instead. The heat of the mixing flames sent the balloon upwards slightly faster than Sokka had expected, and he gasped when he realized the Princess was, yet again, using her bending.

"Hey! You're not supposed to do that!" he squeaked.

"It's my healthy hand, there's no harm being done to the other one" Azula smirked, disregarding his concerns altogether. Sokka huffed, as the balloon rose high enough to reach the edge of the clouds.

"Song said you shouldn't bend and this time you have no excuse to… ACK!"

Both Azula and Sokka flinched, too focused on their argument to quite ponder what the closeness of the clouds would translate into, once they were high enough to break past them: cold water chilled them all over again, even though the balloon continued upwards, relentless and unaffected by the charged cloud.

Azula shivered, instinctively reaching for Sokka and pulling him towards her: before he knew it, she had stoked her inner fire as best as she could, and warmth seeped into Sokka's chilled body as he held onto Azula tightly, breathing with difficulty at first, but his heaving chest eased up before long.

"Y-you okay…?" Azula asked him, and Sokka nodded, his ragged breaths heavy by her ear.

"I… I love you. I love you so much" he said, closing his eyes.

"See? Sometimes… we have to break Song's orders. It's inevitable, really" Azula said, playfully, and Sokka chuckled "Still, now that that's done with, what exactly were you trying to…?"

Her question answered itself once she pulled her eyes away from Sokka… to find the sun shining powerfully upon them.

Her breath hitched: the entire world had been replaced by that film of clouds, covering everything in a smooth, beautiful blanket. There were no sounds to be heard beyond those of the hot-air balloon's engine, and the rustling of the fabric that continued to hold them strong and steady as they soared high, close to one of the only mountaintops that rose above the clouds.

"Y-you… wanted us to see this?" Azula asked, her fingers tightening around Sokka's clothes. He snickered but surprised her by shaking his head.

"Not quite… but it's beautiful enough as it is, huh?" he said, smiling warmly at her "Let's see if there's somewhere we can land"

They were careful with this new landing, as it promised to be slightly more complicated than they were used to: any sudden movements would leave them lightheaded, the pressure of the air difficult to cope with, even if they were distracted from the hardships by the bright clouds that spread everywhere the eye could see. It felt like another world… much like the Library had, and the dragons' cavern. But this place was deserted: not a soul could be found up on this tall mountain, not a single one but them.

The mountaintop proved spacious enough for the hot-air balloon to land safely. Still, any mishaps could see them plummeting down to an abyss… and once again, Sokka hoped deeply they wouldn't find themselves hurtling downwards. After traveling on Xin Long as often as they had, any potential fear of heights he might have felt was long-since cured, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be cautious anyways.

"Well… here we are?" Azula said, as Sokka pushed the hot-air balloon's door open and stepped onto the cold, rocky ground "And… what exactly are we going to do here? We're not going to, well…"

"No, we won't have sex on the tallest mountain of the world" Sokka laughed, shaking his head "You always say it's my mind in the gutter, but…"

"Like it's anyone's fault but yours that mine is, too" Azula said, wrapping her arms around herself as she stepped down from the basket along with him "I used to be a lot purer of heart until you came along"

"I have no way of knowing if that's true or not" Sokka laughed, slipping his own arms around her waist. Azula crooked an eyebrow, and it remained just as crooked when he leaned down to kiss her softly, his cold lips brushing hers pleasantly regardless of the temperature "Ah… there we go"

"You do realize we don't have to come all this way to kiss freely, don't you…?" Azula smirked teasingly, and Sokka laughed, his brow against hers, his breath a small, white fog that brushed against Azula's skin.

"I always feel like I'm at the top of the world when I kiss you… this time I literally am" he said, with a snicker. Azula nearly snorted.

"That… that's what this was about? All along?" she asked, and Sokka chuckled, pressing more kisses to her cheeks and nose.

"You can go ahead and say I'm an idiot, I won't contest it…" he said, beaming "But it feels like… like we're telling the whole world about our love, huh? But no one can see it, because we're hidden behind the clouds…"

"Isn't that what we're always like?" Azula asked, stroking his chest "Cherishing our love in secret, or as secretly as can be, anyways…"

"I suppose" Sokka conceded "But I thought it'd be a good idea not to hide it from the rest of the world, to a fault. To just… show nature what we mean to each other, or spirits, or whatever might be watching over us, if anything does…"

"A silly idea" Azula said, though Sokka recognized the gentle smile on her face: she was moved by his silly idea after all, and that was all he needed to know.

She leaned in, stealing one more kiss from his lips, soft and fragile, yet it felt so warm the cold around them faded to the background. Rationally, she knew this was a foolish errand, one that could cost them dearly if she ever stopped stirring her inner fire to keep them both warm… but her heart ached with blissful love for the man who held her so tightly. A unique sense of permanence clung to this tall mountain… perhaps that was what made this kiss so meaningful. For one moment, they could taste eternity in each other's lips.

They smiled brightly at one another once their kiss broke, but Azula's chest churned still, knowing this wasn't quite enough to convey the everlasting love they felt for each other. She bit her lip, glancing at the stone peak they were standing in, and she searched her pockets for a slightly surprising tool…

"Uh… what do we need your knife for, if I can ask?" Sokka said, with an awkward grin. Azula laughed.

"Back in the day, there was this strange fad in my school" she explained, guiding Sokka towards a protruding rock on the ground "In our last year, many girls were starting relationships, whether casual, serious, or even arranged ones, and half the desks were covered in weird portmanteaus of the girl and their beloved's name, to say one thing…"

"Huh?" Sokka smiled, watching as Azula knelt before the rock. He leaned down, wrapped tightly around her, fully aware that, without her warmth, they'd likely be frozen solid within a few minutes of standing out in the frigid peak.

"I never really saw the point in doing that on desk tables" Azula admitted, raising her knife "Not to mention half of the girls would eventually be outraged because their young boyfriends would do something stupid and they'd regret having etched their names together as they had, so they'd try to switch tables with someone else when they weren't paying attention…"

"Didn't they get in trouble for it?" Sokka asked. Azula smirked.

"Several times" she said, and Sokka huffed.

"Did you tell on them?"

"Oh, no… I merely set the stage so they'd be caught red-handed, or with carved desks they didn't want anymore" Azula shrugged, and Sokka chuckled in disbelieving amazement on her shoulder "I mainly did that whenever they thought to cleverly swap out my perfect desk table for theirs when I wasn't in the room. I ended up finding out all the damn gossip about their relationships through Ty Lee so I could know who had stolen my desk and retrieve it before it could be a victim to the next boy any of those girls fell for …"

"You never do talk much about that school" Sokka smiled "Most the time it sounds boring as hell… but now it looks like you were fighting a childhood war back then too, huh?"

"You have no idea" Azula sighed "Half the class hated me, the other half despised me. For good reason, still, but…"

"Good reason, as if…"

"I was an asshole, remember?" Azula chuckled "I was even worse as a kid, too. You have no idea…"

"You just needed to meet the right people and find a good place to belong in" Sokka said, tightening his hold around her "See? Just like this…"

"Can't say I feel like we belong in this mountain all that much" Azula smiled, but she bit her lip and got to work "But it's also true that I swore a thousand times that no one would ever catch me jutting down my name into anything in that foolish way, and I'm about to do just that. Guess my perceptions and my vows aren't necessarily truthful every time, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that…" Sokka smiled, but Azula glanced at him over her shoulder.

"If anyone else ever climbs this mountain… they'll find our names carved right here" she said, biting back a grin that escaped her lips all the same "It's probably a stupid thing to do, but… if you do want the universe to know you kissed me at the top of the world, what better way to do it than by leaving such incriminating evidence right here?"

Sokka laughed and leaned close to kiss her. The Princess smiled, taking his hand in hers, guiding his right to cup her left: the two held the knife as they began carving their names, together, on that solid rock.

By Azula's insistence, they wrote his name first. But after finishing the last symbol that comprised Azula's name, Sokka snickered and continued to write, triggering further laughter from Azula as he jutted down: 'Princess and gladiator, bonded for eternity'.

"Am I corny? Sure, but this whole situation is as corny as can be! So, you know, just enjoy it" Sokka snickered, kissing her cheek as Azula shook her head.

"You're impossible. Now you've made sure that anyone who does come up here will know about our relationship, huh?" Azula asked. Sokka smirked.

"That's the idea! It's like our own version of the Cave of Two Lovers, to a fault? Just as their love lasts forever underground, ours does up here in the sky!"

"Well, sure. Though it's still carved in a rock, so it's kind of earthbend-y…?" Azula mused, before scowling at her own choice of words "Well, damn. I'm talking nonsense the same way you do"

"Couples infect each other with their bad habits all the time, don't worry about it" Sokka chuckled, kissing her lips softly "Still, if you want the sky to know for sure…"

"Well, we did just kiss up here, what more evidence do you think it needs?" Azula smiled, but she couldn't be prepared for Sokka to release her – despite he kept his body pressed to hers – and place his hands at either side of his mouth.

"I LOVE AZULA, AND I ALWAYS WILL!" he bellowed.

The loud shout, as well as its contents, were a shot full of adrenaline through Azula's system, and she gasped as her heart raced for what he'd done. For him, altogether.

Sokka chuckled and hugged her anew, his cheek against hers.

"Alright, I'm pretty sure I've convinced the sky of the truth now" he said. Azula shook her head, wondering how on earth her cheeks could heat up with such cold breeze brushing against them.

"Then… should I do the same?" she asked. Sokka snorted.

"Do you want to?"

"To look like a fool before you and the entire cloud-covered planet? Why, of course I do" Azula smirked, and Sokka laughed as she followed his example, her cold hands trembling as she raised them to her mouth "I LOVE SOKKA TOO, AND I'LL MAKE A FOOL OF MYSELF WITH HIM FOR ETERNITY!"

By now his laughter was so strong he barely held himself upright while holding her. Azula smiled, turning in his arms to look at him questioningly.

"Good enough for your liking, husband?"

"You're more than good enough for me in every possible sense, wife" he smiled fondly before cupping her face with his hands.

Peace and silence had settled upon the world by now, as the echoes of their voices were long gone. The sunlight wasn't strong enough to fend off the chill, yet Azula's chest, burning brightly with gold fire, exuded enough warmth that neither felt so cold anymore. Surely no one had heard them, no one would know about what they'd done for many years, decades, perhaps even centuries, just as Oma and Shu's love remained protected underground… but that engraved stone, at the top of the tallest mountain, far above a war-torn world, would always serve as a monument to their fulfilled relationship. Whatever might come in the future, they knew they had shared a love without equal and this mountain would eternally hold the evidence of it, for as long as it stood stalwart, another guardian of their not-so-well-kept secret.

Sokka's plan worked perfectly: by the time Azula conveyed the cold was becoming too harsh to fight off with her bending, they returned to the hot-air balloon and descended gradually until the air was no longer so cold and thin. Sokka sat beside Azula after ensuring their course was right, and with the Princess sitting across his lap, her arms snaked around him, they cuddled with smiles on their faces, liberated from any and all burdens after their innocent, perhaps even childish, escapade.

They were still cold by the time they reached the Northern Air Temple, but the hot-air system the Mechanist had installed in the buildings proved enough to chase away the worst of the biting cold. They couldn't sit around and warm up at the fireplace in their room, though: they rushed at haste to the Mechanist's office and workshop, joining hands whenever there was no one nearby who might spot their affectionate gesture.

Sokka knocked on the door weakly, glancing at Azula to confirm she was alright: the color was evening out on her face, as opposed to the flushed cheeks she'd sported up on the mountain, mostly caused by the cold rather than by their antics. He was still smiling fondly at her when the Mechanist opened the door, sporting a strange hat on his head.

"Oh, you're back!" he said, and Sokka turned his grin towards the man "Did you find that flower, then?"

"Took us a while, but yeah" Sokka said, biting his lip as Azula retrieved the pouch of pollen from her pocket "It better be enough for what we need, I really don't think we can take off on another trip like this one…"

"We were lucky it wasn't even windy today" Azula said "The weather might not take it easy on us if we try it a second time around…"

"Oh, rest assured, this will suffice! You won't have to force yourselves any further" said the Mechanist, taking the pouch in his hands "Well, then… I suppose you'd like to design these weapons with me, Sokka?"

"Sure, and we'll need to test them properly too, right?" Sokka said, shrugging before glancing at Azula "You could go warm up in the room if…"

"What for? Might as well watch you two work, ought to be more entertaining" Azula said, smiling nonchalantly "Besides, you need a voice of reason to put a stop to your work whenever it's time for meals and sleep, don't you?"

"Yeah… that's actually a very good idea" the Mechanist said, nodding enthusiastically.

"If you have any suggestions too, feel free to share them" Sokka grinned "You're the smartest one here, after all"

"Is that so?" Azula asked, folding her arms over her chest as Sokka snickered and entered the Mechanist's office.

His unabashed flattery was usually a source of amusement… this time it wasn't different, though it flustered the Princess as well, especially when she noticed the Mechanist was eyeing her with a small grin on his face. A grin that, naturally, vanished once Azula noticed it.

"Uh, uh, off to work it is! No distractions!"

"Say, were you testing the snack hat?" Sokka asked, grinning wildly at the Mechanist, eyes drifting to the top of his head.

"Oh, yes, but there's some hygiene hazards, naturally…" the Mechanist said, relieved to have something else to talk about while they prepared the room to begin the bombs' design and experiments.

"What hygiene hazard could there be in a hat?" Sokka asked, confused. The Mechanist grinned awkwardly.

"Well… the compartment isn't perfect just yet. And no one wants to eat food with dandruff, so…"

"Ew!"

"See?"

Azula laughed quietly at their conversation, taking her seat on an available chair, not too far from the table the Mechanist was clearing for their new work. After further discussion over the Mechanist's other projects – including Sokka's acknowledgement of the Mechanist's modifications to the hot-air balloons –, the pair began to work, debating different methods to weaponize the pollen for Sokka's use.

Azula dozed off without her awareness, nodding off to sleep once, then twice… she fought it off at first, but upon confirming Sokka and the Mechanist weren't making that much progress yet, she decided to take a short, sitting nap. She felt comfortable and safe enough to do so, as long as Sokka was nearby… and she closed her eyes, connecting her mind and heart to her dragon's briefly, to find he was playing at chasing the smaller dragons of the cavern, who were delighted by the fully-grown dragon's childishness. Xin Long's peaceful happiness spread to her, and Azula smiled as she allowed herself to slumber for a few hours.

By the time she woke up, it seemed the two men had finally made important decisions regarding the final form of their latest enterprise:

"So… not a bomb, but a dispensing device?" Sokka said, stroking his stubble "And we have to concoct a liquid mix of the pollen with that catalyzing substance…"

"Well, you're the one who suggested the dispensing device. The… sprayer?" the Mechanist suggested, with a shrug "And you have a point, it's much better if you can direct the substance away from you, isn't it? If it's supposed to chi-block just by inhaling it…"

"Yeah, I guess I'm just so used to my smoke bombs I'd never considered protecting myself from my weapons should be a priority" Sokka said, with a weak grin "Alright, then! If you want, you can get started with the experiments for the liquid, and I'll try to make a design of the sprayer, okay?"

"Sprayer…?" Azula repeated, and Sokka jumped on his chair.

"Oh, you woke up!" he said. She nodded shyly.

"Just now, I missed a lot of your plans, I suspect" she said. Sokka grinned and shook his head.

"You didn't miss anything major, don't worry" he said "Though we're not going to make it a bomb now, if we can help it. I remembered the Mad Alchemist's weapon, you know? The fake firebending one…"

"Ugh. That one?" Azula said, her eyebrow twitching, and Sokka chuckled.

"Yeah, I know you hated it. But see… he could use it to release fire, controlling it somehow. Maybe he had a gauge or something, I don't know… but the point is, it spread fire pretty far and wide. So, I thought… can't we do something like that with a gas as well? And then the Mechanist suggested it might even be better to do it with a liquid, which… is better, surely? I don't know how to turn pollen into outright gas, so…"

"You'll make pollen soup, then" Azula said, smiling "Sounds, uh… disturbing"

"Y-you… stop making me think about your weird botany knowledge, will you?!" Sokka squeaked, and Azula laughed with abandon at his squeamishness.

The Mechanist had already begun gathering his implements to work on composing a liquefied pollen brew, but he smiled to himself as he overheard the conversation between the Princess and her gladiator. They were, without a doubt, far more careless now, free to be as open about their relationship as they dared… and it showed in the spontaneous, unrestrained conversations they held, in that unusually honest laughter that poured from the Princess's lips, in Sokka's earnest smile when he had noticed Azula was awake. By now he found himself wondering how on earth hadn't he made the connection sooner, back during their first visit… for, clearly, these two were absolutely efficient and talented at anything but hiding their love for one another.

The two inventors worked gradually, with the Mechanist theorizing formulas on paper, and eventually testing his ideas on small cups, too, while Sokka doodled designs for his dispensing device. Azula had watched him work passively for a while, but she picked herself up before long and paced the office, watching as the Mechanist worked – she reassured him she was only sating her curiosity when he nearly bounded off his chair nervously by her hawk-like surveillance – and eventually she approached Sokka, who was growling after tossing off another crumpled paper over his shoulder.

"And what's eating away at you?" Azula said, standing beside him, close enough for her thigh to brush against his arm. Despite being in contact with her body was soothing, Sokka only gazed at her with resignation.

"I'm not sure how to make this work. I know the logic of it, but… it's confusing" he said, scratching the back of his head "The Mad Alchemist had something like a valve, I guess? And that's where the volatile substance was contained. It couldn't possibly be volatile until it came into contact with air, right? But… if so, how did he keep it from backfiring? How doesn't the whole contraption catch fire once you allow the slightest opening?"

"Hmm… well, that's a whole other matter, isn't it? You're not trying to recreate his success, you're trying to take inspiration in it for you own purposes" Azula said, a hand on his shoulder "Let's see. If you make a pollen soup…"

"Ew"

"Hush. You'll have boiled down the components of the pollen into liquid" Azula continued "Liquids can turn into gases, as water does. Right?"

"Right…? I thought that too, but I also thought… that requires high temperatures, right? Like steam…"

"We were floating amidst some terribly cold clouds only a while ago. And wandering mountains covered in mist to find that pollen" Azula said. Sokka glanced at her, his defeated eyes suddenly alive once again "Heat isn't the only way to turn liquids into a gas"

"Right" said Sokka, stroking his chin.

"As far as my knowledge and experiments have yielded…" the Mechanist chimed in, stirring the content of a cup "The difference between the stages of matter is a matter of, well… the closeness of the components, so to speak. Heat promotes expansion, cold promotes retraction. Therefore, water becomes steam if it's hot, and ice if it's cold. But, if you figure out another method to expand or contract matter, you wouldn't need heat or cold"

"Makes sense, too…" Sokka said, his eyebrow twitching "How, though? I mean… it sounds like I need to separate the smallest elements of the substance? How do I…? Uh. Wait a minute… how about a strainer?"

"A strainer?" Azula repeated, and Sokka glanced at her eagerly.

"It'd have to have smaller holes than the usual, I guess… but it could work!" he said, stroking his chin "I'd just need to devise a system that enables me to push the substance through the only exit within the device, and it'll be covered by a strainer-like lid… so it'll force the liquid to separate! I can do that!"

Azula blinked blankly but said nothing. Sokka's renewed enthusiasm was nice to see… and something was rather appealing about watching him work so hard with inventions.

She ended up smiling as she leaned against his desk, watching him doodle possible designs for his sprayer: after several, far more spirited attempts, he had drawn a container and added a valve to seal it, as well as his planned strainer-wrapped nozzle, from where the strained liquid would escape. Once he was satisfied with his design, he fished through the Mechanist's predesigned gadgets until he found a valve small enough for his purposes. The container was easier to come by, and he worked steadily to fit them together. The nozzle was slightly more complex to design, and he settled for wrapping the metallic net of a strainer, superposed upon itself thrice to ensure the components would break apart as he intended.

It was already dark out when he was finished, and only then did Azula realize that the Mechanist wasn't the only workaholic within the room.

"You've been at this the whole afternoon, don't you think you've progressed enough by now?" Azula asked, as Sokka poured water into the container.

"Just a sec, I'll be done as soon as I test this…" he mumbled, filling the container to the brim.

He sealed it with his valve and strainer-nozzle before aiming it towards an empty wall. His heart was racing as he breathed deeply: this had better work.

"Okay… here goes nothing!" he said, opening the valve quickly and carefully.

… To no results.

Azula blinked blankly as Sokka scowled: he needed something to push the water out, it was obvious now that he was finally finished. He groaned, shaking his head.

"Okay, that was stupid, but maybe I can check if the nozzle works, at least?" he said, tilting his device downwards.

The water poured out in a stream, without looking any different from what it'd look like if there were no nozzle with a strainer in the way. Sokka groaned again, falling to his knees on the puddle of water that only grew larger as he continued to pour water on the floor.

"Damn it! I'm useless!" he whined, only for Azula to step forward and take his device away.

"You're not useless, but now you're drenched in water because you're careless" she said, with a sarcastic smirk "Honestly, Sokka…?"

"All that work, for nothing" he whined "I should've thought nothing was going to get pushed out, there was nothing to push it out… and obviously the water was just going to be water! Straining it… it wasn't going to work. Ugh, I'm useless"

"Stop saying that, damn you" Azula said, yanking him up "You're just tired, and you've been working too hard. You need to eat and rest. That's all"

"Do I…?" Sokka said, sighing heavily.

"Well… maybe you need a distraction to inspire you, too" she whispered softly. Those words did elicit a reaction in him, as Sokka raised his eyebrows and glanced at her with uncontained curiosity.

"Am I worth distractions after what I just did…?" he asked. Azula smiled and shrugged.

"Might be it's fun to watch you work, even if you don't succeed as fast as you hope to" she said, tugging him towards the door "Come on, come on, you need some food in your stomach… and you need some too, by the way"

The Mechanist, as ever engrossed with his work, jumped at Azula's words. He blinked blankly, apparently only raising his head away from his concoction for the first time in hours right now.

"Ah. Food" the Mechanist said, simply "I forgot! Teo will be upset if I don't eat, it's true… alright, alright, let's stop for now!"

The Mechanist complied far more easily than expected, and to Sokka's mild envy, it seemed to be because his experiments with the pollen had been successful so far. He had even felt slightly numb upon inhaling some of the steam accidentally, so he was sure the substance would prove effective for their purposes. Teo was delighted to hear his father's work was paying off, but Sokka only sighed as he sat by the table, toying with his food as he went through his designs in his head for the umpteenth time.

"What are you thinking now?" Azula asked, poking him lightly with an elbow to bring him out of his daze. Sokka returned to his food once he was called back to his senses by her touch and words, and he shrugged lightly as a response "Sokka…"

"Just… we need something like the bellows for strengthening fire, is what I thought" he mumbled "If I had something like that attached to the end of the container, then it'd replace the valve and I'd just press the bellows and…! And it'd still pour out like a stream of water, wouldn't it?"

"Likely" Azula agreed, and Sokka sighed "You need to stop stressing about it. We still have some time, don't we?"

"I suppose? How much time, though?" he asked, raising an eyebrow "With everything that's happened I've pretty much lost track of time…"

"We still have four days left, I think" Azula said "I'd rather it were three, since we shouldn't return to Ba Sing Se at the very last moment, but if your creation requires it, we can be more flexible"

"Three days" Sokka repeated, swallowing hard "Oh, well. Maybe a miracle will happen"

"Such an optimist" said Azula, smirking, and Sokka turned his hopeless eyes on her.

"You really think I can pull this off?" he asked.

"You really think you can't overcome this challenge?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "For all these years you've been stubborn as a rock… you'll give up so easily at the first failure? Or is it you're just embarrassed that your efforts didn't pay off while I was around?"

"Uh… yeah, no doubt that makes it worse" Sokka admitted, and Azula shook her head, smiling fondly at him.

"I still believe in you, you dummy. Come on, eat up. You'll do best to energize yourself, and then get enough rest so you can work tomorrow with a clear head"

Sokka nodded and obeyed, finishing his plate after a few more minutes, no matter how unappetizing he found the meal. Still, by the time he had followed Azula to her room, and she had started the fire in the hearth as she had intended to, the warmth offered immediate relief for his exhausted body.

"You really think I'll do better by tomorrow?" Sokka asked, and Azula nodded as he sank in the bed, falling flatly on his back "I'll have to trust you on that, then. Right now, beyond that bellows idea, I can't think of anything else. Maybe a pump of some sort…? Push the liquid out… but then it'll likely still be liquid, won't it?"

"Probably. And you know what else I think?" Azula asked, as she removed her armor and set it down at the foot of the bed.

Pondering his invention as he was, Sokka didn't notice what the Princess was up to until she stood by the bedside, slowly removing her belt and pulling her tunic over her head afterwards. Her black shirt rode up over her body, exposing her abdomen partially once she was finished removing the tunic… and by then she had the chance to glimpse Sokka's dumbstruck, jaw-dropped expression as he took in what she was up to. Inevitably, she smirked.

"You do need a distraction, I already said so" Azula continued, taking her shirt off next: her dark hair fell smoothly out of the tall collar of her shirt, and she was left with most her torso exposed for his greedy, wanting eyes "And I can't think of a better one to offer than…"

She hardly had to say another word, let alone did she need to tug off her chest bindings: Sokka sat up briskly and as good as pounced on her, prompting Azula to laugh as the rest of her words were lost somewhere within his voracious kisses.

As spirited as their lovemaking was, the long-standing exhaustion didn't allow them to frolic under the sheets for as long as they would have liked: they sank into each other's arms, resting in absolute relaxation. Azula's attempt to distract Sokka proved to be completely successful, as was obvious by how easily he fell asleep…

But as tired as he was, soon enough he was drifting between consciousness and dreams, and his thoughts were muddled by a strange mix of ideas: he remembered his fruitless efforts to create a gas dispenser, and the Mechanist and Azula's words about the stages of matter: "Heat isn't the only way to turn liquids into a gas"

Clouds. They had floated amongst clouds, been drenched by their ridiculously cold water particles, and they had nearly been breathless when the balloon soared high when they weren't prepared for the thinness of the air. Why was the air so thin, though? What did thin air entail, exactly? Clouds lingered in the air without falling for many hours often, whether they were charged with water or snow… there were different types of clouds, too. Why? How were clouds formed? Evaporation, of course, but what next…? If it were merely a matter of evaporation, the particles of water would float away without stopping… but they did stop and formed clouds. And if the clouds were heavy enough, they'd fall back to the ground as rain. Why stop where they did, though? Why did the particles slow down at the levels where they did…?

"Pressure"

He blurted the word out loud, without his awareness. Yet when it sank in, his eyes flew open and he gasped.

"Pressure. That's it. Pressure…!" he said, his chest heaving…

And, naturally, waking the woman who had been resting atop it.

"Sokka…?" she said, her voice faint.

"Oh! Shit, Azula, I'm sorry" he said, smiling apologetically as he stroked her hair "I just… I think I've got it. Or at least, part of it. What do you know, your idea to distract me worked…"

"Right… but it's still dark out" Azula groaned, burying her face in the bed's pillow now "Couldn't you get it by dawn, instead?"

"I'm sorry, love" Sokka said, leaning close and pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he scrambled off the bed "But this feels like a real breakthrough, you know?"

"Where the hell do you think you're going…?" Azula snarled, reaching out hopelessly for her lover, who was fishing for clothes inside his bags.

"I'll be back before you know it" Sokka said, smiling sadly at her "I just want to go write down this possibility and, if the Mechanist is awake already, maybe run it by him? Then by morning we can get to work and, if it works, the last bit of this quest will finally be over! So… just bear with me? If you can?"

"I'd bear with you if you stayed here" Azula as good as pouted, her face pressed against the pillow, her eyes still closed.

"If the Mechanist isn't out and about, I'll be back real quick" Sokka said, grinning as he fastened his belt over the trousers and blue robe he had already fastened over his body "Might be I'll even be able to give you a proper good morning and everything"

"You'd better. After all I pampered you last night…" Azula sighed. Sokka chuckled and kissed her brow.

"You're the best, Azula"

"And you're the worst. You'd be the best too if you stayed put here all night, but you do you" she said stubbornly, and Sokka smiled sadly before kissing her lips softly.

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you" he said, stroking her hair before standing up "I'll see you in a bit, okay?"

"Ugh, fine, but I'm sleeping more" Azula groaned, turning about in bed to find a more comfortable position, rolling towards Sokka's side so she could bask in his warmth for a little longer, as she ever did.

Sokka smiled fondly at his grumpy princess, and before leaving the room he took care to stir the fire's dying embers anew, so Azula wouldn't go cold while he was gone. With one last glance at her graceful sleeping figure, Sokka released a lovestruck sigh and took off, reminding himself again of his sudden idea and endeavoring to fulfill it.

He opened the door to the Mechanist's office, expecting to find it empty… yet when he spotted the balding man glancing at him with confusion, sitting at his desk, with the firefly lantern offering him a dim light with which he could continue testing his experiments, he wondered why on earth he had assumed the man would be asleep. He barely had slept at all back when they'd first visited the Temple…

"Something wrong?" the Mechanist asked, but Sokka shook his head, a wild grin on his face.

"A thought came to me. I think I know what we really need: pressure!" Sokka announced, spreading his arms out excitedly.

Yet his words weren't quite as fulfilling for the Mechanist: the man's uneven eyebrows twitched, and his mouth twisted into a wary grimace.

"I… I think you know better than anyone that I don't work better under pressure, so…"

"What? No! No, not that kind of pressure! Oh, for crying out loud" Sokka sighed, shaking his head as he took his design and showed it to the Mechanist "If we had any sort of pressurized liquid within this container, releasing it all through a small opening might give us the very result we're looking for. A… a spray of disseminated liquid! So… a gas!"

"Ah. Aaaah…" the Mechanist said, stroking his beard with interest, his nervousness long gone now "And the pressure… achieved through air, surely? That could work, that could work…"

"Though I guess it'd all have to be released in one go, huh?" Sokka reasoned, biting his lip "I can't think of a way to keep the container filled both with the air and the substance to a point where it could be replenished easily, so…"

"A smaller container could be the solution, then. A one-time use container?" said the Mechanist, biting his lip before smiling at Sokka "And I have a gas at our disposal that we might be able to use for our purposes, if you must know"

"Oh? You do?" Sokka asked, and the Mechanist smiled proudly.

"I know I wasn't supposed to craft the bombs the Fire Lord asked me to" he said, and Sokka frowned in confusion at those words "At least, I didn't have to make them anymore. But the Princess's idea of using the gas underneath us for other purposes… well, it didn't escape me! So, I've added a pipeline that connects with the gas chamber below! And with it, we can create, well, a dangerous enough concoction, I'd say… but a handy one, too! So… what do you say we give it a try?"

Wary, yet curious, Sokka smiled and nodded: within moments, the two were hard at work crafting new models of the dispensers, smaller but sturdy enough to contain the liquid the Mechanist had seemingly perfected… yet, for the sake of testing things, they crafted the initial experiments with water instead. There was no way of knowing if the gas would react properly upon mixing with the volatile gas, and it would be better to test it later.

It was already bright outside when the two inventors were as good as finished with their prototype, and when a Princess woke up in her temporary room to find her traveling companion and secret husband was nowhere around. She groaned with irritation, pushing herself off the bed in all her naked glory, and she sought clean clothes to change into while wondering why on earth Sokka had to take after her worst traits rather than her better ones.

"Being an overachiever doesn't suit him, not in the least" she grumbled after fastening her armor in place and walking to the bed, to slip her feet into her boots "That's supposed to be my area of expertise, but of course, he has to go and prove he's the greatest inventor of all time. Marvelous, really, and then I wake up alone when we finally have a chance to wake up together for at least two or three days without anyone poking their noses into our business…"

She had no intentions to continue her personal rant as she opened the door, yet she flinched upon finding that, for the second time since their arrival in the Northern Air Temple, a young man in a wheelchair was at the other side of the doorway.

"Oh, sorry if I startled you!" Teo said, grimacing "I wasn't trying to pry into anything, I just thought I'd check Sokka is with you?"

"Why would you feel the need to check that…?" Azula asked, uneasy.

"Because my dad isn't in his room" Teo answered, his expression switching from concerned to deadpan "I actually made sure he'd go to bed last night, but I suspect he woke up early anyhow and got back to work. And then I wondered if maybe he'd come and fetched Sokka too…"

"Worse yet, Sokka took off halfway through the night without needing your father's encouragement" Azula said, with a dry grin "No doubt those two are brilliant, but…"

"They can't seem to remember they're human" Teo sighed, turning around as he and Azula started the way to the Mechanist's office.

They opened the door carefully upon hearing loud voices inside… though they sounded enthusiastic, to both Azula and Teo's mild surprises. They exchanged an intrigued glance before the Princess pushed the door open to find her lover holding his dispenser in his hands, pointing the nozzle at the same free wall from yesterday. So focused as he was, he hadn't even noticed the door at the other side of the office was open.

"Okay! Try it, Sokka!" the Mechanist exclaimed, and the gladiator gritted his teeth before pulling the valve open.

The contents of the dispenser poured out with a light hissing sound: a cloud of small, white water particles hovered in the air after being expelled abruptly, and it dropped slow and gradually. Sokka didn't quite watch the last droplet touching the floor, though: the Mechanist had squealed in celebration, and the man had rushed to embrace Sokka impulsively. By the time they noticed they weren't alone they had jumped in place cheerfully for a few moments, only alerted to being watched by someone when they heard Azula's snort of laughter.

"Azula! You got here just on time!" Sokka exclaimed, grinning wildly as he released the Mechanist and rushed towards her "It worked! It actually worked! I mean, it took us two attempts, the volatile gas turned out to be no good for this, but the Mechanist has always worked with different kinds of air and compositions of it, so on our second attempt…!"

"You found a composition of air that… blended with the water somehow?" Azula guessed, but Sokka shook his head.

"They don't blend at all! They're balanced at high pressure within the container!" he announced, beaming as he showed the small, empty device to her "If we do it now with the concoction the Mechanist prepared, we'll be set!"

"Well… damn" Azula said, smiling approvingly "Here I had feared I'd find you beating your head against a wall in frustration, but you figured out your predicament after all, huh?"

"I did!" Sokka grinned excitedly "Now all we have to do is fill the prototype with the substance, and then test it on someone to make sure it can chi-block and dampen bending, and…"

"And you still haven't had any breakfast, have you?"

Azula's simple question paralyzed Sokka in the middle of his rambling. Both him and the Mechanist blinked blankly, while Azula sighed with a smile on her face, and Teo chuckled.

"You're a bad influence on Sokka, Dad" Teo said, wheeling himself into the office only to drag his father outside "Come on, come on, you guys need food. Again"

"Sorry, sorry" the Mechanist chuckled but nodded, following his son to the dining hall, the Princess and her gladiator not far behind them.

As opposed to dinner, Sokka was in high spirits now; his success had done away with his misery in the blink of an eye. Azula convinced him to clean up before returning to the Mechanist's office, and after the place was cleared for their use, Azula snuck in and joined him for a quick shower. It was risky, Sokka thought, for Azula to do something so bold in broad daylight, despite they had instructed the Mechanist to say the Princess was taking a mid-morning nap if anyone asked. Yet her determination to clean up with him, so she could arrive at the Mechanist's office with Sokka once the fully prepared prototype was set to be tested for the first time, made more sense when she said six foreboding words:

"You should test it on me"

Sokka froze cold, turning slowly towards Azula, dread spreading in his stomach at her simple, straightforward delivery. The Mechanist was startled, as was Teo… but no one was quite as aghast as Sokka.

"What the…? No! Hell no!" Sokka finally exclaimed, his eyebrow twitching. Azula rolled her eyes "Why on earth would we test it on you? That's ridiculous, I'm the one who should…!"

"Did you become a bender at some point in the past few hours?" Azula asked, skeptical. Sokka flinched "Because, as far as I can tell, a substance meant to be used against benders would be best tested against willing benders, and see? Here I am, good to go and willing to endure it, so…"

"But… no!" Sokka squeaked, unwilling to acknowledge her logic, sound as it was. He turned to the Mechanist, frantic "Surely there's earthbenders here somewhere, right?! Let's use them!"

"Against their will?" Azula asked, amused "Wow, you definitely do have a dark streak of your own, Sokka…"

"Well, they might not be that unwilling…" the Mechanist said, and Sokka's face lit up with hope "If they existed, that is. We never had any benders in our group"

The Mechanist's last words felt like a sucker punch to the gut to Sokka. Speechless, breathless, horrified by the circumstances, he was left to glare at the floor in utmost horror: his new creation, tested on the woman he loved, of all people? That was absolutely unthinkable.

"W-we don't know how safe this is" he said, glancing at Azula warily. She shrugged.

"That's the point, isn't it? To make sure it's as safe as can be" Azula said "Is there anything particularly toxic within that substance?"

"Oh, well, the pollen itself isn't very healthy, I sniffed some by accident while brewing it and my face felt numb" said the Mechanist, grinning awkwardly "But, beyond that, no. I've mixed it with certain preparations that are perfectly safe and promote evaporation, as well as catalyzers that should enhance the brew's effect… but so far, I've seen no evidence that they leave any lasting damage in living beings!"

"Then where's the harm in it?" Azula said, turning a sly smirk on Sokka "Come on, I know I'm a firebender instead of an earthbender, but she and I are supposed to be prodigies. If your creation can thwart my bending, you can be sure it'll work with hers"

"B-but I don't want to spray you with this…" Sokka said, grimacing as he gestured at the first prepared dispenser, resting on the table where it was.

"Then give it to someone else and let them do it" Azula shrugged. Sokka's wimpy whining switched to protective irritation in an instant.

"If anyone else sprays you with it I'll probably try to punch them" he admitted. His words caused both the Mechanist and Teo to flinch before putting some distance between themselves and the gladiator. Azula, however, laughed.

"You're impossible" Azula said, picking up the dispenser to hand it to a most unwilling Sokka: she was forced to fish his hand out from his pocket, where he hid it as soon as he realized she meant to entrust the prototype to him "Sokka!"

"I can't shoot you with something that will hurt you! It goes against everything I am!" he pouted. Azula rolled her eyes, shaking her head before surprising him by pressing her body against his.

Her move was bold, far too bold for someone keenly aware of their company… especially as, unlike how it was during their week-long trip during Sokka's birthday, the people within the office were fully aware of who they were. Even then, that didn't stop Azula, no matter if it brought a prominent blush to Sokka's face.

"I know you don't want to hurt me, goofball" she said, softly, her head against his neck. Sokka swallowed hard, his arms itching to hold her, but he didn't quite dare do as much just yet "But this is the best way I can help you right now. And that's my job as your sponsor, isn't it? And my duty as… well, you know what"

She pulled away, cupping his chin gently with one hand. Her eyes were clear, her face honest, a gentle determination nestling peacefully in her very soul. Sokka was at a loss for words, whether to oppose her insistence or agree with her… but he couldn't speak anew before the Princess placed the small container in his hands. Sokka gritted his teeth and closed his eyes… before wrapping his fingers around the weapon. Azula smiled.

"Alright then. Whenever you're ready" she said, stepping back towards the wall he had aimed his experimental devices towards before.

Sokka breathed deeply, knowing he would regret this… he was regretting it already, even if Azula seemed so certain of it, so determined to see it through to the end. Of all people in the world, the last one he'd ever want to hurt was her…

Yet he had no choice but to do so, raising the dispenser with one hand, the other on the valve.

"You ready?" Sokka asked. Azula nodded "Close your eyes, just in case. I don't know if this thing could harm them, so… better be careful"

"As you wish" Azula said, following his advice. The gladiator breathed deeply and steeled himself.

"Here we go…" he said, and he yanked the valve open.

The yellowish substance sprayed Azula, and she flinched upon receiving some of it on her exposed skin. Nothing seemed to change at first for the Princess, beyond the strange scent of pollen and chemicals that now clung to her. Her nostrils felt somewhat clogged, and she felt an urge to sneeze…

"Can you… bend?" the Mechanist's voice drifted towards them. By this point, Azula had nearly forgotten the man was around.

She opened her eyes now that the substance had drifted to the floor, raised her uninjured fist and drew forth her firepower: Sokka's eyes widened with horror when the flames that poured from her fist were orange.

"Huh. It does work" Azula said, watching the fire fade far faster than her usual flames did "Though I can still bend, but it's weaker than before…"

"W-what…?! No! That's wrong, that's so wrong!" Sokka exclaimed, horrified "Come here, Azula!"

"Sokka…"

"You need fresh air, right now!" he declared, grabbing her left wrist and pulling her towards the door – what little of the substance he had unleashed at her didn't affect him much, as most of it had already drifted to the ground.

"Uh, add more pollen to the mix?" Azula said to the Mechanist over her shoulder "Needs some more to be really effective…!"

"Right!" the Mechanist said, as Sokka finally succeeded at dragging the Princess out of the office and to the corridors of the Air Temple.

Sokka stormed fast through the building, rushing towards the nearest open courtyard of the Temple. He only stopped once they reached it, and he turned to assess Azula's health with frantic concern.

"Breathe in the fresh air, okay?" he said "As much of it as you can, that damn thing should be out of your system soon… hopefully. Ugh, why did I let you talk me into this…?"

Azula laughed, taking his hand and guiding him towards a stone bench, the work of ancient airbenders. Sokka clearly found no amusement in the situation, pouting even after Azula had taken her seat, effectively ensuring she'd relax and rest better than she would have by staying on her feet.

"You know… there's a really drab and silly proverb, if it can even be called that, that Ty Lee would recite a lot back when we were younger" Azula said, once he sat beside her "Well, to be specific, she recited it whenever any of the boys she was dating broke her heart in various ways…"

"Huh?" Sokka said, grimacing.

"It goes… 'No man who's worth your tears will give you cause to cry', or so" Azula said, chuckling softly. Sokka tensed up, glancing at her with uncertainty "I don't know if it successfully warned any girls off the dreadful boys who cause them no end of strife, but that's obviously its intent"

"That… huh. I guess that means… crap" Sokka said, a strange, uncomfortable ticklish feeling spreading under his skin. The feeling of unease, of not being good enough… "Well, I can't say I'd feel better about life if I was worth your tears, so…"

"Ah?" Azula smiled, raising her eyebrows "You're taking it very literally, aren't you?"

"Well, I have made you cry… and I hate myself for it, but that doesn't change that I did it" Sokka said, hanging his head "Am I not supposed to take it literally, then?"

"Well, you can… but it's not a phrase that really applies to us, not as it is" Azula said, smiling weakly "For one thing… you've made me cry in a myriad of ways"

"Huh…?" Sokka grimaced, only discouraged further by her words, even though Azula laughed softly at his reaction.

"I don't think I had ever cried of laughter until after I met you" she said, and his disheartened gaze brightened up "Well, in all the years I lived without knowing you, I definitely must have only smiled or laughed about as much as I have within… what, a week or so with you? Surely that must be the case…"

"Well… good" Sokka said, a small smile on his face "If I can make you happy…"

"No one can do it quite as well as you can, for sure" Azula said, breathing deeply and closing her eyes "As for other, less pleasant kinds of tears, though… I wonder if you know about the first time I cried because of you?"

"Uh… well, wasn't it when we had that big falling out…?" Sokka asked, gritting his teeth.

"Heh. Wrong" Azula said, smiling proudly "Well, you couldn't know, of course… Toph had beaten you to a pulp, after all"

"Wait… what?" Sokka frowned, and Azula shrugged.

"After I brought you aboard my palanquin, I kept saying reassuring things to you that I'm pretty sure I'd never said to anyone ever before. I thought, later on, that I just felt responsible for you. You were my gladiator, after all… yet feeling responsible for someone doesn't necessarily result in shedding tears for them, does it?"

"I… I had no idea" Sokka said. As much as he had brought Azula here for fresh air, his lungs couldn't seem to find any of it, breathless as he was all of sudden.

"How would you have known?" Azula said, with a light laugh "That was the first time you apologized for something you had no reason to apologize for, setting a trend for yourself… either way, I took your hand, because you were waving it aimlessly, and you didn't settle down until I'd clasped it. Then you said you were sorry and… the next thing I knew, I was crying. I don't think I cried too much, the realization of what I'd done was surprising enough later on, once I was more level-headed… but that only proved this phrase wrong and right at the very same time, didn't it?"

"Because… I was worth your tears?" Sokka asked. Azula smiled and nodded.

"If anything… Ember Island comes to mind as well" she said "You saved me from myself, have done so for a long time, in a myriad of ways. But that day… you told me a monster wouldn't care. That my tears were proof of my humanity, right? So… how could I ever think less of you for any tears I've shed because of you, or before you, or over you…?"

"I think that's not really what that phrase was trying to say…" Sokka mumbled, shyly now. Azula laughed again.

"That's the thing about analogies, you see: people think they only have one meaning, but the truth is that they're images, allowing countless possible interpretations" Azula said "And the less accurate ones are open to many contradictions, too. I'm not trying to say I enjoy the pain and sorrow in any way, of course… but if there's one thing about that phrase that I'd still believe in, it's that some people are worth it. And no one I've ever known is worthier than you"

Sokka gazed at her in silent confusion and amazement… as well as disagreement. How could he ever be worth any of those things…? Yet the Princess reached for his hand, covering it with hers.

"We're not the same people we were when we first met, that goes without saying" she observed "Hell, we're not even the same people who came to this temple the first time. That our relationship is even more obvious now than it was in the past speaks loudly enough about how different we are, doesn't it?"

"In a sense, yeah" Sokka said, smiling weakly.

"We… we probably weren't worth each other's sorrows a long time ago" Azula admitted "There was enough bad blood between us that, had either of us backed down from the challenge we posed for each other, it really wouldn't have been much of a surprise. Strangely, though… you never gave up on me. And I… I was too clingy to let go of you, so…"

"Clingy?" Sokka repeated, amused. Azula laughed softly, shaking her head.

"It's the shameful truth" she said "Either way, that we stuck it out and worked for our partnership, and for our love, has brought us this far. So… by now, neither of us ever wants to hurt the other, right? And every decision we make, we make them by thinking of what the other needs, even if we'd agreed that we couldn't prioritize each other over the rest of the world…"

"True enough" Sokka said, smiling sadly "It was yet another of many promises we couldn't uphold, I suppose"

"And the worst part is, the better things get between us, because somehow they only ever do, the more I think prioritizing each other is perfectly fine and good" Azula bit her lip as she smiled mischievously at him "It's reckless, I'm sure, but…"

"You can't help it anymore, can you?" Sokka said "Well… good. Because neither can I"

"Going evenly at everything, as we always do" Azula smiled, leaning closer to him, enough that her head could rest on his shoulder. In plain view as they were, Sokka wrapped his arms around her body, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her head "That's why… why I know you don't want to hurt me at all, be it with a test for your spraying device or anything else. I trust you, Sokka. You always put my needs before yours, unnecessary and ridiculous as that may be at times…"

"They're never ridiculous" Sokka pouted. Again, Azula laughed softly against him.

"See? When you act like this… how could you think you're not worth any strife I might need to undergo for your sake?" Azula asked, raising her head.

Sokka sighed, cupping her cheek: her intent had become more obvious as the conversation continued, but his chest hurt for it all the same. This wasn't anything that severe, he knew, and he surely was kicking up a ruckus over nothing… everything indicated the damage to Azula's system would only be temporary. Yet…

"I know you want to protect me and keep me safe" Azula said "But I want to do the same for you. And, presently, I don't know of any other way to achieve this goal other than by helping you test your new weapon. If it goes well, you'll be able to use it safely in combat… and then Toph, and any dangerous rivals you might have, won't ever have a chance to hurt you again. Whatever I have to sacrifice to ensure that, I will. Just as I know you'd do the same for me, if the need ever arose"

Sokka clenched his grip around her, fingers tight around her clothes before pulling her in for a tighter hug. He buried his face in her shoulder, and Azula caressed his back gently, her eyes closed as she hoped her warmth would reassure him, even if her words had only distressed him further. Still, the lack of protest from him seemed to indicate he might give in and accept her role as the test subject of his newest creation, as much as it might pain him.

She continued to smile reassuringly at him, with far more enthusiasm once she could bend her blue fire – and gold – as she always could. Sokka smiled gently at her for it, as she tested the skills while resting against his side.

Not long after she had recovered fully, they returned to the Mechanist's office to find he had increased the pollen's concentration successfully: after filling the container with the balanced blend of gas and liquid, they were set to try again. Just as before, Sokka held the weapon that Azula stared down without a shred of fear – though she closed her eyes anew just before Sokka opened the valve.

The second attempt, however, found Azula sneezing uncontrollably after inhaling the new spray. Once more, Sokka took her outside to clear her nose, panicking but trying his best not to show it too blatantly as he cared for Azula, handing her handkerchiefs she could use to wipe her nose properly.

"Pretty sure I… didn't breathe it in that much, it tickled my nose too much right away" Azula said, with a guilty grin, as Sokka continued to dab at her nose carefully with the fabric.

"Meaning… the substance needs to have something that softens it, if we want to make sure an opponent breathes it in properly" Sokka said, frowning "Like… huh. What if…?"

"What if… what?" Azula said, as he stroked his chin.

"Another numbing substance?" he asked "If we blend one together with the rest of the concoction, it might be easier to inhale it. I hope it won't hamper the chi-blocking properties of the pollen, but still…"

"Might as well try" Azula said, shrugging "Having a numb nose doesn't sound fun, but I'm willing to endure it"

"Alright, then" Sokka said, breathing deeply "You can bend alright?"

"This time? Yeah" Azula raised a fist, and a fistful of blue fire danced on it "I barely breathed any of it, like I said"

"Alright, then. Let's tell the Mechanist our suggestions" Sokka said, with a half-hearted grin.

The new mix of components took longer: the Mechanist had to find the right way to add the ingredient to fulfill Sokka's new idea. Eventually, he found a solution in the form of a strange herb that they had gathered from a unique Air Nomad plantation in the Temple's mountains: as soon as Sokka had explained his new idea, the Mechanist had known exactly what to look for.

It was already dusk by the time the new mix was finished, and Sokka was just as reluctant as ever as he pointed the dispenser at Azula. She offered him a reassuring smile before he opened the valve, showering her with the potent gas as she closed her eyes tightly.

Her face seemed to go fully numb as she breathed: there was, no doubt, an urge to sneeze, yet she failed to heed it. Her head wasn't exactly clear before long, and she gasped as the world grew unsteady underneath her feet. Worse than her perception of her surroundings, however, was her perception of what was happening within her body: she couldn't feel her inner fire.

"Oh… oh, it's like the damn eclipse all over again" she said, not knowing her face was twisting into a strange smile as her knees buckled under her weight.

"Azula!" Sokka's urgent voice reached her, and while her face felt so strange and numb, the rest of her body could feel him snatch her up just before she hit the floor.

"Take her outside, or you'll breathe it too!" Teo said, and before the Princess could process the situation, she was lying across Sokka's arms as he rushed out, planning to head to the open courtyard where he had taken her after each test.

The air was colder by now, but Azula couldn't process that either. She couldn't quite tell she was laughing rather stupidly, too.

"Azula, are you okay?" Sokka asked "Can you even try to bend? Was that really so bad that…?"

"Bend…?" Azula said "C-can't even feel my inner fire, I can't bend without it…"

"Maybe… try?" Sokka asked "Set me on fire, you know, that might make you feel better"

"Huh… I feel kinda fine, though" Azula said, again overtaken by laughter.

Still, she tightened her hand into a fist and raised it: no fire came out, and while at first she wasn't trying very hard, she genuinely focused moments later, to no avail. She laughed, throwing her head back.

"I'm a non-bender. My whole life's been a lie…" she laughed, and Sokka groaned as he embraced her tightly, finally reaching the courtyard.

"It worked, then. Enough testing" Sokka said, shaking his head as he held her against him, burying his face in her throat "Shit, I know you said what you said about doing anything you had to for my sake, but this is… it's too much, Azula"

"I love you" she said, with a lighthearted tone and grin "Maybe I just love you too much. I'm… feeling woozy, but I think I'll be fine. It's okay"

"It's over, is what it is" Sokka said, raising his head to find Azula smiling at him still.

"It is, isn't it?" she said "I… helped you"

"Of course you did. You always do" Sokka smiled sadly, pressing his brow to hers "I don't know what I'd do without you. Not that you don't know that already, but still…"

Azula laughed softly, longing to embrace him, but her arms were unresponsive now. Most her body felt heavy, unwilling to cooperate with her urges and needs, but she could feel it still… whereas it felt as though her face had vanished altogether. She genuinely couldn't feel it, and her mind was certainly not as sharp as it used to be. Otherwise, upon glancing over Sokka's shoulder, she probably would have reacted far more explosively upon realizing they weren't alone.

Focused as Sokka had been on his secret wife, he had failed to realize the courtyard wasn't empty anymore: during the hours they'd spent locked in the Mechanist's office, working on the final batch of pollen mix, the refugees had crafted one of their usual bonfires in the courtyard, and it seemed most of their group had either gathered by the fire that was being lit, or on their way there. It was this second group that Azula spotted… and Sokka noticed the first one when the crack of firewood startled him.

His heart fell immediately, panic shooting through his system faster than an arrow. Eyes, so many eyes… and all of them set on them. There were several wide-open mouths as well, though others were covered by hands. As much as it pained him to wrap his head around reality, Sokka flinched where he stood, holding Azula as closely and intimately as he did: the entire group of Earth Kingdom refugees in the Northern Air Temple had just become privy to their secret relationship, despite their intent to conceal it.

"Oh, shit" Sokka sighed, shaking his head.

Truthfully, he was too tired. Too tired, and too stressed out about Azula's wellbeing to care that much about who knew their secret right now. So he tried his best to focus on her again, ignoring the mutterings, the astounded gazes and even the amused and fascinated smiles that spread across many of their faces.

"Looks like… everyone's watching us?" Azula asked, casually. Sokka sighed.

"Yep. Secret's out. Again" he said.

Whatever the nature of the final substance the Mechanist had added might be, Sokka didn't know… yet somehow it seemed to have mellowed out Azula altogether. Where she had been flustered, embarrassed and awkward about the Mechanist and Teo's discovery of their relationship, now she only smiled guiltily and gazed about herself with what little strength she could muster – she could barely move her head as it was, for the chi-blocking substance had affected her neck as well as the rest of her body. Still… she wasn't angry. At least, she wasn't angry for now, Sokka guessed. Maybe she'd change her mind later… but if she wouldn't kick up a ruckus about their latest slip-up, he probably had to hold back from making one just the same…

He nearly fell over, though, when the refugees started to chat amongst themselves more agitatedly, almost arguing in a rather spirited manner. Even the one starting the bonfire had foregone his duty as he joined the discussion.

"I told you, I told you! Pay up!"

"But it's not like we know for sure, he's just carrying her!"

"She says she loves him!"

"Could be a friendly kind of love, couldn't it?!"

"He's carrying her bridal style, how's that not romantic?! Hand over the money, you cheapskate!"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched, smiling awkwardly as men and women congratulated them on their relationship, while the others continued to argue over their long-standing bets. Even now, Azula was only amused.

"Sounds like betting on our relationship is a much more popular hobby than I thought it was" Sokka said, breathing deeply and glancing at Azula.

She seemed slightly more lucid by now, as per the glow of her golden gaze. And even then, she smiled fondly at him, as though she had never set her eyes upon anything quite as enthralling as him. Sokka's chest tightened, as did his hold around her body: obeying an impulse that he knew would settle all arguments about the validity of their relationship, Sokka lunged in for a kiss that Azula couldn't quite respond to, at least with nothing other than a soft, appreciative moan. By the time he pulled away, those who had betted on their relationship were speechless, some delighted in triumph, others aghast with defeat.

"Sorry… I couldn't kiss you back" Azula smiled sadly "Still… can't feel much of anything in my face"

"It's okay" Sokka said, grinning "I'm sure once you're back to yourself you'll want to kick my ass for confirming our relationship to everyone, but…"

"Why would I want to do that…?" Azula smiled "This way… you can hold me even after I've recovered, right?"

Sokka released a short laugh, pressing his brow to hers. Sometimes it was easy to forget the innocent, sweet and vulnerable sides of Azula, so well hidden behind her determination, extraordinary talents and snark. But whenever he saw any glimpses of them again, his entire body would be overcome by the urge to protect her from anything and everything that might ever do her harm.

"I'll hold you every second until you do, and as long as you still want me afterwards, too" he answered earnestly. Azula sighed happily.

"Perfect" she whispered.

She raised a hand with difficulty, procuring a weak plum of fire with her fingertips. It wasn't much, and it was orange again, but it meant the window of time through which the substance would exert its full effect wasn't particularly long. Still, as it was, Sokka was thrilled by the progress: he held Azula closely as he carried her, finding a place to sit at some distance from the fire, yet close enough for its warmth to affect them, and he nestled there with his Princess sitting on his lap, resting safely in his arms.

The Mechanist and Teo arrived in the courtyard after a few minutes, as they had overheard the ruckus caused by the impromptu revelation of the Princess and her gladiator's relationship. After exchanging some words with other refugees, they had found their way to where the two visitors were sitting at: unsurprisingly, Sokka seemed embarrassed, whereas Azula appeared unexpectedly at peace, nestling between her lover's legs.

"Uh… I guess the cat's out of the bag?" Teo asked, smiling awkwardly at Sokka.

"Looks like it spends more time out of the bag than inside it, these days" Sokka said, with a sigh "But in some cases it's harder to care, I admit. I'll worry more after she's all better"

"Could she bend?" asked the Mechanist.

"Not for a while" Sokka answered "She could make a bit of fire by now, but it wasn't as strong as usual"

"Gives you a fair window to take advantage of the substance's effect" Azula mumbled, her head on his shoulder "Not that you need such a big one anyways… you're fast as lightning when you want to be. But with this…"

"I'll have at least one chance to attack as I please? Yeah" Sokka said, nodding "I'm thinking I'll use it if she corners me at some point. If there were no other choice, I mean…"

"Fair enough" said Azula, breathing deeply "What matters is that it works, and… huh. My face is there again"

"It never really left" Sokka said, smiling fondly at her.

"Well… then I can feel it. Huh" Azula said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I believe you can" Sokka chuckled "You finally stopped smiling"

"Wait… I've been smiling this whole time? Without knowing it?" Azula asked, and Sokka laughed more, holding her closer yet.

"Welcome back, Azula" he said. Despite herself, the Princess smiled anew, raising her arm to embrace Sokka's neck lightly.

The night drifted by slowly, and the lingering feelings of embarrassment and shame dispelled as time flowed past them. Sokka was reminded of his time in the Southern Water Tribe, for the refugees prepared food and offered plenty of it to everyone in attendance near the fire. Despite the strange, cloudy sensation that had numbed Azula's mind was finally letting up, the Princess didn't seem willing to move at all, staying on Sokka's lap as they ate together – with him teasingly offering to feed her in exchange for her hard work as a test subject.

By the time the meal was finished, Azula tested her fire once more: it didn't glow blue, but gold. Sokka's relief poured out of him in a long sigh, and he embraced Azula as tightly as he could while she grinned against his neck. She still had to shake off some of the aftereffects of the spray, but so far, she was feeling better. She didn't know if the gas mix wasn't that strong, or if perhaps Sokka's constant affection and caring for her had helped her overcome the worst of the gas's effects.

Everyone took off back to their rooms when the first specks of a light shower of snow began to fall in the courtyard. Even then, Sokka continued to carry Azula without any regard for propriety, and Azula didn't protest in the least. She had always thought she'd be flustered beyond belief if Sokka was overly affectionate towards her in front of others… today she found herself relishing in the sensation fully. These people knew who they were and now knew what they meant to each other. Perhaps by morning, once the pleasant feelings of success had dwindled, she would want to make sure none of them would reveal their relationship by mistake to anyone outside the temple… but for now, being free to be openly in love with Sokka could fill her heart and soul with constant, blissful happiness.

Said happiness surged later, once they were alone in their room, and Sokka endeavored to make up for all her earlier suffering through the joining of their bodies. Azula laughed, arms wrapped around his neck as he kissed hers, his hands trailing her flanks.

"You know… that thing messed with your chi, right?" Sokka asked breathlessly, raising his head to kiss her lips.

"So?" she asked.

"So… if so much sex attuned our chi, it could be it'll help you now" Sokka suggested, wiggling his eyebrows. Azula laughed again, closing her eyes as Sokka dove in to attack her neck once more "This is all for your own good, my Princess…"

"Well, now, that was never in question" Azula smiled, loosening his wolf's tail and slipping her fingers through his hair "It's not like I'm protesting, am I?"

"Good thing you're not" Sokka chuckled, hoisting himself above her "We only have a couple of days left, right?"

"Right…" Azula said, her heart churning at the thought: would Xin Long return, or…?

"And we've finally achieved everything we'd set out to do" Sokka smiled "Meaning… we get to take a break, for tomorrow, at least. And as it's snowing out there…"

"What, does that mean we must stay inside for the rest of our stay in the temple?" Azula asked, innocently. Sokka nodded solemnly, prompting Azula to snort and chuckle, her shoulders shaking.

"It's only right and fair and proper and…! Well, you know, all those things" he snickered before diving in for another kiss.

In the end, the only tears Azula shed that day were caused by amusement, joy and pleasure. She held onto Sokka tightly through the night, both during their passionate trysts and while they rested afterwards: by morning Azula made to get up, only for Sokka to tug her back in bed, reminding her of how yesterday's snowfall surely meant they were better off staying indoors.

"Those clouds weren't that heavy…" Azula reasoned, as her lover caressed her intimately. She moaned, clasping his hand but only to urge him to touch her further.

"Like you could tell. You were under the effects of that nasty pollen mix" Sokka declared, smirking as he embraced her from behind. Azula shivered and moaned, arching her body against his "Besides, who's the snow peasant around here? That's right, it's me, so who has better expertise and knowledge about snow clouds…?"

"You… you forget I'm a snow peasant by marriage now" Azula asked, smiling before showing him her right hand: her palm wasn't exposed, still covered in bandages they changed on a daily basis, but Sokka understood the message regardless.

"Doesn't mean you know cold weather as well as your husband does…" Sokka snickered. Azula rolled her eyes.

"As if you weren't saying all that just to keep your wife in bed… You really are – ah! Incorrigible, but keep being incorrigible, will you?"

Sokka snickered again and obeyed, carrying forth with his impulses, knowing by the smile on Azula's face that she wanted nothing more than that. It was mid-morning when he finally left the room to fetch food for them. They ate, took a nap, and moments later returned to their nighttime and morning activities, offering each other their very best until their passion had blended and burst countless times into the afternoon.

By sundown, Azula finally convinced Sokka to let her take a walk: she was sure her chi was flowing properly again, but she intended to make sure of it by subjecting her body to other kinds of activities, even if they'd still involve him. Sokka's hand was tightly wound around hers as they paced through the hallways slowly until they came across the same courtyard where the bonfire had been built the night before.

"Look at that, see? Snow, everywhere!" Sokka declared, proudly. Azula snorted, shaking her head "You thought the cloud was weak, but if it had been, it would have melted by now! Instead, haha, look! I was right…"

"It's hardly that thick. Might be it snowed again later, and the first batch of snow did melt" Azula said, beaming.

"And how would you know?" Sokka smirked "Being a snow peasant by marriage made you that knowledgeable about snow and its patterns?"

"Might be it did" Azula said, tugging his hand and pulling him towards the courtyard.

Once again, the small specks of white weren't quite as tight or heavy as those from the Water Tribe, something Sokka couldn't help but be aware of. Azula released his hand to study some of it, and he smiled affectionately at her as the breeze toyed with his still-loose hair – he had disregarded tying it up, as had Azula, for they intended to return to their room once they'd found some more food after their stroll.

Yet such intentions wouldn't be fulfilled anytime soon, for a sudden, unexpected attack knocked all such blissful thoughts from Sokka's mind: he felt a wet, crumbling blow landing against his shoulder, and he gasped upon watching the snowball falling to pieces after crashing into him.

The culprit, of course, couldn't be anyone but the deviously smiling Princess, kneeling at the foot of a small cluster of snow.

"Snowball fights are always said to be fun, but I never really knew why…" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka's pouty fuming brought laughter to her lips "Guess I do know now"

"How dare you?! You've asked for it! Yes, you have!" Sokka exclaimed, rushing away towards another cluster of snow, hoping to fight back against his lover.

Azula didn't fail to notice that Sokka, talented, trained to toss projectiles with flawless aim and born to snow as he was, seldom landed any snowballs on her: the realization brought a blush and a smile to her face after one too many rounds of tossing enough snow at each other that their fingers felt numb, though not nearly as numb as her face had been on the previous day.

Yet Sokka disregarded the cold, for he had gathered a new weapon: a large snowball he was holding above his head.

"Uh… you're going to throw that at me?" Azula asked, surprised.

"I… totally am! So, you know, no point in fighting back!" Sokka said, his eyebrow twitching. Azula stood in place, as though waiting for his attack, and Sokka grimaced "C-c'mon, Azula, this is the part where you throw a snowball at my gut, and I drop the big one on my head, and you get to be the undisputed winner of our battle…?"

His generous offer to grant her victory brought a smile to Azula's face, followed by inevitable laughter. Sokka had genuinely hoped to pull the same stunt he had often resorted to back in the Water Tribe, a sure-proof method to make his sister laugh since they were young, yet confessing his true intent seemed to have fulfilled his purpose just the same. Perhaps he ought to be happy that Azula wouldn't make him drop all that snow over his head after all…

She was about to answer his previous request, but before a single sound could leave her lips, something flashed across her eyes so suddenly she seemed to forget their playful snowball fight immediately.

Azula walked towards the edge of the courtyard carefully, glancing about herself with confusion: her eyes raked the scenery eagerly, searching for something… and Sokka, still holding his large snowball, stepped closer as he made a guess as to what that something might be.

"Azula…?" he called her softly, sensing she was tensing up.

"He's… blocking me" she said "Suddenly he… he seemed to call my attention but then blocked me off? Why would he…?"

She didn't even have time to glance at Sokka in panic before a gust of wind rushed at them from below.

A black blur flew past them, shooting upwards at such speed they had trouble seeing it. Yet as soon as the air current weakened, Azula lowered her arms and gasped, her heart beating so fast and hard she felt it at her throat, pulsating wildly despite the blood barely seemed to reach her weak limbs.

Gold eyes returned her gaze, and a smile she had grown used to for so many years, the very smile that had helped her reclaim her own, greeted her with a loud roar.

"Xin… Xin, you wicked little…!" Azula exclaimed, eyes filled with tears of relief and joy as the dragon rushed down again to meet her "Why the hell did you do that?! Blocking me like that out of the blue, I thought…!"

She couldn't finish her words before the dragon tackled her, bumping into Sokka in the process as well: in the end, the snowball fell upon all their heads as they toppled to the ground, the three of them laughing through their joyful reunion.

"I thought I'd lost you, you mischievous goofball" Azula smiled into the tears, burying her face in Xin Long's hair. The dragon huffed, shaking off the snow with difficulty as Sokka laughed with abandon "Don't ever do that again, alright?"

Xin Long laughed too and shook his head: she knew it was a harmless prank, how could he ever break their bond? He was mischievous, not stupid! Azula laughed, caressing his scales before uttering the words she had longed to say for the past days:

"Welcome back, Xin Long"

There was so much Xin Long had to say, so many stories to share about his days spent amongst his fellow dragons… but for the time being, he only groaned and purred in his draconic way, rubbing his scaly head against the two humans who regarded him with light scolding and countless hugs and caresses. And through the excitement amidst that flurry of thoughts that he hardly could stop sending her way, there was one he was able to convey to Azula straightforwardly: he was finally ready to go home.