Author's notes at the end.


Azula was regaining consciousness and her eyes stung as dust poured into them as she tried to open her eyelids.

"I can't believe it..." she heard a man's voice say with a tone of shock and awe, and she fought through the pain and opened her eyes to see.

"Sokka, your boomerang..." It was the Avatar and the Water tribe Savage standing over a small crater mere feet from Azula's legs.

"Hey, I think she's alive." the Avatar pointed towards Azula.

The Water tribe Savage had pounced on her before she had a chance to react and took control of her arms. "Ow!" she snapped at him, and without any other weapons do defend herself with, she jolted up and bit him on the shoulder as hard as she could, he hissed in pain as she gnawed at his skin before finally breaking into a scream, but he didn't let go and neither did she, even as she started to feel the metallic taste of iron in her mouth that she knew was his blood.

"Okay Sokka, let's do it the right way this time around!" Toph walked up to Azula with the remnants of Combustion man's prosthetic leg and bent the steel into thick handcuffs over Azula's writs.

She kept her jaw clenched on the Savage's shoulder as she growled and shook her head attempting to tear off a piece of him until she could feel something sharp and metallic reach between her teeth and prying her mouth open. The Savage had picked up his boomerang and used it as a prying tool. He looked at her indifferently and then looked down at his shoulder.

"Katara!" he shouted to his sister who was bent over Zuko some distance away. "Need you to fix my shoulder, that bitch is part lynx-hound or something!"

"Sokka, this man has a serious head wound, I believe is a little bit more urgent than one of your scratches." the Witch said in an annoyed tone.

"Sokka, Katara! Take a look at this!" said the Avatar walking towards the Witch and the Savage, carrying the scroll the assassin had with him and holding it up for the Savage and the Witch to read.

"This can't be real" exclaimed Sokka.

Aang's face betrayed his emotions of confusion and worry. "Can it be Zuko was actually telling the truth all along?" He asked.

"Hello! He attacked Toph!" Katara snapped angrily.

"Yeah, this is probably part of some elaborate plot." said Sokka excitedly.

"Actually, it was more of an accident… I kind of snuck up on him." Toph interjected.

Katara's head sank, "I'll admit, these wounds are a little bit too… You know, for an act." She raised her head towards Aang, "Not that anything is beyond this guy, he knows I'm a healer!"

Azula was listening pensively to the conversation trying to get some kind of context to to clue her in on what they were talking about, her brother was out for the counting that much was for sure, whatever his plan to rescue her having been, it had blown up in his face. Azula sighed, now the Avatar had two hostages to bargain with.

Sokka took a closer look at the scroll and started mumbling out parts of it before starting to read it out loud, "Treason, murder, embezzlement of national funds, ostrich-horse theft, perjury, deicide…" Sokka paused, "Rung up for Zhao's crimes I guess." Sokka continued reading. "…, robbery, arson, who could even argue? Possession, use and distribution of controlled substances, sodomy, bestiality and..." Sokka lowered the scroll and looked in the direction of the Princess with an amused look on his face. "Hey, princess… Are you and your brother… Intimate?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what the last charge was but Azula still couldn't help but exclaim; "WHAT?! Show that!" In her anger she started hopping on her rear trying to drag herself towards the savage who started walking in her direction, snickering as he did.

As they met, the Savage lowered the scroll to Azula's eye level, there, in almost perfect detail was printed sketches of her and her brother, "Wanted, dead or alive, Reward" were the most prominent words. The two had individual charges but generally they differed only in detail but on uniting factor had been; "Incest in the first degree!" Azula screeched.

She shook her head and tugged at her cuffs in desperation.

"That's a lie! I've never been intimate with Zuko, I've never been intimate with any-" Azula stopped just short of admitting her virginity, of course it was her virtue as a princess but in the presence of this savage, she somehow felt ashamed over the fact, maybe she didn't want to project an innocent image but she found herself trying to squirm her way out of it but hung her head as she realised the futility. The savage smirked, "Yeah, this Any sounds like a real jackass… Well just a jackass actually".

Azula kept her low and whispered under her breath, "You're a real comedian, aren't you..." until her face shot up and she snapped out "That poster is a lie, why would Father put out such filth!? I've been nothing but his loyal daughter!"

A she said it, she couldn't shake the thought of just how professionally made it looked, sure there was her father's printed signature and sigil but those could and had been falsified in the past but the sketches, they were so lifelike they could only have been produced by a portrait master, many of whom charged a King's ransom in gold for such works and even so they would have had to have seen the subject up close for such vivid detail, Azula had a tiny scratch scar on her upper lip from when she was a child that she was rather self conscious about and tried to hide with lipstick even though she knew it was hardly noticeable, but it was there on the poster, just as subtle as on her own face, that fact frightened her, because it narrowed it down so much further and she guessed who, the Court painter.

Aang, walked up to Sokka.

"It would be rather wishful thinking, but if it's true, we probably don't have worry about the fire nation for a while." Aang said his voice cracking a bit as he said it.

"It's up to you, Buddy, you know I could use the rest too." said Sokka.


Azula had been taken back to her cell where she had been given some bland porridge for breakfast, which she had thrown out even though her instincts told her that her predicament had more to do with the scarring on her hands and forearms than any perfidious plotting by her captors and she then spent most of the rest of the day repairing her tattered tunic under close supervision of Water tribe Savage. With all her attention on sewing there hadn't been any conversation. She had been able to cover herself in the prickly wool blanket she had been given and although she didn't know it, Katara's attack had left her skin dry and irritated worsening a bad situation. The itching got worse, painfully so, to the point she figured she wouldn't be showing the Savage anything he hadn't already seen and let her cover drop.

She observed a slight reddening of the boys cheeks which boosted Azula's confidence a bit.

"You aren't going to slap me again for acting undignified?" she asked coyly .

"I'll try not making a habit out it." he answered nonchalantly.

"Bet you liked it, didn't you?" she said with a sly voice. "How's the shoulder?"

Sokka ignored the first question, "A bit stiff." he rolled his shoulder and flexed his deltoid where she had bit him. "Hopefully you're not rabid."

Azula laughed at the comeback, maybe he wasn't all good looks and rage. "Trust me, I'm not, I'm just..." she bared her teeth and licked her lip, "A predator."

Sokka smirked. "A caged predator."

Azula leaned back and threw her raven hair over her shoulders to give the savage the better view and feigning sorrow cried, "Alas, a caged predator." She leaned her head forward to look the Savage in the eyes, smiled wickedly and winking her eye brows, "Do you think my kind breeds in captivity? Should we find out?"

Sokka just rolled his eyes and sighed, contemplating what he had gotten himself into, of all paths the Princess could have chosen to show her defiance, this had to be the most torturous for a young man, a lesser man could even have fallen for the Princess's flirtations… And promptly gotten himself killed in the process.

And there he stood, watching his girlfriend's captor bare herself to him, which in and of itself wouldn't have been a problem, but Sokka couldn't deny his attraction to her and it only made him despise and resent her and this act even more.

She scratched herself under the blanket before adding, "These pantaloons are awfully itchy too, maybe I should take them off too?"

Sokka squinted his eyes and flared his nostrils angrily, thinking if the Princess really did expose herself, would be able to contain the temptation to drive his sword into her... But which one? Either way, she was asking, no, begging for it.

Suddenly Aang came walking seemingly out of nowhere for the pair, "Hey Sokka, we've been tal-" The boy's eyes wandered and fell on Azula's shapely breasts, Azula quickly covered herself quickly in embarrassment.

Aang stood mesmerised for a second; "Earth calling Aang!" Sokka said playfully.

"Oh yeah, the rest of us have been talking with Zuko, we've agreed to let him stay on to teach me Fire bending but the decision will have to be unanimous." Sokka looked over his shoulder at something in the distance as if pondering, "I don't really like it, but we'll keep and eye on him."

"Thanks Sokka!" Aang said with a smile and the two friends embraced in a hug.

Azula's ears had pricked up, what had the Avatar meant? It must have been some kind of mind game and interrogation tactic, she figured and decided her best course of action would be not to raise the matter so as not to play along in their game.

As they pulled apart Aang looked at the Princess who sat motionless looking at them, holding her blanket over herself, "Is there something going on here?"

Sokka glanced over at Azula; "Naaaw, she was hot." Sokka winked at the princess and smiled. "Riiight!" said Aang and walked off.

Azula let her head drop with the blanket drop and sighed, "You know, I'm actually pretty cold..." She looked up at Sokka, "Without my fire bending I'm having a hard time regulating my temperature."

Sokka sensed that the tables had turned, "Well, when, you're done, I know something that might warm you up." he said slilly and smirked.

Azula returned his smirk with a more wicked one, "Oh yeah? What did you have in mind… Savage?".

"Exercise." Sokka responded, a wicked grin rising on his face.

"What kind of exercise?" Azula purred.

"We're going for a walk."

Azula scoffed and let her face drop visibly which confused Sokka somewhat, but he just looked over his over his shoulder with grin.

"I don't usually give out treats, but I have a feeling we're in for one."


"That one kind of felt hot." Aang said reassuringly as he watched Zuko create puffs upon puffs of pathetic flame.

"Don't patronise me!" Zuko yelled angrily, "You know what it's supposed to look like!"

"Sorry, Sifu Hotman."

Zuko scoffed loudly before yelling "Why do you keep calling me a queer?! You know that poster is a lie!" Zuko managed a small blast of fire from his nostrils.

Sokka came walking with a cuffed Azula in tow.

"Hey, Jerks, we came to watch you two hotmen jerk bend together."

Azula couldn't help but let out a little giggle at Sokka's comment which just angered Zuko even more so that he managed a full on fire blast.

Azula clapped condescendingly through her cuffs as she and Sokka sat down to watch the show.

"Get out of here!" Zuko took a deep breath and raised his voice even further, "BOTH OF YOU!"

Sokka got up and laughed and whispered to Azula, "You don't know how much I'm going to enjoy bullying this guy." Azula smiled at him wickedly as she gestured to Sokka to help her up.

"Later!" Azula sang to Aang and Zuko, "...Jerk-Benders!"

Sokka scoffed in agreement as they walked away, he then turned to Azula to speak matter of factly, "You know, if Zuko is telling the truth, it looks like you're going to be free to leave as soon as we're off again."

Azula's eyes went wide, no way this was good news, far too easy. "Why? I thought you were going to ransom me?" Had Zuko really selflessly stepped up for her and convinced their foes that he could be ransomed in her stead, the thought made her grind her teeth as honour would now bind her to reciprocate with or without her father's blessing, still, she valued her brother more than a meagre Kyoshi warrior regardless of their sibling rivalry.

She decided to probe further, mustering a playful tone, "So… What did Zuzu tell you?"

Sokka looked back at Zuko who stood grunting and punching small puffs of flame into the air, "Well, we interviewed him thoroughly and let me tell you, he is an awful liar according to Toph, he tried to omit a lot but in general he was truthful."

Azula found herself nodding excitedly, "And?"

Sokka sighed, "He told your father that you had lied about the death of Aang and that he was going to defect, and it seems like your father took it to heart and it's not much of a stretch to think he must believe this is some kind of plot against him."

A horrifying realisation started to dawn on Azula as she ran over everything in her head, the poster, assassin and Zuko's strange appearance and willingness to cooperate with their captors, she had expected her father to be angry at her but she hadn't expected Zuko to pre-empt her like this and turn coat, perhaps she should have after what happened on the beach on Ember Island, she imagined that the situation could still be salvaged, all she needed was an audience with her father and a daughterly reminder that she was still a powerful fir-.

She looked down at her cuffed hands, there was negligible scarring at her wrists but she knew the damage ran much deeper and it filled her despair in that moment and her head sank. What she couldn't figure out why damage to her hands and forearms had seemingly knocked out all of her bending.

"Are you alright?" Sokka's voice carried like an echo in the distance.

"No… I…" She looked up at Sokka, "Could you take me back to my cell please."

An awful thought began to creep into her head, her friends… How would they be treated if she had been labelled a traitor, they'd be interrogated for sure but by which means and to what ends. If calmer minds prevailed, they would be seeking the truth and they'd be looking at a few months remanded in custody but at worst, they'd be tortured for a quick confession to precipitate a swift exemplary execution.

They turned direction, "Hey, since we're probably staying here a few more days, do you play Pai-Sho?" Sokka asked.

Azula couldn't help but feel a jolt of anger, here she was contemplating her destiny as a crippled fugitive, the possible death of her only friends and this boy starts asking her about games. "WHAT!? I told you I'm not okay and you star-"

"Sorry I asked. Thought it would be fun with a little challenge." Sokka said.

Azula calmed down and retreated back into quiet contemplation.

They reached her cell and Sokka did a quick but relatively thorough pat-down for weapons, uncuffed her and locked the door. As he began to walk away, she said quietly, "I'll think about it."


Azula lay in her cell trying to suppress the worry she had about her friends by reading a book given to her by Sokka about, who else than his namesake, Admiral Sokka of the Water tribe, the greatest Water tribe hero of the Hundred year war, Azula had dismissfully told Sokka that she didn't much care for pirate stories, but she knew full well that the Admiral had led one of, if not the greatest merchant raiding campaigns against the fire nation and been a general to nuisance to the fire navy at the beginning of the war, at one point tying down several squadrons looking for his small fleet of obsolete commandeered fire nation cruisers.

At the time, the great Western sea had been the artery of the Water tribe confederacy, often the good trade winds had provided faster passage of goods from the Eastern Earth Kingdom to the Western parts of the Fire Nation, all of this trade was virtually monopolised by the Water Tribes, who's great clippers sailed the waves at speed and endurance that to this day couldn't be matched by anything but the most modern of the High Seas Fleet's Battlecruisers, and even so, they would be so loaded up with coal or oil that cargo would be a mere afterthought.

The merchant marine of the water tribe would often employ air benders transiting from the air temples to make their journeys as smooth and fast as they were. When the war had begun, all but the biggest atolls were destroyed and ploughed into the ocean, effectively cutting off the water tribes from each other. Admiral Sokka knowing his force was surrounded had gone for a bold plan, to lead his fleet home through the fire nation archipelago, interdicting trade and raiding for supplies and it had almost worked.

Of course, in the wake of his greatest victory, Admiral Sokka had made the mistake of trying to recapture an outpost on Whale tail island on the border of the warring nations, only to be met in harbour by the appropriately named Revenge commanded by Admiral Chan, a great uncle to the current Fleet Admiral, who ran down and destroyed Admiral Sokka's fleet of obsolete cruisers, Sokka went down with his ship with all but one of the Admiral's cruisers having managed to escape, commanded by his youngest son, the author of the book.

The cell door squeaked and opened. "Enjoying the book?"

Azula lifted her eyes towards Sokka who came through the door carrying a plate of food, "It is mercifully short, with a happy ending." she said tauntingly.

Sokka feigned a smile, understanding what the happy ending meant for the Princess as he closed and locked the door behind him, Azula passively observing where he hid the key.

"I brought you some food, your brother and Aang have gone off on some Fire bending quest, so we won't have any entertainment for the next few days." Sokka said with his usual no fuzz matter-of-factness.

Azula took a look at the plate, still concerned that her captors might be poisoning her, "I want to see you eat some of that first."

"Huh?" Sokka exclaimed at looked down at the plate and with his free hand picked out a sample of everything and lifted it to his mouth and began chewing down on it.

With his mouth still full of food he started, "No poison here, Princess."

Azula narrowed her eyes, she didn't rule anything out yet, he could be carrying an antidote, but something in his eyes told that he was telling the truth and she didn't know how to feel about it.

She sighed, gestured for Sokka to bring the plate over and decided to change the subject.

"No Pai-Sho board either? Thought we were going to play?" Azula said uncharacteristically playfully as she sat up and stretched her arms.

"You didn't seem overly enthusiastic about it during the day."

"I wasn't, but a girl, a Princess no less, can change her mind, can't she?" Azula purred.

Sokka put down the plate of food next to Azula's bed, four different meats seasoned in various ways, Fire nation style, Azula didn't know if it had been specially cooked for her or if the Savage had good taste but it didn't really matter to her, she found it ironic that these were probably the last served meals she was going to get, condemned prisoners didn't have food wasted on them in the fire nation, the condemned took their last walk famished, so hence she'd have to struggle for every meal, for a moment images of starving Earth kingdom women throwing themselves at well fed fire nation soldiers she had witnessed on her travels flashed in her head, "A struggle for every meal indeed." she thought.

"No cutlery?" She asked Sokka.

Sokka reached outside and grabbed a branch growing out of the wall face and with his whittling knife quickly carved it into what could loosely be described as a fork, he then pre-cut pieces for Azula and handed her the wooden fork.

"Still not taking any chances, huh?" Azula said with a wink and grabbed some Komodo-chicken seasoned with fire flakes and garlic.

"No, you've shown yourself to be too resourceful and quick thinking… And though I don't think you are a threat to us any more in a meaningful way… Were you to escape now, you could lead the Fire Nation here even if you were otherwise doomed."

Azula grabbed some turtle-duck as the taste of the meal fed her appetite more than satiated it.

"This is really great, did Zuzu make this?" Azula said with food in her mouth at looked Sokka in the eye and began to blush, she swallowed; "Sorry, I must have picked up some bad manners."

She stabbed at the slice of mystery meat before adding, "Comes with company."

Sokka chuckled, "I made it, some of my favourites that I picked up in the fire nation."

Azula smiled and grabbed some of the mystery meat and began to eat it, "What's this? I've never had this before, taste is divine!"

Sokka face dropped a little.

"What?" Azula asked with a laugh.

"Maybe you should eat up first." said Sokka.

Azula put down the fork and glared at Sokka angrily, "I demand that you tell me."

"Well, I had to improvise and I've often found that Rat-Viper is a good substitute for many dishes once you get used to the mental picture."

Azula looked shocked, and then started laughing. "If I didn't know better, I would assume that's how you were poisoning me."

Sokka looked at Azula puzzled which she took notice of and she added, "Oh come on, I wake up a prisoner with no bending, what am I supposed to think?"

She scanned the boy for reaction, and there seemed to be a flicker of a smile before he started, "You know, that's not a bad idea, Princess, if I only knew my poisons better, but the truth is... I didn't have to poison you."

Azula couldn't sense any dishonesty in his words, one way or the other, so she pushed further, "You don't expect me to believe that?"

"It doesn't matter to me one bit, but the truth is the truth and it's right in front of your eyes."

Azula looked down at her ugly scars and realised he must have meant that her chi-pathways were indeed severed and not just localised to her arms, she bit down harder on her food than was necessary as she cursed internally before looking up at Sokka, who still stood there, leaning against the bars, watching her eat as if there was malicious intent behind every bite. She glanced at him and smiled, "You know, I've always been curious what kind of man you were, Sokka, son of Hakoda."

His eyes subtly lit up but he didn't speak, so she continued, "Yes, my Dai-Li agents told me all about you." she stabbed at her food at picked up a piece eyeing it pensively as if looking for defect, "Well, more about your invasion plan really, what that buffoon of an Earth King hadn't already spilled to me."

Sokka looked at the ground and shook his head and chuckled scornfully, "That moron never said a word to us about that."

Azula laughed in turn "With friends like that, who need enemies, am I right?"

Sokka just nodded in reply.

Azula leaned back and threw her hair back and visibly scanned Sokka from head to toe, "And might I just say, the opposite is true as well."

Sokka rolled his eyes, "Oh, here we go again with the old seductress routine."

Azula laughed, "Yes, if I can't play games with my most..." Azula paused as she looked for words, "Cute, handsome... Hmm, not quite the words I was looking for..." She paused to bite her lip ever so slightly.

Sokka blushed a little, he had started getting the idea throughout his travels that he wasn't the worst looking guy, but still hearing it said out loud still felt surreal.

She then snapped her finger and pointed at Sokka "Competent adversary."

She picked up a piece of Rat-viper and began chewing on it.

"Speaking of which, go get that Pa-Sho board, I'm almost done with the book!" Azula said with food in her mouth.

"Yeah, grandpa always said brevity was soul of wit, I'm not sure I agree with him because his book leaves so much unanswered and well, he is gone now and whatever he might have told Mom is also gone, lost to history." Sokka said solemnly.

Azula swallowed her food, "Captain Yarno was your grandfather?" she exclaimed in surprise and sarcastically added, "Can't say I'm surprised."

Sokka turned back around sighed, "That book has been my encouragement recently."

"Uhm, have you read the ending?" Azula said cocking one eyebrow in mock inquisitiveness.

"I know, I know, but the point isn't that Admiral Sokka failed, it was that he pulled off something so impossibly bold and nearly succeeded that his name lives on even in the hearts of his enemies." Sokka turned to Azula.

"Still… Isn't a bit much to carry around a precious heirloom on a journey such as this?" Azula held up the book. "What if I was feeling particularly petty?" She spun the book around in her hand carelessly and poked the cover with her fingernail.

Sokka laughed, "My tattered copy is home at Pole, that one." pointing at the book in Azula's hand, "...I picked up in a Fire Nation shop."

Azula flipped to the front page, "Published by White Lotus Publishing in the Fourth year of Azulon's reign."

Azula looked up and met Sokka's eyes and answered his smile.

"Pai-Sho?" She asked playfully.

Sokka smiled, turned around to open the cell door, "I'll be back in a minute."


It had been the third round, and Azula had yet to win, in the first round she had been so close, but Sokka must have been holding back because since then she always felt that she was one or two steps behind, it had come to the point where she wouldn't strike seemingly crushing blows because it seemed like every time she did, the house would come crumbling down on her, and once she had recovered and went on the offensive, she was again pushed off balance.

"I hate this." She mumbled to herself before looking up at Sokka, "I can't believe I'm losing... To you of all people."

"Once one figures out who and what you are, you are surprisingly easy beat." Sokka said nonchalantly.

Azula scoffed and made her move but to no avail as Sokka countered.

"So what am I?" Azula asked almost spitefully.

"Someone who plays to win and hates to lose."

Azula rolled her eyes, "Well obviously! You're clearly the brains behind this enterprise." sarcasm so thick it was palatable.

"And you'll use any means necessary, fair and unfair to get what you want, you will, lie, cheat, steal and probably even beg if that's what it takes to get what you want, and you're used to being the only one in the room who plans ahead for more than a few steps."

Azula rolled her eyes even more noticeably and raised her hands feigning surrender; "Okay, you got me."

"A dangerous and lethal opponent who knows her capabilities but not necessarily her weaknesses."

Azula started to smile, "If you think flattery will get you anywhere..." Azula splayed herself out on her side seductively, "It just might."

Sokka chuckled, raised his arm and pointed straight down at the game board. Azula felt a little bit miffed at being drawn out of a game she knew she could win to one which she would lose and let this emotion show as a sour expression.

"And because you are so used to this, you fail to... Shall we say, modulate for harmonic counter moves." Sokka said and Azula cocked her eyebrow at this comment, fighting the urge to ask what on Earth he even meant by the last sentence.

Sokka noticed and paused to look up from the board at Azula, "You see, you are fire, you are fluid and nimble in your thinking, but ultimately, you only go in one direction." Sokka pointed up with his index finger, "So I'll be water, I'll go with the flow and find my path, around, under or over, I'll be solid when it's called for and vapor the next... But I will adapt, and ultimately-"

"This philosophical sophistry is getting tedious." Azula said and yawned.

And just then Sokka struck his killing blow. Azula's eyes flared in anger and as she was about to flip the board over, Sokka anticipating this move, pressed down his palms on it and Azula found she had snapped a nail trying to flip the board.

She winced in pain as she looked up at Sokka who just winked at her.

Azula could do naught but frown and let off an angry scoff, before raising her arm parallel to the ground, dangling her hand in front of Sokka, twitching her index finger with the broken nail "You're going to fix that."

Sokka without missing a beat, pulled out his whittling knife and took Azula's hand. "I'm a bit of a Princess myself when it comes to my fingernails." he said and winked at Azula who just smiled in return as she watched Sokka carefully chip away at the broken nail to the fracture point, when he was done she twitched her middle finger and added, "You might as well do the rest while you're at it."

Sokka smirked and pulled his hands back. "Maybe some other time."

Sokka started collecting the pieces and folding up the board as he readied himself to leave for the evening and Azula's face began to soften. "Hey, you don't have to leave just yet."

"Sorry, Princess, I have other duties to attend besides entertaining you."

Azula smiled coyly, "Court jester would indeed suit you."

"I'm sure it would" Sokka said as he turned to leave.

"What's say, a friendly game of truth or dare?" said Azula wickedly.

Sokka stopped in his tracks and turned his head and monotonously spoke, "Hey, Princess, I'd be the first one to admit I've warmed up to you since we took you captive, but… And this is ignoring all other issues, the fact of the matter is I have a girlfriend. ...That you took captive."

Azula's heart sank a bit but tried not letting it show, "That you've hardly mentioned in our time together." her tone was sultry and seductive, Azula got on her hands and knees and began cat crawling her way towards Sokka. "Besides, what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Sokka turned around and squatted down resting on his heels as Azula crept ever closer and reached a hand up her cheek and stroked it. "If I didn't know what you're trying, I would be tempted… You are so beautiful, you are so se-"

She had leaned into his hand and bit him slightly causing Sokka to stop mid-sentence, winking with her brows. "Go on!" But Sokka sat quiet, his fingers slipping across her ears and into her hair as she inched forward.

Suddenly she felt a tug at the back of the head and she let out a gasp in surprise, he had grabbed her by the hair and expected to be rejected when Sokka suddenly pulled her closer, right to his eye level. Azula smiled wickedly, "You know that you want me, and I want you, be a good Savage." Her face soften and she corrected herself, "Sokka." She moved in to kiss him but she held her back from her hair.

"I know you're just using me!" Sokka said gloomily.

Azula giggled slightly; "Yes." She tugged herself to his lips ignoring the pain and kissed him to very little protest, she pulled away; "I want you to make me a woman."

Sokka was red with frustration, so close, the scent of the princess was overwhelming and there was something about it that drove him mad, as if the Princess was radiating an aphrodisiac, he tried to justify the betrayal he was about to commit in his head, he tried to imagine Suki's angelic face but it constantly kept morphing into this demon of lust in front of him, until finally the dam broke.

Sokka pulled Azula towards him and instinctively buried his head in her neck and began to softly nibble at it while his hands roamed her body, Azula couldn't help but let out a moan of deep satisfaction as Sokka's hand found her breast and stroked it gently but quickly withdrew so he could pick her up with both hands and carry her to the bed.

Sokka was a maelstrom of conflicting emotion, but so eager was his passion that it overrode everything else, part of his probing of her her body was as much to satiate his fears that she was hiding a weapon as it was to quench his everbuilding lust and as Azula's soft skin appeased his fears, he came to peace with what he was doing, he was only defiling the Fire Lord's daughter, it was as much vengeance for everyone lost in the war as anything.

Azula's hands and mouth began their own probing, and as Sokka put her down on the bed she reached under his tunic to undo his belt when she nudged it, and jolt of fear surged through her, like bucket of ice water had been thrown over her, it was much bigger than she anticipated, she became afraid now even though a part of her wanted to be forcefully deflowered and relished the idea of the pain but still she found herself saying; "Sokka… I don't think I can..."

Sokka suddenly stopped and looked down at his groin, the Princess was grabbing his member through the cloth of his trousers. "It's too big." Sokka looked up and saw the fear in the Princess's eyes, was he going to take her anyway, a part of Azula wished he would, and as Azula stroked Sokka, she managed to whisper, "Be careful." but the spell had been broken.

The lust demon had gone and left in its place a scared confused young girl, overwhelmed by the same urges as he, and he cursed himself for it.

He climbed off Azula who looked at him dejected.

"I'm sorry, Azula, I can't…"

He quickly marched to the door and began scrambling for the key, before he heard Azula's voice call out to him, "Here!" and as he turned around he saw Azula throw something at him, which he caught with both of his hands, he chuckled before he even opened his hands to confirm it was the key.

She smiled but her eyes betrayed her sadness, "Didn't think that far ahead in the heat of the moment."

Sokka unlocked the door and stepped out without saying another word, he felt great shame, hadn't the Princess broken her own spell, he would have done it and who knows what the Princess would have done in turn, as he felt that his knife was still in its sheath. As he locked the door and looked up at Azula, he couldn't discern any distinct emotion, if he had to guess, confusion but mostly because of how it reflected his own emotions at the moment.


Aang and Zuko had returned late that night and had been eager to show off their new dance moves.

Sokka had brought Azula her breakfast quick and silently, Azula hadn't really been able to catch any sleep that night and had been eager to confront Sokka so it was a great disappointment when her jailer had just silently snuck off.

Later that day she had been ready and pounced on Sokka through the canvas. "Hey there lover boy, coming to finish what you started." Azula said excitedly.

Sokka looked at her, eyes squinted in anger that just made him more attractive to her, "Does it bring you joy to torment me like this?"

Azula laughed as she took a step back, "Yes." and she grinned at him wickedly, "And if you didn't enjoy... The abuse... Why would you come here and take it?"

"You are my prisoner!" Sokka said raising his voice, "And my responsibility!"

"Touching!" she responded "Like one of your minions coul-"

"Friends!" Sokka cut her off.

Azula rolled her eyes and sighed, "Like one your friends couldn't take care of little old me." She brought her finger to her chin and looked up as if in deep thought "Unless..." She looked Sokka in the eye and added seductively, "You enjoy my company."

Sokka scoffed scornfully as he looked down at the floor, she was right of course.

"Where's Suki?" Sokka asked almost timidly.

Azula couldn't quite contain her surprise as her face dropped, she wanted to shout at the boy "Forget about that bitch already!" but found herself responding earnestly to his question, "I-I don't know."

"You said she was your prisoner, your favourite prisoner, whatever that means." Sokka responded, again raising his voice a bit.

"I didn't actually mea-" She noticed far too late that her voice was uncharacteristically shaky. "Look, she took battle and I took her prisoner, we interrogated her and let the Gendarmes take care of her. Prisoners of war are not my concern!" She raised her voice at the last sentence, as jealousy started bubbling to the surface.

Sokka's face remained gloomy and his eyes didn't rise to meet hers. "You said-"

"Oh for Agni's sake, I was trying to get a rise out of you and it worked." her voice betraying how annoyed she was becoming at Sokka and there was no denying it anymore, jealousy.

"So… You actually have no idea where she'd be kept?" Sokka said dejected.

Azula leaned in and titled her head slightly, "I milked that cow for every piece of information she would reveal and let others handle her, simple as that." Azula said venomously. "Did you think I came and spoon fed her every night like you? HA!"

Sokka turned to leave, "I have no more use for you then."

"You have no idea and it hasn't even occurred to you to ask, some detective you are." Azula retorted.

Sokka turned back, "It's probable that anything you'd be willing to reveal even if I let Katara waterboard you, which by the way, you're welcome, Zuko would have already told us."

Sokka finally began to walk away and as the day droned on he did not come back for her daily exercise and Haru, the Earth bender boy brought her supper. Compared to Sokka, he was rather dull conversation, not that Azula didn't appreciate having someone to talk to but he just lacked a certain wit, That night she realised that she actually missed the Savage's company, she tried to reason with herself that it was a very normal phenomenon for prisoners to start feeling sympathy with their jailers but it seemed to strike her awfully soon and next morning, she was informed in passing that he was gone, which cut her deeper than she could have suspected.


Ozai hadn't been idle, in the wake of his legitimate children's treachery, he had been forced to dip into his considerable pool of bastards. Bastards could be troublesome but at times like these they could be an asset worth their weight in gold.

True, most of them so far had turned out to be disappointments, most of their bending skills were stunted, if existent at all. There had been a few potentials, diamonds in the rough, but two of them were barely out of their diapers and despite the outward appearance, he really did prefer a male heir, Azula, having been an exception.

Ozai sighed as he stepped up to the gate of a small cottage on a tenant farm. It looked well kept enough but he could tell this place was hardly a cradle of new Fire Lords or Ladies for that matter, but Ozai was thorough, one of his few redeeming qualities.

"Let's get this over with" he sulked to his Adjutant.

At this command, the Adjutant nodded to one of his guardsmen who sprang to the door and started beating down on it. "Open up in the name of the Fire Lord"

The Guardsman continued pummelling the door as if he was going to break it down unless it was opened in the next minute, which was his prerogative if necessary.

The door cracked opened and the Guardsman took a step back to stand at attention, as it widened more to reveal a beautiful yet lifeworn woman perhaps in her early forties, her blue eyes bright in the midday sun. "Yes?" She inquired.

"Kanna!" Ozai said with a smile on his face and a jubilant tone which could not quite mask his serpent like speech mannerism.

The woman fell to her knees with a look of shock and surprise. "My Lord! I-I wasn-"

"Stand up, woman." Ozai said reassuringly.

The woman stood up and the Fire Lord greeted her with a bow of courtesy afforded only to people of stature in the Fire Nation.

"Are you alone?" He casually enquired never dropping his smile. The woman gave a quick nod. "Yes."

Ozai gestured to his entourage, "Leave us… And don't let anyone disturb us."

"Of course, Sir!" responded his Adjutant in an affirmative militaristic manner and bowed to the Fire Lord before all the Guard took their positions behind the fence.

The woman gestured for Ozai to come in, and as he stepped over the threshold he shut the door behind him. He looked around the cottage, one room, a sturdy bunk bed, fireplace and stove, with a table adorned with a tea pot and three cups laid out. "Are you expecting company?" he asked.

The woman smiled and nodded; "Yes, Azka will be back any time now with my mother, she is coming to live with me in her old age."

Ozai couldn't help but scoff and think to himself internally "Azka, what kind of stupid name is that?" but just smiled. "Great, I was coming to meet… Azka."

"Please, sit down, I'll lay out another cup." said the woman and gestured to Ozai to take a seat, "I knew you would come and see us... With the rumours and all, like you always promised, if I kept quiet. ...Just not... So soon."

"Right, rumours… Word gets around fast." Ozai said sitting down on the chair nearest the fireplace, the woman squatting down in front of him. "...And kept quiet I have, not even Azka knows, our love is between us and the spirits, I've done my duty to you and the Fire Nation." The woman smiled at Ozai melancholically and he raised his hand to her cheek.

"And I am so very proud." Ozai whispered with a smirk.

Kanna rose up and poured him some tea.

"Is he a bender?" he asked suddenly and sternly.

A look of shock came over Kanna's face at Ozai's question. "You could say that..."

Ozai chuckled "What? Is he… Does he take after… Your peo-?"

"No!" interrupted Kanna. "I'm not quite sure how to describe it, or if the boy can himself."

"Intriguing." Ozai said as he took the first sip of his tea.

Suddenly the was a ruckus from the outside, Ozai and his former concubine sprang up and walked to the door, as Ozai cracked the door he could hear the shouts of an angry young man "I don't care who you are, threaten my grandmother again and I'll take that baton of yours and stick is so far up your-" The young man, half a head taller than the Guardsman he was berating was interrupted by the sight of the Fire Lord stepping out of the cottage, immediately snapping his heels together and calling out "Attention!" and giving a fire salute followed by a deep bow, the Guardsmen all followed suit.

Ozai observed the young man with a mixture of confusion and pride, he was tall and broad, his hair thick and raven, it could have been like looking into a mirror of the past except for his eyes, those deep blue eyes that almost shone in the sun like Azula's flames. But as beautiful a man as he was, he was clad in an officer's uniform, and Ozai knew that there was no chance that his pen would ever strike the commissioning letter of a bastard, seed of his loin or not.

He had hardly noticed the old woman stand behind him before she started walking towards the door. Short, white haired and wrinkled beyond any recognition of what former beauty it once might have held. "Gran-gran! Please!" called the young man, to the complete indifference of the woman.

Ozai was about to call her out for her insolence in front of her betters when he caught her glare and it felt like his heart had stopped, a slight panic began to grip him; "Poison?! The tea?" he hadn't seen his concubine actually drink it. As he stumbled back, and his vision began to fade, he couldn't help but think of the irony, dying without and heir at the feet of his bastard.

As Ozai began to come to the first thing he saw was the old woman's face smiling gently as she fed him water from a cup "Dehydration can get to the best of us on a hot summer's day such as this, young man." Ozai couldn't help but feel the hag was mocking him despite the outward facade of kindness, but decided berating a seemingly kindly old woman trying to help probably wasn't the best of look in front his men. His Adjutant started "Thank the spirits, my Lord, for a second I thought you might have bee-" "Poisoned!" said Ozai, "That thought did cross my mind."

As he sat up and looked around and back into the cottage; "I think I might have just gotten up too fast."

The Guardsmen helped him to his feet and his eyes looked with the young man. He briefly turned to his Adjutant; "Say, I think I'm going to stretch my legs a bit."

Ozai took a few steps towards the young man; "Walk with me!"

Before the young man took another step he clicked his heels together to announce; "Demolitions officer Azka, First Pioneer Company of the Royal Engineering Corps of the Royal Marines, Sir! At your service, Sir!"

Ozai laughed heartedly and the man took position abreast of him; "An officer in the pioneers, your mother must be proud." The young man looked around as if to see that no one else was within earshot and almost whispered "By law I must inform you that I am a Bastard's bastard, father, unaccounted for and unknown." Ozai, took a stride forward to stop the man in his tracks, "That's double impressive, but I must confess, I sign every letter of commission and-" before Ozai could finish, Azka interjected. "Officer by warrant of Fleet Admiral Chan, not by commission, Sir!"

"I see." Replied Ozai. "Even so, a Warrant Officer needs to be extremely proficient at his job, does he not?" Clutching and stroking his goatee as he continued walking.

"I wouldn't go that far, but more proficient than your average Petty Officer." replied Azka.

"Humble man, if it weren't for your, shall we say, humble beginnings." Ozai hissed out. "No, there must be something very special about you."

Azka raised an eyebrow, "You're talking about my abilities?"

Ozai smirked "Yes."

Azka looked back at the guardsmen following around thrity steps behind and Ozai gestured for them to stop. "Is it your bending?"

"Among other things!" Azka drew out a medal from under his collar, the Sun cross with fire lilies and swords awarded only for exceptional bravery in the face of the enemy. Ozai couldn't help but emit a hearty chuckle. "Among the first through the breech at Omashu." Azka said before his head sank a little, "Before the Mad King surrendered... Without a fight… Not before six of my pioneers bit the dirt, Sir. For nothing!"

"But you are Fire bender?" Asked Ozai as inquisitive as ever.

"No." said Azka.

Ozai's patience finally failed him a bit; "Can't I get a straight answer of you people, your mother tells me you're not a water bender and you tell me you're not a fire bender, what kind of mutt are you?!"

Azka's head snapped to glare at Ozai; "I shall demonstrate" Ozai smirked. Azka turned his back to the fire lord and took a stance with his arms raised slightly from his sides "Tell your men to stand down, Sir." Ozai gestured to his men to stand down and before Ozai could blink a ray of light punctured the day so bright he stood flash blinded for a moment. "Lightning bending?"

"Sort of..." Said Azka.

As Ozai regained his sight, he could see that a boulder approximately a quarter of a mile down the road had disintegrated. "W-were you aiming for that?"

"Dead centre" said Azka, "Short burst, narrow beam."

Ozai chuckled; "What would a long burst, broad beam mean?"

Azka turned to the Fire Lord and replied sternly, "Death."

Ozai looked at his Guardsmen following behind the pair and pondered for a second. "Do you love your country, Warrant Officer?"

"Yes, sir!" Azka answered and turned his face to look the fire lord dead in the eye and added, "And sworn to protect and serve, our Nation and her citizens." Ozai felt a bit taken a back, was Azka seeing through him and subtly rebelling against him?

"So if I was to say" He pointed at the guardsmen, "Kill those men!" he turned to face Azka, "How would you act?"

"On a theoretical level Sir?" Azka asked hesitantly.

Ozai's face distorted into a frown and he rolled his hand in slight frustration, was this man a weakling, a defiant like his younger half-siblings, he began spitting out, "NO! I mean-."

At the Fire Lord's tone, Azka turned, and as he turned three arcs of lightning started pulsing between his hands and head to his chest until the frequency grew too fast to make out with the naked eye, and before Ozai could finish his sentence, a blinding flash had once again ripped through the air.

And when Ozai's sight returned to him, where men had stood now stood only boots and glowing pieces of metal on the ground.

Azka fell to his knees and clutched at his heart and breathed heavily for moment, while Ozai stood in awe. "Knocks the wind out you does it?" Ozai asked almost rhetorically and Azka nodded before saying, "If his royal sovereign declares a legal and just death sentence, it can only serve in the national interest." Azka got to his feet and turned towards the shocked Ozai. "The morality isn't any of my concern… Sir."

As Azka got his his feet, Ozai began walking towards the fallen men with glee rising on his twisted face, finally a worthy heir, "That really was… Awesome! In the most literal sense of the word!"

Azka walked behind the Fire lord and put his hand on his shoulder, shocking Ozai somewhat over this breech of protocol. Their eyes met and Azka looked sternly into the eyes of the Fire Lord.

"Let's quit beating around the bush, I know what this is about, Sir, I didn't know Captain Lee would send my plan this far up the command chain but I am grateful that he did, I know now that you wanted to test me, knowing that I am unflinching."

A confused look started to creep up on Ozai's face as Azka spoke.

"My team is ready, has been since the Day of the Black Sun, we will hunt down the Avatar and his gang of partisans and I will personally execute the traitor prince and princess if you so command me."

A wide grin grew over Ozai's face as he raised his hand to stroke the cheek of his bastard.

"You're a man I'd be proud to call Son." At these words Azka fell to his feet and bowed his head, "I am honoured.." He lifted his head, "I know you're the father of our nation, but since I never met my own, you've always been my figurative father."

The Guardsmen who had been left to stand watch at the cottage came running and one of them was shouting "Fire Lord, Warrant Officer, what happened?"

Ozai picked up one of the scorched boots, still weighed down by a charred foot.

"Lightning from the clear sky, never seen the such a thing. Five men, just one minute there and all of a sudden gone."

The Guardsmen all of a sudden rushed towards Ozai, keeping his head down while they moved him towards the cottage. "Sir, we have to get you inside." As they looked wearily at the sky, the Fire Lord handed his Adjutant a scroll which the old man duly opened and read quickly, taking an ink pen out sleeve and scribbling down a few things before he turned to Azka.

The young man had marched along with the rest of the men when the Adjutant stopped him. "A moment, son." The adjutant rolled up the scroll, "By the power invested in me by his Royal Sovereign, Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, Emperor of the Earth Kingdom, Great Blama of the Air Nomads, High Chieftain of the Water Tribes, Ozai, I hereby formally commission you as an officer in his Royal Marines." He paused and looked the man up and down for a second before continuing, "Pre-signed… His majesty, Ozai." He then rolled up the scroll and handed it to Azka. "Congratulations son."

Azka looked down at the scroll and smiled, "Thank you sir!".


So not a lot of action in this chapter, just two teenagers talking in cell, going by the principle that if you lock two people in a room eventually they'll either fuck or kill eachother, but hey, that's why I began writing this story in the first place, and well, they are fun to write. The whole Admiral Sokka story will have its Chekov's gun moment at some point.

With the introduction of Azka, I wanted to up the threat level to Team Avatar like the introduction of Azula did, and just like lightning bending turned Fire bending up a notch, I wanted to get creative with it, look up "hydraulic analogy" if you're truly curious. I also think it stands a very reasonable assumption that a man like Ozai would have a bastard farm, especially considering how casually he was willing to discard his firstborn son, or in this story, legitimate son.

And yes, there are some things in the story that are so overt that it feels almost shit-tier not mention them outright, but whatever, "Admiral Sokka" is obviously just Count Maximilian Von Spee for example.