starbuck151: I wasn't planning on making it a long fic lol but then I had ideas! Thank you, I like trying to find balance between a softer, more vulnerable Azula and her tougher canon counterpart. I plan on dropping a few more little hints if I can squeeze them in. But I'll see where the fic takes itself lol. Writing a loving and caring Sokka is always fun.
gemsofformenos: Thanks! This fics is going to be kind of a hero's journey type story where Azula kind of discovers herself and works to heal and recover. In the flashbacks she wasn't sure of where she was going or where her life would end up, just that she needed to get away from her past for a while and figure things out. Even though it ended in loss. "And it seems she has found real luck on this road for some time. Real love and care to give and to receive." She has had a chance at it yes and the details will be revealed in time. "The little stuffed badger-mole tells a bittersweet part of this story Sokka has seen in her eyes and on her scars." Indeed it does. "She still doges answers, she's still dificult to talk but at the same time she acts different. She doesn't pull away as harsh or hostile. " Yes, she's still more reserved and can be a little cold. But she isn't so blunt and unkind. "And this fact doesn't go unnoticed by Sokka. This cahnging has caught his interest and the hidden pain and loss he has felt underneath has awoken his compassion and sympathy. He wants to help." But yeah, Sokka has noticed that she's different and he is intrigued by it. And thank you, so far I'm enjoying writing all three so I might just keep doing that. Still haven't decided lol. And I hope you have a nice night too.
She goes by many monikers. In this town she will be Bora. At the last one she was Yukia and the one before that it was Yukia but spelled without the 'Y'. In the next town she will be Zu-Ri. Her stomach is achy and rumbling by the time she sees its shambled skyline and she dreads that she has only come upon a ghost town. She isn't even there yet and she is already crying tears of frustration. She doesn't have much energy left, if this is a dead end, she will simply find herself a house to curl up and die in. She will try to find a nicer looking one so that the dust coating her bones will have an aesthetic that is darkly pleasing to behold; a princess dying without a name in the husk of a nameless town that had been abandoned long before she'd come.
Her mongoose-lizard is growing weaker too. It moves more sluggishly and she considers that she may not even make it into town. That her bones will lay in a field. Granted, there is poetry in that too; the thought of floral vines curling around her ribcage and fire lilies blossoming from her mouth and eye sockets-life in death. And in death she'd give more life than she had when she was alive.
She can no longer keep her head up. She is weak and thirsty. It is now up to her mount to get her to town. She closes her eyes. She supposes that death isn't so terrible after all now that it is coming to whisk her away.
Azula doesn't think that she will wake up, but when she does it is to a cool rag on her head and the smell of chowder. She doesn't much like chowder, but Agni does it smell heavenly now. She can taste it on her tongue and the taste is warm and inviting. There is another smell in the air, she thinks that it might be bread. She isn't sure that she has a reason to, but she smiles.
"I was worried that ya weren't gonna wake up." Remarks a gruff voice.
Azula sits up, her head pounds lightly but the ache in her stomach is easing up. She is inclined to guess that the man had fed her at least a little. A dizziness clouds her head and it must show on her face because the man moves to hold her steady and the lower her back onto the pillow.
"Easy now."
She tries to keep her eyes open but finds herself drifting off again. It doesn't feel as though much time has passed but when she comes to for a second time, the sun filters through the cracked window from a different angle. The man is still sitting there, he has a fire in the center of the room, she smells more soup.
He doesn't notice her sit up this time. It doesn't matter, she doesn't feel quite so dizzy, though her stomach is rumbling again. A quick once over is all that she needs to know that she has, in fact, found a ghost town. She is sheltered in the hollowed guts of a house, chunks of plaster and stone litter the floor amid dust and dirt and teenier fragments of the wall and collapsing ceiling. There are a few pieces of furniture in the room; a chair that is missing a leg, a cracked mirror, and a discolored and dirty sofa with the stuffing weeping from a hole that has probably been created by chipmunk-mice.
The man glances over his shoulder. He is much older than she, at least her father's age, and sports a rugged beard and scraggly hair. He offers her a smile. "I hope that ya don't mind chowder, it's all that I know how to cook well."
"That's fine." She replies. Evidently she is willing to eat damn near anything at this point. "Where's my mongoose-lizard?"
He jabs his thumb towards the window. "Have 'im tied up out there. Ya can bring 'im in if ya want."
She shakes her head, "he'll be fine out there, I can't imagine that many people pass through here."
"Yer the first I've seen." He hands her a bowl of chowder. "I only have one bowl, but I'll let ya use it first."
She nods again and cups her hands around it. It is pleasantly hot on her hand and it smells divine. As divine as fish can smell. She supposes that the vegetable touch makes it more bearable. It doesn't taste as unappetizing as she had anticipated.
"Where are ya headed?"
She shrugs as she takes another bite. She eats faster than she probably should, at an impolite, rather greedy pace. The sort that her father would have chastised her for. This man seems faintly humored, delighted even. "Good, right? My wife taught me how to make it!"
"I don't usually eat fish. I don't like fish." She takes another bite. "So if I can actually tolerate it, it must be well made." She clarifies.
He chuckles. "Good to know."
She hands him the emptied bowl.
"Feeling better now."
"Quite."
"Yer Fire Nation nobility aren't ya?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Ya talk like one'a the educated folk. I also ain't hear no Earth Kingdom folk with that kin'a accent."
"And it doesn't bother you. To talk with a Fire National?"
"War's been over for a few years now. Yer kin's as good as my kin."
She thinks, fleetingly that her kin is better than his. Superior. She keeps that much to herself. She is, afterall, on the same level as he. At least for the time being. She ought not be. She ought to be in the palace getting pampered. Again she wonders what has compelled her to flee so far from home. She can only chalk it up to the throes of insanity.
No. That isn't it at all.
It was a moment of clarity.
She can't yet bring herself to admit it, but she needs to change. If not she, than something in her life needs to change. And this propels her here.
"Why are you here all alone?" She inquires.
He chuckles again, "I believe I asked you first."
She gives an indignant snort, "I'm not headed anywhere at all…" She trails off.
"Hmm…"
She pulls her legs up to her chest and listens to the crackle of the fire. "Can I accompany you for a while?"
He mulls it over. "These plains are mighty lonely." He agrees. "How's this? Ya let me ride on the mongoose-lizard and I'll help you replenish your food supply."
It sounds well enough to her. "We'll spend the night here and depart at sunrise."
"Ya cold?"
"A little, yes."
He shuffles around in his pack, pulls out a blanket, and hands it to her. "I just washed it in the river earlier taday."
On this night she learns what it means to be generous.
.oOo.
When she tries to stand, she finds that it is difficult. She is still so sapped and spent. She takes one step and nearly topples. Sokka catches her and leads her back to the bed. She curls herself up under the covers and closes her eyes. If nothing else she can savor the plushness of the mattress and the fluffiness of the pillows. It is nice to get reacquainted with luxury even if it is somewhat disorienting.
She snuggles her cheek against the silk bed sheets and yawns.
"I take it, that you'd rather get a tour some other time?" Sokka asks.
"Yes, another time." Azula replies. "I don't feel well."
"You look a little pale under that sunburn."
She is too tired to muster up a sardonic response.
"Should I get one of the doctors?"
Azula shakes her head. "I just need more rest, I think."
"Do you want me to stay or am I just annoying?"
"Yes."
"Yes I'm annoying or yes I can stay?"
"Yer annoying but you can stay."
He laughs.
"Yer supposed to be offended."
"I'm not laughing at that." Sokka gives a goofy grin.
"What then?"
"Nothing." He wipes a tear from his eye. "yer just different is all."
She rolls away from him, a tinge of pink spreading over her cheeks. "I can still do unspeakably horrible things to you, peasant." She warns.
"You won't though."
"How do you know?"
"I can just tell." He shrugs. "Can you tell me about it? About your travels; I have a feeling that you've got some good stories."
She shakes her head. "I'm going to try to sleep, Sokka."
"Alright, well I'll tell you a few stories!"
Azula groans. She thinks that this might only serve to encourage him. Bothersome it may be, but she can't help but feel comforted. Once again, she isn't alone anymore.