Sokka still lay on his back as he stretched his arms as far as they would go across the floor as he yawned. His back ached slightly from lying on a wooden floor and a thin blanket wasn't much comfort. Then, he remembered that he didn't remember waking up for his shift on Azula Watch. Then, it dawned on him... it was too quiet.
What if Azula had come back to reek her unholy vengeance? What if all the others were dead and he was the sole survivor destined to rally and lead a resistance to fight "The Azul Flame" as they would refer to Azula as? Yes. Sokka could see it; sitting on a mechanical sky bison he built himself from space metal, that was standing majestically on a cliffside with his wolf warriors behind him armed on their mechanical penguin otters with boomerang-tipped spears, looking over an ocean that somehow was alit with the blue fire that all but he feared. His girlfriend Suki dreamily staring at him. Well he couldn't blame her; any girl would stare that way at a handsome shirtless warrior with biceps and an 8 pack.
Yes. Sokka could see it all happening. And it would start with him waking from pretend sleep letting out a battle cry and fighting his way out to his glorious future.
"HAAAAAA!" he roared as he stood up in a poor fighting stance with his boomerang in his hand. He looked, thinking he was about to see dead bodies and burning wood and his friends in need of his help. What he saw instead was Aang, Katara and Zuko doing various activities ranging from rolling up their sleeping blankets to tidying the room up a bit. Katara then asked as if nothing had happened "What is it Sokka? Another bad dream about meat not existing in the world anymore?"
"HEY! That was not a BAD DREAM." His eyes the widened with paranoia as he brought his now trembling fingers over his mouth "That was a nightmare." His voice was quiet and a little girly. It went back to normal as he added "And second, no one woke me up last night and so I assumed that Azula returned and was killing us all."
"Well, that didn't happen thank the spirits." Aang said chirpily as he airbent a couch back to its original spot in the room. It had been put by the door as a little barricade, but it was no longer necessary.
"You didn't wake me up." Sokka said sulking as he put Mr Boomerang back in the scabbard on his back. Thinking of the resistance that tragically wasn't to be, Katara looked to see her brother with his sulky "I missed out" face. She wasn't in the mood and told him the truth "I tried to, but you were mumbling in your sleep that you wanted to sleep now and be awake later."
Sokka stood straight up and turned away before saying "I have absolutely no recollection of what you speak."
"BECAUSE YOU WERE SLEEPING! AND SINCE WHEN DO YOU TALK LIKE THAT!"
"SINCE ALWAYS! You just don't hear it." Sokka turned with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.
"In any case." Aang said intervening before the house was yet again put through a fight within "You're awake now Sokka and we're going to the entrance of Forgetful Valley to look for Azula."
And just like that, Sokka was back "Oh, okay. Let's go Team Avatar." he said while getting his boomerang out yet again.
Azula woke up. This time, her eyes widened and she quickly shot up to check her surroundings and her clothing.
Small bedroom. Smaller bed. White sleeve. Azula let out a breath of relief knowing that she wasn't stuck in a dream.
As she got out of bed, she looked to see her old clothes still on the chair with her boots underneath. She squeezed the material in her hand a few times to check they were completely dry. After being convinced they were, she took off the night dress and threw it to the bed. While putting on her old clothes and boots, she wondered what her next step was. She couldn't stay now that she was convinced this woman was conspiring with her mother.
Now everything made sense; her mother got in her head on purpose because she knew she would run off into Forgetful Valley and she sent someone she wouldn't suspect to "aid" her. Said someone would then convince to come to her place and drug her food, which coincidentally was her favourite dish, all so Ursa could get in her head again. But what her mother didn't count on was Azula discovering it all. But now, what was she to do? Mother could've warned her accomplice that she knew. Though, it was just an old lady. Right?
Knock Knock
The sound came from behind the curtain. Azula froze a little upon hearing the sound. She answered "Come in."
The curtain was drawn back by a wrinkly hand with bony fingers. She looked the same as last night; long almost white hair covering her shrunken wrinkly face and a now too friendly smile.
"I was just checking you're up, considering last night." she said with concern. Azula then looked away, remembering how her mother's helper had seen her in a vulnerable state last night.
"I'm fine now. Thank you." Azula said appearing unfazed and emotionless as she spoke.
"That's good to hear. There's breakfast waiting." she said cheerfully holding the curtain door open for Azula to walk through. Azula walked through and headed to the table with the old woman following behind her. As Azula sat down, she looked on to the table. There was a teapot and 2 cups along with 2 plates with Komodo chicken and rice on.
She took the teapot and poured the tea into both cups. She was resistant to eating and drinking as they could be drugged or poisoned. But she had formulated a plan, so hopefully, this deaming servant task would butter mother's pawn up into being a clueless food and drink taster.
"Oh, that's very kind of you dear." the old woman said as she eagerly took the cup and drank from it. Azula picked her cup up and brought it up to cover her mouth. But she didn't dare drink the liquid as any potential poison could've been in the cup and not the tea. The woman then took a few bites of her food proving that her food and tea were safe to consume. But that didn't mean Azula's food and tea were safe.
Azula took a piece of komodo chicken with her chopsticks and looked for some excuse not to eat it. She saw an open window with a slight breeze coming through and faked a shiver that caused her to drop her food.
"Oh my, you poor dear." The woman said. She got up and saw the window. As she continued mumbling about not thinking about the window, Azula didn't take her eyes off her for more than a few seconds as she carefully switched the cups and poured some more into what was now her cup. She also switched the plates and added some more rice to her plate to cover up the bites the old woman took. She would just avoid that area.
As the woman came back, Azula then picked up her chopsticks off the floor and blew on them. They weren't on the ground for too long and the floor appeared clean. The woman then continued to eat. Azula felt relief as she ate what was now her food. Azula hoped she would be able to eat in silence until their plates were empty. The woman spoke again.
"Now that it's a new day and that dreadful storm is in the past, can I know what your name is and who it is you're hiding from?"
Azula looked up from her food to face the woman. Her smile and tone of voice seemed concerned and kind. Azula thought it was very convincing, but she knew the hag was with her mother. Still, she had to give the impression they were strangers, so Azula said "I'm Li."
Li was a very common Fire Nation name. It was perfect. She added some partial truth to her story as it would make it more believable "I had a fight with my family... mainly my brother. I don't ever want to see him or my mother again."
"Oh, you poor thing... what was the fight about?"
Azula couldn't let too much information out, so she looked away and feined discomfort and sorrow "I'm sorry, but... it's too painful for me to talk about." She got up quickly and headed for the guest room.
"I'd like to be alone please." she quickly added. Once out of sight,
"We'll need to keep our guard up. Sooner or later, Azula's going to turn up again."
"I know. I get goose bumps just thinking about it." Sokka shivered a little. He was proud he and Mr. Boomerang took her down last night, but now he feared she was plotting revenge. And since they all survived the night, leading The Boomerang Resistance seemed almost like an impossible dream. Not just because the name "Boomerang Resistance" just didn't have the spark he wanted.
"But it doesn't have to be like that!" Aang spoke up. While Sokka was still asleep and Katara went to check on the family's wellbeing, he and Zuko had a talk about what happened. He told Aang how before she ran off, Azula gave the letter back to him and he felt Katara and Sokka should know this so their thoughts weren't clouded "People change! I mean, she gave that letter back to Zuko, didn't she?"
"No, she didn't give it back to him. She just dropped it by accident!"
"There's no way to know for sure, but I think she meant to do it."
Katara smiled at her boyfriend and gave him a kiss on the cheek "That's why I love you sweetie. You always see the bright side of things."
"How can I not? Look at everything that's happened. We helped bring together a sister and a brother... and a mother and a son."
"You really think Azula will just calmly come back and want to be apart of a loving family?"Sokka asked, unconvinced by the Avatar's opinion. Aang didn't blame him. But the 3 of them weren't her blood family. They didn't share the history that Zuko and his mother shared with her.
"I'm not saying it'll be easy for her, but if she comes back, it could be the first step to repairing the damage."
Azula spent the majority of her time at the house in the guest room. She was sat on the bed thinking about what to do.
"Li." the woman called. Azula got up to find her. She was near the front door wearing her cloak and was pulling her hood over her head.
"I'm going out to stock up on food since I don't want to run out, especially now I have a guest. Will you be okay on your own for 2 hours?"
"I imagine so." Azula stated calmly while giving a nod. 2 hours was plenty of time to formulate a real plan and do some idle snooping.
"Very well." she said exiting the room. Azula followed her into the living room. As she grabbed an empty sack and swung it over her shoulder, she turned to Azula and said "While I'm gone, I ask that you stay out of my room..." she said while raising a finger that pointed to her room "... and also to keep the trapdoor over there closed." She pointed to the doors that Azula assumed led to a basement.
"How come?" Azula asked sounding as curious and as innocent as she could sound as she wanted to hear what lie the woman would tell her.
The woman's face turned to a mix of confused and angered "Well, it's rude to snoop through someone else's belongings while they're out!" she said sounding shocked and disgusted.
"I meant... how come that trapdoor needs to stay shut? What's down there?"
"Oh." She looked embarrassed, but Azula knew now she was hiding something or she wouldn't have over-reacted about the wrong thing. "It leads to the basement and there's a horrible draft down there. The last thing I would want is you freezing to death. Plus, there are sneaky elephant rats that come and go as they please and I wouldn't want them up here."
Azula smiled "Of course not."
"Such a well-mannered girl." She said walking up to the princess and placing a wrinkly hand on her cheek. Azula thought it felt strange, but not in a bad way. Feeling a hint of... warmth, she leaned in a little to it for a moment. The, she pulled back and watched the woman leave.
As Hama turned away and exited the little shaft, she vigorously wiped her hand on her clothing, revolted that she had to do that to a descendant of the very man who ordered the raids on her home and the capturing of all her waterbending brothers and sister. But if the Princess snooped and found her secrets, it would be worth it as it would all go according to her plan.
Sorry for not updating for 2 years. Yikes! Didn't realise it was that long! Hope this chapter was worth it a little. To make up a little for the 2 years, here's a non-spoiler spoiler alert for the next chapter.
Zuko and Ursa talk.
Aang and Katara wait for Azula while Sokka still fantasizes about forming a resistance.
Azula snoops.
Hama attacks.
