A/N: Secret Santa Sokkla Gift for Purpleplatypsbear21. Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day. Hope you enjoy it!
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The tranquility of the morning was ruined by a horrid noise. It was like a chorus of a thousand bells all ringing at once. It came so suddenly and so unexpectedly that it jolted Azula out of her peaceful meditation. She covered her ears and closed her eyes tightly, trying to deafen the noise.
"What on earth is that sound!?" She gritted her teeth as she whirled her head around, trying to look for the source of the dreaded noise.
Piandao frowned as he looked over his shoulder, an eye winked shut in pain. "So… that's what it sounds like when someone wants to talk to you."
"What? What are you-" The ringing came again, piercing their ears, and both the princess and the sword-master writhed in place on their floor mats in great discomfort.
"You'll have to pick it up, Azula. It's on my desk behind you. It's the only way to stop that ringing… or so I'm told," He groused.
"But can't you-" Again it came, echoing incessantly through the plush living room chamber. Azula's teethed clenched tightly as she let out a groan. "Ugh, very well! If it will stop this infernal noise!"
Quickly she rose to her feet, kicking the comfy mat aside as it slid across the polished wood floor. Whoever was disturbing her moment of peace and quiet would surely get a taste of her wrath.
When she approached the table, the ringing only grew more acute, but it wasn't hard to miss what was making the noise. It was the only thing that looked completely out place beside the parchment and brushes. A long and ornate vertical brass tube shook uncontrollably as the bells chimed perpetually, with what Azula could only describe as brass cups jutting out from either side of it. It was a strange thing, but the moment it rang yet again she felt nothing but utter contempt for it.
She grabbed the damnable contraption by the tube and hoisted it off the desk. With a great sigh relief she turned back to Piandao. "There. That will-"
And then it rang again. She felt her ear deafen as it vibrated in her hand. Filled with rage, she felt a growing desire to toss the thing against a wall.
"W-What?! It's still ringing!"
"Yes, princess." Piandao had to make an effort to look calm. He tried not to chuckle at her confusion. "I was told you need to pick up the… cup hanging from the hook there to stop the ringing. To talk into it."
"You specifically said to pick up the-" Again, the machine rang. At this rate Azula would lose her hearing entirely. "Ugh! Is this thing for communication or torture?"
As Piandao covered his mouth to hide the chuckle he desperately tried to stifle, Azula did as he told her and finally picked up the receiver.
"Yes! What do you want, who is this?"
"Princess, that's the end you listen into, not to talk through." Piandao stated.
"What? How the-" She tried to correct herself, but found her arm awkwardly tangled by a cord. Her arms fidgeted around trying to speak into the thing. "I was right, this thing is a torture device."
"Hello?" Came a voice from the contraption. "Hello? Anyone there?"
"Damn it" Azula held up the correct end to ear and talked into the receiver. "Who is this, what-"
"Hello? Can you hear m-"
"Yes, what? Who-"
"Uh, is this thing working? Hello?" The voice was disembodied and high pitched, as if from a void. It was like speaking to a deaf ghost.
"I swear by the gods, if this is your servant, Master Piandao…" She muttered, trying to hold back her annoyance.
The grizzled swordsman merely looked on in amusement. "I don't think my servant Fat would annoy you this much."
"Helloooooo!?" This time the voice came in clearer, though a bit too loudly for Azula's liking. She recognized that voice anywhere, for better or worse.
"Sokka? Is that you?"
"Azula? Oh good! I was hoping you would be the one to answer back. Isn't this thing great?"
She blinked. It was a good thing Sokka wasn't there in person to see how infuriated she really was. Following through on her vow, she inhaled through her nose. "No, it's not great! I was in the middle of meditating when this…" She quickly glanced over the disgusting device "… this thing interrupted me! With it's constant ringing!"
"Oh. Well-"
"What do you want? You could've have just walked into the chamber and talked to me." She fumed.
"But the telephone was right there, its really convenient you know." Sokka said.
"Oh, so is that what this infernal contraption is called? Then don't use again if you want to talk to me." She stated firmly. "Its no excuse to be lazy."
"Okay, because yelling through an open window would be sooooo much better while you're meditating. That or me barging in."
She rolled her eyes as she held the receiver up to her mouth. "Better than being deafened by bells."
"Right, right. I'm sorry interrupted your meditation, Azula. Wasn't what I intended. I just wanted you to come to the courtyard. I got something to show you." He said.
Azula groaned. "That's it? You wanted to show me 'something'?"
"You'll like it better than you like the telephone, I can tell you that." She could hear a small chuckle crackle through the hearing receptor. "Come on it'll be fun. I promise."
She sighed, but nodded her head slowly. "Very well then. What would a relaxing retreat in the countryside be without a little fun, I suppose."
"That's the spirit! Okay, I'm going to hang this thing up now."
"Hang it up?" Her gaze hovered over the telephone curiously. "Where?"
"Uh…" There was a small pause from his end, mixed with murmuring. "Where is that stupid hook to end the-" And just as suddenly as the conversation began, it was ended. Azula jolted her head away at the strange sound the telephone made when Sokka's voice was abruptly cut. "You have a charming little machine here, Master Piandao."
"Clearly. It may change the world, but it will take some time to get used to. I'm a hawk and parchment man myself." He muttered under his breath, rubbing his ears as he stood up from his seat on the floor. "What did Sokka want?"
Eventually finding the holder for the receiver, Azula made a point to stand as far away from the thing as she could, not looking forward to another conversation being chimed in on it. "Well, other than to try out the machine itself, he said he wanted to show me something."
"Ah. I see." His frown curved into a small, amused smile. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I have an idea on what it is."
"Oh?" Her eyebrow quirked, hands set firmly on either hip. She didn't look forward whatever was in store for her. "Care to enlighten your princess as to her lover's intentions with her?"
"I believe it's better to see for yourself." His smile never wavered as he bowed his head.
Her shoulders sagged, grumbling as her lips curled into a pout. "You're both insufferable."
"Master and pupil, your highness." He chuckled and made his way over to the desk, collecting some brushes and paper. "Go on then. I'll be here to guide you with more meditation techniques later."
"Yes, yes, of course" Azula sighed, waving her hand airily as she marched toward the door.
"Ahem," Piandao cleared his throat, just enough for Azula to hear.
She stopped mid-step, paused, and then stifled a sigh as she straightened her posture, turning back toward Piandao on her heels. Slowly she bowed her head, enough to show a modicum of respect. "My thanks to you, Master Piandao. I… did not mean to call you both insufferable."
The old swordsman chuckled. "I know. If you think that's the worst you can say, you've obviously never heard the curses shouted at me by earth-benders."
She narrowed her eyes when she raised her head. "I am no stranger to colorful insults. I know quite a few myself."
"I'm sure you do. Perhaps I'll here some in the courtyard after Sokka shows you his surprise." He chuckled.
"Oh, what joy," She groaned mournfully.
Through the hallway and down the stairs she went, following the dark telephone cable that hung haphazardly from the ornate ceilings of Piandao's mansion. She frowned. Progress was fine by her, but at the expense of ruining art? She scoffed at the very idea.
When she pushed open the tall double doors to the courtyard, the sun shining overhead greeted her and a gentle breeze washed over her. Summers in Shu Jing proved surprisingly pleasant compared to her usual retreat on Ember Island. Though it lacked the sizzle and buzz of the beach nightlife there was a quiet, rustic charm to the place that struck Azula deeply.
Her gaze fell upon the wide stone courtyard below, shaped in the form of a blooming white lotus. And at its center knelt the tall, blue-eyed idiot she called her lover. She was fortunate his attention was more on his work than on her at the moment. A small smile crossed her lips when she saw him and their argument from before suddenly seemed so silly and petty. Most of their little squabbles were like that.
Of course, when she waltzed down the steps and made her way toward him, her thoughts were more occupied with figuring out what exactly he was working on. When she drew closer Sokka's head perked up. "Hey! Glad you're here."
"Indeed. Apparently I'm here for some kind of surprise." She folded her arms behind her as she glared suspiciously at the odd contraption Sokka was fiddling with. "I assume this thing is what you wanted to show me?"
"Yup." He grinned as he rose to his feet, wiping the sweat from his brow with a bare arm. "This little beauty is the surprise! And you're going to ride it."
She scoffed in disbelief "Excuse me? You want me to ride… that?"
Sokka shook his head confidently, his smile beaming with unbridled pride. "Mhm!"
Eyes narrowing, Azula's lips curled into a deep frown. She was not as enthusiastic as him.
His smile wavered and his confidence was slowly chipped away by her silence. "You'll have fun! Trust me, I'll teach you to ride it. It's like riding an ostrich-horse."
"I doubt it. It looks far less sturdy than an ostrich-horse."
"It's strong! Made of good metal." Sokka protested, caressing the contraption as affectionately as a newborn child. His expression then softened and his gaze settled onto her "I made it myself... have a little faith in my craftsmanship."
Her arms folded tightly across her chest, seemingly unconvinced. If only she could resist that look he gave her, those deep blue eyes looking so hurt by her disapproval. He really wanted her to try it.
"Ugh…" She pinched the bridge of her nose, disgusted with how her heart melted like ice in the sun. He got his way this time, the savage.
With a gaze of steel she fixed her eyes onto the contraption, cautiously circling it as if she were a beast sizing up its prey. "Tell me what it is then."
Sokka immediately perked up, patting it vigorously like a loyal pet. Azula merely rolled her eyes at his gleefulness.
She was no stranger to bizarre and surreal mechanical inventions, but this was different. It was deceptively simple and far less complicated an engineering feat than the ponderous war machines she was accustomed to. All it was to her was set of curved metal bars cobbled together around a pair of wheels, with another crude bar acting as a kind of steerable handle. There was even a simple wooden seat, which didn't look comfortable.
"They call it a push-cycle." Sokka stated.
"Right. And judging from the rust marks, I'd call this a piece of junk." She retorted.
"It's not! Don't judge it until you ride it."
"Oh, I'm judging it. It might fall apart if I attempt to move it. Where did you even get the parts for this, a scrap heap?"
"That's..." He groaned heavily, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well not all of it was made from scrap."
She sighed with remorse, leaning closer toward the thing to scrutinize it more closely. She was not particularly impressed. "Why do you want me to ride this contraption in the first place?"
There was silence at first. Then he shrugged. "I thought it might be fun. Everyone's starting to get one now. Even building their cycles at home. Just something new to do while we stay here for a while. This wasn't the only one I made. Thought we could ride together, you know? I put a lot of work into this."
"Did you? And I thought all those times you came here was for swordsmanship tournaments."
"Well, I did that too." He scratched the back of his head. "I just did this on the side during my down time and used the gold to pay for parts."
Still unconvinced, Azula rubbed her chin, glaring at the push-cycle. "How can something like this be fun to ride?"
"You won't know until you give it a try." He smirked.
He waltzed up behind her, placing his hands on her hips. Slowly his arms encircled her waist, giving her a nice squeeze as he rested his chin on her shoulder. His breath tickled her ear and her breath caught in her throat for a moment before she calmly exhaled.
"Come on Azula," He said. "Think about it - a modern princess with modern hobbies, a cyclist and pioneer for future outdoor entertainment."
"Hmph," She huffed, her hands slipping over his firm forearms as her back rested into the shape of his body. "A snake-oil peddler would say the same."
"You know, Zuko doesn't have one," He added ever so casually, like an afterthought. This made her turn her head, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Its true, Azula. He doesn't like them all too much you know. Imagine his surprise when his sister comes back from her little getaway riding circles around him on something he doesn't know how to use. And is scared to use."
That got her imagination going. She could just picture the embarrassment and humiliation on his face. Her smile grew wider by the second. "Yes. Yes, that would be fun to imagine."
"Of course…" Sokka pouted dramatically, his chin rubbing her shoulder as he turned his gaze away. "You'd need to know how to ride a push-cycle. Wouldn't want to fall over while showing off, would you?"
"No. That would be unacceptable." Her voice was sharp and clear. She absolutely did not want that to happen. "Very well. Teach me."
"Great!" He smiled, letting go of her waist. "Take a seat. I'll keep it steady for you."
"Such a gentleman you are," She smirked, making Sokka scoff. Steadily she mounted the cycle, trying to get a feel for the balance. When it wobbled Sokka was on hand to steady it, keeping a firm grip on the handlebars and the seat.
"Whoa now. Try to use you leg to keep balance while your not moving… good, good. Now put your foot on the pedal there."
"Okay… I suppose I should hold onto this bar here."
"Yeah. That's for steering it around. Now when your riding this thing the whole point is to keep moving while keeping balance. It's tricky, but once you get the hang of things it's a smooth ride."
"So now what, dear instructor?"
"Now comes the fun part. Put your other foot on the second pedal there…" She could feel the cycle stay firmly in place to help her stay balanced. Clearly, he didn't want her to fall. "Okay. Now, to make this thing move, you pedal your feet forward. Try going slowly, I'll hold on."
"Okay then…" Gripping the handle bar tightly, she put pressure on one of the pedals. Slowly but surely she began to move.
"There we go!" Sokka beamed, walking along side her as her kept the contraption from falling over. "Take it slow, get a feel for how to pedal."
"Oh my," Azula's eyes widened, looking down at her feet as she pedaled. Though a bit unsteady she seemed to have gotten the feel for it quickly. They rode in a wide circle around the courtyard, with Sokka steadying the cycle as she rode along. "Its actually moving, how exhilarating."
"See? I knew you'd like it. Just, uh, keep you eyes up ahead and try not to-… Ouch!" He cried out. One of the wheels had rolled over his foot. He gritted his teeth as the pain subsided.
"What? What happened?"
"N-Nothing." He smiled awkwardly. "How's it feel? Think you're getting the hang of things?"
"The seat is uncomfortable, but I believe I am. This is quite fun."
"Good, 'cause I'm gonna let you go."
"Wait, what? N-No don't-"
"Aaaaand here we go!" Throwing his arms in the air, he let the cycle go, watching her roll on ahead. "Just keep pedaling like your doing."
"Sokka! You idiot!" She yelled, rolling slowly away from him as she continued to pedal. The handlebar wobbled as she tried to keep balance. "I wasn't ready yet!"
"You're doing fine! Just pedal a bit faster and try turning. You're gonna hit the wall."
"What?" When she whipped her head back around she saw the courtyard wall coming up fast. Thinking quickly she turned the cycle around at a sharp angle. Amazingly she kept balance and began steering her way back to Sokka. "I… I did it! Did you see that? I turned!"
"Yeah you did! I thought you were going to fall for a moment there."
"Ha! Think again." Her grin stretched from ear to ear as she passed him by.
"All right, lets see you turn again. Go around in a circle."
She did so with apparent ease, though pedaling at a leisurely pace. That was fine by him. He just couldn't get enough of that big smile she had.
Around and around him she went, gears clanking and rubber squeaking against the stone floor. She looked like she could do ride around all day. "You made this sound so hard to learn, Sokka."
"Me?" He chuckled. "I just said it might be tricky to get used to, not hard."
"Well, unlike that telephone thing, I rather enjoy this." She steered away from him, feeling ambitious. Now that she could ride in a circle, she wanted to something more impressive. She started to peddle quickly, wanting to test just how fast the cycle could go.
This didn't please Sokka one bit. As soon as he caught what she was doing, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
"Whoa, hold on Azula, don't try to go faster!" He called out to her.
"And why not?" Her head whipped around, tearing her gaze away from what was in front of her. "I clearly know what I'm doing."
"No, keep your eyes head of you, you're about to-" It was already too late. He flinched when he heard the yelp and the splash. "… About to fall into the koi fish pond."
He sighed mournfully. Maybe he should have warned her sooner. Rubbing the back of his neck, he walked over to the pond she had fallen into. Water spots soaked the stone rim and the cycle itself jutted out haphazardly from the water, a wheel still idly turning. When he came to the edge of the pond he looked down to find Azula flailing face down, attempting to sit up.
Water sputtered out from her mouth and she raked back a length of her soaked black hair behind her shoulder. She did not look happy. "Agni's Breath…" She cursed.
Sokka knelt down beside her with an amused smile twisting his lips. "How the mighty have fallen."
"Shut up" She hissed, pushing away a flapping koi fish from her lap.
"You know if you wanted to swim, all you had to do was ask me. We could have gone to the beach," He laughed.
"You dare to laugh at my misfortune." She crossed her arms, frowning heavily as water dripped from her hair and clothes.
"You do all the time when I screw up something." He reminded her.
"Hmph. I suppose that's fair." Azula pouted. She did laugh at his expense quite a bit. She then held out a soaked hand to him. "Be a good gentleman and help you're girlfriend out of this pond, won't you?"
His head swayed from one side to the other, ruminating with an amused smirk curing his lips. "As great as it would be to make fun of you for falling in… yeah, I'll be a good boyfriend. I'll get a towel and some clothes for you too."
"Thank you, Sokka. I can always count on you…" She nodded appreciatively, even giving him a smile. Once she took hold of his hand however…
His balance was fragile and his guard was completely down. He never saw it coming. Azula yanked his hand as hard as she could and he fell into her arms with a mighty splash. Koi fish swam away frantically in every direction while his arms and legs flailed frantically, kicking up water everywhere. She just held onto him as he lay on top of her, giggling mischievously at his misfortune.
"Count on you to be an idiot that is!" She laughed as she watched him struggle, arms squeezed tightly around his waist. Eventually he ceased his panicked flailing as he settled over her, hoisting his upper body up by his arms. He was just as soaked her.
Sokka peered at her through loose wet hair. Azula just kept on giggling at him. A little revenge was always sweet now and then. She loosened one of her arms and raised a hand up to his face, parting the wet hair from his eyes. "Why the glum the face, peasant? You are of the Water Tribe aren't you?"
"Very funny, Azula" He muttered.
"I'm hilarious. Didn't you know?" She smiled at him, blinking coquettishly to feign a degree of innocence.
"Ha-ha, I'm in stitches…" He combed back the loose wet strands of hair with his hand looking unimpressed at her jokes.
She tilted her head and leaned forward to kiss his cheek, raising her hand to pat him on the head. "I couldn't just let you laugh at my misfortune without you joining me."
"There's some poetic justice in that I guess." Sokka looked away and spat out some water. "You go down, you take me with you."
"Such is your lot in life being bonded to me, my foolish snow savage," Azula giggled as she pinched his cheek. His frown merely deepened, wincing as his face was stretched to her amusement.
He leaned forward to peck her on lips. It didn't stop her from giggling like he hoped, but he didn't seem to mind. And neither did she as her pinching fingers softened to caress his cheek, deepening the kiss. She was happy and that was enough for him.
Their lips parted, Azula cooing contently despite being soaked to the bone. "You can teach me more once we're dry and cleaned, Sokka. I'd rather not prune in a koi-fish pond."
Just as Sokka was about to respond, a tall shadow was cast over both of them. When they looked they saw Piandao glaring at them disapprovingly. "Neither would I, your highness."
"Uh… hey, master!" Sokka chuckled awkwardly.
"Hello, Sokka" the swordsman sighed. "Out of the pond, please. And take the cycle too. You're scaring my koi fish."
"Right, right…" he answered.
As they both ambled out of the water, taking the cycle with them, Piandao looked on. They made their way back to the mansion across the courtyard, leaving a water trail in their wake. Their arms squeezed tightly around each other's waists and the old master could hear them chatting amicably about what they wanted to do for the rest of the day.
Across his many years filled with war and strife, he had never expected to see anything quite like them in peace.
And he smiled.