Ch5
"Sokka!" Suki's voice echoed from the vines and vegetation ahead.
"Suki?!" Sokka frantically looked ahead. Sudden warning yells shot his concern levels through the roof. Was she okay? What happened? "Suki?!"
The water tribesman clawed at the vines that separated him from Suki. "Suki! Hang in there," he called out.
His eyes widened with fear as he could hear the rush of blasts of fire. He could see the glow from behind the wall of vegetation. He could hear the hastened running coming directly at him. The rhythm of crunching leaves and twigs beneath running feet drew nearer and nearer.
"Suki?"
The approaching runner crashed into Sokka knocking him off his stance. The two became entangled as they fell to the earth, bouncing roughly off the compacted dirt. He groaned, seeing flashes of red through his whitened gaze. He too was winded from the impact. He could feel and hear the petite woman's shallow rapid breathing.
"Geez you really know how to surprise a guy," he laughed, struggling. "Did something spook you? I told you, this forest plays tricks on...you." His words trailed off as his hands felt the girl's waist. Whoever had crashed into him was definitely not Suki. This girl was missing a substantial amount of armor plating on her shoulders and waist.
Sokka tilted his chin down to get a look at her. He was greeted by a tightly done up Fire Nation top knot which stood up from the crown of the girl's head, directly in front of his face. Her tunic and skirt and breeches were varying shades of burgundy, crimson, and blush, typical Fire Nation colors. He had seen this get up before, it was eerily familiar.
"Gah!" Sokka struggled to breath. A pair of arms were wrapped around his waist so tightly, he felt his guts would be forcibly squeezed out his mouth. He had never been hugged so tightly before!
He looked down, seeing only a crown of raven hair in his face. The girl who had collided with him, was burying her face deep into his chest. She was afraid. It was unlike any case of fear Sokka had seen. Beyond the obvious unease and quakiness, he could sense something much deeply rooted; a sense of torment and of isolation.
His mind began to make sense of what was going on. "A-Azula?" Sokka struggled. He writhed at the sharp pinching pain which dug at his sides, her nails were as sharp as ever. "Ow! Owowowowow!" He squirmed, trying to wiggle free.
Rustling could be heard as someone approached them. Azula blindly and reflexively shot a burst of fire at the direction of the noise. From the other side of the vegetation, Suki ducked just in time as the blast of blue flame rocketed overheard, barely clearing her bronze headpiece.
"You," Azula said under her labored and exhausted breath. "Y-You're all in this together! Haven't you all tormented me enough?! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"Azula," Sokka managed, "Who are you shouting at?!"
The princess quickly spun her head about to look down on the young man, she was still laying on him. She recognized him after a brief stare down. "What are you doing here? Water tribe peasant!"
"Glad to see you too," he struggled sarcastically despite the clawing pain at his side, "..nice to see you haven't changed much either. Whoopity doo…" He looked at her directly. In a closer, more intimate, observation she was actually pretty easy on the eyes. She didn't look like the soulless killer he remembered from the day of black sun, something was different, though her piercingly fierce glare remained. "Could you please let go of me now?"
Azula looked down and immediately withdrew her hand, as if she was grasping something vile, disgusted.
"Sokka, are you okay?" Suki pulled through the thick vegetation, seeing the two laying on the ground. "What's going on here?" She shot both of them a look of concern harboring slight disappointment.
Sokka struggled. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"
Azula's gaze bore through the water tribe warrior. "Excuse me? 'It?' Remember who you're talking to, you insolent little peasan- Ah!" Azula gasped as she cradled her sides. Her injuries were catching up to her. The princess keeled over, rolling off of Sokka and onto the ground. Her eyes clamped shut in pain as she curled up beside him, groaning.
"What happened?" Suki inquired, her training began to kick in.
"I don't know, she just ran into me, started hugging me, and now she's like that," Sokka answered. "That girl has some pretty serious clingy issues."
Suki gave him a disappointed blank stare. "I was referring to Azula…"
Sokka caught himself. "Oh..right," he realized. He caught sight of a particularly rage fueled glare from Azula who still writhed in pain, before the princess's eyes clamped shut again from another round of pain emanating through her body.
As much as the Kyoshi Warrior did not particularly like Azula, she knew she had to give aid. She knelt beside the fallen princess. "Azula, I'm sorry but I'm going to need to see the affected area," she informed as she placed a gloved hand on Azula's to move it out of the way. Her arm was swatted back.
"Don't touch me," she hissed. "Don't lay a hand on me, filth! I will not be treated by the likes of you!" She squirmed.
Suki became frustrated. "That's it! I've had enough of your antics!" Swiftly, she pulled a small length of rope from her belt and forcibly tied the princess's hands together. "You don't have a choice!" Azula groaned in pain as she did this, but she had to bear with it. Working quickly, under the threat of Azula potentially burning her, Suki carefully took hold of Azula's tunic. She could tell there had been a lot of bleeding there previously. Just before she could lift the blousing-
"Wait," Azula called out frantically. Suki paused.
"What's wrong now?"
The princess of the Fire Nation shot a look at Sokka who was still propped up from the ground. "What? Me?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"Get out of here," she demanded.
"What's the issue," Sokka wanted to know. "It's not like I'm gonna try and strike you when you're vulnerable," he coughed.
She exhaled fiercely. "No, that's not it. As princess, I refuse to expose myself before a mere peasant filth such as yourself," she stated in a scolding tone. Her golden eyes looked off to the distant side as she said that.
"Wow, dignity is through the roof with this one," Sokka snarky remarked. "You really are related to Zuko," he chuckled. Suki was holding back her laughter as well, placing a gloved hand over her mouth and snickering. "Royalty really is something else," he prodded.
Azula grumbled while being held down by Suki. She felt humiliated, practically feeling the heat rise within her from her core. Her cheeks and face became particularly hot. "Fine! You want to take advantage of this don't you? Then get it over with," she fumed, shutting her eyes and turning her face toward the ground.
"No no, I'll respect your wishes," Sokka sarcastically replied as if he was a loyal subject, beginning to stumble off beyond a nearby tree.
Suki lifted Azula's tunic at her waist. The stab wound had been cauterized which helped manage and even stop the bleeding from the crash, but the treatment was hasty and not thorough. Infection had begun to set in. The affected area was swollen and showing hues of colors which were unnatural for a human body. "This isn't good," Suki reported, "I need to help you out and clean this up."
Azula shot Suki a stern look as well now. "What do you mean it isn't good? You mean it wasn't handled perfectly? Is that what you mean? You're trying to insult me," she scoffed. Sokka peaked around the tree trunk with one eye and Suki noticed.
"Is she okay?" She mouthed this to him silently.
Sokka rotated his finger, pointed at his temple, in a circular motion while shrugging his shoulders. She remembered him telling that Azula was a "little loopy" when she finally was defeated. But Suki remembered Zuko reporting that her mental condition was improving since Sozin's Comet.
Suki removed a glove from her hand and placed her palm on Azula's forehead.
"I don't recall allowing you to do that," Azula snapped.
"You're burning up," she observed, retracting her hand. Sweat could be seen rolling down the princess's forehead. "Sokka, I'll need your help."
"Why are you actively doing this? Leave! If you know what's good for you," Azula hissed. "Don't pretend you actually care. I know you'd rather have me locked up again- sent back to little Zuzu-" She winced. "You don't actually care what happens to me! Nobody does! How's this? I'll just disappear, you go one way, and I the other-"
"Prison or asylum, return to Zuko, and anything else you say you know to be true aside, first we have to take care of you," Sokka said kneeling down beside the fallen daughter of fire.
"It's Sokka isn't it?" Azula looked the couple up and down. "And you, my favorite doll-like prisoner, Suki," she mocked. "Why should I trust any of you? After all I've done? You'd rather dispose of me, wouldn't you? Well that won't happen!" A blast of flame ignited as Azula managed to break her bindings at her wrists. Suki defensively took a step back and placed a ready hand on the remaining fan in her belt, preparing herself for a fight to subdue the princess. But as Azula swung her hand to blast fire, she was stopped. Sokka grabbed a hold of her hand and pinned it to the ground. What little fire she managed to conjure dissipated harmlessly into the air.
"Maybe a year or so ago, I would have," Sokka calmly said. "But my time with Aang- and even Zuko and you're uncle taught me to look beyond simple revenge." He looked herein the eye, staring into the depths of her golden orbs. "You're hurt and you need help. And I'm not just going to cast you aside when you're vulnerable and need support."
Suki was touched by Sokka's spiel, even if it was directed at an enemy. She smiled warmly behind them.
His words managed to resound with Azula as well. "Enough with your incessant chatter," she said in an unsteady and retreating tone. "Since, undoubtedly, you won't listen at all. Whatever you're going to do, since you've already made up your mind, get it over with already," Azula grumbled.
Azula flinched reflexively as he lay a hand on her bare waist area. Her skin was pale,soft to the touch, and warming. Sokka made sure to be as gentle as possible, as he did whenever he had to tend to the wounded. Katara would have been better suited to this, he would have to tend to this in the primitive, non-bender's, manner. "This is going to sting for a bit," he cautioned as Suki handed him a small bottle of antiseptic. The princess looked away and inhaled sharply. It stung her sharply as the cleanser carried out its task, she bit her cheek as a coping method for the pain while her hand tore at the grass beneath her. While applying the antiseptic, Sokka simultaneously cut away at the visibly infected areas carefully with his knife. Finally, after what seemed to go on for an eternal few minutes, he had finished tending to Azula's injuries.
Sokka having finished the painful torment of tending to and cleaning up her injured sides, Azula gasped for air. For the duration of the use of antiseptics and knives, her breath was shallow and struggling as she flinched from the sharp burning sensation.
"There we go," Sokka exclaimed. "That wasn't so bad. I've aided worse!"
Azula snarkily pondered over his remark, "I don't want to imagine how much worse you've seen." She really didn't.
"Yeah! On myself too," Sokka gushed. "I found out the hard way it's best not to run with spears!"
"Fascinating."
Sokka looked up to Suki, who also shared the same unimpressed and borderline disappointed expression. "Everyone's a critic," he mumbled as he left Azula's side.
"I'll need to bandage this," Suki remarked, "Sokka, could you-"
"Yeah yeah," he waved nonchalantly as he walked off, "I know, girl's privacy. I'll be over there if you need me."
Azula smiled, laughing internally at Sokka's attempt at interaction getting shot down. It was entertaining to watch him sulk.