A/N: The prompt for this week was either "As if that would happen" or Zutara's kids are waterbenders and Sokkla's kids are Firebenders. I chose the second, because I had planned on making this my next full length story! This is chapter one of that story. I will be posting it as it's own story in a little bit. I've been working on it sparingly as I've focused on War and Laughter and the other Sokkla Saturday stuff. Never fear I will be continuing this story after this though:) Anyways thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!
Hakoda limped slightly as he climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the tower. His wounds from the war didn't usually bother him unless he exerted himself more than usual. New buildings had sprouted and grown all across his former village, which was now bustling and booming into a true city.
Messenger hawks didn't fare well in the Poles. They did, however, serve an important purpose in linking the new and growing capital city of the Southern Water Tribe with the rest of the world. Because of this, Chief Hakoda had crafted a special room that was well insulated and kept warm all day by round the clock burning of leftover whale blubber and other fuels. In this room, the Southern Water Tribe stored their own hawks that they had purchased from the Fire Nation as well as those of visiting hawks who had just delivered their messages before resting and returning to their place of origin.
The Chief of the Southern Water Tribe opened the wooden door and stepped into the aviary. There were perhaps a dozen birds currently resting lazily in their cages including his son's own creature. Sokka had built a special cage, slightly larger and equipped with more amenities than the other birds had. He wasn't sure if birds got jealous, but if they did, the rest of the denizens were quite cross at the winged companion his son had affectionately named Hawky.
Shaking his head at the uniquely named hawk as it preened in its cage of comfort, Hakoda reached for the scroll that had been deposited by one of the newest arrivals. Opening the container and then fiddling with the seal on the scroll, the Chief peered at the contents before muttering to no one except the birds.
"Spirits, this is going to be a nightmare isn't it?" Hakoda asked Hawky, a grimace covering the grizzled man's face.
The raptor just stared back, head cocked, directly into his soul.
The ten year old boy inhaled deeply. His eyes were closed and his arms hung limply by his sides. His breathing was precise and calm. Up and down his chest rose again and again. The bright summer sun hung directly overhead, bathing the South Pole in its light. Despite the cold, the constant presence of the sun only increased his power.
His eyes opened suddenly and the child sprang forward sending twin blasts of fire forward. The boy leapt backwards into a handstand and when his feet were pointing directly towards the sun, he shot off a pair of flames from his foundation. When he completed the handstand and returned to his feet, he brought both his arms down in a wide arc that could be better described as a conflagration. The wave of flame had specks of blue intermingled with orange throughout.
A raucous round of applause came from behind the boy, who turned to observe both his parents watching. His father beamed at him, as he continued hooting and hollering praise directed at him.
"I did it! Did you see? there was blue in it this time. My flames are getting way hotter!" The boy ran to his father who embraced him.
"It was amazing. You're doing phenomenal, Kyan. I've never seen anything like it." Sokka said proudly.
Next to them, his wife Azula rolled her eyes. "I don't see the big deal. I was a full year younger than Kyan when I first manifested a partial blue flame." She said flatly.
The young firebender deflated visibly and Sokka glared dangerously at her.
Cursing inwardly, Azula tried to extricate herself from the situation. "I only reached that of course, because I had nothing else to do and I practiced under much harsher and unforgiving conditions than you, my son. You're improving faster than I thought possible." Azula approached them and reached a comforting hand out to her youngest child.
Kyan's face brightened instantly at the praise from his mother and the boy rushed to hug her as well. Azula softly patted the boy's back as behind him Sokka mouthed a silent "thank you" to his wife. "You really think I'm improving mom?" Kyan asked keenly.
"Of course, I would tell you if you were failing or having less than satisfactory progress."
Behind them, Sokka groaned slightly but Azula's words were enough to satisfy her youngest. Of their two children, Kyan was the more diligent and dedicated bender. Zalia was a talented bender of course, how could she not be with the talented bloodlines running in her veins. However she had yet to show the drive and desire to really improve and become truly great, like Kyan endeavoured too.
Her husband of course encouraged her to explore and experiment with other things. So, while often Azula and Kyan would spend hours in the makeshift training grounds away from the waterbenders and soldiers of the Southern Water Tribe, Zalia and Sokka might be found toiling away in the workshop that he had built for his various trinkets and inventions that the pair were constantly improvising and improving on.
It wasn't that Azula consciously favored her son over her daughter or loved her eldest less. Their relationship was just strained sometimes, nothing like her own relationship with Ursa of course. She was absolutely her father's daughter, and because of this she had inherited his ability to both infuriate and exasperate her.
"Come on, let's get out of here. You've been practicing for hours already today and I already know that we're about to miss all the good cuts of meat." Sokka pleaded with her.
At that, their son's eyes lit up. While he favored his mother in most things including looks and temperament, the boy undeniably took after his father in matters of food and appetite. Kyan sprinted ahead in the direction of the massive communal dining hall that had been fashioned by Katara, (before she left) and a number of the master waterbenders who had settled in the South Pole after the war.
Azula noticed the significant look that was sent her way, but really did not want to deal with it right now. When Sokka refused to budge, she grudgingly spoke.
"What? I'm not going to baby them, or pretend that they are doing better than they are. Both of them are old enough now." Azula returned his glare, imperiously.
Sokka held up his arms in a sign of non combativeness. "I'm not saying we need to baby them. They are tough kids, raised by a pretty tough mother. But, you know how much he looks up to you. It won't hurt if sometimes you show him some unconditional support." He finished.
"That was unconditional support!" Azula protested. "If I had been offered words of encouragement like that by any of my teachers, I would have been over the moon."
Sokka winced and Azula grabbed his hand. "Sorry, poor choice of phrase." She mumbled.
The water tribesman raised an eyebrow. An apology so easily from Azula was rare and signified that she truly did mean it. Sokka brushed a strand of hair back that had escaped and stuck to Azula's forehead. The Princess never did stop complaining about how the polar weather ruined her favorite hairstyles, even if she had been living at the pole intermittently for near enough a decade.
The family still maintained a large apartment in downtown Republic City where Azula and Sokka had originally kindled the romance between them. As they served as council members of the fledgling capital. At times Azula missed the bustle of the rapidly growing and sprawling megalopolis. Life in the Southern Water Tribe was simpler, and even though the nation was prospering under the stewardship of Hakoda, sometimes the firebender felt out of place and frankly bored. She knew that Sokka felt the same, but when summoned by his father to start assuming some of the duties required of the next chief of his people, he had been unable to refuse.
Azula who had long since given up her once all encompassing desire to sit atop the Fire Throne, had packed up their home and the two year old Zalia and embarked for the far end of the earth. In transit they had discovered that Azula was pregnant again with Kyan, named in honor of Sokka's mother. Azula hadn't begrudged him the decision after she had chosen such a traditional Fire Nation name for their daughter.
Hakoda had originally disapproved of their relationship, as had every member of his family except Gran-Gran. Yet, the High Chief began to soften when he observed Sokka and Azula after they came to the pole to live full-time. It was hard to deny that they were anything but very much in love, even if Azula was still so aloof and caustic on occasion. The Princess's competence was unassailable and she had benefited the tribe greatly by garnering favorable trade deals and outcomes with all of the Southern Water Tribe's main partners. To say nothing of the sizable monetary investment that she had been able to needle out of Zuko.
It was shockingly easy for her to demand a significant lump sum payment for the Fire Nation treasury. After all, dearest Zuzu had come to the tribe so long ago and attacked the poor townsfolk, completely unprovoked. Coupled with her substantial dowry, Azula had been able to spur investment and growth in her new home. So it was that their family grew up in a decent enough facsimile of a palace. Or at least Sokka and the children had taken to calling it that. To her it seemed like nothing more than a slightly larger igloo than the rest of the town had. Especially when compared to that of the Northern Water Tribe's Palace, which she had visited once with Sokka early on in their relationship.
That experience wasn't an enjoyable one. The people of the Northern Water Tribe had a healthy amount of respect for Sokka and a more than healthy amount of distrust for the Fire Nation. They had traveled there in order to prevail on Chief Arnook the importance of establishing a strong working relationship with the United Republic of Nations. Other than the Earth Kingdom, the Northern Water Tribe was the closest state to the fledgling Republic. Trade was to be the lifeblood of the new nation and without Chief Arnook's willingness to engage, the so far unprecedented growth might have been set back greatly.
Most of the Northern Water Tribe treated Azula with barely contained disgust, and their once high estimation of Sokka seemed to wane, when they became aware that he was dating another Princess. This time, a disgraced former enemy. A few particularly bold and arrogant warriors had voiced such publicly statements at a feast in their honor one night. Chief Arnook, spirits bless his soul, did what he could to quell the dispute but not before Sokka had risen fiercely to her defense. Standing in front of a whole host of his Northern kinsmen, Sokka had loudly denounced them and their bigoted ways, before taking her hand and leading them out of the hall.
That was the night he had shown her the spiritual oasis at the top of the world and what lay inside. He had confessed why she would sometimes find him on their balcony staring wistfully at the moon and stars. At the far corner of the world they had cemented their relationship. Or at least Sokka had cemented his feelings for her. Azula had already determined long before that day, before she had ever taken the warrior in her arms, that he would be the one for her. Yes, he made the worst jokes and named all his inventions absurd things that she would have to surreptitiously change the name on the patent before submitting, but he was the only one capable of making her feel safe, of making her happy and calm. That wasn't something she was ever going to give up, and she had decided that long before he had fully let her into his heart.
Azula realized they had been walking in silence for sometime, drifting off as she did sometimes in her own thoughts. She was no longer on exorbitant amounts of medication, the therapy had worked far more wonders for her than being stuffed full of every type of pill imaginable. Sokka's presence helped her greatly as well, but at the end of the day, she had reclaimed her own mind, overcoming all of the trauma and pain inflicted on her by her parents. She was shook from her reverie by her husband's hand on her shoulder, a knowing smile on his face.
"Come on Princess, if we don't hurry you'll only be left with sea prune stew." Sokka said whilst laughing.
She had gotten used to many of the delicacies offered in the South Pole, but she still hated one of the water tribe's signature dishes. Not the taste, the sea prunes weren't the worst thing she had ever eaten in that department… It was the consistency. Something that slimy shouldn't be forced on anyone.
Reaching the dining hall, Azula inwardly cursed again. Most of the larger meats and dishes had been picked at and devoured already. Sitting in two large cauldrons, over a low fire, being kept alight by her daughter, the sea prune stew taunted Azula. Zalia waved at her parents when she saw them enter, before going back to animatedly talk to her friends who were observing her casual firebending with a mixture of awe and fear.
Though the war had been over for years, there were still many in the tribe who had family members taken or lost in the fighting. Some wounds wouldn't heal so quickly. Zalia and Kyan, thankfully were well adjusted and sociable children, which brought them many friends throughout the tribe. Something they luckily inherited from their father and not her. They had a healthy sibling rivalry, nothing like Azula's own relationship with her idiot brother growing up. Sokka said it reminded him of his own upbringing with Katara. If she could avoid her children ending up like the blasted waterbender, that would be its own blessing.
Kyan was carrying two plates filled to the brim with seal jerky and crab legs piled high on a stack of rice. He handed the plate in his right hand to his mother with a grin. "Dad told me to run ahead and get you anything but sea prune's."
"Thank you Kyan. Go, run along and eat with your friends." Azula smiled at her son who had been so happy to please her.
She found a spot at an empty table and sat down contentedly, her oaf of a partner was maneuvering through a mass of people while trying to balance three entire bowls of sea prune stew. With a rare grace that wouldn't be expected of someone so foolish, he successfully navigated to the bench and sat down beside her with a loud sigh.
"Can you believe it, some little urchin of a firebender took the last of the seal jerky!" Sokka fake moaned as he ladled a healthy portion of stew into his mouth with a wooden spoon.
Waiting for him to finish gulping down his first bite, she knocked the spoon from his hand as he went for a second helping. The spoon fell back into the bowl with a small splash.
"Hey!" Sokka protested vehemently.
A sad look crossed his face at being denied the satisfaction of another bite. Rolling her eyes at his juvenile antics, Azula inched closer and cupped the side of his face, capturing his lips in a reasonably chaste kiss. She even handled the taste of the sea prune stew on his tongue, and her sister-in-law had the audacity to claim she was incapable of love?
"I've decided due to your thoughtfulness to allow you to share some of my jerky." Azula said.
Sokka's mouth turned upwards as he eyed the pile of seal meat on her plate with longing. "Some! I said, savage. Leave a little for me." She snarled at him.
With a pitiful groan, Sokka took a small helping of the cured meat and ravenously devoured it.
"Glutton." Azula said disgustedly.
He simply shrugged before beaming at her. "Hey, you're the one who chose to marry me."
"A choice I regret more and more each day." She said with a mock shudder.
They turned back to their food, eating in a comfortable silence. A few members of the tribe came over asking for advice from the pair during their lunch. Azula did her level best to not be annoyed with the interruptions. While Sokka simply wouldn't stop prattling about the best ways to help the interlopers with their problems. She was mercifully saved from any more annoyances by the arrival of the High Chief.
The tribe members greeted their leader before scurrying off. Hakoda looked more serious than normal and Sokka's demeanor stiffened. "What is it Dad?" He said quietly.
"I'll be making an announcement at dinner tonight, but I thought you two should know earlier than everyone else, we're going to have company for the feast of the Summer Solstice." Hakoda said.
Azula pondered this for a moment before sighing. "I take it that means…" She trailed off, her fingernails digging into the wooden lacquer of the table.
Hakoda nodded with an inscrutable expression on his face. "Your siblings and their children will arrive in two weeks."
Sokka glanced between them both, a worried look manifesting itself. "Well, it uhh can't go any worse than last time right?"
"Are you sure you want to come? If I were you, I wouldn't want to see my idiot brother either."
The Fire Lady sat in an impressive ornate chair. In front of her a pair of Kyoshi Warriors stood stiff and unmoving. "It's been over a decade. I'd like to think I've moved on and can handle seeing them." The elder of the two warriors said glumly.
"You're the lucky one, Suki. Clearly his mental faculties aren't all there if he would rather be with her instead of you." The younger warrior glanced at the Fire Lady in dismay, realizing what she had said. "I meant no disrespect, I'm sorry, your Ladyship." The young woman looked down at her feet, bashfully while bowing as low as the traditional armor of the Kyoshi would allow.
"It's fine Koko. Sokka was… is a fool for running off with her when he could have been with Suki here. I always thought he had ingested a shade too much cactus juice on our adventures, and his life decisions have done more than enough to prove that fact correct." Katara grinned at the newest addition to the Kyoshi Warriors.
Color returned to Koko's face and the girl exhaled softly. Katara chuckled softly at the reaction. "Don't worry, if I was upset with every person who called my brother an idiot, I'd find myself fighting my way across the four nations." The Fire Lady said laughingly.
Both Kyoshi Warriors dutifully laughed, before they spun around as the door to the chambers was thrown open with a loud bang. Suki's hand went to her blade, drawing it with a flourish while Koko drew her fans and dropped into a defensive posture.
The Fire Lord offered an awkward apology as he strolled into the room. His wife scowled at him as he entered. "How many times has Suki requested that you knock before you just barge into places. You're lucky you didn't end up with a fan through the gut." Katara tutted at him.
The warriors bowed again at both royals as Zuko took a seat next to his wife. The disciples of Kyoshi exited the room quickly and quietly, much the opposite of the Fire Lord's entrance. Zuko rubbed his temples as he hunched over the side of the oversized chair that Katara reclined in. "A long day?" She said soothingly, an arm reaching out to gently rub the back of his neck.
Zuko let out a strangled murmur. "You know, how it's been. The advisers won't stop pestering me. This succession issue is only gaining steam. The Fire Sages are split but the majority have sided against us. If the Head Sage throws his support with them, well our days could be numbered." Zuko sighed.
He lifted his head from his hands and stared into the cerulean blue of his lover's eyes. "The whispers are getting louder. I'd like to think that she won't hear them all the way at the South Pole, and that even if she did, that they would be ignored, but it's hard to give her the benefit of the doubt isn't it?"
Lines of worry crossed the stressed face of the monarch. Katara reached out a hand, gently caressing just below his scar. "We have to believe in them, as much as it might pain us. The thought keeps me up at night sometimes too. It's only natural. It's hard to forget the things that happened during the war. What she did to Aang… but my oaf of a brother, is right unfortunately."
Zuko raised an eyebrow at Katara's declaration.
"Well, we all forgave you, and if I recall, Azula never would have been able to attack Aang if not for a certain someone helping her." Zuko hung his head in shame, but Katara had a sly grin on her face. "It was a long time ago dear, and you more than made up for it. During the war and after." As she said the last word, Katara reached into the front of his robe and the cold flesh of her hand contacted his warm chest.
Zuko shuddered at the touch before glaring at her. "You're trying to distract me!"
"Well it beats having to talk about our upcoming trip. Doesn't it?" Katara muttered.
The Fire Lord grimaced and nodded slightly in acknowledgment that it was in fact much better than having to discuss their plans. "The kids will be older now and more mature. It shouldn't be anywhere near as bad as when they came here." He said.
This time it was Katara's turn to frown. "You remember how it was, their infernal children, showing off their firebending nonstop in front of Iroh and Nizu and all their friends. They were constantly taunting and harassing them, especially their oldest. Somehow they inherited the worst traits of both of them." The Fire Lady scowled as she remembered their families last visit to the Fire Nation.
"Be reasonable Katara." Zuko pleaded. "Don't you think that was probably because when we visited the South Pole the year earlier, Sokka complained to us about our children doing the very same thing? I'm sure it can't be easy for them being the only firebenders in an entire civilization. Besides their teacher is Azula… that alone should be enough for you to feel some sympathy for your niece and nephew." He finished with a small smile.
At that at least, Katara laughed aloud. She grew somber again after a moment's time. "It doesn't make sense. Why was I able to forgive you so easily, and yet I still carry such a spark of distrust for your sister."
He stared at her in disbelief for a second before laughing. "Forgive me so easily? Need I remind you that you threatened to casually murder me if I stepped out of line!" Zuko whined a trace of amusement present in his voice.
A wide toothy grin spread across Katara's face. "And I stand by that threat mister. One toe out of line, and it'll be the end of you. At last the Water Tribe's coup d'etat will be complete. We will have had our revenge." Katara feigned a mock evil laugh.
Her husband groaned loudly at the bad joke. "Please I try to draw the line at two insane members of my family. Let's try and not make it a third. Even if it was a bad joke."
Katara grumbled softly that her joke wasn't that bad. Zuko continued unabated; "Look I get it, I still have some of the same fears when it comes to her. Every year it gets a little better, she's been down at the South Pole or helping turn Republic City into a thriving metropolis. Everything she does turns to gold. She's helped make your childhood home an entirely brand new place in less than a generation. It's absurd. She's good at everything she does. She was insane fifteen years ago for Agni's sake and now she's established two flourishing places.
But, I still can't shake the thought that one day she will throw everything away. Leave your brother, leave their children, and come for me in the dark of the night. I know it's wrong that I don't trust her. Azula isn't the type of person to wait fifteen years to enact her revenge. If she wanted the throne she would have challenged me for it a long time ago. The whispers, though. They scare me…" As Zuko finished speaking, Katara gently placed her hands in his.
"I know, between Ozai's old loyalists, and the new faction who think our children aren't fit to sit the Fire Throne just because they are waterbenders, well everything's tenuous now. But, we get to take a nice family vacation. Visit my dad and Malina, see the Southern Lights, maybe even go penguin sledding with the kids!" Katara's face lit up in remembrance of the memories she had at the South Pole.
"Yeah, as long as our kids and theirs don't get into a fight and blow anything up this time…" Zuko muttered under his breath.
"What was that honey?" Katara's eyes flashed dangerously.
"Nothing, love! Nothing, at all." He smiled at her softly, but the smile never reached his eyes.
A/N: If you want to chat about anything ATLA related or Sokkla in general feel free to message me on tumblr at Deaddirector :D