Sokka was always early for class, especially homeroom. He liked the teacher, and he didn't find any of his classmates particularly annoying. Usually he would be greeting them all with his classic sarcastic remarks, but he wasn't in the mood. Seeing Azula again made the blood boil in his veins.
When they were all kids Zuko would come over all the time. Eventually Ursa started forcing Azula to come along too. She didn't fit in as easily as Zuko did though, her and Katara would always attack each other, she was too violent for Aang, and she always made fun of Sokka. It took a while for them all to warm up to her, to trust her, to find her dark humor funny.
After that she would always seem so excited to come over and hang out. She still made fun of Sokka everyday; it became mutual bickering; they fought over almost everything, but it was fun. They used to talk from their windows at night, their rooms had always been right across from each other, Sokka had thought they were close. Deep down he even hoped she would come back and apologize;tell him that she did actually like them; that she was lying.
He was an idiot to hope for that.
The bell rang, and all the students hurried to sit down in their seats.
"Good morning everyone!" His teacher said, "Who is ready to learn today!"
The class remained silent besides a few groans from the students. Mr. Everrett just smiled in response, ignoring their complaints, he started to write on the board,
"Today we're going to be diving into the fantastic world of-" Mr. Everett started, before he was stopped by the sound of the door opening.
Azula walked in front of the whole class, her back stood straight; bangs framing her perfect face. Sokka, along with the rest of the class, stared at her in confused,
"Oh hello!" The teacher turned to her, scratching the back of his head, "I don't believe I've met you before, are you in the right class?"
Sokka watched her wide eyed as she stared the man up and down, "I just transferred, it's my first day." She stated blunty, handing some papers to him.
She was really in his class, he thought over and over. How could this be happening, she was two years younger than him, had she skipped two grades and no one bothered to give him the memo?
"Oh of course! I saw I was getting a new student in the system- I just didn't realize you started today, or that you would be so- so uh, young," Mr. Everett rambled, growing increasingly nervous as Azula raised her eyebrow to him, "Class we have a new student joining us today! Her name is-"
"Azula Kouen." She said, finishing his sentence for him.
"Yes- Uh thank you for introducing yourself, you can sit," He smiled, quickly scanning over the class, "Right over there!"
Sokka almost choked as the teacher pointed to the seat next to him. His eyes locked with hers for a second, just long enough for him to catch what looked like a sign of nervousness. Nervous? This was Azula he was talking about, she was never nervous; that would be ridiculous, right?
"Thank you." She nodded, walking past Mr. Everett, and taking her seat next to Sokka.
"If you need any help with the materials, I'm sure Sokka would be happy to help you!" The teacher insisted, clearing his throat, "Alright class where were we?"
Mr. Everett continued his lesson, but some of the class kept glancing at Azula curiously as she pulled everything out her bag. Sokka also took the chance to glance over to her, watching her place everything perfectly across her desk. He quickly turned away when she looked up to him,
"I didn't think you'd be smart enough to get in this class," Azula whispered to him, smirking, "I thought you'd be stuck with my brother."
"And I thought you were stuck with daddy," Sokka said glaring at her, "Guess he changed his mind?"
"Don't talk like you know anything loser!," Azula glared, her voice sounding more angry than before; maybe Sokka went a bit too far. Her dad had always been a touchy subject after all,
"You're right I don't know anything about you." He glared back, "Never did never have, right?"
"Right." She nodded, finally turning away from him. They were silent for the rest of the class, but Sokka could feel how tense the air between them was. When the bell rang Sokka was quick to be out of his seat and on his way to his next class.
So she was in one class with him, so what? Sokka wasn't going to let it bother him, he could just ignore her, but his plans were shattered when he realized Azula was in his next class too. She was in his first period, then his second, then his third. Each time they were forced near each other she was sending him rude remarks. He tried to ignore her but by the end of fourth period they were both at eachothers throats.
He was about to lose his mind as he made his way to the lunch room. How did she even manage to get into every one of his classes, he never shared more than one class with any of his friends.
She really was lucky wasn't she.
Sokka slammed his backpack onto the lunch table as he sat down causing his friends to quickly turn to him,
"What."
"What's wrong with you today snoozles?" Toph asked, putting her sandwich down,
"Yeah, I thought you would have calmed down by now." Katara added,
"How am I supposed to "calm down" when she's in all my classes!" He replied, raising his arms into the air,
"She?" Toph questioned,
"My crazy lil sister, she finally started school today," Zuko responded, "I heard she skipped two grades but I didn't think she would have been in all your classes."
"You knew!" Sokka said, sitting up angrily, "Why didn't you say anything!"
"I just found out recently! I didn't think about it too hard," He replied, "I thought she would end up taking classes with me to be honest."
"Okay well she didn't," Sokka argued, "If you told me I could have at least mentally prepared for her!"
"Damn, I haven't seen you this riled up in a while snoozles!" Toph snickered,
"It's not funny," Sokka glared, pulling his lunch out of his backpack,
"Toph leave Sokka alone," Katara said glaring at her friend,
"Fine, sugar queen." Toph said, biting into her sandwich, "Whatever you say."
"I'm sure everything will work out!" Aang assured, patting Katara on the back, "I know Azula isn't exactly our friend anymore, but I'm sure she's going through a lot right now. Let's not stoop to her level!"
"You sound like my mom Aang," Zuko groaned,
"Looks like you've got some competition for the "mom friend" sugar queen," Toph snickered,
"I'm not a mom!" Katara yelled, making everyone, including Sokka, laugh.
Azula stood in front of her locker as the students around her ran to lunch. She was neatly organizing her books into her locker, trying not to think about him.
Why of all people did she have to be stuck with Sokka. She could handle any of her old friends, she could handle Zuko, but not Sokka. She knew she probably hurt him the most, and it made her feel something she knew her father would shun her for, regret.
She shouldn't regret it, she shouldn't feel bad for telling them all she hated them; saying they disgusted her; they were worthless. She shouldn't regret telling Sokka she had just used him to kill time, so why did she.
Azula shook her head, trying to shake away her thoughts. If Ozai knew what she had been thinking, he might never come back. She had done everything to stay by his side, Ozai had been proud of her, he is proud of her. She can't be going around discarding his advice now that he's gone. He would come back for her, right? He needed her.
Azula gritted her teeth, her only focus should be on finding out what was going on, where her dad is; why hasn't her grandfather come for her yet; why hasn't anyone else? She couldn't get distracted with stupid emotions, and old friends, it wasn't important.
"There you are!" Ty Lee smiled as she tackle hugged Azula, "We've been looking for you everywhere!"
"It's been annoying." Mai stated, looking down at her phone, "How was class?"
"Uneventful, surprisingly I share the same classes Sokka does." Azula said as calmly as possible.
"Oh- I'm sorry." Ty lee frowned, letting go of her friend.
"For what?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrow,
"Well- ya know, you liked him and stuff- but things didn't end well, clearly." Ty lee rambled, receiving a look from Mai.
"Do not go there Ty Lee," Azula glared, "I don't like him."
"Sorry sorry! I'm dropping it," Ty Lee assured, tapping her fingers together, "Come on we're missing lunch! I'm hungry!"
The small girl grabbed both of her friend's arms and guided them to the lunch room. She greeted everyone happily as they passed them, Azula thought she might pick one of the crowded tables, but instead Ty Lee found an empty one just for the three of them.
"There!" She smiled, "Far from everyone!"
"Still not quiet enough," Mai signed, "Everyone at this school is so loud."
"They're not that bad!" Ty Lee insisted, taking her food from her backpack. Ty Lee started to ramble as she ate, she told Azula about all the cute boys she talked to; how cheerleading had been going; all the parties she had been going to. Nothing Azula hadn't heard before,
"Now that you don't live with your dad, that means you can leave the house right?" Ty Lee asked, taking a bite into her salad, "Or even have people over?"
"What do you mean?" Azula questioned,
"Well, you're dad would never let you hang out with us-" Ty Lee started,
"I had things I needed to do is all," Azula interrupted,
"Right, of course!" Ty Lee sighed, playing with her food before taking another bite, "but now that you're not busy, we need to have a sleepover!"
"I'm good thanks," Mai said, not looking up from her phone,
"Yeah, why would I wanna do that," Azula bluntly said,
"Oh come on! We can help you unpack-"
"Absolutely not," Azula interrupted,
"Okay no to that, but we could talk, and tell ghost stories just like we used too!" Ty Lee smiled, "Plus who else am I gonna talk boys with but you guys?"
"Don't you already do that?" Mai sighed,
"I didn't tell you about Chan!" Ty Lee said, causing Azula to raise her eyebrow to her, "See! I can have secrets too!"
"Chan? Like Chan whose dad works with my father Chan?" Azula asked, "He goes here?"
"Uh I think it's the same one, he's on the football team," Ty Lee replied, but before Azula could respond the bell rang, "I guess we can talk about it when we have a sleepover!"
"What? We're not-!" Azula started, but Ty Lee had already got up and ran away before she could respond.
"She's impossible," Mai rolled her eyes. Azula just groaned in response and got up, beginning to walk to her next class. Not that it mattered if she showed up, considering she could barely pay attention. She was busy thinking of what to do next, in fact she spent the rest of the day coming up with a plan.
Chan's father had "worked" with Ozai in the past, they had been close before he betrayed her father in pursuit of looking good in front of her grandfather Azulon. Maybe Chan's father knows something, she might be able to get information out of him.
By the time school was out Azula was on the way to the football field, she knew they had to practice everyday after school so it was her best bet to find him. If she was lucky he would be alone, and threatening him would be easy.
She was sneaking along a wall, looking at the passing students when Zuko suddenly approached her,
"Finally! There you are," He signed, making her jump, "What the hell are you doing out here?!"
"What the hell are you doing following me?," She glared,
"I wasn't following you!," He defended, "Come on let's go home."
"Mai and Ty Lee are giving me a ride," She stated, turning away from him, "So you and your lameass friends can be happy without me."
"Mom wants me to drive you home, at least for today." He said, making her sigh in response, "Don't worry, everyone in the "loser" club has after school activities too, so it's just us."
"You say that like that's any better." She groaned,
"Can't you just let me be a nice brother for once," he scoffed, "Must we fight."
"We must," She said, walking past him toward the parking lot, "Well, come on Zuzu! I don't have all day."
"Hey! I'm not your slave!" He said, walking after her,
"Then what's the point of your existence exactly?" Azula taunted, smirking at him,
"Don't make me leave you here." He groaned, glaring down at her,
"What would Ursa say then, huh?" She said approaching his car,
"Why can't you call her mom?" He replied, pulling out his keys and unlocking the doors, "She really missed you."
"Don't lie Zuzu, it doesn't suit you," She said, climbing into the car. He just shook his head and sighed as he started to drive them home.
They didn't share a word for the whole car ride, but Azula couldn't stop repeating those words in her head,
She missed me?
That couldn't be true, she didn't even want me. Right?