Sokkla Saturday Week 6: I was your wife in a previous life
Europa
Somewhere in the Clovis Bray Facility
"Remind me again why exactly are we running around in this icy hellhole?" Azula-4 asked her partner, who was at the moment flipping through some Eliksni papers trying to decipher them.
"Erm, because some exo stranger with a weird looking floaty fish called us here? Also Eris Morn and Uncle Drifter are here, and you know he's got some sweet loot for us. I swear, those two need to get a room."
"Right, and it's not because you like deep fried thralls."
"They are crispy like he said, but since you're an Exo you wouldn't know much."
"Doesn't mean I don't get disgusted by your relentless appetite. Remind me to thank Suki for forcing you to work out, else you would have been booted out of the Vanguard, hunter or not."
"At least I have better things in life to do than spend all my time in the Crucible."
"Someone needs to be the responsible one, unfortunately."
"Ah yes, do remind me, how jumping into that portal on Io to craft that sniper rifle Xol made was a responsible move? IT'S GOT THE SOUL OF A WORM GOD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" he retorted, still shuddering at the hairs that lined the barrel of the gun.
Behind them, floating at shoulder height, Suki turned to look at Ty Lee with as much of a skeptical look she can muster with her shell and asked "Remind me again what exactly does your guardian see in him?"
Twirling around in her trademark pink shell, Ty Lee replied "What does it matter? They are soooo cute together!" At this, Suki sighed, wondering how she ended up paired to a relentlessly cheerful and somewhat naive Ghost as her counterpart.
As the group wandered the halls, Sokka came upon a door that said 'RESTRICTED ACCESS. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'
Seems like an invitation if anything, he mused. Turning around, he called out for Suki "Hey Sukes, could you do your glowy automagic thing and open this up?"
At this, Suki replied "No way, what if there's a flaming servitor on the other side? Besides, just because I can resurrect you doesn't mean you are allowed to take unnecessary risks. I wonder how Sagira puts up with Osiris sometimes."
"Aw come on, just this once? Please?"
"No."
"You're such a killjoy."
"Your Ghost is right y'know." Azula-4 added.
While they launched into another round of arguing, Ty Lee had decided to hell with their caution, and scanned the biometric lock for a way in. A loud hiss was her reward, as doors long shut groaned to life, revealing something that shocked the gang to their core. Exos hung suspended in rigs, with a Vex shell connected to it by some form of wiring. But the horror show did not stop there, for what lay on the operating table in the middle of the room was the body of a young girl, frozen in time by cryogenics and the natural environment of Europa with wires connecting her brain to the other mass of wires.
"What in the Traveler's name was Clovis Bray doing here? This, this is-" Sokka stuttered, rendered just as speechless as their Ghosts at the implications of what they witnessed. Meanwhile, Azula-4 moved into the room and started to look for clues that could help provide answers. Scanning around, she spotted a clipboard laying on a table off to the side and moved to inspect it. What she saw, sent a chill down every servo and motor in her joints, for the person that was laying on the table was her, or rather, her former body. The clattering sound the clipboard made as it hit the floor echoed in the empty halls, as two pairs of eyes looked at her shocked face.
Picking up the clipboard, Sokka read the contents, his eyes widening at every line he read.
Project Excalibur
Experiment Number: 89 AG
SUBJECT NAME: Qing, Azula
DOB: 2089
COD: Cardiac Arrest
KNOWN RELATION(S): Qing, Zuko (Brother, deceased), Lin, Kiyi (half-sister, deceased), Larson, Sokka (husband, status unknown)
Experiment Summary: Attempted transference of memory with -
Sokka didn't finish reading, as he saw her normally cool exterior crumble to dust at the implications, her face a mix of disgust, shock and sadness as her mind ran at a hundred miles a minute as she knelt down.
Moving in, Sokka moved in and held her close, stroking her back in an attempt to comfort her in the wake of this earth shattering revelation. For a long while, silence reigned throughout, punctuated only with the whirring of their Ghosts' shells and the half sobs of Azula.
"Was-was I a good wife?" she finally ventured.
Tilting her face upwards, Sokka replied "Look, whatever happened in the past, stays in the past. There's a reason Commander Zavala forbade us from digging up our past."
"But-"
"Look, it doesn't matter whether you were a good wife or not, all of that was wiped clean when they rezzed us. A clean slate. A fresh chance to start over. All that matters to me right now is this version of 'Zula. Nothing more, nothing less."
"I-I guess we were always meant to be together, huh?" she whispered.
"I guess so."
"As long as I'll have you, you'll have me. This is my new promise. After all, women who can whoop my ass is a known weakness of mine."
"That is a very low bar, you know that ?"
"Which is why I have you to help me. What say you, wifey ?"
"As your wife, I demand you turn down your sappiness."
"Not a chance."
As the duo sent playful jabs at each other, punctuated with some hardcore makeout sessions, Ty Lee looked on in admiration and played romantic music in the background whilst Suki merely shuddered and said "Those two give me enough oogies to last multiple lifetimes."
A/N: So, there's a metric shitton of destiny 2 references in this story which I've no time to explain (if you get it, here's a virtual cookie) but one point of note is that the '-4' besides Azula's name means that her frame has been reset four times. If you are confused by what a Ghost is, just look up 'Destiny 2 Ghost Shells' and that should give you an idea of what they look like. Lastly, there's an imperial butt-ton of destiny lore content on the Youtube, specifically those by 'Byf' will allow you to appreciate the story a lot more. Soz if I didn't explain everything in here but well, it be like that.