YANGCHEN'S FESTIVAL
DAY 1
She had been looking at her reflection in her mirror for the last 5 minutes. She was already ready for the first day of the Unification Movement.
Azula's hair was half down as she had been using it for the past years, and she was wearing an over the knees red cheongsam with gold details and cut out at each side from her waist down till the end, and some black calf-length pants with matching shoes. All courtesy of her mother.
When she entered the Royal dining room, she wasn't surprised to see the amount of people seated at the table by the bustle she could hear from outside.
The Royal Palace it was going to be the residence of the Avatar Aang of course, and a few air nomads one from each temple, also of King Kuei and his bear, King Bumi of Omashu, Princess Yue from the Northern Water Tribe with her husband and their kids, and of course his father new best friend, Hakoda chief of the Southern Water Tribe with his wife and two kids.
She walked towards her usual site, next to her father, but a servant got in the way, stopping her steps.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"I'm sorry, Princess," he bowed, "But... Fire Lord Ozai, has requested to have the young ones sited at this end of the table." he pointed out the other end of the table, a little nervous for her possible reaction.
She frowned a little bit at the statement and after sighing, she said a simple, "Fine."
She scanned the table with her eyes and there was only one seat left, next to her brother, to her displeasure.
"Good morning, Azula," he said with a smile, something untypical from him.
Azula took a look at him, and she realized that their clothes were matching. Maybe a funny accident, she thought. "No." she said.
He raised an eyebrow. "I think the right answer is good morning."
"No."
"Yeah, but…"
"No." she took her seat next to him.
"I think, someone woke up in a bad mood today, huh?" she heard someone whisper to her brother's ear.
"Just today?" he replied, also whispering, and both chuckled.
Azula pouted and took a look at who was sitting next to her brother. "And who's this?" she asked about the girl next to him with a raised eyebrow and a deadly glare.
"Oh… Azula, you remember I told you about my girlfriend, right?" her brother said with a silly smile on his face.
She raised both eyebrows, surprised by the statement. "Ohhh…. Your imaginary not so imaginary girlfriend?" she mocked, "This is her?" she pointed at the girl with a finger, "Was it Saskia, right? Or it was Sully?" she teased her brother, she remembered the exact name.
"Azula!" he scolded her with a grin and she smirked, "Suki this is Azula, my sister, Azula this is Suki, my very real girlfriend." Suki smiled at her with a kind smile.
"Pleasure." she made a brief nod.
"Huh...Good to know you're real. And by the way, I'm so sorry." Azula said with a hand on her chest, grimacing.
"For what?" Suki asked confused, tilting her head a little bit.
"For being stuck my brother…" she teased, "I guess in the Kyoshi Island there weren't too many boys, right?" Azula smirked, and Suki chuckled.
"Azula…" Zuko rolled his eyes.
"What Zuzu?... I'm just happy that you found a sympathetic girl… Who is actually" she took a better look at the so-called girlfriend. "... prettyish, and… is human, and… real." she mocked while pinching one of his cheeks to piss him even more, a gesture she had been doing since they were kids, and still to this day, annoyed him to no end.
He took her and off and rubbed his sore cheek, "Argh!... You do love making me miserable right?" he asked her, making a grin, while a servant served her food.
She shrugged, "It's more like a hobby," she looked at every dish till one got her particular attention. "What's this?" she pointed at something that looked like some kind of weird soup with a grin.
"It's seaweed soup, Princess. Fire Lord Ozai requested to have at least one plate of every nation served during this month's meals."
She looked at it with disgust, wrinkling her nose, "You can take it...It smells funny." she said with a grim.
"Leave it," A voice in front of her said, jolting her, "I will eat it."
Sokka, the boy from last night, the wanker from yesterday, and her least favorite guest, was seated in front of her at the other side of the table, having his meal. Well, more like stuffing his face with the food.
He reached over the table to take her plate, but Azula's hands were faster, and she took it away from him and with her spoon, she took a sip of it.
He frowned, "Huh?... Argh!… You said you didn't want it, why are you eating it then?" he whined like a little brat, "Stubborn girl." he grunted under his breath.
"Sokka…" The girl sat next to her scolded him.
For her looks, they must be related somehow for how much they looked like. Brown hair, tan skin, blue eyes, and clothes. She thought.
"Well, I like you less. So, I'm not giving it to you." she hit him hard in the head with her spoon and sticking her tongue out.
He complained and caressed his head. "Ouch…! Are you always this mean? Are you crazy?"
"Tsk!" Azula smirked while ignoring him, "Can I get another spoon?" The Princess asked her servants, and this one nodded and gave her a new one, taking the used one away.
"Sokka…" the girl scolded him again, elbowing in his ribs and pull him down into his chairs to force him to take his seat again. "Sit… And you are the crazy one. Now, hush and eat, will you?"
"Katara! You're my sister, you are supposed to be backing me…" he squealed, "Are you going to let her treat me like this?!" he asked her pouting while looking at the Princess with narrow eyes.
The Princess ignored his hostile glance and proceed to eat her meal. "You deserved for throwing me at the fountain yesterday," Azula commented absentmindedly while taking a bite of her food.
"What?!" Sokka asked.
"You did what?!" the eyes of the girl named Katara whined in surprise and then looked at her brother in dismay. Azula smirked, it was always fun to get people in trouble.
"Huh… He didn't tell you?" she said with a smirk and the most mischievously way she could,
"Yesterday, he and his... idiotic friends came into the Capitol streets racing in the ostrich horses, causing a hubbub. I was with my friends wandering around, and he..." she pointed at him with her spoon and narrow eyes. "Came rushing full speed and pushed me into the fountain." she returned to her eating in a cocky way.
She saw by the corner of her eye, how Katara hit her brother in the neck base. "That's why you told us to go ahead?… God, right now I'm embarrassed by being your sister," she said will shaking her head. "You are older than me! You are supposed to act like a grown-up!" the girl scowled.
Sokka looked at the girl across him. "I hate you," he grunted looking towards Azula who continued to enjoy her meal blatantly.
"Like I care," she uttered.
Zuko how had been basking of their word exchange leaned towards his sister.
"New record. You made someone hate you in less than 15 minutes," he said, chuckling.
Azula shrugged, "Maybe next time I can make it in five." She smirked quizzically, before taking a bite of her meal.
"Have you ever tried to be nice?" the snow boy asked, irked.
"I did," she retorted, "the worst year of my life." she made a grin.
"What?" Zuko gazed at her, raising an eyebrow, "Liar! Where was I?"
"It was two years ago, you missed." she bluffed, carelessly waving a hand.
"As if…" he mocked not believing her a word.
"By the way, Princess…" Suki called when Azula finished her meal, she only raised her eyebrows and looked in the girl direction. "You look lovely with that cheongsam." Suki gave her a brief smile.
Azula side smiled, "I know," she responded cockily, "And I know you are only saying it to make me like you, but…" she looked at Zuko and he raised an eyebrow a little concern about what her sister was going to tell him. "She's the one, keep her."
Zuko shook his head and Suki blushed and chuckled.
The water tribe girl was pinching the bridge of her nose, still scolding her brother. "Seriously? I can believe you would do that… She is the Princess for god's sake!" she bellowed.
"So?" asked Sokka.
"Sokka, you should just shut up." A bald boy at the other side of the table, next to Katara, said. Azula recognized him as the Avatar Aang.
"So? Do you want me to spell it from you…?" grunted Katara.
"Don't bother, he would probably still don't get it…" Azula taunted.
"Ha ha, very funny…" said Sokka, sulking.
"Sokka!" Katara grunted.
"What? Princess or not, who cares? We are the kids of the south chief… We are technically royalty too." he complained.
Katara rolled her eyes, "It's different, you moron…"
Azula meddled. "You know, your sister could go through as royalty, but you moron, with your lack of manners I seriously doubt it."
"What is that supposed to mean?" he said irked.
"Just shut up, and eat." Katara scolded him while filling his mouth.
After that exchange, all of them went back to their respective eating.
"Zuko…" Azula muttered after a while before turning a little bit in her sit to have a better look at her sibling and still wondering if their matching outfits were a coincidence. "Did mother also go crazy with you?" Zuko raised an eyebrow to her, "She got me 30 different dresses only for this month! And also...Are we matching?" she asked, a little curious.
Her brother side smiled at his sister, he knew she wasn't a girl of pretty dresses; she was more of the warrior type. Even though, he always thought she looked adorable whenever she wore a dress and also, she could pass as a younger doppelganger of their mother.
But it wasn't until she brought it up, that he realized that their clothes were indeed really similar.
"Huh...I think we are indeed matching..." said Zuko, narrowing his eyes.
"Tch! I knew it." Azula muttered, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Still, mom has always wanted you in dresses, and I think… She just wants us to look perfect during the Unification, even if that means we have to match..."
She rolled her eyes and brushed her hair off her shoulder, "I know, and I mean I always look perfect," she said sounding haughty, but the Princess couldn't care less. Zuko rolled his eyes at her statement. "In fact, when I was born, the gods said 'She's too perfect for this world'," she said cockily and her sibling snickered.
"Oh please, when you were born, the devil said, `Oh, look, competition´," Sokka said bitterly rolling his eyes too.
Everyone else laughed.
"Tsk!" she scowled before placing her palms on the table while standing up hard enough to make the people in the table turn. "You know, god thing I already finished my meal. Because if I keep looking at your face one more second, I might get indigestion," she said fumed, before walking out, all eyes on her.
And at the end of the table, Hakoda the chief of the South was looking in his children's direction with narrowed eyes while pouting.
Katara and Sokka realized of his gesture and pointed each other out. He narrowed more his eyes and raised an eyebrow, Katara looked in her brother's direction jolted up to find he was trying to blame her.
She slapped her brother's hand to make more evident the fact that it was his fault. Sokka gave him a nervous smile while scratching the back of his neck nervously.
Hakoda shocked his head. "I'm sorry for that Fire Lord. My son can be quite... foolish sometimes. He got it from his mother's side of the family." his wife Kya give him a little prod.
"You wish. Sokka is just like you… But in a younger version," Kya sneered. "He inherited everything from you. Even your bad jokes." she mocked.
"Bad jokes?" Hakoda looked as his wife, affronted. "Well, if you thought of them as bad jokes, why would you laugh, then?" he raised an eyebrow.
His wife shrugged. "For a mere compromise, I guess."
"You…Woah… Evil woman." he muttered.
Ursa and Ozai chuckled. "Don't worry Hakoda, my daughter can be quite also stubborn." he waved his hand carelessly. "She inherited from her," he muttered pointing his wife Ursa.
"As if…" she muttered. "You are the one to talk about stubbornness…"
"What is that supposed to mean?" he looked at his wife with a raised eyebrow.
She patted him on the shoulder slightly. "There, there darling." Ursa approached him with a plate of food. "You don't want to be embarrassed in front of our guests, right?" she said with a little menacing tone.
"Huh?" the Fire Lord looked at his wife warily.
"Eat my love," said Ursa.
...
Somewhere else in the palace, Azula was admiring, leaned on the balustrade, the Royal Gardens.
They all will be leaving soon to the Fuji Mountain to celebrate the first festival, an Air Nomad one. And as the Fire Nation Princess, she had to be there.
She let her mind wander a little bit, wondering what would her cousin be doing right now? She missed him, Lu Ten has always been her favorite person in the world, he was more than a cousin for her; she considered him as much of an older brother like Zuko, and she was sure Zuko also considered him as a brother.
Before he abdicated his born right, they used to spend a lot of time together, even if their age gap was as big as twelve years in her case, but he had always made her feel special. He would have been an incredible Fire Lord, not that her father wasn't one, but Lu Ten was just… something else.
She had to admit, Azula was a little pissed with him. But mostly at this girl, he decided to marry. Why did he have to fall in love with a noble girl from the Earth Kingdom who lived so damn far? But even so, he was happy, and that was all that mattered. Even though that did not mean she missed him any less.
Could that moron at least come to visit her? He knew she couldn't leave the Fire Nation, so why that moron hadn't visited them in three years? Next time they meet, she will kick him.
It was a few minutes later after her mind wandered when she felt someone behind her. Then she heard him clear his throat.
"What?!" she said, rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Seriously, I wish to be alone…"
"Even, if I brought you this?" she turned and her eyes sparkled of happiness.
Her brother was holding a plate of... "Mochi!" she jumped to it, but before she could take one, he lifted above his head, so she couldn't reach it, even tiptoeing. "What are you doing?"
"First, you and I need to talk. I have a proposition to make... "
"No, and we don't need to talk, you are annoying." she crossed her arms pouting.
"Then bye mochi…"
"Wait!..." she stopped him.
Zuko knew perfectly that mochi was her favorite food in the entire world and offer mochi in return was a tactic it used to work when they were little and he needs a favor from her.
Azula sighed, "Fine… But first… One: leave the mochi there," he raised an eyebrow intrigued, but he placed the place in the railing. "Two: leave." she waved a hand to make him leave.
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Azula…" he also leaned on the railing next to her and looked at the gardens.
When they were children, they used to spend a lot of time there, playing and running around, sometimes with Mai and Ty Lee or only the two of them. From time to time, they will practice their fire bending together, even though Azula was always ahead of him, she will advise him on his form, or simply kick his ass.
But without a doubt, their favorite memories were, either, there in the gardens with their parents, uncle Iroh and cousin Lu Ten all talking and joking, or their vacations at their Ember Island house.
"What? It worked when we were kids, you used to do everything I told you too." Azula said bitterly.
"One: You used to manipulate me... ," she nodded in agreement, "And two: I was terrified of you," Zuko admitted.
In all honesty, he was quite a fearful kid. Zuko spends most of his life even scared of his fire, which leads him to his accident. But also, his sister was quite a prankster to him, and she enjoyed making him miserable.
"Oh… What a shame," she muttered sadly.
"What? Feeling bad?" he said quizzically.
"No. What a shame you are not terrified of me anymore." she retorted and sighed. Since her early years, she will always convince Zuko, or at least confuse him enough to make him do whatever she wanted to.
"Why are you always mean to me?" said Zuko.
"What? Hey! I'm not always mean to you," Azula said affronted, "Do not forget who pulled you out of the river when you were six."
Zuko grimaced, "Do not forget who pushed me in."
"And you could have just stood up, it wasn't even that deep. Get over it. Grow up," she said while looking at her nails. "Well, what did you want to…" she tried to ask him.
The sound of someone clearing his throat behind them cut her off. They both looked over their shoulders.
"Hey."
"What do you want snow savage?" she asked annoyed, letting her head hang forward.
"It's Sokka," he said also annoyed, between teeth.
"Like I care." she turned again, her back towards him.
Sokka could feel a vein in his temple popping out. "How did you know it was me?" he raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I can smell you," she snarled at him, making a grin while looking at him over her shoulder. "Do your people bath?" she mocked.
"Hey!" he squealed, "I bathed last night for your information."
Zuko slapped his forehead. "Sokka, she is messing with you."
"Now I see why you two get along so well," Azula muttered for herself, but her sibling heard it.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zuko grounded, frowning.
"I will let your little weird mind figure it out." she mocked at him while playing with her bangs.
"Hey…"
"Zuko," Sokka interrupted him in his attempt of getting back at his sister. "Can I have a moment alone with your sister?"
"Huh?"
"No." Azula hurried to say.
"Are you sure?" he asked raising an eyebrow, thinking it might not be an outstanding idea to leave these two alone.
Sokka shrugged, not being sure himself, nodding with his head.
"Okay…" Zuko shrugged before turning to his sister. "Azula."
"What?" she grunted, rolling her eyes.
"Don't kill him," he warned her, "Please. Be nice."
"I can't," said Azula.
"Why?" Zuko raised an eyebrow.
"I don't want to," she said and her sibling made a grin, "Fine. But no promises." Azula looked with narrow eyes to her brother.
"Good luck, buddy," Zuko said patting him on the shoulder, before leaving them alone.
"I will be quick," Sokka said.
"You better be..." Azula warned him, "Speak," she turned to Sokka, and sighed, "You have thirty seconds." she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What?!" he said, this girl was incredible, and not in a good way. "That's ridi…"
She turned her back towards him again and started to look at her nails. "Twenty-nine, twenty-eight…"
He gulped, "Okay, okay…I t's..."
"Twenty-six, twenty-five..." she continued her decreased her countdown.
Sokka rubbed his temple, "Can you… stop counting? It distracts me," Azula rolled her eyes but stopped the counting. "The thing is Princess…" saying the last word more with mockery than with actual respect. "I'm guessing our parents are hoping for us to… get along…"
"Huh… I see," she smirked, "No, thanks." Azula said before walking away as fast as she could from there, or more likely away from him.
But to her dismay, he followed her for a few hallways.
"What?!..." he looked at her, shocked by her response when he reached her after chasing her. Sokka let out an annoyed huff. "Listen, Princess… I think you can also guess our parents hope for us to get along or at least try, so why don't we..." he started to say when he saw the grin of disgust in her face. "... I don't like the idea neither…"
"It's a terrible idea," she said, stopping before an enormous door.
"I know!"
"Then why are you suggesting it?" Azula said, confused at his intentions.
At least now he knew she was listening to him. "Because... our parents are working hard to make this "Unification Movement" thing to work... so why not… we..." she entered the room and cut him off slapping a door in his face.
He grinned his teeth and took a few deep breaths, while massaging his temples, before following her inside.
It took him a moment to find her looking at some shelves.
The place was enormous, there were at least a dozen of racks fill them with books and scrolls, there were also maps of the Fire Nation hanging in the walls, a big living room with red couches and a coffee table in the middle, a big desk also with papers on top of it and a huge carpet all over the floor. There were no windows, but the fire in the fireplace and the torches keep the place very well illuminated.
"What is this place?" he muttered while looking around.
She took a little peek at him and with a sarcastic smirk added. "I guess I wasn't so wrong of calling you savage if you didn't know what a Royal Library is…"
"I know how a library looks like!" he squealed, crossing his arms. "It's just, I didn't think you had one in here. It's huge!" Sokka looked around, amazed.
"Well, now you know… And also, is off-limits, so get out!" she pointed the door.
"What?... Why is off-limits?"
She let out a snort, "Because is MINE, and I said so…" she emphasized the word mine while crossing her arms.
"What do you mean is yours? Do you mean of the entire Royal Family?... Because if I need to get permission, I could just ask Zuko and…"
"You can try… But it won't do. This was a present when I graduated early from the Royal Academy for girls, and also I'm the only one who gets to decide WHO can get in," she pointed at the door. "So, GO!"
He raised his hand defeated, "Tch!... Fine, fine I'm leaving…." he walked to the door and reached the doorknob, but this one didn't turn. He tried to twist it in both directions and even applied more strength than the necessary, but yet nothing happened. He let out a frustrated sigh. This was a nightmare. "Mmm… Princess?" he called her and Azula raised an eyebrow "The door doesn't open."
Her eyes widened as she reached the door. "What?" she did the same with the doorknob, but nothing happen. "Jezzz… You have to be kidding!" she kicked the door in frustration.
"Can't you just burn it?" Sokka suggested.
She looked at him with murderous eyes. "Oh, no ... Why I didn't think about that…." she said in a sarcastic tone. "Oh yeah, because that will be stupid… For generations the most remarkable Fire benders have lived here, you think one of them didn't think about making this place fireproof?... Including THIS DOOR?" she snarks at him.
"Why are you screaming at me? I'm just giving suggestions," Sokka shrunk his shoulders a little bit. Azula looked at him with deadly eyes, who cause some shivers in his back. "Okay, dumb suggestion, I give you that…" he admitted, "Then, why don't we scream and see if any servant can hear us…"
She self-slapped her forehead. "Oh... Another brilliant suggestion... Aleck."
"Can you stop using sarcasm? And the insults?" he said, irritated.
"Can you stop suggesting dumb things?" she backfired him with the question. She let out a lengthy sigh. "EVERYONE is probably on their way to the Fuji Mountain to the Yangchen festival, remember? Servants included."
"Right…" then the realization hit him and he glanced at the Princess. "But... Does that mean we will be trapped in here until dawn?" he said disillusioned.
Azula groaned in frustration, "And my nightmare gets real." she mutters while rubbing her bridge nose.
"Wait, there isn't like a secret hallway, or a trapdoor, to get us out?" he asked with a little flame of hope.
"There is a total of 37 stairs in the palace, which 21 are secret, 45 trapdoors, 18 hidden hallways, 12 fake walks, a secret river, and a dozen more hideouts, escape routes, and other things, I haven't even explored yet… But there is only one place in the entire palace, which has none of those things."
"Let me guess… your room?" he asked hopefully, but he already knew the answer.
"No… Only in my room, there are three different escape routes," said Azula leaning on the door.
"We are screwed," he let his head hang defeated, "Well…" he walked innocently towards the shelves "... at least, we are going to have something to read."
She turned to him, startled by his words. "Whoaaa…. Na ha… What do you think you are doing?" she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"I was going to…" he said but before he could touch any scroll, she took him by the wrist and dragged him to one of the couches where she pushed him by the shoulder.
"You stay right here," said Azula. She would not allow him to handle any of her books or scrolls.
The amount of strength in her tiny body surprised Sokka. "What?" he looked at her she couldn't be serious.
"Touch nothing, don't move even an inch, and don't breathe too loud…. Got it?"
"Ohhh... Come on, Princess… Just let me one scroll…." he tried to stand up, but she pushed him again, with such ease. His eyes widened in surprise, she was not too tall, he was easily a head taller than her, and he was more than sure, she had to weight half of his weight, yet she could submit him with such ease.
"Sit…" she technically commanded him, before taking a scroll from the shelves and sitting on the desk to read it.
"Wait, are you serious?... Tsk!…. You are a mean woman… Sheesh." he childishly crossed his arms.
"I have been called worst…. Now hush…" he let out an annoyed huff while crossing his arms like a little boy who was grounded by his parents.
The scroll Azula was reading was a not so old one. One of the many topics that always interested were the myths around the different colors of fire. According to the scroll, the unique colors entail distinct things. She already had gone through the yellow, orange, red, and of course blue fire, and now she was looking at the black fire.
Sokka let out his tenth snort in the last 5 minutes.
She hit the desk with her palm, and he looked at her a little jolted up. "If you snort one more time, I'm going to pluck hair by hair off your head… You hear me?" she barked at him with narrow eyes.
He snorted again and lauder and made a pissed grin.
Azula returned to her reading, till she came across with a reference to another scroll, which she remembered also have somewhere in the shelves.
She stood up and started to look through for said scroll. She found it in the higher self. She got on her tiptoes, and tried to reach as high as she could, she struggled a little trying to reach it, but before she could get it...
Sokka's hand took it and lowered. "Let me…"
Azula turned as fast as she could to face him, but she found herself trapped between his body and the self. "T-Thanks…" her voice trembling a little bit for the closeness, and she looked up to him.
He was looking down to eyes meet. Blue meets gold. "You know… " he muttered, "You are quite pretty up close." He said before his mind could stop his mouth from talking.
"Thanks?..."
He cleared his throat, and taking a step back, he gave her the scroll. "Here."
She took it, and for a moment they stared in awkward silence... It was Azula who broke it by hitting him in the head with the scroll.
"What was that for?" he asked surprised, rubbing his head.
"I told you not to move… Bad dog." said the Princess.
"Dog?... Whoaa…. I help you and that how you pay me?" said Sokka offended.
"I didn't ask for your help, right?" she sat back in her desk.
"No, but at least you could thank me, that was people do." he leaned in the desk with his hands.
"Fine...Thanks..." She said in a stoic tone. "Happy?"
"No…" He crossed his arms, and she looked at him with a stoic face. "Come on… There must be something you can let me read, I'm getting bored me to death….Look I will even accept one of those "Wanted" signs."
She rubbed her temple. "Fine…" she stood up, for his surprise, "If that makes you shut up."
Azula looked through the shelves, being closely followed by him. She looked around for a couple of moments. "Can you…?" she looked at him irritated, after almost crashing with him for the third time. "Just SIT!" she told him off, before continuing to look for a particular scroll.
Sokka nodded in silence and went back to the couch.
The Princess reappeared between the shelves a few moments later. "Here."
He unrolled it. "What's about?"
"Well, you wanted something to read," she crossed her arms, "It's about the legend behind one of the festivals of the Fire Nation, the one happening during the Summer Solstice."
"The Legend of the Shinigami, the God of Death." he read out loud.
"It's quite a heavy reading, enough to keep you in silence for a few hours."
And as Azula predicted, it kept him busy for a few hours which allowed her to finish reading her scroll and a few others; she looked at him a few times, just to confirm that he hadn't fallen slept.
She had to admit; he was quite handsome, tan skin, which made the blue of his eye pop out, he was tall, a little more than a head taller than her, and pretty muscular too. Girls like Ty Lee will instantly fall in love with him, only by his looks.
From time to time Sokka will take a peek at the girl reading at the desk. Sometimes, she will place her hand under her chin or will play with her bangs, while her eyes narrowed at the content of the scroll, and a few times he even caught her playing with the flame in the candlestick with her fingers, without she even noticing.
He had to admit; she was really pretty, maybe the prettiest girl he had ever meet. Her black long black hair, perfectly styled, and the bangs around her face made her face features even more appealing. She was the full description of what he ever imagined of an actual princess.
"We have been here for hours!" said Sokka, breaking the silence. "I'm hungry!" Azula rolled her eyes, but she was also hungry. She had been for quite some time now. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked.
"I'm starving actually," she admitted, "I could eat an entire…"
"Small children?" Sokka mocked.
Azula rolled her eyes. "You know, actually people don't lean to them as much, because they have too many bones and too little meat… We tend to prefer…"
Sokka cut her off. "Drinking the blood of virgins?..." he teased her.
"We bath on those, it keeps us young. If I ever run out of it, I will get in touch with you…" said Azula with a smirk, now leaving him agape.
"What that's…" Sokka retorted.
"We prefer to eat rare foreign people, preferably from frosty weather…"
Sokka's eyes widened by the statement. "What the… Do you royals? Do you...?"
"No, you dickhead. We don't eat small children or bath in virgins blood. We only bath in gold." said Azula, basking at his confusion. Pestering him was fun for her.
"D-Do you really?" he babbled.
Azula snorted, "Of course not. How dumb can you be?" she muttered.
"I'm not dumb!" he said pouting, "It's just... gods your sense of humor is dark and twisted…"
"Thanks," she smirked.
Sokka rolled his eyes. "It wasn't a compliment," he muttered, "Anyways, it's quite an interesting history," he said rolling again the scroll.
Azula gazed at him with surprise, leaning back in her chair. "You're done?" he nodded, "All of it?" he nodded again. She made a grin. "Impressive. People usually take the double of time to finish it." she stood from her chair and walked towards him, she sat at the other end of the couch.
"But… I don't get it," Sokka placed the roll on the coffee table. "How did your people turn it into a festival?"
She took a deep breath and leaned her back on the armrest to face him. "Well… The Shinigami is the death god, which…"
"Which kills by looking at people's faces and writing it down in his death scroll…"
"Yeah…." she side smiled, not many people remembered minor details of the legends. "So, the Shinigamis even though they are a "god" are not immortals, according to the legend the more people they killed, the longer they will get to live… And also, they have a rule…"
"Not to disturb the natural ways of life…" he said, but it didn't bother her, "Or they will die."
Azula nodded, "Shinigamis used to come every summer solstice, when it's believed that the barrier between the spirit world and our world is at the weakest, to have a `killing spree´ with the humans… Until one day, one of them made a mistake…" she explained.
"He saved a human of dying, and by doing it, he let his death scroll fall at the hands of the humans, which wanted revenge… and a death scroll could not only kill humans but also Shinigamis too..."
"Yeah… So, the humans and the Shinigamis made and agreement. Every year, humans will have food in the street, and will wear masks to stop them from seeing their faces, and also to show them respect... And all those humans, who will not follow the tradition, of wearing a face mask during the night, the Shinigamis will be allowed to kill, as they…"
"Also need to see the faces of the people whose name they were writing down," Sokka added.
Azula nodded, "Yeah… So, that's why during the Summer Solstice, in the Capital we have food outside the homes, and we wear a mask to stop the Shinigamis, it's quite a childish tradition, but people enjoyed it."
"It's quite an interesting story I must admit, quite dark… But it's really interesting," Sokka said, "In my tribe, most of our traditions, are about boys reaching adulthood, and moon-related..."
She side smiled at his comment. Maybe his company wasn't that bad. Maybe.
They both remained silent. Sokka scanned again the room, and something got into his eye and stood up, Azula followed him with her eyes.
"Hey…" he called her, "You're done with your reading, too right?" she nodded, "Why don't we play Pai Sho?" she smirked, "And to make it more interesting…" she raised an eyebrow, "Why we don't ask each other questions, every time we get to make a move."
"I guess… I have nothing better to do," she shrugged and took sit across from him with the board between them. "Just don't feel bad when you lose…" she teased him.
"As if…" he said, "Lady's first."
Azula looked at her tiles and started with a jasmine tile.
Sokka looked at her with lifted eyebrows. "You are supposed to make a question, Princess."
"Well…" she shrugged, "I don't know what to ask," she admitted.
"Just… anything like… favorite food, favorite color."
"Okay, fine…. What's your favorite food?"
"Easy, anything meat-related... My turn," he placed a white dragon tile, "If you could choose to do anything for a day, what would it be?" Azula's eyes widened in surprise for his question. "What?"
"I was hoping for a question more like, What's your favorite color? Kind of style," she smirked.
"Just answer the question, woman," said Sokka.
"I would…." she stopped for a moment to think, what she will do. " ... I would travel the world."
"Satisfying answer. Traveling is amazing, I love it. I have been traveling since I can remember… Any particular place?"
"It's my turn to question, snow boy." she placed another tile.
"It's Sokka, by the way."
"I know," she glanced at him with a side smile. "So… Have you traveled a lot?"
"Yeah...Since I turned sixteen. My father sometimes sends me on trips for rations for the Tribe or as an emissary to the Earth Kingdom, and since my sister is dating Avatar Aang, sometimes we go to meet him somewhere for a few days."
"Your sister is…. You know what, this is stupid. Let's just...keep the conversation," said Azula.
"Agreed. And yes, she is dating the avatar." he placed another tile.
"Your people found him, right?" she asked.
"Yeah… According to him, he ran away from the South Air Temple, when they were going to send him away from a monk he used to look up to. He got caught in a storm and froze himself… Some fishermen and water benders found him. My sister healed him and took care of him."
"So, your sister is a water bender with healing powers?" he nodded, "So, you're also a…."
"I'm just… me," he shrugged, "Don't take this wrong… I'm okay with it, with been a non-bender, I have never been troubled for not having bending skills."
"I think… being just… Sokka... it's okay," Sokka liked the sound of his names in her lips. Azula let out a sigh. "I wish... I could be just… Azula for one day," she muttered.
"What do you mean by, be just you?" Sokka asked, "I mean everyone will kill to be part of the Royal Family and more likely part of the Royal Family of the Fire Nation the most advanced nation in the world."
She rolled her eyes. "I knew you would say that."
"Wait… what do you...okay, I'm lost… Being part of the royalty is that bad?"
"What? No." she shook her head, "That's not what I mean… I mean… Look, " she breathed in, "Yes, being royalty comes with benefits like wellness, and luxury and being pampered every day but…" she looked at him, who had a confused look "Being royal, at least for the Fire Nation family is like… being trap in a golden cage."
"I'm sure it can't be that bad… Being available to go wherever you want to, and…" he stopped when he saw her shook her head. "Wait…." he made a pause.
"So… What's your favorite place you have visited?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
"Wait...Are you trying to change the subject?" Sokka asked.
"No…" she lied, avoiding looking at him. "Just answer the question."
Sokka rolled his eyes, "I don't know… there are too many," he scratched his head trying to think. "Probably... The Northern Water Tribe... it's so… different from home, but at the same time is like home outside the home."
"Tell me about your home," Azula asked, without thinking just because she wanted to know more, about a place she only knew from scriptures.
"Really?" The Princess nodded, "It's freezing one half of the year with light, and the other is deadly cold with darkness," he joked, "By the way… Can we put the fireplace off? It's boiling in here," With a flick of her hand, Azula turned off the fire. "Thanks...In the South we are surrounded by snow, everywhere, sometimes is annoying but…" he remembered and tried to describe it as best as he could. "There is nothing like seeing the layer of fresh snow, after a storm… It's the whiter think you will ever see… it's kind of pretty," he looked at the board and analyzed his strategy which she had no problem figuring out. "So… What's your favorite place you have ever been to? I'm pretty sure they are cooler than mine."
"Well… I have never been... anywhere." Azula admitted.
"What?" Sokka's eyes widened, "Wait… What?... It's a lie, right? Zuko said you were an excellent liar."
"I am… But it's not," she blocked another of his movements. "I have never left the Fire Nation."
"What?!" he repeated himself, "Why?... I thought…"
"That as a royalty I could go and do as I pleased?" he nodded, "Well, no... The Fire Lord is the leader of the entire Nation, the most important man. So, he needs to be safe, and be reachable to decide in the case of unforeseen events, which traveling around the world would make it a hundred times more difficult, and the rest of the royal family needs to be close to him, to assure their security as well."
"So… you're doomed to this place forever?" Azula nodded, "But Zuko…"
She interrupted him, "Zuko it's different… He technically banished himself as a punishment for his mistake while training with my father. He went into a ,"crossing" of finding his honor and blah, blah, blah… My uncle and my cousin were also allowed to travel around the world because they were part of the military…"
"But, I'm sure there must be a way for you to be available to travel the world as Zuko did," said Sokka.
"Well… Let me know if you find one."
"What about… being the Avatar's fire bending master?" he asked.
"Yeah… Like if that would happen… According to history, the Avatar has always been taught by the Sages of the fire, which are like… at least a dozen to choose from, and in case all of them dying suddenly, the Fire Lord will take the task himself, as a great honor…"
"Ohh... But wait…" Azula raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you like… according to Zuko, a prodigy with super creepy blue fire?"
"You mean this?" she lit on a flame in her hand.
"Whoa... Cool… Creepy… But cool," she smirked. "You know what... I will convince Aang myself of taking you as a Fire bender master."
"Thanks… But, I see that even more impossible than getting to know any of the places I read about with my own eyes."
"That's why you have so many books and scrolls?"
Azula nodded, "At least in here… I'm allowed to travel to... meet places, even if it just by reading about them..."
"Well, then, what's your favorite place you have read about?... Tell me, I will take you…" Both gazed at each other in shock.
Blue eyes and golden ones meet at the said of his last words. His mouth told them before his brain could process them, and Azula's heart was a little moved by them.
She broke the moment by looking away, "You're doomed." she said while making her last move, with will guarantee her the victory.
"What?... That's not... You cheated!" he accused her.
Azula crossed her arms. "I did not, you sore loser… I told you, I was going to win." she stuck out her tongue.
He sided smiled, "Let's play again…." he ordered the tiles, "Come on, I want a rematch." she rolled her eyes.
"Wait…." he froze.
"What?"
"Shhh…. I think I…."
"Azula?" she heard at the distance.
"I think it's…"
"Azula?!" she heard a little closer.
"Ty Lee!" Azula screamed, while reaching the door, Sokka followed her.
"Azula?" Ty Lee's voice was on the other side of the door.
"Ty Lee the door is locked… Can you get us…" the doorknob danced a little bit and then turned all the way.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Ty Lee asked as soon as the door opened, "Mai and I have been looking for you… And what do you mean by us?..." And at that moment her friend realized the Princess wasn't alone. "Oh...Whoa… And who are you handsome?" she looked at Sokka with flirty eyes.
Azula frowned for the lack of concentration in her friend's mind.
Sokka looked at the girl, "Didn't we meet yesterday?... During the feast?" Ty Lee tilted her head in confusion. "You were wearing yellow and…"
Ty Lee made a confused look and realized. "Oh no, darling… You probably meet Ty Woo, one of my sisters"
"Oh… So, you are like twins or something?" he asked
"They are septuplets," Azula said while rubbing her nose bridge. "Yeah...There are like seven of them… Identical." she punctuated the last word.
His eyes widened. "Seven… Ohh whoa..."
"By the way, the Yangchen's festival was really pretty... I'm so sorry you lost it Azula."
"There is going to be like… six others to go... Without counting the rest of the nations festivals, so is not much of a loss." she shrugged.
"Hey…" Sokka called her, both girls looked at him. "Do you think I can get something to eat in the kitchen? I'm starving."
"Yeah…I figure it out, by hearing your stomach make noises for the last hour," Azula mocked and Sokka rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Go ahead... Tell the servants to get you something to eat and tell them to get me something to eat too."
"Wanna eat together?" he asked.
"Sure…" They both walked towards the kitchen at the watchful eye of Ty Lee.
"Azula, wait…" she held her friend by the shoulder. Both stopped. "I almost forgot...This was in the door's lock." Ty Lee handed her a key which she instantly recognized.
"SON OF A…." The Princess snarled with her blood boiling in anger.
"AZULA!" Ty Lee screamed, scandalized.
"Go ahead," she ordered to Sokka, before walking in the opposite direction.
"But…" he tried to say, but she was already at the end of the hallway.
"Nice to meet you and see you around." Ty Lee said before running behind her friend.
The Princess found her brother's girlfriend in one of the hallways.
"Where is he?" she asked furiously.
"He is... He is at the studio." Suki answered nervously by seeing the Princess so furious, assuming she was asking about her sibling. "There is something wrong, Princess?"
"I'm going to kill him," was her answer, "I can't believe he would do this!" she complained.
"Really? You really can't believe it?" Ty Lee mocked.
"Did what sorry?" Suki asked, but none answered her.
Azula pushed both doors open and Zuko wasn't alone, there were other two people in the room. Sokka's sister and the Avatar. Suki rushed inside the room as fast as she could.
"You, sneaky little bastard!" she threw a fire blast at her brother's head, startling everyone.
Zuko jumped out of the way as soon as he good a peek of blue and everyone who was in the room also took cover.
"How dare you?" she walked towards him and kicked the tea table out of her way, spilling the tea everywhere.
"Hey…. Azula" he peeks behind his girlfriend who was using as a shield.
"Hey Azula?!" said pissed Azula, as she threw another fire blast which caused the curtains in the room too caught on fire.
Katara soon turned it off with her bending, very confused by the situation.
"What the HELL is wrong with you?!" Azula screamed, with her face red and her neck vein starting to pop out.
"Princess, if I'm allowed to..." The Avatar tried to interfere, and meet her angry eyes, which gave him chills. "I think... we all need to calm down a little."
"I will calm down when I burn his head off," she pushed the avatar out of the way by placing her hand on his face. He didn't complain.
"Azula... I don't know what are you talking about." he lied with his squishy voice, which Azula knew was his lying voice.
"Then why did your voice get all squishy?!" she snarled at him.
Zuko was still hidden behind his girlfriend Suki, who was acting as a barrier between the royal siblings, unwillingly.
Zuko cleared his throat, "It's my normal voice"
"Oh, please... I taught you how to lie..." Azula moved to the right and Zuko did the same as well as Suki who he was holding by the shoulders "Why are you hiding behind your girlfriend then?"
"Because you are trying to kill me?" said Zuko.
"Zuko... What did you do?" Suki asked him over her shoulder.
"Nothing," he said.
"Nothing?" Azula moved to the left and Zuko repeated the movement. "You asshole." She threw at him the key hitting him in the head and making him fall backward. He was going to have a nasty bruise.
"Nice aim" Katara complimented.
"Thanks," Zuko was rubbing the spot the key in his head. "So, you are going to tell me that one is not yours?"
"Is not." he denied.
"It has your Z… Marked on it!" Azula squealed.
When they were younger, each one used to have a set of keys for the Library. Azula sometimes used to steal Zuko's set of keys, and then she will deny it. So, in an intent to stop her, he marked them all with a Z.
"It's not my Z." he lied again.
Azula looked at her brother and walked towards him, like a hunter looking at their prey. "I was locked in the library for HOURS! Thanks to YOU!...With her brother" she pointed at Katara.
"With Sokka?" Katara asked, "Ohh no…" She said, knowing her brother could be quite a pain and more after how he acted in the breakfast.
"Ohhh... So that's where he was..." the Avatar said, moving hands in realization.
"Princess, whatever he said or did he is an…." said Katara.
"So, I'm assuming it when bad?" Zuko asked, interrupting Katara.
And Azula reached a hand to hit him in the head but stopped in the mid-air.
"Tsk!... It was..."
"Horrible?" Katara said, "Annoying?" she was waiting for all those possible answers, but she got one she didn't expect.
"Nice..." Azula muttered between teeth.
"Sorry, what?" Zuko pretended to clean his ears.
"Oh. Forget it!" she said while walking out.
"So... It went well?" Suki asked in a soft voice, once the Princess was out of the room.
Ty Lee's head pop out of the corner. "Good… You are alive," she said when she saw Zuko save and sound. "I thought she was going to kill you."
"Yeah… Me too." Zuko breathes out, his little sister was still terrifying after so many years.
"If you would have told me about your plan, I wouldn't have shown her the key, dummy." Ty Lee said.
"I forgot," said Zuko, rubbing the spot where his sister had hit him.
"Zuko… I still don't like this plan of yours," Katara said with a grin, "If my brother gets killed… I will blame you," she narrowed her eyes while looking at the Prince, "And my brother might be an idiot, but he is not stupid. He is going to find out this plan of yours."
Zuko ignored Katara and looked at his sister's friend. "So…?"
"They are having dinner together…" she said with an accomplice smile.
...
"So, you do were hungry…." Azula said when she saw Sokka with almost empty places before him.
"Yeah…. Hey, where did you go? And why did you look so pissed?" Sokka asked when she sat in the chair in front of him.
"It's stupid. Zuzu and his "great" ideas." she complained, rolling her eyes.
The servants served her food in front of her.
"So… I was thinking" Sokka said.
Azula raised an eyebrow. "Huh, an improvement Interesting," said Azula mockingly.
"Haha. Very funny." he pouted.
"Go on," said Azula.
"So, I was thinking...I know you might hate the idea, and you are allowed to say no, of course, but… Would you mind, if we spend tomorrow together? At the moon festival?" Her eyes widened at the proposal, "I'm just trying to get the father of my neck, I figure you may also want that…. But you can say no and…"
She frowned, "It's sounds…"
"Stupid? Like an awful idea? Like hell?"
Azula lifted both eyebrows. "I was going to say like a wonderful plan…"
"Really?" Sokka's eyes widened.
"Yeah… I mean, that will keep my parents from bothering me with the suitor's thing, if they think I'm spending too much time with you."
"Good…" he went back to his eating, "Also… I wanted to say sorry" Azula tilted her head, "For making a mess, yesterday in the city and… for causing you to fall in the fountain." Sokka scratched the back of his neck.
Azula smiled at him warmly, "Thanks. I thought I would never get an apology from you." she smirked.
"Well, I'm full of surprises, and I'm sure you are too…"
"Okay," she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "So, what? Are you going to try to figure me out?"
Sokka nodded, "I will, or at least can try." he mirrored her actions.
"Well... Good luck with that, because I laugh when people try to figure me out, like seriously good luck. I can't even figure me out."
He smirked, "I enjoy challenges."