Title: The Aftermath
Rating: M for this chapter, just to be safe.
Summary: It is 10 years after the events of Sozin's Comet. Under the rule of the pacifist Fire Lord Zuko and the guidance of the Avatar, many expected the world to heal from the damages suffered during the century-long war. But evil is still afoot, and threatens to disrupt the peace once again ...
Disclaimer: I don't own any components of ATLA.
Warning: Rating is M for this chapter, as it deals with slightly more adult issues than previous chapters. No lemons/limes though. I don't want to give anything away, but for those of you who are uncomfortable with certain things, don't worry, the opening title for one of the paragraphs will tell you everything you want to - or rather do not want to - know, and you have enough time to turn away.
Chapter 6: Old Acquaintances
The Si Wong Desert
Dry arid air blasted into Jet's tanned face. Sweat dripped from his brow. They had been traveling for hours, and despite the growls of protests from the Mongoose Dragons they were riding, his lover had insisted they not stop until they found Long Feng. Jet was quite impressed with the giant lizards actually, they were performing admirably despite being exhausted and running in an unnatural habitat.
"They are just animals, Jet. I would have thought you'd have more bottle, considering what you plan to do to the world."
Azula was unbelievably perceptive, and at times she seemed almost telepathic. Her voice too, was well-projected, despite the noise of wind and sand; Jet was shocked almost to hear her. But the shock quickly subsided. She was a Princess, she had probably learnt to throw her voice at a very young age. Royalty always had to address large crowds of people.
Jet didn't even try to reply. He knew he could never make himself heard in such conditions. Although he did have some experience addressing large crowds, he'd always shouted, and had never really learnt to throw his voice. Yet another thing he'd have to learn from the Princess then. The list was getting longer and longer the more time they spent together. She was such a well-learned and cultured person despite being only 24 years of age. He hated to admit it, but Jet was in love with her. At least he thought he was.
Do I really love her? Or am I just impressed by what she has - her body, her intelligence, her power?
Jet shook his head. No. He loved her. She was the only girl he could ever love. She was perfect.
Is that true, Jet?
A little voice inside his head said.
Are you sure you want perfection?
Jet ignored that stray thought. But it didn't relent.
Are you sure you want perfect? Your first love wasn't perfect.
The image of a certain waterbender appeared in Jet's increasingly annoying thoughts.
You loved her for who she was, for her flaws, her righteous anger and fortitude.
"Shut up."
You loved those bright blue eyes, that were so emotive, so expressive. You loved her laughter, her smile. You were happiest with her.
"Shut up!"
Jet focused his thoughts back on Azula. Her steely gaze of gold, her taut flawless body. Her long tresses of raven hair. They were so luscious, so sweet-smelling and aromatic. He remembered their first night together at the Inn. He'd felt like he was making love to a Goddess. She was one of the most intelligent and beautiful people he'd ever known, the embodiment of everything he'd wanted his ideal woman to be. Yes. He loved her.
"They're close", Azula said, once again projecting her voice over the elements. "The sand is getting looser, they've come by here quite recently."
Jet smiled. He felt foolish for having his earlier doubts. Azula was amazing. Katara couldn't hold a candle against her.
A few sand dunes later Jet spotted them, the first signs of life he had seen in this god-forsaken desert since he rode into it. He could see tiny specks of moving objects in the distance, each of varying sizes. Some appeared as large as a coconut, whilst others he could barely make out.
As if reading his mind again, Azula explained.
"It appears our old friend has been quite busy. He's amassed quite a formidable collection of calvary ... Anaconda-phants, Raven Drakes, Saber-Toothed Moose Lions and their more aggressive cousins the Fanged Moose Liger, amongst other things. Yes, that is quite an army."
Azula turned to look at Jet, noticing he had a quizzical look on his face.
"It's the tracks, dummy. I recognize them", Azula dug her spurs into her Mongoose Dragon, and Jet followed suit. They accelerated through the desert landscape, wind and sand whipping behind them. They were tearing up ground at a phenomenal rate, in a billowing cloud of dust. As they covered the distance between them and the moving army, a peculiar but perhaps expected thing happened. The sand beneath them flew up, upending their fine but tired steeds. Azula reacted quickly, sending herself and her reptile airborne, by unleashing a massive blast of blue flame, which propelled them up into the warm desert sky. Grotesque pieces of moldavite glass was left behind, forming oddly shaped structures in the sand.
Jet unsheathed his twin blades, hooking a pillar of natural tektite glass that Azula had left behind in her blaze, and swiveled himself round, using an impressive amount of lower body and leg strength to carry his steed along with him. As Azula landed, she burned an entire stretch of runway into the desert, a strip of dull olive-green vitreous substance shimmering in the afternoon heat.
The Mongoose Dragons thrived on these kind of slick services with their unique sprinting technique of only using 2 legs, and Azula and Jet pushed their beasts of burden forward, despite whines of protest. The newly formed moldavite were burning their steeds' hind legs, causing the large lizards massive amounts of pain.
However, the whines of pain didn't deter their enemies. Massive amounts of surrounding sand was blasted toward them as they strode forward, but by sheer speed alone, they burst through it, although Jet would later complain about squashed sandflies in his teeth. Azula of course had no such problems. She had wisely kept her mouth closed.
As they moved in on the army, Jet was left amazed at the immense size of some of the creatures Azula had named earlier. The Anaconda- phants were the biggest creatures he had ever seen. They were the size of a small building, but with a long prehensile tail at the end and with the neck of a venomous snake. As the couple closed in onto the trailing mastodons, who because of their sheer size, lacked any form of speed(and thus couldn't keep up with the army), Jet's attention was drawn by a sharp whistle coming from Azula. She took her hands off the reins of her steed, and dismounted by flinging herself up onto the hybrid elephants, blue flames from her feet getting her up to the necessary height she required.
Jet knew Azula wanted him to follow her lead, but he couldn't replicate the Princesses's technique, so he loosened up on the reins, and pulled up behind the giant creature. He leapt off his Mongoose Dragon - who clearly was in a great deal from pain from the burns on its feet - and ran up the Anaconda-phants' tail, his days as a Freedom Fighter running up trees coming into play. He heard the sickening crunch of the Mongoose Dragons below, who'd obviously had nothing left in their tank to avoid being crushed by the footsteps of the titanic beast.
Azula shouted, projecting her voice to the army of men in front if her - Earthbenders, Dai Li, Sandbenders and ordinary army men.
"Halt your movements, soldiers!"
Azula's voice was authoritative and firm.
"I demand to speak to Long Feng now."
Seeing no response from them, she added.
"I will slaughter all of you, like the spineless pigs you are, if I don't get to talk to him."
A few of the men sniggered, clearly mocking her threat. The Sandbenders raised a large, thick snaky stream of sand from the desert floor, and sent it hurtling toward the Princess. Jet instinctively rushed toward Azula, intending to push her out of harm's way, but before he could do so, a painful blueish-white flash of hot intense light blinded him, forcefully squeezing his eyes shut.
When Jet finally opened them, he saw large shards of translucent olive-green glass buried in the sand, hot smoke emanating from the long and thin pieces. Jet had seen moldavite only once before, at a volcano in the Earth Kingdom, but he had never once seen the naturally occurring material presented or used in such a magnificent way.
Surprisingly, no one had been hurt. In a way, it made a much stronger point, as Azula had displayed amazing finesse and skill to the disbelieving men, who now, if you were wondering, were looking up at Azula, with fear and reverence.
An old but distinctively familiar voice spoke out.
"Why, if it isn't Princess Azula. Still don't think I have a right to rule?"
A brothel in the Fire Nation
One would have thought that such an establishment would not have been allowed to exist under the idealistic views of Fire Lord Zuko, and although it had been decreed that any form of sex trade was illegal, there were still many underground brothels around, disguised as Inns which offered additional services. This was one of them. And it wasn't one of the shabby ones either. It was a decent Inn, which appeared respectable and humble on the outside, but inside their rooms, men - and some women - were experiencing a treat for their senses.
A hooded figure made his way to the counter, his face hidden from view and his voice low and gruff. The Innkeeper knew his kind. An upper class nobleman, who couldn't afford to be seen or recognized among these parts. The Innkeeper actually knew this one quite well, he'd been using their additional services for a few years now.
The jovial, slightly pudgy Innkeeper greeted his regular with gusto.
"The usual?"
The burly heavyset man nodded brusquely in response.
"We've had more requests for her lately, but I'm proud to say we've kept our end of the bargain."
The cloaked stranger - who yet at the same time was not - answered, his voice obviously altered.
"With the amount of money I'm paying you, I'd expect you to. And you are an honorable man, Huk, I wouldn't expect anything less."
The Innkeeper smiled. This was true, he always honored his deals ... at least those that made the most business sense. And of course, he didn't want to piss off his most important and profitable client by reneging on their agreement. He knew the stranger was influential around these parts and could easily find out if his favorite prostitute - who he'd paid a lot for to prevent from being pimped - was being taken left, right and centre by drunk sea merchants and horny teenage boys.
"She's in the suite, as always."
The mysterious nobleman turned away and walked up the stairs to the top floor, whereby the Inn's best room was kept. Inside, as per his expectations, awaited his clandestine lover. She was a real looker, flawless skin, beautiful brown eyes, with a long but not too slender frame. But the thing which turned him on most was her moan. By God, she had the most delightful moan. It turned the man on just thinking about it. Tamar wasn't like your typical whore. She was a classy woman, and really looked like she could belong in court, maybe even work as a secretary in his office. Of course, that was one of the reasons the man liked her, she looked like someone from high-society, not a trashy whore like the others below.
"I want the full set tonight."
The man didn't bother to disguise his voice. Tamar knew who he was. And she had genuinely fallen for him; the dark-haired man with golden eyes knew this. So she respected his wish to keep his identity secret. In a way, the man particularly liked his sessions here because he was always being pleasured by a woman who loved him, who cared about him.
"Are you sure?", Tamar asked, her eyes widening with surprise. "You've never ordered the full set. You might not like some of the positions."
"And ...", she continued. "I know it's not my place to ask but, is everything alright?"
Tamar may have chosen this line of work for herself, but she was no fool. In fact, she had graduated from the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. She had long ago realized that he'd only came to her when he was feeling stressed. The mind-blowing sex she provided was just a way for him to forget his problems. Tamar was more than willing to help him in that aspect however, because she felt good being able to help him cope with his problems. She loved him, and even though she knew that it was unrequited, she wanted to help him out the best she could. But tonight he had asked for the full set, and she couldn't help but be a little concerned, as that probably meant he was really stressed out about something.
The handsome man replied,
"I feel nothing but pleasure when I'm with you, I'm sure I'll love whatever it is you might instigate."
The young lady blushed, forgetting all her earlier concerns and eagerly took off her robe. Tamar didn't care what happened to him that drove him to her, she didn't care that he was just using her to relax. All she cared about was that right now, tonight, he was hers, she was with the man she loved, and he desired and wanted her as much as she did for him.
The man unrobed as well. Tamar was barely 20, and her nubile body was a wondrous delight, which the older man always felt honored to possess. He wasn't that old, only in his late 20's, but he still felt like he was living a dream every time he made love to her. She made him experience feelings his wife never did. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't care, he wanted to lose himself in her arms ... and her legs.
As he jumped onto the silk bed, he thought back to how he nearly took Song the other day, how he had almost taken her virginity. He would have only used her to forgot his problems, and he didn't want Song's first time to be with a man who was only taking advantage of her.
Zuko's thoughts were forgotten as the session began. A moan escaped his lips as Tamar took him into her mouth.
He was really going to enjoy tonight.
In the Royal Palace of Shandu
Sokka woke up just after dawn with Ty Lee curled up at his side, the first rays of the day creeping in from the bedroom windows. He got up and drew the curtains back, letting the warm early colors of sunrise creep into the room. It was such a beautiful sight, and he mused, such a perfect moment. Sokka remembered the battle the day before, how they had been losing before Katara intervened; her presence had completely turned the tide(literally) in their favor, and everyone had been energized and motivated to fight that extra harder, run that extra mile to win the battle. That was a euphoric high after their victory, and when Ty Lee had come into his room to congratulate him, he had grabbed her, ripped off her clothes and made love to her. He didn't regret it. They had went on to have the best night of their lives.
He heard a deep sigh coming from the bed. Sokka turned around, seeing that Ty Lee had just awoken, and that she was gazing at his naked form. Sokka was proud of his masculinity, his set of nicely defined abs, his rippling shoulder, chest and back muscles. Bato had once told him that women liked the triangular V shape of men's back, and that showing off one's rippling back and shoulder muscles seriously turned them on.
Sokka turned his head back toward the morning sunrise, feeling Ty Lee's gaze all over his back, starting from his neck all the way to his butt. Sokka smiled. They were both enjoying views - no matter how different.
"Oh my ..."
He heard Ty Lee gasp lightly.
"Wanna go again?", Sokka asked cheekily, albeit light-heartedly, as he turned back toward Ty Lee and made his way to the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. He crawled into bed snugly, his body pressed tightly against Ty Lee's. She responded by pecking at his lips, showering him with soft gentle kisses. Both were still tired from last night, so all they wanted now was each other's presence and company. Ty Lee slowly made her way up onto Sokka, lightly straddling him, continuing her affectionate actions.
"So ...", Ty Lee said between kisses."What does this mean for us?"
Sokka gulped. He had hoped he wouldn't have to deal with that question. He still meant what he said on the ship, it was just that his desire and urges had got the better of him. He looked into Ty Lee's soft hopeful features, her adorable button nose and beautiful brown eyes. He couldn't bear to break her heart again. But he had to, he couldn't carry this on forever, and he knew that more heartbreak only awaited if he continued this with Ty. Eventually, he would have to break her heart, and the longer he postponed it, the more painful it would be for the both for them.
"Sokka?", Ty Lee tensed up and stopped her pelting of kisses, looking at him worriedly, clearly sensing his distress.
The brown-skinned man raised his left hand, cupped Ty Lee's face in it, and brought her face down gently, pulling her into a long deep kiss. He knew nothing good would come of this, and that the future would only hold more hurt and pain for the both of them. But Sokka didn't care.
Screw the future.
He thought as he plunged his tongue into his lover's mouth.
The present is far too good just to let go off.
When they finally broke off the kiss for air, Sokka breathlessly asked.
"Did you mean what you said ... about being my mistress?"
Ty Lee nodded excitedly and said jubilantly,
"Every word of it, cutie, every word."
Sokka smiled.
"Then I guess from henceforth you shall be Sokka's mistress."
A smile of pure ecstasy broke out across Ty Lee's face, and she moved in and kissed her lover, as long and hard as she could, delighted that what she had thought she'd lost 2 days ago wasn't permanent after all. She didn't mind that she would have to share him with Suki. As long as they could see each other, she was content.
A knock on the door quickly turned the atmosphere around.
"Sokka? It's me", Katara's voice was unmistakable, even though it contained concern and an emotion Sokka couldn't quite pin down. "I really need to talk to you."
Regret. That was it. Katara was feeling regret.
Sokka and Ty Lee moved as fast and agile as pygmy pumas, grabbing clothing and putting them on in double-quick time. Ty Lee dashed into the bathroom as Sokka opened the door for his sister.
"Sokka, I think ... I think I've made a huge mistake", Katara stuttered, clearly distraught about something.
"Aang came over yesterday", Katara divulged. "He told me the truth ... turns out the real reason he hasn't helped out in the war is because he's ... somehow ... his time as the Avatar ended."
"How?!", Sokka asked, demanding an explanation. "How the hell did that happen?"
"I don't know", Katara's voice had regained some of it's normal confidence. "He didn't say. But it sure explained why he haven't seen him do much bending the past few years."
Sokka looked at his sister, his eyes urging her on. They'd had such a deep understanding, nothing had to be said between them for either sibling to know what the other wanted.
"We had a fight", Katara said matter-of-factly, too matter-of-factly perhaps, as her voice was unnaturally devoid of any emotion. Katara's voice usually was peppered with personality. For an instant there, she sounded like Mai. Something was really wrong.
"I called him ... many things ... many horrid things. But I wasn't wrong was I? He's always been so possessive of me, he treats me like some trophy he wants to have all to himself."
Sokka shook his head. "Katara, Aang has always been crazy for you. I didn't pick up on it at first, but after you two got together, I realized all the signs had been there from the start. Aang loves you. A lot. He may be possessive, but that's because he can't bear the thought of living a life without you."
The older man from the Southern Water tribe looked at his sister, with a comforting look in his eyes.
"Aang doesn't want to lose you, and that has driven him to overprotectiveness and possessiveness", Sokka remarked at his own wisdom (He never known he was this good at analyzing relationships, but then again he was sleeping with 2 women)."I hope you didn't hurt his feelings too much. You're his entire world, he wants to be with you, he needs to be with you; and if he can't, it would kill him inside."
Katara said nothing for a while. A soft murmur escaped Sokka's lips.
"Oh no ... you didn't ...", Sokka shook his head in disbelief. "You couldn't have ..."
Katara, knowing exactly what her brother was thinking, confirmed his worst suspicions.
"Yes, Sokka, I basically ended it with him, and essentially told him that I don't even view him as a friend anymore."
"Katara ...", Sokka chided politely. "You destroyed him, you took away what he loved the most in this world."
He paused. "You."
Katara stood at the doorway, silent once again for a few seconds.
"I have to fix this", Katara said with conviction. "Aang said he was going to see Zuko and tell him the truth. I have to go and patch things up with him."
"Take Sticky", Sokka said forcefully. "He will get you there fastest. I know he drools a lot and likes to cover his rider with copious amounts of slobber, but he's the fastest Giant Eel Hound we've got. Go. Fix things."
Katara looked her brother in her eye, determination creeping back into her face, and then she added in a voice so low it was barely a whisper,
"You too, Sokka. I know. Just make sure you don't break the hearts of 2 innocent women."
Katara knew Ty Lee was hiding in the bathroom. She was as perceptive as her brother with these kind of things. Plus the large unsightly bulge in his pants kinda gave it away.
Sokka's face turned a deep red, guilt etched over his handsome face.
Katara continued, still talking in that soft half-whisper. "I trust that whatever decision you make Sokka, it'll be the right one for yourself. I just want you to be happy."
With that Katara left a very confused and guilty Sokka standing at the doorway.
Author's Notes: I had originally intended for Katara to go to the Fire Nation because she felt bad for what she said to Aang. I didn't intend for her to feel so guilty. But as pointed out in my reviews, Katara was quite OOC, and I've tried to correct it. And It's horrible I know, Zuko sleeping with a minor for 'a few years now' and condoning prostitution, but he has gone through a lot in the past 10 years. He's a tormented soul. Poor guy really. Plus, I really like controversy.
As for Azula producing glass, well moldavite is a naturally occuring substance, although once again I took some liberties with the exact process involved. Moldavite was formed over 15 million years ago when a meteorite hit Earth, melting gravel and sand into a glass like substance. Of course I have no idea whether moldavite would form in this scenario, but nobody knows, so I'll just put it down as an experimental hypothesis.
Ah, and the final point. The thing about females being turned on the triangular V shape of men? I watched a documentary about one's attraction to the opposite sex, and what triggers it. The same thing applies for men with the hourglass shape of women.