Warnings: References to sex (not graphic if at all); out-of-characterness

Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender. Not Mine. Never will be.

"How...how did you find this?" Azula asked the man in front of her. The man who she once fell in love with, the man who was the father of her child. The letter which was thought to be lost forever was right there in front of her.

"Ty Lee," the princess called out. "If something happens to me, you're to send that letter to Sokka."

"Don't talk like that Azula," the brunette told her, "you're going to be fine and so is the baby."

"Ty Lee I mean it," she was in labor and she needed Ty Lee do this for her.

"I will. I promise you." The woman then looked at the second sealed scroll. "What about this one?"

"That's for the baby, when the child is of age."

Sokka looked at her, "It was in my bedroom."

"Well it's not true--"

"The hell it isn't," he retorted harshly. "I'm Tai Shan's father!"

Just then the door to the princess' room barged open, it became apparent to Azula and Sokka that everyone had been eavesdropping from behind. It all happened so fast and it was quite a surprise to everyone. The Fire Lord's heir swiftly walked up to the Southern Water Tribe Chief's son and took a swing at him, hitting him on the jaw.

Mai, who rarely raised her voice, questioned her husband. "Zuko what are you doing?!"

Zuko ignored her though, "You bastard! I ought to kill you!" He pinned Sokka against the wall, holding him by the neck with his forearm, ready to suffocate him. Sokka struggled to breath, but not really fighting him. "Do you know what she went through?!"

"I would've never left if I had known!" Sokka retorted. Katara began to walk toward the two men to help her brother, only to be stopped by Aang shaking his head conveying that they shouldn't interfere yet.

"Zuko let him go now!" Azula finally stepped in between her former love and her older brother, pushing them apart from one another however Zuko wasn't finished as he grabbed Sokka by the collar of his shirt, ready to take another swing at him.

"No!" he yelled. Azula huffed, annoyed that the boy still couldn't control his temper.

"Zuko! This is my fight, not yours! This is between me and him!" she reminded him. "Besides, you don't want the Water Tribe after you for the murder of the Chief Hakoda's only son and first born, do you?"

The Crown Prince of the Fire Nation had no choice but to grant his little sister's wish. "This isn't finished," Zuko told Sokka before exiting followed by his wife.

"Sokka," Katara sighed in relief, knowing that his injuries were minor. Now, though, she had a bone to pick with the prince for striking her brother. She went to him, without being stopped this time, to heal his injuries. Sokka was thankful for his sister's ability to sooth his pained face. That bastard son of Ozai's sure could deliver a punch.

Ursa looked at Azula and then to Sokka. She couldn't help but feel relieved to find out that the father of her grandson was Sokka. Iroh though looked like he already knew this because he didn't look at all surprised by the news. She wondered though why he kept it a secret from her.

Ty Lee had a smile on her face. She hadn't known it was Sokka, but she was relieved to realize that she was wrong and the father really wasn't Hahn. Haru looked dumbfounded.

The Avatar and the Bei Fong heiress seemed to have mixed emotions. Aang was shocked to find out that Sokka was the father; and Toph didn't think that Zuko would go that far. Katara, now knowing she's aunt, stared at Azula with rage.

"If you could please leave us," Sokka told them. Katara looked at him with disbelief, and it was obvious in her eyes that she wasn't going to oblige to his request. "I need to speak to Azula alone."

Toph tugged Katara by the arm, who growled at the princess. Aang, Iroh, Ursa, Ty Lee, and Haru followed suit.

The room was thick with tension.

Everything made sense now to Sokka. Why Azula couldn't name the child after Ozai or even Azulon; because naming Tai Shan after the former would've most likely angered Ozai's spirit considering he would never accept a descendant of mixed and "inferior" blood, and he himself--after all Sokka didn't want his child to bear the evil man's name, and the same was with Azulon. Sokka's voice was hoarse as he stated to her, "You lied to me." Again. "About everything!"

Azula would not feel guilt for she too was angry, she retorted harshly, "And you didn't have faith in me! You believed me when I said I had lovers; you believed it when you thought I slept with Hahn! Do you really see me that way Sokka? Do you really see me as an immoral woman that gives herself to any man so willingly, so easily?"

"Well I don't know you at all!" Sokka replied.

"No, you don't! I thought you had known me better than that, but you don't!" she screamed at him. Tears streamed down her face. "Who did you think you fell in love with Sokka? Because you certainly didn't fall for me. Because if you thought the woman who you fell in love with would do that, then it wasn't me."

"I didn't think the woman I loved would hide this from me either!" he reminded her, knowing that he hurt her by saying he didn't know her at all. "Why Azula, why did you not tell me?"

"You're the one who left! You're the one who couldn't forgive me, the one who was angry at me, the one who hated me. The one who told me that you didn't want to be with me anymore," she reminded him.

"I would have stayed...had I known..." Sokka told her softly, but still angry. "I would have came back..."

Azula inhaled, "I know...and that's why I couldn't do it. That's exactly why I didn't tell you."

"What?!" Sokka asked furiously.

"I didn't want you to hate me even more than you already did," she began, "you would've hated me more had I told you. You would've resented me--resented us. And I couldn't take the chance of you resenting our child."

"I would never," he told her earnestly.

"Why are you so furious when I did you a favor?" she asked. "I set you free from all of this."

"That wasn't right," he told her. "Azula we're getting married."

"No!"

"Yes! It's the right thing to do! For our son!"

She snapped at him, "I gave birth to Tai Shan when I was hadn't even reached the age of 16; I raised him since the day he was born; and for the past seven years he and I have been fine without you and without having to marry! So no, I refuse to marry you!"

"Fine. But I demand that I get joint custody of Tai Shan."

"No!"

"Yes! He's my son too!"

"You will not take my child from me!"

"Don't make me take this up with your uncle."

"The hell he gets Tai Shan!" Zuko yelled. "Uncle please reconsider! He barely knows the child, and Tai Shan barely knows him! He wasn't even here for anything."

"That wasn't his fault, nephew." Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully, "However we need to see if Tai Shan will be all right with Sokka alone. Because you're right Prince Zuko, Tai Shan barely knows Sokka and vise versa."

Azula stormed out of the room in tears. Her nightmare, her fear of losing her son had come true. She ran to Tai Shan's room, wanting to spend every minute with him possible before he had to leave her.

Ty Lee and Mai came in when Tai Shan fell asleep. Azula was looking far off. She chuckled painfully, "I didn't tell him because I didn't want him to marry me. It was obvious that day he left the Fire Nation seven years ago, he didn't want to be reminded of me. So when I found out, I decided to allow him to remain free."

Ty Lee looked at her friend with sorrowful eyes, "But Azula you could have been a happy family years ago."

"He would have married me," Azula continued, "that's true. But it would have all been out of obligation. He would have hated Tai Shan because he would be the reason Sokka had to remain tied to me."

"You know that's not true. That doofus could never hate Tai Shan," Mai reminded her.

"He would have hated me...he would have had Tai Shan; I would have had Tai Shan...but there would be no Sokka and Azula...We would be a broken family. Parents who didn't talk to one another; parents that hated one another. That's not a life I wanted. I didn't want him to stay because he was obligated; I didn't want him to marry me because he felt like it was an obligation--because it was the right thing to do. If I had told him, there would be no us."

"He's obligated to his child Azula," Mai told her sister-in-law, "And besides, you could have probably worked out a system since you didn't have to marry him back then."

Azula looked at her friends, "Back then, if he had asked me to marry him, I wouldn't have had the strength to say no."

"He loves you," Ty Lee whispered.

She shook her head, holding her sleeping son close to her, "No. How could he love me when he doesn't even know me? I am not the woman he fell in love with."

"Yeah you are," Ty Lee insisted, "He knows you, he's just confused about all of this." Without even having Sokka to vocalize his feelings to tell her this, she knew. His aura gave off a feeling of confusion, but he wasn't utterly lost. After all, he knew what he was getting into when he fell in love with Azula. Someone like Sokka may forgive someone for the past mistakes a person committed, but he never forgot about them. Princess Azula, the daughter of the late Fire Lord Ozai was someone you did not fall for without having an internal battle.

Katara observed her brother as he kept muttering profanities under his breath. "Sokka would you like some tea?"

"No thanks."

She frowned and planned on saying something to raise his spirits when Toph barged in and said, "Hey! Why so gloomy Snoozles? Congratulations you're a father! And Katara you're an auntie!"

Katara glared at her, for comments such as those, did not belong in a serious situation like these. She was correct though, she was an aunt. Sure Aang and Toph would be an uncle and aunt too, but she's the only one who would earn the respective title by blood. Aang who had followed Toph gave Katara an awkward smile.

"Guys..." Sokka began. He appreciated what his friends were doing for him but he really needed to be alone. Unfortunately for him, the girls wouldn't allow it. Sokka sighed in exasperation however at least Katara hadn't left to attack Azula since it was apparent that she wanted to strangle the princess for this omission. However, Azula's the mother of his child, so sooner or later they would have to resolve their issues.

"What's wrong with you?!" Toph finally yelled to the Avatar's surprise.

Sokka growled, "The woman I love lied to me!"

"What else is new?! So what? Get over it," she told him unkindly. "I mean this is a typical thing when Azula's involved, everyone knows that! Besides she didn't lie to you."

"She kept my son from me," he reminded her. "That's a big deal Toph!"

"Sokka," Aang finally spoke. "What Azula did, again, was wrong. But you get to spend time with Tai Shan. Why are you dwelling on the past when you should be looking forward towards the future?"

"That's right," Toph added. "Good job Twinkle Toes. Meathead you can't mope around forever--get over it. You're starting to act like Katara--"

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?!" Katara interjected, yelling at her younger friend.

"It means you hold grudges, it means you dwell on the past like your brother's doing right now, it means--"

"I do not hold grudges!"

"Jet--"

"Hey!"

"Zuko--"

"Hey!" Katara growled but she knew that Toph had a point. "And what's wrong with holding onto the past? It's not like I'm allowing it to take over my life!"

"No! But it's taking over your brother's life!"

Sokka stood up and sighed, "Because the past was so much easier, so much simpler. I was a naive fool happily in love with a woman who felt the same way--or so I thought."

Toph wanted terribly to punch the idiot in front of her, only to have Aang prevent her from doing so by placing his hand on her shoulder, calming her. He whispered comforting words to her, leaving her frowning but at ease.

The summer would soon be ending, and Sozin's comet would arrive. The Avatar had finally learned all four elements and was ready to face the Fire Lord. Two lovers enjoyed the calm and quiet night alone together. The woman laughed at her man's idiotic joke and he joined in because he was happy that he was able to make her laugh. Their friends didn't appreciate his jokes like she did. Then again, the woman wasn't great at telling jokes herself. So in short, they were both pretty pathetic when it came to telling jokes.

Not as horrible as the boy's sister's jokes though.

"Azula aren't you cold?"

"No," she chuckled.

"Well don't you have trouble seeing? There's no moon tonight, and I can barely see!"

"Fine," she used her firebending to light a small bonfire for them, since their campsite was a few feet away. "You're such a baby."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"What makes you then Princess?"

"A princess of course," she laughed, and rolled on her back her eyes not leaving his. "No. It just makes me the girl in love with a baby."

Sokka, still lying on his stomach, smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Azula closed her eyes and returned the kiss. Afterwards the conversation became more serious.

"Are you scared?"

"No."

"You have faith in him don't you?" Azula smiled.

"Yeah I do. Aang won't let us down," Sokka smirked. "Don't you have faith in your student?"

"Aang will do fine," Azula lied. "As long as he has you, Toph, Katara, Appa, and Momo he has everything." To Azula that was true.

"And you," Sokka added. "Something is bothering you though. Is it your father?"

"Yes," Azula answered, surprised she gave in so quickly.

"He's not worth it Azula. He's the one who abandoned you. He's the one who branded his own daughter a traitor. You don't need him. He's scum."

Azula turned her head away, "I guess..."

"Hey come on...everything will be fine in the end, you'll see."

Azula grabbed him by the collar and kissed him. "Sokka in case we don't make it out of this fight...in case we don't survive...I wanna make our last moments together special. This is war, there's no guarantee that we'll both survive or that either of us will survive."

"Azula don't talk like that," he sat up and pulled her to him, embracing her. "We'll be okay. We're going to make it through this."

They kissed again, but this time it was more passionate and more urgent. Their actions soon led to something more, consummating their relationship. Though that wouldn't be the last time; it was only the first of many before the following week came, when they had to face the Fire Lord, did it cease.

Azula believed with all her heart that the Fire Lord would win, therefore knowing her time with Sokka would be short; she believed that the Fire Nation would win and their relationship would cease. However Azula lied to herself and told herself that it was all right, because she was leaving this kind of love for another--for her father. Blood was thicker than water (literally) right? So she gave herself to him, because she wanted to. Before he died, she wanted to give herself to him wholly. Which she did. However things did not turn out as she had planned.

"What's the matter Azula? Hoping that Daddy would allow you to keep your boy toy? Does he even know what his princess was doing with a 'lowly peasant' such as myself?" Sokka bit our harshly without restraint or remorse. Azula never hesitated, but this one fight they had, she did. "Did you think that if you win, he'll allow you to keep me as your slave? Hah over my dead body."

Those words though stabbed at the heart that everyone thought didn't exist in Azula. She wanted to tell him it wasn't like that, however she was too prideful; and it was a war. Instead Azula smirked, hiding her pain. "Just because I have to kill you, doesn't mean I don't love and respect you. Don't take it too personally. Now die!"

"Never say die."

"Ty Lee how did he get that scroll?" the princess demanded.

The acrobat answered, "I don't know. I thought it was lost forever. When the doctors told us you would survive, I found the scrolls gone."

"And I forgot about them. I wondered what happened to the other one though."

"The one meant for Tai Shan?"

"Yeah. I wrote it to him in case I died."

"You've known all along," Ursa accused.

"Nonsense," Iroh told his sister-in-law. "It was only a hunch."

"And you kept silent about this hunch?"

"Of course," the Fire Lord told the dowager princess. "I didn't need another reason for Azula to be angry and to hate me."

"So this was all to save yourself?" she joked.

"Yes," he laughed jokingly.