Chap. 37

The Fate of Hahn Part 1

Though all these substantial events happened in one night, time did not alter because of them. The hours passed, the plans were made, the celebration ended, and everyone went to bed. Everyone thought they had an idea of what was going to happen the next day. But many of them had no idea how wrong they were.

The sun had just broken over the horizon when Aang awoke. It was not an unusual occurrence; Pathnik had required Aang to arise early for his training since they had begun. And today they would truly need all that time. This was the last day they had to prepare Aang to open the last chakra. If Aang wasn't able to open it today, he wouldn't be able to control the Avatar State at time.

But as he walked to the training spot, Aang thought that today might finally be the day. His distancing from Katara had been lessening his need for her a little more each day. Even last night, he had thought of her only as a friend. It would not drive her from his mind, but it would make it easier to let her go. At least, that was what he told himself as he approached Guru Pathik.

"Good morning, Pupil Aang." The old guru said, cheerful as always. He took a last swig of banana-onion juice from his bowl, then watched as Aang assumed his meditation position. "How are you this morning?"

"Fine, Sifu Pathnik." Aang replied.

"Good, good. I have been devising new ways to aid you in the breaking of your attachments that I feel will be most helpful to you. Let us begin."

But as Pathnik moved into his own meditative stance, he paused, and then said, "Greetings, my friends! Is there a matter with which we can help you?"

"Possibly." An all too familiar voice said. Aang stiffened at the sound of it, but he still turned and looked for its source. Behind him stood Aire, surrounded by the other Knights. Each of them looked sad and apologetic, but Aang didn't let any of it reflect on his own face.

"What do you want?" he asked, as he got to his feet.

Aire answered, "Aang, I…. We want to say how sorry we all are. It wasn't an easy decision for any of us. You've been a good friend, and the last things we wanted to do was lie to you. But…. Things were just so… so complicated and we…"

"You can stop now." Aang said suddenly. Aire halted his words instantly, as a pained look began to grow on his face.

"I don't know when I'll be able to accept what you did." Aang began. "But, I've had a lot of time to think. And I understand why you did it."

"You do?"

"Yes. You were trying to protect my people in the way you thought best. Besides, we are in a war and sometimes, war forces you to do things you wouldn't do otherwise. So let's leave it at that for now."

"Um… All right." Aire said, as he gingerly took a step forward. Moving closer to Aang, he stretched out his hand to the Avatar. Aang looked at it a moment, then gave his own hand in return.

"Let's make sure this was all worth it tomorrow." Aang said.

"We will. I promise you that." Aire replied, as the other Knights nodded their agreement.

As the Knights and Aang mended fences, Sokka sat in his tent, wondering how he should do the same. It had been nearly three days since he and Azula had…. Come together, and neither of them had talked about what happened since. Granted, the attack on the factory had been a rather large distraction, but it was a issue that needed to be discussed. Sokka had been thinking on the matter for a long time, and he believed that he had finally reached a decision. But he needed to talk to Azula about it, and that meant crossing the invisible barrier that had come into existence between them.

But unknown to Sokka, he didn't have to think as much as he believed. There was a noise at his door, and when he turned to face it, Azula stood before him. The princess absently played with her hair, trying as hard as she could not to look at Sokka.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." She replied back.

"How've you been?"

"OK. I think everybody is starting to trust me. That speech I gave seemed to really help."

"That's great."

"Yeah. But…..I got to thinking… we still have stuff to talk about and…."

"I know." Sokka replied. "I was waiting for you, actually."

At that, Azula took on a sheepish look, and began to glance even harder at the floor. Sokka groaned inwardly, realizing the mistake he'd made. A silence quickly grew between them, until Sokka decided he would have to move things along himself.

"I've been thinking." Sokka said, breaking the silence. "We've kinda been avoiding each other since what happened."

"You noticed?" Azula asked half-jokingly.

"Yeah. And maybe it was the best thing, because it gave me time to think about all of this."

"And what did you think about?" Azula asked, her voice quivering just the slightest bit.

"I think…. That we should try this whole thing. I mean what happened between us was pretty…. Significant, and we should find out if there is anything more behind it."

"Are you sure that's… really what you want?" Azula asked.

"I am. But that doesn't mean I'm not scared about it." Sokka replied. "I haven't been fortunate in relationships. One of the girls I was close to… left the world, and you know what happened with Suki."

"At least you have something to go on." Azula muttered.

"What was that?" Sokka asked, just catching Azula's words.

"Um…. Nothing." She replied back.

"Come on, you can tell me." He insisted. "We need to trust each other for this thing to work."

Azula sighed and said, "The truth is, I've never had a…. relationship like this. At least not one that mattered. All the boys I was with back home were like tools. I used them to further my own needs, then through them away. It got me through school, but it didn't help me otherwise. I-I'm not sure how I know how to make this work."

But at that, Sokka merely chuckled and said, "Neither do I. Azula, there's no right or wrong way for every relationship. You just have to let it go and see what happens. Besides, I care to much about you not to accept your flaws."

"You mean that?" Azula said with a small gasp.

"Yes. And I also care enough to know that you need to get going or you'll be late for Iroh's last training session."

"Huh? Oh right." Azula muttered, her mind refocusing on the day's task. "We'll talk later then?"

"Definitely." Sokka said, as he reached over and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Azula started, and blushed a bit, then whispered a quiet goodbye and left the tent.

Azula walked through the camp, his mind abuzz with Sokka' words to her. While a part of her knew that she should try to focus on whatever kind of training that her uncle had planned for today, another part of her was awash in a strange, warm feeling. This feeling was slowly dominating Azula's mind frame, gathering more and more of her focus as she walked. As it did, Azula began to feel as though she could fly, just stop walking and hover all the way to the training ground.

He really does care about me. I didn't think he would……. But he really does. She thought to herself. I have to get this to work. I need to figure out what it is he likes, and make sure I fit them. I'll have to talk to Katara about, she's sure to know all about him. I know, I'll make him his favorite meal tonight. I'll ask Fuego to show me how to make it, after I find out what it is. Oh he'll be so happy! I'll bet his aura will be so healthy and pink and……

Azula stopped there, then smiled and chuckled to herself. She was starting to sound like Ty Lee! While that might have disgusted her before, now it just amused her. It was actually nice to feel so happy; maybe there was something to her friend's attitude after all. Still, I should probably hold back a little. After all, I'm not Ty Lee, and Mai would probably kill herself if she had to deal with two of her. I should just calm down, and take this as it goes. Sokka wouldn't want me to smother him, and I don't want to drive him off. Besides, he didn't fall in love with Ty Lee; he fell in love with me, so I've got to make sure I stay that way.

As Azula began to rethink her plan, she suddenly heard a voice call out her name. Startled, she turned and saw a small, boyish figure standing off to the side. After a moment, she recognized the figure as Smellerbee, one of Jet's Freedom Fighters. I still can't believe she's a girl under all that. Azula thought to herself as she returned the greeting and moved towards the girl.

"Hey Azula. How you doing?" Smellerbee asked.

"Pretty good this morning. And you?"

"Actually, I'm kinda having a problem. Maybe you can help?"

"OK. What's wrong?"

"It's this training. I've been working really hard to perfect my skills, but nothing is good enough for General How. He wants me to be at my absolute best, and I keep screwing up this one thing."

"What is it?"

"This fighting move called the 'wisp of the dragon.' How says it's really effective against any enemy when your cornered but I can't get it right."

"I know that move. It can be difficult, but any move involving pressure points is."

"I just can't get the right spot. I always make a mistake. I thought maybe, since you've had so much training, you could give me some pointers?"

"Well, I'm actually off to training myself, but I can still spare a few minutes."

"Great! I've got a dummy set up nearby. We can use that to spar with."

"Lead the way."

Smellerbee nodded and began to move off towards a grove of trees, Azula following. As she walked, Azula reflected on how nice it was that the camp was finally trusting her. The Freedom Fighters had been a large concern form her; she knew that they all had their own deep issues because of the Fire Nation. All of them had been hurt, and their pain ran deep. She'd wondered if they would ever truly trust her, or even acknowledge her. But it seemed that Azula had been able to earn their trust at long last, and as she entered the grove, she hoped that she could continue to earn it.

But those thoughts were not to be. For a son as Azula entered the grove, something jumped out from behind a tree and struck her in the back of the head. Smellerbee turned and watched as she fell, then nodded as Pipsqueak moved into view. The Duke and Longshot dropped down from the trees, as Pipsqueak picked up the unconscious Firebender. As Smellerbee kept a look out, the three Freedom Fighters quickly bound and gagged Azula, then slipped inside a large leather bag. Drawing it closed, Pipsqueak threw the bag over his shoulder, and keeping their eyes open, the Freedom Fighters moved out of the grove, to their true destination.