A/N: Damn, this is kinda fun, if a bit distracting from my other projects. Poor, poor Sokka. Getting him out of this is going to be very tricky indeed.

And I hope you all are happy with my presentation of the Dangerous Ladies. I plan to develop all three a fair bit in this, although I'm afraid Ty Lee will be rather more, ahem, exposed than the others.

Disclaimer: Well of course I don't own these characters or their universe. I just plays with them to suit my fancy, and respect all property rights held by others. Y'all can just back off now…

Chapter 4

As they made their way back above deck Mai blocked out Ty Lee's chatter. It would be the usual commentary on the claustrophobic design of navy warships, unflattering uniforms that made it impossible to assess the attractiveness or age of individual firebenders, and probably some coy remarks on the impact she had made on their prisoner. Ty Lee was so predictable. If it weren't for her phenomenal athleticism and a strange ability to perfectly placate Azula's bad temper, Mai would have ceased to pay any attention whatsoever to her long ago.

It didn't help that Ty Lee used her freedom to express herself with the princess to make sly digs at Mai herself. It was an old habit, born of their childhood years together when Azula made a practice of choosing first one or the other of her "friends" to gang up on the remainder. It was then that Mai began to cultivate the thick skin that eventually transmuted into general apathy.

Actually, it had been mildly amusing to watch the Water Tribe boy flounder about in his confusion over Ty Lee's aggressive flirtation. He was clearly out of his depth, and struggling hard to maintain some presence of mind to deal with the situation. Had she not been there as well, he might have lost his precious tribal ornament only to win the actual battle regarding communications. Because that Ty Lee would have missed altogether. Mai smiled quietly to herself.

As they emerged back on deck, Princess Azula was finishing a review of correspondence from the Fire Nation capitol. From the look on her face Mai gathered that Fire Lord Ozai was losing patience with his daughter's lack of progress.

"Well?"

Mai held up the blue tunic, still inside out. "The shirt's better than the necklace, Princess."

"Really? Don't tell me you've succumbed to watching pectoral muscles as well?" Azula sneered, but since Mai had yet to truly disappoint her she waited.

"I'm an abs girl, myself, and I'm sure I've seen better, though I suppose his are alright."

Ty Lee giggled at this rejoinder, but Mai went on. "He said his sister did the repair work on one of the inside seams."

"Did he now? And of course, if he weren't alive we'd have no way of knowing that, would we?" Azula smiled in satisfaction. "You're right, Mai, that's much better than a necklace we could have ripped from his dead throat. We must be sure the courier makes that point as well, mustn't we?"

"Ooh. I get it now. And here I thought you were just being nice to him because he didn't want to lose his necklace. Clever, Mai, very clever." Ty Lee cart-wheeled onto a cushion beside the princess. Mai settled herself more sedately on Azula's other side.

"And thanks to you for flustering him so much he gave the game away."

"One of you, please tell me he knows the importance of his little statement. I don't like his attitude."

Mai yawned neatly into her hand. "He knows. When we left him I thought he was going to cry."

Azula turned towards Ty Lee. "I gather from Mai's remark that you made your little thing for our prisoner apparent to him. Did he take it well?"

Ty Lee giggled again. "I think I surprised him, but I'm sure he'll be receptive once he thinks about it. I mean, after all, why shouldn't he?"

"Indeed. Why should a little thing like your being his enemy get in the way of true love?" Mai drawled.

Azula gave a delicate snort. "It's never love with Ty Lee, and she never cares about a man's politics. Your family would be shocked at your behavior, Ty Lee. You're lucky I'm more liberal-minded."

The contortionist shrugged. "You two have no idea what you're missing. And you're wrong; I'm very selective about the men I choose. My criteria are just different from yours. And I'm betting yours will change once you've actually spent some time with a man alone."

"Are you presuming to tell me how to choose a man?" Azula asked sweetly.

Ty Lee's eyes grew round with panic, and Mai schooled her own lips not to smile. It never paid to suggest that the princess was less than perfect at anything. Ty Lee should know that by now.

"Of course not, Azula, I'm sure your choice will be perfect for you," she assured. "But, um, wait. Won't the Fire Lord choose for you?"

"Ty Lee, you forget yourself. I take what I want, when I want it." The princess narrowed her eyes at the other girl. "And if I think he's good enough, I may decide to take your latest pet."

Ty Lee smiled uncertainly. Mai could not control the rise of one slender brow. How much of that statement was keeping the other girl in line and how much was it a warning that in fact the princess was interested? If the latter, Mai was reasonably sure it would be a first, and that did add an element of interest that had been missing. Who would have thought the presence of a Water Tribe peasant on board could prove so entertaining?

"Oh, calm yourself," Azula sat back against the cushions behind her. She gestured to one of the soldiers to approach. "By all means, do with him what you will, if you can. While you're at it, try and found out as much as you can about the Avatar and his plans. He may be more likely to talk under your kind of pressure than mine, and he's certainly more likely to remain healthier. We wouldn't want to break anything, now would we? Mai, prepare a message to be delivered with the shirt to Ba Sing Se."

Ty Lee decided to detour to the galley on her way back to the holding cells. She would check to see when Sokka had last eaten, and maybe bring him something tempting to eat as a means of lulling his suspicions against her. All guys liked good food, right?

Azula's message had not been lost on her; it had been what she had feared ever since the Water Tribe boy had been identified among their prisoners. Something about him intrigued the princess, something beyond his value as a hostage. It was unlikely to be related to Ty Lee's own simple lust, although she did think it was about time Azula showed some chink in the armor of her self-sufficiency. Mai, she understood. Mai still carried a torch for Prince Zuko, and would probably never be able to contemplate another man until she'd either humped herself silly with him or buried one of her nasty knives to its hilt in his chest.

Whatever.

But it simply wasn't natural for a girl not to feel the pull of desire at all, and while there was much about Azula that seemed, well, more than natural actually, it didn't make sense that she would be truly sexless. It then occurred to her that perhaps she had misjudged the princess. Perhaps it wasn't that the princess didn't feel desire; maybe she just didn't desire the opposite sex. Ty Lee giggled again. Another thought intruded. So maybe Azula and Mai were dealing with their own urges after all, but together! Oh dear. That would be too funny! What a pity she couldn't share the joke with someone.

Azula had a headache. And she knew why. It was that damned Water Tribe boy. He was taking up too much of her time and attention today, and she was getting far too little out of it. First it was his insolence when he appeared before her after lunch. He was deliberately antagonistic, and at first she had thought he was simply too stupid to live. But that didn't make sense.

She had pored over every report, every sighting of the Avatar and his friends. She had separate dossiers compiled on each of them, carefully annotated and analyzed by the best minds in her father's service. And she had her own observations, combined with her companions' candid remarks.

Sokka was a threat to the Fire Nation not because of his great bending – he was not a bender at all – or because of his great prowess as a warrior – he was competent, certainly, but nothing outstanding. No, his danger lay in his attitude, his intelligence, and, most of all, his ability to lay his ideas out before others. He could actually lead people.

Oh, no one would follow him out of loyalty or duty. But he had ideas, he had passion, and he was clever. He was convincing and he had the courage of his convictions.

She probably should have killed him after all.

But that was what he wanted her to do, so it was obvious that this was the one thing she could not do. And so she had a headache. He must know something more than she did about him.

Perhaps she could find a reason for someone else to die.

Sokka cursed emotional attachments, cursed being young and being male. He was sure if he had been older and more experienced he would have been oblivious to the blatant sexuality of the Fire Nation girl, or at least not so susceptible to it as to let it muddle his thinking so. If he were as cynical as he liked to believe he'd have broken the thong threading his necklace together himself and handed it to her without blinking. He could have played the corpse he aspired to be.

There would have been no absurd scuttling like a crab across the cell floor, no teasing fingers playing at his neck while he attempted to regulate his breathing and ignore the heat building in his blood. There would have been no humiliation and, more importantly, no idiotic comments on personal history that could be used against him, against Katara and Aang.

Aang. If he felt too young to cope with the demands placed upon him in this world of war, how must Aang feel – for all his century of sleep, he was still so much more a child than Sokka could claim to be. Sokka grit his teeth painfully. Princess Azula didn't appear to have any more years on her than he, and the other two as well. His inexperience and youth were no excuse. He would just have to find a way to beat them.

Sokka finally picked himself up off the floor of the cell. He was finished beating himself up for being foolish, done feeling sorry for himself. Damn it, if he had been prepared to die for his friends, then he could sure as hell find a way to live for them, or at the very least not make his death such a sorry waste.

After all, he was Water Tribe.