A/N: Well, with a new semester my attention must return to my studies, so don't hold your breath waiting for updates on this. My schedule is hell and I don't want my family to forget what I look like, so I won't be spending much time playing with this fluff piece for a while. My apologies. On the other hand, if the muse does happen to bite me hard enough, I will have to respond just so I can pay attention to other things!
And now we have another "encounter". This one of a different stripe.
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 7:
This time, when the door clattered open he didn't bother feeling surprised. Having run out of productive things to think about, Sokka was wondering if the water spilled from his first encounter with Ty Lee would be dry before the remaining sauce staining the floor from the second encounter crusted over. It was obvious no one was going to provide cleaning services. There had been a lot of water, so it appeared to be a pretty even match-up.
He assumed the opening door was either bout number three with the Fire Nation Girl or his jailors remembering he was merely human, with the usual calls of nature to address. The timing seemed about right for the latter, given what little routine had been established during his time of incarceration.
So he was surprised after all when the firebender in the doorway tossed a loosely-wrapped package at him without warning.
"Two minutes. The princess wants to see you."
-the hell? Sure enough, a grey Fire Nation undertunic lay within the wrappings. It was, of course, too large for Sokka's frame, although he was pleased to see he wasn't that far from filling out the shoulders reasonably enough. Maybe his appetite was finally keeping up with his growth rate enough to give him some bulk along with height. Okay, then. What could this be all about?
A long straightaway, jog to the left and up a stairwell. Two more straightaways, jogs in alternate directions, with one four-step climb (what was that about, anyway?) in between, and the longer set of stairs that led finally up on deck. Sokka looked around. The sun was at that point in the afternoon sky in which it seemed to hesitate the longest, etching the cleanest lines and the boldest colors. But Her Highness was not situated on the dais from his earlier meeting.
A shove and Sokka moved as indicated towards the central tower. A dizzying climb of four flights and he was pushed out onto what he assumed must be the command deck. Certainly the view from this expanse was commanding. He caught his breath as he caught himself on the railing overlooking a view of the bay, the surrounding mountains and, in the far distance, a haze in the sky that Sokka had learned to associate with the accumulation of a city's many cook-fires, etc. – the city of Ba Sing Se.
"It's nothing compared to the view I have from my balcony at home." Her voice was acid over his shoulder, and uncomfortably close. With a gesture, a brazier to her side sprang to life.
Sokka made a mental note of the princess's definite flair for a dramatic entrance.
He shrugged. Maybe he was raised on an iceberg, but he'd climbed glaciers, fished among the sea's titans, and he was willing to place the southern cosmic lights against Fire Nation vistas or fireworks any time.
"Yeah well, you should probably go home then. Some people find the rest of the world a bit, I don't know, maybe overwhelming? Home is more… comfortable." That was good, he thought. Don't let her think she was dealing with a total rube.
That glorious afternoon light made her amber eyes glow, and he thought what a betrayal it was to the rest of nature to make the predator so beautiful.
And then he decided it was probably just a trick of the light. Light and dark, the constants in life. The inordinately long stretches of these constants available at the poles offered many suitable opportunities for contemplation during non-sleeping hours. She is the tiger-seal, the skua-bear, the orca-shark. I've hunted them all and brought back my kills. This is just another hunt.
And an answering voice in his gut responded, this time, though, you're not the hunter.
The hiss of in-taken breath was almost a snarl. He counted it a win on his side.
"I see pleasantries are wasted on you. I suppose you're wondering why you're here?"
"By all means, let's waste time on pleasantries." Sokka forced himself to relax his stance, leaning on the railing as if he were on a luxury cruise instead of a prison ship. "I like this time of day. Speaking of which, I'm kinda partial to sunlight and your cells don't get much. I'm thinking a change of venue is called for." He turned his back to the railing, resting his elbows and smiling blandly into those eyes. Oh yes, they were wholly predatory, but he couldn't help but think he caught something else there.
And Azula wanted to laugh out loud. It wasn't stupidity – it was calculated arrogance! He was fully aware of her potential for killing him and had decided it was a risk he would accept. Marvelous! And the boy's strategic importance began to rate less than her determination to beat him down.
"Trust me, I'm not stupid like my brother. Your preferences are not my concern, and your mockery is wasted." She hadn't really meant it to come out as a purr, but if he heard it as such, well, it wouldn't really matter.
"So now we've both wasted something. All right, Princess, I'll bite. What am I doing here?"
"I want to share with you my speculations. You see, I expect you to comment on them, and based on your reactions I will decide which of my speculations are the most likely," she smiled sweetly at him.
Sokka shook his head ruefully, maintaining his posture against the railing. "You're all completely insane, aren't you? I can have no possible desire to help you, and yet you people keep making absurd suggestions. You made more sense to me when you talked about killing me."
"Then I don't need to remind you that I still may do so. It's up to you," Azula took up a position further down the railing lining the command deck. "And, of course, on my mood at the time."
He eyed her carefully. He felt himself at a crossroads here. So far, he had been attempting to convince the princess that he was no more than another follower of the Avatar, the one who 'was along for the ride'. By now, he thought, it was probably pretty well known that his only reason for being anywhere other than the South Pole was his connection with Aang, with the Avatar. And that was merely based on his having found the darn kid with his sister. And, if he were wholly honest, it was only because he was with his sister when she found him.
He ignored the reality that his decision to try to liberate Aang when Prince Zuko first took him away from the South Pole was made independently of Katara, that he had stood by the young monk against odds that scared him shitless, and that time and again he'd placed himself in danger, all for an ideal that honestly he'd never really believed in to begin with. But there it was. He wasn't one of Aang's bending teachers. He was just his friend. In all that meant. It was none of the world's business if that meant sometimes doing Aang's thinking for him. It was only sometimes, after all. It was unlikely that he was generally perceived as anything special on his own. So Sokka had believed he was always the least likely of targets.
Of course, it was this rationalization that their whole anti-hostage strategy had been based upon. The fact was, it should have worked, if the world really believed that the Avatar's friends' value rested purely on his relationship to them.
Poor Sokka. It had never occurred to him that he might have value on his own merits. It did, however, occur to him that Princess Azula had already discounted the stupid sidekick act, and she had demonstrated on several occasions how her mind turned towards deceit. Perhaps it was time to play a straight card.
"But it's not going to work that way, is it? Because I only care about stopping you, and your only interest in me is how I might be used against Aang. Fine, then. Speculate all you want, and draw what conclusions you may from my reactions. You'll have to decide for yourself how much you can trust them." His heart was thudding in his chest, but he held her eyes without wavering.
"No more games, then? Now, I knew you were a clever boy. Oh, my threat wasn't idle, you know. I like killing people."
"Yeah, well, somehow that doesn't exactly surprise me. If there are no more games after all, I guess I'll be going now. Oh, and thanks for the shirt," Sokka pushed his elbows off the railing, his eyes already looking for the guard who had first led him here.
"Not so fast. Surely you don't think I'll let you go that easily?" The corner of her lips drew up in a smirk. She found herself actually enjoying his attempts to control this encounter. How many layers of deception was he capable of, anyway?
"I can always hope, can't I?" he muttered.
"So, here is my first assumption. The Avatar will attempt to rescue you in a stealth operation. With a tiny force, he'll find his way on board at night, when he assumes the patrols will be lighter. He will sneak down to the holding cells, and liberate you, all without raising the alarm until it is too late, flying away on that sky bison." She ignored his comment, although his effrontery was beginning to amuse her.
Sokka snorted. "But of course, in fact you'll double the guards, although you'll hold them at bay until he reaches the cell, and when he gets there… Ah, right, it will be empty."
"Oh, I'm beginning to think I like you after all, water boy. Where are you?"
"That's easy. I'm dead. I've only been alive this long because you needed convincing evidence to lure Aang to a rescue. You got that today."
This time Azula really did purr. It had, in fact, been her intent to kill Sokka tonight. Ty Lee had gotten her kiss and Sokka was right; she was sure he served no particular purpose anymore. "Actually, I'd planned to triple them, since one wouldn't want to underestimate the Avatar or his other companions."
"Triple, quadruple, whatever," Sokka shrugged, ignoring her silent confirmation of his own death sentence. "Aang took out a whole Fire Nation fleet. I'm not worried about him handling this barge."
"Even at the risk of your life?"
"I'm already dead, remember?" He smiled pleasantly. "If I can figure that out, surely the others will also."
"Perhaps you won't be. Perhaps I'll chain you to the bow instead, in full view of all comers."
Sokka rolled his eyes. "Oh please, so much drama. You don't get it, do you? Oh, never mind. Do whatever. You will anyway."
The hesitation was slight, but he caught it before she palpably sighed, "Don't make me tell you again, I'm not stupid. You think that because it is likely that I'll kill you now your friends will assume a rescue attempt is futile anyway and so won't make one. You imply that my holding you is a waste of effort. But if I really believe that I will kill you, and you don't seem bothered by that. So… that means you know something you don't want me to know, and it's worth your life to keep me from learning it. But you're too arrogant not to let me know you've figured out my strategy. And that makes me curious to know what else you're thinking. So perhaps I won't kill you after all."
"Great. Now, about that change of venue." She'd figured it out, damn her. Well, best to continue to play as if nothing she said or did mattered to him.
"You're trying to distract me. Shall I run another scenario by you?"
"Whatever. I admit this is more entertaining than sitting in that cell and talking to myself." He yawned ostentatiously.
"Oh, I too am quite entertained. Is it your intent to amuse me or to infuriate me? Do you think, perhaps, that you can charm me? Dear Ty Lee finds you quite charming." Azula deliberately trailed her gaze from his eyes down his form. She was rewarded by a faint blush stealing up his neck.
Sokka's muscles tensed as he forced himself to remember how he'd already worked out the likelihood not only of Azula's awareness of her lackey's actions but of her complicity in them. He had no need of embarrassment. He clenched his teeth behind his smile briefly.
"Yeah, well, Water Tribe charm is famous. I've only been blessed with a modest share of it myself, so really I wouldn't dream of trying to charm you…" and I think I'm going to choke on the very thought of it!
"Careful, Peasant. You don't want to offend me now. After all, despite your efforts to convince me you are indeed worthless, and your willingness to provoke me with your mockery, I do believe you didn't lie when you said you had no death wish. You still hope to live."
"There is that thing about hope, you know. It's tough to let go of." This time Sokka's smile was that crooked grin that he was barely aware of, and all the mischief and self-awareness and unacknowledged pain of his brief life, combined with that half-admitted truth about Water Tribe charm – which had somehow convinced his sister to wash his truly nasty-smelling socks for years – gave a light to his eyes that caught Azula like a broadside.
"Forget it. Except that it would please me to make you watch as your friends, your sister, are put in chains beside you, I would kill you as you stand." Her tone and words were harsher than she had initially meant, still struggling with the unexpected effect of that smile.
"I could have sworn you said you liked me." The sulkiness of his tone was belied by a glint in those odious blue eyes.
At that she chuckled outright. Azula had been wooed for too many years at her father's court to be impressed by a fine figure or handsome face, and wealth meant nothing to her since she could command whatever she wanted. Power was, she thought, the only thing that could intrigue her, and so she had kept her eye on the rising stars within her father's legions. Now she found herself acknowledging that there may be other kinds of power. After all, her original assessment of this young man still held true. He was, indeed, dangerous.
Sokka was used to playing comedian without applause. Her smile was as frightening as anything she could have done to him, although a part of him would have admitted he was playing for recognition of the joke. What he did not expect was that she would have any kind of sense of humor at all. Of course, it was not like she'd outright guffawed. Well, she wouldn't, would she? She was a princess, bred to a higher level of refinement than the rest of them. Sokka drew upon his memory of his last private encounter with royalty, with Yue, and tried desperately to draw some instructive parallels. Ah hell. There were none!
All he could do was try to put the laugh in the context of his earlier vision of the predator. She was playing with him. His job was not to attempt to save himself, but just to minimize the damage set up by the current situation. Perhaps, he could even counteract it. Of course, that would take extraordinary luck.
Sokka hated relying on luck.