A/N: Thank you, all of you, who have encouraged me to continue this to me amusing little perambulation into what might have occurred last season without wholly throwing this season off course. I've made huge assumptions, and totally recast Sokka's role to fit my own ideas. As for the Dangerous Ladies? Thank god cartoon characters can't sue for libel!

Disclaimer: Perhaps at this point I've changed the characters, etc. enough to be exempt from copyright law… But, since I'm STILL claiming nothing in the way of rights or remedies, I'm sure we don't need to go there…

Chapter 16

Ty Lee stretched her arms above her head in accompaniment of a huge yawn, catching the attention of those already seated on the dais. Sokka pretended not to notice the way her position thrust her breasts into prominence, ostensibly keeping his focus on his nearly empty plate and licking his fingers.

Although her eyes were still hooded in transition between sleep and wakefulness, Ty Lee noted the thoroughness of Sokka's tongue across those long fingers. Her mind instantly brought forth images of the last time she saw him eat, his fearsome kiss, and the latent strength of those fingers and what he might do with them... Her knees buckled and she was glad she'd already found her place at the table. Her natural grace prevented her from obviously collapsing. At least, she hoped that was how it appeared.

Sokka shifted his weight to his other leg while he considered how best to deal with the three dangerous ladies, together before him for the first time since each had made it clear to him that she harbored interests in him unrelated to her cohorts. Sokka had started to think of those interests as possibly incompatible with each other, and thus as an opportunity for him. Seeing them together again, he wondered if perhaps he had been unrealistically optimistic. After all, while Mai had admitted that Azula knew nothing of her keeping his boomerang, Azula had to have known that the weapons expert had sought him out last night. And Ty Lee had made it quite plain that Azula sanctioned her approaches to him, in the interests of keeping Ty Lee "happy".

So should he now acknowledge Azula's two colleagues in light of those different interests, and what impact would that have on Azula's decision to keep him alive? And that, he suddenly realized, was probably a stupid question. No one's goals ultimately mattered but Azula's, so he would be an idiot to shift his attention elsewhere when Azula was present.

He did, however, allow his lips to quirk a lop-sided grin to acknowledge the happy little wave Ty Lee threw his way as she engulfed a pastry from the tray.

Azula herself appeared to have finished eating, and he wondered if she would consider it a nice added humiliation to give him the other girls' leavings as well as her own, or if he had already pissed her off too much. Too bad. That pastry looked particularly appealing as Ty Lee's lips closed over it.

And Sokka pulled rein hard on his thoughts as he realized that the little thrill that had attended Ty Lee's eating was not so much anticipation of gastric pleasure but rather an anticipation of something else that had shot straight to his groin. Damn the girl! Did she do that deliberately?

Azula had been speaking in a low tone to Mai, who nodded as she poured out three cups of tea, maintaining her customary bored expression. As Azula's eyes turned towards her cup Mai shot a quick look at Sokka, a look he didn't miss.

Okay. Azula wasn't talking to him anymore but she wasn't quite done with him either.

Time to shake things up again.

"So, since you all are busy I'll just take a little walk around the deck. You know, I've never actually spent much time on one of these ships before and I admit I'm kinda curious. I mean, I've flown over them often enough but generally we've been too high to get a real sense of them. Of course, after Aang was done with Zhao's fleet there wasn't much left to see." He spoke conversationally, acting as if his statement didn't include several references designed to gall his listeners. It had amused him to lapse into the role of a guest rather than a prisoner with Azula; it put her off-balance and she didn't expect it. He suspected that keeping Azula guessing about him was the main thing keeping him alive.

As for the other girls' reactions, well, Ty Lee clearly ignored the prisoner thing when it suited her purpose. Mai didn't seem to care one way or another, except as how to use it to get him to teach her how to throw a boomerang.

As he turned to step away his guard stiff-armed him to a standstill, keeping a firm hand on Sokka's shoulder even as he tried to shake it off. With a sigh, he returned to his previous position. Apparently the guard had fairly distinct ideas as to how a prisoner should behave.

"Okay then. Somebody please come up with another idea, preferably one that doesn't involve pain or discomfort for me," he wagged his fingers at the table in mock remonstrance. "Not that I don't trust you or anything, but girls can be cruel from time to time."

In his peripheral vision he thought he saw the guard's shoulders shake ever so slightly. So did that mean that maybe the guy had a sense of humor after all, or was he just shocked at Sokka's gall in assuming such a teasing tone. Why, a suspicious mind might even believe he was flirting. Yeah, Sokka finally admitted it to himself. He wasn't just acting as a nonchalant guest, he was flirting. But, he told himself, it was only, and explicitly, for its shock value – although obviously Ty Lee would take him quite seriously indeed.

That idea still appalled him, on many levels. But he was also ready to admit that a part of him was fascinated by the possibilities it presented, and not just because it opened up a potential avenue for escape.

All three sets of eyes were now fixed upon him. Ty Lee's sparkled with mischief, and there was now no trace of sleepiness in the grin plastered across her features. Mai's expression was studiously blank, her dark eyes betraying nothing. As for the Princess, Sokka was reminded yet again of the lynx-wolf – there was something distinctly predatory and feral in those hooded golden eyes and slow, hard smile.

Sokka repressed an urge to shudder.

"He likes the fresh air. Don't you, peasant?" Azula crooned. "And he finds his accommodations below deck objectionable. Apparently privacy is underrated in the Water Tribes. Perhaps he'd rather bunk with the common soldiers. Tell me, Mai, didn't the captain say it was a bit crowded down there?"

The other girl merely nodded. Mai wondered if the conversation – if you could call it that – would devolve as it had the day before into a series of threats on Azula's part and acidic assessment of their effectiveness, feasibility, and, on occasion, "ick factor" from Sokka. Almost like a pair of children spatting with one another across the garden wall – children who would rather argue with each other than talk companionably with anyone else.

"Trust me, Handsome, you're much better off in your cell than with the soldiers," Ty Lee dared a sidelong glance at Azula, sure she had read the other girl's intent correctly but a bit hesitant to take too much verve from Sokka's audience with the Princess. After all, it was this cocky attitude that had attracted her to him - almost as much as his exotic good looks. "The captain doesn't allow the men much in the way of shore leave, you know, and I'm afraid a pretty face like yours might bring on more trouble than you could handle."

Azula enjoyed watching the dark skin of the Water Tribesman pale noticeably as he absorbed Ty Lee's meaning. For once he was almost speechless. Almost.

"I'm not pretty."

"No love, not really, but it's all relative, you know? Don't worry," it was Ty Lee's turn to croon. "I'll take care of you."

"Words cannot describe my relief."

Azula caught Mai's eye, lids actually crinkling in genuine amusement. Sokka had recovered quickly, and watching him balance keeping Ty Lee interested without actually accepting her patronage was a lesson on male pride. Knowing Ty Lee, both assumed Sokka would succumb in time. Mai greeted the prospect with a certain relief – Sokka had assumed too prominent a place in her own thoughts and putting him back in the pigeonhole of one of Ty Lee's amusements would do much to restore her own internal calm. Azula felt herself on the fence – she wanted Sokka to prove more than a match for her sultry friend, even if it did mean she would not get the information she wanted from him. She had not yet acknowledged this desire in herself.

Sokka turned his attention back to Azula. "Very funny, Princess. I suppose I should also be relieved that you're more worried about my … virtue than you are about the possibility of me managing to sneak out of the barracks. I guess that says something about Fire Nation discipline and priorities." His voice was cool again, the bantering tone gone. "Of course, just what it says is anybody's guess." He added under his breath.

"I don't give a damn about your virtue, peasant. Frankly, I don't give a damn about you at all. You've mistaken your importance in my eyes." Azula gave a wave in Ty Lee's direction, as if to suggest that Sokka lived merely to keep Ty Lee amused.

Sokka's lip curled and he cocked a brow at her. "Fine. So what did you want with me this morning anyway? We've already figured out the many ways you could kill me and my friends. You've declined to enlighten me as to, um, Fire Nation virtues and no, I don't count getting my hair almost frizzed and parted by your ability to throw lightning around as a virtue. We both know I've got nothin' I want to say to you and you claim not to care what I might say anyway. Seems to me we're just wasting time."

Yep. Dangerous as it was to play word games with any one of these three one-on-one it definitely stepped things up when they were all together. Maybe he was better off back in that cell. As long as they lit that damned candle, that is. He didn't relish spending the day alone in the dark with his own even darker thoughts.

And while Sokka seriously doubted that any of his captors would be better company – no, wait, in some ways any of them alone would actually be more entertaining – it did seem more likely that he would actually learn something of value as long as he was anywhere besides that damned cell. Still, his blood pressure would probably never recover from the stress. Of course, he wasn't that likely to live long enough to worry about blood pressure, now was he?

"Your thinking is too pedestrian to imagine how I might find value in how I spend my time," Azula responded. But, of course, he was right. At this point she was hard-pressed to think of an excuse to keep him here. But since she was a princess, she didn't need any excuse. Annoying as he most certainly was, Azula could think of no better way to ease her mind as to the possibility that Sokka held some important secret than to keep watch on him herself, personally. And that, she told herself, had been the real reason she had directed that he be brought out on deck during her morning exercises. She could observe him without lending to the occasion any undue importance. It had nothing really to do with impressing him as to abilities - her position alone should have been sufficient to cow him into submission; but it certainly didn't hurt to show him how easily she could dispatch him herself. Of course, the little pissant seemed to enjoy the demonstration without actually internalizing the lesson! How incredibly annoying he could be!

Yet, while he was annoying, he was also quite… stimulating.

If Ty Lee had been a cat, she would have been rhythmically tucking her claws into the cushion beneath her, kneading it in a viscerally satisfying expression of her own comfort with how things appeared to be going with Sokka.

Azula was certainly interested in him, but that interest seemed predicated on intimidating him to bow to her will. Since Ty Lee suspected he would find it a matter of pride not to knuckle under, the two of them would be at loggerheads until Azula either struck him dead out of frustration or he wised up and caved. As for Mai, she was back to ignoring Sokka completely, no doubt seeing him as nothing more than a blip on the routine of her day. All of which fit in nicely with Ty Lee's assumption that Mai's night-time interview with Sokka in the weapons room was in aid of Azula's purposes. So Mai's interest would not likely interfere with hers. In any case, Ty Lee figured she had at least another day in which to enjoy the Tribesman's company. Assuming, that is, she could find a way to get him alone again. In the meantime, it was nice to have him standing there before them, even if he was scowling.

Mai considered the distribution of weight in Sokka's stance as he stood with arms crossed on his chest, the fingers of one hand drumming on his forearm. She thought she detected a tension in the muscles of his calf, although she couldn't be sure since his calf was encased in obviously very-forgiving leather. Something told her that Sokka's boot would have been very carefully fit to him, no matter the pace of his growth.

The academic in her idly wondered at the availability of cobblers at the Poles.

The warrior in her wondered if that tenseness was a prelude to some foolish attempt at attack or escape. She appraised the guard's stance, reasonably satisfied with his alertness, but shifted her own position anyway such that her arm would have no impediment in releasing steel should the need arise.

"Are you recovered enough from your injuries to get some exercise?" Ty Lee asked. She had remembered his insistence on a change of scene before indulging her in any further amorous pursuits. Now was as good of a time as any to broach the subject; he was already out of the cell and Azula actually seemed to be in a fairly good mood.

Three pairs of eyes widened in surprise. Possibly a fourth set did as well, but this was less apparent behind the face plate of the helmeted guard.

"What?" She asked innocently. "He said he wanted a walk, and he's been in that cell recuperating pretty much ever since he got here. Why shouldn't he want some exercise?"

"Why should we care? He is the enemy." Mai sighed. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't need to be in tip-top shape to meet your needs, Ty Lee, and it would probably better serve the Fire Nation if he were physically incapacitated." Mai kept Azula's face in the corner of her vision. Actually, she was very curious to see how the princess would respond to this bald statement of fact. It had made sense to give Sokka sufficient medical care to get him mobile enough to walk to the ship after the battle, given his value as a hostage and bait. And certainly Ty Lee's infatuation was sufficient to explain keeping him reasonably fed. But if Azula was keeping him alive merely to indulge Ty Lee, why did she bring him out of his cell this morning, long before anyone could expect the acrobat to be awake? Perhaps she'd get a clue to an answer from this exchange.

Sokka had been asking himself the same question, and he looked with interest as well for Azula's reaction. Mind you, he found Mai's frank statement regarding his situation rather disconcerting. That all three girls looked upon him as something of a toy to placate Ty Lee's sybaritic appetites was highly offensive. His sense of personhood was frankly shocked, and his male ego struggled between being flattered at the attention and outraged at the assumption that he had no choice in the matter.

It did not, on the other hand, surprise him much that Mai would make the assertion. The girl's attitude showed a careful blend of indifference to the world in general and deference to the princess. He had decided, based largely on Mai's apparent desire to wield his boomerang and corresponding willingness to seek him out for lessons without Azula's active permission, that this attitude was in fact a mask. But he had no real idea of what lay beneath the mask.

"Really, Mai, you give him too much credit. Ty Lee can stroll with him on deck if she wishes; it's not as if he'd have any chance of getting away," Azula waved dimissively, mentally glad that Mai had spoken first, giving her a chance to consider her response. She honestly felt secure in Ty Lee's ability and loyalty to her, so Sokka would not escape and affording him time on deck would do no harm. She calculated that it would do his ego more harm to treat him as Ty Lee's pet than as a true prisoner, which should offset any benefit he might receive from such limited freedom. And best of all, he would know it was all at her hands to control.

"Oh goody! Come, Handsome, I'll show you the trebuchets – I know you'll like that!" Ty Lee leapt from her cushion over the table and off the dais to land neatly at Sokka's side, clutching his right arm at the elbow before he could do more than startle slightly backwards. The guard looked at Ty Lee, then at Azula for direction. Azula looked pointedly at the pair and nodded. He followed discreetly as Ty Lee led a shocked Sokka away.

Mai followed the little grouping with her eyes briefly, then returned her gaze to the princess.

"You're not worried that he might find a way to influence her? She seems rather badly smitten this time." Mai asked quietly. She was intrigued by Azula's unwonted slackness. Even given her tolerance for Ty Lee's antics such flexibility was rare to see indeed.

"You think so? I thought you found the Tribesman unappealing," Azula welcomed the query as an opportunity to find out just what Mai might have discovered from her own time alone with Sokka the night before. She had noted that Mai had not provided a written report.

"He is, I suspect, rather more devious than Ty Lee imagines. As for his attractions for her, well, you've heard her yourself." Mai congratulated herself on side-stepping Azula's question as to her own assessment of those attractions. She still wasn't sure about that herself.

Azula gave a rather unladylike snort. "Of course he is! The Avatar's lemur is more devious than Ty Lee can imagine! But that has never been a problem before, so why should it now? As for his ability to influence her? Well, that's where our dear Ty Lee's denseness comes in rather handy, isn't it?"

Mai wondered briefly how Azula spoke of her, remembering again less-than-gentle pranks Azula and Ty Lee had played upon her when they all were much younger. She rather thought that Azula underestimated Ty Lee's perceptions even as she overestimated her loyalty. Then again, she seriously doubted if Ty Lee would jeopardize her position with the princess over a mere infatuation.

"I don't presume to advise you, of course. The prisoner has, I believe, rather more fortitude and cleverness than most. There is also something akin to our code of honor in him. If you wish to break him, that may be your best avenue of approach." Mai herself trod a narrow path, finding herself oddly disinclined to say too much about her perceptions of Sokka, yet determined to continue to serve Azula well.

Azula eyed Mai narrowly for a moment, trying to assess the girl's words against the guardsman's report from last night's training room. She had been a bit surprised to learn that Mai had allowed Sokka access to weapons, that the two of them seemed to have engaged in some kind of competition that had apparently ended in something of a draw. The guardsman's report was woefully lacking in detail, but it had actually been Mai's willingness to extend such freedom to Sokka that had decided her on allowing his perambulation around the deck with Ty Lee. She trusted Mai to weigh risks and benefits carefully and make the right choice. She was, however, a bit surprised at how little had seemed to emerge from Mai's risk play.

But then again, perhaps her friend had done better than she thought. Azula had assumed Sokka's actions would be entirely tied to Water Tribe affiliations. Sokka would certainly be willing to die for the sake of Water Tribe goals which would include, by extension, Avatar goals. But Mai seemed to be implying that more than mere associational ties would bind him. A code of honor?

Now that did open up intriguing possibilities!