Wow for the first time I topped the 2000 words mark with this chapter. Again the memorys of Azula and the actual events are mixed hope it isn´t too confusing. I really tried my best to make up some fun in character banters between Sokka and Azula hope you like it. Read and Review

"I have a surprise for you." Sokka said with a smile while he was going towards his igloo.

"I thought we wanted to eat now?" Azula asked him.

"We will", Sokka replied, " the suprise has something to do with that. How long you have slept since I found you?". Azula shook her head "I don´t know maybe half a day, maybe more.".

When they arrived at the entrance of the igloo Sokka stopped and looked at Azula with a coy smile. "Let´s just say it was enough time for...", and with these words he pushed Azula into the igloo, " DELIVERY BOY SOKKA to bring you fire nation food.". Inside was a table full with the best the fire nation cuisine could offer. There was firefish, cow hippo curry, spiced noodles and chocolate with fireflowers for desert. Azula couldn´t believe it, she had not had food from the fire nation for over a year. How she hated that unseasoned food she had to choke down in the earthkingdom. "I hope it hasn´t got cold by now." Sokka said with a winning smile. "You know, " Azula began to speak, "this has to be the most kind and wonderful thing anyone ever did for me. I don´t know if I ever said this to someone but thank-you Sokka, really thank-you." by the end of that sentence Sokka could swear he had seen at least one tear on Azulas face. "Wow to hear that from a princess who once had a whole nation dedicated to serve it sure means a lot." Sokka was stunned he hadn´t expected such strong words from Azula especially after the way she had behaved earlier. However his stomach denied deeper thoughts and as neither him nor Azula had something to say right now they just sat and began eating. After the first bites of delicious cow hippo his stomach stopped making noises so Sokkas thoughts were free to roam again. But they soon found something to dwell on when he noticed Azulas eating manners. Funny how he never noticed this before but she had a very distinctive way of eating. Unlike him she did not just choke anything in her reach but picked every piece of food carefully with her chopsticks and guided them to her mouth. Seeing her delicate fingers grasp around her chopsticks, her lips so untainted of any food particles it was so elegant,precise. It seemed like the perfect motion, Sokka had to gulp and a sexy motion too. "Why are you staring at me Sokka?" Azulas question interrupted Sokka´s thoughts panically he searched for an adequat excuse. " I was, err just thinking, eerr of what to eat next. And I came to the conclusion I want to try the firefish." so Sokka hastily picked a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. To his dismay the fish was already cold, "Aww no the fish is cold , I knew it.".

Azula smiled and picked a piece of fish with her fingers "Try this one Sokka." she reached over the table. To Sokka´s suprise that piece was warm and he realised that Azula must have firebended to heat it. "You know I said this before but sometimes firebending really comes in handy." Azula laughed about that comment and prepared another piece for Sokka. It wasn´t until Sokka had ate that piece too that they both realized what they were doing, she was feeding him with her fingers and upon that thought both blushed furiously. Embarrassed both were looking at the food, the ceiling , everywhere but each other. No word was spoken until Sokka finally tried to break the ice that had come so suddenly between them. "So Az-zula why don´t you continue your story while we eat." that would be a good idea he thought, they would both be distracted from this discomforting moment. "Yeeah-yeah," Azula responded everybit as confused as Sokka, " that would be a good idea.".

After staying in the inn for some days Azula finally concluded she had to leave her room and explore Ba Sing Se. All these days thinking about her future had lead to nothing and roaming the streets of the city and getting a rest sounded like a good idea. She had been in Ba Sing Se before but being there as a conquerer staying in the royal palace or living in an inn as a refugee was something completely different which became more and more obivous upon walking through the streets of the lower ring.

Never before had she seen such masses of poor people, never before had she experienced a smell as bad as here and certainly never before had so many shady figures tried to hit on her.

"Ok,ok stop dudes tried to hit on you?" Sokka was laughing at that thought, "Like, hey baby where you´re going? Or like ,yeah babe shake that thing, when your passing bye?". Azula raised a brow, "What are you trying to say? That I´m not drooling material?" she sounded angry.

"No,no,no I don´t mean that.", Sokka stumbled, "I would totally hit on you, errr I mean if I wouldn´t know you, I mean not that knowing you is a turn off. I mean...". Azula laughed she just loved to get Sokka out of his comfort zone, "It´s okay Sokka I´ll just continue the story, okay?"

"Yes please...", was all Sokka muttered, knowing that right now he damn sure not knew what the hell he meant when it came to Azula.

While walking through Ba Sing Se Azula became the feeling that she was followed by someone, so she changed directions several times and passed more crowded places. However she could not shook off the feeling that she had an pursuer and it certainly wasn´t one of the flirting type. Never to be one who feared confrontation Azula walked into an empty alley and waited for her pursuer to reveal himself. To her suprise he did so behind her not in front of her as two fist shaped rocks came from behind. Azula managed to evade the attack and face her adversary. "You´re a Dai Li agent what do you want?" the man smiled at that comment and approached Azula cautiously. "I was a Dai Li agent but now I´m just someone who´s about to get some good money for catching the former princess of the fire nation. And don´t think about firebending. You are in the middle of Ba Sing Se I don´t think it would do you good." the man had a tone to his voice that Azula just knew too good. A tone showing the speaker knew he was in a superior position, arrogant, full of disdain, cheerishing the suffering he was causing. Not long ago it was Azula who had spoken in that way now for the first time in her life the roles were reversed. "What are you going to do with me?" she asked her voice trembling slightly. The man started to laugh "Well there are many ways I can cash in on you. Surely some brothel will pay a hefty sum for a princess but there is also the possibility of selling you to the highest bider who wants to repay you personally for the war. You see I´m really not sure.". Azula used that moment of distraction and stormed at the man. He tried to hold her off by shooting more rocks at her but Azula jumped over them and dodged from a wall to land graciously in the back of her opponent. With one swift move she swept his feet off the ground and before he landed on the ground kicked him in his back to distance herself from him. "You shouldn´t overestimate yourself even without my bending you are no match for me." having regained her confidence Azula tauntet her defeated opponent and walked by him slowy knowing he did not pose a further threat. But that short moment when he had her actually believe that he was in command still bothered her.(A/N note that you as the reader get more information than Sokka does. Azula is of course not recounting every second and thought. Especially when it comes to passages about self doubt it is safe to say she omitted these.) Azula knew she had changed since she had been banished. She had been anxious about her destiny and her thoughts were more troubled than ever before. But when did she lose her confidence and her believe in her power. She recalled giving up her armor of fear towards Sokka. However she had been her usual ruthless self when interacting with others especially dumb fire nation waiters. And more than that even when being around Sokka she

didn´t feel weaker than usual or less self-confident it was quite the other way around. Not having to hold up the image of being in command all the time actually made her feel even stronger. Maybe not being with him made her weaker? Azula deemed that very thought foolish, there had to be other reasons. Then it came to her she was feeling weak because she hadn´t accepted her fate. But after all her banishment was real and there was nothing she could do about it. Now instead of wailing about it all the time she had to acknowledge her situation and make the best out of it. She had seen how coming to terms with his situation had strengthen Zuko even to the point he had managed to defeat her. Azula smiled "Maybe there is one advice of Zuko I should actually follow." with this in her mind she went to a barber. Of course when she started a new life she wanted to do it with style.

"You know I would never just chop my hair off with a knife like Zuko did.", Azula told Sokka, " That is just so cliché.". Sokka laughed "So that´s why you have the new hair cut and because Zuko cut his hair during banishment too you said he gave you a styling tip." Azula nodded in affirmation. "And I have to say", Sokka continued, " that I rather like your new hair style. It looks really good.". Azula blushed a bit but Sokka didn´t noticed that although he was gazing at Azula. Her dark brown hair reached no further than her shoulders, her bangs perfectly framing her face. She still had a part of her hair knotted back in a pony-tail but like the rest of her hair it was much shorter than before. On the day Sokka found her in the boat she had her hair open and it looked rather unruly but since she had been awake the first time she had it styled properly and the result just amazed Sokka. Back then when she still had long hair she had looked like the teenage girl the still had been then but her new hair style made her seem much more adult. In front of him wasn´t the teenage girl he had bantered with a year ago it front of him was a beautiful woman and that thought made Sokka very uncomfortable.

"You know Sokka I really like my new hair style I think it makes me stronger." Sokka was surprised about that statement. "I never thought of you as weak, you´ve always been strong Azula.".

"But I lost all my power since the banishment and that started to get into my head in Ba Sing Se." Azula responded dryly.

"You know Azula strength and power are too seperate things. One can be powerful and weak or humble and strong at the same time. You may have lost your power as a princess but you are still the same strong Azula you have been all the time. And when you say that you feel even stronger then that makes me really nervous.". Azula smiled and leaned towards Sokka whispering in his hear "As if I´m not making you nervous enough already...". Sokka blushed furiously and it felt as if all his blood was flowing in his head. Why the heck was it so hot in hear, this was the south pole it was supposed to be cold. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" he managed to press out and stormed out of the igloo.

When Hakoda walked by the igloo of his son he saw Sokka putting his head deep into the snow crying because of the pain, inhaling deep for several times and then going back into his igloo. Hakoda smiled inwardly, "Ahh to be young again...".

Now if you have no idea how Azulas hairstlye looks now take Ninjatic´s pic of Azula (named Azula hotty hot hot) from deviantart. It just a tad shorter than in the pic. Looking at the pic really makes you understand Sokkas troubles XD