A/N – There is one positive. I think a year is the shortest amount of time that I've waited to update one of my stories.
Anyway, I've had life. That should be all I need for a reasoning for my absence.
Just recently my computer (hopefully just that) has gone capoot. I'm not gonna pay another 50 cents to ride the bus during rush hour. These two correlated together leaves me with roughly an hour and a half on Tuesdays and Thursdays to fuck with. And who knows, maybe I'll wanna work on it at my place of residence (who offer computers) because I wanna work on this more.
Since I've had some time to think about it at work.
And I've got a looooot lined up for this. It's just a matter of me being able to write it out.
So, without further adieu, here's a Sokkla chapter. Since that's probably what all you watchers are here for.
Or not.
I don't know.
None of you have reviewed.
Nothing graphic this chapter, maybe some language, but nothing else.
Other Note: This shit's gonna be third-person now. Cause I'm not a real writer or something and I don't wanna write first-person. Laziness.
After meeting with Iroh at the tea shop, and having a very interesting discussion on morality and other such topics Sokka rarely had an interest in before shit went down like it did, he and Azula were sent off. Azula had made it clear that she wished to locate Mai first. The two of them had a good number of issues to resolve, and the sooner they confront that issue, the sooner they can gain Mai as an ally, and not a scorned friend.
This is why the two criminals-to-be find themselves at a cabin deep in the woods. Iroh made it persistently clear that it was a hotspot for soldier scouts, and that they should keep their eyes open in every direction. Apparently Mai's continued living is a matter of forged paperwork and able to keep her connections open to the right people. Apparently being a member of the White Lotus Tribe has positive results even after its death.
Azula and Sokka walk up to this lone cabin, hands clasped together.
"I still think we should have waited," Sokka says.
He uses his free hand to scratch the forest of a beard residing on his face. Azula herself turns her head in his direction, causing her long locks to swish with the motion.
"And I told you that if I take long enough to do this, it will only make it worse in the end. Now stop complaining," Azula says.
Sokka mockingly repeats the last sentence, which Azula responds to by rolling her eyes. She uses her free hand to clang her knuckle against the wooden door a few times. She looks over her shoulder briefly.
"And we really need to get you shaved," Azula says.
"I beg to differ," Sokka says.
"Oh and why is that?" Azula asks.
"The minute we meet some soldiers, you'll see," Sokka says, an amused smile crossing his face
Azula purses her lips, keeping her eyes locked on Sokka for a few moments. When the door to cabin behind her opens, she turns her attention to the young woman standing in the doorway.
The two girls stare at each other. Their eyes never leave. If eyes could do battle, this would probably be the pause before the inevitable storm.
The tension is clear, and quite frankly, obvious, even to someone as clueless as Sokka. He grips Azula's hand tighter. She responds by gripping him even more so.
Out of the two females, it is Mai who speaks first.
"Your hair looks horrible," she says.
Her monotone is unsurprising, even to the unfamiliar Sokka, but there's a hint of emotion that was never there. Only someone as familiar as Azula noticed it. She takes advantage of this lapse of usual lack of emotion.
"And you look as cheerful as ever," she says, her usual sarcasm absent.
Mai narrows her eyes, but Azula continues all the same.
"Look, Mai—"
"Don't," Mai says.
She puts a hand a palm up, and Azula complies. Mai moves the hand to her face, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes.
Slowly, breath is released from Mai's barely opened lips. She opens her eyes and removes her hand.
"Get in here before they notice your face," she says.
Mai moves out of the doorway enough to allow Azula to enter. Sokka remains outside, so when the two of them make notice of the other, their only interaction comes with a brief nod. Mai closes the door, shutting out all daylight. Sokka releases some breath from his own lips before walking up to the door. He leans against it, folding his arms in front of him.
"Alright Azula. It's all up to you now, girl," he says.
On the inside of the house, while Mai makes sure the door is shut, she keeps her hand on the doorknob longer than one normally would. She stares at the door while Azula lingers behind. Standing in the middle of the room, she glances around the house. Minute trinkets linger around, all influenced by Earth Kingdom culture, no doubt in case some soldier gets suspicious.
Across the walls lie pictures of Mai, and just Mai. Her family is noticeably absent, as well as any pictures with her and Zuko. Azula takes note of this as she turns back to her former friend, who still has her hand around the doorknob.
A small whimper fills the room. Azula glances around, but soon finds its source. She looks back to Mai, narrowing her eyes. Another whimper is heard.
"Mai?" Azula asks.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Mai asks.
Azula doesn't need to see her to know she's crying. All the same, she has the unfortunate privilege of such an event. Mai turns around, and Azula can see the black make-up around her eyes is starting to leak from the tears that flow down her cheeks.
Mai uses her right sleeve to wipe around the make-up, but it does little to stop the tears.
"First, you go absolutely crazy, thinking you see your mother. Then you're sent to an asylum in an attempt to heal you. If that wasn't enough to worry me, I find out that Ty Lee declined the White Lotus invitation and is actually going to fight for the Earth Kingdom. And you know what else Azula? They sent out the Kyoshi Warriors to fight on the frontlines. They were shipped out to the Fire Nation yesterday."
Azula's mouth sits open.
"What?" she asks.
"Oh you haven't heard? I mean, you've been running around the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom with the soon-to-be Fire Queen's brother as some kind of renegades, I figured it might come up," Mai says.
"Mai, I—"
"Shut the fuck up!" Mai shouts.
On the outside, Sokka turns his head slightly. With a sigh, he moves his head back to staring into the street.
"Keep it down, ladies," he whispers to himself.
"You have no room to talk! Do you have any idea how pissed off you made me? How pissed off you're making Zuko? Or Katara? Or the entire fucking world?"
Azula steps back as Mai approaches. This is not a side Azula has ever seen, nor one she ever wants to see again.
"Of course you don't. You never have. And if you did, you never cared. That's why you used me, just like you used Ty Lee. That's all anybody ever did. My parents used me to keep their name in tact. Zuko used me as his puppet until he threw me out for that…whore. And you? You used me as your soldier," Mai says.
As Azula backs herself against a table, she finds the sword of an Earth soldier statue protruding into her spine.
"I can never forgive you for that. No matter how much you've changed. No matter how much truth resides in your claims of sanity. No matter how much you can forgive me. You've broken me Azula…broken me to the point of neutrality," Mai says.
Azula finally sees Mai's hand in her pocket. She does nothing to stop it flying towards her throat. Its wielder stops it from piercing skin.
"Give me a reason why I shouldn't eliminate this threat. That's all you ever are. And now, you've come to my doorstep. Iroh might have told me to keep you safe, but sometimes accidents happen," Mai says.
On the outside, Sokka finds himself with a finger up his nose. When he notices two Earth Kingdom guards across the street, he stops. He wipes the remains on the door, whistling a tune as a distraction. Sokka sees them pointing at him, talking amongst themselves.
Sokka beats his knuckle on the door a few times.
The message is heard inside, and the two girls cease their conversation. The knife, however, remains next to Azula's throat.
The two soldiers walk towards Sokka, who clears his throat.
"Excuse me, sir, can I ask you a question?" a younger guard asks.
"Why, yes, by all means," Sokka says, his voice noticeably deeper to the unknown ear.
"Well…I mean…I was wondering…we saw you, and—" he stammers out before the other, older guard, blurts it out.
"We were wondering if you were the famed Wang Fire," he says.
The younger guard nods, rubbing the back of his head.
"Why yes…yes I am Wang Fire. Nice of you guards to make yourself known," Sokka says, saying the last sentence louder.
The younger guard's eyes widen. His hands clasp together, a proverbial glisten shining in his eye.
"Holy crap Rund, it's him," he says.
"Yeah yeah, relax kid. Don't get your pants creamed," the one named Rund says.
"No, it's quite alright," Sokka says.
"So, Mr. Fire, what are you doing in the Earth Kingdom? I could have sworn the Fire Nation would send you out with the other soldiers," Rund says.
Sokka clears his throat once more.
"To be fair, gentlemen, I could ask you two the same thing. Believe me, I'd recognize that red skin anywhere," he says.
Both Rund and the "Kid" can be heard swallowing simultaneously.
"Relax, boys. I'm merely here on a break. I've been retired for ages now. I had a kid, remember?" Sokka asks.
"Of course. Speaking of which, how is he doing?" Rund asks.
"He's taken after his father, I'm afraid."
"How unfortunate. I would have loved to see him again. It's been a while since we had that fight in school," the "Kid" says.
"I have full confidence he'll return home," Sokka says.
Rund, almost too eagerly and before Sokka can finish his sentence, pops in with a question.
"Where's the misses, Mr. Fire? I mean, if I may ask."
"Sapphire? Oh she's inside, resting up," Sokka says louder.
Azula and Mai, having yet to move, find themselves locking eyes.
An unspoken battle is quickly determined, and Azula begins to moan. Loudly.
Loud enough for the three men on the outside to hear.
"Well…she's certainly awake now," Sokka says.
"Yeah…" Rund says.
Both he and the "Kid" scratch the back of their heads, opting not to look at their supposed idol for the first time since meeting him.
Azula's moans only get louder. She stares at Mai, a small smile crossing the former's face. The tiniest of smiles finds itself on the latter's.
"Hey…um…Mr. Fire," the "Kid" says.
Mai, finding this situation too easy to avoid, despite the situation she is currently in, pipes up.
"Oh, Sapphire!" she says, deepening her voice to sound more masculine.
"Yeees?" Sokka asks.
He turns his eyes towards the "Kid". He quickly retracts, keeping his mouth shut.
"I…I think someone might be in there with her. If you get my drift…" Rund says.
Both Mai and Azula continue there moaning for a bit. Sokka, turning his right hand into a fist, puts on a clearly fake smile.
"Excuse me boys, I'll be out in a few minutes," he says.
Using his left hand, he opens the door, quickly slipping inside in before slamming the door shut. From the outside, all we can hear is the shouts.
"What the hell is this?" Sokka shouts.
"Oh, Wang!" Azula shouts.
"You're husbands the great Wang Fire?" Mai asks.
"He's clearly not that great," Azula says.
"I can't believe you! How dare you have the audacity to do this!"
In all actuality, both Azula and Sokka are in the middle of the room, free to maneuver as they please. Mai peaks past the curtains of the window.
"This is just so like you, isn't it? You inconsiderate little slut! I swear, I'm gonna kill you both! I'm gonna grab my sword and I'm gonna—!" Sokka continues.
"They're gone," Mai says.
"Oh good," Sokka says, significantly quieter.
Mai moves herself to join the other two, placing the knife back in her pocket. Sokka looks to Azula, who has her eyebrow raised.
"What?" Sokka asks.
"What, pray tell, are you going to do to your darling wife Sapphire Fire, Mr. Wang Fire?" Azula asks.
A smile is littered across her face, with a chuckle just barely avoiding a release.
"Uhhhh…" Sokka says.
A brief pause follows his thoughtful statement. This is then followed by the three of them sharing laughter amongst each other.
Eventually, things die down. The three quiet down, leaving only the known presence of silence. Just because they know the feeling of it, doesn't mean it isn't any less tense.
Mai looks at Azula, who reaches her hand out, searching for her other's. Sokka finds it, and grips it tightly.
Mai just stares on. Eventually, she shakes her head, a smile gracing her lips.
"I just can't believe it. The Bitch of the Fire Nation and the Hero of the Water Nation. I would never had guessed," she says.
"Neither would I," Azula says.
She looks at Sokka, a smile making itself known. Sokka locks eyes with her, a smile of his own appearing.
Mai sighs, and looks down to the floor, her friendly smile fading away.
"Look…Mai…for what it's worth," Azula begins to say.
Mai looks up to Azula.
"I'm sorry. For everything. I'm not going to act like what I did was due to insanity, because it wasn't. I knew what I was doing. And that's why I'm sorry. I was…a horrible person. In a way, I guess I always knew. It just took me seeing somebody else's perspective to realize it," she says.
Mai lets her smile return.
"I meant what I said. I will probably never forgive you. But…for what it's worth…thank you," she says.
Azula looks to Sokka, who nods. She then looks past him at the presence of her mother. She had barely noticed her, but at the same time, could feel her unwanted gaze. Azula only looks for a moment, and in that moment, sees her mother nod.
Sokka lets Azula go. She walks up to her ex-friend, and opens her arms up.
Mai just looks on, before shaking her head.
"You really have changed," she says.
She walks up, wrapping Azula in a hug. The latter responds in kind. Sokka just stares on, a smile gracing his lips.
Eventually, Azula lets go. She turns around towards Sokka.
"So…" she says.
Sokka's smile quickly turns into a frown.
"No," he says.
"Wang Fire, huh?" Azula asks.
The well-known and signature smirk rears its ugly presence, and in that moment, Sokka knows he will never let that topic reach its closure.
A/N: So there it is.