Author's Note: Sorry it's been forever since I've written anything. I've taken up some new hobbies that have been keeping me busy. This chapter is an introductory chapter to Sokkla Saturdays 2023. Thank you so much to the talented goatbazaar for the lovely artwork! And thank YOU for reading my story :)

Fantasy

"Okay, she's down. She's finally down," Zuko slurred through a listless smile. "So just to go over everything one more time – "

"Zuzu, we've got it," Azula insisted. "Just go to bed. You look dreadful."

She wasn't wrong. The Fire Lord and new parent as of two months ago looked absolutely sickly with his slumped shoulders, disheveled hair, sallow skin, and bloodshot eyes. And his wife didn't appear to be faring much better, though, Sokka supposed it was harder to tell with Mai, who generally had a wan, lackluster appearance.

"Diapers, powder, and clean clothes and bedding can be found beneath the changing table, her favorite toy is the, uhh, what's it called again? You know, the, the, red weasel snake – "

"Fire ferret," Mai corrected her husband.

"Right, um, she likes lullabies, silly faces, oh and the wet nurse will be in every three hours to feed her, so you don't need to worry about that – did I mention her favorite stuffed animal is – "

"Yes!" Toph groaned. "Go to bed! Seriously, Mai, make him get some sleep."

Mai nodded, ducking beneath Zuko's arm to drag him away. "Come on. Let's get you to bed."

"But what if – "

"Izumi will be fine."

"Have a good night!" Aang called after them. "Sleep well!"

And just like that, the oddest group of four was left alone in the palace dining room to tackle the baby night shift and give the new parents a break. Suki and Ty Lee were still active bodyguards, so they were out of the baby care equation, and while Katara so desperately wanted to help and bond with little Izumi, Aang was not too keen on letting his heavily pregnant, ready-to-pop-any-moment wife risk any additional stress, knowing their own sleepless nights were just around the corner.

So that just left Sokka, Aang, Toph, and… Azula. It wouldn't have been so awkward had it not been for Azula. Sokka knew he'd be delightfully gabbing the night away with his old friends if it were just the three of them. But no, Zuko had insisted Azula join them, and in all fairness, she did have the most experience caring for baby Izumi. Somehow, despite everything, Zuko trusted her. Even Suki trusted her for some mysterious reason, not that Sokka talked to his ex-girlfriend much anymore, but even though she once loathed Azula with a fiery passion, Suki agreed that Azula had changed and had become someone worth trusting. The world was full of enigmas.

Azula, as if she could read his mind, got up and left the dining room without excusing herself, Sokka presumed to use the bathroom or something.

"Whew," he exhaled audibly. "That was uncomfortable."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked.

"You know… Azula being here."

"The only one here who's uncomfortable is you," Toph chuckled before blowing some stray hairs away from her face.

"Really?" he asked incredulously. "So now you're all cool with her all of a sudden?"

"I hate to break it to you, Snoozles, but the war ended a decade ago. Azula's not the same person she was back then. None of us are!"

"She's right," Aang nodded. "I've forgiven her and moved on. And I think you should try to do the same. Who knows, she might surprise you!"

Aang. Always the optimist.

"She definitely surprised me at Zuko and Mai's wedding!" Toph grinned. "She was fun!"

"She was drunk!" Sokka insisted vehemently.

"Same difference."

Sokka scoffed.

"Look, just because you're forced to be in closed quarters with your ex doesn't mean you need to be all sour grapes – "

"This has nothing to do with Suki! We broke up ages ago – "

"Oh, don't mind me," Azula hummed, casually strolling back into the dining room, a novel tucked under her arm. "Please feel free to carry on about… whatever has gotten you all so riled up." She sat down at the head of the table, away from the rest of the group, crossed her legs, and began pouring over her book.

"We were just talking about…" Aang forced a smile. "…baby stuff!"

"Aang, for the love the Spirits, no!" Toph moaned emphatically. "Between Zuko and Mai and you and Sugar Queen, all I ever hear about is babies, babies, babies."

"Oh man oh man, I cannot wait to be a father!" Aang beamed, excitedly bouncing up and down in his chair. "Okay so between you and me, I'm hoping for a, ah who am I kidding, I don't have a preference! I can't wait to meet my son or daughter, to play with them, to feed them, to introduce them to Appa. Oh! I wonder how Appa will react! Anyway, we have names picked out for both, oh you guys are gonna love the names we chose – "

"Make him stop, make him stop!" Toph wailed, kicking Sokka not-at-all subtly under the table.

"Yeow! Cut that out!" Sokka rubbed his sore shin before reaching into his bag and pulling out a quill, some ink, and a piece of parchment.

"Oh great, so you're just gonna leave me to listen to all this baby talk alone while you… scribble?!"

"I'm not scribbling, I'm practicing my drawing skills." He started sketching the Water symbol, just like how Iroh taught him during one of his philosophical rants about how all the elements were connected. "You all said I needed practice, so…"

Toph started snickering. "Remember when you tried drawing Appa?"

"Oh, come on, you can't even see!"

"I don't need to be able to see to know that it sucked!"

"Don't forget his portrait of us," Aang teased, joining in on the laughter. "You know, you never told us why you drew Suki firebending…"

Azula looked up from her book for a brief second before returning to the pages.

"I-I don't know!" Sokka cried out of frustration. "It was a long time ago and I thought it looked cool, okay? I know I'm a lousy artist, that's why I'm practicing!" He drew a box around the Water symbol and then moved on to sketching that of the Earth. "It's not like you two are so great at everything you do."

"Are you kidding me?" Toph sneered. "I'm awesome! At everything!"

"Not at seeing…"

"Oh, wow, that's original."

Sokka turned his attention to the airbender. "And you're not as good of a dancer as you think you are!" He worked his way to the next element, Fire, which he drew right below Earth.

Aang went from laughing hysterically to dropping his jaw.

"How dare you say that about Twinkle Toes! He's got the fanciest feet out of all of us!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Geesh." Sokka sighed. "I just want to practice my artwork in peace, if that's alright." Finally, he sketched the symbol for Air just beneath Water, outlined with a box just like the rest of the elements. He was just about to connect them all when Izumi's piercing cry made him drop his quill.

Sokka and friends looked up at each other, startled. Azula closed her book.

"Okay, so who wants to go first?" Toph asked.

"That's a great question," Azula said, standing up and walking over behind Sokka, unnerving him.

"What are you…"

"Why don't we make it interesting?" she smirked, reaching over Sokka's shoulder and grabbing the quill. In a swift motion, she drew a perfect circle around the four elements, and then quartered the circle with a horizontal and vertical line. "Let's spin to see who tends to the baby." Then she pulled the decorative pin from her top knot, allowing the black silky waves of her hair to cascade down her shoulders, and placed the pin in the center of the drawing.

"Ooh, like a game!" Aang smiled eagerly. "Sokka goes if it's Water, Toph if it's Earth, Azula if it's Fire, and me if it's Air. How fun!"

Azula placed her hand on the pin, but Sokka stopped her by placing his hand on hers. "Just so you know, Azula, you are now creating four different timelines." While he was mostly messing with her, part of him thought about all the different possibilities that could occur with each outcome.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I am, Sokka."

He let go of her hand and she spun the wheel of elements. Around and around it went, until it finally settled on…