Sokka got ready that morning as quickly as he could. Dinner with Suki last night was great, but nothing really happened between them. They basically just chatted, it had been six months since they broke up, so they have a lot to talk about. He had forgotten how fun it was to be around her, however, he realized, what he used to feel for her when they were dating was not there anymore. He still loved her, of course, but not in that way. Sokka wasn't sure about the other girl's feelings, he didn't know if that dinner was an excuse to try to get back together with him or if she just missed spending time with him. He really hoped it was the last option, because the last thing he wanted was to lose her friendship. He really wished he could read girls better… And talking about girls, he had a new issue... Azula.

Even though Azula didn't show any sign of annoyance when Sokka said he was going out with Suki, he wanted to clear things up for her. He knew things with Azula wouldn't be easy. Yes, she had changed in certain way, she didn't want to destroy him or his friends anymore, but she was still the same schemer, manipulative, and slightly crazy princess he always knew. And she was his best friend's sister! But that shouldn't be a problem, since Aang did it first with his sister. Sokka made a disgusted face, then sighed. Like he and Azula were anything like Aang and Katara… His reasonable side was screaming at him to let this go, he would clearly get into trouble, but how was he even supposed to do that? He couldn't even stop thinking about her. And right now the only thing he wanted was to make sure the Princess understood that there was nothing between him and Suki… And maybe to make out with her in her bedroom before her morning's duties. Sokka couldn't help but smile at that thought.

When he arrived at Azula's room, she was already all dressed up for the day. She was wearing her armor and her hair was in her usual topknot with a golden crown. She was on her desk, writing something.

"Good morning, Princess…" Sokka said, smiling.

She quickly shut whatever she was writing on and put it aside.

"Oh, it's you…" She gave him an indifferent look. "Let's go, Zuko said my mother wants us all to have breakfast together..." Azula rolled her eyes. "Not that I mind getting there late."

"I see…" Sokka started. "Can we talk first?"

Azula frowned at him, looking confused.

"What do we have to talk about?" She folded her arms.

"Listen, last night… Suki and I… it was just dinner, okay? She asked me out again, when you were talking to Zuko, and I couldn't say no, because if I did, you know-"

"Why are you even telling me this?" Azula cut him off, irritated.

Sokka swallowed. He thought she would be happy to know about this. She was clearly interested in him, right? She was the one who kissed him first! And then, she kissed him back in the woods… She had even asked about his relationship with Suki! Azula wouldn't do something like that out of curiosity. He couldn't be wrong about this, could he?

"Uh… Because I thought… you might have thought I was getting back together with her…" Sokka said, nervously now.

Azula shrugged and frowned at him. For some reason, the way she was looking at him terrified Sokka, not because she had a scary look, but because she was completely indifferent. It had weeks since the last time she had looked at him like this…

"I don't understand, why would I care about your personal life? Now let's go, I have a busy day..." She said, as she started walking to the door.

Sokka groaned and simply held her by the arm.

"What are you doing?" Azula glared at him.

"What are you doing? Why are you acting like this?" He frowned at her, confused. "Like nothing has happened between us…"

Azula's eyes widened at him, and then he could almost hear she gritting her teeth.

"I don't know what you're talking about, peasant." She growled.

Sokka sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe you're doing it again… It's just like the first time you kissed me. Seriously, are you going to pretend that nothing happened again?"

Azula took a deep breath.

"We just kissed…" She muttered.

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing, Sokka! It was a moment of weakness, okay? I was frustrated and injured. That's all. Now let me go." She growled and started walking to the door once again.

"Wait." Sokka placed himself in front of her.

Azula only stared at him with a death glare. But before she could even realize what was happening, Sokka simply cupped her face and pulled her to kiss. The Princess' first reaction was to widen her eyes, but after a while she felt her whole body melting and an inexplicable urge to kiss him back. But, no! What was she doing? Last night she had told herself she wouldn't let this happen again, she couldn't simply give up and let him have control over again just because of another stupid kiss. Azula pushed him away abruptly.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" She yelled at him, her eyes were burning with hate, but her cheeks flushed. Sokka backed up a little, looking at her almost scared. Maybe he went too far… When he looked at her, he didn't recognize the girl staring back at him. Actually, he did recognize her: she was the Azula from three years ago, full of hate and disgust for him. But back there she was just an enemy, he didn't really care about how she felt about him, however now… "Do you really think I would be interested in someone like you? I'm the Princess of the greatest nation in the world and you are a mere peasant. And, don't come saying you aren't really a peasant because you are a son of someone I don't know or care, it doesn't change the fact that you are inferior to me in every way. I mean," She stopped and laughed a little, staring at his startled face. "You're so useless not even your friends want you around them, how else would you end up here with this ridiculous guard job? I really hope you succeed at this undercover job, because then you will finally have done something useful!"

Sokka was looking at Azula, puzzled. He couldn't believe she was actually doing it. A part of him was hoping she would start to laugh and say it was a joke, she had a weird sense of humor after all. But she didn't, she just kept looking at with in that cruel way. He swallowed as a horrible pain in his chest increased. He wanted to say something back to her, to say that he didn't only save her life once, but also he helped her when she needed it, more than once! She should be the first to admit he was nothing but useless! He wanted to scream so many things at her, but for some reason he was frozen. He didn't move or say anything.

So Azula finally broke the silent, "Will you let me go now?", she asked icily.

And he only muttered, "As you wish, Princess."

Azula thought the moment she saw she had hurt Sokka just like he had hurt her, she would feel a lot better. So when he looked at her and said those last words in a way she could clearly see the pain and shame in his eyes, she thought that the horrible feeling in her chest would immediately go away. But it didn't. And what really shocked her was that it only got worse. She felt a horrible urge to apologize the second she saw Sokka's scared and hurt eyes. She wanted to say she was so happy he wasn't back with that Kyoshi girl… But she couldn't do it, could she? The problem wasn't if he got back with that other girl or not, the problem was the power he had over her. Her feelings for him were taking the best out of her. She had no control anymore, and she couldn't simply let this happen. So, even though Azula couldn't understand why she was hurting even more now, she knew that was the best thing to do.

When they finally get to dinner room, where they were supposed to have breakfast, everything was a mess. Zuko was talking to some guards in a corner of them room, Ursa was next to Noren talking apprehensively to Iroh, and Kiyi… Well, Kiyi was the only one eating her breakfast happily at the table.

"Good morning, Azu!" The little girl shouted at Azula with her mouth full.

Azula replied distractedly before walking towards Zuko.

"What's happening here?" She asked directly, folding her arms.

Zuko faced her and sighed.

"Things in the capital are getting worse…"

"Well, fill me in…" The Princess demanded.

"Well, people who already hated to see me in charge of the Fire Nation are taking advantage of the situation to spread chaos and terrorize the citizens that actually support me… They say they are only trying to track down the assassins, but that's clearly not what's been going on." Zuko stopped, looking at Azula a little unsure. "Meanwhile, other people keep spreading hate against you…"

Azula just shook her head.

"People really like to see us as rivals, don't they? But after so much time, we can't blame them..."

Zuko rolled his eyes.

"There was an assault to this inn in the periphery today. Someone set it on fire… Anyway, I have to go there."

"I'm coming too."

"What? Are you insane? Didn't you hear what I just said?" Zuko asked her, irritated.

"As far I know, it's just as dangerous for me as it is for you. So, yeah, I'm going." Azula said, shrugging care freely.

"Azula, no."

Less than an hour later, the Princess, her guard and Fire Lord were in the royal caravan, arriving at the capital. No one had spoken a word since they left the Palace, mostly because Zuko was too annoyed with Azula for coming no matter what he said, but also because Sokka hadn't dared to say anything to the Princess after what happened in her room. He didn't even know what to think. Why would she even do something like that? Did she actually enjoy seeing him suffer? Probably, she was crazy after all. Sokka felt his stomach twist as he remembered the things Azula said to him.

Azula was the first one to leave the caravan when they got there. When Sokka was leaving it, Zuko hold his arm and simply said, "Don't leave her alone." Sokka nodded, rolling his eyes. He could be mad at her, but he was still her guard...

Azula wasn't really used to go to the peripheries, actually she didn't even remember going to that place before. It didn't look as great as the rest of the capital. The houses were smaller, and the streets narrower... That place would probably be horribly crowded in normal days, but now the streets were almost empty and the few people around looked scared. The inn that was attacked wasn't on fire anymore, but it was completely destroyed. The owner was desperate talking to some guards, but the minute he saw Azula his eyes grew widen.

"YOU! This is all because of you!"

The Princess jumped back, a little startled, then she just narrowed her eyes at the commoner. But before she could say anything, Sokka was already between her and the man.

"What are you doing?" She muttered.

"My job?" He answered, not bothering to look at her.

"She is the reason! They did it because of her!" The man was talking to Zuko now. "But I never said a word against her!" The man cried. "Well, I may not think she deserves the life you gave her, your majesty, but I never said I want her dead! It's not fair!"

Zuko just sighed. "Don't worry your loss will be refunded, I will make sure…"

Azula rolled her eyes as she stopped listening to her brother's words. Of course the man was lying... She looked around and saw something written on a wall: THE USURPER IS NOT OUR FIRE LORD. Azula bit her lip, there was a time she would love to know so many people wanted Zuko off the throne, but now it just gave her a headache, it meant more work and trouble. Another wall caught her attention, it was in an alley, a little farther from where she was standing. There was something written on it too. She couldn't see it properly, but she certainly read "princess" on it. Azulaa narrowed her eyes, but the shadow from another building was riding the rest of the words, so she started to walk towards the alley distractedly.

Azula swallowed as she saw what was actually written on the wall.

LOCK THE MONSTROUS PRINCESS UP

She knew she shouldn't care about what a random commoner write about her, but for some reason that made her shiver. Maybe she was still too attached to the things her father used to say to her, about how everyone in the country loved and adored her, because she was a prodigy, a symbol of power. So knowing that not only a small group of terrorists, but also her actual people would write something like that disturbed her more than she expected.

"Well, I should have expected something even worse…" Azula muttered, turning herself only to see Sokka wasn't behind as she thought he would be. "Sokka?" She looked around, realizing she was alone in the alley. Or at least she thought she was.

"Well, well, well…" Azula heard a voice coming out of a dark corner. "Isn't it our beloved Princess?" Azula saw a man coming out of the shadows. He threw a piece of trash at her. "You crazy bitch, because of you they are destroying our town!" He threw something else at her.

The Princess only glared at him, preparing herself to attack if it was necessary. Time to go back. She wouldn't lose her time with a lunatic commoner, but then another person appeared, also cursing something at her. And then, another one. And another. Azula gasped when something hit her face. A rotten fruit maybe? How ridiculous was that? They were shouting louder now. Some were cursing, others were laughing… And some were telling others to do things. Horrible things. Enough.

"Oh, you will regret this…" She hissed, making a fireball with her right hand.

Sokka had stopped paying attention to what Zuko was saying to the innkeeper several minutes ago. He was lost in his thoughts. Actually he was thinking about Azula. Of course. When was the last time he thought of something else? He almost groaned. She must have cast some kind of spell on him. After all, if fire witches existed, they would probably look like Azula… But now, all he wanted to know was if she actually meant those things, if she really thought he was useless after all he had done for her. And really, why was she so mad at him? Things were so much easier when he hated her. He didn't really care about her opinion or whatever she felt about him.

Sokka turned his face to glance at her, but she wasn't there. He frowned and then looked at the other side. She wasn't there either. He felt panic taking over him as he looked around and didn't see Azula anywhere. And his heart felt even tighter in his chest when he saw smoke coming out of an alley a few blocks away.

A/N: Thank you all for reading it! And please please review it! :)