Suki stretched and sighed heavily as she got ready to climb off the bed again. There was nobody in the room with her right now, so she decided to try this once more, before Zuko arrived… well, if he came today altogether, that was. She wasn't so sure he would, not after what had happened between them a couple of days ago. But Zuko's absence or presence wouldn't keep her from doing this anyways.
She gripped the edge of the bed tightly with her hands as she swung her legs over the border of the mattress. Once her feet touched the wooden floor she pushed herself up. She started walking through the room, flexing and stretching her limbs while trying to ignore the pain in her ribs. It was growing fainter with every day that passed, and she actually believed the pain might disappear altogether eventually, so long as she didn't put her body through too much strain.
She lifted her hands and balled them into fists before delivering two weak punches into the air. Her flank hurt a little, but it wasn't unbearable. She smiled, thinking that maybe, just maybe, her fighting days weren't over just yet.
She hadn't realized that she had come to appreciate her life as a gladiator until now. Even while in Shu Wo she hadn't realized that, nowadays, she missed her old job. It seemed absurd that she would feel this way, but she did nonetheless. Her entire life had revolved around being a gladiator for almost seven years. She had met countless people during her days as a fighter, some of them people she had come to admire and respect. She had walked into that ring every time with her head held high, knowing what to do and how to do it. She'd had no doubts about what her role in the world was supposed to be at the time. She had known her purpose, and she had fought to the bitter end to fulfill it.
As she was now, though, she had no purpose. She had nowhere to go, no idea what to do. Her goals were gone, all the same as everything she had ever believed in. Her old home, Kyoshi Island, was too far away for her to return to it anymore. Her hopes that Oyaji had been doing the right thing by supporting the White Lotus were now in shambles after what Sokka had told her. Was the White Lotus any better than the Fire Nation? She wanted to believe as much, but Sokka's visit had made her realize she actually knew nothing of the group, let alone understood anything about them. She had accepted Oyaji's request blindly, never suspecting the White Lotus might not be as noble as she had wanted to believe it was.
She sighed upon wondering what to do next. She had wanted to leave this room, but for what purpose? Where would she go? Her life wasn't in her hands anymore, but in whose hands was it, then? What was she supposed to do?
She felt lost, scared and insecure. Everything around her was uncertainty, a sensation she was completely unfamiliar with. She didn't want to become familiarized with it, though. She just wanted to figure her life out, for once and for all…
She sighed just as the door swung open, and she turned towards it brusquely, almost as though she had been doing something out of bounds, which she wasn't. Yet her eyes widened when she saw Zuko standing on the room's threshold, looking at her with surprise.
"S-Suki…" he whispered. "You're… you're up!"
"Yeah," she said, smiling a little as he walked towards her, a grin on his face. "I figured it was about time I tried to stand on my own."
"Well, this is… it's great, but you're not forcing yourself, are you?" Zuko said, worriedly. "If you don't feel up for it yet, then maybe…"
"I don't feel up for a lot of things" she confessed, surprising him. "But one of those things is staying locked in this room forever. I just feel like… like getting out, if only for a while."
"Well, that… that would be great," Zuko said, smiling again. "If you want, I can show you Mai's house. Or just this floor, maybe, if you don't feel like going downstairs yet. Or… uh, well, you decide. Never mind me."
Suki chuckled at how he tried to repress his enthusiasm, and she nodded in his direction. Zuko smiled again, blushing a little.
"I'd like to see the house, yes," she said, and his smiled brightened more.
Suki's footing was somewhat uncertain at first, but Zuko stood by her side to let her know he would help her if she needed it. She smiled at him warmly before stepping through the threshold and finally leaving her haven for the first time since being brought into it.
Zuko pointed at each room and told Suki what their purposes were, and the girl surprised him by taking the initiative and looking through the door each time. She wanted to see them for herself, since she was curious about everything in the house. Despite having left her room, the sensation of being in a safe place still lingered. She didn't fear this house. She was convinced that nothing would hurt her here.
Zuko was taken by surprise again when she told him she wanted to go downstairs. He nodded and walked alongside her on the way to the first floor, keeping a wary eye on her. Every step she took made her wince, the movements of her legs hurting her ribs again. Yet she didn't turn back, nor did she reach out to support her weight on Zuko. She kept moving forward, by herself, with her own two feet. The fact that she could still do this on her own filled her with pride.
Mai was in the dining room where Zuko led Suki next. Mai had been holding Yuudai as he played with, or rather, tried to eat a doll, and she jumped to her feet upon realizing Suki was right behind Zuko, glancing around herself in wonder.
"And this is the dining room," Zuko said, smiling and Suki nodded.
"I can tell. It's magnificent," she said, before noticing Mai was here too. "Ah… hey, Mai."
"Suki," she said, looking at her in surprise as Yuudai tried to reach for the doll, which had fallen to the floor when his mother had stood up brusquely. "You're up?"
"Yeah… finally," said Suki, smiling. "So, this is Yuudai?"
"Oh, yes," said Mai, nodding and only noticing now that Yuudai was still squirming, trying to reach his doll.
Zuko stepped forward to pick it up, and he handed it to the kid, who smiled at him and hugged his doll tightly. Mai smiled at Zuko as well.
"Thanks for that," she said, before turning towards Suki. "Are you feeling better, then? Or is it you needed something and…?"
"If anything, I needed to get out of my room for a while," said Suki, shrugging. "You have a beautiful house. It's truly magnificent, I've never been anywhere like this."
"Then I hope Zuko never takes you to his home, or else mine will start looking like an old shack in your eyes," said Mai, smiling. "Is there anything you need right now? I could arrange a proper bath for you, seeing how you've finally left your room…"
"Maybe later," said Suki. It didn't seem appropriate to take a bath while Zuko was here. "I just wanted to look around right now, actually…"
"There's an inner garden in the house," Zuko said. "Maybe you'll want to see it. It's quite nice to look at."
"Really?" said Suki, looking at Zuko with interest as he led the way from the dining room and towards the garden.
"Good, then. I'll bring some tea for the two of you," Mai called out, and Zuko smiled and nodded in her direction.
"Thanks, Mai," he said, before sliding open the door towards the garden.
It was a small, but beautiful, enclosure. It was lined by bushes with blossoming flowers, while in the center of the garden stood smaller plants, some of them with small fruits growing on them. Suki stared at the garden in amazement as she sat on the small veranda where Mai and Ruon Jian often sat as well to admire their garden. Zuko smiled at the look in her eyes before taking his seat next to her, keeping proper distance to avoid startling her.
"It's beautiful," said Suki, beaming. "If only I'd known it was such a wonderful house I would have left the room sooner."
"Heh, yeah," said Zuko, smiling before sighing. "I hadn't really paid much attention to the garden the last time I sat here. It really is nice, huh?"
"Yeah," said Suki, before looking at him in curiosity. "When was the last time you sat here, then? I mean, if I may ask…"
"Uh, just this one time I had a talk with Mai about… a few things," said Zuko, grimacing uncomfortably.
"Huh, secretive, are we?" Suki asked, chuckling. "Well, if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine. I guess you and Mai are close, huh?"
"Seeing how you thought I was her husband, you must have assumed we are," Zuko said, with a weak grin. "Well… if you want to know the truth of it, maybe I could have been her husband."
Suki's eyes widened at that, staring at Zuko in surprise as he looked at the garden. Instead of feeling anger upon saying those words, this time there was a different sensation within Zuko upon speaking about this. He had no idea what it was, but he was relieved to find that, at last, he really felt no bitterness about not having married Mai, or not being Yuudai's father.
"Really?" Suki asked. "Then I wasn't that off-base, was I?"
"No, I guess not," said Zuko. "Still, you assumed it right away, without even knowing we had been… well, together, sort of, before I was banished."
"You were thirteen back then, weren't you?" Suki asked, with a smile. "You must have been cute at the time."
"C-cute?" Zuko asked, blushing. "W-well, maybe. I didn't have a scar yet, so I guess I was better looking than I am now."
Suki froze at that, worried about having entered dangerous grounds with their conversation. She bit her lower lip and looked at him guiltily for a moment.
"That… that scar. You've mentioned a few things, but you never really said how it happened. Y-you don't have to tell me, of course, but… was it while you were banished, then? Or shortly before that?"
Zuko gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze. He took pride in not feeling bitter about Mai anymore… but the same couldn't be said about his father, or about what he had done to him. Zuko took a deep breath and released it, his brow contracted as he stared at the garden harder now.
"It was right before I was banished," Zuko muttered. "Exactly when… when I fought an Agni Kai with my father, after which he sentenced me to travel the world searching for the Avatar."
Suki's eyes widened. She had heard about Agni Kais… according to some rumors, Combustion Man, the top ranked gladiator of the Superior League, had made his way through life by fighting Agni Kais against powerful firebenders. The duel of fire was considered far nobler than gladiator fights, but clearly, Combustion Man hadn't fought them for noble reasons. Why would have Zuko dueled his father, though…?
"I… I didn't think I'd have to fight my father," Zuko admitted, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. "As soon as I saw him, I… I just shrunk where I was and refused to fight. He grew angrier every time I told him I was sorry for what I'd done, and that I was his loyal son, that I wouldn't disrespect him ever again. But none of my pleas accomplished anything. He just attacked me and burned me. When he saw that I wouldn't fight back even after that, he stopped fighting. I knew he was ashamed of me… but I didn't think he would be as angry as to cast me out and declare that, to regain my honor, I had to return to the Fire Nation, bringing the Avatar with me. And… I didn't do that. I never found him, as you already know."
"B-but…" Suki said, her eyes wide. "Why did he…? Just because you didn't fight back? He thought he had to banish you for that?"
"W-well, I… the whole reason the Agni Kai was taking place was because I'd disrespected him by speaking out of turn in a war meeting…"
"What? You spoke out of turn in a war meeting and because of that he decided to fight and banish you?" Suki asked, scandalized. "Isn't that too extreme?"
"Maybe, but… I guess not," said Zuko, shrugging. "His father was harsh and ruthless to him as well. My uncle often told me that my father cared about me, and that his harshness was the only way my father knew how to make me a better Fire Lord when the time came. I always figured that made sense. He has never been so harsh on Azula, always on me. I guessed it was probably because he might have held bigger expectations for me, since I was his firstborn."
"I still don't see how it makes sense," said Suki, frowning. "But I guess I don't understand Fire Nation traditions, so I might not really know what I'm talking about…"
"Don't beat yourself up over it," Zuko said, smiling a little at her. "I hardly understand it myself, but… I guess my father has his reasons to do everything he does, no matter if I don't understand them."
"I hope so," said Suki. "Still… well, it may not be much use for me to say this, but your scar really doesn't… well…"
"What?" Zuko asked, raising his only eyebrow.
"Y-you seemed to think you would have looked better without it, and I don't know, maybe that's true," Suki said, shrugging. "But while I can understand it's a reminder of an awful experience… well, it's also the first thing I noticed about you."
Zuko frowned at that and Suki flexed her legs, crossing her arms atop her knees.
"I'd seen people dressed up in odd getups in the Arena many times, so seeing a guy with a dark hood covering his face wasn't that unique. But when I bumped into you, I saw your face and… and what I saw in you was different than I expected. It wasn't really the scar, but just you… I hardly even realized you had a scar to begin with. But it's the same scar that made me recognize you when you walked into my room for the first time. And… well, it must have hurt, and it might still hurt, but by now I'm sure you've proven that you're more than just a scar, Zuko."
Zuko blinked at her, surprised, as she smiled at him. She moved closer to him, and his eyes widened as her hand reached out towards his face.
Her fingers trembled a little upon touching the damaged skin around his eye. It was only a light touch, a subtle grazing of his face, yet it was almost electric for both of them. It made Zuko's heart beat faster, and a smile spread on Suki's face. For she had touched him, despite her fears. She had managed to overcome them, if only shortly.
"See?" she said, before pulling away. "It's not cursed or anything. In fact, well… I think it makes you rather handsome, if it's not too bold of me to say so."
"B-bold, well…" Zuko said, blushing more intensely now as Suki laughed. "It might be a little bold, y-yes, but… I appreciate it anyways. Nobody had ever touched my scar before, other than me."
"Really?" Suki asked, surprised.
"Well… mostly because I didn't let them," Zuko said, smiling weakly.
"Yet you let me," said Suki, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah," he said, as they both smiled earnestly.
It was then that Suki first realized she wasn't the only one who was trying to move on from a dark past: Zuko carried his own burdens with him, and it seemed that, by helping her overcome hers, he was starting to overcome his own as well.
Yet their gazes broke when a small hand dropped on Zuko's lap, with a happy laugh. He was startled by it, but he smiled and looked at Yuudai kindly. Suki grinned at the child as well as Zuko lifted him and placed him on his lap.
"I guess you want me to introduce you," said Zuko, smiling. "Yuudai, this is Suki. She has been living in your house for quite a while now and you never knew it. How surprising is that?"
Suki chuckled and Yuudai stared at her with curiosity. She greeted him with a weak wave and Yuudai stared at her for a little while longer before growing bored and deciding to climb off Zuko's lap. He crawled towards his back and pulled hard on his long ponytail. Zuko grimaced and groaned in pain, turning to look at Yuudai accusingly while both Suki and the child laughed.
"What was that for?!" he asked, glaring at Yuudai, but the boy continued to reach out for his hair, despite Zuko's attempts to keep him away.
Mai held a tray of tea in her hands and she watched Yuudai's torture of Zuko with amusement. Yet what amused her most was the brightness on both Zuko and Suki's faces. Zuko had been making efforts to see his life in a better light for quite some time now, and Mai knew it… but he was making no efforts anymore. He wasn't forcing himself to be happy. Now, his joy was natural and true. He was actually enjoying himself, and so was Suki.
"Maybe I ought to make another bet with Ty Lee…" she whispered to herself, smiling as she stepped forward to hand both Zuko and Suki the tea she had brought for them.
The Royal Barge waited by the docks yet again, and Sokka stared at it with mild confusion as he made his way towards it. He still failed to understand what the point of this new trip was, but at the same time he actually felt good about it. Maybe Azula had been acting a little strangely lately, but he was confident this trip would make things better somehow. Most their journeys had something crazy about them, but Sokka had realized they always ended on a good note. Surely this one wouldn't be the exception, right?
He climbed up the ramp to the ship's deck to find sailors and soldiers still walking back and forth hastily, trying to get the Barge ready right away. Clearly, they were in a rush, and Sokka wasn't surprised they were. They had unloaded the Barge only a few days earlier, and now they were restocking it for a long journey… a long journey Sokka didn't know the full details of just yet.
He wandered the deck for a while, waiting for Azula to show up until she finally did, on the back of her dragon. Xin Long descended on deck quite heavily, startling the sailors, as ever. Azula climbed off his saddle and walked up to the Captain, who was in charge of keeping tabs on the ship's preparation.
Sokka stared at Azula from the rim of the ship, eyeing her with curiosity and trying to figure out why she seemed so tense. He resolved to talk to her as soon as she was done with her conversation with Rui Shi, but before he could continue analyzing her, Xin Long decided to poke him with his horned head.
"H-hey, what's with you these days?" Sokka asked, as Xin Long prodded him more. "C'mon, stop that, there are lots of other people you can mess with, it doesn't have to be me!"
But as Sokka tried to fend Xin Long off, he caught sight of something on the dragon's saddle. He smiled brightly and turned to look at Azula, who had walked up to them once she had finished talking to Rui Shi.
"What's going on here?" she inquired, looking at Xin Long, and Sokka shrugged.
"Ask your pet," he said, earning himself a glare. "He's the one who's trying to pick a bone with me or something."
"If you call him 'pet', is it really any surprise he's picking anything with you?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes, and Sokka smiled.
"Maybe not," he said, as Xin Long finally left him alone and instead pressed against Azula. Sokka's eyes were on the saddle again and he pointed at it before turning towards Azula. "I see you did bring Wolf's Bane this time. I take it we'll be training again, then?"
"Maybe we will be," Azula said, enigmatically. "You did want a sparring session the other day, but the weather didn't allow for it, so…"
Sokka frowned. It really hadn't been just because of the weather that they hadn't done it… but he decided to let that slide.
"Well, I figure we'll have plenty of chances to fight one another on this trip, whether with swords or without them," he said, beaming. "It's our routine after all."
"Pretty much," Azula admitted, with a weak grin.
"Anyhow, where are we going, exactly?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. "You've been awfully secretive about this trip, so unless we're off on some crazy mission to catch weird brigands again, you might want to tell me what we're up to…"
"We're not up to anything," Azula said, shrugging carelessly. "It's only a trip through the Fire Nation's Arenas, no more than that. We'll start at the Black Cliffs, there's an Arena there called the Dragon's Pit. We've never been there, so I figured it was about time we saw it. Then we'll go to the Ember Crater again, after that to the Ring of Ash, and lastly to Yu Dao, to the Golden Eye again. That's it."
"Really?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "So no hidden motives for this new journey, Azula? Not even the smallest little thing…?"
"And why would I need a hidden motive for this?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes. She would have to start doing things without hiding her true intentions more often. She was growing sick of being asked the same question by so many people.
"Because it's just so sudden," said Sokka. "And it's unlike you to do stuff like this just because you feel like it… unless you wanted a vacation?"
"A vacation? Seriously?" Azula asked again, actually starting to be amused by Sokka's questions.
"Well, maybe you do," said Sokka, shrugging. "I mean… after your birthday you might not be getting along so well with your dad, so I figure you might be trying to avoid him. Is that it?"
"That… no, not really," said Azula, though she frowned. The matter of the ceremony was still pending. She had informed her father about this new trip, and he had promised that, by the time she returned to the mainland, the Sages would be ready to brief her about what she'd have to do during the ceremony. Thinking about that subject still left a sour taste in her mouth, though…
"Well, well, you're not being honest, Princess," said Sokka, and Azula scowled.
"As if you could tell whether I'm being honest or not," she grunted.
"Normally it's harder than this," said Sokka, smiling. "Come on. Is something wrong with your dad? Wasn't he glad to hear about the Dai Li and Long Feng?"
"No, he actually took that really well," Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's just… well, something else I'll have to deal with when we get back. It's not anything you need to worry about, but something I'll need some time to digest."
"So, we're taking off on this trip to give you time to digest it?" Sokka asked, surprised. "Well, can't say I mind, if that's all there is to it. Anyhow, though, if what you want is time, then maybe…"
"Maybe what?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow as Sokka tapped his chin with a finger.
"Well… it's such a sudden trip indeed," he said. "So I figure you won't mind if I make a sudden request?"
Azula's eyes widened. Her mind quickly was filled with thoughts of what his request might be, and she froze in her spot, wondering if he'd really ask for what she feared he would. Did he actually have the nerve to do such a thing…?
"A sudden request?" she repeated, with raised eyebrows, as her hands went to her hips. "And what might that sudden request be, then, if you'd be so kind as to explain?"
"Uh…" said Sokka, grimacing at the hostility he started feeling from Azula. "Just a little request, nothing big. I mean, I'd get it if the ship isn't equipped for it, seeing how you must have calculated carefully what we'd need for the trip already…"
"Right," Azula said, trying to remain calm. "Maybe it can't be done indeed, but do tell… what exactly is it you wanted, Sokka?"
"Well," he said, biting his lip. "I kind of hoped, seeing how we're going on a long trip, all the way to Yu Dao, even, that we'd be able to stop at Shu Jing…"
Azula had already been composing an elegantly harsh way to refuse Sokka's request in her mind, for she had only expected to hear one thing from him… one thing that had nothing to do with what he had actually requested. She froze again and looked at him in confusion.
"Shu Jing?" she repeated. "What for?"
"Eh, well, things have changed a lot since we were last there," Sokka said, sighing. "We didn't even know anything about the White Lotus back then, remember? Now we know a little more, though… so I guessed maybe we could figure out more things about Piandao and the White Lotus in Shu Jing now. Maybe there's a secret river hidden underneath the mansion or something of the sort, like in the Palace, eh? It could be how Piandao disappeared so suddenly without anyone seeing him. We know that's how they wanted to sneak their agents out of the Capital, so who knows?"
"I doubt that," said Azula, relief and confusion washing over her at once. Sokka's request was far better than she had expected it to be, but it had taken her off-guard completely. "What do you hope to find, though? You don't think Piandao will be back, do you?"
"Uh… well, if he were it would be nice," said Sokka. "I'd like to have a good talk with him, but I actually doubt he'd be there at all. Still, I think maybe we'll find some things we've overlooked. There have to be more leads and clues about the White Lotus somewhere, and that would be a good place to look, now that we know what we're looking for, right?"
"Maybe that's so…" Azula started, but she caught herself before telling Sokka that the odds were they would find nothing new in Piandao's mansion.
Wasn't this exactly what she wanted, though? Even if she didn't think they'd find anything in Shu Jing, the point of this trip was to keep Sokka away from the Capital for as long as possible. Adding a new stop to the journey meant she would manage to keep proper distance between him and a certain other slave…
Yet the unavoidable question arose in her head: if Sokka really wanted to be with that girl, why would he be so relaxed about this trip? Why would he have made a request that would only serve to make their journey even longer? Why hadn't he voiced a single complaint about how Azula was deliberately keeping him apart from Kyoshi's Heir if he actually wanted to be with her?
She frowned. He had seen her, according to what Mai had said. But if reuniting with the girl had been so important for him, why had he been waiting for her at Xin Long's refuge, not even an hour after Azula had spoken with Mai? Why hadn't he taken his sweet time with his reunion? Why had he come back to her so quickly, hoping for a session of sword training?
Something wasn't right about this… and the more she thought about it, the more she felt like an utter fool. She was acting erratically based on whatever she thought she needed to do to keep Sokka by her side for as long as possible, but it was clear she was wrong about something. She wasn't reading the situation properly… or maybe she wasn't reading Sokka properly. She had been making mistake atop mistake by assuming everything would proceed exactly as it had back when Sokka had first encountered Kyoshi's Heir, but many things had changed since then. He wasn't the same person he had been that day… and Azula would have loved to say neither was she, but her actions seemed to say otherwise. All the same as she had kissed him in a desperate attempt to keep him beside her, now she was dragging him across the world to keep him away from Kyoshi's Heir. Her actions were nothing short of embarrassing.
"Still, though, if the ship isn't equipped for it, we don't have to go," said Sokka, shrugging. "There might be nothing after all, and it'd be a waste to go to Shu Jing for nothing."
"It would be," Azula agreed before sighing. "But… I suppose it can be done, if you really want to go back there."
"What, really?!" Sokka exclaimed, smiling. Azula shrugged and smiled weakly at him as well.
"It's the least I can do after dragging you on two trips through the world without even asking if you want to go or not," she muttered.
"Heh, most gladiators don't get to have fun trips with their sponsors to begin with, so I'm not complaining," said Sokka, grinning at her.
"Well, if you think the last one was fun…" said Azula, raising her eyebrows.
"On some level it was," said Sokka, smiling guiltily now. "But this time it's just the two of us, so I figure it'll be better than heading into Ba Sing Se with your uncle and Toph, huh?"
"Yeah, it should be," Azula muttered, nodding weakly. Guilt was starting to seep through her now, though, despite Sokka's cheerfulness. If he came to understand why she had dragged him away on these two trips, he surely would stop smiling as much as he did now.
Sokka frowned upon the way Azula was acting now. After her prior hostility now she was… coy? Uneasy? He grimaced, wondering why it was so hard to make sense out of the Princess. Every time he thought he had figured her out, the rules of the game changed, and he was back in square one. But it didn't matter how many times he had to start all over again, he would reach the finish line eventually, if getting there meant he would make her happy at last.
So, he smiled and dropped a hand on her shoulder, startling her.
"Well, thanks for accepting my request. I know it might be useless in the end, but I'm glad you agreed to do it regardless."
"No need to thank me, Sokka," Azula muttered, solemnly, and Sokka chuckled before letting go of her shoulder.
"If you say so," he said, smiling kindly at her. "Well, I figure I'll just go take a nap now in my cabin. Afterwards we can train for a while on deck, just like old times, eh?"
"Old times indeed, that feels like a hundred years ago," Azula said, and Sokka chuckled.
"Well, then…"
"Wait just a moment, though," Azula said, and Sokka stopped on his tracks.
"What?" he asked, wondering if she had something to say to him. She didn't look so coy anymore, rather, she finally looked like herself again. There was a judgmental look on her eyes, and a smirk threatening to appear on her lips.
"You're not going to take any naps, is all," she said. "Or else it'll be the shortest nap you've ever taken."
"Why?" Sokka asked, surprised.
"Well, you see, the Black Cliffs are only a few miles away from the Great Gates of Azulon," Azula said, with a smile now. "So getting there is only going to take two hours, at most."
"Really?" Sokka asked, eyes wide.
"Really," replied Azula. "Once we're past the Gates, you'll get to see the Black Cliffs looming ahead. I'm sorry I didn't give you any prior warning about having a fight right away, but the point of the trip is for you to fight, after all…"
"Huh, no kidding," said Sokka, grimacing. "Who am I going to fight, then? Is it someone higher or lower than me in the ranking?"
"Higher," Azula admitted. "A firebender, actually. A female one, too"
"Huh, so a bit like you?" Sokka asked, smiling.
"Most unlikely," Azula said. "Nobody is a firebender like I am."
"I've heard that quite a few times… and I know all too well it's true," Sokka said. "Well, I sure hope she's not that dangerous. I'm feeling much better nowadays, but it might help if I don't fight anyone too strong anyways."
"Huh, well… I don't know how strong she really is," Azula said, frowning. Again, she acknowledged, if only to herself, that hadn't been thinking straight by accepting challenges at random as she had. She shouldn't have been as reckless as to do that…
The ship started moving then, after the ramp was lifted. Xin Long groaned as the Barge began moving slowly, leaving the dock and sailing through the bay at steady pace while leaving a trail of white foam behind it.
The Great Gates of Azulon appeared before them after a short while, and Sokka stared at them in wonder and curiosity. It looked like a wall of fire loomed before them, and it took Sokka an instant to see it was actually a net, lit up with flames to keep any unwelcome visitors from entering the Fire Nation's Capital.
"It's a good defense mechanism, I've got to admit," Sokka said, he detailed the statues where the nets were suspended. "Is that your grandfather, then?"
"Well, his statue," Azula said, smirking. "He wasn't that tall."
"Aren't you funny, Princess," said Sokka, and Azula chuckled. "Why is it there are dragons there, spewing fire onto the nets? Wasn't he the one who wanted the dragons obliterated?"
"It's a symbol of how he enslaved them, actually," Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest as she frowned. Xin Long, behind her, growled at the statue. "By Azulon's command, these lowly dragons are forced to protect our nation, pretty much."
"Weird," said Sokka, frowning. "Here I thought your dad had built it like that to make it ironic…"
"My father didn't build it," Azula said. "My grandfather did, and he was the one who decided to make the statue to his likeness. Most the Fire Lord statues throughout the Fire Nation were supposed to be of Azulon, including the one you knocked over in Fire Fountain City, but my father changed most of them into statues of himself instead. In the Fire Nation we seek to advance and progress through time, so worshipping old Fire Lords, or old deities, is useless, or so my father believes. Therefore, he'd rather the entire Nation reveres and fears him… and that's why Azulon's statue in Fire Fountain City was replaced by that of my father. Azulon's old statue only had him bending through both his hands… my father's statue had three different fire outputs, as though to make it clear who was the better bender."
"So… yours would have to release fire from four different places?" Sokka asked, smiling, and Azula raised an eyebrow. "Just asking, since it seems to be a theme that you're all better than your fathers… yours would be one strange statue, though. You'd have to release fire through all your limbs so… you'd be lying on your back? With your legs and arms stretched out above you?"
Azula's eyebrow twitched at Sokka's description of her alleged future statue, and he squirmed as he tried to mimic what the statue would be posed as. He smiled brightly at her while she stared at him, aghast, before shaking her head.
"Why, yes, Fire Lord Azula will be most impressive, lying on her back like a beetle that got turned on itself," she said, rolling her eyes as Sokka chuckled. "See, you have no artistic sensibility whatsoever. That's why I'll never let you paint my portrait for the Royal Gallery."
"Oh, come on! I'd do a better job than whoever painted those creepy things you've got there!" Sokka exclaimed, as Azula looked at him with disbelief.
"Really? After what you just said, you think you'd do better than the court painters? Honestly, Sokka?"
"Why, yes I think so!" Sokka stated proudly as Azula shook her head and chuckled under her breath.
"You're crazy," she muttered.
The net at Azulon's gates was lowered into the water again, so the Barge could pass through the barrier. There was a mild fog before the gates, but as soon as they had passed it, it began to dissipate. After sailing through a few more miles into the ocean, a small island appeared on the horizon.
"Is that it?" Sokka asked, and Azula nodded.
"I hope you're ready," she said. "I know it's all quite sudden, but know there's no pressure on you. If you win this fight I'll be pleased, but if you don't, you're free to blame it on me for making this happen so suddenly."
"I don't really want to blame you for anything," Sokka said, smiling. "At least, not yet. Do you think she can beat me, though?"
"Well… quite possibly," said Azula, sighing. "She's called the Priestess of Flames, or so. Shoji didn't know much about her."
"How come didn't he know much?" asked Sokka, surprised. "He usually knows everything…"
"Turns out we're headed to a very special Arena, Sokka," said Azula, gritting her teeth. "According to what Shoji said, this Arena, the Dragon's Pit, might as well be called the Pit of Chaos. The Black Cliffs used to be uninhabited, but now a group of gladiators live there, according to Shoji. It seems they're the ones who run the business, pretty much. I have no idea how that works… but it sounds like trouble."
"It sounds ridiculous," said Sokka, frowning. "Gladiators who run the Arena themselves? Why would they want to do that?"
"Well, I suspect they might be similar to Toph," Azula said. "They're probably not interested in money or points, just in fighting."
"Right, but what about sponsors? Do they have them? Wouldn't they need sponsors to qualify in the Superior League?" Sokka asked, frowning.
"I'd assume so," Azula said, shrugging. "But I have no idea, honestly. I guess we'll figure out how this Arena works by the time we get there."
"Azula… this doesn't sound good," said Sokka, grimacing. "How about we forfeit this fight, since you said you didn't care if we win or lose, and move on to the next one, eh?"
"Oh, come now, are you scared?" Azula taunted him and Sokka's eyebrow twitched.
"Hell, yes!" he exclaimed. "That doesn't sound like a fun Arena, Azula."
"Oh, poor Sokka is so frightened," Azula said mockingly, looking at Xin Long with amusement. "I guess we'll have to protect him, then, or else he'll shiver his way into the sand pit, huh, Xin?"
"I doubt I'd shiver my way into anything," Sokka growled. "Or that Xin Long would protect me if I did. He's been mean to me lately, Azula! I haven't done anything to him, but he's always picking on me."
Azula froze again. She knew all too well that Xin Long was being harsher on Sokka than usual: because of how many times she had been upset because of him in the recent days. Only, after giving matters some thought, Azula had started guessing Xin Long's resentment towards Sokka was mainly her fault, and not the gladiator's. She was the one who kept misunderstanding everything, it seemed. She was so used to expecting the worst out of everyone that she hadn't acknowledged that Sokka had been exceeding her expectations constantly as of late. And just as she had failed to read him properly, so had Xin Long, who had decided to support his rider by treating Sokka cruelly, for it seemed she didn't have the courage to do it herself these days.
"Huh… I can have a good conversation with him while you fight, then, so he stops treating you so harshly," Azula said, trying not to sound too guilty as she spoke. Sokka pouted.
"Good, then. You do that and get that silly dragon to stop being mean!" Sokka said, before staring at approaching the island again with an insecure frown. "Well… here we go, huh?"
"Just don't get yourself killed and everything will be fine" Azula said, eerily, and Sokka grimaced.
"Y-you think they could kill me in there?"
"I have no idea what happens in there, Sokka," Azula confessed, shrugging. "Not even Shoji does. So, who knows…?"
With another gulp, Sokka decided to think about this more enthusiastically. It was only another gladiator fight. He'd had his fair share of those, and several of them to the death. Why should this one be any different…?
Once he entered the Dragon's Pit, he was quick to understand what the difference was.
The Barge had been docked at the island's bay, and Azula and Sokka had been the only ones to disembark it. The entrance to the Arena was through the bay itself: a tunnel had been carved into the black, tall rock on the base of the island. Xin Long had been curious about an Arena called the Dragon's Pit at first, but upon seeing he'd have to go through a tunnel to enter it, he decided it wasn't worth it: he wasn't about to immerse himself in darkness willingly.
So Azula and Sokka walked through the bay and into the tunnel together. There were few lanterns to lead the way through the island, but almost none of them were lit. It was up to Azula to procure blue blazes of her own, so they could walk through the tunnels without tripping on loose roots or rocks.
Several other tunnels started opening up in different directions, but it was hard to get lost when the unmistakable sound of a crowd was looming up ahead. Azula frowned at the sound, though, for it sounded like the most vicious public she had ever heard.
"What the hell is that noise?" Sokka asked, grimacing. "Azula, don't you think maybe we ended up in the wrong place…?"
"I'm pretty sure we're in the right place… for better or for worse," she replied, gritting her teeth as she continued onwards, with Sokka following her and casting glances over his shoulder once in a while. There were more noises through the other tunnels, noises that made his hair stand on end.
They reached the last stretch of their tunnel, though, and the creepy sounds from the other tunnels were soon forgotten by Sokka as he gazed down at the Dragon's Pit.
His first thought was that he was in an Amateur Arena. His eyebrow twitched as he stared at the rabid crowd, and he grimaced as he watched how five gladiators were currently pounding one another in the sand… well, there wasn't much sand, in fact. Only a few mounds of filthy sand could be seen atop black, uneven rocks. The stands were positioned circularly around the ring, but there was no sponsors' balcony, let alone one for the judges, in sight.
Everything was murky and wild within the Dragon's Pit. The smells were completely repulsive, to the point where Azula was even covering her nose with a hand while frowning in disgust. Whatever this was, it didn't look like an Arena to her… even Hui Yi had been more organized than this. The people in the stands – there had to be around three hundred people or so – even tossed garbage and weapons into the ring, and one of them threw a hammer that struck one of the fighters in the shin. The fighter screamed and grabbed the hammer, waving it angrily over his head.
"Who the fuck threw this?! WHO THE FUCK DID IT?!" he shouted, as some members of the crowd laughed.
"I was doin' ya' a favor! I was aimin' at yer' head so you'd stop embarrassin' yerself, fucker!" retorted another one, and upon that the gladiator in the ring threw the hammer right back at him, but his aim was off, and he hit another man on the knee, one who was sitting on the row right above the hammer's owner.
The hammer's latest victim screamed in outrage before grabbing the hammer's owner by the hair and tossing him down the stands. He threw the hammer again, but it was lost in the mess as an all-out brawl commenced within the stands. Fire, earth and weapons flew back and forth all over the place, while fighters exchanged loud shouts, both in the ring and outside it.
"O-okay… maybe you're right," Azula said, grimacing. "Maybe you should just forfeit. This is… what the hell is this?"
"It's not even like the Amateur Arenas," Sokka remarked, staring around himself in horror. "Heck… Azula. You said this place was uninhabited except for gladiators?"
"Yes?"
"Then all the people in the stands…?" Sokka asked, frowning.
"Most of them be gladiators, boy, all the same as ye are," said a voice from behind them, startling them both. "Gladiators old and new, but also warriors that never joined the League… all came 'ere to look fer a good fight!"
The owner of said voice was a man in his fifties, with thick arms, a large moustache and an even bigger smile. He was thick and burly, but he had quite a big belly too. His head was almost bald save for a few white hairs here or there, and he was dressed in an old armor that seemed too small in many places. Sokka blinked at the sight of him, staring at the number of scars on his face and arms. He looked like a man who had spent his entire life fighting…
"I take it yer the Blue Wolf, boy, aye?" he said, smiling. "We'd been expecting ya, but the boys like a good fight even if it ain't one for the books. Just gimme a sec, I'll stop their playin', aye…"
And with that, the man started walking through the stands, separating the fights wherever he went. Sokka and Azula watched him with interest, though they were also partially confused by how the man resorted to knocking the fighters out with his huge fists to stop the brawl amongst the gladiators. Those who noticed he was approaching would cease fighting right away, but those who didn't would soon fall prey to his strength. It was clear he was a figure of authority in the Arena; most likely, the only figure of authority in it altogether.
"Okay, so I guess I've really got to do this, huh?" said Sokka, grimacing. "What are you going to do? Is there any place you can sit at without being in the line of fire?"
"I don't think I want to sit anywhere around here," Azula replied, staring at her surroundings with disgust. "And for that matter, I'm pretty sure anywhere within the ring's area would be within the line of fire. This is madness."
"Truly," said Sokka. "No dragon's pit would be this messy, not even Xin Long's old lair."
"Xin Long's cave was full of animal corpses and it didn't smell as bad as this," Azula grunted, as more waves of revolting scents hit her. "So, for this to be called a Dragon's Pit is actually an insult to dragons…"
"Alright, alright, alright! Come on, ey, Wolf!" the man called out, jumping into the ring and ushering Sokka to join him.
Sokka swallowed hard and looked at Azula with worried eyes. She tried to give him a confident look before patting his shoulder.
"Seeing how things are handled around here, it seems I'll be able to jump in there if you need any help," Azula said, and Sokka smiled a little. "But try not to make me do that, will you?"
"I won't," he said, nodding towards her before starting down to the black ring.
He had a hard time passing through the mumbling gladiators at the stands, who were judging him with harsh glares as he passed by them. Most of them looked bigger and stronger than him, though Sokka knew that didn't necessarily mean they were better fighters… but they were rather intimidating, to say the least.
"Hurry, hurry, we don't got all day," said the man, ushering Sokka into the ring as he glanced around the crowded stands, looking for someone. And after a while, he finally found her. "Aha! San, quit hiding! Ye've got someone to beat up, remember?!"
To Sokka's surprise, San seemed to be a girl a few years younger than him, with long, dark hair and brown eyes. She had been lying across three seats, staring at the ceiling with interest until she heard her name being called.
"Eh? He's here already?" she asked, surprised, turning to look at the fat man. When she spotted Sokka she seemed somewhat disappointed, but she sighed and stood up regardless. "Well, and here I thought this was supposed to be a challenge. If that's what I've got to kill, then I've as good as won by now."
"Kill?" Sokka repeated, glaring at the girl. "It's not going to be that easy to finish me off, sorry to say."
"No point wasting your time with bravado, it's not going to work on me," San declared, smirking as she walked towards him. "With fists we'll talk better than with words."
Sokka grimaced as the girl jumped elegantly into the ring, a menacing smile on her face. She was looking down on him, much as another dark-haired firebender who had looked down on him immediately upon their first meeting. Back then, Azula had been right to regard him as a weakling… would he be able to take this girl by surprise instead?
"Alright, then, let's get this game going, eh?" said San, smirking and striking a firebending stance just before Sokka jumped back cautiously.
"Wait, wait, wait, just like that?!" he asked. "What about the time limit?"
Sokka's face flushed when the entire Arena started laughing at his question. He glared at the fat man, whom he assumed was the leader of the Arena, who was laughing as well.
"No time limits here, boy. Here we've got different rules, aye," he said, smiling at Sokka.
"Just how different, exactly?" Sokka asked, worried.
"Half the people here aren't even registered in the ranking," San said, rolling her eyes at him. "And those who are registered usually have sponsors we only see like once every hundred days. They send us food here, sure, but they don't stick around here because what happens in the Pit is none of their business. We go fight outside whenever they want us to, but if we don't have to do that, then we stay here and kick each other's asses all day long, no strings attached."
"Wait, but that makes no sense," said Sokka. "Why would they sponsor you at all if they're just dropping you guys off here to beat one another up?"
"Ah, that's because some of us threatened them into sponsoring us. We wanted good fights, and there was no better place than this one to find them," San said, smirking before pointing at the fat man. "Gang Hong here takes care of all the bureaucratic nonsense, the rest of us get to beat one another up as we see fit. We do as we wish, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's not like we're ever going to get some Superior League jackass snooping around our turf. They know better than to come here to tell us what to do."
"I used to fight in the League too, aye?" said Gang Hong. "Then my sponsor passed away one day and I ended up gettin' all his money, so I built this place because I couldn't sponsor meself now, could I? So, here we all fight because we want to, not because we've got to, aye?"
"Some of us joined the League long before Gang Hong got this place running," said San. "That's why we still have sponsors who come drag us to their fights whenever they want, but not too often or else we'll kill them and get rid of them for good."
"Uh… nice," said Sokka, gulping. "But then what's my sponsor supposed to do now, huh? Just stand there while I fight?"
"Eh, she got a problem with that?" asked Gang Hong, gazing up at where Azula stood, at the top of the stands, right next to the tunnel that led to the exit.
"Oh, oh, just a second now," said San, smiling as she looked at the Princess with amusement. "You're the Princess, aren't you?!"
"Indeed…" Azula said, glaring at the girl warily.
"Okay, I'd much rather fight her, so you go play sponsor while she and I…" San started telling Sokka, who froze before shaking his head promptly.
"Not a chance," he exclaimed. "She's the sponsor, I'm the gladiator, and I'm the one you're going to fight!"
"Whaaaaat?" San whined, glaring at Sokka. "Keh. What a party pooper. Well, if that's how it is then you've got no right to complain if I kill you just to get this over with, got it?"
"The hell…?" said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching as Gang Hong laughed loudly.
"As forward as ever, aye, San? Well, then, get this trip rollin' cuz' we don't got all day," he said, turning towards the stands and making his way through them.
Sokka followed him with his gaze but only for a short moment, for soon enough a blazing kick had been delivered in his direction. He had to jump out of the way to evade the attack, but another one soon followed it. Sokka grimaced as he stared at San in horror, and the girl continued casting flames through the most fluid motions, as though she were gliding over the ground while using her fire. There was something quite amazing in the way she handled the blazes, there was no denying it. Her gladiator name, Priestess of the Flames, suited her better than expected.
Sokka couldn't reach for the sword hanging on his back, busy evading her attacks as he was. He couldn't even use his weapons to fight against the fierce firebender. Her fire wasn't extremely powerful, Sokka thought, for Azula's blue flames certainly would cause more damage than these, but the girl simply didn't stop conjuring them. Her fluid style almost reminded Sokka of his sister's waterbending prowess.
Nevertheless, the girl had to stop casting blazes eventually in order to catch her breath. By then, Sokka whipped out his sword and boomerang, and he commenced his own assault. San had recovered quite fast, though, and she was quick to put distance between her and Sokka by conjuring condensed flames that served to shield her from his weapons.
Sokka grimaced and backed away, the heat making sweat drip from his brow. He had triumphed against every firebender he had faced so far, but he was starting to suspect his record would break today: this girl was an incredibly talented bender.
Azula frowned while watching the fight, partially worried because she was starting to suspect, all the same as Sokka had, that they wouldn't win today… but she was, undeniably, impressed by the girl down below. Her skills and powers were outstanding for a gladiator. Why was she here instead of using her talents for something more meaningful than this? She sighed as she assumed either the girl was similar to Toph, and her main ambitions were to fight and defeat as many people as she could, or that she might have joined the Gladiator Business because joining the Fire Nation's army would have been a waste for her. She would have never made it past the position of Lieutenant, Azula knew… even when she looked to be a better firebender than many highly-ranked military leaders, she would have never had her own division to command. She would have hardly had anything to gain, and very little to provide for the Fire Nation, had she joined the army.
It was pointless for Azula to ponder such matters right now, though, especially when San was close to setting Sokka on fire. He was running erratically now, trying to evade all her attacks while looking for the right angle from which he could throw his boomerang at her, but the girl was smarter than he expected. She kept him on his toes by predicting where he was more likely to move next, and she shot fire through both her hands towards the two directions he was prone to run to. In short, she kept him trapped, almost effortlessly.
"C'mon, you came all this way just for this?!" the girl laughed. "Well, whatever! Once I'm through with you I'll fight your sponsor next!"
"Stop getting ahead of yourself!" Sokka shouted back, dropping flatly to the ground.
Another array of flames flew over him, and Sokka feared it might scorch his hair, but it didn't matter. The girl would soon aim at the ground where he lay, so he had to move fast before she did.
He tossed his boomerang powerfully from below, and it soared under the flames that were now starting to dissipate.
The girl had been getting ready to attack with her right hand when the boomerang struck her shin guards. She broke her stance, gritting her teeth in pain upon the blow just as Sokka darted forward again, swinging Space Sword towards the firebender in an attempt to deliver some real damage. Yet the girl only needed to punch the air before her to conjure a fire blast that would have burned Sokka's face hadn't he ducked in the last moment.
The girl's legs hurt now, but not to the point where she couldn't fight. She delivered a kick towards Sokka and struck him on the jaw. He dropped on the ground, a hand on his face as he reached for his fallen boomerang again. Yet the girl bent down to pick it up first, and she tossed it away into the crowd with a swift movement. Sokka grimaced in horror upon that, fearful of losing his precious weapon amongst the masses.
"No!" he shouted, as the boomerang fell on one of the audience's gladiator's head with a loud clunk.
San smirked, but it took Sokka a moment to realize she wasn't happy over what she had done to his boomerang: her amusement came from the fact that now the people in the crowd had started fighting over the boomerang, and soon the fight would extend into the ring. It seemed she was one who enjoyed the all-out brawls, such as the one that had started when Sokka and Azula had arrived in the Arena.
Azula frowned and glared at the area of the stands where the girl had tossed the boomerang. She wasn't about to let one of her fighter's trademark weapons to end up lost in this lair of misfits, as it surely would get lost at this rate. The entire crowd was now bursting into another massive fight, and she would lose sight of the boomerang if this got any worse than it already was.
Inwardly cursing herself for having accepted this ridiculous challenge, she started towards where Sokka's boomerang had wound up at. The worst of the brawl was taking place there, so she assumed they were struggling to decide who was the boomerang's new owner now.
The Priestess of the Flames had only stopped focusing on Sokka for an instant, and she had returned to her merciless fighting style quickly enough, keeping Sokka on his toes until she realized the Princess was no longer standing at the spot from where she had been watching the fight. With a wild smile she gazed around the stands to find Azula was making her way towards the brawl, and with that, San struck a proud fist into the air.
"Hell, yeah! She's joining in!" she exclaimed before pulling away from Sokka, who had almost sliced her hand off when she had gotten distracted.
Yet the one distracted now was Sokka himself, who had failed to notice Azula wasn't where he had last seen her until now. When he saw she was heading towards where the brawl had started he grimaced but his eyes lit up in hope. She must have gone to get his boomerang, surely…
While he stared at her, San was happily smirking at how the brawl was getting worse. Pairs of struggling fighters had fallen into the ring, punching each other for no reason other than wanting to. And Gang Hong wasn't pleased by this sudden turn of events. It seemed he would tolerate brawls in unofficial fights, but not in those that actually counted in the League.
"Oi, San! The fuck're ya' trying to pull 'ere?! I told ya' this was a serious fight, aye!"
"Oh, come on, don't be such a party pooper, Gang," she said, smirking at the man now. "The more, the merrier!"
"Fuck that, this was a real challenge!" Gang Hong exclaimed, standing up and glaring at San. She was now being attacked by Sokka again, who had decided to make the most of the girl's distractions.
"Oh, boohoo! What're you going to do, eh? I screwed you over, Gang, sure did!" she exclaimed, ducking and using condensed flames to shield herself from Sokka's flurry of attacks. It seemed nothing he did could take her off guard, even though she was scarcely paying attention to him by now. "What's so bad about that, 'aye'? I'm not scared of you, big guy!"
Gang Hong had been quite a jovial and cheery man until just now. He gave San such a fierce glare that Sokka stopped fighting against his opponent over astonishment. The Priestess of the Flames didn't seem to care, though, for she smirked again and looked at the Arena's leader with defiant eyes.
"Not scared, aye?!" Gang Hong exclaimed, cracking his knuckles. "Alrigh', then, yer gettin' the beatin' you wanted, San! C'mon, let's see if ya' last ten minutes today!"
"Let's see if you last more than five!" the girl retorted, and with that, she jumped towards Gang Hong, who climbed down the stands while kicking gladiators out of his way in order to reach the girl.
Sokka was left standing in the ring as more fighters dropped inside of it, all of them invested in their own fights. One of them ran towards him, gripping an old knife in his hand, but Sokka was quick to disarm him and knock him out by striking his temple with the hilt of his sword.
Sokka couldn't quite make sense out of what had happened by now. Without a doubt, this was the weirdest fight he had ever gotten himself into. The Dragon's Pit was utter chaos, no more than that. He had no idea who would be declared the legal winner of his fight, not when his opponent was currently sending a barrage of fire at Gang Hong. How were the results of the fights in this Arena conveyed to the Grand Royal Dome, when chances were all fights would develop as nonsensically as this one? And whether he had won or lost, how was Azula going to either pay or obtain the money from the other sponsor, if said sponsor wasn't even here?
It was all so misleading and confusing that Sokka was just left to scratch his head in confusion and climb out of the ring in hopes to find Azula and help her in her efforts to take back his boomerang. So far, she hadn't actually accomplished anything, for she just stood at a certain distance from the brawl, still trying to assess the best way to reclaim the boomerang. Yet just as Sokka made his way towards her, Azula stomped hard on the floor and a wave of blue fire spread upon her movement. It struck several of the struggling gladiators and it managed to make most of them turn their attention towards her.
She lifted a hand coated in fire and glared at them dangerously, ready to fight her way through this matter if she needed to.
"I will have that boomerang back now, if you would," she declared. "And if you won't… why, you're going to regret it."
Normally, the gladiators would have jumped at any challenge, taking her words as mere bravado, but the threatening voice tone of the Princess actually intimidated most of them. The blue fire she held cast an eerie light over her face, and she needn't be as crude and loud as the gladiators to be far more menacing than them.
"Well?" she asked, with a sideways smirk that made some of the fighters take a step back.
"You want it, you've gotta come get it!" shouted the one holding the boomerang at the moment, who waved it over his head recklessly.
Azula sighed dramatically before letting the blue blaze disappear. With sharp and quick movements, her limbs charged with carefully calculated electric power that she released through her left hand's stretched fingers. The lightning blast caught the man with the boomerang on the chest and struck his hand, sending the boomerang flying upwards in Azula's direction.
The electric bolt wasn't too strong, but it still made the man's hair stand on end as the surge of power coursed through his body. He fell atop another gladiator and the power coursed towards him as well. They both fell to the ground, shivering wildly as the electricity finally got lost through the ground.
Azula stepped forward and picked up the boomerang: it had dropped right in front of her. She stood upright again after taking it, and she smiled at the men watching her with horrified eyes. Never before had they seen anyone bending lightning.
"Anyone else? No?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Good. Carry on with your nonsense if you wish, then."
She needn't say it twice. As soon as they knew the Princess wouldn't get in their way, the people on the stands started fighting wildly yet again. Azula stared at them in disgust and started inching away by the time Sokka reached her, looking at her in awe.
"You're unharmed, and you got it!" he exclaimed, about to throw himself at her in a hug, but Azula's hand darted out and she grabbed hold of his face, keeping him at arm's length.
"Sorry," she said, as he grimaced, his arms stretched out still as he waited to hug her. "But I don't think this is the right time or place for you to do anything like, well, whatever it was you wanted to do."
"Well…" he said, giving up on his efforts to embrace her and staring at her with a subtle pout. "Not like anyone was going to notice anyways. As you can see…"
With that, he gestured towards the crowd. Indeed, it seemed nobody would have noticed if Sokka had hugged Azula, let alone done more than that, for a massive fight had erupted yet again. People in the stands fought and fell into the ring, where they started fighting again without a hitch. San and Gang Hong were currently within the ring as well, their fight likely the most violent of them all.
"So your opponent just decided to beat up the Arena's leader and forgot about you, I take it?" Azula asked, and Sokka shrugged.
"Yeah, pretty much," said Sokka. "She stopped fighting me and started arguing with that guy because she wanted to fight you… but now she's fighting him? Hell, I don't get this place. At all. It makes no sense."
"Indeed, it doesn't," said Azula, frowning. "How do we know who gets the victory for this fight?"
"And how will you get the winnings or pay up if I lost?" Sokka asked her.
"I have absolutely no idea, honestly. If anything, that guy ought to know," Azula said, jerking her head towards Gang Hong. "But I don't think he'll be addressing our questions while he's busy beating up the Priestess."
"Unlikely," Sokka muttered, biting his lower lip as the man delivered an uppercut to San's jaw. "So I guess we'll wait until they're done?"
Azula nodded and sighed, as Sokka raised an eyebrow to look at her questioningly. She handed him his boomerang and glared at the ring below before muttering:
"We're never coming back here."
"Agreed," he said, with a weak smile.
The brawls seemed never-ending at first, but slowly they started to decrease in number and intensity. Some fighters gave up after a while, but most of them actually passed out cold on the ground after being knocked unconscious by whoever had been fighting them at the moment. Eventually, Sokka and Azula ended up amusing themselves by guessing who would win which fight until, at long last, Gang Hong punched San so hard in the stomach she had dropped on the ground, out of breath and with a satisfied smirk on her face.
"Learned yer lesson already, San?" he asked, wiping off some blood that was trickling down his chin.
"Do I ever learn it?" she asked, snickering as the man sighed in defeat.
"Are you finished, then?" Azula called out from afar, and the man turned to look apologetically at them.
"Aye, turns out I am," he replied, scratching the back of his head. "Apologies, yer Highness, for the mishap, aye? Not what I'd planned, but these maggots' got a way to lose their cool, aye…"
"Clearly," Azula replied, with a sigh. "What now, though? Who won my gladiator's fight? And what am I supposed to do next?"
"Er…" said the man, looking down at San, who seemed to have blacked out by now. "Well, she's down, aye. I'd say yer the winner?"
"W-what?" Azula said, an eyebrow twitching. "What sort of ridiculous criteria…?"
"Ya' want me to send word to say ya' lost? 'Cuz I could do that all the same, no problem…"
"You know… I think the wisest course of action would be to pretend this fight never even happened," said Sokka, gulping. "Send word to say it was a mutually forsaken fight in the end. It's only fair, right?"
"To be honest, it seems reasonable," Azula muttered, grimacing. "This way we won't have issues with the money either."
"Aye, then that'll do, aye!" said Gang Hong. "Needn't worry, yer Highness! Gang Hong will take care of all the official fuckery, aye."
"Uh… good to know," Azula said, with a grimace. That was the weirdest way in which she had ever heard someone refer to paperwork before. "Well, that was simple. Unexpectedly simple. We'll be taking our leave now, then, if you don't mind."
"Aye, aye, nice meetin' ya!" exclaimed Gang Hong, waving happily in Azula's direction.
The Princess only nodded curtly before grasping Sokka by the shoulder and leading him back through where they'd come from.
They were back on the Barge by sundown, having spent several hours inside the Dragon's Pit, waiting for the brawl to die down. The Captain and the nearby guards who heard Azula's retelling of what had happened inside the Arena were astonished by the Princess's story, and several were willing to charge inside the Dragon's Pit to bring some order into it, but Sokka was quick to stop them.
"No need for that," he said, standing before the ship's descent ramp to keep the guards from disembarking. "That place is crazy and weird and it smells real awful, but those guys… they're in there by choice. I don't know why someone would choose a life like that, but they have, and… well, they're not hurting anyone other than themselves, are they?"
"It may be so, but it isn't appropriate for such shameful acts to take place in the Fire Nation," said Rui Shi.
"Not like anyone knows, though," said Sokka, shrugging. "They've been doing this for ages now, it seems, and you're only finding out now. So why bother forcing order into chaos when they've got their own order in their chaos, if that makes any sense?"
The guards were left looking at Sokka in confusion while he folded his arms in front of his chest. Azula looked at him inquisitively for an instant before smiling and shaking her head.
"Leave them be, the gladiator is right. This is none of our business. They're not threatening my father's rule or anything of the sort, and we have a schedule to keep up with. I'd hate to stray from it just because we've found a group of mad people who like to beat one another up. It's their problem if they murder each other in there, not ours."
"But…" the Captain started before sighing in defeat. If he had learned anything in the past year, it was that he was better off not rebuffing any of Azula's commands. "Very well, then. Let's set out again, shall we?"
"That would be ideal, Captain, yes," Azula said, nodding, and the guards scurried off through the deck, still insecure and worried about the situation in the Dragon's Pit, but they wouldn't do anything about it if the Princess told them not to.
Sokka smiled as the ship started moving, setting out into the seas again and leaving behind the Black Cliffs gradually. Azula had walked off towards Xin Long, who was rather curious about why the place she had been at had sported such a weird name. Naturally, his sponsor let him know she hadn't understood it even after going inside it. Xin Long merely concluded humans were weird before curling up at Azula's feet to take a nap.
Sokka approached them with a smile, as Azula stared at her dragon with a small grin.
"We're just never going to have a normal trip, are we?" he asked, at which Azula laughed.
"What would be the fun in that?" she replied. "We're not normal, Sokka, so weird things will follow us wherever we go. It's the way it's always been, and how it's bound to be from here onwards."
The sound of those words made Sokka smile. He didn't quite know what 'here onwards' meant for Azula, but he liked to think it meant Azula wanted their partnership to extend for many more years. He wouldn't have wanted it to be any different.
"You've been letting lots of crazy gladiators off the hook lately, though," said Sokka. "I'm impressed. I figured the proud girl who nearly lost her cool because of that hobo back in the Capital wouldn't just say these guys, let alone the Iron Rain and the Savage Hook, could be left alone as they are."
"I concede, you're right about that. It's rather clear you've ruined me," Azula said, and Sokka laughed. "I wouldn't have done anything like this before meeting you, so no doubt it's your fault."
"Well, can't say I mind being blamed for that," he said, grinning. "For once, you're not getting an apology out of me."
"Huh, that's new," Azula said, smirking at him.
Sokka chuckled and so did Azula. She breathed deeply afterwards, though, staring at Sokka with insecurity. He seemed to think of her far more highly than what she deserved. Letting a few gladiators to roam free didn't make her a much better person than she had been back when they had found that hobo… let alone than when they had kissed for the first time. But Sokka didn't know that, did he?
Yet she resolved she had to tell him. At this rate, she would be incapable of spending time in the Capital, merely because she was fearful of whatever relationship could spawn between her gladiator and Kyoshi's Heir. She was tired of feeling as she did: her unease and jealousy wouldn't die down, apparently, but she could try to ignore them. At least, she could ignore them until she talked matters out properly with Sokka… right?
He looked so relaxed and happy right now, though. The fear of seeing that coldness in his eyes again, the one she had seen during that awful night, forced her to hold her tongue. She still remembered his words, the harshness of everything he had told her. She still remembered every single tear she had been incapable of holding back as she told him lies after lies, as she tried to pretend she was still in control of the situation when she probably hadn't had any control over it in the first place. She didn't want that to happen again. She didn't want Sokka's warm feelings towards her to be replaced by coldness and hatred. She wouldn't be able to take it this time.
But if she said nothing, he might still find out why she had dragged him away from Kyoshi's Heir one day. And when that day came, surely he would react just as she feared he would. She had to tell him before he misunderstood everything… before he misread her, just as she kept misreading him. She needed to explain everything, even if her explanations weren't bound to be any use in the long run. But at the very least he might understand if she spoke earnestly with him… right?
But she would put it off for the time being. They still had a long voyage ahead of them, and thinking of the worst-case scenarios convinced her that this trip would become unbearable if he were to take her confession badly. She wouldn't do it yet… not when she wanted to see that peaceful grin on his face for as long as possible.
A/N:
Been a while since I last made an Author Note. I doubt you guys missed them but here goes all the same ^^U
I wanted to make this note to thank you guys for bringing this fic to 2000 reviews. Without all your support, I'm pretty sure I would have never gotten this far. Naturally, all forms of support count, including favorites, follows, PMs, simply, anything you've done to show your interest for this story. Thank you, truly.
Regarding the reviews party, which I think several of you might have been looking forward to, it will be held when/if we reach 2500. You might be new here, and you might have not read the Author Notes before this one if you are, so I'll explain again what they are just so you're informed. Reviews parties are events I hold over at Tumblr (questions are accepted at both my personal blog and Gladiator's blog), where you're all welcome to ask any questions you have about the story, and I'll answer as earnestly as I can regardless how spoilery this answer might be (if it's extremely spoilery it goes under a Read More). Questions about how long the story will be, or how many chapters until *insert any expected event here* can't really be answered, not because I don't want to answer them, but because I can't calculate how many chapters each story arc will take. So it's pretty much impossible for me to answer questions of the sort. But anything else you might want to know, I'll gladly answer.
Anyways, you're not obligated to participate, I know plenty of people wouldn't want spoilers, naturally. As I said before, the event will take place when the review counter hits 2500, so whoever wants to participate will have to wait until then.
Another piece of news is that I'm currently revising the story, fixing plenty of flaws that needed fixing (mainly, grammar-related flaws, plot-wise the fic will remain the same). So far, I've only updated the first four chapters, but I'll gradually continue with the next ones all the same. At the bottom of my profile page I'll update the revision progress so you know if I've uploaded any more revised chapters, in case you're interested in seeing the new versions.
Well, that would be all for now :) Thanks again for all your support and for bringing this story so far!