Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

220. Chapter 220: Fire Lord for a Week 1

On the outside, nothing seemed different. The city remained busy, yet calm: the highborn riding their carriages, the lowborn pacing through the streets, the occasional children chasing each other… a normal, simple day in the lives of many.

It wasn't remotely as simple as that for Sokka: he walked across the Fire Nation Capital while holding back the smile that constantly threatened to spread over his face. Blue skies, with a bright sun shining high above, flowers bloomed beautifully in the gardens, birds chanted happily as they flew from branch to branch… the entire world appeared to be at peace, rejoicing quietly in the latest happenings, a reflection of the bliss that now nestled in his chest.

He failed to stifle the smile once the Palace Gates were within view. How horrorstruck he'd been, so many years ago, upon stepping off a carriage to find himself at the Fire Lord's threshold for the first time: today, he could barely hold back from sprinting to the doors. Today, the acting Fire Lord behind those walls wasn't the one he so despised…

The soldiers tasked with guarding the gates ushered him inside without any questions, nodding as Sokka passed them by. He returned the gesture, unable to contain his enthusiasm once he crossed into the Palace's grounds: everything looked so much brighter, so much more beautiful, despite Sokka knew, objectively, that nothing could have changed that much within the four hours, perhaps, since Ozai had set off on his trip.

The entire Capital had been rocked by the arrival of a large aircraft two days ago: Sokka had made sure to stay put in his house, even if quite nervously, until it had finally left, earlier that morning. Not a lot of people would know who was riding on it… but Sokka did. Surely, the airship had already joined the rest of the fleet, and with every hour that drifted by, the Fire Lord would come closer to the Fire Nation resort he had hoped to visit… and further away from the Palace where his daughter had remained, handling duties she hadn't expected to be hers anytime soon, despite Sokka had no doubts she was prepared to deal with them all the same.

Sokka hadn't seen much of her lately, a sad change of pace after the many months spent by her side at nearly every waking moment. But she had to prepare for her new responsibilities, and as selfish as Sokka could be, he wasn't foolish enough to intrude when the fate of the nation would rest on Azula's hands for a week… and then, perhaps, the fate of the entire Earth Kingdom, so long as everything went well for seven days.

There was almost a spring in his step at that thought. Oh, the possibilities…

Even the inside of the dark Palace seemed brighter today: the servants, to Sokka's surprise, appeared more relaxed, and most of them offered him agreeable smiles as he made his way to the Royal Gallery. It wasn't as though he weren't welcome in the Palace while Ozai was around… but perhaps the momentary change in authority afforded Sokka further privileges these days. It was hard to say if anyone suspected them of having a secret relationship… but even those who harbored no such suspicions would still know that Sokka was the Princess's closest companion and advisor. And since she wasn't just the Princess right now, if only for a week…

The Royal Gallery ever appeared unwelcoming and harsh, with the many depictions of Fire Lords looking down on anyone who walked before them. Sokka scoffed at them without fail: one day Azula would take her place between them for good. And her painting would be the better one amongst them, by far…

"Should go on the spot where Ozai's is. We can just throw his to the bin, not much of a loss there…" Sokka mumbled to himself, smirking deviously at the depiction of the vacationing Fire Lord before taking a turn towards the Throne Room.

The corridor in question was almost deserted: one guard stood outside the curtains, his arms folded over his chest in what might have appeared a menacing gesture to anyone… but not to one of the guard's closest friends.

"Rui Shi!" Sokka grinned, raising a hand to greet the armored, helmeted firebender: even so, Rui Shi hushed him, pressing his gloved fingers to his helmet to drive the message across "Oops, sorry. I'll be quieter, ehehe. Is she very busy?"

"She's finishing the last of today's appointed slavery trials" Rui Shi answered, as Sokka stopped beside him "I'm sure you'd rather not interrupt or interfere with that, or would you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it" Sokka smiled, staring at the closed curtain with undisguised eagerness. If anything, he'd love to hear Azula tear the worst of the slave masters to shreds with her words…

Sokka knew Azula all too well: naturally, that was exactly what was happening inside the azure-lit Throne Room. The effect of the blue flames was even more terrifying for her subjects than Ozai's natural, orange flaring fire. Today's last slave master remained crouched before her, shrunken in his frame, flanked by the ever silent and obedient pair of Imperial Guards, Shuren and Wuhan.

"Now then, let's see what your charges are" Azula was saying, scrolling through a document supplied to her earlier that week by the Capital's Enforcers "A record of mishandled slaves in current times… as well as three murdered ones, before the slavery laws were promulged. You have twenty to your name, is it?"

"I… I do, Princess" said the man, raising his head to gaze at her pleadingly. Naturally, everyone took to begging when they were outnumbered and overpowered… yet there was something vicious in the slave owner's eyes, something no amount of fear or attempts to humble himself could dismiss "There was no mishandling involved, though, it was only a mistake…"

"A mistake?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows "Seven of your slaves reported being at the receiving end of your violent outbursts. One mistake of the sort is already bad enough to result in the confiscation of all your slaves, but you think committing the same mistake seven times warrants no punishment?"

"It wasn't like that! T-the slaves were on their way to work at the plantation, and my son – he's young and reckless, you see – ran them over by mistake with the carriage! B-but it's a mistake, I swear!"

"Huh. That's what happened, then?" Azula asked. Her voice had acquired that calm quality it often did when it concealed a storm within… and while those who knew her could understand the meaning of that tone, the man on his knees before her didn't interpret it correctly.

"Of course! Princess, truly…"

"Crown Princess, if you would. Though it should be Interim Fire Lord, at the moment"

"R-right, Interim… Interim Fire Lord" the slave owner swallowed hard, the title weighing on his head far more heavily "I know it may have looked bad, but I assure you… we will be more careful. We will be"

"Say… why exactly is it that none of your slaves shared this story about your son?" Azula asked, reading the document further "I'm seeing claims you would press hot frying pans against their legs when they didn't keep to each of their duties on time, that you would force them to sleep outdoors if they disrespected you, even lashing… how exactly does any of this have any relation with being run over by a carriage?"

"T-that was before the laws! You must understand…!"

"Oh, I sure should understand that those second-degree burns that physicians have determined happened, at most, two weeks ago, actually happened six months ago, according to you?"

The blue glare of the fire already drained the color off most faces, yet that didn't stop the slave owner from becoming paler still. He shook his head, but words wouldn't come out anymore.

"Not to mention… I have a report, right here" Azula said, raising it above the curtain of fire so the man could see it "And it's not only about the crimes you have been accused of… it even includes a nice and thorough profile about who you are. Funny, but there's no mention of a son in your household"

"W-well, I mean…! H-he's like my son, he's my sister's boy…!"

"Right. Do you even have a sister?" Azula asked, sardonically. She sighed and shook her head "Your defense is pitiful. This case isn't even worth debating"

"Prin-…! Crown Princess, please…!" the slave owner made to stand up, but the hands of Shuren and Wuhan caught each of his shoulders and forced him back to his knees immediately "Y-you can't take them, you can't…! I need slaves! I need them to work my plantation…!"

"Is that so?" Azula asked, tapping her chin "Say… do you need tools to work on that plantation?"

"Y-yes…"

"And you polish and work them, you repair them when they break of excessive use, don't you?"

"I do, but what's that got to do with…?"

"Why, then, would you treat your work tools with more respect than your slaves?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows "Why would they merit the better treatment, I wonder? If your slaves are so very vital to your work… how difficult can it be to abide by the new laws, if I may ask?"

"That's not… I… Oh, Princess, please…"

"It's Crown Princess. And you're officially barred from owning any slaves from this day forward. Need people to work your plantation? Hire them" Azula said, cuttingly "If you've handled your business well through the ten years you owned slaves, as you claim you have, you should have enough money to do so. If you don't? Then I guess it means you're no good at this business. Maybe you ought to sell your lands to someone who can put them to good use without torturing other people in the process"

It was the tenth trial of the day: each of them had reached the same conclusion, though over varying degrees of damage. Those guilty of lesser crimes had been given lighter sentences… that was, a whole year without owning any slaves, and they would only be allowed to purchase one or two of them once the allotted time was over. Only if they proved themselves capable of following the laws for the following three years would the purchase restrictions decrease, and even then, they would be kept under close watch. Their current mishandling of slaves had already branded them as law-breakers, so the Enforcers would observe them for years to ensure they wouldn't buy any slaves in black markets either…

Oh, the black markets. Yet another problem Azula direly needed to tackle and defeat, whether during her tenure as Interim Fire Lord or afterwards.

"Have mercy, no, please…" the man was begging pitifully now, but Azula rolled her eyes and gestured at her guards.

"Take him away" she voiced her final decision with determination. A slave owner capable of such lies and cruelties deserved no mitigation of his sentence, no matter how many times he begged for it.

The slave owner whimpered and cried out in despair: he continued to plead, but he was dragged to the exit regardless. Azula reached for the small cup of water she had requested from the servants after the fourth trial. Part of her enthusiasm about her new role had decreased after ten encounters with slave owners who refused to acknowledge their crimes… but it came back slowly as she reasoned with how she continued to shape the world, decision by decision: hopefully, she was making it a better one through her decisions in these trials as well.

The man's cries were louder as he was dragged away, but Azula ignored him pointedly. He wasn't quite so easy to ignore for the guards doing the dragging, though, or for the two men standing outside the Throne Room's curtain.

"You can't treat your people like this…! Y-your father won't stand for it! I…! I need those slaves! Princess, have mercy, please…!" he exclaimed, struggling against Shuren and Wuhan's strong arms.

"Woah, she's definitely doing a great job, isn't she? If she's got transgressors whining like this…"

The salt poured into the slave owner's open wound didn't go ignored. He froze in Shuren and Wuhan's hold before shooting an outraged glare at the man who had spoken those words…

And, predictably, the short, older man with next to no muscular build nearly fainted upon setting eyes on the tall, bulky foreigner that glared at him with obvious derision. He had never seen him before, but he was easily recognizable regardless: it could only be the gladiator.

Sokka's cold eyes glared daggers into the slave owner's own. The man clearly had wanted to retaliate, but all his boldness vanished when faced with a dangerous opponent who had no intentions of listening to any of his potential excuses or complaints. Sokka raised an eyebrow questioningly at the man, defying him to say another word, but Rui Shi jerked his head at Shuren and Wuhan, who had paused in case Sokka wished to speak with the man.

"Go on, now" Rui Shi said. The two guards nodded in his direction and continued to push the slave owner out of the corridor… now, though, the man was quiet and compliant, no longer struggling against his obvious fate.

Sokka watched them walk away, a smirk spreading slowly over his face. He guessed he shouldn't take such pride in watching Azula's subjects begging for mercy – for that certainly could make her appear a harsh, unforgiving ruler –, but these were slave owners: they had broken her laws, they had believed themselves above all reprieve, and now they faced the consequences of their arrogance. Try as though he might, he couldn't find any compassion within his soul for people who could be lumped together with the likes of Huang Li.

"And that's that" Rui Shi said, releasing a breath as he watched Shuren and Wuhan taking a corner down the hallway.

"So… she's free now?" Sokka asked, turning a far more innocent and leisurely grin on Rui Shi now. Even though he wore his helmet and mask, Sokka had no doubts the firebender scowled judgmentally at his question.

"No, she's not. She's Interim Fire Lord, she's busy all the time" he said, stubbornly. Sokka snorted.

"So, I can't even drop by and say hi? Check on her, make sure she's drinking enough water and eating all three meals?" he asked, beaming pleadingly "C'mon, Rui Shi…"

"Right, because that's definitely what you're hoping to do" Rui Shi grumbled, shaking his head. Sokka snickered.

"What else could there be for me to do, huh?" he said, his hands behind his back as he swayed in place. Rui Shi rolled his eyes.

"I'll have to run this by her" he said, and Sokka snorted.

"Why can't I just go inside and…?"

"Protocol must be followed where a Fire Lord is concerned" Rui Shi declared, curtly. Sokka huffed "So… I'll ask if she wants to see you. If so, good for you. If not, you'll have to take a walk and waste your time elsewhere until she's not quite so busy anymore"

"Riiight… as you wish, Rui Shi" Sokka groaned, pouting slightly as the guard pushed the curtain open.

Azula had meant to rest on the throne for a moment, closing her eyes and savoring her position briefly. It would be years before she could sit on this throne again after this week was over, she knew… she had to do her best until then. Her briefly-acquired power had to be used for the right purposes…

"There's one more person who wishes for an audience with the Fire Lord" Rui Shi announced. Azula frowned as she raised her head towards him.

"I've already seen ten petitioners and ten slave owners, I thought that was the total amount of people allowed to see a Fire Lord on a daily basis" Azula said. Rui Shi smirked under his helmet.

"If you truly believe so, I'll gladly inform the newcomer of your refusal to see him. No doubt he'll be miserable, but I'm sure he'll get over it"

The playful tone of Rui Shi's voice was unusual, out of place even… and that gave away that perhaps this latest petitioner wasn't quite what Azula had assumed at first. Heat rose in her face as her heart sped up…

"Wait a minute" Azula said. Rui Shi didn't even muffle his chuckle "Is it…?"

"Who else could it be?" Rui Shi asked, matter-of-factly.

On cue, a smile spread over Azula's previously stern face. In a single instant, all her concerns and the weight of duty washed off her shoulders. If she cast fire onto the barrier of flames now, it'd burn in the brightest gold… just for a moment, of course, before the multi-colored fire took its place once blue and gold clashed together.

"You don't change, do you?" Azula said, shaking her head "Here I thought you weren't quite so eager to keep us away from each other anymore…"

"I'm not, but it's no less fun to torment you both, regardless" Rui Shi admitted.

"Let him through, then" Azula said, breathing deeply and sitting upright. Rui Shi scoffed and shook his head.

"You have fifteen minutes, Princess. The cleaning crew will arrive by then" he said. Azula stiffened.

"And what exactly are you expecting to happen in here that you thought I needed to know such a thing…?" she asked, her voice accusatory and guilty all at once.

Rui Shi smirked and shook his head as he returned to the curtain. Azula watched him until he left, her heart picking up its pace as she awaited the next person who would cross that threshold. It would be the first Palace visitor she'd genuinely look forward to seeing, after such a long morning…

The curtain rustled hastily only moments later, and Azula's breath hitched: all her remaining anxiety disappeared as soon as she laid eyes upon Sokka again.

She couldn't hold back the relieved grin once his familiar silhouette started the way to the center of the Throne Room. Her smile, however, gained an edge of pride as he came closer, for his own was wild and uncontained.

"Well, well… redecorating nicely in your father's absence, I see?" he teased her. Azula laughed and shrugged.

"Figured the blue fire might serve to further intimidate the petitioners and slave owners" she said. Sokka snickered.

"I'm pretty sure you did just fine, then. I saw that guy just now, and it seems to me you tore his life to pieces…?"

"Oh, perhaps" Azula said, smiling and shrugging as Sokka finally stopped before her "It was no less than he deserved. You'd think so too, if you'd read his document"

"I'll take your word for it" Sokka grinned.

Azula thought to tease him for his complacency… but the words were lost in her mind when Sokka fell to his knees, a knowing, arrogant smirk playing on his lips. Her breath hitched.

"And… what are you doing, exactly?"

"Just honoring the only Fire Lord worth honoring, of course" Sokka said, winking at her before pressing his fist against his palm and bowing his head.

This time she couldn't hold back the laughter, a blush rising in her face as she covered her mouth with a hand. Somehow, he always knew exactly what to do and say to fix her day. It wasn't going that badly, not aside from how draining it could be to read about the abuses against slaves and arguing with their culprits… but all such weariness was easily chased away thanks to Sokka's unabashed support. All the strength she worried she might lack was sure to rise once he stood by her side, encouraging her to reach for the sky if she so wished…

"I'm flattered… but it doesn't suit you to be on your knees, gladiator" Azula said, her voice tender and affectionate. Sokka chuckled and raised his head again.

"I'll only kneel for those who deserve it" he said, proudly "Suits you perfectly to sit there, Azula"

"It's good to know someone thinks so" she smiled "I feel out of place still. Might be by the end of the week I'll feel differently…?"

"You'd better. You belong there for sure, much unlike your father" Sokka grinned proudly as he rose to his feet "Uh… Rui Shi told me we had about fifteen minutes? Probably thirteen by now, to be honest…"

"Until the cleaning crew arrives, yes" Azula asked, smirking.

"Beats me why he felt the need to tell me something like that…" Sokka said, stepping closer to the fire curtain, offering her a flirty, playful grin "Not like I would ever dream of doing anything I shouldn't on your big day…"

"That's good to know" Azula said, biting her lower lip "You truly ought to be in your best behavior, so…"

"So?" Sokka asked, folding his arms over his chest as he wiggled his eyebrows. Azula pressed her lips together again, failing to stop her smile from spreading "You're going to ask me to reschedule fulfilling my promise until later in the week?"

"Your what, now?" Azula asked, with a disbelieving smirk.

"Well, technically it was your idea…" Sokka acknowledged: he crooked an eyebrow, stroking the stubble of his chin "You know, that night in the desert, when you talked about how you couldn't wait for us to go home and defile this very Throne Room…"

"That's how you remember it, really?" she asked, amused.

"Is it that far from reality?" Sokka smirked "I mean… what exactly do you think we ought to do with the, what, ten minutes we have left?"

Oh, she should know better. She should be restrained, controlled, perfect… for any mistakes could be vital. Any miscalculations could bring down all her hard work since so many years ago. If the cleaning crew arrived earlier than they were meant to, if a guard decided to check on her…

She knew all those things, she knew the warnings by heart. Yet that very same heart was yearning for the rush of the forbidden, the rightness of doing something so very wrong…

"Well, Princess?" Sokka raised his eyebrows, his grin as suggestive as could be.

She took a deep breath, narrowing her eyes before raising her hands, taking the blue flames in front of her into her control…

"If you keep talking so much, I don't think we'll get around to doing anything at all"

The curtain of blue shifted in nature: not only did the blue flames, once more controlled by Azula, shift in color and nature suddenly, turning gold instead… but the ones right in front of Sokka were muffled out by the power of Azula's closed fists.

She didn't need to repeat her words to get her meaning across: Sokka had leapt onto the dais through the space she had cleared for him. The flames spread again, refilling the previously empty space as soon as Sokka lunged forward, claiming Azula's lips with the hungriest of kisses. Her tight fists spread open within moments, and she groped her lover's body as he pinned her down on the throne.

There were so many reasons, too many, why this was beyond out of bounds, why they should never do something so controversial… and the more those reasons tried to scream at the sinning pair to see sense, the more they ignored them. For a week, no one had more power than Azula did. For a week, no one could tell her what to do, or how to behave, or force her to do anything she didn't want to… let alone could anyone stop her from doing something she did want to do. Why waste vital time hesitating when they had the perfect opportunity to sate their desires right now?

He hadn't brought his weapons or worn his armor today: it made it all the easier for Azula to rip his clothes off his body in a frenzy. She, on the other hand, was fully dressed in her impeccable Crown Princess outfit: Sokka briefly pondered if they ought to stick to being quick, if they shouldn't take everything off… but with his trousers and underwear pooled at his ankles, where his boots kept them in place, he was already as exposed as could be.

Azula smirked deviously, her hands touching his warm, strong body wherever she could reach. Three days without seeing him had been too many… three days without touching him, without marveling in the extraordinary physique that had enchanted and addicted her since she had first laid eyes upon it. He broke their spree of kisses to do away with her armor, and she returned to his lips fiercely as soon as it was out of the way: her hairpiece had clashed against the hastily removed armor, tilting sideways in her hair. She removed it at haste, unwilling to let the blunt end, that had scraped against her scalp, bother her in the middle of this urgent, sudden tryst…

The curtain of gold fire spurred forth their arousal, she knew: the heat, much as it had been in the Northern Air Temple, promoted their wild exchanges, urging them to kiss passionately until the removal of another garment resulted in unwanted interruptions. Azula found herself aiding Sokka before long, tugging down her own trousers while he undid the belt keeping her tunic in place. Another kiss, and then the tunic was off, leaving her in only the long-sleeved shirt he took off in moments too. Azula moaned as she pulled him closer, as though hoping his bare body would help conceal hers from prying eyes that she hoped weren't lurking about…

But how could she stop the strange self-awareness that reared its head inside her? This was a Throne Room, a sacred place where Fire Lords would achieve both great and terrible things… and here she was, begging her lover to ravage her on that seat through moaning kisses. She knew it wasn't right, objectively…

And that was exactly why she refused to stop. What better way to spit in Sozin's legacy than by giving herself to her Water Tribe lover in the Throne Room he had built, anyways?

"How'd we do it…?" Sokka asked against her lips, nibbling on her lower one as Azula moaned with abandon, arching and swaying her body towards him. His deft fingers toyed with her breast bindings, cupping her chest whenever it suited him – her nipples grew more erect under his heated caresses.

"You… you can sit. I'll ride you" she hissed, grinning adventurously. Sokka snorted.

"Making me sit on the Fire Lord's chair, are you…?" he asked, biting her lower lip now. Her latest moan was stronger yet, despite most of it poured into his mouth.

"Damn right… that's what I want" she breathed against him: finally the breast bindings came off, leaving her in only her bottoms… and her trousers were already halfway down her thighs. Sokka smirked appreciatively as he kneaded her breasts, pushing her down on the throne's dais.

Azula relaxed under his kisses only briefly: he could have his fun, fondling her as he wished for now, but they definitely had to hurry. How long would they have left by now? Eight minutes? Seven? Less than that? Oh, her heart was beating faster just to think of the danger… or was it because of the lips that took over her own? Perhaps because of the touch of those hands, questing downwards to push her underwear down her legs as well…

She turned them on the throne, so he would lie beneath her. Sokka snickered and sat up: if only the situation had been different, he might have taken the chance to mess with Azula, playfully claiming to be the first foreigner Fire Lord in history… but all wishes to make light of the situation were gone when her breasts hovered mere inches from his waiting lips, her legs straddling him with difficulty under the constraints of their remaining clothes.

"Damn it… ugh, never mind, help me take off my boots" she groaned, reaching back towards her feet: Sokka assisted her dutifully, shoving off each shoe and the remaining clothes that had restricted Azula's movements.

"Naked in the Throne Room, Princess… shame on you" Sokka teased her, before pressing a suckling kiss on the side of her neck.

Further color rose on her cheeks at his words: oh, she was insane. This was insane, she wasn't supposed to be doing this, she should be in her very best behavior…! And yet one look at those devious blue eyes and she could want nothing more than to be claimed by him completely.

Without letting herself waste another second, she sank on his waiting shaft: for the short time they'd been at this, Sokka was already remarkably erect. He groaned, the tightness of her walls so delectable he could have finished right then and there…

"Fucking the Fire Lord, gladiator…?" she said in his ear, swaying again so her breasts would brush intimately against his bare chest "Shame on you"

The words succeeded at their intended purpose: Sokka smirked with that mischievous malice that she could only surrender against as he pulled her closer, his hands settling on her ass to do so. Azula gasped, for his manhood sank deeper inside her… just as she needed it to. With her head thrown back, and his lips devouring her neck, Azula thrusted lightly against him only for Sokka to respond with twice the same determination: her hands trailed over his strong arms and shoulders, his back and his chest, and all the while Sokka continued to kiss her lips and chest with that same voracious greed with which their tryst had begun. He wanted all of her, even if the time constraint would take a toll on them for sure… but he still sought everything he could take, fondling every curve of her body, triggering the most pleasant goosebumps that traveled her skin and drove her hairs to stand on end.

The perfectly composed Princess hairdo was falling apart with every savage thrust, and as soon as Azula realized as much she took to returning the favor: Sokka's brown locks fell smoothly out of the wolf's tail, framing his face as neatly… his hair was longer than ever before, hanging near the middle of his neck by now. Azula's fingers traversed across that scalp, delighted by caressing the shorter hairs growing over his nape and behind his ears… and then she buried them in the long, smooth, pristine locks from the top of his head that were ever so soft to the touch. Sokka groaned slightly at the tight hold of her fingers, but his mouth wrapped around her breast moments later: it was as though he wanted to give her good cause to pull his hair, and he did as much by pleasuring her chest in the wild frenzy that followed.

It wasn't anything he'd never done before, they both knew so, but committing such an uncanny, inappropriate crime in the Fire Lord's Throne Room turned up the heat on every single one of their actions, to the point where they as good as forgot they had experienced this pleasure countless times before: Azula had to kiss Sokka's face, pressing her lips to the top of his head to muffle the cries that threatened to do away with whatever was left of her self-awareness and control. And all the while he thrusted, hard, fast and frantic, through walls that loosened up further and further with every sway of their hips. The looming threat of getting caught dangled over their heads, spurring them forward relentlessly to finish their reckless transgression, and they obeyed it by succumbing to what every carnal instinct dictated. She pulled his hair again, forcing his face up so she could kiss his lips fully; one hand's fingers dug into her left buttock, the other fondled her breasts, rubbing his thumb against her sensitive nipples. Her body swayed in that erotic, intimate way against his, and he answered with savage thrusts she couldn't get enough of.

The rhythm they followed was far from coherent: Sokka sped up at random, tearing through with the most reckless abandon, enough for the rush to make him lightheaded… and then he'd slow down, still buried to the hilt inside her as she sank lower and lower still over his shaft. Sweat pooled between their bodies, a mix of their haste, excitement and anxiety: thrilling sensations raced back and forth in their bloodstream, warnings shot off inside their heads, and every new attained kernel of arousal was just another reward to reach for…

"Sokka…!" Azula gasped into his lips, and he groaned in return, his tongue reaching for hers again without giving her any respite… not that she wanted any, to begin with.

Her arms tightened around him, one across his shoulders, the other underneath one of his own arms. He embraced her just as desperately in return, his large hands raking as much of her body as he possibly could: they were close, both at once, and the more their bodies collided and brushed together, the more the arousal surged and rushed forth, lying in wait for an explosive finish that loomed within reach…

That they would thrust away at each other so erratically would likely take its toll on them eventually: their thighs promised to be bruised later, as well as their hips… and yet they couldn't, and wouldn't, stop. The moans pouring from Azula's lips into Sokka's compelled him to speed up all the more, his chest heaving in the onslaught of pleasure she stirred inside him. He returned each sound with lowly groans, his voice deep and sultry… and Azula could only melt further against him: her walls were slippery by now, her head abuzz with mind-numbing pleasure, and she burned hotter than the fire wall they were concealed by when the ultimate burst of arousal arrived, shooting through her with the power of the most sudden lightning blast.

Her moans were so intense and urgent, her walls squeezing him as deviously as could be: he couldn't hold out for long, and he knew he wasn't supposed to do so anyways… but he still dared hold out, thrusting harder, letting her envelop him further between her moaning kisses and the core that beckoned him to sink deeper inside her… and he obeyed. Every time she called for him, he obeyed.

One more thrust, then another, and another… he had to tear his lips off hers only so he could bite her neck instead. To his surprise, Azula's walls convulsed again in that impossibly pleasant way before she took to biting his shoulder in the very same impulsive manner: her second climax accompanied his first, and Sokka groaned as he thrusted upwards further, even if the energy and strength were flowing out of his body and into hers…

He slowed as he finished emptying himself inside her, pulling his mouth away from her neck to kiss her cheek softly now. Azula moaned blissfully against him, venturing a light lick over the bite marks she'd left on his shoulder.

"Oops" she said. Sokka chuckled and shook his head, tilting her head upwards.

"Nothing to be sorry for. Definitely felt like a king just now, and not because I'm sitting on a throne, exactly…" he said teasingly, pressing more kisses to her mouth. Azula groaned with abandon, cupping his face gently.

"That so? How come were you a king, then…?" she asked, with a playful smile. Sokka chuckled.

"Because only a king could be inside a queen like yourself, I'd expect…" he said. She laughed as she intensified the kisses, closing her eyes and letting herself forget every concern and constraint that should have been weighing them down…

Until they heard the sounds of voices and footsteps in the curtain's corridor: the official entrance to the Throne Room.

"Shit. Shit!" Azula exclaimed, breaking their kiss and climbing off Sokka far more hastily than she would have liked.

He didn't need to ask: he collected her clothes and his own, struggling to move while Azula picked up her armor and hairpiece. To his surprise, she handed them over to him before raising her hands and aiming them at the wall of gold fire: it only took her a few seconds to take down the barrier altogether, and by then the entire room fell into deep darkness… just in time, too.

"Oh! All the lights are out, Yura! Can you fetch us a lamp?"

"Sure, give me a second"

Simple words, casual sentences, spoken by two of the cleaning servants who were completely unaware of the fact that their Crown Princess had been committing most heinous, treasonous acts within the room mere moments ago. Yura arrived returned briefly afterwards, and she used her lamp to light the torches within the room…

To find an empty, spotless throne at the back of the room, bearing no evidence of what had happened between the Interim Fire Lord and her reckless gladiator.

The backdoor to the Throne Room was Ozai's most frequent escape route from war meetings: Azula had used it only during her exploration trips throughout the Palace as a child, never having needed to do so after war meetings. Today, however, she found herself stumbling through the dark corridor while leading Sokka by hand – he struggled to walk properly, his movements restricted by the clothes pooled at his ankles as well as those he carried in his arms – until she stopped at a seemingly inconspicuous wall: a punch of blue fire to a specific spot caused a doorway to slide open, offering the two wrongdoers a safe haven in a mostly-empty and very dusty room, mainly occupied by old scrolls.

"Come on, come on…" Azula said, pushing the door closed once Sokka, and his considerable cargo, had made it through the threshold.

They were silent for a moment, chests heaving, their heads still swimming in a strange, unreadable mix of lingering excitement and well-deserved anxiety. Oh, they were such fools, yes they were, and yet…

The first sound that came from Azula would have startled Sokka if only his own laughter hadn't been threatening to rush out of him at the same time. Azula laughed with abandon, covering her face with her hands as Sokka dropped the armor and clothes he was carrying just to offer her a comforting embrace, chuckling by her ear.

"We're… we're going to get ourselves killed, we're such idiots…" Azula laughed, breathing in his masculine scent, her face comfortably pressed against that strong chest.

"We made it, though. Let's not count ourselves out yet" Sokka chuckled "Alright, I promise I won't make you do that again. One crazy throne escapade is enough… unless you want more?"

"Only when I'm Fire Lord for good" Azula answered earnestly, smiling and raising her head to steal a kiss from Sokka's lips "By then, fucking in the Throne Room can even be a habit, if you want it to be one"

"Perfect" Sokka smirked. Azula laughed again, throwing her arms around his neck to kiss him further, hotter, deeper still…

They would relax for a few minutes before helping each other dress up, all amongst many more tender kisses and affectionate caresses. The room they were in was dark, and Azula had to muster a flame of gold fire so they could see their surroundings and not put their clothes on backwards. Sokka arranged Azula's hair by brushing it with his fingers this time, and the Princess moaned happily, far more appreciative of this particular brushing style than that which involved an actual brush.

"Okay… I can give you another scalp massage later, if you want" Sokka chuckled, kissing her cheek as he took her hairpiece and crowned her half-knot with it "But people will start panicking, won't they? Their Fire Lord is missing…"

"Their Fire Lord is off in the northern Earth Kingdom" Azula smirked, turning in Sokka's arms only to embrace his waist, leaning forward so her pelvis would press against his: the fire on her palm faded now, leaving them to stand together in the darkness "Whereas yours is right here. No need for anyone to panic, is there?"

"You… you have to stop it, Azula" Sokka groaned, hugging her tighter as he pressed an onslaught of brisk kisses to her face. Her resulting laughter didn't help matters in the least "Keep saying that kind of stuff and we'll end up doing things we shouldn't in this tiny room…"

"It's safer in here than in a Throne Room" Azula laughed, cupping his face "Most people don't know the Palace's secret corridors, so…"

"What was the point in dressing up if we'd just end up…? Oh, hell, why am I even asking that? Never mind…" Sokka groaned, pressing Azula to the nearest wall as he succumbed to his instincts anew. The devious hands that clutched at his face and the fastenings of his clothes, and the mischievous chuckles in Azula's voice, only proved the Interim Fire Lord's newest, whimsical escapade would go fulfilled, just as she had hoped it would…

---

He had lurked near the Throne Room, he even delayed the servants from entering right away, while pointedly hoping to ignore what was obviously taking place behind that curtain. When the servants entered the darkened room, and then took their time to find a lamp to see their surroundings, Rui Shi had sighed in relief upon confirming the room was empty. No need to kiss his life goodbye over his charge's antics, yet again.

Rui Shi had become too forgiving of Azula and Sokka's trespasses, far too much, considering what he'd been like when their relationship had begun. Years ago, he would have forbidden Sokka from entering the Throne Room altogether, and nowadays, instead, he enabled their secret escapades… perhaps the fact that they'd gotten away with it for so long had eased up Rui Shi's strictness. Or, perhaps, he was so taken by his own relationship with Song that he couldn't quite bring himself to drag the two reckless lovers away from each other. If anyone tried to pull him away from Song against his will, he'd likely have the worst of reactions just the same…

Still, whatever the Princess and Sokka did next wasn't his business right now: she was supposed to deal with paperwork and such matters, as far as he could remember from her schedule, so he resolved take a lunch break and check on her later again, if need be.

"Ah, Rui Shi!" Fei Li called him once the former Captain crossed the doors of the guards' barracks "Everything okay with the Princess's petitioners?"

"So far, yes" Rui Shi nodded "I thought I'd find something to eat and return to duty later, the Princess gave me the slip and escaped through the Throne Room's back door…"

"Heh, suits her to do that kind of thing" Fei Li snickered "As far as I hear, Fire Lord Ozai does that all the time too, especially when he wants to avoid the General if he's the one guarding at the curtain"

"Does he, now?" Rui Shi asked, removing his helmet and raising an eyebrow at his friend and fellow Imperial Guard.

Fei Li nodded, leading Rui Shi to the dining chamber. Their food awaited them in trays, and while the barracks had always been spacious, their size was even more apparent today: Ozai had taken a whole squad of Imperial Firebenders with him, leaving the second and third squads behind to protect the Palace in his absence. Many tables were empty, and not merely because of the soldiers on shift at the moment.

"You know, the General's always been a weird, unpleasant guy… I hate it whenever he summons me for reports. Dunno how you endured it when we were only Royal Guards" Fei Li sighed "By the way, you got a lot of mail today. I told Renkai to leave it in your room"

"Oh. Thank you, I'll get to it after we eat, then" Rui Shi said.

"Want me to send someone else to keep tabs on our Interim Fire Lord in the afternoon? If those letters are important…" Fei Li asked, but Rui Shi shook his head.

"I doubt it's that important" he said "It shouldn't take much time"

As dismissive as he presented himself, Rui Shi was curious about the content of whatever letters had arrived for him. One of them, he hoped, would push him forward in a private investigation he'd been meaning to progress with upon returning home… perhaps most the letters would pertain that subject, if he was lucky. But he'd only find out once he was finished with his food…

He ventured a glance across the room while he sat with his fellow guards, eating his lunch quickly: Renkai wasn't around right now. Perhaps he was on shift, then…

Rui Shi excused himself once he was finished eating, surprising his friends and fellow guards with how fast he'd gone through his food. The letters waiting for him, however, were on his mind throughout the whole meal, and he needed to get to them at once.

Renkai had left them on his desk: there were only three tightly bound scrolls, but there was a loose paper atop them. Despite being mostly invested in the content of the letters, Rui Shi picked up the paper, first of all:

Look into Koshing's cargo company – seems he could be the supplier. Still digging. You should ask them about him next.

Rui Shi frowned and crumpled the paper into his hand before letting his fire engulf it. He couldn't deny there was something ironic in how he had burned the evidence of his research, considering one of the reasons why the research in question had started…

He breathed deeply and closed his mind, focusing on that name. Koshing, Koshing, Koshing… he would go to the Capital's port tomorrow and ask about the cargo company. And, as recommended, he would ask about the mysterious man to the women who had sent him the thickest scroll out of all his letters…

He took his seat and spread that one immediately. The handwriting was familiar – he had kept occasional correspondence with them over the past years, though ensuring to never reveal anything vital about the Princess's activities. He doubted Azula would be thrilled to know that he would exchange letters with the very advisors she had chased away from the Palace, even though he knew she wouldn't be very likely to learn about it anyways.

Such thoughts often plagued him, as he wondered if said correspondence amounted to some sort of betrayal. Would Azula truly see it that way? She had even visited the old ladies once, during that trip she had taken with her brother and her friend Ty Lee… at least, that was what they'd told him in one of their messages. Perhaps what he was doing wasn't that bad, was it? It certainly wasn't wrong of him to write to people he had a cordial relationship with, no matter what Azula might make of it. And as long as he gave away no key information about his charge, she would have no reason to be truly upset about it…

He reassured himself with those thoughts before finally focusing on reading the letter's contents:

Greetings,

It has been too long since your last letters, Rui Shi. We were overjoyed to receive this one – though, if you would be so kind, please write with larger ideograms the next time, could you? Our eyes are not as sharp as they used to be, and small penmanship can be difficult to unravel.

Fortunately, unlike our eyesight, our memories are still mostly intact: thus, we can offer you some assistance, as long as our information about General Shaofeng serves your purposes.

He was a mysterious member of Prince Ozai's Royal Guards from the first moment. He rose to the position of Captain after Prince Ozai's first Captain retired, and it appeared they got along marvelously. Shaofeng was a powerful firebender, and they even sparred together, from time to time.

A northern Water Tribesman was sent to assassinate Fire Lord Azulon – perhaps you remember hearing about this, though you mustn't have been born when it happened – and the Fire Lord was restless. Ever eager to assist his father, Prince Ozai had even volunteered to track down the assassin – though he wasn't the one to catch him, in the end. Prince Iroh had been the object of another assassination attempt earlier that same year, though perpetrated by the White Lotus rather than by the Northern Water Tribe. All this motivated Prince Ozai to selflessly offer the men at his charge to protect his father further, long after the assassin had been imprisoned: Azulon rejected most his men save one, Shaofeng, and he was incorporated to the Imperial Firebenders.

Shaofeng's tenure in the Imperial Guards wasn't meant to show any approval of Prince Ozai's generosity, however: Fire Lord Azulon forced Shaofeng into countless humiliating situations we would rather not disclose, most of them before the eyes of Prince Ozai, as though to demonstrate that he didn't need Prince Ozai's charity. This outraged Prince Ozai, of course: his relationship with his father only decayed further over this matter.

That being said, Shaofeng changed while under Fire Lord Azulon's service, and his relationship with Prince Ozai soured. After Fire Lord Azulon passed, and Prince Ozai took his place, Shaofeng was far from friendly towards Fire Lord Ozai. He was promoted into the role of General of the Guards immediately, yet there was no camaraderie left between them anymore.

We looked into Shaofeng's origins once, out of sheer curiosity, once he became Prince Ozai's guard captain: there are no Temple records of any children registered under that name during his birth year. His family is unknown. His education is unknown. It's a true mystery how a man under such strange circumstances would ever be accepted in the Military Academy when his background is as good as untraceable. We do not wish to elaborate on the matter beyond what's reasonable, but the absence of personal information about General Shaofeng still strikes us as a suspicious matter, to this day.

We hope this is helpful, Rui Shi. As you know well, those of us relegated to operating in the background of the Fire Nation's Royal Palace often listen in on what we shouldn't, and witness events our eyes weren't meant to see. It's both a blessing and a curse, is it not? You, as a Royal Guard – and now Imperial – no doubt have undergone similar plights.

Have you been well? Amongst the rumors that reach us on occasion from the Palace, we heard you are in a relationship. Is it true? If it is, we have no doubts your lady must be quite fortunate to have found love with an upstanding man like yourself. We wish you both the best of luck, that is, if there's anything to wish luck about. Gossip in Ember Island isn't quite as reliable an information source as we wish it were. We certainly could use more updates from trustworthy sources, such as yourself.

And, on a similar topic, we would also appreciate any news you could share about our honored Crown Princess. We have heard of her latest achievements – we are quite impressed by the slavery laws she penned –, but we would like to know if she is healthy and well, too. We visit the local Arena on occasion, only to ask of her progress in their League, and while we understand very little of what the Gladiator Business entails, everything suggests that she and her personal fighter have made remarkable progress over the years of their association. Has he been a good influence on her? A friend, perhaps? You have seldom offered any details on their partnership, yet all we hear about it in the Ember Crater are positive things. Is there anything that worries you about the Water Tribesman? Or are you perhaps under her orders not to share any information about her personal business?

If the latter is true, we offer our apologies: we shall not pry or request much news beyond simple confirmation that she is well. As you surely recall, we saw to Azula's wellbeing from her earliest years until she dismissed us: it is difficult to forsake our attachment to her, no matter how much easier it has been for her to cut us off from her life.

Send our regards to the Princess, if she's willing to receive them. And the best of luck with your lady, if those rumors are true. Be well, Rui Shi: we hope our information will be of use.

Lo & Li.

He smiled as he read the final paragraphs, his two other letters forgotten for the time being. After earning his role as Captain of Azula's Guards, Lo and Li had frequently checked on him, asking about Azula's wellbeing just like this. The Princess was already distancing herself from them at the time, and that compelled the old ladies to reach out to Rui Shi instead of her. Theirs hadn't been the tightest of friendships, but when he had heard Azula had cut them off for good, he had known he would have to look after Azula all the more: he had to do it for his share as her Royal Guard, as well as Lo and Li's, as the Princess's old advisors.

No doubt they wouldn't be proud of his failure in the least, if they knew of the kinds of wild dangers and complicated situations Azula constantly landed herself in. They would be especially displeased, he suspected, if they knew of the very inappropriate dalliance she had indulged in with her gladiator for most their partnership. Rui Shi had no illusions about what the traditionalist women would make of that particular revelation…

And he wasn't about to reveal it to them, of course, but he suspected there were other things he could disclose without much trouble. He found a scroll to write in, and he began composing his reply right away. First, he thanked them for the information about Shaofeng – highly useful information, even if it was clear it wouldn't be easy to look further into the man's past – and then he offered what little information he could about Azula's activities, matters that were of public knowledge and that wouldn't make him a traitor in the Princess's eyes… and then came the last, longest part of the letter.

In the end, Rui Shi wound up taking up Fei Li on his offer to send someone in his stead to guard Azula for the afternoon: seldom was he so giddy about answering a letter, or as long-winded as he'd been, but sharing his story with his fiancée could improve his day and mood in the blink of an eye. So, with an unabashed smile that didn't wane for the rest of the evening, Rui Shi took to writing the broad details of his relationship with Song, just as Lo and Li had asked him to.

---

As familiar as Ozai's study was, Azula was only discovering today that she was a stranger to her father's organization rules. She had planned on taking her first day at relative leisure – as evidenced by her reckless escapades with Sokka –, but she had discarded the idea as soon as she entered the study: if she hoped to do her job right, it wouldn't do to spend hours searching for the proper cabinet with the right files, would it?

It was interesting enough to search through Ozai's papers, although Azula was convinced he'd taken any potentially controversial documents and stashed them someplace else, so his daughter couldn't possibly read them and confront him for their contents upon his return. But she had more than enough work to do with the remaining papers all the same, and she was even enjoying herself, despite her companion wasn't remotely as entertained as she was.

"Figured out where everything is yet?" Sokka asked: he rested on a lounge within the room, trying his very best to stop thinking that Ozai surely had rested on it many times before. All things considered, Ozai had taken his seat on the throne countless times and it hadn't fazed him when having sex with Azula there… the mischievous thought was enough to bring a smile to his face.

"Almost" Azula admitted, crouching before a bookshelf and drawing out the cabinet below it "I'm pretty sure these are blueprints of each major city. Not sure I'll need that, but it's good to keep their location in mind…"

"He didn't leave any documents on pre-laws slavery around here, did he?" Sokka asked, glancing at her wistfully. Azula sighed.

"Doesn't look like it, but it doesn't hurt to check" she said, closing the cabinet and pushing herself up to her feet. She glanced at Sokka: he was resting with such careless abandon, his hands behind his head, that she was torn between joining him there and scolding him for his carelessness…

Well, she was leaning more towards joining him, but she had to control herself at least once today.

"If you're that bored, you can just go home, you know?" she said, with a dry grin.

"I'm still recovering from our fun earlier today, if you must know" Sokka said, beaming "Once in a Throne Room, twice in a weird secret room… If we keep this up, we'll break all our records"

"Doubtful" Azula laughed "Not that I wouldn't like breaking them, but it's already dusk. I don't think we'll have enough time left in the day to break any records. And as you're still regaining your energies…"

"Oh, I can regain them fast as heck if you decide to sit here with me" Sokka said, grinning mischievously "Alternatively, well, we could always clear out that desk…"

"Absolutely not" Azula said, shaking her head. Sokka huffed, his eyes defiant and teasing as they followed her through the room "I said no! This is my father's study, Sokka, for crying out loud…"

"And that was his Throne Room, and this is his Palace…" Sokka recited, still smirking "Your point?"

His blatant shamelessness triggered an inevitable laughing spree in the Princess. Sokka gazed at her warmly as she shook her head, a hand on the bookshelf she had been about to check next. Just as he was hoping to compose another flirty, teasing remark towards his secret wife, someone knocked on the door.

Azula shot him a quick warning glare before turning towards the sound. Sokka held his silence, though he didn't take a more dignified position on the lounge as he relaxed there at leisure.

"Yes?" Azula called.

The assigned guard opened the door, revealing that a middle-aged woman wearing the Palace servant's uniform had been the one to pay Azula a visit just now.

"Dinner will be ready within thirty minutes, Princess" the kitchen servant announced, bowing deeply "I was only sent to inform you so you could be ready for it."

"Ah. Thank you" Azula said, with a curt smile.

Her eyes drifted towards Sokka briefly: as much as he appeared unconcerned with Azula's exchange with the servant, he probably could use some food of his own. If anything, Azula's selfishness reared its head: she had spent most the day with Sokka, yet even that wasn't enough. A few more hours with him, under the excuse of sharing dinner with a friend who was much more than that to her…

"Before I dismiss you, though…" Azula said, just as the kitchen servant was about to walk away. She looked at her with confused apprehension, despite Azula's tone didn't sound ominous "I understand this is last minute, but perhaps you can make a full-course meal for my gladiator as well?"

"O-oh…" said the woman, glancing at Sokka. The gladiator sat up immediately, eyes gleaming as he gazed at his sponsor "Why, yes, we can certainly arrange that! Do not fret, we'll do it at once"

"Thank you" Azula said, smiling "The second dining room will do. I'll be there shortly"

"As you wish, Princess"

The kitchen servant retired, and the guard closed the door. Merely a moment afterwards, Sokka's happy whimper brought Azula to smile, and just as she was turning to face him, he had jumped into her arms, embracing her tightly and nearly knocking her off her feet.

"S-Sokka…!" she exclaimed, holding onto him just as well, despite her balance had been thrown off completely.

"You're the very bestest! You know that, don't you?" he said, burying his face in her hair. Azula snorted and shook her head.

"Like there's any need to react like that because of what I said…" she smiled, pulling away only to press a kiss to his cheek "You really think I won't take advantage of every opportunity to be with you through this week?"

"Oh, I know you will, but still…" Sokka said. Azula chuckled, encouraging him to take his seat again.

"Considering what our plans are for tonight, you shouldn't be surprised in the least by this turn of events" she said, pushing him down on the lounge and kissing his lips now, despite she pulled away quickly "Hell, I can feel my father's merciless judgment every time I kiss you in this place, Sokka…"

"Oh, you're just imagining things" Sokka smirked, his hands on her waist "Why wouldn't he approve of how affectionate you are towards your husband"

"The part where you are my husband is what would horrify him, you realize…?" Azula teased him, pressing him against the lounge's backrest.

"I've been an upstanding husband to you so far, though. What's he got to complain about?" he said, smiling innocently now. Azula laughed, pressing her brow to his.

"I love you, Sokka" she said "Probably too much"

"Yeah, well, I love you too much as well. Which is why we decided to close the drapes on those windows, in case we decided to love each other too much, physically…?" Sokka said, smirking. Azula laughed but pulled away, shaking her head.

"Quit trying to tempt me. I'm not about to fall for it, not right now…"

"Oh, but why…?" he asked, teasingly as Azula returned to her bookshelf…

Only for another knock on the door to distract her yet again.

This time, the servant behind the knock was only a few years older than Azula and dressed in a wholly different uniform: the spa's uniform, to be precise.

"Princess, I have no doubts you've been too busy to visit the spa facility" she said, bowing her head "Yet the Fire Lord ordered us to remind you to drop by every day, if you forgot to do so…"

"Hmm. Suits him to do that" Azula sighed. She could hardly reject the offer, even though she was a lot more relaxed than anyone should know, thanks to the very effective stress-release she'd had with Sokka, earlier that same day… "It's far too late to go now, I suppose… you may go home for the day. I'll do my best to remember to stop at the spa tomorrow"

"Well, your father goes to the spa after training, doesn't he?" Sokka mused, and Azula raised an eyebrow "And you didn't do any training today…"

"No, I was busy sending him off safely this morning" Azula answered, with a shrug.

"Meaning, if I drop by to make sure we train tomorrow, you'll have no choice but to go to the spa afterwards before getting to all the trials and annoying business you have to deal with" Sokka declared, proudly. Azula blinked blankly "It's the perfect plan! And this way the spa will have work to do, and they won't be bored the whole day!"

"Huh" said Azula, with a dry grin. The servant glanced between her and Sokka with uncertainty "And I suppose this means you'd like to make use of the spa as well?"

"U-uh… if you'd let me, I wouldn't complain" Sokka said, smiling and shrugging. Azula sighed and glanced at the servant, whose eyes were wide as plates after Sokka's latest words.

"I'll be there tomorrow morning. Whether he'll join me or not remains to be seen. Thanks for dropping by as you were ordered to, you're dismissed now"

"Yes, Princess. Of course" said the servant, bowing towards Azula before backing out of the room slowly.

Azula turned her gaze on Sokka once more when the door was closed, finding him grinning eagerly at her.

"You do realize it's not exactly normal for two people to visit the spa together… especially two people who aren't supposed to be in a clandestine relationship?" Azula asked, with a dry grin. Sokka's enthusiasm deflated gradually at those words.

"Well, I just thought it'd be fun… you always said I'd never get to use the spa, so it seemed kind of fun to turn that around, for once" he said, smiling goofily again.

"I've definitely made a lot of progress with you in countless regards… but I can't say I feel entirely comfortable with the idea of watching you getting a massage from anyone else" Azula admitted, her cheeks reddening. Sokka gasped "Still, that's a secondary reason to complain, if anything…"

"Is that what bugs you?" he asked. Azula snarled.

"I said it's a secondary reason…"

"If it is, then…! We can visit the spa later, once it's empty, and we can massage each other" Sokka said, beaming "Then neither of us has to be jealous to see someone else groping the other!"

Azula snorted and shook her head. Sokka sat cross-legged now, swaying back and forth on the lounge with the most innocent and devious smile on his face… how could it be both those things at the same time, Azula didn't know.

"We can also not get massages at all, and just sit around doing nothing for a few hours" Azula said, sighing "But for that matter we might as well do that someplace more private…"

"I wouldn't exactly do nothing with you, if we were someplace private" Sokka snickered "T-though… those massages, um, we wouldn't be expected to be naked, would we?"

"No?" Azula said, smiling weakly.

"Good. Because explaining the fresh scratches on my back would be very awkward if anyone noticed them" Sokka said, smiling skeptically. Azula stiffened: she had no shortage of obvious love bites across her body, especially after today's trysts.

"Yeah. No naked massages, for sure" she said, eyes wide as Sokka chuckled in his seat.

"Would definitely be an awkward conversation to have with the staff" he said "'Who on earth scratched your back like that, gladiator?' 'What are all those marks on your neck, Princess?'"

"Well, we can always say I beat you up so badly in training that you fell into a bush with many pointy branches and sticks…?" Azula suggested. Sokka snorted.

"And what about you? Did you get bitten by a bug, then? A… lovebug, perhaps?"

"And here I thought you were a proud wolf" Azula smirked. Sokka threw his head back, laughing carelessly.

Azula continued to look through the bookshelves, making mental notes of which sections had useful material and which were only stashed with books and scrolls meant for entertainment purposes. She was surprised to find her father had a few scrolls with intellect puzzles on them – most were fully resolved, though a few remained unfinished: did he have enough leisure time to play numerical games like those? Or was it, perhaps, another source of stress-relief for the Fire Lord?

She set them aside, finding the section about education next. She withdrew a scroll, a report of the average grades of all enrolled children from Zhishi Academy, a school in Fire Fountain City…

"Definitely ought to get started with the proposal of a university…" she mused, biting her lip.

"Don't you think you have plenty to deal with for this one week?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"Maybe. But it's one other thing I figured we ought to change about the Fire Nation. Maybe I could ask Goro for help… he'd be happy to helm an in-depth physics department, I'm sure"

"You could ask me too, couldn't you…?" Sokka mumbled, in a small voice that Azula still overheard.

"Maybe I could" Azula said, glancing at him over her shoulder: he grinned guiltily at her "Though I'm not sure which department you'd rather work in… I'd suppose mechanical designs wouldn't be a bad idea for you, considering your work experience"

"Hehe, that's right…!"

"But you are, indeed, a gladiator…" Azula said, smirking as she emphasized the first four letters of the word "Could be we'll have to make a comedy department so my personal jester helms that one…"

"W-wha…?! Hey, now!" Sokka pouted childishly, and Azula laughed "If that's the case, Fire Nation nerd, you should be teaching every single class about your country…!"

"Fine by me, I barely feel insulted by that, at this point" she said. Sokka scowled, climbing off the lounge, his hands poised with spread fingers… the latent threat that a tickle attack was coming Azula's way "Oh, no! You stay where you are, or I'll have to fight you off for good this time! No tickling the Interim Fire Lord!"

"Or else what?" Sokka asked, smirking slowly.

"Or else…!"

Another knock on the door.

Fortunately, Sokka knew to drop his hands even before Azula shot him another warning glare. His playful hostility was gone when the door opened, to reveal a somewhat familiar face by the room's threshold, carrying a set of scrolls with him.

"Princess, excuse the late arrival, but… oh"

Sokka frowned, knowing he had seen the elderly, thin man with the long beard before, but he was unable to place him at the moment. Azula, however, tensed up immediately, for War Minister Qin's had stopped talking when he'd lain eyes on Sokka.

"I didn't know I should have been expecting you to begin with, War Minister Qin" Azula said, ensuring to stand between Sokka and the War Minister immediately.

The Princess's words sent an unpleasant feeling worming underneath Sokka's skin: this was the asshole who had abused the Mechanist for years… with that particular title he boasted of, no doubt he was guilty of thousands of crimes of the sort, even worse ones than any Sokka knew of, so far. So thin and harmless he seemed, yet surely his orders had caused the deaths of countless people in the Earth Kingdom…

"I was only bringing the agrarian reports of the Hu Xin Provinces" War Minister Qin continued, his eyes drifting over Azula's shoulder and towards the gladiator who glared fiercely at him. To Sokka's delight, the man seemed to recoil over his scowl "B-but I can come back later…"

"What for? You're only dropping off these reports" Azula said, extending her hand to receive them "Thank you for your diligence"

"Y-you're most welcome" he said, bowing his head towards Azula quickly "I'll be sure to bring you any news of the Colonies if I receive anything of note during this week"

"Naturally" Azula nodded as War Minister Qin stepped out of the room again, and the guard closed the door behind him.

Despite Sokka had been prepared to be scolded for his earlier misbehavior, Azula ignored him as she returned to the desk, taking her seat at it while her eyes raked the contents of the report, dashing across the words at haste. Sokka watched her with concern at first, amusement afterwards, and simple admiration later on. He took his seat once again, but he didn't rest leisurely on the lounge this time: instead, he propped up his chin by resting it on his hand, an elbow on the couch's armrest, and he smiled carelessly as he watched Azula studying the report as thoroughly as she did.

At first, his persistent staring seemed to be perfectly ignorable. But after a while, the numbers were far more difficult to focus on…

"Are you planning on staring at me without blinking for the rest of the evening?"

"I wish I could do it without blinking, frankly" Sokka replied, smiling. Azula finally tore her eyes from the scroll to scowl skeptically at him "But yeah, I am. Sorry if you don't like it"

"I… I like it fine except for how distracting it can be. Look at something else" she mumbled: she was finally at the last set of numbers, and afterwards there was an analytical paragraph she would do best to focus on right now.

"What's the point of looking at anything else when I can be looking at you?" Sokka smiled carelessly.

Just as it often was for Azula, being completely taken by Sokka's more serious facades, Sokka was ever fascinated by watching Azula at work: he hoped the contents of the report weren't worrisome, but the small crease between her eyebrows had returned as she read… and the sight of it was too adorable to ignore. He didn't want to interrupt her, but she couldn't quite expect him not to gaze at her for as long as he could…

"Ugh, you're impossible" Azula groaned after a moment, setting down the scroll as Sokka chuckled quietly "I'm sending Rui Shi to buy you one of those disentanglement puzzles tomorrow…"

"A what, now?" Sokka asked, as Azula pushed herself up.

"I figured you'd never played with one of those" Azula said, smirking "Either you'll blow my mind and solve them in a heartbeat, or you'll spend hours on end trying to solve them to no luck. Either thing ought to be amusing"

"Well, I have no idea what you mean, but… are you done for the day?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, it will be time for dinner soon, and there's not that much to do about the agrarian report anyways" Azula said, urging him to stand up as well "There seems to be a surplus in production, which is a good thing, as far as I can tell… it means they should have a chance to send some of the excess production to the areas that need food more direly"

"Those provinces…" Sokka said, stroking his chin as he opened the study's door for Azula. The guard behind it, a member of the second Imperial Guards' squad, jumped and bowed as the two exited the room "They're in the Earth Kingdom, I figure?"

"That's right" Azula said. Sokka grinned proudly.

"Meaning, as long as this week goes well, you'll get to choose what to do with their surplus in production very soon?" Sokka asked. Azula laughed and nodded.

"As long as everything goes well, yes. I can offer suggestions on what they should do with the surplus – I wouldn't suggest they send all of it away, it's better to keep proper reserves since you can't ever take for granted that there will be no draughts or floods on any given year… but I don't dare give out genuine orders on this just yet. For now, I'll play by my father's beat, following suit with most his procedures unless they're absolutely unacceptable… and then, once I have genuine power of my own, I'll do what I believe is best"

"Sounds about right to me" Sokka grinned approvingly.

The dining room Azula had requested was smaller than Sokka had anticipated – which still meant it was larger than his entire house, of course. As he was the only guest of the evening, he would have to take his seat opposite to Azula, and they were asked to wait for the meals that would be brought to them right away.

"I'm not even going to bother warning you to eat with some decorum…" Azula sighed dramatically, and Sokka snickered "It's entirely beyond your abilities, as I know"

"You have too much fun scolding me for eating like a pig anyhow" he said. She smiled.

"So, you do it for my entertainment exclusively? And then you say you're no jester…"

"Hey, now, I didn't mean…! Oh, please…" Sokka pouted, as Azula laughed carelessly.

"You ought to come up with other acts to keep me amused, if that's the whole purpose of eating as you do. Perhaps juggling? You could ask Ty Lee for some pointers on circus amusement acts…"

"Something tells me you're not the type to be impressed by that kind of thing" Sokka said, his eyebrow twitching.

"Ah, you know me too well. What I would be amused by, however, is watching you mess up every act without fail" Azula smirked. Sokka rolled his eyes, biting his lip.

"Are you that keen on making fun of me today because you're happy to be Fire Lord for a week, or is it you've recharged all the wickedness energies you spent during the trip, and you're ready to unleash them all upon this unworthy vassal of yours?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Aw, and here I thought you enjoyed our banter" Azula said mockingly. It was his turn to snort and shake his head, laughing under his breath "Silly me… the jester makes the Princess laugh, but his jokes don't work for himself. It is, truthfully, a tragic matter to ponder…"

"For the record, I didn't say I didn't enjoy it" Sokka said, smiling at her "But I would rather you give my hand-eye coordination more credit, you know? Might be I can juggle just fine, despite you think otherwise"

"Oh? Then I'll add that to Rui Shi's shopping list" Azula smirked "Might be you'd rather practice your juggling instead of playing with disentanglement puzzles…"

"W-well, maybe I could try both, nothing wrong with that…"

His shamelessness could only bring her to laugh, a hand covering her face as she tried to conceal her blatant amusement. She hardly cared for her reputation these days, but it was definitely bad form to be caught laughing so carelessly when a group of servants were entering the dining room, carrying the trays with their food. Sokka's attention was immediately stolen by the classy meal: as much as he had eaten a few times in the Palace, he had never been given the royal treatment in full until now. Being regarded as Azula's guest certainly had many advantages…

"Do enjoy your meal" said the leading servant, smiling courteously after placing the last dish before Sokka… but that smile faded quickly when Sokka picked up his chopsticks and lunged for the soup before him "Uh, what are you doing?"

Despite his every instinct begged him to dig in as wildly as possible, the question gave Sokka pause. He blinked blankly and glanced at the woman cluelessly, keenly aware of the fact that Azula was smirking across the table.

"I was… going to eat?" he said.

"You can't possibly expect to take your first bite before the Crown Princess takes her own" said the servant, eyeing Sokka as though he were a catgator that had just crawled out of a swamp.

"What? B-but… no one ever said anything like that in the feasts and the Ball and…"

"Such events are another matter entirely" the servant said, proudly "A private dinner obeys the proper etiquette rules, and you must abide by them"

"I must…?" Sokka said, glancing at Azula to find she could hardly stifle her laughter anymore "W-well, I don't see why I should! Who made that weird rule, huh? Azula, is this true or is she yanking my hair?"

"Yanking your hair…?!" the servant said, outraged: by now, Azula stopped holding back, laughing carelessly as she leaned against the backrest of her chair, her shoulders shaking with each laugh "P-Princess…?"

Clearly, the servant wasn't sure what to make of Azula's laughter spree: was she amused by her gladiator's lack of etiquette? Or was it her, the servant, who had made a terrible mistake? She knew a lot of rules didn't apply to the gladiator, but this one seemed a matter of common sense…

"I… I don't know who made the rule, but it's perfectly reasonable, if you ask me" Azula finally said, a hand on her aching belly muscles – she had laughed plenty with Sokka as it was, but she seemed to have exercised certain muscles beyond measure today.

"Reasonable?! So, you're saying, if you were having dinner with a starving man, and you decided to give him a speech on, I don't know, the origin of each dish, you'd ramble on and on until he dies on the table?!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula snorted.

"What's the likelihood that I'd ever share a meal with a starving man? I mean, besides you, considering you're always hungry…"

"That's not the point!" Sokka pouted, and Azula's smirk only strengthened for it.

"If the people I'm sharing a meal with were terribly desperate to eat, I'd be very kind and take a bite so they could go ahead and stuff themselves right away" Azula said, waving a hand theatrically towards the dishes "But as I'm sharing one with a man who eats… well, three meals a day at the very least, with quite a few snacks in between…"

"N-not that many snacks!"

"I think I should ensure that you appreciate the culinary delights you're about to sample for today, just as you suggested moments ago" Azula said, ignoring his input and smirking proudly "You do realize it's important to be grateful for the food you eat?"

"W-well… yeah? I mean, I am, so…"

"Ah, but I'm not convinced that you are, not really. If you just eat everything at haste, you won't appreciate the hard work and dedication that went into preparing the meal, will you?"

All along, the servant nodded solemnly at Azula's words, masking her relief over the Princess's agreement with her decision to stop the gladiator from eating before she had. If anything, Azula appeared to be enjoying herself marvelously at the expenses of her irritable slave…

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? Azula…!"

"Let's see: this soup?" Azula said, pointing at it "It's a crab soup, and it's accompanied by leek, is it? Or was it scallions? Hmm… which is it, do you know?"

"U-uh, I think it's scallions, Princess" the servant said. Azula nodded sagely.

"Right, right, then scallions it is. Do you know where scallions are harvested, Sokka?"

"I don't! And I don't need to!" Sokka squealed, and Azula gasped.

"But of course you do! It's imperative that you know which regions of the Fire Nation yield ingredients of the right quality! The scallions, then, surely come from the northern farms of the mainland, the oldest in the archipelago, no less! Leek, as it happens, is mainly harvested in the Colonies, so it was seldom eaten in the Fire Nation until a hundred years ago: now we have leek farms throughout the continent, supplying us with whatever leek we may need"

"How very educational" Sokka said, bitterly. Azula beamed proudly.

"I knew you'd appreciate all this knowledge. Now, then, the crab…!"

"Azula!"

The Princess, as expected, didn't stop there: she continued to recite the harvesting places of all vegetables, and the likely sources of all meat-based products on their table. By the time she was finished, Sokka's stomach was grumbling and he lay half-perched on the table, as good as assuming he wouldn't eat anything at all.

"… And this year's supply of togarashi chili powder has been surprisingly good. It seems the harvesting of the ingredients for that particular predilect spice of mine was rather successful, to my absolute relief. Everything's seasoned just as it's supposed to be"

A pause. Sokka's eyes flickered upwards, finding Azula seemed perfectly satisfied after talking for what had felt like hours – though, in reality, it couldn't have been longer than ten minutes. The servant who had been watching them had excused herself by then, and Sokka had the strong suspicion she had been giggling quietly at his misfortune as she walked away. Just his luck, really…

"You done yet?" Sokka asked. Azula grinned.

"I can't think of anything else to add, at least for now" she said.

"Good. Congratulations on your culinary speech. Now the food's gone cold" Sokka said. Azula snorted and shook her head, picking up her soup bowl.

"I forgot that was a problem for you" she said, pressing her hands to the bowl.

Sokka's jaw dropped as he watched, sadly, how Azula's soup was heated enough to release a thin white smoke within moments. Oh, the wretched perks of being a firebender… no wonder cold food was no concern for her.

"Come on, don't give me that miserable look" Azula laughed, and to Sokka's surprise, she reached towards him over the table "Hand over yours, will you?"

"Y-you'll heat it up for me…?" he asked.

"It's the least I could do after tormenting you this way" Azula admitted, with a chuckle "Do excuse me if I went overboard, but the look on your face was far too amusing"

"You ought to be commending me for my willpower" Sokka pouted, placing his bowl in Azula's hands: before long, the same film of white smoke poured from it, to his happy relief "I could've just started eating and ignored your rambling"

"Huh, how utterly disrespectful of you. Dismissing your wife that way…" Azula said, lowering her voice with that final sentence. Naturally, the words brought a smile to Sokka's face.

"How utterly cruel of you, making your husband wait for ages before he could eat" he hissed. Azula laughed, handing the bowl back: Sokka sighed happily, but he held his chopsticks while eyeing Azula warily "Y-you're going to start eating now, right?"

"Yes, yes I am" Azula chuckled, picking up her own and bringing her soup bowl closer.

Sokka only waited for Azula to bring the first bit of crab to her lips before diving into his own bowl. Azula rolled her eyes but smiled at his enthusiasm, yet she was stunned cold, less than a minute afterwards, when his soup bowl was empty already. He eyed the rest of his dishes with sad uncertainty, and Azula sighed but smiled.

"Want me to warm up those too?" Azula asked. Sokka gulped.

"M-might be nice if you did, but… can I keep eating even though you're still on your soup?"

Azula snorted and shook her head dismissively, offering her hand so he could hand her his plates. She warmed them one by one, eating with one hand, bending with the other, and Sokka sighed happily each time a perfectly toasty dish returned to his hands…

"It is a highborn tradition to wait until the most important person in the room takes their first bite" Azula explained "After that, though, everything's fair game. So eat up, don't worry any-…"

She hardly had to say anything else to reassure him: Sokka gobbled down each dish wildly, leaving Azula to blink blankly as he ravaged the food carelessly. Well, he'd certainly always been the type who appreciated a meal the most after he had already filled his stomach with it.

The previous servant dared venture a glance into the dining room again upon not hearing the Princess's voice anymore: Azula's dignified eating contrasted drastically against Sokka's reckless, clumsy rush through the dishes. Yet even then there was an obvious smile on the Princess's face…

The servant returned to the kitchens, hands behind her back. The cooks were taking a break now, though they weren't free to leave, in case the Princess or her guest required anything else. Some of the servants were cleaning the massive kitchen already, however, and those who weren't working cast quick glances at the newest arrival.

"Is everything alright?" asked one of the younger staff members "The Princess… did she like the food?"

"Well, seems so" the servant replied "If she didn't, at least she's enjoying the company enough to ignore whatever she didn't like"

"Strange that she's so agreeable today" Zhilan, the head of Azula's maids, spoke up next "Not unpleasant, but strange…"

"Must be she's that happy to be Fire Lord, if just for a while, right?" said one of the cooks.

"Who'd ever have thought the word 'happy' would serve to describe Princess Azula, though?" said Zhilan, blinking blankly "I admit, she hasn't been so cold in the last years, but even then, I wouldn't say she was happy…"

"Well, look at that dining room now and you'll be surprised" the servant said, taking her seat at one of the kitchen stools "He's eating like a troglodyte, and she's just amused. She spent like ten minutes making fun of him by not letting him eat… and I'm sure I'd never heard her laugh that way until today"

"When was the last time a Fire Lord laughed for real, come to think of it?" Zhilan reasoned: she had worked in the Palace for many years, serving the Princess's mother long before being assigned to Azula…

She had seen two Fire Lords by now, and heard more than enough stories of elderly servants about the ones that came before Azulon: laughter wasn't something frequent in these daunting halls. That Princess Azula would be the one to bring about change in that area was deeply unexpected… yet wasn't that exactly what was happening in the dining room at the moment?

The two secret lovers remained oblivious to the suspicions they were arising in the Palace staff as they finished their meal – Sokka, of course, was done about twenty minutes before Azula was, but once she was mostly full she offered him the chance to finish the dishes she had no more room for. Sokka was grateful for it, and yet…

"You'd better work on your eating endurance, Princess" Sokka smirked, as they paced towards the Palace's front gates "Otherwise, the next time we take on the Spicy Ramen Challenge, you're going to lose for the very same reason…"

"I'm pretty sure you won't build up enough resistance against Jiare's spices by then, so I don't mind if I can't make it" Azula said, smirking. Sokka scoffed.

"Hey, now, I just finished five of your super-spicy dishes for you!" he declared proudly "Granted, I did drink like five glasses of water after each one, but that's not important…"

Azula laughed again as they stepped out into the dark night: clouds swirled above them, and it seemed there was no moon to shine through them either. Usually, Azula would prefer nights where she could see stars… but tonight, she was most pleased by the apparently unfavorable weather.

"You'd better hurry home. Seems like we'll have a midnight storm" Azula said, nonchalantly.

"Guess so. I'll still be here early tomorrow, though" Sokka told her, raising his eyebrows. She smirked and rolled her eyes "Very early. You know, we have training to do…"

"You're just looking forward to the spa, we both know that" she replied, and Sokka snickered.

"If I can be lazy with you for a while, what's not to look forward to?" he said, with a proud grin.

Azula held his gaze for a moment, tenderness flowing out of her before she could reel it back into control… but her fond smile gained an edge of mischief as she nodded in his direction.

"I'll see you later, then" she said. Sokka bit back a smirk of his own.

"Sure thing, Princess. Try not to get too bored without me" he said, waving as he walked away from her. How he would have liked to kiss her goodnight… but he'd have a chance to do that soon, very soon.

Azula watched him walk away: she could gaze at that strong back and those muscular arms for hours on end. Her eyes continued to longingly gaze after him, taking in every detail they could until he was too far away to be seen anymore.

There was no need to worry, she knew. He would be with her again shortly, after all…

She turned back inside, sending a quick message to her dragon. Xin Long groaned lazily in acknowledgement: there was still time, he'd do what she'd asked of him in a couple of minutes. No need to worry, not in the least… Azula sighed but decided not to pester Xin Long again: if he hadn't done what he'd been asked to within the next two hours, she'd nudge him mentally again, if need be.

About half an hour later, Sokka arrived at his house just when the first droplets of rain started to fall upon the city. He seriously hoped the weather wouldn't be a deterrent for their latest scheme…

"Ah, you're home, Sokka?" Song's voice called for him. Sokka closed the open door quickly, offering Song a guilty grin as he entered the vestibule. She was already clad in her sleeping robes… and Rui Shi stood beside her, eyeing Sokka judgmentally, as ever "I thought, um…"

"That you'd have the house to yourselves? Ha! I knew you were foul and filthy, just like Azula and I…" Sokka said, shaking his head as Rui Shi's eyebrow twitched.

"Nobody is as foul and filthy as you two" he grumbled, prompting Sokka to snicker in silent agreement.

"I really had expected you'd stay in the Palace" Song said, smiling awkwardly "I did leave some dinner for you, in case you wanted to eat, but since it was so late…"

"Yeah, no need to worry, I ate with Azula" Sokka reassured her "I probably will for the rest of the week, unless we get into trouble or something… and what's the likelihood of that, eh?"

"Considering it's you two? The likelihood is very, very high" Rui Shi declared, solemnly, prompting Sokka to pout and Song to giggle, her arm looped around his.

"Well, whatever. Point is, there's no need to worry about feeding me for this week" Sokka continued, hands on his hips "Everything's gone well so far, so I hope it continues to be that way. Almost feels like… like we're getting a glimpse of the future, you know? That once she's Fire Lord…"

"That once she's Fire Lord I won't have any choice but to accept your worst escapades?" Rui Shi asked, grimacing. Song blushed but giggled again "Just like today's…"

"Hey, now, we weren't caught, were we?" Sokka said, with a guilty grin "No need to fret…"

"You two have no common sense" Rui Shi said, sighing "Which is why I'm surprised you're here. I seriously expected you to spend the night there…"

"Well, there's not much excuse for me to do that…" Sokka said, his voice small… and still, guilty. Song's eyes narrowed.

"No, there's not. So why does it sound like you're up to something, Sokka?" Song asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka flinched.

"Who, me? Why would I ever be up to anything…?" he said, smiling leisurely as he paced towards the living room, eyes set on the backdoor…

It was raining more heavily now, and what Sokka was waiting for hadn't quite arrived yet. Oh, well… maybe Xin Long didn't want to travel under rain, right?

"You're going back, aren't you?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka shrugged nonchalantly.

"I… might be?" he said, grinning weakly "I mean, I had to leave, there was no way around it, but who says I can't go back, as long as no one spots me?"

"You two are out of your minds" Rui Shi groaned, moving to the stairs. Song followed, giggling again "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear or see anything. It's the best thing for my peace of mind"

"Is it? Well… thanks, then!" Sokka exclaimed, grinning and waving as Rui Shi walked away. Song waved back at Sokka just before her fiancé entered her room, pulling her inside with him.

Sokka breathed out and glanced at the backyard anew. He just had to be patient: any moment now…

An hour and a half later, the rain was falling even harder than before. Sokka grimaced as he sat by the backdoor, trying not to give way to anxiety: had Xin Long rebelled? Perhaps he thought they had been too reckless already, and he refused to bring Sokka to the Palace at such late hour. Not that it was that late, surely it was barely an hour before midnight or so…

And then he heard a gushing sound tearing through the rain: a set of gold eyes bore into his own, but instead of being intimidating, as the dragon often presented himself, he appeared most guilty instead.

"Xin! You made it!" Sokka exclaimed, beaming: all concerns about the rain went forgotten as he leapt out into the soaked backyard "Let's go, buddy!"

The dragon nodded, still unusually compliant, and he took off without a hitch. The storm above the Capital was strong, and Sokka deeply hoped no lighting would strike anywhere close to where he and Xin Long were flying. The whole point of traveling at night was to avoid being caught, wasn't it? Oh, how he hoped the map of underground tunnels and secret passageways Azula had crafted for him wouldn't be soaked under this rain…

He still remembered most of the details, though: they had decided on this course of action while they were locked inside the hidden room with the countless scrolls, kissing deeply and whispering just how unwilling they were to part for the day, whenever they had to. Naturally, Azula wasn't one to make wishes without the intent of fulfilling them: she had found an empty scroll and drawn a map with instructions for Sokka to sneak into her room, undetected. If he pulled it off, they'd be sure to wake up in the best spirits tomorrow morning.

Xin Long landed in the dragon's refuge, urging Sokka to hurry by nudging him with his snout: Sokka obeyed, running through the rain and to the same passageway Rui Shi had dragged them to after his first escapade with Azula, the one that led to the basement. That was the first step of the plan, Sokka knew… it was only a matter of fulfilling the rest, one by one, until he found himself at the proper, secret entrance to Azula's private chambers…

The Princess was pacing restlessly in her room: naturally, Xin Long had dozed off and she had woken him, albeit not with the intent to scold him. To her surprise, the dragon had been so guilty and frantic about failing her that he had taken off to find Sokka at haste. Now it was only a matter of waiting until Sokka got here, as long as he arrived safely…

She sat by the edge of the mattress, knowing this was completely reckless and foolish and wanting to do it no less because of it. She longed to sleep in his embrace, just as she had in the Northern Air Temple, in Shu Jing, during the Race… doing so in her own room was, she knew, dangerous and reckless, but she couldn't help but want to do it anyways. She wasn't sure where her common sense had gone over the past months… but she couldn't say she would be any happier if she had any left, frankly. Being with Sokka this intimately was thrilling to no end…

Just then, something underneath her carpet shifted: Azula jumped off the mattress and rushed to pull the carpet off the trapdoor. She forced the hidden doorway open briskly, and to her delight, Sokka was underneath… and he was soaking wet, too.

"Oh, Sokka…" Azula said, reaching out to touch his wet hair. He smiled sadly and shrugged.

"It's raining madly out there, you know?" Sokka said, as an explanation. Azula snorted and pulled him up to her level, kissing him deeply after doing so.

"You need a warm bath or else you'll be sick…" she said.

"Ah? Only if you join me" Sokka smirked.

"Why, how else do you think it would've been warm, huh?" Azula teased him, stealing another kiss from his waiting lips.

She was peeling off his clothes most deviously even as they made their way to her personal chambers' bathroom, and Sokka wasted no time returning the favor – albeit he had it much easier, as she wore only her red-and-gold sleeping gown. By the time they closed the bathroom door behind them, between kisses and muffled laughter, the two were well on their way to ensuring Azula's first day as Fire Lord would have the most pleasant conclusion it deserved.

---

The soldier yawned carelessly on the ship's prow, his eyesight blurry between the tears that blinked in his eyes. He knew he had to be awake, of course he knew that, but nothing ever happened in these boring patrols… at this point, he had no idea why they even patrolled like this, to begin with. Shouldn't they all be up north with the rest of the navy, fighting the Northern Water Tribe?

Well, clearly, that wasn't the case: hundreds of ships were supposed to keep the Fire Nation's waters secure, and theirs was one of them.

"Oi, cadet! Snap those eyes open! Don't think I didn't hear you yawn just now!"

His superior officer was at least thirty years older than him, his hair white with age, his eyes small and harsh: the cadet shrank under the ensign's scrutiny, even if he only was one rank above him.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'll do better"

"You'd better! The Fire Lord's commanded us to guard these waters! We must do so, for our great nation!"

The cadet held back a sigh: tired nights like this one promised the Fire Lord's conquest and the Fire Nation's expansion would appear utterly pointless and drab endeavors… what was the point in conquering the world if your people couldn't even sleep at night because they had to guard the seas? Oh, so boring…

The two soldiers were the only ones on deck at the moment. Not that the number of exposed soldiers mattered much, truthfully: the threat lurking in the darkness would not be stalled or affected by such insignificant details.

Said threat rode a small ship, outside the visual range of the Fire Nation patrol ship, concealed behind a light mist that their latest recruit had stirred up from the ocean for them. Rhone had dreaded the man might be a liability at first: the savage waterbender, however, had been determined to prove his worth and usefulness, supplying the group with the very skillset they needed to succeed at their mission. It was true that his legs had seen better days, and he wore a wooden prosthetic to replace his lost right hand, but he had retained the bending skills that, as severe as his injuries had been, could never be stolen from him.

"You sure you can take 'em with that thing?" the waterbender in question asked. Rhone raised an eyebrow, defiantly…

His hand tightened around his Spear.

Something dark, unpleasant, disturbing clung to the weapon: it had been obvious it was a supernatural object to even the least-spiritually-inclined member of the group when they had found it. Yet, in Rhone's hands, it was unsettlingly docile… perhaps because the Spear trusted he would provide it with what nourishment it had lacked for over a century.

"Just sayin', I'd rather not get slashed to bits by your fun little friend" said the waterbender, shrugging again. Rhone huffed.

"You've been slashed to bits so many times you ought to be used to it" Rhone replied. The waterbender snorted and laughed.

"Oh, you're a fun one, you! Ah, if only the damn Blue Wolf had been anything like you, man…"

"If he had been anything like me, you'd be dead right now" Rhone said.

"Who says that's such a bad thing, eh?"

Well, Rhone wouldn't argue with that logic. There wasn't much more appeal to existing amongst the living than to succumbing with the dead, as far as he was concerned.

He wasted no more time preparing: he raised a hand, and the vibrating Spear begged to be released. With a vast display of strength, Rhone launched it in the direction of the Fire Nation's ship…

They couldn't hear or see anything from such a distance. Rhone trusted the Spear would reach its target, but he wouldn't know of its success for certain until it returned… so he closed his eyes and waited. His very soul would know when to expect the weapon to come back to him.

He could feel the rest of his crew gazing over his shoulder with curiosity and fear. If something could be said for the waterbender, it was that he was nowhere near as much of a scaredy-cat as the rest of the group, standing right beside Rhone, staring into the misty sea keenly. It wasn't as though Rhone had ever been nice or friendly, but where he had intimidated his allies in the past, he flat-out terrified them after he'd found the Spear.

And speaking of which…

Rhone raised a hand, extending it forward. Even before the weapon reached him, he recognized the scent of blood in the air.

The weapon was coated in the dark red liquid when it landed safely, comfortably, in Rhone's hands once more. A collective gasp behind Rhone almost tempted him to cast the spear at his so-called allies… as though the fools had never seen a drop of blood before. The waterbender, however, only squirmed in delight, laughing in unabashed glee.

"D-did it get them all?" asked one of Rhone's earlier associates. Rhone frowned.

"We're about to find out" he said "Be ready in case any of them are still alive, though I doubt it. Push us to the Fire Nation ship, Stingray"

"Right on it, Kinslayer!"

The wooden ship wasn't slow by any means, but its natural speed was immediately boosted by the waterbender's power. Most the men aboard had to hold onto the ship's banisters or even the masts to ensure they wouldn't fall over, but Rhone stood in place, undeterred, resolute, his eyes set on the ship ahead… their one-way ticket into the heart of the Fire Nation.

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A/N:

Double update next time! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!