You thought you had seen the last of me?

4 years later only to prove that better late than never. I'm so sorry I disappeared, I love this fic I and do want to give it a proper end. But adulthood is a messy and so many things happened that I couldn't write anymore.

So that's it. I will try to continue it!

Sorry for any mistakes, "no beta, we die like men".

A week had passed after the fight between Azula and Katara. Both Zuko and Sokka had done everything they could to keep the girls apart. It was like they had this silent communication system. Whenever the two women would share a room, the Fire Lord and the Water Tribe warrior would manage things so the girls wouldn't interact.

The truth was, just after the whole situation, Sokka had a huge discussion with his sister, in which he had the support from Toph and Aang, who also agreed the waterbender had crossed the line. But it was not as if Katara would apologize. And to be honest, he didn't think Azula would accept it either. So right now, keeping them separated was the best option. However, Sokka was worried about Azula. The Princess had decided to pretend the whole thing never happened and that she was better than ever.

Azula had done what she was best at: playing pretend and overworking. She would dress in her best clothes, work until late, and tell everybody she was fine. She was faking it so well, Sokka almost believed her. But after all this time being so close to the firebender, he just knew better. And after witnessing the girl smiling and being kind to her mother over breakfast, he knew something was clearly wrong.

"You know, if you weren't a princess, you would be an excellent actress." He mocked her once they finished breakfast and went back to her room.

"I beg your pardon?"

He felt her glare at him, but chose to ignore it. He smiled as he slid his left arm around her waist. She kept looking at him inquisitively.

"Come on, princess. Do you want to convince me that you would be that nice to your mother? Also, I don't think I can remember the last time you insulted Zuko… I didn't know you were able to survive without at least humiliating him once a day."

Azula pushed him away, shaking his head.

"I don't know what you are talking about." She said dismissively, walking to her desk.

Sokka sighed and got a chair to sit next to her.

"I'm glad you are being nice to your family. But doing that just to cover something else isn't exactly good, you know…"

Azula ignored him, looking over a scroll on the desk.

"We never talked about what hap-" He tried.

"No." She cut him off, giving him a threatening gaze.

Sokka sighed, putting an arm over her shoulders and kissing her cheek softly.

"Sokka, I need to work…" Her tone was both annoyed and tired.

"I'm worried about you." He said in a serious tone.

Azula just gave a weak laugh, shaking her head.

"The assassins haven't done anything in a while, the Earth Kingdom accepted supporting us against the opposition, Zuko is actually tolerable to be around these past days… I think things haven't been so well in a while."

Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Fine, princess. Whatever you say…" He sighed, knowing that there was no point in trying to force her to open up right now. He had seen the signs though. Everytime Katara appeared or was mentioned, the princess would tense up or breathe in a different way. It was subtle, but he could read her better now. He wondered if Zuko or any other member of her family could see it. "Can we at least do something fun tonight?"

The Princess folded her arms over her chest, but couldn't help smiling. She rolled her eyes, sighing.

"What do you suggest?" She asked, getting closer to him now.

For a moment his heart skipped a beat. Even though they had been sleeping together for a while now, her beauty would always strike him.

"I would say we could borrow Appa to go see the sunset somewhere…" He said before pulling her to a kiss. "But giving it a second thought, I don't think we should leave the room."

Azula smiled with the corner of her lips, before kissing him back. "You're ridiculous." She then gave an exaggerated sigh. "Oh well, although flying on a bison isn't exactly what I call fun, I admit watching the sunset isn't a bad idea…"

"You just like doing the opposite of what I want, don't you?" He teased her. "But fine, it's a date."

"Now let me work, moron!" She complained, pushing him away.

XXX

Sokka was getting ready to go out with Azula when somebody knocked on his door. That afternoon Sokka told Aang he wanted to distract the princess and needed to borrow Appa.

When Aang heard Sokka's plan his main concern was having to lie again to his girlfriend. Not only was it out of the question to tell Katara about Sokka and Azula right now, the waterbender didn't seem to be herself lately either.

"You should talk to her…" Aang suggested, frowning his forehead.

"I'm still pissed at her, Aang. I need some time…" Sokka muttered as he tightened his jaw.

It was true. Despite understanding the reasons why Katara would still hold a grudge against Azula, he was furious at what she had done. He hated when his sister acted like she was responsible for him. They weren't kids anymore and he was more than capable of taking care of himself. If she had simply talked to him before going after Azula, things wouldn't get to this point. And using blood bending on Azula on top of everything gave him the chills. Of course his sister would think the firebender deserved even worse, but it destroyed him imagining what Azula had felt under his sister's control. So, he decided to avoid Katara as much as he could, with the excuse he was Azula's bodyguard and it was best to keep the girls apart.

"I think it's killing her that you don't talk to her." Aang admitted.

"She will live. So can I have Appa or not?"

Sokka smiled at his reflection in the mirror. At least he would have a fun night with his princess. His princess? Could she even belong to him in that way? He shook his head. No, tonight he wouldn't worry about those things, he just needed a break. The knock on the door was louder now.

"Come in." He said impatiently.

Aang and Katara came in with a startled look. For a second, Sokka cursed Aang imagining he had said something to Katara.

"Something happened in the city. An attack. We need to go there right now." Katara explained first.

"I'm getting Appa, are you coming with us?" Aang asked, concerned.

"Were you going somewhere?" Katara frowned, looking at him from head to toe.

Sokka decided to ignore her question. It was bad enough that his night was ruined.

"Of course I'm going with you guys, where is Zuko?"

"He went to a village in the north with Suki, remember? There was an accident with the water dam there."

Damn. Sokka didn't know what was worrying him the most. The fact that they would have to deal with this without the Fire Lord or that he would have to convince Azula to stay at home for safety.

"What is going on here?" Her voice came from outside the door.

Shit.

XXX

"Of course I'm going." Azula declared with her hands on her hips, glaring at him and Aang.

She was all dressed up, probably for their special night. She was wearing a red gown with golden dragon embroidery on it. Her hair was partially down, with a topknot. He loved when she wore it like this. And she had a golden eyeliner over her eyes which looked just perfect with the red lipstick. He would be mourning over his ruined plans with her, mostly when she looked so beautiful, if he wasn't so desperate trying to tell her she couldn't go.

"My brother is not here. So, I'm the highest authority. It's not negotiable. I'm going."

Sokka groaned in frustration. He was going to keep arguing when Katara called his attention for all the time they were losing. In the end he saw himself going over Appa with his sister, the avatar and the princess.

XXX

Once they got to the city, everything was a mess. A traditional building that was used as a cultural center was destroyed, fire burning all over it. Apparently it blew up after some strange guys left, the guards told them as soon as they left Appa. People were screaming, trying to come out of the place. The four of them started to work to put the fire down and help the injured.

Sokka could hear some people shouting at Azula, saying it was all her fault. But the princess seemed to be focused on the mission. He also noticed that she and Katara didn't share a word the whole way. They barely looked at each other. A part of him was glad the girls were mature enough not to try to kill each other in a situation like this, but he couldn't help wondering if it was going to be like this forever between them.

The water tribe warrior tried to keep these thoughts aside. He needed to focus on helping people get out of the building, that was a living hell. He and Azula went to what was probably the main hall of the place, which was now burning to the ground. He was helping people to come out, while Azula was putting some flames down.

"I'm getting her out and then I come back, okay?!" He screamed to Azula, as he led an old lady out of the house.

When he came back the smoke was denser and he could barely see a thing.

"Azula?!" He shouted and when there was no response, he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore.

Sokka kept walking inside the building, trying to find the princess. He coughed and tightened his eyes, trying to see anything. Then, he heard her voice, she was yelling something at him, but he couldn't understand.

When his vision finally cleared he understood what the princess was saying. "Come back" she shouted again. A barrel of gunpowder was just in front of him. Probably left there by the attackers. Before he could do anything, he felt somebody grabbing his arm and making him jump through the window at the very moment the whole house blew up.

XXX

The air was knocked out of Sokka's lungs when he fell over the floor outside the building and he felt a limp body fall over him as well as some house debris from the explosion. He heard people screaming and fire burning, but it took him a long time to finally be able to move his muscles.

Sokka sat up groaning and pushed the other person's body aside. He was just about to catch his breath when he looked down. His blood ran cold and his throat tightened. Azula. It was Azula! The limp, unconscious body next to his was Azula's. He yelled her name trying to get any response, but it was in vain. And he felt the despair taking over when he saw blood running down her face.

You thought I would come back giving Azula and Sokka a break? OF COURSE NOT!

See you guys soon. Please review!