CHAPTER 2
Having the lame squad around wasn't going to change the routine she had developed during the past week. In fact, she was going to ignore them as much as she could in hopes they would do the same with her.
Training with Zuko had become something she had come to await, not only because it allowed her to kick his ass first thing in the morning without him complaining, but also because it would give her the chance to once more prove her superiority in bending.
Zuko had been the one to propose it -which caught her off guard-. It was one of the conditions he made over a year ago, and from time to time, back in the Palace, they would train together whenever their duties would allow them to.
Firstly, it was mostly bending. Then, -after the increase of chi-blockers- he suggested including some hand to hand combat training, as well as some other weapons, including his dao swords, her shooting arrows at him and other stuff, pleading that every bender should know how to defend themselves without bending.
And after a few training sessions together, Zuko had come to acknowledge that even though it annoyed him, his little sister was better than him in all those training styles.
At first, it was mostly Azula kicking his ass over and over, but eventually, she started to give him some suggestions to improve, to make his fighting more precise and efficient -something that had surprised Zuko, but at the same time, moved him-, and that's what really told him that she was trying to change. Azula gave him advice on his firebending and that was something she had never done before.
Now, they have come to a point where during their training, she would shoot lighting at him, for him to practice redirecting it, -sometimes he would even redirect it back to her so she could practice it too-. He had been really impressed when he found out that she had managed to learn the technique by only observing him a few times.
Even though they have come really used to training together and being around -without trying to kill each other- they still had some points to work on in their relationship, which was far from perfect. Zuko had proved that just like her, he was also trying to make their relationship work. But something deep down told her that he didn't fully trust her, even if he said otherwise.
And even if Azula was never going to acknowledge it, having his friend around made her a little anxious about the fact that all she had been working for in the past year could go to the drain. Because after all, she knew that in the end Zuko would always put them before her. After all, they had been there for him. They had been there for him when she had been his evil little sister, who had tried to kill him.
"Did you have a chance to read the proposal for the new law decree?" Zuko asked, as they were training with the kali sticks.
He was the one trying to attack while she was blocking his blows, one after the other one.
She swung her right arm to him, but he managed to dodge it by bending backwards. They took a few steps back and then walked around in circles.
"I read it. But I didn't have the chance to look deeper into it." Azula confessed, managing to hit Zuko on the arm. He winced. "But it looks good. It might need a few minor alterations, but overall, it looks decent."
He swung a leg, trying to kick her off her feet.
Azula jumped to avoid it.
Sometimes, while training they would take the chance to discuss some of their work. New laws, new projects, announcements, or whatever they were working on right now.
Working together with both of their knowledge and points of views, had brought a ton of changes -for the better- in the Nation in every aspect and in a very short amount of time.
After Zuko's coronation, it had been hard to manage the country for a couple of years. Generally, because most of the members of the Council, including Generals and Admirals, didn't respect him as much, believing he was just a child who dethroned his father. But once Azula had returned to the Palace, and he had announced her as his Royal adviser, everything changed. The older men started to take them more seriously. Mostly because a big part of them were loyal to the Princess.
"Changing the school system is something I have been trying to do for a while." Zuko admitted, throwing a few blows. Azula made a pirouette to avoid being hit.
"I agree with that. Even, in the Royal Academy for girls, the school program was awful." said Azula, when they both crashed their stick over their heads.
"Really?" he raised his eyebrows. From what he could remember, he never heard his sister complain about the Royal Academy.
Azula tilted her head. "You never heard about the "accidental kills"?" she inquired.
"No." the Fire Lord said, shocked and horrified.
"There used to be Agni Kais. Where a few ended in "accidental kills"," she explained, "It was Avatar Roku who convinced Sozin of prohibiting the Agni Kais in the academy."
"I didn't know."
Azula rolled her eyes, before bending down to strike him with a kick in the legs, making him fall backward. Zuko whined. "And I'm not surprised. You never paid attention in school or to your tutors," she said, looking at him from above, before extending a hand to help him stand. "But as I said, it's a good proposal. Just make a few minor changes and it will be perfect." she uttered.
"Really?" Zuko asked, standing up to take a break from the kali sticks and to move on to the firebending combat.
"Yeah," said the Princess, "After all these months of working with me, it's good to know that you are finally learning something." she teased.
"Well, a lot of what is happening in the nation, wouldn't have been possible without you." Zuko complimented her, side smiling.
"You are not going to get all sentimental, right?" said Azula, with a grin in disgust. "Don't make me throw up in your hair." she warned him. Her brother snickered.
They had never been on the sentimental side.
"Are you two going to keep talking or are you going to firebend?" Kiyi asked them impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.
Every morning, Kiyi would join them as a spectator to see them train, claiming she really enjoyed the spectacle of the blue and orange fire conjured by her older siblings. She loved to witness it. Sometimes she would even take notes of them, hoping one day to become masters like them.
Both Zuko and Azula huffed at Kiyi's comment.
"Someone is learning to be bossy." Azula uttered.
"She is starting to be just as bossy as you." Zuko muttered, which gave him a dirty look from Azula. "You two are spending way too much time together."
"Shut up. You are just pissed she doesn't find you interesting anymore, and that you are no longer her favorite." she teased him, as they got their stances ready.
Zuko snorted. "As if."
Azula perfected her hand to hand combat technique during the time she had been on the run, as her iconic blue fire would be a clear signal of her identity. Even though she had spent most of her life relying on her bending, she wasn't a beginner in hand to hand combat. And fighting Ty Lee and the Kyoshi warriors during the Kemurikage issue really helped her to improve on that matter.
So now, a lot of her fighting style would include hand to hand combat as well as her unique bending.
They would do a little fighting. And sometimes they would combine their flames and their movements. They had come up with the idea while remembering that during their childhood years, they used to do it all the time. It was something that they had started practicing not too long ago.
The heat of their fires could be felt all over the deck, as they shot blasts at each other while bending the flames.
The differences in their fighting styles were evident. While Zuko was steadier, Azula's movements were more fluent. According to Zuko, since she had returned, her fighting style had evolved a lot, making her -in his words- even more deadly.
Azula had remained small and thin. Which was an advantage that made her faster and more agile than average. While he had grown a head taller and muscular. They both had their unique strengths and weaknesses.
Katara had been the one saddled with the responsibility to wake up her boyfriend as well as her brother. A task which turned out to be a little more arduous than usual, as Sokka had fallen asleep very late. After a few tries and after splashing him with water in the face, she had managed to successfully do it.
They had gone to the dining room, waiting to see if Zuko or anyone from his family would be present, but they had found it empty.
It took them just a quick glance at the exterior or the Barge to find their friend. Ducking under one of Azula's trademark blue flames.
"Sokka, you were right!" Aang said, "She is trying to attack Zuko." he pointed.
Zuko threw a few attacks of his own while Azula jumped around to avoid them.
"I knew we couldn't trust her. Quickly, let's help him." said Katara, as she got her water ready to jump to action.
But before they could take a step closer…
"Wait!" Kiyi intervened, stopping them. "Look." she pointed at her siblings.
After some kicks and blows, they jumped apart to face each other again.
Azula surrounded herself with a circle of flames, from which she would throw a few flames towards Zuko. He managed to bend it away before his sister would try to strike him with the rest of the flames.
"Isn't that movement... oddly familiar?" Sokka asked, tilting his head, and placing a hand on his chin while looking at them.
"It is... It's actually a waterbending move." said Katara, stunned at the fact that Azula had adapted a waterbending move into a firebending one.
Then, when Zuko and Azula were close enough to each other, he took her by one arm and with a hand on her back helped her to get the leverage she needed to twirl and support her hands on his shoulders to land behind him, back to back.
They both did a few stances. A circle of orange flame surrounded them both. The flames grew bigger, and the circle expanded until it extinguished totally, only to reveal a circle with bigger and stronger blue flames. Zuko's flames had worked as a disguise for Azula's flames.
They had managed to combine the flames into a unique move.
Having two benders combine their bending wasn't something unheard of. The Avatar himself would do it sometimes, with either one of his masters whenever he needed it. But it was an odd surprise that Zuko and Azula had managed to do it.
As a matter of fact, it was more a surprise that they had successfully managed to create a whole new style of firebending, as neither of them had ever seen it before.
"You need to keep up, Zuko." Azula scolded him, after regaining her breath.
"I know… It's just... you are still way... too fast for me." he said, patting his chest as they walked towards Kiyi.
"I'm already slowing myself so…"
Zuko widened his eyes. "You are? Really?" she nodded.
This was the way they had been training for the last couple of months. They both would train together, and at the end Azula would correct him. Unconsciously, she had taken the spot their Uncle left as Zuko's master, when he moved to Ba Sing Se.
"Well done!" cheered Kiyi.
"That was awesome, guys!" Aang said with a smile.
"Yeah…" Katara agreed, "What was that?" she asked, intrigued about what she had just witnessed…
"It's a combination we used to do when we were kids," Zuko explained, taking a towel to wipe his sweat and tossing one towards Azula. She caught it in the air. "One day, while training... it just happened again. And since then, we have been improving it. But it's still not perfect at all." he admitted.
"Because of you. You still need to keep up." she repeated, knowing that if they ever got to manage it perfectly, it would be an amazing movement.
"No need to remind me so much." he pouted. His sibling loved to remind him of his mistakes during their sessions. But now, instead of finding it annoying, he found it helpful and as a way to improve.
"It's my pleasure." Azula replied, sneering.
"Anyway, that Azuko combination was amazing, guys!" said Sokka, agreeing with the previous comments about the bending move. After seeing it, his brain had rushed to think about names for that movement of them.
"Azu... What?" Zuko and Azula said at the same time, both quirking a brow.
Even Aang and Katara looked at him perplexed.
"Azuko," Sokka repeated, "Every amazing technique needs a name," he explained, "If you don't like it, we can change it to… Maybe, Azuzu?" he proposed. But instead of getting approval, they all looked at him with displeased grins.
Azula rolled her eyes. "It's not going to happen." she said, shaking her head.
"Never." Zuko agreed.
"Okay, Okay. What about the dynamic fire sibling duo?" the Avatar and Katara facepalmed.
"I'd rather die…" Azula grunted at the embarrassing nicknames he was proposing. Did he need to name it?
"Stop it please. You are embarrassing yourself…" said Kiyi, in a pleading tone.
"Okay, okay, so... the Zula combination?"
"Someone please stop him." the Fire Lord begged, annoyed.
"Just... Shut up…" said Azula riled, before going inside the barge and away from his nonsense.
She went to her room to get refreshed before breakfast, which happened to proceed smoother than dinner had.
This time there was no fight over food. Instead, there were a few banal chats, which she didn't bother taking part in, as she only wanted to be alone.
After breakfast, she went to the Barge Library. It was smaller than the one in the Palace but it served its purpose. It offered her a nice, quiet place for her to think or meditate, but this time she wanted to do something different.
She twirled the brush in her hand, while her mind wandered a little and took her back to earlier that morning.
They might think she hadn't noticed, but she did. She had gotten a glimpse of how all of them were getting ready to attack her when they thought she was fighting Zuko. It had been thanks to Kiyi that they didn't.
It enraged her. Would they think that she would be fool enough to attack him after all this time? She knew that they would not trust her, but could they at least trust in Zuko? In the fact that he, -who she had hurt the most- would have chosen to give her another chance?
Either way, why would she care about what they thought about her? She knew who she was. She knew it and that was all that mattered.
Azula had been so centered in her own thoughts and in the painting before her, that she hadn't heard when the door opened.
"What are you doing?" his voice jolted her up.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, dipping the brush in more paint without looking at him.
She heard his steps getting closer. "I never thought of you as someone who liked it to paint." he muttered.
The Princess didn't particularly enjoy painting; it was way too messy for her liking, getting her hands all stained in paint, but it was something she found out that helped put her mind in order. And after her breakdown, she would do everything that would assure that she would never lose her mind again. Even if that meant doing things she had once found stupid or annoying. And also, she was quite good at it.
"Well, I don't but after…" she admitted, clearing her throat. She hated to remember that time of her life, "That. I kind of find it therapeutic, like meditating or writing."
"That's what you were doing last night, right?" he asked, but she didn't answer, "And the nightmares? You still have them?"
She tightened the grip on the brush so hard that she felt like it was going to break at any moment.
One time. They had happened one time, and he still remembers it? she thought.
Azula didn't answer his question, instead she made one herself. "Why don't you do whatever you came to do and just leave me the fuck alone? And what are you doing here, anyway?"
"I need a scroll…" said Sokka, with a scroll in his hand and leaning closer to look at what she was painting, "I like to paint too…" he said, looking over her shoulder, his face just centimeters away from hers.
She was making the painting of a landscape.
"I know…" she muttered, before flicking him in the forehead. "And have you ever heard of personal space?" she grunted.
"You do?" he asked, wincing and taking a step back while rubbing his forehead, ignoring the second part.
"Zuko mentioned something about it… He also mentioned you are horrible at it." Azula said quizzically with a smirk, "Something about having the skills of a two years old."
"Yeah well, I'm not going to stop doing it because I'm not good at it." Sokka said, shrugging.
"If you are not good why even bother?" she uttered, focused again on the canvas.
"Maybe because I like it?"
"So...?"
"So?... Have you ever stopped doing something because you are not good at it even if you love it?" Sokka raised a brow and crossed his arms.
"No," replied the Princess, "Everything I like doing I'm extremely good at it, if I don't like it, I'm just simply good." she said, haughtily.
Sokka huffed. "Of course…I forgot who I was talking to..." he muttered.
Azula turned to face him and scowled. "What is that supposed to mean?" she snarled.
"Well, Zuko…"
"Ahh, I get it," she said, returning her attention to the painting, "The all 'She was born lucky and I was lucky to be born' shit, right?" she quoted.
"How do you…?"
"Father used to say it all the time to make Zuko feel bad about everything…" she recalled, pausing, still not glancing in his direction. "Oh, and just a little comment, you can tell the rest of your lame friends, that I don't have any wicked plan of attacking Zuko, or something like that."
"What do you…?" Sokka frowned.
"Stop playing stupid!" she snapped, looking at him, irked. "I know you are the smartest one... I saw you all on the deck. For a moment you all thought I was attacking him."
It infuriated her, the fact that all of them thought they were white souls, better than everyone else, that they were capable of judging other people's mistakes except their own.
And he, above all shouldn't be the one to judge her, not after everything that had happened between them, he shouldn't.
"I… Sorry, it's just..." he scratched the back of his neck, ashamed. Even if he hadn't reacted like his sister and Aang earlier, he had been the first one to suspect her as soon as he saw her the previous day with his hypnosis theory.
For a moment the thought of bringing up their conversation from last night crossed his mind. He wanted to know what she had meant by her words.
He had come to suspect she had misread the situation back then which had caused a bad misunderstanding between them. He wished to make things clear so their misunderstanding wouldn't be repeated.
"Whatever," muttered Azula, shaking her head, wanting the conversation to be over soon. "He is the good one. I'm the wicked one…" there was a moment of silence in the room. She noticed from the corner of her eye that he was still standing there. "If you don't have anything else to say, cha-cha" she waved her hand. "This conversation is getting boring, and I wish to be alone"
"I... Alright... I guess... I will see you," Sokka mumbled, but before closing the door he turned to say, "Azula," he called her. She glanced towards him. He smiled softly. "I just wanted to let you know that, I haven't thought of you as the wicked one in a long time."
And just like that, he left.
She clenched her fist. Her nails digging in her palms.
`I haven't seen you as the wicked one in a long time´ she repeated his words in her mind. Was he trying to play tricks with her again? Was he trying to trick her once more? She was no fool. She was not going to get tricked by him again. That savage was not smarter than her.
But why had he sounded so honest saying those words? So sincere?
Damn it! she thought, throwing furiously the brush away from her.
Why would he want her to believe that he thought that there was some good in her? Why? When it was obvious that everyone thought of her as the evil reincarnation. Why?
…
The day was sunny with no clouds in the sky, and the wind was barely noticeable. Still, the weather was a little chilly. Never as cold as the poles, but it was still biting. After all, it was the middle of the winter.
"I thought you would be with your friends." she said to her brother when she found him in the deck after a while of being in the library. "The buffoon squad." she teased.
"Azula." he chided her.
"What?" she said, innocently, "What are you doing?"
Zuko had been looking at the horizon for a while, lost in his thoughts. "I needed some time alone," he said, "You?"
Azula shrugged next to him. "I guess me too."
After a moment of silence, Zuko turned towards her, "I was thinking..."
"Well, that's a change…" she mocked with a little smirk.
"Ha ha…" he pouted.
"What were you thinking about?" Azula asked.
"It's... nothing." said Zuko, shaking his head. Maybe he was worrying too much.
"It's something," she stated, rolling her eyes annoyed. "When you say `It's nothing´ with that face, you're practically saying `Please, pay attention to me! I'm troubled´." she said, making a silly impersonation of him, deepening her voice. "So? What is it? Spill it." she insisted.
Whenever Zuko was giving it deeper thought to a matter, it was because something was worrying him. She had always been good at reading him.
Zuko sighed. "I hate that you can read me so well," he muttered, grunting, "It's about... this meeting. Home, all of it." he muttered, "If we can make Crane-fish Town the first proper city for the four nations, it would be a step into the future, you know?"
"Yeah…" she agreed, "But?" she raised a brow.
"How did you know I was going to say but?"
His sister shrugged. "A hunch."
"What if not everyone agrees? What if we can't convince them?" he frowned, thinking about the failure of the Harmony Restoration Movement after the Hundred Years' War. How everyone had agreed on it at first, but then it had almost caused another conflict.
"It's a good initiative. You and the Avatar have been working on it for a while, trying to create something equally good for the four nations. Why wouldn't they accept? They would have to be idiots not to."
"I don't know. It's just…" Zuko sighed and rubbed his nose bridge, leaning on the railing.
"You worry too much, Zuzu," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "You are overthinking it, as usual. Don't get ahead of it."
"But, what if…?"
"We will cross that bridge when we get to it." she repeated the same words he had once said to her. Zuko opened his mouth to refute. "But... If we can't convince them, we will confuse them into agreeing. That's what I have been doing all my life with you," she said, and Zuko looked affronted towards her.
"So, are you admitting that you have been manipulating me?" he teased her with a smirk.
Azula shook her head. "That was not the point. But now that you mention it, yeah…" the Fire Lord, pouted, "Anyway, you have nothing to worry about." she assured him, "That's why I'm here, right? If we could convince a bunch of old men back in the Fire Nation, two chiefs and a naïve king should not be a problem." she said, waving a hand carelessly.
"Azula…" he scolded her.
"Did I lie?" she smirked, "This is a piece of cake. You know I was born for politics. I have great hair and I love lying." Zuko frowned at her joke. She rolled her eyes. "Fine, just let me do the talking, okay? We both know there is no one I can't convince."
He sighed. "Alright, you are right."
The Fire Lord was hoping that his sister would not cause any problem at the negotiations. But she was right, since she was little she had been great at getting everything she wanted. As she grew up, she developed amazing negotiation skills along with her strategic abilities, so if there was someone who could convince them. It was Princess Azula.
He had dragged her to the meeting in Ba Sing Se because he was sure there was no one better than her to advise him on the decisions that would affect the course of the nation. If there was a thing he was sure about his sister, it was that there was no one who worried more about their nation than her.
That was one of the reasons why he had made her his adviser. And after hearing all the problems that were going on in the nation, she just simply couldn't say no.
Also, after certain events -that she wasn't aware of-, he couldn't have her out of his sight. He needed to keep an eye on her.
"And you know, if everything fails, we can always start another war." she teased, quizzical.
His eyes widened. "Azula!" he reprimanded her again.
"I heard you almost started another one yourself, so..."
"It was a misunderstanding…" Zuko excused himself.
Azula rolled her eyes and smirked. "Always is…Sozin used the same excuse." she said, leaning her arms on the railing too.
They stood there for a while. According to the schedule, they were a little ahead of time, and they confirmed it when they could see in the distance the small merchant port that was close to Yu Dao.
She hadn't been back to the Earth Kingdom since the war, when her father sent her to capture her brother and bring him back to the Capitol, almost seven years ago. Everything had been so different back then.
"Aren't you anxious about seeing Ty Lee again?" Zuko asked, after a while of silence, "It's been years since you last saw her. And she doesn't know you are coming." he said.
"Why would I be anxious?" she quirked a brow, "I don't care about her." she refuted with disdain.
"You still hate her, don't you?" he knew his sister was a spiteful person, and he also knew that Ty Lee and Mai's betrayal had left a permanent mark on his sister. A deeper damage than she would ever admit out loud.
Azula sighed and looked at her nails, trying to not give a lot of importance to the matter. "Hating people takes too much energy… I just pretend they're dead." she stated.
She hasn't seen them since the Kemurikage incidents. Ty Lee had been away in Crane-fish Town for a while now with the rest of the painted warriors, as for Mai, Zuko had been kind enough to not bring her to the Palace and instead, he would visit the woman at her house, away from Azula.
They were still not dating again. But they were seeing each other from time to time.
Not long after Mai and Zuko had started to have little meetings here and there, he had told her about tracking down Azula. Mai, of course, had rejected the idea, claiming that it was a bad idea, but after she had heard Zuko's explanations and had seen his determination to find his sibling, she had supported him. She had also been thankful that he had had the trust to tell her, and not do it behind her back.
"Azula, why don't you…?"
For weeks, he had been trying to arrange a meeting between Mai and Azula, but every time he would bring the subject up, she would avoid it.
"Say another word and I will throw you overboard," she warned him, without looking away from her nails.
Maybe he trusted them, and were his friends, but they would never be hers again -or whatever they were before-. Having no friends and trusting in herself alone had been something that by now she was used to.
It was easier like that; she was not afraid of someone eventually betraying her or using her weakness against her.
She could only trust in one person. Herself.
Trust was for fools, and life had been tasked with proving it to her, over and over.
Her mother, her father, her uncle, Mai, Ty Lee, Lu Ten, Zuko, and Sokka, even that fool had tricked her into trusting him. But just like everyone else, he had let her down.
"Maybe, you should try to forgive and forget?" he proposed.
"Why?" she made a grin, "I'm neither a saint nor senile. Less likely a forgiving spirit." she said, and Zuko rolled his eyes with a soft chuckle.
Azula was just as stubborn as he was.
They heard footsteps behind them that made them turn.
"Fire Lord, Princess." the Captain of Zuko's Imperial Guards bowed to them.
Zuko had brought ten of his Imperial guards to reinforce security, which at first Azula found odd, but later remembered that her father and grandfather and everyone before them -including her-, once they got crowned they would get paranoid about assassination attempts -in her case it had been before even being crowned-. After all, not everyone was always in agreement with the Fire Lord's laws.
Something else she had found odd was the fact that they were traveling on the Fire Lord's Barge, which- even though it was bigger- it was slower than hers, as it was only meant for small trips inside the different territories of the nation. Not long trips like this one.
"What is it, Captain?" Zuko asked.
"The steersman has informed me that we would be arriving at the port near Yu Dao in a couple of hours at most," he informed them, "What are your orders Fire Lord?"
Zuko crossed his arms. "When the Barge is moored in the port, make sure the crew knows their tasks. We will head towards Yu Dao to wait for the rest of our companions. We might spend the night there, but either way, wait for a messenger hawk," he commanded, "Also, get all the supplies for the rest of the journey. Make a restock of everything. Especially meat. Sokka loves meat. Make sure everything is ready for departure tomorrow morning."
"Of course, my lord," he bowed again to both of them, "Princess."
"Between the bison, Kiyi and Sokka `the greedy´, the supplies in the cellar are not going to be enough to feed everyone." said the Princess, with a hit of mockery.
Zuko snickered. "Can I ask you a favor?" he asked, warily.
Azula's head hung forward while rubbing her temples. She knew what was coming, "You can, but it wouldn't mean I would do it," Zuko rolled his eyes, "And before you say something, if it is about your friends; no."
"You don't even know what I was going to say!" he squealed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Azula crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Be nice to them." she said, making grins.
"Can you at least try to be nice to them? They are not that bad." he pleaded.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"I don't want to."
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Just... please try to be nicer."
"Why do I have to be nice? They don't like me; I don't like them." said Azula. Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Alright, alright." she grunted, agreeing as she headed towards the inside of the barge.
"Where are you going?"
"Didn't you hear the Captain?" she turned to face him, "We will be reaching land in a few hours. I need to get mentally ready to be able to cope with you and your loser friends."
She ordered for her meal to be served in her room so she could enjoy a little peace and quiet.
Still, that didn't last long. Around an hour later, a servant came to her door to inform her they had anchored in the port as planned.
Just thinking about the fact of having to spend a little over a month with Zuko, his mother, people who she despised, people who despised her, and his lame squad in Ba Sing Se made her want to hang herself to escape such torture.
At the deck, everyone was ready to disembark.
She went straight to the railing to take a look at the port.
"Zuko," she called her sibling when she noticed something wrong in the port.
"What?" he stopped talking with his friends and everyone glanced in her direction.
She had taken into her own hands the arrangement of their journey. Every detail, she had been the one in charge of. Except one. She had asked Zuko to write a letter to Mayor Morishita about their arrival.
"You let Mayor Morishita know we were coming, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, why?"
She pointed at the land with an annoyed look.
There was a carriage waiting for them. But the problem was that it was small enough to only fit four people at most.
"That's not right." he muttered.
"Of course, it's not right oaf!" she grunted.
"Why are you screaming at me?" Zuko asked, raising his eyebrows. He was just as confused as her. "I don't understand. I sent him a letter like you told me."
"Did you make sure to inform him that we were bringing extra company?" she inquired, crossing her arms.
"I… I may have forgotten about that." he facepalmed.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose, irked. "How did you forget something so simple?"
"I'm sorry. I was really busy. The last couple of days were hectic," he excused, "It must have slipped my mind."
"Oh yeah, you were so busy," she said, with irony, "Sending messages to your gang of morons!" she nodded towards them with disdain.
"Hey!" Sokka and Katara complained.
"This is why I do everything myself." she muttered, pissed.
"I already said; I'm sorry, okay?" he replied, "I'm sorry I'm not flawless like you, little miss perfection."
"Kids. I think you should…" their mother tried to intervene in their argument, but neither heard her.
"Oh, again with that?" she grunted, fumed. "Grow up!"
"You grow up!" Zuko refuted.
"Guys! Guys!" Aang intervened.
"What?!" both glanced towards him, groaning.
"It's okay." he said, calmly, "We can travel on Appa. It's okay."
A few minutes, everyone was getting on Appa ready to go.
This could not get any worse, Azula thought.
"Can you pass me the water, sweety?" the Avatar asked his girlfriend, while they were seated taking the reins of the bison.
"Here you go, sweety." said the water bender before leaning her head on his shoulder.
I was wrong, it could, Azula who was watching them, still on the ground, made a grin of disgust, "I'm going to barf." she muttered.
"Yeah, they tend to do that kind of stuff quite a lot," Sokka uttered behind her. "Come on." he nodded towards the bison.
She ignored him.
Why does he still try to talk to me? she thought.
"I would love too but I would rather pass," she said, "I will take the carriage. The less time I spend around you all, the best for me. Also, I don't think I can stand another sweety comment, coming from either the Avatar or his girlfriend Kira." she said.
Katara eyebrows flinched. "It's Katara."
"Whatever." she uttered, heading towards the carriage. She would try to put as as much distance as possible from all of them.
"Wait!" Kiyi shouted and Azula turned around. "I want to go with Azu..." she said, jumping off the saddle.
"Are you sure?" the Princess quirked a brow to the little one. "You don't want to fly on that furry beast?"
Kiyi denied with their head. "No. I want to go with you." she said with a smile.
Azula looked over towards Ursa and Noren, waiting for them to refuse Kiyi's request, but her mother only smiled towards her without a word.
"Just take care. Both of you, okay?" said Noren, with a little smile.
"Okay. You can come," Azula said, "But it's a longer trip this way, okay?" Kiyi nodded. "Come on, then."
"Azula," Zuko called her, "I'm not so sure about this." he said, a little worried. He wasn't worried about Kiyi's security, after all, he knew his sister would protect her, but it was for Azula's safety he was worried about. After all, he had yet to share some aspects with her.
"We are going to be fine." she said, rolling her eyes at her brother worries.
"Yes, Zuzu. We are going to be fine." Kiyi said with her hands on her hips.
"I…"
"Buddy," Sokka interfered, "If it makes you feel better I can go with them." he offered, with a secret intention. He hoped to get a chance to talk with the Princess, privately.
"Sorry, who can go with whom?" Azula asked, believing to have heard wrong.
"Sokka. With you both." said her brother.
Her mouth widened. "No. No, no, no, no." the Princess denied, "He is not coming! You are not coming!" she refused, looking first at her brother and then at Sokka.
She certainly didn't want him close to her. In fact, she wanted him quite the opposite.
"It would really make me feel better if he goes with you." Zuko uttered, hoping that she would be understanding of his fears.
"And I don't care how it would make you feel." Azula grunted.
"Are you sure?" Zuko asked Sokka, ignoring his sister's complaints.
The Princess dropped her arms at the sides of her body and headed to the carriage, cursing.
Zuko was still not too sure about leaving those two alone after their discussions from yesterday. But at least, it would make him feel a little more at ease having Sokka looking over Azula. He had informed Sokka and his friends about the situation involving his and Azula's safety after she had left them alone in his study. He had warned them of whatever possible attack they could cross to during their stay in Ba Sing Se.
"Yeah…" he said, with a slight smile, "And I could also use a breather from them." he said, nodding towards his friend and sister.
"Hey!" both looked at him pouting.
"Do you agree with this?" Zuko asked, glancing towards Katara.
She shrugged. "He is a grown up. He can do as he pleases. Still…" she made a grin.
Sokka rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine. I will see you in Yu Dao" he said, waving them off and heading towards the carriage.
Zuko and Katara shared a glance and shrugged.
"Appa, Yip-Yip." said Aang and like that, the bison took off.
Kiyi was the one in charge of most of the conversation during the journey, asking questions either to Sokka or Azula, about whatever random topic she could think of.
After a while, Kiyi focused her attention on looking through the window, much to Azula's relief.
"If you wish to sleep, just let me know, okay?" Azula told her, when she saw her yawn sleepily. "It's still a while till Yu Dao."
Kiyi nodded and settled her head on his older sister's lap, falling asleep.
Sokka was stunned when he saw that action. He was amazed by the fact that the Princess didn't seem to be bothered at all. She even started to brush the little one's hair with her fingers.
"This is taking forever!" Sokka whined after a while of silence.
Azula rolled her eyes. "You are just way too used to traveling on that furry beast." she mumbled.
"His name is Appa. And yes, flying on him would have been faster." he said, looking through the window.
"Do I have to remind you that you were the one who wanted to come?" she snarled.
"I know. But I didn't think it would take this long." he huffed.
"And is that my problem?" the Princess quirked a brow.
"No."
"Then, shut up and quit whining!" said Azula, "Why didn't you go with your friends, anyway?" she asked, exasperated.
"Because, I needed to talk to you," he admitted, "And I'm not whining. It's just… It's so slow…"
"Be a man and stop bitching." she refuted, leaning her head back on the seat.
"Look who's talking. Azula, you're always bitching!" Sokka spouted.
"Because I'm a Princess. Bitching comes with the title. Now, shut up." she stated. And when there wasn't an answer on his part, she closed her eyes, trying to pretend she was alone with Kiyi, ignoring Sokka's presence because she knew that at any moment he would start to make a hundred questions.
"Azula..."
Azula sighed, irritated. "Have I ever told you that I can't stand the sound of your voice?" she said, riled with her eyes still closed.
Sokka didn't reply.
The Princess opened her eyes to find him looking through the window, so she decided to do the same with the opposite window. She caught him glancing in her direction a couple of times from the corner of her eyes, like he wanted to say something.
"What?" she snarked, fumed.
"What?" he replied, playing dumb.
The Princess rolled her eyes, miffed. "You have been opening and closing your mouth for the last ten minutes. It's obvious you want to say something," she said, crossing her arms. "Spill it before I lose my patience with you."
"Okay... Jeez… It's just…" he started, "I have been wanting to ask, why did you...?" he wasn't very sure on how to formulate the question.
"Why did I what?" she raised an eyebrow, losing her patience.
"I mean... Why are you back?" Sokka inquired, truly intrigued.
"I have my reasons, peasant." Azula answered, glancing away.
"Which I wish to know. Back then, you said you weren't going to return to the Palace." he replied, "And I thought we had outstripped the 'peasant' thing."
She shrugged. "Well, I changed my mind."
"Why?"
Azula sighed, annoyed. "If you are worried that I might hurt your little precious Zuko or you think I'm plotting something against him, I told you; I'm not."
"I know that. But... Why are you back, then?" he insisted.
"You're going to keep insisting until I tell you, right?" Sokka nodded, and Azula rubbed one of her temples annoyed. "Spirits… You are more annoying than a bad rash of pentapox… I came back for her, happy?" she said, looking at Kiyi, sleeping in her legs, "She was the reason I came back."
"Kiyi?"
"Yes, Kiyi."
"But, why?" he wondered, confused. He wasn't even aware they had a good relationship, or any relationship.
"Would you shut up?" she retorted, "When the kemurikage thing happened… Turns out that she discovered her firebending abilities. And…" she made a pause, "Believe it or not, but she insisted to Zuko, about wanting me as her master, after hearing rumors of my blue fire."
Sokka eyes widened. "Really?"
In the letter they had exchanged around that time, Zuko had never mentioned that was the reason he was looking for Azula. He only knew he was looking for her to bring her home.
"As I said, believe it or not, I don't care." she glanced at her nails.
"But wait… Why did you?"
"Agreed?" Sokka nodded.
He remembered that during their time in Lian Yu; she had refused over and over about going back, and the fact that she had agreed, just because of Kiyi, it was a little hard to believe.
But Azula was a complicated girl after all.
"Well, Zuko got this bounty hunter with this awful creature…" she began to explain.
"The shirshu?"
Azula raised a brow confused. "Bless you?"
"No… I mean, June and Nyla. That's the creature's name." Sokka explained. It seemed that after all, Zuko had managed to convince June to help him track Azula.
"Oh, yeah… Her… Dry sense of humor, sarcastic and loves pissing off Zuko as much as I do… She seems cool" she admitted.
"That's her." he said, remembering the times he had crossed paths with the bounty hunter, "Good to know you made a new friend." he teased.
The Princess rolled her eyes. "I said she was cool, not that we were friends… I don't have friends," she made it clear, then something in her mind clicked, "Wait, wasn't shirshu venom the thing you used to poison me back in Lian Yu?"
Sokka scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe," he said, nervously, "Anyway," he shook his head, "What happened after?"
"Well, Zuko came to have a chat…" she didn't want to give him a lot of explanations, and of course she wasn't going to tell him the full truth, of why she was back. "He explained the situation about Kiyi wanting me as her firebending master, and after a while of making conditions, I agreed to come back."
"What kind of conditions?" Soka questioned.
Azula huffed, pissed. "Has anyone ever told you, you are nosey non-stop?"
How much detail does he want?
"Sometimes." he said.
She sighed. "First: I wanted my title reinstated, -which turns out- he never actually took away. I wanted my old room in the Palace back. I told him I wanted my old life back. Also, I wanted to have full control of Kiyi's firebending lessons, including schedule, intensity, and form." she explained, "And lastly, he had to promise that…" she made a pause, not too sure about sharing the last detail with him.
"What?"
"That... If I ever had another breakdown like the one I had," she gulped.
"What? If it happens what?"
Azula took a minute to answer. Why would he always make her say things she didn't want to share?
"Fine. I will tell you only, and only because you are so nosey that if I don't tell you, you are going to ask Zuko about it," she retorted, disgruntled, "But no more questions about the subject, got it?"
"Got it."
She took a deep breath. "Instead of sending me to the institution, he will… he will kill me. Happy now?" she crossed her arms before adding to try to forget the topic, "He also made his own conditions and…" said Azula trying to sound carefree.
"Wait... Being in the institution was that bad?" he asked, really intrigued about why she would ask for something so drastic.
For her it had been, -the fact of having hallucinations all the time, not being available to think clearly, not having the full control of her own mind and also, all those glances of people looking at her with pity- a nightmare. But overall, thinking every day, all day long, about what was wrong with her and thinking she was crazy, had made her feel her most vulnerable yet. And if there was something she knew and was sure about, it was that she would never want to go through that again.
"Oh, you mean being doomed to a wheelchair and a straightening jacket for a year, does that sound fun?" she said, sarcastically, "Yeah, I don't think so…"
But more than those lame excuses she had given him, it was more the fact of feeling her mind shattered and having to bear with the non-stop hallucinations again. That was something just unthinkable for her. She hasn't had hallucinations in almost six years. They had stopped. But with the constant fear of them coming back, it was still persistent.
That was why she had found an appeal to painting and writing, to distract her mind whenever she felt too stressed out.
Sokka remained silent.
She had been afraid of Zuko throwing her back to the institution. Now he kind of understood why she was so reluctant to go back when they had been in Lian Yu.
…
1 year earlier.
Lian Yu was a horrible, small town, located at the farthest end of the Fire Islands that formed the Fire Nation. The last habited island, before Crescent Island, almost next to the Earth Kingdom. And there was no doubt that it was the lowest of the lowest.
During the war, it had been a merchant town. People would do illegal exchanges of everything they could, from spices, medicinal plants -including poppy and opium-, to prisoners and slaves with people from the Fire Nation or sometimes from the Earth Kingdom.
It had been like that even before the end of the war. And now after the end, it had become even worse just adding more criminals, war traitors, refugees, and also foreigners with dubious backgrounds.
Wandering through the streets, there were two predominant smells; urine and alcohol.
No wonder the name means purgatory, she thought, while watching some drunks fight in the street in the middle of the day.
From all the towns she had been in lately, she could notice the same pattern; after the war, most of them were decadent. Above all, she could assume that Zuko's new policies were a joke. He was worrying too much about restoring the Nation's honor before the rest of the world, that he was forgetting his own people.
The only "decent" place she could identify was a pub.
Drunken men and women were coming out of it stumbling. Some of them to piss outside. Some, to throw up their insides. And others to go fuck.
Azula wrinkled her nose at the disgusting smell -of the three mentioned before, combined- as she got closer to the building.
She sighed, before coming in, hoping the smell inside was a little more pleasant.
She owed it to Zirin after all. That's why I don't have friends, she reminded herself, before going inside.
To her amazement the pub looked worse on the outside than on the inside. It was crowded by mostly drunk men. This time, only the scent of liquor filled her nose. And she was thankful for that.
Even though she was wearing her cloak, she got a few looks here and there. Her presence was certainly noticeable, not every day would a young girl come to that horrible place.
Azula scanned the place with her eyes. There were no empty tables, and she couldn't see her target's face. But there was something she did notice. A bunch of men were trying to hit the dartboard with knives. A portrait of Zuko was in the center. She smirked.
She took a seat by the counter, away from curious eyes, and from the noisy drunk men. She would have to wait. Either way, she knew he was going to show up sooner or later. She hoped sooner, so she could get out of that horrible place fast and never return. The pub was the only decent place in Lian Yu, and she hoped that he would think the same.
She had managed to track him down to this town, but she couldn't just go knocking from door to door. Instead, she needed to be patient and wait for him to show up.
Azula peeked from the corner of her eye at the only other man by the counter. He seemed brawny and tall, even though he was slouching as he ate his bowl of noodles. He didn't look like Fire Nation, but Lian Yu was a town known for its foreign people.
She sighed, waiting for the man in charge to turn over and take her order. She placed a hand under her chin while drumming her fingers on the counter, when a drunk crashed against it, next to her. She wrinkled her nose at his smell.
"Motoi! Oi...! Motoi... Old man...Another round!" he demanded, trying to hold his stand-by leaning on the bar. "Oi... Do you hear me?!... Another round!" he repeated, smashing his cup on the table to get the manager's attention. "Oi…"
"He heard you," Azula snapped, losing her patience towards the drunk man. "Everyone in the pub, heard you." she grunted, glancing at him with contempt.
The drunk turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. "What did you... Huh?" he raised his eyebrows and leaned a little forward to get a better look of her under her cloak. Then, he smirked. "Aren't you a preciousness?" Azula quirked a brow. "Why don't you let me get a better look of…" he said, raising a hand towards her cloak.
Azula caught him by the arm before he could touch her. "I don't think I gave you permission to touch me, scum." she spouted, raged.
"S-Scum?" he repeated, "W-What did you say?" he tried to escape from her grasp, but he couldn't. "You little..." he tried to curse, struggling with her grip. Azula gave him an annoyed look, that maybe if he would have been in control of his five senses, it could have given him shivers down to his spine. "You wench." he insulted her.
This time, when he tried to free himself, she pushed him with outstanding strength and made him stumble and crash into some other drunk's table. He knocked down their drinks to the floor. The men started to bustle and to complain at this, but she couldn't care less about the business of a bunch of drunkards.
She turned again towards the counter as she ran a hand through her hair, now that the hood of her cloak had fallen off. There was no point in trying to hide her identity in a town full of criminals. In Lian Yu, half of the population were wanted.
The Manager, who seemed to answer to the name Motoi, placed a plate of noodles in front of her.
"I didn't order this," she told him.
"I did." a deep voice said next to her.
Azula looked beside her to find out... that she knew the identity of the man next to her.
From all the places, she could have thought, she never imagined to find one of Zuko's dumb friends there. Not even when she was chasing them did she have the luck of casually running into them.
"You," she said, glancing at him. No wonder she didn't recognize him at first, he had changed a lot since the last time she had seen him. Six years ago.
He was like a completely different person. He was better built, taller, even… sexier.
"Me" he smirked. Still, he seemed equally surprised to find her there.
"What are you doing... here?" she inquired him, peeking over her shoulder where a fight behind them had started.
"I could ask you the same," he replied, also looking over his shoulder, and then turned to look at her. "I heard you were on the run, for your... little tricks."
Azula huffed. "I asked first…" she retorted. He remained silent. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. She didn't have time to lose it with this moron. "... whatever, I'm not hungry anymore," she said, standing up to leave.
But Sokka was faster. And before she could stand, he pulled her down on her seat. "Eat…" he muttered, not looking away from his food.
Azula took a moment to scrutinize him. "What are you doing, savage? Are you following me?" she inquired, afraid that he was. That Zuko may have sent him, and his lame-squad to track her down, and bring her back to the Capital. If he was there, it was likely the Avatar and his girlfriend were too.
"I'm not a savage, you know?" he said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Good to know." Azula snorted ironically, as she tried to stand up again. But once more, he stopped her. Where has that little weakling boy gone? she thought as she shook off his arms from her shoulder.
Sokka glanced at her. "I told you to eat… Is that hard for you to listen and do as I said?" he questioned her, scowling and a little irked.
Azula opened her mouth, elated. "Are you… Are you ordering me?" she asked, vexed.
"If you behave like this I might…" Sokka refuted, smirking.
She let out a sarcastic huff, as she raised her eyebrow. "Just a little comment, peasant…" she made sure of emphasizing the last word, dangerously leaning a little bit. "I don't take orders. From anyone. I barely take suggestions." she said, menacing, standing up again.
But for the third time Sokka forced her to sit, pulling her by the wrist, and leaning closer to her. "Then, take my suggestion… and eat," he muttered, just inches away from her. "I'm not here for you… The world doesn't revolve around you, Princess." Sokka mocked, before emptying his drink.
Azula rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure like I'm going to believe that." she said, bitterly.
This time when she was standing up to leave and was ready to give him the beating of his life, he took her by the wrist and dragged her through the back door.
"What are you…" she roared at him, when he pinned her against the wall. It reminded her of that time, during the invasion. Back then she had the upper hand and she had provoked him. He had been the same height as her. Now, he was a head taller, and probably twice her weight.
"Shush…" he tried to quiet her.
Her eyes widened. "How dare you to…." she tried to grunt again, but before she could finish, Sokka placed a hand on her mouth to silence her.
"Shushh…. Azula," he repeated, glancing around to make sure they weren't been heard.
"Don't touch me…" she snapped, warning him getting his hand off her.
"Shushh…" he placed a hand on her mouth again. "Listen, I'm not here for you, okay Princess?" he raced to say, afraid she might burn him for daring to touch her. "I'm on a mission, and I would likely appreciate if you could keep it low and try to not attract too much attention, okay?" he explained, muttering. "So, can you keep it low? Ouch!" he whined.
Azula had bit him hard and pushed his hand off her, more brusquely than needed and gave him a threatening look.
Sokka winced. "Why would you do that?" he got no answer, but he did get an ugly glance. He sighed, "Look, his place is full of criminals, ex-convicts, drunks, and pirates," he said, "Let's just keep it quiet, and enjoy the meal. After that, we can go separate ways, and I will pretend I never saw you. Deal?" he proposed to her, extending a hand to seal the deal.
Instead of taking his hand, Azula gave him a threatening glance and she pulled him down from the neck of his shirt. "You touch me again, peasant, and the next thing I do to you, it will be much worse than a bite." she warned him, bitterly, before pushing him and making him stumble.
Sokka sighed and rolled his eyes, annoyed. "You are unbelievable…" he uttered, gritting his teeth.
She made a grin and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Do you ever wash your hands?" she asked, frowning disgusted.
Both returned to their seats. The bustle was more evident now, as well as the developing of a few fist fights all over the pub. The manager did not seem to care about it, as he was still cleaning the counter carelessly.
"So… What are you up to?" Sokka asked her when he was finishing his second bowl. Azula raised an eyebrow and made a grin. "What? I'm trying to make conversation," he said shrugging, trying to sound casual.
"Stop. We don't have conversation…." Azula replied.
What could they possibly talk about anyways? About the time she tried to capture them? Or about how she lost her mind? she thought.
"Fine. Just trying to be polite." he excused, matter-of-factly.
"Well, don't." said Azula, as she wandered the place with her eyes, trying to find him again.
"Who are you looking for?" Sokka asked, prying, as it was the third time he had seen her scanning the pub.
"You are incredibly nosey, has anyone told you that?" she snarled. She didn't want him to find out of her business. She wanted to be as far away from him as possible, the fastest she could.
"A few people had."
"Hey, gorgeous…" another drunk came up to the counter. This one was younger than the first one, maybe in his thirties, but just as the first one, he gave off a smell of alcohol and decadency. "Is this punk bothering you?" he asked, pointing at Sokka, while having a hard time remaining on his feet.
Both Sokka and Azula scanned him from head to toe.
"He is…" she stated, wrinkling her nose.
Sokka smirked. "But, I'm kind of her boyfriend, so she earned it…" he quickly said, quizzical. Azula grimaced. "Why don't you just leave?" he suggested, scowling at the man.
"I might…" he said, "But, only... if she comes with me." he pointed at Azula as well as he could with his drunken vision.
"No." said Azula.
"Did you hear?" Sokka grunted, "Get lost." he said, threatening.
"Come on, gorgeous... I would give you... a night you will never... forget." the man insisted, trying to surround her by the shoulders. But Azula was faster. And even before Sokka could react, she had crashed the man's face on the counter, knocking him out.
The commotion caused a bunch of men to look their way.
"Can't men take a No for an answer?" she said, as the unconscious man's body fell to the floor. She brushed her hair off her shoulder. "I guess, I'm leaving. This place is full of filth." said Azula with disdain, not wishing to spend another second there.
"Where do you think you're going?" a brawny man, with a ton of tattoos and some missing teeth, stood before her as he cracked his knuckles. Azula raised an eyebrow. "Just because you are a girl, don't think we will let this go. You just knocked out Tae."
Azula huffed, sarcastically. "Really?" she placed a hand on her hip and smirked.
"Look, guys," Sokka intervened, "I don't think you want to do this," he said, trying to calm the waters standing between Azula and the huge guy.
"Don't worry kid. We are not going to hurt her much." another man said, and Sokka saw him pull out some knives. "We will make sure to leave her pretty face intact. But I can't promise the same about the rest of her." he said, glancing at her body up and down.
"I'm not worried about her," he muttered, with a smirk.
"Ha…" the guy with the tattoos snorted. "How much harm can a little girl do, huh?"
"If I were you, I would listen to him," said Azula, cockily, "He knows I can rip you to shred and do my nails at the same time," she smirked, mischievously.
All the men involved except for Sokka laughed.
"I would like to see that." the guy in front of her said, before pushing her in the shoulder, Azula didn't move.
And when he tried to do it again, she grabbed his arm in the air and looked at him with a smirk.
"I warned you," she said, twisting his wrist in an unnatural angle until she heard it snap. The man whined in pain. "It's going to be really embarrassing for you guys. You are about to be beaten by a little girl." she mocked.
"You bitch!" The tattoo guy tried to punch her with his free hand, but she ducked and managed to kick him in the chest, throwing him back, and crashing over a table.
Two more men came at her. One tried to punch her with a fist coated in fire, but when she caught his fist and extinguished the fire, Azula kicked him in the legs, making him fall backwards, smacking his head to the floor. The second one tried to kick her, but again she was faster and ducked, slamming her fist to his jaw afterwards.
When the guy with the knives tried to attack her, she only had to bend backwards to avoid the cutting edge. His footing was lousy. And when she messed with it, he fell forward, losing the balance of his legs. One of the knives flew not too far. Azula used one of them to pin him, by the clothes to the wall, while the other knife disappeared back behind the counter.
One more came at her, and in a swift move, she managed to get his belt undone, before using it to tie one of his feet and his arms to his back.
Sokka chuckled, it reminded him of something Suki had done to him one time. He thought that maybe he should intervene, to help her, but in all honesty Azula was handling the situation perfectly on her own, so much so that he was afraid he might cause more trouble if he tried to take part in it.
He was groggily looking at her. She was beating all these guys' asses without using her bending. And she seemed to be having a blast.
That's what happens when you underestimate a girl, he thought. As he kept seeing her.
Two guys tried to punch her, but she managed to twist both of their arms within each other.
Then, a guy got her by the back and tried to do a headlock on her. But she used the two guys in front of her to get an impulse to jump behind the guy who was doing the headlock. She freed herself from his grip and threw him on to the nearest table.
All the men were either on the floor wincing or completely knocked out.
"You guys will never learn," she sneered, while brushing her bangs away from her face. "And I didn't even have to use my bending." she bragged, haughtily.
Sokka realized some of the men were standing up again, and they all looked more furious than before. So, he walked towards her. "Well, guys it has been fun," he said, as he held her by the wrist, some more started to rise. "But my girlfriend and I gotta go…" he said, before dragging her at full speed out of the pub.
"What are you…?" she grunted at him once they were on the street as he kept dragging her.
"Are they following us?" he asked her, not looking back.
Azula looked over her shoulder. She saw all the men coming out of the bar. "Yeah...Why?" she asked, not understanding fully.
"Run." he said, before dragging her into the streets of Lian Yu.
They had to run across the town to lose everyone who was behind them. Thankfully, it was still the evening and a lot of people were outside in the market, which kind of makes it easier for them to mix with the crowd.
They lost them when they hid in a small alleyway and climbed on a roof.
"That was fun…" said Sokka, as he jumped out of one of the ceilings they had used to hide, after making sure they were not followed anymore.
Like the gentleman he was, Sokka turned to help Azula down, offering a hand, but Azula was already on the ground next to him.
She raised her eyebrows when she saw his hand. Did he think I needed his help? she asked herself.
"Yeah… your definition of fun, it's not the same one as mine…" she complained, before peeking through a corner to corroborate they were no longer followed. "Ouch…" Azula felt a stinging pain in the back of her neck which made her whine. Her hand went to her neck where she found a small dart. "What the...?" was all she got to say before her legs gave out under her weight. Her entire body was numb.
Sokka caught her and placed her on the ground. "Sorry for that." he apologized, as he sat her on the floor.
"What are you…?" she asked, not being able to move her body.
"Shirshu poison," he showed her a little bottle with a translucent liquid. "… gift from an old friend… I knew it would come handy."
Azula's jaw clenched. "You, filthy peasant. I'm going to rip your head off!" she bellowed, wrathful.
"Yeah, I know… That's why I have these…" he said, as he took out a pair of chains, which he used to chain her legs and hands.
Azula smirked. "You seriously think some silly chains are going to stop me from killing you?" she mocked, fumed. As soon as she got her mobility back, she was going to free herself and hunt him down.
Now, it was Sokka's turn to smirk. "You can try and burn them Princess. But they are soaked in a fire-resistant solution. Made by me…" he said, cockily.
Unbelievable she huffed. "Oh, you should be so proud of yourself…" she said, sarcastically, "But there is a huge fail in your plan, Captain moron." she grunted, mocking.
"Huh?" Sokka glanced at her quirking a brow.
"Now, you will have to carry me towards wherever you are planning to take me… great planning," said Azula sarcastically.
"Yeah... I guess, I didn't think this through." Sokka admitted, scratching the back of his neck. This wasn't, indeed, his greatest plan.
"Shocker." Azula retorted, annoyed, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, well…" he shrugged after thinking about another option for a while. "What are you, around fifty kilos?" he asked, looking at her with wary eyes.
Azula was short and tiny. She could still pass as a teenager even though she was starting her twenties. She was a head shorter than him, barely reaching his chin and he had grown to dwarf her.
"What?" she replied, astounded that he was thinking about carrying her.
"You shouldn't be a problem, Princess," Sokka said, standing up.
"Don't you even dare to place a hand over…" Azula warned him, with a deadly look.
"Or what?" he cut her, "Are you going to burn me? Oh right, you can't…. Come on." he mocked before leaning to pick her up and carry her over his shoulder. She was even lighter than what he had thought, and there was no problem for him to carry her due to her size.
Azula made a grin. Right now, there was nothing she could do but threaten him. "I'm going to kill you for this you filthy…"
Sokka rolled his eyes. "Peasant. I know, I know… You should find new insults." he said, while heading to wherever he was taking her.
"New insults? Fine, vermin." she spouted.
"Vermin? I think I'm good with being a peasant," said Sokka. Peasant sounded less insulting.
"Too late, vermin…" she smirked, "And if you…" she stopped herself from finishing the sentence.
"If I what?" he asked, prying about what she was going to say.
"Never mind..." she muttered.
"Oh no," he said, "I want to hear what you have to say… If I what?"
"Forget it." Azula replied, but something told her that he wasn't going to stop insisting until she told him.
"If I what…?" he insisted, as she predicted.
Azula sighed. "If you dare to look at my ass, I will castrate you." she warned him.
Sokka chuckled, before peaking. "It's a nice ass." he said to annoy her and chuckled once more when he heard her grunt and mutter.
"Jerk."
A/N:
OMG guys! I can't believe the amazing response the first chapter had! Thank you so much for everyone who commented and marked as a fav. This is going to be a wild journey I promise, hehehe.
Shout out to who is helping me as a beta as it is doing an AMAZING JOB too!
Btw, you might read similar scenes from my other story MUM but under different context because, yeah they are both my stories hehehe.
Also, expect for weekly updates this day every week!