CHAPTER 3
Azula's thoughts on the town were reaffirmed, as Sokka carried her through the streets of Lian Yu. It was a horrible place.
Nobody seemed to be bothered by the fact Sokka was carrying a chained girl on his shoulders. Sokka could be kidnapping her, and no one seemed to care.
He took her to the Inn where he was staying. The only decent place for lodging.
Inside, there was a small room with two small beds. One next to the wall and the other one next to the window.
On the first one, there was a bag with his stuff, between the beds, a little nightstand with nothing on it and there was a small door that leads to where -she assumed- was the bathroom.
"Ouch!" she complained when he dropped her brusquely on the bed next to the window. Not that it had hurt her, but it was to point out his lack of gentleness.
At least this time, he had placed her face up, instead of forcing her to look at the floor or at his shoes.
She could see what he was doing. And by now, the poison was slowly, -way too slowly for her liking- starting to clear out. Poison and sedatives hardly worked on firebenders, because of their inner fire. Yet, she could only move from her shoulders up.
"So, what's the next part of your amazing plan, huh?" she asked, with irony, "Are you taking me back to the Fire Nation to throw me into in that horrible place again? In which, if that the case, I would rather die," Sokka didn't answer, "Or are you just stupid enough and you didn't think through you next step?"
"I…" he opened his mouth to refute, but nothing came out.
None of this had been part of his plan. Not running into Azula. Or chaining her. Or bringing her to his room. He had only wanted Space Sword back, for spirit's sake! Now, what the hell was he supposed to do with her? She was already so pissed that even if he freed her, she would more than likely throw lightning at him.
He hadn't thought this through.
Azula's mouth widened. "Oh, spirits! It's the last one, isn't it?" she huffed.
"Shut up," Sokka pouted, "And no. I told you, I'm not here for you. I just need you here, where you can't get into trouble, while I do what I came to do."
"Which is?" she asked, but Soka didn't seem to care, as he placed his belongings on the other bed. "Where are you going, now?" she questioned him when he saw him grab his boomerang, and his club, as well as a few darts like the one he had used on her.
"Are you worried about me, Princess? I'm touched." Sokka said, with a hint of mockery.
Azula rolled her eyes. "No, you fool... It has nothing to do with you…Tsk! Forget it. I don't even care, just go… Begone…" she leaned her head against the wall.
Sokka turned in her direction briefly. "If you must know, I'm going to get my Space Sword back…" he said, "That's the only reason I'm here."
"Your what now?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow, "Who comes up with those ridiculous names?" she muttered.
"Hey!" he squealed, "Space sword, it's a great name…"
Azula's eyes went white. "Of course, you would think that, idiot…" she said, annoyed.
"Hey! My naming game is on point." Sokka replied, facing her with his jaw clenched.
"Aw… Did I hurt your feelings?" she mocked, "Be a man!"
"Hey!" he grunted, "I'm a man. I'm a manly man. Who is so manly that, in fact, I'm the manliest man you will ever meet."
Azula's eyes and mouth widened, flabbergasted. "Whoa…" she made a grin, "It's impressive the amount of times someone can say the word man in a sentence. You really are something." she uttered.
"Could say the same of you, Princess." Sokka replied.
"Yeah, whatever…" Azula sighed.
"Wait, don't you want to hear my plan?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh yeah. Sure, impress me with your brilliant plan, please." said Azula, with clear sarcasm in her words.
Sokka's eyebrows twitched. "I don't appreciate the sarcasm but... Listen, I heard from Motoi, that the person who has my sword is planning to make an exchange with the pirates over some opium. So, my plan is to sneak around, and when they least expect it, I'm going to attack them and get my sword back." he explained. Azula stared at him. "So?" he asked, wanting to her opinion. After all, they both were the most intelligent people from their groups. Azula had been the only one to ever beat him in a strategic setting, and he acknowledged that.
"So...?" she quirked a brow, "What's the rest?"
"That's pretty much all I got." Sokka admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
Azula's eyes widened, dumbstruck. "What?!" she squealed.
"Well, once I get there and see how the situation develops, I will figure out the rest." he said, carefree while shrugging.
"Yeah... And that sounds... Super smart…" she said, with irony before uttering, "Your plan sucks."
"Hey! My plan doesn't suck." he whined, affronted.
"You can't just wait for the situation to develop! You need planning and alternatives in case your original plan fails!" Azula exclaimed.
"It just needs a little polish... I plan better under pressure…" he admitted. And it was a fact that his best plans were made impromptu, usually under pressure.
"And that's what's going to get you killed!" Azula replied, elated. "You should better…" she stopped herself from giving him advice to improve his plan. "You know what, go ahead. It's a splendid plan." she said with a hint of satire.
The sooner he was gone, the sooner she could try to free herself, and it wasn't like he was going to listen to her advice, anyway. So why waste her breath?
"Ha ha…" Sokka made a grin. "Laugh all you want, but my plans are good..." he stated, pointing at her and then hitting his hand with his boomerang.
"If you get that toy of yours closer to my face again, I will shove it right up your ass," she threatened. Sokka put away his boomerang, slightly frightened. "And yeah, sure your plans are good. Like that one from the invasion on the Day of Black Sun. That was great planning." she muttered with derision.
She still remembered the shocked faces of his dull squad when they had found her instead of her father, and how she had easily and efficiently made them lose their 8 minutes.
"You cheated!" he squeaked, pointing at her accusatively. "It would have been successful if you hadn't found out about it when you infiltrated Ba Sing Se… We would have defeated you!"
"Oh, please," Azula let out a sarcastic huff. "Excuses, even if I wouldn't have found out… I would have been successful without bending, plus…" she smirked, "Your plans aren't as good as you wish to believe."
"I'm sorry, but didn't we successfully end the war?" he asked, cockily crossing his arms. She was not going to win this discussion.
"Because the Avatar beat my father. Your plans had nothing to do with it," said Azula. "Just admit. It pisses you off that a girl is smarter than you and beat your ass back then." she smirked, smugly.
"Nuh-uh…" he took a step closer.
"Uh-huh…"
"Nuh-uh…" he grunted, standing at the edge of the bed she was on.
"Uh-huh," she roared, "Spirits! Just forget! It's like fighting with Zuko. Stupid and pointless." she snapped, quite annoyed by his childish behavior.
"I agree on that."
"So, we agree on something…" said Azula, "Cheers…" the irony in her tone was evident.
"Whatever. I should get going..." said Sokka, heading towards the door.
"Wait, what?" Azula eyes widened, "Are you really going to leave me here?" she asked.
"Yep." Sokka simply nodded.
"But what if you die?" she asked, "I'm going to be…" she made a pause, and sighed. "Never mind. I will free myself."
"Good luck with that…" he said, confident enough in his newest invention.
"Look, you are going to get killed… You should let me go with you. I can help." Azula proposed, trying to trick him into freeing her. She figured out that helping him in his stupid "mission" would be better than being chained for spirits know how long. And that the sooner he got his stupid sword back, the sooner he would begone from Lian Yu, and she would be able to get back to her search.
Sokka placed a hand under his chin, thinking about it. "Hmmm... Interesting proposal… But you will probably kill me after I free you… So, no."
"Stupid, smart boy…" Azula muttered between teeth. He wasn't just the smartest one, but also the most distrustful one.
"Behave. I will see you in a bit…" he said, winking an eye towards her before closing the door behind him.
"You... Hey, hey!" she called him, "You little snow bastard!"
But he didn't come back. He left her there in that room.
It didn't take long for her to fully recover the mobility in her body. And it didn't cost her much to move her hands from her back to the front of her body, but once she tried to melt the metal to free herself, she realized that that idiot had been right; they were fireproof. And there was no way she could break them.
She was doomed. She would have to wait for him to return so she could steal the key.
She sighed. At least she had confirmed that he was alone as he had gone to that stupid mission of his all by himself.
She tried pulling her chains once more, but just like the previous times, nothing happened.
How long was he going to be gone? He had left at dawn, and it had been dark outside for hours now. How much longer was he going to have her there?
Damn it! she cursed.
The handle of the door moved, and a second later the door fully opened, to reveal a badly injured Sokka.
He was using what she assumed his sword as support to try not to fall while holding the side of his chest. He was pale, and his shirt was stained in blood. He was bleeding out.
"What the hell happened?" Azula asked, horrified by the amount of blood he seemed to be losing. She had never seen anyone that severely injured or that much blood.
"A minor change of plans." he said, dropping himself with a groan on the bed.
Azula was finally able to see it, a deep, long cut below his ribs.
How could he still joke, when he was in that grave of a state, and losing so much blood? she thought, if he doesn't stop the bleeding he will die. Damn it! Did it have to happen when she was with him?
"If you free me, I can help you patch up." she suggested, willing to help him.
"As if…" he replied, "We gave you... a bunch... of chances to prove... that you had changed... and every single time... you wasted it." he gasped.
"Do I need to remind you that I was in the middle of a mental breakdown?" she grunted, "I was hearing and seeing things that weren't there!"
"Sure," he said, ironically gulping hard. "You think… I'm naïve, but you... are going to flee... as soon as I… untie you." he muttered, softly as he could.
That was what really angered her. She had been willing to help him, but he could only think the worst of her.
Yes, they were not friends, but she wasn't a monster to let him die. Well, she wasn't until now. If he thought of her like that, she might as well be that horrible person.
"Fine. Then die…" Azula grunted. Still, she needed to free herself. "I mean…" she added, "I have heard dying from blood loss is really an agony. Slow, and painful… Also, dying from hunger and dehydration, but…" she made a grin, "Humph, I guess I have at least seven days to think of a way to get out before I die… But you… two to three hours at most…"
She has a good point, Sokka thought. If he didn't stop the bleeding, he would die. He needed help to stop the bleeding, and right now, Azula was the only help he could get. So, after an internal struggle, he decided to trust her, to put -literally- his life in her hands.
"Fine…" he muttered as he looked through his pockets with difficulty. Every moment was pure agony. He was beginning to see black spots in his vision. When he finally found the keys, he tossed them at her.
Azula caught the keys in midair and quickly opened the chains on her arms and feet.
"Argh…" she complained, rubbing her sore wrist. "Quick tip, next time, don't tie the chains too tight. Some of us have delicate skin, unlike you savages…" she said, then smirked and placed her hand on her hips, pleased with the situation. She looked at him, feeling a little guilty for what she was about to do. But she had made up her mind. "I can't believe you actually fell for that…." her smirk grew, "You are all so naïve."
"W-What are you…?" Sokka tried to say, but he was on the verge of passing out.
"I have to go," said Azula, walking towards the door. "Evil things to do. Track some people down. Ruin some other lives. The usual," she stopped on her tracks, glancing again towards him, with a grin, "What a shame… You even got handsome…" she admitted, sighing. "But now, you are going to die… That must be bad luck…" she sneered, "I hope we don't ever cross paths again… Of course, if you survive." she smiled, haughtily.
"W-Where are you going? Azula! Azula!" he tried to call for her, but the door was closed and when he tried to stand up, a jab of the most excruciating pain forced him to fall on his back. "A-Azula," he muttered, before blacking out from the pain and the blood loss.
…
Sokka felt light, like floating. He couldn't feel any more pain, or anything right now. He just knew he felt weak and tired. Was he going to die? If he was, it was a lame and not heroic way of doing it. Did he have to die in a horrible place like Lian Yu? And at this age?
Spirits! He wanted to get married, to be a father, he wanted to see Katara get married, fuck as many girls he could, he had inventions he wanted to build, things he wanted to achieve, there were so many things he still wanted to do!
This couldn't be the end of his life, this couldn't be the end of Sokka, the greatest, smartest, most attractive and incredible swordmaster. He had to fight; he had to wake up.
He felt a little burning on his left side, which slowly grew until it turned into a searing pain that pulled him out of his mind, and back into reality. He was awake.
"Argh…!" he grumbled in pain. It was agonizing.
Every limb, every inch of his body hurt, but especially where he had been injured felt like burning.
"Tsk! Shush... You are going to wake up everyone." Sokka heard a voice complaining and a second later a piece of fabric was stuffed into his mouth. His groans of pain lowered in tone.
"A-Azula?" he mumbled once his vision was from the pain. His breathing and heartbeat were elevated. For a split second, he thought he might be hallucinating, but the pain told him otherwise.
"Hold still, this is going to hurt." she warned him before applying some alcohol from a bottle on his wound.
He winced, biting the piece of fabric in his mouth. It burned like a bitch. He arched his back a little due to the pain.
Azula pushed him back onto the bed with monstrous strength and with little effort. "Tsk! I told you to hold still, do I need to tie you to the bed?"
He muttered something unintelligible.
"What?" she asked, taking out the piece of fabric from his mouth.
"It hurts like hell." he complained.
She rolled her eyes, "Stop whining, only babies whine…." she replied and then proceeded to reach for some things.
"What… are… you doing?" he questioned, panting. When he saw what she was doing, he recognized a few items that were used to heal serious injuries.
"I told you I was going to help you patch up, didn't I?" she said, focused on what she was doing. Azula threw into a bowl a couple of bandages and cotton balls, which she doused in alcohol, and lit with her flames to sterilize. "Well, that's what I'm doing... So, stitches or cauterization?"
"What?"
"To seal the wound," she explained, "I disinfected the wound, but I still need to stop the bleeding. So, which one is it going to be? Stitches or cauterization?" she repeated.
Sokka was still a little astounded by the fact that Azula had returned, that she didn't let him die, and she was patching him up. He had thought she was going to let him die.
Right now, all the previous opinions and judgments he ever had of her were gone. He was just thankful.
"I-I guess... Which one hurts less?" he asked.
"Why does it matter?" she replied, stoic.
"Maybe, because I don't want to suffer…" Sokka complained, thinking he had suffered enough with his wound.
Azula rolled her eyes, "Will you stop whining if I tell you?"
"Yeah..."
She sighed. "Stitches take time to heal and if you move a lot, you might reopen the wound and suffer again. Cauterization, heals faster, but I have to burn your skin and fuse it together, and if you thought disinfection hurt, well..."
Sokka made a nervous grin, almost squealing. "Both sound horrible…".
"Oh, sorry, I thought I was talking to a grown-up…" she grunted. The longer he waited, the more blood he was losing, "Just choose one, damn it!"
"Fine…" he took a moment to think, "Cauterization... Let's get it done..."
"Fine. Then, stitches it is…" said Azula with a smirk.
"What?" Sokka cried.
"It was a joke, you savage…" she said, proceeding to get everything ready. She needed some metal object to press against his skin once she had burned it.
She reached for his toy, which he had dropped on the floor. She tossed it into the bowl with everything else and poured more alcohol, igniting it again with a flame from her fingers to disinfect everything.
And while she was doing it, she noticed the scarlet red that was staining her hands.
Unconsciously her breathing rate became accelerated, as well as her pulse. What the hell was happening to her? She had never had this reaction. Was it the blood? It had to be. What else could it be? She had never seen this amount of blood before, and since she saw him injured when he arrived she felt her sweat run cold. Her eyes veered off to her hands. She couldn't focus on them or in anything no matter how hard she tried. The room shook around her.
This couldn't be happening right now, it couldn't.She swallowed hard. Was she afraid of blood?
Sokka glanced over towards Azula, when he noticed she was taking too long, and he noticed her hands shaking, and her looking at them vividly. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
Azula blinked a few times, back into the reality. "Yeah… It's just… the… the blood." she muttered, holding her hands to try to stop the shaking and taking deep, long breaths to try to ease her pulse. "I have never... I didn't know." she tried to excuse herself.
Sokka reached for her hands and gave them a little squeeze with the strength he had left, trying to calm her, or at least trying to make her hands stop shaking. Azula was a little startled and touched at this. He was trying to comfort her, even though he was badly injured.
"You can do it…" he assured her, "Just make it quick."
She knew she could do it, but him telling her she could, gave her the impulse to push this stupid fear aside for a few minutes. She took a few deep breaths to calm down her heartbeat and shaking.
It took her a moment, but the shaking subsided at least.
"I will try to make it as quick as I can." she said, not only for him but also for her.
She took his boomerang, and with a flame, she heated it as fast as she could, until the metal glowed a slight red.
"Can you let me know when you start to…" said Sokka looking at her warily, "Argh... Azula…" he whined in pain.
Azula shoved the piece of fabric back into his mouth, to stop him from breaking his teeth or biting his tongue, and also to ease his groans.
The smell of burned flesh filled the room.
"I'm almost done," she told him, and taking a second to glance at him, "Hey, no…" she called to him when she noticed he was closing his eyes, "Don't fall asleep… I need you to be awake, okay?" she said trying to make him return to his senses, he couldn't fall asleep. "Sokka, Sokka…" she called him a few times, "Idiot!" she said before removing the fabric from his mouth and slapping him hard enough to wake him.
It took him a moment to return itself, "A-Are you done?" he mumbled, his eyes looking around out of focus.
"No… But you fell asleep." Azula replied.
"So?" he whispered, trying to focus her.
"You lost a lot of blood. I can't let you sleep until I have patched you up and you have eaten," she explained. She couldn't have him getting into a shock because of the procedure, "So, now shut up and work with me… Stay awake. Don't fall asleep," she ordered him, starting to heat again his toy.
Sokka attempted to nod. "Argh…!" he cried out in pain again, his sounds muffled by the fabric, however.
"Hold on... I'm almost done… almost done… there." she finally said after finally burning the last part of skin sealing the wound completely.
Sokka breathed deeply. "Thank god, I thought it would never end…" he said, still agitated.
"I'm going to throw this away." she excused herself to dispose of all the things dripping in blood that were now useless.
She closed the door to the bathroom after her and pressed the lock. She rushed to wash the blood off her hands as fast as she could and splashed a little water on her face. She sat in the toilet with her hands on her knees, and her breathing quickened along with her pulse again. The tremor in hands returned. Now, after the brief rush of adrenaline had left her body, she could feel a little anxiety attack coming.
Think about something else. Think of something else. Stop thinking in blood, damn it! she cursed.
Some tears came out of her eyes without a reason. She wasn't crying, but she couldn't stop them. Her stomach stirred a little. She felt like throwing up. Azula needed to calm her mind, to think for a moment, take deep breaths. She couldn't have one. She couldn't. She hadn't had one since a long time ago. She closed her eyes and kept her mind blank. Just focused on her breathing.
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, Breathe out.
It took her a moment to calm herself, but she accomplished.
She washed her face and made sure erect a calm and orderly composure again, before stepping out of the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" Sokka asked her once she was out.
"Perfect," was her answer, "Sokka," she muttered.
"Huh?"
"About your suffering ending... Well, it hasn't ended." she uttered.
"What?" he squealed apprehensively. Wasn't his suffering done? There was more?
"I need you to help me seat you," said Azula, "I can't do it alone and I need to bandage you, so it doesn't get infected."
"Oh…" he muttered, relieved that there was no more burning skin in his near future for now. "On three…"
"One…" she said, pulling him up into a sitting position.
"Argg... Azula…" he complained for her suddenness.
She rolled her eyes, annoyed, "Stop whining. You are worse than a 5-year-old." she scolded him, reaching for some bandages she left around.
At that moment, when he felt the coldness of the wall in his back, he realized for the first time of his lack of a shirt. "Mmm… Azula," he called her, and she glanced at him, "Where's my shirt?"
"Over there." Azula pointed to a corner where she had tossed it, figuring out he would possibly want to try and clean it. "I needed to clearly inspect the wound… Don't worry, you have nothing I haven't seen…" she said, smirking.
He quickly deeply blushed, feeling exposed in his current situation. "What are you... Tsk!"
She ignored him, sitting again in the chair next to him. "Does it hurt?" she asked, and before he could answer, she touched his fresh wound, trying to be gentle, but still to annoy him.
"Sprits! It hurts!" he whined, feeling the wound sting.
Sokka was still going to need a few days to recover from the injury and his blood loss.
Azula wrapped the bandage around him to make sure the wound would not get infected, and to allow it to heal completely. She was thankful that he didn't make any snarky comment at her, while she was wrapping him, or at the fact that she blushed a little bit, for being so close to his bare chest. Which, by the way, was one fine chest. She noticed that he smelled like salty water.
He felt her breathing crashing against his skin. It was an uncontrollable situation for both of them, so he abstained from making any type of comment about it. After all, Azula bothered patching up, for him to go and make a stupid comment, and make her kill him. He could pick up the sweet scent of cherry from her.
They have never been so close to each other before.
Well, except that time when she had played that awful trick with him about having Suki as a prisoner during the invasion. Back then, he had been the one to lose his nerves, while she had remained completely calm, even though they had the upper hand.
Azula finished wrapping him when she noticed his fixed gaze on her. "What? Do I have something in my face?" she asked when she noticed he was staring at her, fixedly.
Sokka didn't look away, instead he smiled softly. "You seem… different," he uttered.
She shrugged and admitted. "I feel different."
"Good," he muttered, "I like your new look, by the way, wearing your hair down; it suits you." he complimented her.
Her half updo gave her not only a more relaxed look, but it also, for some odd reason, he thought he made her look prettier. Her usual bangs were still framing her face, and her raven long hair was falling down her back.
"Well, you changed too," she said, smirking. It was a good signal that he was chatty. "You are not that weakly boy anymore." she teased him.
He chuckled and then groaned in pain. "Yeah…" now it was his turn to smirk, "You said I got handsome," he said, cockily.
Azula rolled her eyes and huffed. "Well, you were about to die, so I thought that maybe wearing a white little lie would make you feel better." she mocked.
"So, you lied?" Sokka raised an eyebrow.
She made a grin before answering and placed a hand under her chin. "Taking a better look at you, you got…" she made a pause, "Taller."
"And you didn't much," he snickered, and she rolled her eyes. "But you got really beautiful." Getting a better look at her, her bearing was so strong that even in plain clothes, she still looked noble.
Azula smirked and huffed at his compliment. "That compliment, I'm going to take it as part of your blood loss hallucinations," she said.
He laughed. "When I'm really anxious or under a lot of stress, I start to ramble and say everything that comes to my mind, like saying you look really beaut…"
"Are you always this chatty and flirty with other girls?" she interrupted him, getting a little annoyed at his flirting attempts.
"Only when I'm about to die." he admitted. Not that he had been at the edge of the death because of blood loss before.
"Your girlfriend must really love that," she said, "As you seem to put yourself in so much danger. No wonder why Ty Lee used to like you so much," she stood up.
"W-Where are you going?" he inquired when he saw her heading towards the door.
"Before you sleep, you need to eat something," Azula explained, "Why?" she raised a brow. Did he think she was leaving? And did he seem relieved she was not?
"Oh, I-It's just I thought you were leaving already," Sokka confessed.
"I am," Azula remarked, "But before that, I'm going to get you something to eat. And don't you even think about falling asleep you hear me?" she threatened him, "If you do, I will slap you to wake you."
"Got it."
It was still really unbelievable what had just happened. She had helped him.
Yes, he had thought she was going to leave him to bleed out, but she hadn't left him to die, and right now, she had gone to get him something to eat.
Was this the same Azula, who shot lightning at Aang years ago? The same one who took down Ba Sing Se all by herself?
The last time he had seen her was back in Hira'a, and she had been suffering from hallucinations and her mental health wasn't at its best. But right now, she seemed to be fine. In fact, he could almost assure she was back to her old self, like before her breakdown.
"Eat," she ordered him, placing the plate on the nightstand.
He tried to reach the plate, but he felt a stinging pain that made him wince.
"What?" she asked when she noticed him wince and glanced towards her.
"I'm too weak to…" he mumbled.
"So?"
"W-Would you mind…?" he made an awful attempt at puppy eyes.
"What?" both of her eyebrows raised when she realized what he was asking her. "Do you want me to…? No. No!... I'm not going to…. I'm not your personal physician!" she grunted.
"Please," he begged, "I'm hungry and weak. Please..."
"No!"
"Azula, please…"
She huffed. "You… Tsk! Fine!" she accepted, grinding her teeth, "This is what I get for trying to do something good." she dropped on the chair on she had been previously sitting on, taking the plate.
"Thanks." he smiled, gratefully.
"Yeah, yeah…" Azula replied, annoyed, "Never. Happening. Again." she remarked her words one by one, "Eat." she repeated extending the spoon.
"What is it?" he asked, curious at the intriguing taste.
"A vegetable soup."
Sokka made a grin of disgust. "It's disgusting," he complained.
"Like I care. Eat up and hurry." Azula commanded him.
He ate quietly after that, not complaining at the taste of the flavor anymore because he knew that if he did. Azula would probably end up shoving the soup down his throat, and at some point, he even got used to the taste.
She did an outstanding job helping him eat, even though he noticed sometimes she was mentally absent, and just doing it by instinct.
"Was it really necessary to risk your life for a stupid sword?" she asked after a while of looking absently at the sword leaning on the wall.
"It's special..." Sokka muttered.
"Yeah... I'm sure it is…" she said with irony, as she placed the plate away.
It didn't matter if it was the most powerful sword on earth. What and why made it so special for an idiot like him to risk his life like that? Or was he just a masochist who enjoyed putting his life at risk?
"Really," assured Sokka, "The blade… was forged from a space stone…" he explained, it had been his first sword, and he had forged it with his own hands from a meteor.
"Amazing…" her tone of satire was evident.
"I guess… Nothing can surprise a Princess, right?" he inquired. She shrugged.
Being surrounded by luxuries all her life made it really hard for something material to amaze her.
"By the way," she leaned back on the chair and crossed both arms and legs, "Why the hell are you here all alone? Where is the rest of your stupid crew?" she asked, "I thought you were all attached by the hip"
It was odd to find one of them without at least one other around. It was like they couldn't do anything alone.
"Toph is busy with her metal bender lily flowers," he explained. She smirked at the nickname. "And Katara and Aang... Well, they are busy with the air acolytes. So, I asked them to drop me nearby to search for my sword, and I will catch up with them in a couple of days."
"So, while you were looking for the sword you actually had a plan or were you just going with the flow?"
"Yeah... It was more of the last option." he admitted.
"And that was obviously super productive... Great planning," Azula said, sarcastically, "Anyway, this conversation is getting boring and you should sleep now."
"I feel sleepy…" Sokka agreed, settling himself in the bed more comfortable.
Azula stood up. It was time to leave.
She had done for him more than she should have probably, taking into consideration they barely knew each other and before this incident they were enemies, she had lost a lot of time already and she needed to get back to what she was doing before all this mess so she can leave this hellhole.
"Azula," Sokka called her name, as he grabbed her by the wrist. "Thank you," he whispered, "I thought you were going to let me…"
"I was," she clarified, "I was really pissed that you assumed that I was just a horrible person who was trying to play a trick on you when I offered you my help, but… I already have enough sins on my conscience, to also add your death to it…"
Sokka felt horrible at her words. She had genuinely tried to help him, and he had assumed the worst, which almost caused him to die due to his own stupidity and prejudice. And even after that, she had proved to be a more mature person than him and had returned to help him.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I tend to be an idiot in the most unexpected moments."
"I would say most of the time," Azula mocked, "You own me one…" she stated.
"I know," he replied. He owed her his life. "Azula," he called her again, "You are not leaving right?" he asked.
For some reason, Sokka didn't really find the idea of being left alone all that appealing, there in Lian Yu while being badly injured.
"Grown fond of me, so quick?" Azula smirked.
"Yeah," he admitted, "I would really appreciate it if you could stay with me. At least until I can get back on my feet on my own." he half-excused himself that he really didn't want to be left alone, but also if he wanted sit down and to eat, he was going to need help for that at least for the next couple of days.
"Y-You want me to say?" she asked, it was the first time in a while someone asked her to stay, to make them company. He nodded. "Do I look like a physician or something like that to you?"
"No, but a little company would be good," Sokka confessed.
Maybe it was his blood loss or that right now he felt defenseless, but the fact he had asked her to stay made her feel for once wanted and appreciated. Ridiculous.
Well, she could perhaps stay and spend the night there, she could monitor him and make sure he didn't get an infection or something like that.
Also, it was quite late already. She could just go back to Motoi's pub tomorrow. Staying there for a while wouldn't make matters any worse, would it? And if he already owed her one, well, you never know when it could be useful to have one of the Avatar's closest friends to owe you a favor, not to mention he was also one of Zuko's closest friends.
After a moment of silence, she finally acquiesced. "Fine, but I'm only staying because I want to make sure you don't get an infection and die, throwing all my efforts of saving your life down the drain."
"Thank you." he muttered, thankful.
"You already said that…" Azula whispered, "And if you need something, just... don't call me. Seriously, I'm not a physician."
Sokka chuckled then winced because of the pain. "Got it."
"Good," she said, "Now, sleep already."
"Yes, boss." he teased, making her roll her eyes.
It didn't take long for Sokka to fall asleep.
She looked at him breathing so tranquilly with his mouth slightly open, ready to start drooling and any moment. His chest raised over and over, and it was almost unnoticeable, but his natural color was slowly returning. He didn't seem so pale anymore.
She stayed there for a while, looking at nothing, just being there. At some point of the night, Sokka's temperature raised, something normal for someone who had gone through such effort during the day. She tried to lower it with some wet drags. And it didn't take long for his body heat to return to normal.
At some point during the dawn, she fell asleep in the chair without realizing it, exhausted.
She was alone, in a dark, empty place.
"Hello?" she called, but there was no echo, no answer. "Hello?" she called again, but still no answer. Am I alone? she thought.
"You are not alone, you are very lonely." a voice behind said, but there was no one there.
"What the hell?"
Then she started to hear an unintelligible whisper, she couldn't recognize the voice, but the whisper was slowly getting louder and louder until she felt surrounded by it.
"Monster! Monster! Monster!" repeated over and over.
"Stop, stop," she demanded, "I'm not a monster!"
The voice stopped. She looked around to try to find out from where it had come but there was only darkness around.
"You are a disgrace, I'm disgusted by you!" she knew to who that voice belonged, it was her father's. He appeared before her, but it was not possible. He was locked in the Capital, "You are weak! You are a shame just like your brother!"
"I'm not weak!" she squeaked. Even though she hasn't seen her father in years and after realizing that she was only a weapon for him, it still hurt her the fact that the only parent she ever had, thought of her as everything she had never wanted to be. "You used me! And you are not real. You are locked in Prison!"
Her father's silhouette disappeared, and it was replaced with another one. "Since the day you were born, you made my life miserable."
"Z-Zuzu?"
"You had everything I ever wanted!" she could feel the hate in his words, "You were the prodigy, the perfect daughter loved by everyone. You made my life miserable, and I hate you for that." Zuko spouted, "And this," he showed her the scar on his chest, the one she had caused, "It's just a reminder of the monster you are and ever will be."
"It was a mistake! I wasn't in my right mind!" Azula tried to clarify, but to no avail.
This couldn't be Zuko. Zuko was too good of a person to say those kinds of words to her. She knew it, but still, something inside of her she knew he had always wanted to tell her all those things.
Seeing the scar on his chest reminded her of the darkest moment of her life when she had never felt more abandoned and vulnerable, and a knot in her throat formed. She clenched her fists; her nails digging into her palms so hard she could feel them bleed.
"No wonder mom never loved you, you are a monster," his voice was full of venom, and truth.
She covered her ears. She didn't wish to listen to any of this. "Leave!" she shouted as hard as she could. And just like her father, Zuko disappeared to be replaced by something worse,
"What is wrong with that child? What is wrong with that child? What is wrong with that child? What is wrong with that child?" she heard her mother's voice.
No. She didn't want to face her; she didn't want to see her. No, it wasn't real; it wasn't real. She couldn't face her mother right now; she was about to break into tears and she couldn't stand seeing her again.
Her heartbeat and breathing raced up.
"Who could ever love a monster like you?" Ursa's voice said with spite. And when she turned… she woke up.
Sokka opened his eyes when the sunbeam hit him in the eyes. It took him a moment to realize where he was, and it was that pang of pain that brought him back to reality. He had almost died hours before, but he had been saved by… Azula.
He found her snuggled in the chair next to the bed. If he recalled correctly, at some point during the night he had suffered from a slight fever, but had she spent the rest of the night next to him, instead of sleeping in the other bed?
She was asleep, and he took a moment to glance at her. She was sleeping peacefully. Her expression was something he had never seen on her. It was like a totally different person. But then, slowly, she started to frown deeply, every second more and more, and her breathing became agitated. He noticed how she was clenching her fists, and a moment later she was digging her nails in her palms.
He assumed she was having some kind of nightmare, so he tried to reach her to wake her, but before he could touch her, she woke up a little shaken up.
Her eyes studied the entire room.
"Hey, it's okay. It's okay. It was just a nightmare." she heard a voice that it took a minute to associate.
Azula exhaled, relieved that it had been a nightmare. She was in Lian Yu, miles and miles away from her family. She took a few deep breaths, calming her senses.
"How long have you been awake?" she asked rubbing her eyes.
"A while." Sokka confessed.
"Why didn't you wake me?"
He shrugged. "You seemed pretty tired," he said to avoid admitting he had also been staring at her while she was sleeping. "What was the nightmare about?"
Azula quirked a brow. "Why do you care?"
"When Katara was little, she used to have a lot of nightmares, and talking about them helped."
She doubted that talking about it would help her, after all, her nightmares were only real things, things that she already knew.
"And friends tend to help each other."
"Friends?"Azula raised her eyebrows, surprised at his statement. "The fact that I'm not being openly hostile to you makes you believe we are friends?"
"S-Sorry, I just assumed, t-that after…" he blushed, embarrassed.
She huffed. "Just because I saved you, it doesn't mean we are friends. Don't mistake the fact that I haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust." she clarified.
"We could be," he shrugged. "We could be friends, you know?"
Why, though? Why does she need to have friends? Friends only use you and eventually betray you. She didn't want friends, and she didn't need them; she was fine on her own.
"I don't have friends." that was the last thing she said that morning.
Her plan of only staying a couple of days in Lian Yu turned into a week.
Whenever she felt like leaving, Sokka would come up with some ridiculous excuse to make her stay. At first it was simple things, which all of them she could have refused, but for some reason, she didn't. Azula kept telling herself that it was all because that way, he will owe her one big favor.
The first couple of days they had banal chats while she helped him eat or checked his wound and changed the bandages. His wound was healing quickly but because of the loss of blood, he still couldn't stand by himself without getting dizzy.
On the third day she forced him to take a bath. The smell of dry blood was getting unbearable. Sokka had asked her to place a chair so he could easily wash up, but she still had to help him get to the bathroom. When they got there, he used the water handle to help him support his weight, but he ended up opening the water run, which made him slip and fall, pulling her down with him under his weight. They ended up both soaked.
She cursed him and gave him death glances all the afternoon, which he pretended not to notice.
The week turned into two weeks.
And on the tenth day, he convinced her of helping him shave.
"Why do you keep convincing me of doing things I seriously don't want to do?" she asked, wiping the razor on the cloth.
Sokka was sat on the edge of the bed, with his legs open wide, and Azula was in the middle to give her better reach.
"Because I asked pretty, pretty please?" he said, following her movement every second as she wet the razor and repeated the same motion, again.
It had taken him around a full day of insisting for her to agree to do it.
"Yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes, "Look up." she ordered him, proceeding to shave his neck.
"Or maybe it's because deep down you like to help people?" he looked down at her.
"Take that back," she replied, "You shouldn't be saying those kinds of things when I'm holding a sharp thing so close to your neck."
Sokka chuckled. "Oh, come on. Deep down you know I'm right."
Azula rolled her eyes. "It's more that I like people owing me favors. Being in debt with me."
He made a grin. "That seems more like you." he smiled and then remained silent while letting her finish her work.
He tried to follow her movements almost every second. The noticed way she narrows her eyebrows while being concentrating, how she tucks in one of her bangs behind her ear, the way her touch was soft and delicate, unlike what he had thought all his life.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him after she caught him staring at her.
Sokka only shrugged. "No reason… Zuko is looking for you, you know." he told her, dismissing their other matter.
Sokka had received a hawk the other day with a letter from him, while Azula had been out -running some of her errants-, claiming he was looking for her. He was still debating if he should tell Zuko about the situation he was currently in. Or if he should mention the letter to the Princess.
"Yeah, to lock me in prison more likely, or better, back into the institution." she uttered.
"Why would he do that? You seem really better. It's almost like if you were back to your old self, but a little…" he made a pause to try and find the right word.
"A little what?" she grunted, thinking he might say crazy.
"Nicer," said Sokka, "Why don't you come back with me to the Capital?" he offered, "Don't you miss home?"
She shrugged. It had been so long since she had last called that place home, that it didn't feel like It was anymore. "Would you go back to a place where you are not welcome?" she asked like a whisper, glancing away, pretending to not be affected.
"Why do you think you are not welcome? Zuko is looking for you."
"Well, let him look for me," she replied, "If he is planning to throw me into either of those places, I'm not going to make it easy on him."
"And If he is not?"
"Can you assure me that? How can you be sure about it? About his intentions?" she questioned him.
"I-I…" she was right, there was no way he could. Zuko had mentioned nothing about why he was looking for her, not even he knew his intentions.
"You can't, right?" Azula stated, "And if you dare to tattletale on me about the fact that you saw me here, I would hunt you down. You hear me?" she snarled in a menacing way, which reminded him of the old, scary Azula.
Okay, so it was better not to bring up the letter, or the fact that Zuko had heard a rumor of her wandering around.
"Yes, I won't say a word. I promise."
She decided, for once in a long time, to take a gamble and trust in someone, to see if he was someone trustworthy. She picked up the stuff she had used to shave him. "I'm finished."
"Azula," Sokka grabbed her from the wrist. "You are his family."
"He already has a family. And I'm not part of it." she freed herself from his grip.
"Azula…" he called for her again. He needed to try to convince her.
"I'm not having this conversation with you!" she snapped, pissed.
"He misses you." was the last thing she heard him say before closing the door without saying a word.
They didn't talk about the topic anymore for the next couple of days, and Sokka also didn't mention the letter or his content. Even though he kept thinking that it was something she should know about, he didn't.
In the next couple of days, Sokka was able to remain standing or walk for short amounts of time. He was recovering fast from his blood loss, so much so that he didn't feel dizzy anymore or saw black spots.
He received a messenger hawk on the fourteen day from Aang and Katara, but when the bird showed up in their window, Azula almost threw a lighting at him believing it was a message from Zuko. He quickly explained that he had bought a messenger hawk for himself during wartime which he now used to send messages all around the world and he showed her the calligraphy of his sibling to calm her down. Once he finished explaining, Sokka responded to his sibling's letter.
They were going to pick him up the next day at midday.
"Tell me something you don't like…" Sokka asked Azula when they were having dinner.
To keep any potential awkwardness at a minimum, they had started this thing, where they would ask each other stuff out of the blue. Until now, it had worked to keep them distracted.
Azula pondered her answer. "Mmm…. There is one thing that really annoys me..."
"What is it?"
"Wrinkled sheets." she replied.
Sokka eyes and mouth widened. That was unexpected, "W-Wait, what? Wrinkled sheets?" he inquired, amused.
"Yeah. I just… I can't stand them," she explained, "What? Why that look?"
He shook his head, "It's just that knowing you, there could be ten other things that could piss you off. Like happy people, or sad people, or just people in general…" he said, snickering.
"Ha ha… hilarious…." she said, huffing.
"But, wrinkled sheets? That's odd."
"I know, okay?" she said a little annoyed, "It's like a pet peeve I have had since I can remember. If the bed is not properly done, I just can't sleep on it, no matter how hard I try," she stated, "Back in the institution, they used to make crappy work with the beds and I spent my entire time there either chi blocked or in a straitjacket, so I couldn't do much about it. So, that's when I suffered heavy insomnia and that, plus my already messed up mind, well, let just say it didn't help a lot to stop the hallucinations." she explained.
She remembered one time very clearly; she had spent almost a week sleeping only eight hours, total. Her hallucinations got so bad that the physicians had to give her sleeping pills for her to conceive one full night of rest. She slept for almost 48 hours in a row. Of course, her hallucination didn't stop after that, but they weren't as constant.
"Zuko, did once mention something about you having gotten better once you were out of the institution." he commented, realizing that it made a lot of sense.
During the week preceding the invasion, Aang had had a pretty bad insomnia until the point he had started hallucinating. Aang had had a rough time and that it had been for only a couple of days. Suffering like that for over a year couldn't be all that nice, he gathered.
"Well, I got better sleep for starters."
Getting out of there and accepting various kinds of aspects of her life, really had helped to ease her mind. Her visions had completely disappeared, but now, the constant uncertainty, that if they were ever to come back, was something that was still very present in the back of her mind.
She never wanted to be that person again, so out of control, her mind marred.
They remained silent for a while, finishing their dinner.
"You know, I always saw you as someone really scary, you know?" Sokka confessed.
Azula smirked. "You must think I don't look very scary right now, don't you?"
"No, you are not." he muttered, softly.
"I mean, I am too pretty to be scary." she said, cockily.
Sokka snickered at her comment. "Yeah, you are," he agreed unconsciously, "But that blue fire and lighting of yours, it's still pretty scary and pretty deadly, isn't it?"
"It caused quite an impression on you, didn't it?" she smirked.
"You're the kind of person no one can forget."
Azula narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure if that was a meant to be a compliment, but I'm going to assume it was," she replied, "You know, I'm going to be honest, the first time I remember seeing you, you were holding Mai's little brother, Tom-Tom, and my first thought of you was…"
"Incredibly attractive and handsome?" he said, somewhere between serious and mocking, raising an eyebrow.
Azula couldn't contain it and let out a loud laugh, amused.
"Huh? What was that?" Sokka asked, more amused than offended for seeing her laugh like that. He had never seen her with that expression.
"What?" she asked once she stopped laughing.
"You smiled." he pointed out, smiling himself.
Azula gulped, erasing any sign of amusement. "No, I didn't." she said in a serious tone.
"Yes, you did."
"No, I…" she sighed, "Yeah fine, I did. So what? I'm human too, you moron."
"It's just…" muttered Sokka, glancing at her fixedly, "I have never seen you smile like that."
"Like what?"
"Just like that. Innocent… Previously I have only seen you smirk or side smile and even smile maliciously… But nothing like that," she shrugged, "You look beautiful when you smile like that."
She opened her mouth, astonished at his words, "W-What did you… Tsk… This guy…" she muttered. She had been called beautiful many, many times before, sometimes she was even compared to her mother, which bothered her a little, but the way he had said it, it was different.
Sokka was also shocked, it wasn't the first time he had called her beautiful or pretty. At first, he had blamed his blood loss, then the fact that he was thankful, but now, he realized it had come truly from his heart. He truly found her beautiful.
Maybe it was the fact that he really missed Suki. It has been almost a year since they have last seen each other back in Crane-fish Town.
They remained in silence a moment, engrossed in their own thoughts, before Sokka cleared his throat.
"Tomorrow is my last day in Lian Yu. Katara and Aang are picking me up at midday." Sokka said; he wanted to give it one last shot to try to convince her to go back to the Capital.
"Good for you…" she said, deadpanned.
In all honesty, she had got used to being around him in the last two weeks.
"Why don't you come back to the Capital with me? After what you have done for me, I'm sure…"
"No…" she cut him off.
"But…"
"My decision is final, okay? Drop it, peasant." she grunted, her anger rising. Couldn't he just respect her decision? Couldn't he just listen to her? For once?
"Okay, but …"
"You made me a promise! Don't make me regret saving your life!" she said, sternly, "You swore, you would not tell Zuko you saw me, right?"
"I..."
"Right?"
"Yes," he agreed, muttering, "Azula, are you sure…?" he insisted again.
"Really?" she grunted menacingly. If he insisted it one more time, she was going to use him as a lightning target.
"It was just in case you changed your mind…" Sokka whispered, his gaze lowering, "When are you leaving? You are not leaving at midnight, right?" he questioned her.
"Why do you care?"
"I made you a promise about not telling Zuko. But at least, just… make sure you say goodbye, okay? Promise you won't disappear at midnight."
She doesn't answer right away. "I won't leave at midnight," she finally utters, "I promise."
"Good," he said, pleased. At least she wouldn't sneak out in the middle of the night, "And thank you, really for everything. You didn't have to and yet..."
"You not going to get all corny, are you?" Azula teased him, "Because if you do, I'm going to throw up."
Sokka snickered at her comment. "In that case, just... Thank you."
"You said that already," she said, "But remember, you still owe me one."
"I know."
The rest of the night, they barely talked before settling in for sleep.
By the time he woke up the next morning… Azula was long gone. She had left without saying goodbye and he felt a little hurt. He even thought for a moment, before his sibling and Aang arrived, of going to look around for her, but he resisted the idea. She was more than likely long gone from the town.
Sokka spent the next couple of days wondering about why she had done it. He hated when people broke their promise, no matter how silly or superfluous they were; it was a promise, and promises were not meant to be broken.
And as true as his word towards her, even if she hadn't been as courteous, he didn't inform Zuko of her whereabouts, or about the fact that they had crossed paths in Lian Yu. That was going to be information he was going to be keep as a secret, at least for now.
…
Now
"You don't have to be so rude about it…" Sokka grunted, "Wait, you said Zuko had his conditions when he asked you to return, what conditions?"
He was intrigued about how Zuko had made her agree to go back to the Palace. In Lian Yu, she was pretty firm on her choice.
He should have offered something she couldn't refuse. But what could have Zuko possible offered?
"Seriously?" Azula scowled, pissed. "Did you know that you are the most annoying person on Earth?" she grunted, irritated.
"Hey, we still have around an hour of travel, I need a distraction." he shrugged.
"Well, if you must know little snoopy, he wanted me to fire bend with him at least twice a week… Mostly, I think he only wanted someone to whine to about his conflicts of being a Fire Lord." she said whilst looking at her nails uninterested.
"Well, it had been a tough couple of years after the end of the war."
Just because the war ended, it didn't mean their troubles had ended. For starters the Harmony Restoration Movement had been a failure, then the -almost- revolution in the Fire Nation -in which Azula had been involved-, the disagreement and misunderstanding between the Water Tribes, and the mess that happened in Crane-fish Town between benders and non-benders.
"You don't say…" she said with irony.
"Have you ever regretted it?"
Azula sighed, rubbing a temple. "Can you shut up for once in your life?"
"Rudeee…" Sokka pouted, "Awkward silences make me uncomfortable," he explained, "So, have you?"
"Regret, what?" she asked, inquisitively.
"What you did... during the war." he muttered.
"What?"
"I mean… about all the things you did back then." he muttered, checking if Kiyi was still sleeping.
"Explain…" she quirked a brow, positively exasperated by now.
"The things you did. All the horrible things."
Back in Lian Yu, he had wanted to ask her, but after everything she had done for him and helping him recover, he thought it might not be the right moment.
Azula shrugged. "That depends on your point of view."
"What do you mean?" Sokka frowned, confused.
She sighed. "You see, back then I was just doing what I thought was best, not only for me… but for my entire nation." she explained.
"So… Are you saying you don't regret your actions?" he frowned.
"I know all of you are expecting one day I will regret my actions, but I don't. And I honestly think I never will…" she admitted carelessly, "My past actions made me who I am today… So, no I don't regret them."
"Not even after...?" he didn't know exactly how to continue there.
"After... being betrayed by my two only friends? Or being locked up in an institution? Nah… There are worse punishments…" said Azula, looking again at her nails nonchalantly.
"Name one…" said Sokka, leaning back on his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Like this conversation for instance."
"I'm being serious." he scowled.
"Me too…" she sighed, "Like dying."
"Are you afraid of death?" he asked. He never thought she would be afraid of it.
"Who isn't…? It's the only thing we will face for sure." Azula said.
"It's funny coming from you…" he smirked.
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you didn't have that problem when you killed Aang, did you?" he inquired.
She sighed exasperated. "Listen… Let me explain it, in a way your little peasant brain can understand it... I don't regret my actions… I had my reasons." she stated.
"What about… when you attacked us in Omashu?"
She rolled her eyes. Would he ever stop talking?
"If your memory is failing, Mai and Ty Lee were also involved in that one. We thought you bandits had kidnaped Mai's brother Tom-Tom, we were just trying to get him back. Then it turned out that the Avatar was there… and ya-da, ya-da, ya-da" she waved a hand carelessly.
"And what about when you chased us down for a day, that we couldn't even sleep…" that night was something that had remained engraved in his mind, it had been the first time he had spent an entire night without any sleep.
"The Avatar was an enemy of my nation, of course I was going to try to capture him, as Zuko many, many times did." she said stressing the last part and starting to feel how her jaw was getting clenched.
"And when you captured the Kyoshi warriors? Or when you infiltrated Ba Sing Se?"
She took a deep breath. "Capturing your girlfriend was a…"
"Ex…" he intervened.
"What?"
"She is my ex now..." Sokka felt the need to clarify this for whatever reason.
Azula rolled her eyes, pissed. "Like I care… Well, your ex… and her friends were in my way to capture the Avatar," she explained, "And Ba Sing Se? Do I need to remind you my uncle had the city besieged for 600 days? Back then, tons and tons of blood were spilled, which only stopped when my cousin perished," Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but she didn't allow it, "I instead, infiltrated the city and with the help of its own police, I -without spilling blood-, took control of the city. Oh, and may I add, I was only 14." she said proudly and haughtily.
"W-What do you say about manipulating Zuko?"
She huffed. "Oh come on, like your sister never manipulated you into doing something you didn't want to do."
Sokka opened and closed his mouth a few times, not knowing what to reply, because in fact, when they were younger and even now from time to time Katara would trick him into doing something he didn't necessarily want to.
"See? Same thing… The only difference is she thinks smaller while I think bigger." Azula said in a cocky tone.
"A-And the Boiling Rock? Or the Eastern Air Temple?" he was running out of things to claim her.
"The first one, they were all prisoners, and you were escaping. Had it been you or anyone else, I would have done the same, and also, I…. was willing to have you all captured. It was the governor who gave the order of cutting the line and dropping the cabin, which I was also standing on," she explained, "And the air temple… You stole my war balloon. Of course, I wanted it back. And I wasn't going to let go of an opportunity to fight against Zuko..." she noted, "Are we done talking about my crimes?" she said, raising both eyebrows.
She had a logical explanation for everything.
Sokka shrugged, he had nothing else to say, "I-I guess…"
"Good," she muttered, "Then, now are going to talk about yours…" she smirked, if he had been the one to have brought up the topic, now he had to bear with it to the end.
She was tired of all of them looking at her and judging her like she was the worst human being on the planet. They thought they were better than her because they had won the war. All of them judged her for her past actions, but no one, not even Zuko -who had done the same things as her, and even worse- thought for one moment of looking at things form another's perspective. And she was sick and tired of it. So, if she had to throw it at their faces, she was gladly going to do it.
"Mine?" he asked, confused, "I don't have…"
"Oh, you do," Azula stated, "Don't pretend you don't… Yours are much worse… Because at least I killed no one." she said, self-assured.
"What?" he raised his eyebrows, surprised at her statement, "Are you forgetting the lightning to Aang back in the catacombs in Ba Sing Se?"
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, let me rephrase myself. I have never killed anyone that stayed dead… You?" she quirked a brow, "Not so much…"
"What are you?"
"The third eye freak. The assassin Zuko hired?"
"What's with…"
"I heard that you hit him with that bloody toy of yours…" she said nodding towards his boomerang, "And that the hit was so bad that it made him explode… You killed him. Maybe not fully aware of it, but yet, you did…" her confident tone was clear, "Also, when you took down my father's squad of war balloons, you took control of one of them, didn't you? How did you actually do it?" she placed a hand on her chin, "Humph... According to the survivors' reports, you tricked and gathered them together before throwing them into the open sea… Did you ever give a second thought to how many would survive the fall?" she made a grin, shrugging, "Or, if all of them knew how to swim? Have you ever thought if that place where you threw them was filled with some hungry sea beasts? You seriously think they all survived?"
Her smirk grew when she noticed his expression. He was analyzing her words, "You all pretend to be so good for doing the 'right thing'… But the truth is we all have our sins. You and your loser friends aren't much different to me…" she muttered leaning a little forward, "We all have done bad things and we all have darkness inside…" she leaned back relaxing."The only difference is… that I have no problem accepting it, while all of you do."
Sokka was speechless at her words. Of course, he had been fully aware of everything he had done to win the war, but he had never seen it from that perspective. Back then, it all had been to end the war or to save his and his friend's asses from danger, but now, remembering it all kind of hit him differently.
It gave him bad memories. All those things they had gone through being so young. Yes, it had been a great adventure, an adventure one day he would get to tell his kids or his grandchildren, but seeing it from the other perspective, he didn't feel so heroic anymore.
He remained silent for a moment, Azula had been the first one to bring up all that to him, and he couldn't say anything because she was, in fact, right. They all had their sins. They all had done things to win the war.
Now he kind of understood Azula, why she didn't feel remorse for the things she had done. He only needed it to remember how Zuko had been once, too. He was also kind of a douche at first. He had burned Suki's village, hired pirates and Combustion Man to chase them. Back then, they both had only been trying to do what they thought was right for their Nation.
Sokka glanced over at the Princess, she was looking through the window of the carriage absentmindedly while running her fingers through Kiyi's hair.
He felt bad for all those times after the war he had called her either evil or crazy.
If what she had told him just a moment ago had been enough to make him feel a little miserable, he couldn't imagine how would it feel to be reminded of all the bad things you ever did over and over, and having people looking at you the way -he knew- they all looked at her. With distrust.
If he could, he would punch himself in the face for the way he had talked to her, back in Zuko's office. Especially after what she had done for him one year ago came at the forefront of his thoughts.
"Azula." he muttered after a moment.
"What? Are we going to keep listing the horrible things we did in the past?" she uttered, still looking through the window.
"No, it's just… Why did you help me back then?" Sokka inquired, truly interested in her answer.
Azula glanced at him for a moment with interest and then returned her attention to the window. "I told you. I guess… I already have enough sins to carry all my life, to add leading one of Zuzu's friends to die." she admitted.
She could still perfectly remember how resolute she had been to let him die at first, but halfway through the stairs, her conscience had convinced her of doing otherwise and turn around to help him. To not let him die.
"I owe you one."
She smirked. "Yes, you do…" she agreed.
Sokka's eyes trailed to the sleepy girl on the Princess' lap, "You seem really close to Kiyi."
"I am… She is innocent and pure. She is good. And she had never judged me… I guess that is why I opened up to her after becoming her firebending master…" she explained, "At first, I was ignoring her... Just focusing on the lessons but then, even though Zuko was always giving all his attention towards her… She will always choose me… She will choose me over Zuko. The more I tried to ignore her, the more she was around me… So, I guess eventually I just warmed up towards her."
For her, Kyi had been the first person to ever choose her above anyone else. For once, someone had chosen her because they really wanted it, and without second intentions someone had chosen her before Zuko.
Sokka heard her talk, fully focused on her words. She seemed so genuine talking about Kyi, so honest.
"So, you do have a heart," he teased, looking at her with a side smile.
"Yeah… it surprised me too," she replied, "I just started to worry about her, and now… I can surely say I would kill for this child."
Sokka snickered at the last part. "It's nice hearing you talk like that about Kiyi. Scary for the… killing part, but other than that it's cute."
Azula glanced in his direction, and for the first time during this trip, she felt relaxed around him, calm.
He played nervously with his fingers, wondering if it was a good moment to bring it up. He gulped. "Azula," she raised an eyebrow in his direction. "The last night in Lian Yu, why did you leave in… "
The carriage came to an abrupt stop that shook them even in their seats.
"Why did we stop?" Sokka asked, finding it strange, "We are not there yet."
Yu Dao was still while away, so why did they stop?
They both looked through the windows.
"This is odd," Azula muttered, before shaking Kiyi to wake her up. "Kiyi, wake up."
"Are we there yet?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"No, we are not." said the Princess, holding the little one at the shoulders to make sure she was fully awake. Azula had abad feeling.
Why would anyone attack a carriage out of the nowhere? Bandits? Benders? Maybe rebels? After all, this carriage was initially supposed to be transporting the Fire Lord. They were still some protests here and there about mostly everything that was happening post-war. From the nonconformities of the decisions that had been taken about Yu Dao, to the creation of the United Republic of Nations.
"There is someone out there." said Sokka, looking through the window.
He couldn't see the driver of the carriage, so he assumed that he had been knocked out.
Azula leaned closer. There was indeed someone out there.
"The Rough Rhinos" Sokka muttered, looking at the animals and his riders.
The first time they had to face them they were only five riders, now their number was up to eight riders. The last time he had seen them had been almost five years ago, and in all honesty, he had hoped to never see them again. They were a pain in the ass.
"And who are those guys?" Azula whispered, noticing that there was other three men with Earth Kingdom clothes, standing next to the Rhinos.
This couldn't be good. They were outnumbered.
He and Azula could easily without a doubt take care of them, but Kiyi's safety was something that worried them both.
Her fire bending skills were superb, but there was no way that a little girl with barely a year of proper training in fire bending could face a member of one the most elite teams of the Fire Nation military.
"Come out, come out to play, your Royal Highness." Colonel Mongke's voice screamed from the outside.
"We need a plan." Sokka said, quickly starting to think about something. He could notice Azula's mind was also raising to think of a plan as her eyes kept scanning the grounds outside.
"I have a plan," said Azula before turning towards Kiyi, "Kiyi, I need you to say in here, okay?"
"What is happening?" the little one asked worried.
"Don't come out unless I say so, okay? Do you understand?"
"But Azu, what is…?"
"Kiyi!" Azula squeaked, holding her by the shoulders, "Do you understand?" she repeated.
Sokka could notice the seriousness in the Princess words, and her steely tone, similar to a protective sibling or a worried mother.
"Yes. I will stay." Kiyi assured her.
"Good." Azula whispered with a soft smile.
"What do I do?" Sokka asked her.
"Stay here with Kiyi." she commanded.
"What?" he asked, shocked, "And what about you? What are you going to do?"
"Are you going to kick their butts?" Kiyi inquired with a little smile.
The Princess nodded, smirking at her before stepping out of the carriage, "I'm torching everyone."
A/N:
Thank you so much for the amazing response this story is having! It's blowing my mind!