CHAPTER 6
The tides had been pretty cooperative, and the movement of the Barge had been really smooth as it sailed, breaking the small waves. The smell of the salty water filled her nostrils at the same time that the sun rays kissed her skin as the sun started to descend at the horizon.
It was their second day of the voyage towards Ba Sing Se. They were not going to make any more stops until they arrived at the city of walls and she was thankful for that. They didn't need another drawback for the time being.
Other than Zuko at their morning trainings, Kiyi at her lessons and being forced to have every meal at the diner with everyone else, the Princess had been trying to avoid everyone on the Barge. And until that moment, she had been successful at it.
"Hey," Sokka approached her at sundown when she was leaning on the railing, focused only on seeing the sun go down. She didn't reply. "How is your day going?" he asked politely, leaning too at the railing next to her.
"It was great until a moment ago." she replied this time with a fake smile that looked more like a grin.
"What happened?" he questioned, raising both eyebrows.
Azula sighed. "You said: Hey." she imitated him.
Sokka pouted for her imitation of him. "Ha ha," he said bitterly, before asking, "What are you doing?"
She frowned, annoyed, glancing at him and looking away before replying. "Isn't obvious? Avoiding all of you."
"Oh, c'mon," he whined, "We are not that bad." he retorted.
"According to you." she pointed out.
She wasn't in a mood to be around any of them.
"You should give us a chance," Sokka said, pushing her slightly, skimming her shoulder with his. "We might grow on you by the end of the trip." he side smiled.
The Princess huffed sarcastically. "Sure," she said, "Let's see. Every time I'm around your sister and the Avatar, they are being overly lovey-dovey and I get this urge of wanting to burn my eyeballs." she grunted.
"You are not the only one I guarantee you tha…"
"The earthbender. I don't know why, but I'm sure she wishes to find out if she can touch her brain with her finger through her nose." she continued to deny him a chance to speak when he opened his mouth to reply. "The fan-painted girls…"
"Kyoshi Warriors." Sokka corrected her.
Azula rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Whatever. They keep looking at me like I'm…" her voice lowered, when she realized what she was about to say and to who.
"You were what?"
Insane and unstable.
"Forget it," she uttered, looking away. "Anyway, why are you here? Don't you have like a dozen other people to talk to?" she asked.
Sokka shrugged. "Yes, but we haven't talked since Yu Dao."
She quirked a brow. "We talk every day at dinner."
He shook his head. "Can you pass me that and thanks, it's not much of a talk."
"I hope you are not waiting for us to share our most intimate or our darkest secrets, huh?" she said quizzically.
Sokka snickered. "Spirits, no. We would need to be closer before sharing those."
Azula made a grin. "Well…"
"What?" he inquired.
"You already shared the fact that you can't pee if someone is standing behind you, remember?" she mocked at him.
"T-That was... That w-was an accident!" he whined, blushing madly due to the embarrassment. He had forgotten about that minor incident. "You showed up out of the nowhere!" he squealed.
The Princess smiled naughtily for putting him in an awkward situation. "I'm just saying. You already told me that and we are not even close. I wonder what you would confess when we get closer," she teased him, "Perhaps, did you use to play with your sibling's dolls when you were younger?" she mocked slightly, smirking.
He deeply blushed. "I-I… Only until I was twelve!" he squealed.
Azula's mouth and eyes widened at the revelation, amused. "You did?!"
He raised a finger. "In my defense, I was the only boy my age, and there was nothing else to entertain myself with," he replied before crossing his arms over his chest. "I stopped doing it after that."
She smirked mischievously at his words. "Well, I hope so. Usually, boys at that age start to get more creative with different ways to entertain and keep themselves busy. You know, with puberty and all that."
Sokka blinked a few times when he understood her words. "What do you…?"
"Step aside, Snoozles." Toph appeared out of nowhere and pushed him aside to allow her to get to the balustrade, before throwing up her insides overboard.
Sokka and the Princess shared a grimace of disgust.
"Whose idea was to travel by boat again?" Toph asked, paler than normal before puking again.
Sokka patted her on the back slightly.
"You can thank my brother for the lack of common sense. responded Azula, "He wanted for Kiyi and his mother to see 'the splendor of the Earth Kingdom'," she uttered in a sarcastic tone, "That's why we are doing a ten-day voyage instead of a five-day flight." her tone of mockery made the earthbender smirk.
"Remind me to punch him the next time I hear him." Toph said, whipping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"It would be my pleasure." she said, blatantly.
"What were you two talking about?" the earthbender asked, when she felt her nausea starting to diminish. It usually took her around two to three days for her to stop feeling the constant sickness. She turned to them, resting on her elbows and leaning on the railing in a relaxed manner.
"Nothing." replied both at the same time.
"Oh," said Toph, "I get it. I interrupted your flirting session, didn't I?" she teased them.
It was a great opportunity for her to pester them.
Azula huffed sarcastically. "Actually, I was considering throwing one of you overboard and seeing how long does it take you to drown. Do you want to be first?" she raised her eyebrows. She wasn't in the mood to listen to the earthbender's nonsense.
"Geez," the blind girl made a grin, "Are you only filled with hate?" she inquired quirking a brow.
The Princess crossed her arms and made a gesture of agreement. "I'm filled with hate," she affirmed, "But in a cute way."
Sokka glanced towards her sneakily before rolling his eyes, amused with a little smirk on his lips. Toph huffed at her reply.
"Ignore her," said Sokka to the Princess, "Her favorite pastime is to annoy people."
"Pas… time?" Toph repeated, "Hey, don't get mad at me for noticing the obvious." she raised her hands defensively.
Sokka glanced towards the Princess seriously. "If you need help to throw her overboard, I will likely help."
"Jeez... Calm down," Toph said with her hands still up. "I'm pretty good at keeping secrets, okay?" she affirmed, "You both can trust me with your secret. After all, to this day nobody knows about that night when you and Suki decided to take your relationship to the next level." she noted towards Sokka.
"What?" he frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"You know… About that time when you two…" Toph sighed, "You know, I might have been young back then, but trust me, even if you two were 'quiet', I could still feel it all." she muttered with a grin and making air quotes at the word quiet.
Azula frowned, not understanding what they were talking about.
"Wait, what?! When?" he squealed in panic. He was hoping she was not referring to that particular night where he and Suki had had their first romantic night together.
Toph crossed her arms over her chest. "That time... Back before the end of the war?" the earthbender quirked a brow. "Before Katara and Zuko went on their field trip?" she said, hoping he already knew about the time she was referring too. "Which reminds me, he still owes me one." she uttered, remembering she never got the chance to have a life-changing trip with Zuko.
"Wait, wait, wait... Are you talking about..." he gulped hard, "That night?"
"The night before they left?" she raised both eyebrows. "Yes! Dude, your sister was sleeping a few meters from you. Not to mention a twelve-year-old monk -who, I'm still not sure if he already had the bees and the flowers talk-." Azula raised her eyebrows, now that she understood what they were talking about. "Zuko, who was -as usual- being sleep deprived. And me, who can sense every fucking vibration of the earth. I'm sure that night you were thinking with your head, but not the one on your shoulders." she said sneering.
Sokka blushed and opened his mouth to reply.
"Wait, why was Zuko sleep-deprived, again?" the Princess intervened.
"Because Sugar Queen was still mad at him about Ba Sing Se and didn't trust him. He waited until dawn to talk to her." explained Toph.
Azula's mouth opened unconsciously and her fist clenched.
"But see? If I could keep that secret for so long, I can keep yours." she teased them again with that. Certainly, making fun of them was something she had found entertaining these last couple of days.
Maybe annoying people was her pastime. As well as kicking asses.
"You are not going to keep anyone's secret because there is no secret, right Azula?" he said, glancing towards the Princess, when he noticed she was absentminded. "Azula?" he called her again, but her mind seemed to be far away. Sokka observed with detail. Her jaw seemed clenched as well as her fist.
"Fire lily!" Toph called her too and shook her abruptly by the shoulder.
Azula blinked out of her thoughts and quickly shoved Toph's hand off her.
"Are you okay?" Sokka inquired.
She nodded once and without saying a word she headed to the tower, leaving them both a little disoriented about her behavior.
"What happened? Did I say something wrong?" Sokka asked Toph as he followed the Princess with his eyes on the deck and into the inside of the Barge.
Toph shrugged, before picking her ear. "Maybe she got mad because you said that it was nothing between you two." she taunted him one last time before smelling her finger.
"I... I will see you later, okay?" he said before trailing behind the Princess.
Toph smirked.
Snoozles was just way too easy to mess with. Sokka was the easy target, she had always enjoyed pestering him, but now, she was having a blast.
As for Fire lily, it was a little harder to mess with. She was so good at managing her emotions at bay while remaining cool and sharp with her verbal attacks. Also, she was fantastic with her comebacks which made teasing her even more entertaining.
Just as it had happened with Zuko, it hadn't taken her too much to give the Princess a chance. Of course, she was still quite wary around her and kept her guard up. But until now, Toph found her harmless -as harmless as Azula could be-.
The last time she had to meet the Princess had been during the Day of the Black Sun -well technically it was when she attacked the Eastern Air Temple, but they haven't interacted-, back then, she tricked them and outsmarted them with her plan of distraction to make them lose time.
That had been almost eight years ago.
She had heard of how Azula had had a mental breakdown and Zuko had placed her in a sanatorium. And also, the story of when they had gone to find Ursa and everything that had happened later with the Kemurikages.
At first, when they had told her the story about how Ursa had changed her face and chosen to forget her past -including her kids-, it made her feel a little bad about them. And taking into consideration the asshole father that had raised them -mostly Azula- she understood why Zuko and her had turned out to be so messed up.
Toph also knew that if Zuko had found redemption in the end, it had been because of Iroh's beneficial influence of him. Something that Azula never had; good influence. So, the fact that she was trying on her own, it was a good sign. And Toph was willing to give her a chance, just like she had done with Zuko. After all, she was the one with the most common sense of the group.
She could tell that there was something different with her. But she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but there was something. Something different to who she was six years ago. But weren't they all different to who they had been seven years ago?
…
"Sokka!" Ty Lee grabbed him by the wrist when they crossed each other's paths as she was coming out of the tower and he was heading inside. "I have been looking for you everywhere. I was wondering if…" she made a pause when she noticed his attention was behind her. "Who are you...?" she turned to watch who was behind her but there was no one only the empty all.
"That's great Ty Lee," he replied, "But do you mind if we talk later? I have to… I need to go." he said before strolling down the hallway and in the same direction she had seen Azula head.
Ty Lee frowned a little confused before heading towards the earthbender leaned on the railing.
"Are they…? Do you think they…? Am I imagining this?" she rambled near Toph.
As a response, she only got a shrugging on her part.
…
Azula slammed the door of her room behind her.
She was enraged. Wrathful.
Her heartbeat increased tremendously. Her teeth hurt for being clenched and her nails had dug into her palm so deep that her skin was about to bleed.
She took a few deep breaths trying to calm down her anger as she roamed in her room from one extreme to another one. She wanted to scream, but mostly scream at him. At Zuko.
He was such a hypocrite that infuriated her. He waited until dawn to talk to her. He had waited, for a peasant! But not for her! Not even when she had asked him.
Can't this wait till tomorrow?
No, it can't. It had been his response when he interrupted her in her chambers years ago.
After everything she had done for him! That ungrateful bastard!
Small blasts from her fists came out.
She had lied. She had given him the credit for something she had done for his sake and yet, the first thing he had done had been distrust her.
When they had returned from Ba Sing Se, after she had conquered the city, she could have been horrible to him, and imprisoned him just as her father had wished. However, she had brought him back with honors, just as he had wished to return home since his banishment.
She did him a favor -gave him the credit for something she had done and put on a good word for him with her father-, because she had seen him worried, and it had also been a way to pay him back for helping her to conquer the city.
She had trusted him. She had trusted in his word.
But the next day when she had found Zuko in the gardens, he had bloody lied to her face. He had always been so easy to read for her. And then, he had barged into her room in the middle of the night demanding an explanation. His tone of distrust had enraged her. She had given him the credit for killing the Avatar with no second intentions. Nevertheless, the first thing he had done was think and suspected the worst of her. Just after he had lied to her face.
Since forever, he had always claimed that she was always lying, but she had never told him a lie.
Zuko was the hypocrite. Not her!
He didn't even give her the benefit of the doubt. He couldn't wait a couple of hours to talk about it, to interrogate her and her intentions, but for a bloody peasant, he waited awake for the entire night.
A peasant! A nobody! While she was his sister! But it looked like the entire opposite.
Yes, they had a horrible relationship back then, but she wasn't the only one to blame! Half of the fault was his, for being a horrible sibling, for only thinking the worst of her. She had always been the one reaching to him, yet he had only pushed her away, blaming her for all his misfortunes.
She tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths. She needed to focus. To ease her mind and rage. That was something that had happened years ago. They were way too past that. Their relationship wasn't like that anymore. Now Zuko trusted her, right? Or at least, he claimed he trusted her.
But he would never trust in her as much as he trusted in his stupid friends…
Her blood boiled for a moment.
Azula grabbed the first thing she saw on her desk. A vase, and smashed it against the floor, pretending that it was her stupid sibling's head. For a moment she thought it might have worked to calm her, but now, her rage was still there.
She headed towards her nightstand breathing heavily and filled her glass with water from the jar on it and drank it fast to try to ease herself.
Her breathing calmed a little bit between the gulps. And when she thought she had finally calmed down, she imagined Toph's words at the back of her mind again. The glass shattered in her hand, splashing water everywhere.
"Fuck," she cursed when she noticed the mess and felt a sting of pain in her palm.
She was bleeding. The glass had sliced her skin. And even though it wasn't very deep it was bleeding.
...
Sokka was standing at Azula's door, still debating whether to knock or not.
Maybe he had said something that had bothered her? Or maybe Toph's teasing had gone too far? Or what if it was something else?
He raised his fist to knock but desisted when he noticed a small blue blaze coming from under the door. He gulped hard.
Perhaps, he should leave her alone. If he bothered her now, she could probably incinerate his head off. He could always come back later, or he could wait until dinner to talk with her.
Sokka slowly turned back on his steps through the hallway, when he heard something smashing. He stopped on his tracks, believing the sound had come from the Princess's room. He stood still waiting to hear something else. But he heard nothing more.
He turned again to leave when he listened her door opening and closing. Sokka turned over his shoulder and he glanced at Azula. Her back towards him as she headed in the opposite direction. His eyes scrutinized her quickly. He noticed that her left hand was dripping with something. He frowned trying to get a better look at it when he realized.
Blood.
…
"Damn it!" Azula cursed as she was having a hard time trying to open the box where they kept the first-aid kit in the small infirmary of the Barge.
She closed her eyes to calm herself.
She had discovered that blood affected her like that in Lian Yu, after saving Sokka. And after consulting with the Royal physician about how she had felt, describing how her body reacted, he had informed her that she had a phobia to the sight of blood.
She took a few deep breaths as she was trying to control her shaky hands. The sight of blood affected her, and a lot. It made her mind dizzy and her heartbeat increase like crazy, making her capable of hearing her heart bombing in her ears, which was not pleasant. Also, last time she had shed tears for no reason. They just kept coming out from her eyes, totally unwillingly.
"Are you okay?" a voice jolted her, making her open her eyes.
"Perfect." she replied, trying to open the box again and struggling once more. The thought of burning the lid of the box crossed her mind. Her blood was already making a mess.
Sokka walked towards her and, without her asking, he opened the box for her.
"If you wish, my sister could help you with that." he suggested.
"No," Azula replied, "I don't want your sister to believe that I'm going to appeal to her whenever I injure myself." she took out the ointment they used to treat wounds, the small bottle of alcohol for disinfection and some bandages.
And also, if I see her right now, I might shoot lightning at her she though.
"What are you doing here anyway?" she inquired, having a hard time with the lid of the jar that held the medicine.
"I was just passing by when I heard you." he lied, taking the bottle from her hands and opening it.
But instead of passing it again to her, he dipped a piece of cotton in the alcohol and grabbed her left hand carefully.
The Princess glanced at him warily, but he was more focused on her hand.
"It's going to sting," Sokka warned her after taking a look at her palm. "Are you sure you don't want Katara to heal it for you? It would be gone in a minute." he insisted.
"No." Azula confirmed, trying to remove her hand from his grip but his hold around her wrist was tight.
"Still," he said, holding the cotton close to her skin. "It would hurt less if you don't move."
"I can do it myse… Ouch." she whined when the alcohol made contact with her injury. It stung. It stung a lot. She pressed her lips together, repressing another whine.
"What happened?" he asked her once he was done disinfecting, remembering having heard something smashing in her room.
A look of discomfort appeared on her face as Sokka started to spread the ointment on her palm.
"A stupid accident." she muttered, not giving it importance.
Sokka snickered. "I know those. I had a ton when I was younger." he told her as he wrapped her palm with a bandage.
"I don't doubt that," Azula teased him with a smirk. "Ouch!" she complained when Sokka tightened a little bit, the bandage making her wince and erasing her smirk.
He did it on purpose; she thought as he didn't apologize, and he was smirking slightly.
"There," he said, looking satisfied at his wrapping. He placed the first-aid away. "If you change your mind, just let me know. I'm sure it won't bother Katara to treat a minor wound. After all, she did it for me for years, even before she knew she had healing powers."
"It should have been nice to have a good relationship with your sibling while growing up." she muttered, remembering that she was mad at Zuko.
"Huh?" Sokka quirked a brow.
"Nothing," she replied, "Thinking out loud. How are you bearing your…" she nodded towards his shoulder.
"Great!" he replied, "It almost fully gone. Katara said that one more healing session and the injury would be gone for good." he smiled, moving his shoulder.
Katara's healing power was a blessing for someone like him that tended to get injured so frequently. The burn he had received courtesy of Colonel Mongke had disappeared in a blink of an eye, and it was now just a bad memory as well as the cut in his ribs. It was like they had never been there.
Azula's eyes drifted to her palm.
Of course, she had gotten bruises, scratches, blisters and scabs while training or playing when she was little, but nothing like this. She had never injured herself like that. And she felt a little stupid for getting injured. Not only for the way she had injured herself, but also for the way her body had reacted to the sight of blood. It was pathetic.
If Sokka wouldn't have appeared, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to take care of the injury alone.
In Lian Yu, she had forced herself to stop Sokka's bleeding, but healing someone else's injury was totally different from doing it on your own. It was ten times harder, at least.
"Thanks." she uttered.
A thin smile appeared on Sokka's lips. "You're welcome."
…
Dinner time came quickly after that.
By the time he had arrived, it was only him, Suki, Ty Lee, and the Kyoshi Warriors in the dining room. The adjacent table where he usually would sit with the Royal Family was empty. He had arrived early.
"Sokka!" Ty Lee greeted him, waving a hand as soon as he entered the dinner and patting an empty seat next to her.
He headed to their table to have a chat with the girls before dinner was served.
"How are my favorite warriors doing?" he asked with a smile towards all of them. "How are things working with the chi-blockers police?"
"Lao and his guards are really fast learners," said Suki, "But I guess it's because they had an amazing master." she glanced towards Ty Lee, who blushed at the compliment.
"Stop that. You girls are making me blush," she replied, "I wouldn't be a great master if I didn't have excellent students."
The rest of the girls smiled warmly at their more recent members.
Chi-blocking was really complex to fully master. It was necessary to learn every part of the human body. Bones, muscles, chi paths, and chakras. Tons of training was mandatory, and practicing on learning where and how hard to hit for the blocking to have effect. Hitting certain points could cause anything from temporary loss of your bending -in the case of a master-, until total, or partial immobilization of the body.
Under Ty Lee's hands, he had suffered a few times of the latter. It was not pleasant. Not even a tiny bit.
Lao's -Toph's father- guards knew the basics. Most of them knew how to rob a master of his bending for a few moments, but they still needed a lot of training. That was one of the reasons why the warriors had remained so long in Crane-fish Town; to train the new police.
"Is Yoro coming with Lao?" Sokka asked Suki.
Toph had mentioned something about her father traveling to the city later on. He had to attend some business back in Crane-fish Town before heading to Ba Sing Se at the end of the month. The Beifong enterprises had been doing really well in all the Earth Kingdom, and Toph was attending the meetings as her father's representative.
"Yeah… He is Lao's chief guard now," Suki explained, "And also, it's his first time going to Ba Sing Se, so he is excited to see the city."
"That's awesome." he said.
Even though Suki was his ex, and Yoro her new boyfriend, he couldn't feel hate or any kind of resentment towards any of them.
Suki had been an amazing girlfriend all the time they had been together. Kind and supportive. She had been a huge part of his life and she would always have a special place in his heart. After all, she had been the first girl to kick his ass and had proved to him that a girl could be as brave and strong as any guy.
Yet, things between them as a couple started to get complicated around a year ago.
They would barely see each other. In the last two years of their relationship, they had seen each other only three times for only a couple of weeks. She was busy. He was busy. And life happened.
He couldn't ask her to leave the warriors to join him on their trips. It would have been selfish as he knew that the warriors were her life. And he couldn't dump everything to stay with her. After all, just as Toph was working as her father representative. Katara and him were doing it too, for his father and the Southern Water Tribe.
"Yeah." he muttered.
"Hey." Toph said as she took her place in one of the empty seats, "What are you guys talking about?" she asked.
"Random stuff," Ty Lee replied, "And how are things in your homeland?" she asked, intrigued, glancing towards Sokka.
"Wonderful," said Sokka, "Malina and my father are working tons and tons with the growth of the Tribe. The North had been really supportive," he explained, "Also, in the last couple of months, a lot of baby waterbenders had been born. I would say in a couple of years, Master Pakku is going to need help with his academy."
Their tribe was expanding, not only in size and building but also in population. In the last couple of years around twenty waterbender babies had been born.
"That's so good to hear." one of the Kyoshi Warriors said. He believed her name was Asura.
He had barely seen the other warriors without their iconic makeup, and it was still a little hard to recognize and learn all of their names.
"It is. Katara is also really excited about helping with the clinic and whenever she can, she helps Pakku." Sokka adds, when everyone who was missing entered the dining room.
Someone cleared her throat next to him, making everyone glance in her direction.
Kiyi had her hands on her waist. She was pouting while her eyes were fixed on Sokka.
"Hey little one." he said a little disoriented at her expression. He couldn't help to notice how much Kiyi resembled Azula with that expression on her face. It was like watching a mini version of the Princess, and for a second he wondered how Azula had looked at that age.
Probably adorably scary.
"Husband!" Kiyi grunted, "What are you doing here flirting with other girls?" she inquired, sulking, crossing her arms and frowning deeply.
Sokka blinked a few times, perplexed and baffled at Kiyi's scolding. Everyone's attention was on him and the little girl standing next to him.
"Husband?" Suki asked, amused.
"Shut up," Sokka replied as she snickered with the rest of the warriors. "Kiyi, I wasn't flirting." he said, and he felt a little silly for explaining that to a little girl.
"Not with any of them at least." Toph muttered to herself, smirking.
Lucky for him, nobody had understood Toph's implication. He didn't feel like giving explanations to anyone about why the earthbender had been mocking him about that.
Sokka gave her an ugly look. "Not helping." he said between teeth.
"I didn't intend too." she retorted.
"You should be over there!" Kiyi narrowed her eyes, pointing at the place where he would usually sit. Hitting the floor with one foot.
Sokka raised his eyebrows, amazed. She was not only resembling Azula physically but, she was getting bossy too. He surmised that it was probably a family thing.
"Azu is not having dinner with us and I don't want to sit alone." she said, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks.
"Azu?" Ty Lee mumbled, stunned. She knew Azula had always hated nicknames. Only a small amount of people was allowed to call her by her birth name instead of her title while growing up.
"Why isn't she having dinner here?" Sokka questioned, intrigued.
Azula had always been on time for every meal and hasn't missed a single one, even if she wished the opposite.
Kiyi shrugged. "She ordered the servants to serve her meal at her room."
"Why?"
The Fire Lord intervened after hearing their conversation and shrugged. "They said she was feeling a little indisposed," he said, "She also requested for someone to clean something that was smashed in her room, apparently."
Probably what I heard earlier, he thought.
That was odd. A couple of hours ago he had seen her, and she had been fine.
"Come on, then." Kiyi nodded towards their usual places.
And for some reason, he followed her without any further retort.
...
A blue fire blast came out of her right fist and a precise attack with two fingers came off from her left hand towards Zuko.
Her left hand still stung a little bit whenever she tried to make a fist.
Zuko controlled both attacks when a third one made him jump to his left, barely avoiding it.
The sun was ascending on the horizon. The sunlight was hitting every inch of the deck of the Barge as they trained.
For her, dawn had come way too soon. She was still mad at her sibling, even if he didn't know.
Her attacks were constant, sharp, precise, and dangerous. He was having a really hard time trying to avoid her strikes. It was one after another, barely giving him a chance to attack her back. It was hard to find an opening in her stance. She hadn't been joking when she had told him that she was slowing herself to match his speed. She was extremely fast and quite elusive.
"What is it?" he asked as he snuffed out one of her attacks.
"What do you mean?" she retorted, throwing another attack with her leg.
Zuko ducked. "You are mad about something," he nodded, "What is it?"
"I'm not mad." she lied, grunting, chagrined. Since when he was available to read her so well?
Another blow.
"You are," he affirmed, "What is it?" he insisted, throwing an attack of his own.
She bended out of the way. "I'm fine." she growled before shooting a blast towards Zuko.
Aang had woken up early to have a brief training session with Zuko. It had been so long since he had last trained with his master that he really missed it. He had suggested it to Zuko during dinner the previous night, and he had accepted to train with him after his daily training with Azula.
So now, he was heading the main deck, ready for his firebending training.
"Why am I awake?" Sokka mumbled next to him, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "I could have slept at least another hour," he yawned, "I don't want to see you guys jerk-bend." he whined.
Aang had forced him to wake up and join him on the deck. "Kiyi begged me to bring you along. She didn't want to watch us train by herself," he said, "And I couldn't refuse." Aang scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed of how easily the nine-year-old had been able to convince him.
Sokka slumped his head, defeated as they walked into the main deck
Zuko took a step in her direction. "Maybe if you tell me what is bothering you, I might be available to help." he insisted once more.
She clenched her teeth. "I said: I'm fine!" she snarled with a fire blast that struck Zuko in the chest so hard it threw him a few meters away. He fell on his back.
Kiyi, Aang and Sokka winced at the same time.
"Ouch!"
"Ohhh… That's going to leave a bruise."
"That must have hurt."
Azula blinked when she realized what she had done. She might have gone a little overboard. She rubbed between her eyebrows with her fingers, before walking into Zuko's direction.
"You could have just told me to shut up, you know?" her sibling complained, wincing and dropping his head on the floor. He heard his back eerily crack against the metal of the deck.
"I like my way better," the Princess smirked. Punching him like that, and seeing him cringe a little bit, had helped her to feel a little better. "Are you going to stay on the floor all day or are you going to man-up?" she teased him, offering him a hand.
The Fire Lord rolled his eyes before smirking too and taking her hand.
"That was great training," said Zuko, acknowledging that he had had a hard time against his sibling. He massaged his neck softly. "And shit. You weren't kidding when you said you were holding back. I could barely keep up."
"Like always." said Azula cockily.
Zuko shook his head.
"Oi! Good morning, Sifu Hotman!" Aang called him from the other end of the deck, as he and Sokka walked towards them.
Zuko facepalmed. He had forgotten that stupid nickname.
Azula raised her eyebrows. "Whoa…" she made a grin, "From all the stupid nicknames I have ever heard, that one definitely takes the prize." she mocked.
"Shut up," her sibling frowned. "I have told him not to call me that."
"Well, as the oaf and the baldy are here, I should get going." said Azula when Aang and Sokka were close enough to hear her.
Sokka pouted when she insulted him. But said nothing. He didn't want her to repeat what she had just done with Zuko to him.
"Actually, Azula," Aang voice made her halt. "I have been wanting to ask you something…" he said glancing at his index finger touching nervously.
She quirked a brow.
...
"Good morning Suki, Ty Lee." Katara greeted her friends when she encountered her in the hallways as she headed to the main deck to see Aang train his firebending with Zuko.
"Good morning Katara." both girls returned the greeting.
"The boys are training in the main deck." she told them, "Wanna come?"
"Sure."
"Why not?"
As they descended from the tower, the raucous sound of a thunder hitting the water of the ocean made them jolt up.
The water splashed violently like an explosion.
The three of them shared a concerned look. And without saying another word, they all rushed to the main deck.
This couldn't be good.
…
The Avatar gulped hard when he saw the lightning hit the water and making it jump obstreperously.
"And that's pretty much how you do it," said Zuko after the little demonstration. "She generates it, throws it at you, then you redirect it back to her one last time, but instead of throwing it back at you she shoots it to the water." he explained, pointing at Azula first, then at him and then back to Azula as he spoke.
"Okay, I got it. I can do this. I'm ready." uttered Aang, jumping anxiously in his place.
The Princess was glancing at them with a bored expression with her arms crossed over her chest. "Are you sure? You can still flinch."
"No," said Aang with determination. "The only time I got to do it before, it didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked it. So, I need to practice it."
The one time he had redirected a lightning strike had been during his fight against Fire Lord Ozai, and when he had tried to redirect the lightning, a few shocks had gotten through to him. No big deal. But even so, it hadn't been pleasant. And if he could practice it to avoid that from happening again, he was willing to do it.
He also knew that Katara was going to kill him once she found out about this.
"Alright, let's do it," said Azula, "There is nothing funnier to me than using you all as target practice."
Aang shared a concerned look with Zuko, who gave him small, reassuring smile. "She is joking," he assured, "She is joking, right Azula?" he inquired.
"I don't know, am I?" she replied, smiling mischievously.
"Azula," her sibling scolded her, but she ignored him and got in position. "But by any means, I will stand right here, next to you in case… something happens."
Aang gazed at her, raising his hands up defensively and forming his stance. He wiped a drop of sweat from his temple. He exhaled slowly as he prepared himself for the attack. He saw her charge her fingers and then he noticed electricity dancing in them.
Right now, he was having second thoughts about his idea of training, but now it was late to forswear.
Azula stood in place, charging her fingers with enough electricity to bend a bolt of lightning.
Sokka and Kiyi were watching them from a safe distance, both very attentive to the movements of the firebenders, when they heard rushed footsteps behind them, coming out of the tower.
The Princess stretched her arms to shoot the lightning towards the Avatar's direction.
The electricity had barely left her fingertips when a tremendous wave of seawater struck her on her side, pushing her a few meters away, slamming her to the floor.
It had taken her by surprise.
The lightning missed the Avatar by almost a meter and hit the water brassily and so close to the Barge that it splashed the main deck.
"Azula!" Kiyi screamed, eyes wide in shock.
Everyone, but most of all Aang, blinked dazedly. The water had come out of nowhere, taking them all by surprise.
The water around the Princess's hands and feet froze, trapping her.
"I tried. But I knew we shouldn't trust you." Katara's voice made them all turn.
Behind her, Suki and Ty Lee were standing defensively, ready to attack.
Katara bended some more water and transformed them into ice spikes. All of them pointing very closely and dangerously at the Princess.
Azula was already raising her body temperature around her hands and feet to melt the ice that imprisoned her. Steam surrounded her. She clenched her teeth.
Both pairs of eyes were looking at each other the same way. Filled with rage and hatred.
"Are you crazy?! You could have killed her!" Sokka yelled at her sibling standing before her. "If the water had reached her a second earlier, she could have died!"
"Me?!" she said, dumbfounded by her older sibling's reaction. She couldn't believe he was defending her after what she had just witnessed. She was throwing a bolt of lightning towards Aang, again. "She shot lightning towards Aang! What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled at him.
"Sweety, sweety." Aang rushed towards his girlfriend with an airbending move, "You are totally misreading the situation." he said calmly.
"Misreading the situation?" Katara frowned, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "She attacked you!"
"Because I asked her!" Aang admitted.
Katara fixed a harsh glare towards Aang. "You what?!" she shouted.
The ice pikes pointing at her melted and felt over her the moment the waterbender turned her attention from her to scold the Avatar.
She clenched her jaw so hard that it started to hurt. This was humiliating.
Stupid peasant. Stupid Avatar. Stupid Zuko and his friends. She cursed.
"Are you okay?" Zuko asked her as he reached to help her stand.
"I'm sorry for that." Sokka apologized, offering a hand.
She raised her hands to stop them. She didn't need their help. She could stand up by herself. She could get up on her own without help. Like she had always done.
And she did.
"Damn it." she cursed when her left palm stung. Her wound had re-opened and her bandages were all soaked. Steam surrounded her as she was drying herself.
She undid the wrapping when the Avatar and Katara stood before her.
"Aang explained to me everything Azula," the waterbender began, "And I think I owe you an apology." Azula quirked a brow. She wasn't expecting the peasant to apologize. "I shouldn't have reacted like that. I misread the situation and I attacked you without reason."
Azula didn't reply immediately, but when she finally did, she muttered. "Whatever."
She headed towards the tower -or at least tried-, when Sokka surrounded her by the shoulders and forced her to a halt. "What the hell are you doing?" she grunted, fuming. She had had enough of the peasant siblings from the Water Tribe.
Zuko widened his eyes at Sokka's bold move on his sister.
"As my sister messed up big time," Sokka began. Katara's eyebrows twitched. "I think the least you could do would be heal her. Don't you think?" he grabbed the Princess wrist and showed it to his sibling.
"Do you want to die?" Azula grunted when she tried to remove her hand from his grip but, couldn't.
Katara smiled softly when she saw the blood in the Princess palm. "It is the least I could do." she replied before bending some water over her injury. The water glowed against her palm, and a second later her cut was gone. No trace of it.
"Told you it was quick." Sokka said smiling satisfactorily.
She glanced at him for a moment. His stupid smile made him look even more handsome than he already was, and the fact that thought crossed her mind infuriated her.
He is handsome, so what? He is still an idiot.
Her eyes traveled to her wrist. His hand wrapped around it. She was unsure as to why, but she didn't find his touch uncontrollable like she usually did with other people. In fact, it was somewhat comforting to feel his skin against her own.
She shook off his arm from her shoulders and his grip on her wrist abruptly.
"I have to go change." she uttered, walking away from them and into the tower.
...
Azula didn't show up in the dining room for any meal that day. In fact, she didn't show up for any meal for the next three days.
Sokka had barely been able to glance at her in hallways or in the morning during her trainings with Zuko. He assumed she was avoiding everyone in the Barge. She was doing an amazing job at it too, only leaving her room to head towards Zuko's office in order to discuss different matters or to the library, so she could search for some scrolls she might need.
He figured she was still pissed about what had happened with Katara, and he could understand her. He understood both sides perfectly. Katara might have over-reacted, but it hadn't been with bad intention. After Azula had shot Aang with lightning in Ba Sing Se where he had almost died, she had turned rather over-protective of him. Not to mention that they were also dating.
As for Azula, it was a little ironic. She had tried to do something she had been asked to. Aang wanted to practice re-directing lightning and, -as she was the only person he knew that could generate them-, his only option was to ask her to help him. And by doing that, she had ended up totally soaked.
He had wondered if Azula would turn hostile towards them again after all due to this event.
As Sokka descended by the stairs of the tower, his eyes darted to something that caught his attention through the windows.
Kiyi was practicing some firebending moves on the deck and a few meters from her stood Azula, observing her.
"Stretch your legs during that movement." Azula corrected her sibling.
The Princess had her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes were narrowed, following very closely and warily the little one's movements.
Kiyi was practicing some stances, throwing some fire blasts with her arms and legs in different poses.
"Take deep breaths and tighten your core," the Princess said in a serious tone. "Good." she complimented Kiyi when she did the set of stances perfectly.
Kiyi did a few more sets, and Azula kept giving her observations and corrections. For being only nine years old with just under a year of training, her firebending was progressing fast.
"Get the right impulse when you throw yourself forward to do the turns and keep your feet together." said Azula, as Kiyi proceed to do the last set.
A part from him hadn't believed her when she had told him that she was Kiyi's firebending master, but he couldn't deny that she wasn't a bad master. Sokka observed, amazed at the scene.
Kiyi was focused on doing as Azula was telling her, following her corrections.
Neither girl had noticed his presence yet.
Kiyi jumped forward with impulse and when her feet were in the air, she shot a fire blast through them to aid her with a few turns before she landed. But her landing hadn't been as smooth as Azula had hoped. One of her feet had twisted a little bit, making her lose her balance and fall to the ground.
Sokka's first instinct had been to reach and help the little one but was surprised by how fast Azula had reached her younger sister.
"Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling on the floor next to Kiyi.
Sokka raised his eyebrow at how worried the tone of her voice sounded.
"Yeah, I think," Kiyi replied while moving her feet to check if she was hurt. There was no pain. "All good. It was a dumb mishap." she smiled to her older sister as they both stood up.
"Next time, when your feet get to the top, stop the blast. If not, the impulse would be too much, making the landing ten times harder and things like this would happen again." Azula explained what her mistake had been.
"Feet on top. Stop the blast. Got it." said Kiyi with a smile.
"Do you want to go over the new set I taught you?" the Princess inquired.
Kiyi nodded with a smile. "But Azu, when are you going to teach me to generate lightning?"
Azula raised an eyebrow. "Hey, don't get greedy, okay?" she poked her with her index finger in the forehead slightly. "You still have a long way to go."
"But…" Kiyi tried to protest.
"Listen," Azula cut her off, "The generation of lightning, it's not a game, and it's not easy. You need to be at a certain level to be able to do it. You might be progressing faster than the average, but you have only been training for less than a year." she said.
"How old were you when you learned it?"
"When I began learning the basics of lightning, I was eleven," Azula replied, "And it took me around three years to fully master it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. At first, I needed to charge the lightning, but eventually, I was able to create them instantly and at the scale I wished." she said, remembering her many, many trainings with her old masters Lo and Li.
Kiyi pouted. "But it's too long for that." she complained.
"And it will be longer if you keep complaining, young lady." Azula said, "Come on, show me what you learned today."
Sokka side smiled. Watching Azula interact with Kiyi was something that amazed him, due to the fact that she seemed like a different person.
"Do it with me!" Kiyi pleaded her with an innocent smile. "I always do it better when you do it with me." she begged.
"Tsk!" Azula crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "You forgot it, didn't you?"
"No," Kiyi shook her head, denying vigorously. "But it's always best when I do it with you."
The Princess rolled her eyes. "Tsk… Fine," she acceded, "But it's the last time, got it?"
"That's what you said last time." Kiyi muttered, pleased at her answer.
"Are you going to do it or not?" Azula grunted, standing in position.
"Okay, okay."
Kiyi stood in front of Azula with both of their hands, one over the other, one at the height of their chest. One deep breath and they began moving around, stretching their arms.
Kiyi was mirroring Azula's movements.
Fire came out of their hands as they encircled her arms around. Then their feet did the same. They slid through the deck, going through different stances. Kiyi was having a hard time keeping up with Azula. Her movements were still a little stiff, clumsy, and not as fluid as the older bender's. Kiyi's movements seemed more mechanic, while Azula's already seemed natural.
Orange fire mixed with blue.
He was also a little astonished to find out that Azula had adapted a few waterbender movements into her style as he saw her recreate the motions, he had seen Katara do before.
Once they finished, Kiyi gave a small nod to her sister.
"Thank you for my training, Sifu Hot…"
"Don't you dare." Azula cut her off with a little warning look.
Kiyi snickered. "You also heard how Aang called Zuzu, right?"
"Yeah, and if you ever call me that, I will stop being your master." the Princess cautioned her.
"In that case, can I call you Sifu Azu?" Kiyi quirked a brow
"No." she frowned horrified at the thought.
"Sifu blue fire?" the little one suggested jocularly.
"If you ask me," Sokka intervened, amused at their conversation. Both girls turned their heads towards him. "I think Sifu Azu doesn't sound that bad." he teased, "Or what about Sifu Lightning?
Kiyi chuckled.
Azula gave him an ugly look. "No one cares about what you think, especially not me." she retorted.
"Tsk… Toph was right," he uttered, "You are so filled with hate."
"And as I said to her; I am filled with hate, but in a cute way." she said before heading inside the tower.
"She likes you." said Kiyi next to him.
"Sometimes I think it's the entire opposite." he muttered, seeing her disappear inside.
Kiyi made a grin. "Nah… If she didn't like you, she wouldn't even be bothered to talk to you," she said, "I'm so happy that you, my husband, and Azu can get along well. Otherwise, family meals would have turned uncontrollable," she rambled, "Let's go to dinner. I heard we are having barbecue; Fire Nation style."
Sokka's eyes widened. "Really?" his stomach growled just at the sound of it. Fire Nation barbecue was the best. "Awesome."
…
Sokka inhaled deeply as he entered the dining room. The smell of cooked meat filled his nostrils.
A goofy smile appeared on his face and his eyes shined. "It smells delicious!" he said, his mouth almost drooling.
He took a seat in his usual place, but this time the place adjacent to him wasn't empty like the previous days.
"Hey, Ty Lee." he greeted her.
"Hey, Sokka," she replied before asking somewhat nervously. "Look, I have been wanting to ask you something."
"Really? Go ahead then. Shoot." said Sokka, glancing warily at the servants serving the food.
His eyes sparkled like stars when they placed the big plate of cooked meat in front of him. The next second, he already had a piece in his sight that was calling for him to eat it.
"By any chance do you…?"
But she was in cut off by a commanding voice. "You are in my place. Move."
His attention switched from the plate of meat to the person standing.
Azula was standing next to him, looking displeased at Ty Lee.
"Can't you sit somewhere else?" Ty Lee inquired in a calm fashion.
"I could, but I don't want to." the Princess replied in a bitter tone, "So, move."
And without other word Ty Lee stood up and headed to her usual place at the other table.
"Don't you think you were a little mean with her?" Sokka asked when Azula sat in her place.
"You are right." she said.
He raised his eyebrows, amazed that she was agreeing with him. "Am I?"
"I should have been even worse." Azula retorted before grabbing the same piece of meat Sokka had been eyeing with her chopsticks.
Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but it was already too late. She had eaten it.
Azula's eyes widened. "Woah… It's so good."
They had perfectly cooked the barbecue. It was delicious.
"Tsk!" Sokka grunted.
"What?" asked the Princess when she noticed him furrowing his eyebrows and giving her an ugly look.
"You took his meat." said Kiyi, taking a bite of her meal.
"Huh?"
"He was eyeing the piece you just ate." Kiyi explained.
"Ah…" Azula said before gazing at Sokka, "What? Do you want my condolences or something? Or do you want me to throw up by any chance, savage?"
"I want you to stop eating my food!" Sokka snarled, "That's what I want!"
He was irked. Nobody messed with him and his food.
Azula eyes widened. "Excuse me? Your food?!" she retorted.
"Yes, yes. My food!" he replied, "Whether you try to take the last bite or take the best piece of meat, you always try to take my food." he accused her.
She huffed, being incapable of understanding him, of accusing her of such a nonsense. "Do you hear the amount of nonsense you are spouting right now?"
"I do. I do hear what I'm saying." Sokka started.
By that moment, their bickering had gotten everyone's attention.
"Then, tell your brain to make sure to stop your mouth." said Azula, glancing at him with disdain.
Now it was his turn to huff. "Why? If I don't, would you stop me?" he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her.
"Tsk!..." she leaned back on her chair, crossing her arms as well. "I should have poisoned you when I had the chance." she grunted between teeth.
Sokka rolled his eyes and took his spoon to start eating as he was starving.
"Now, listen Princess," he points at her with his spoon filled with food. His spoon only a few centimeters from her face. "This is my food. Mine. Mine! And nobody will eat this ok...? Hey!" he squealed, widening his eyes when the Princess bit his spoon, and ate the food in it.
"Sorry, you were saying?" she admitted, wiping with her finger the corner of her mouth and raising a haughty eyebrow at him.
Sokka glanced from his empty spoon to the Princess a few times, back and forth.
"You little…"
"Sokka!" Katara interfered.
"Shush, Katara," Toph quieted her, "Shush… This is the most entertaining thing that has happened in the last couple of days. I'm already betting on who is going to have the last word in their quarrel. My money is on Azula." she said amused.
"Toph…" Katara scolded her.
"What?" the earthbender shrugged innocently, "You have your ways of entertainment, I have mine."
In a split second, while the Princess was distracted, Sokka scooped some food off her plate with his spoon.
"You!" Azula snarled, surprised by his action. She dug her chopstick in the table next to his hand, fuming. "Do you want to die?"
"Tch!" Sokka rolled his eyes and removed her hand slowly. "Have you ever tried to be cordial to anyone?" Sokka spouted with disdain.
"I have been trying to be cordial with you for the last 20 minutes… You know how hard that is with you?"
Aang, Zuko, Suki, and Toph snickered at her comment, something that didn't go unnoticed by Sokka.
"I wonder how it is inside of your head," Sokka grumbled, "It's probably a very dark and twisted place." he said with a hit of poison in his words, which the Princess ignored.
Azula made a grin before nodding in agreement. "Seems accurate. But if mine is 'dark and twisted', yours is totally empty." she responded, taking a bite of her food.
Sokka opened his mouth to reply to her, but Kiyi cut him off.
"You," she pointed at Sokka with her spoon. Everyone's attention turned to the smallest one in the room. Kiyi shook her head before saying. "I'm not sure if I still want to marry you. Judging by how you two fight, you will end up marrying each other." she said in the most calm and natural tone possible.
Azula choked on her food. Sokka patted her on the back slightly, just as stunned. Toph laughed loudly. Zuko's food dropped from his spoon. Katara spilled her drink. Aang's mouth hanged, dropping his food. The Kyoshi warriors blinked at each other, flabbergasted. And Ursa and Noren shared a glance.
"Little one," Azula uttered, resting her elbows on the table and leaning towards Kiyi once she had regained her breath and had swallowed her food. "You know what marriage is?" she quirked an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Kiyi replied with a smile. "You spend all day together. You hold hands. Eat all the meals together…"
The Princess nodded in agreement. "Yes. You will spend the rest of your life together. Now, how do you think the guy I should marriage should be?" she questioned her.
Kiyi placed a hand under her chin and pondered for a moment. "You will have to meet someone with a wonderful personality. Someone who is respectable and caring, and also, make sure he has good looks. He would have to be smart…" she started counting the qualities with her fingers.
"Yes," Azula agreed again. "And do you seriously think he fills the requirements?" she mumbles, yet everyone in the dining room is capable of hearing her. "This dumb one…" she pointed at Sokka with her thumb and raised an eyebrow. "You seriously think my standards are this low?"
"You know I can hear you, right?" Sokka grunted between gritted teeth, resting his elbows on the table and leaning towards them.
"You know I don't care, right?" she replied, now tilting in his direction.
"Tch…" he made a grin. "How much hate might fit in that tiny body?" he said, scornfully.
Azula huffed sarcastically. "How much stupidity can fit in yours?" she barked.
"A lot." Zuko and Katara replied at the same time, making everyone in the room chuckle.