CHAPTER 13

For the next couple of weeks, the friendship between Sokka and Azula grew. They became closer than either of them ever dared to imagine. He would maintain chats with her almost as frequently as with the rest of his friends. If not, a little bit more.

They would constantly joke and tease each other, and whenever Toph pissed them off about the "real" -as she would say- status of their relationship either of them would reply with a remark about her relationship with Kanto, who every morning would wander around the Palace and would find some silly excuse to talk to her.

As for the rest of the gaang, they all seemed to be fine with them getting along so well with each other. And the more time they hang around each other, made them realize of more similarities that they both possessed.

On weekends, they would all have days off. Usually, King Kuei and the Chiefs would attend to all the matters they couldn't take care of during the week. While Zuko and Azula would use one of the studios to do some work, they needed to get done. They couldn't neglect their job just because they were away from the Fire Nation.

During those weeks, the Kyoshi Warriors returned every night very late. Azula only knew that they were following some lead in the lower ring, but until they found anything else, they would try to keep it as low as they could, not wishing to warn their enemies.

The Princess ducked her brother's attack and strike his feet with a swing of her leg, knocking him down.

"Ouch…" Zuko groaned as he landed hard on his back. The grass below him creaked.

"Rematch?" Azula asked him looking at him from above. A cocky smirk on her face. Her chest going up and down.

Her brother denied with his head exhausted. He was sweating despite the chilly air that morning. It was the third time in a row that she beat him. "No, I think I had enough for today." he said tiredly, extending a hand towards her.

She took it and pulled him up helping him stand. He groaned.

"You know, witnessing Zuko get his butt kicked by his little sister it does makes me feel better." said Sokka with mockery, a hand under his chin as he was lying lazily on the grass.

"Why is he here?" the Fire Lord asked annoyed to his sibling whipping the sweat from his forehead and putting back on his shirt.

Azula raised her hands defensively and shook her head. "Don't ask me. He is your buddy."

"Well, for how much time you two are been spending together lately, it seems he is more your buddy than mine." Zuko stated.

"Why? Are you jealous that someone else is finding me more entertaining that you?" she said teasingly with her hands on her hips.

"No. Because I'm sure that's not the case, right pal?" he questioned, glancing at Sokka.

He froze for a moment before answering. His eyes went from the Fire Lord to the Princess and back to the Fire Lord. "Right." he replied, stoic avoiding his eyes and focusing his attention on something else.

"I can tell you are lying." said Toph, mockingly.

Azula fought a chuckle while Sokka gave an ugly look to the earthbender that was lying on the floor next to him carelessly with her hands behind her head and an ankle over her knee.

"You two shouldn't be… I don't know, somewhere else?" Zuko questioned them, irked. Being the mockery victim of Azula was bad enough to now add Sokka and Toph as well.

"Someone woke up grumpy," Toph said picking her nose and cleaning her finger on the grass.

He scoffed. "That's not true. I woke up perfectly fine, but you three," he said pointing at the Princess and his friends, "Manage to annoy me this early." he grunted, peeved.

Azula rolled her eyes. "As if… Zuko, you only have two moods; mad and not as mad." she sneered crossing her arms over her chest.

His friends snickered at his expenses with annoyed him more.

"Shouldn't you be training earth bending with Aang?" he snapped at Toph, "And you shouldn't be doing something before Katara scolds you for loafing?" he inquired at Sokka.

"Nah…" he replied, lazily. "No matter what I do, or I don't do, Katara would still claim that I was loafing, so why bother?" he said with a grin sitting with his legs crossed. "Also, she must be busy training waterbending with Aang so…"

"Yeah… 'training'," taunted Toph making air quotes. "I'm sure they must be training... but something else."

"Like what?" Zuko raised a brow.

Azula's eyes went blank. Sometimes her brother had the mind of an eight years old.

"Hmph, I don't know," the earthbender said ironically. "Maybe like training how to make babies? Or…"

Sokka's eyes and mouth widened horrified. "Woah, woah, woah…. Ugh, eww…" he complained with a grin of disgust. "Don't talk about…"

"Well, he is a monk, right?" Azula cut his complaints and a mischievous smile grew on her face as a chance to mess with him appeared. "I guess they have a lot to train. I mean, he lived his entire life surrounded by male monks, so I wouldn't be surprised if their 'trainings' happened to be quite frequent and extensive." she said casually but trying to utter all the right words to make Sokka lose his mind.

The Fire Lord shook his head with disapproval but feeling a little amused by Sokka's reaction.

Sokka blinked agape, the mental picture that had appeared in his mind was...

"Oh, yeah," Toph agreed with derision, "That must leave them extremely exhausted."

"Hey!" Sokka squeaked elated and horrified "Stop talking about my little sister's sexual life!"

The earthbender sat on the floor. "Oh, c'mon, snoozles," she patted him strongly in the back. Sokka winced. "Like if you didn't know already… I'm sure that more than once you have probably caught them accidentally 'training'," she said with laughter by just imagining that. "For your experience, you should have seen it coming. It's not like you and Suki were exactly holding hands that day at the tent, remember? Or am I wrong, Zuko?"

Sokka jaw hanged.

"Is that night the same night you mentioned back at the Barge?" Azula inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"That one, precisely." Toph confirmed, nodding.

"Ah… wait, then… You," the Princess pointed at her sibling, "You," she pointed at Sokka, "And the warrior... did you have a threesome?" she asked, widening her eyes. "Huh... Who would have thought Zuzu, as a child you never liked to share."

"No. No, no, no." they both rushed to say before the misunderstanding grew closer.

"Oh, that would have been better than what actually happened." said Toph, jokingly.

The Fire Lord sighed. He remembering that night perfectly. "I… Accidentally, walked into his tent and found him in an awkward situation," he said rubbing the back of his neck and blushing slightly just by remembering how awkward that had been.

"How awkward?" the Princess narrowed her eyes, intrigued thinking that maybe he had seen him in the middle of a blow job or something that nature.

Zuko scratched his temple. "Very. Flowers, candles, petals… oh, and he had a flower on his mouth." he recalled.

The Princess snickered. "That sounds ridiculous."

"It was."

"Hey! It was romantic." Sokka complained, pouting.

"Petals, candles, and flowers? There is nothing cheesier than that," said Azula, "Just by imagining it, it makes me cringe."

"I almost threw up."

"Hey!"

"And you didn't have to witness it. I could feel the whole thing," said Toph, before leaning back on the ground. "Anyway, back to the main topic, who else thinks that Aang and Katara are not training, but actually training?" she said, raising a hand with a smirk.

The Royal siblings raised a hand.

"Tsk!" Sokka snarled, "Thanks for adding that image to my nightmares. Eww..." he grunted.

Katara was and would always be his little sister no matter how old they get, he didn't need those kinds of images in his mind.

"Wait, so you haven't thought about them actually doing that instead of training? How naïve can you be?" the Princess mocked.

"I'm not naïve! But I don't enjoy thinking about my little sister sex life." said Sokka.

"Why? Because you get jealous that she might be getting more action than you?" Toph taunted him.

"You beat me for one second." said Azula with a smirk.

"Tsk! … Having you two getting along so well it's the worst thing that could have happened to us," he snarled, annoyed. His glance going for the Princess to the earthbender. "And No! I'm not jealous about that, okay?" he clarified to Toph.

"Oh, so lefty and righty are being well used them, right?" she said teasingly.

"Spirits!" Sokka snapped about to start pulling his hair, due to the constant teasing of the earthbender. "Would you ever stop?"

"I could. But I don't want to," she replied amused. "Chill snoozles, it's just a simple innocent joke."

"There is nothing innocent about you." he grunted under his breath.

"Zuzu! Azu!" a shout made them stop their bickering and turn their heads.

Kiyi was running towards them with a smile on her face. They had been so busy the past week that they had barely seen her.

"Azu?" Sokka raised a brow, mischievously.

"It's a silly nickname she gave me." replied the Princess as the little girl approached them. She didn't mind Kiyi's nicknames.

"It sounds adorable." he said teasingly, making Zuko and Toph chuckle.

"Hush…" she gave him an ugly glance.

"Hey guys…" Kiyi greeted them all. "Az, Zuzu, so are we going today?" she inquired with excitement in her eyes.

"Going where?" the Princess frowned, confused.

Kiyi filled her cheeks, pouting and crossing her arms. "You promise me!" she complained. "You both promised me that when you had a free day, you will take me to sight-seeing the city." she frowned, annoyed.

"Ah… that." said Zuko, recalling his promise to his little sister that had totally forgotten.

Kiyi took a step closer to Toph and Sokka. "Guys, are you busy today? Do you want to come too?" she asked them with a smile.

"Thanks for the offer kido, but the last time I was here I had enough with this city I can't even see it. So, I pass…" said Toph, refusing her invitation and returning to her lying position on the ground with her arms behind her back.

"Well, I'm in." said Sokka, standing up in a jump with excitement.

"Really?" Kiyi's eyes blinked of enthusiasm.

"Really?" Azula repeated but without the joy of her little sister. In all fairness, for her going sight-seeing didn't sound that interesting, less likely, she believed she was going to enjoy it.

"Yeah, I have nothing to do." he said casually. Going for a walk, living the Palace grounds for a couple hours sounded more fun that just seating on the floor.

"But, mmm... Kiyi does it have to be today? I was hoping to catch up with so paperwork." said Zuko, bending his knees a little to talk to her.

"Actually, me too." said the Princess.

Kiyi made her lower lip more prominent and flicked her eyelashes, making a puppy face. "C'mon Az… C'mon, Zuzu... pleaseee...." she pleaded her eyes watery.

Her older siblings shared a glance.

Azula sighed before bending to her knees slightly and placing her hand on Kiyi's shoulders. "Listen, I propose you something; why not we reschedule it for next week, huh? And instead, today I can show you a new firebending form. Does that sound fair?" she proposed hoping that she would accept her offer.

Kiyi pouted for a couple of seconds before uncrossing her arms. "Fine," she acceded with a smile. "But no more bargains, okay? We are going next week." she said, warningly pointing at her siblings.

"Alright, next week." both agreed.

"And you are coming to." she alerted and pointed at Sokka, too.

"I am?" he raised his eyebrows.

"He is?" Azula asked.

"Yeah, he is my future husband and you are my big sis. I know you are getting along better, but still, you both have areas of opportunity for improvement on your relationship with each other." she said very serious.

Toph huffed with irony. "Oh, kido... If you only knew." she said teasingly.

"Huh?" Kiyi turned towards her. Sokka and the Princess rolled their eyes annoyed.

"I mean, you might need to find another future husband soon." she said tauntingly.

"Shut up, mud grub." said the Princess.

"Ignore her Kiyi. She is jealous we will not bring her along." said Sokka, dismissing the earthbender jokes.

"Oh no, it pains my heart." said Toph, placing a hand on her heart and making an exaggerated gesture.

"Come on, Kiyi let's leave the dumb ones alone." said the Princess, walking away from her brother's friends.

That afternoon, the Princess taught her little pupil a new set. A high difficulty one to keep her busy for hours while she advanced some of her work. Zuko appeared at the studio a couple of hours later with the same intention.

They barely exchanged words as they were concentrated on their own stuff. Both worked in silence until a little after sundown.

And without a farewell, they both headed to rest.

…

The blue and orange flames extended through the training grounds in a spiral shape as they entwined with each other.

Then they extinguished in the thin air.

"You are both doing much better than before, but there is still a lot of work left." Iroh noted, as he had scrutinized their training.

For years they had tried to differ from each other. So now, having to work together to blend their firebending techniques was exhausting, and it wasn't something that they could easily accomplish it in just a couple of weeks. They had been working on that technique for around six months, yet it was far from perfect, but under their uncle tutelage, they made a big advance.

"Iroh, what is this drink? It's chewy." said Sokka, drinking it through the straw and chewing a few bits.

He and Toph had joined them on their daily training more often than not.

"Right, my dear Sokka, the last time you stopped by the shop you didn't have the tame to taste it!" Iroh noted. "Do you like it?" he asked with prying eyes.

Sokka frowned while taking another sip. "It's odd, but nice." he stated savoring the flavor.

"What is it?" Azula asked her uncle.

"It's one of my most popular drinks. People in the city seem to love tapioca so I experimented a little bit and added a few tiny balls of it to the tea and it turned really popular." he explained.

She made it a little grim. Tapioca sounded decent, and by Sokka's expression, it should probably taste nice.

"I remember that. You were trying to force that down my throat," Zuko pointed out with a whine. "It wasn't nice."

Iroh smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, nephew, as I said; contrary to what you believed, it turned out to be very popular in the shop."

"I like it, old men," said Toph approvingly, sipping from her drink loudly.

"It's fantastic," Sokka stated.

"Thank you." he smiled, pleased.

"Let me try it," said Azula seating next to Sokka and taking his drinking from it. She frowned, tilting her head at the peculiar taste of tapioca. "It's... nice." she said, taking another sip and returning it to Sokka.

"Right?"

She nodded. "Yeah… It's weird. But nice."

Sokka lent her his drink again, and she swallowed it another bit.

"I'm glad you like it, niece," said Iroh with a small smile, "At least one member of my family found it tasty." he snarled, giving an ugly glance to Zuko. His feelings had never been more hurt than whenever he disrespected his tea.

"Oh, come on, are you still mad about that?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest with incredulity.

"Zuko, I love you, but I would never trust you again whenever I try to implement a new drink into my menu." her uncle stated deadpanned.

"Well, if you could stop using me as a guinea pig." the Fire Lord grunted under his breath.

"Then, I would never let you taste my latest inventions," said Iroh, firmly, glancing in the opposite direction.

"Uncle, c'mon, I didn't mean it like that." Zuko tried to apologize and amend his mistake after noticing that he had really hurt his uncle feelings.

"You always despise my creations," said Iroh. "Yet, I have never complained about your awful tea." he remarked. Tea wasn't a talent of his nephew.

"Awful tea?" his eyes widened, "My tea is not awful! It has improved a lot during the years, right Azula?" he asked his sister, but was totally ignored as she seemed more focused on her conversation with Sokka, still discussing the tapioca drink.

"The tapioca really adds the extra flavor." said Sokka, still discussing the odd taste of the drink.

"It's strange. A drink that's chewy." Azula took another sip, before returning the drink to the water boy.

"Yeah, I can see why it's so popular."

"Agree. But even though I like it, I still prefer the hot cocoa. This one it's probably my second top." said the Princess.

"Hot cocoa was really nice too." he agreed.

In that second, they both noticed that Iroh and Zuko had finished their bickering and were staring at them fixedly, a little disoriented. "What?" exclaimed both at the same time.

"Nothing," said Zuko and Iroh.

"Alright," Azula shrugged. "But your tea is crappy, Zuzu." she mocked standing up and fixing her clothes.

"It's not!" he snapped. "It has improved." he said, making a defected face.

The Princess made a grin. His tea now was awful and that was improved?

"No need to be sad, nephew." said Iroh, surrounding him by the shoulders, "Not everyone is talented with the art of making tea. But listen, the secret is in finding the right boiling temperature and once you..." he began explaining all his secrets about tea.

Azula turned when she noticed Sokka's fixed glance in her direction. "Would you stop?" she grunted, frowning over her shoulder.

"What?" he asked, blinking back into reality he had zoomed out momentarily glancing in her direction.

"Looking at my ass, perv." she teased him.

Sokka felt all the colors rush to his face. "I-I wasn't…" he stammered, nervously. Hi had zoomed out and had been coincidentally looking in that direction.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms before turning back at him. "Oh please, you are too obvious. Plus, it wouldn't be the first time you do it." she said with a smirk remembering how he had said that it was a nice ass in Lian Yu.

"I-I'm not doing it!" he exclaimed, trying to defend himself.

"I can tell you are lying." said Toph who had been quiet for a while next to him mockingly.

"Toph." he chided her friend.

The Princess sighed. "Whatever." she said before turning around and heading to the Palace.

This time when she turned her back towards him, his eyes could help but trade to her buttocks. "It's an amazing ass," he muttered, acknowledging as he saw her walk away. Toph slurped from her drink. "And before you get any ideas and say something," he said when he noticed Toph opening her mouth to make a teasingly remark, "I don't like her!" he assured the earthbender.

"Before you get any ideas; I don't care," she replied, getting on her feet too. "Come one Snoozles, before your heart explodes from staring at her ass." she sneered.

"Toph!"

...

"Sokka, what is that in your lip?" his sibling asked as they were waiting for the old ones to arrive in the salon. He had an odd stain on it.

"Huh?" he raised his eyebrows.

Katara leaned closer, narrowing her eyes. "It looks like…" she wiped his mouth like if he was a little child.

"Don't do that!" he scolded her, complaining and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's weird."

"Is it lipstick?" she inquired.

The Princess glared towards him, quirking a brow. "Oh, it is…" said Azula, noticing that her lipstick had transferred to his straw and then to his mouth. "And you still have some." she pointed at one spot he had missed on his lips.

The waterbender looked over to the Princess when she noticed that the shades matched. The lipstick on her lips and on Sokka's mouth matched. Her eyebrows twitched as her brain came up with all the possible reasons why her brother had the Princess lipstick over him?

"Is it gone?" he asked, turning towards her.

"Yeah…" said the Princess.

"W-Why did you have her lipstick on your mouth?" Katara stammered, unsure of wishing to know the answer to that.

"Ugr…" Toph dropped her head backward. "Sugar queen, do you seriously need to ask? Isn't it obvious why?" a mischievous smirk grew on her face. Messing with Katara's nerves was her favorite thing to do. "For the same reason twinkle-toes sometimes has yours on his mouth after yours 'training'." she said, making air quotes.

The waterbender's face turned red. Just as red as the Royal Siblings clothes.

"By the way, we all know that you aren't actually training waterbending."

"B-but...B-But..." Katara mumbled out of words.

"I should change it for one that doesn't transfer, so next time there's no stain." Katara heard Azula said to Sokka, matter-of-factly.

"What?!" Katara snapped, her eyes and mouth widening.

"Yeah, that would be nice." replied Sokka to the Princess ignoring his sibling.

"What?!"

"And we can avoid your sister's interrogation." said Azula with a fake smile.

"Y-You two…?!" the waterbender yelled at them. Her eyes growing from one to the other one.

Aang and Zuko jumped, startled, by her voice as they had been focused on their own conversation, ignoring the rest.

"You scared me." Zuko claimed, bringing a hand to ease his agitated heart.

"Sweety? What is it?" the Avatar asked, curious about his girlfriend.

"I think she might be in the middle of having a seizure." Toph joked, balancing her chair on two legs.

"Toph!" Aang reprimanded her for making fun of his girlfriend.

"Y-You two…?" she pointed at the Princess and her sibling. Both raised her eyebrows, perplexed. "Why did you have her lipstick on your mouth?" she demanded to know, standing up. She was breathing heavily. Her chest going up and down, up and down.

Toph laughed, amused, relaxing on the chair with her arms behind her head.

Azula shrugged carelessly and ignored her, glancing away. Something that infuriated the waterbender more.

Zuko sighed. "Katara calmed down. They shared a drink… Look, the straw still has some of her lipstick. He must have gotten transferred from it!" he pointed at the drink in Sokka's hand.

"Oh…" Katara breathed out, relieved, dropping back into her place.

"Wait, what did you think we were doing?" Sokka inquired, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow towards his sibling.

His sibling waved a hand carelessly. "Nothing just…"

"The same thing she does at her 'trainings' with Aang," Toph intervened, "Exchanging saliva, obviously." she sneered.

"Toph!" Katara and Aang complained, blushing at her words.

"What?! Everyone here knows that your waterbender trainings are an excuse for you two to make out." the earthbender retorted, picking her ear.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sokka interjected, leaning towards his sibling, "If we would have," he said pointing at himself and at the Princess, which raised her eyebrows interested in his next choice of words, "Being doing what you thought, -which we weren't-" he rushed to clarify, "You wouldn't have any right to judge or say something, sis. You know how many oogies I have had since you two began to date?" he complained, pointing at the Avatar and his sibling.

"Sokka, it's not the same." Katara stated. She couldn't believe her brother was comparing both situations.

"And why is that huh?" the warrior crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, you got to kiss my best friend, but I can't kiss a girl I like?" he wondered, riled.

"Yikes!" Toph exclaimed, plunking the two frontal legs of her chair, astonished. The Avatar's and Fire Lord's yawn hung wide open, and Azula's eyes and mouth widened. Again, he had been careless with his words.

"You WHAT?!" Katara bellowed, baffled.

The Princess exhaled tried to repressing a little smile. He was incorrigible.

"He finally said it!" the earthbender remarked, chuckling with amusement.

Sokka panicked. "N-Not that I like her, of course." he blurted, shaking his head and arms, nervously.

"You don't?" Azula said tilting her head, deadpanned but at the same time pleased, knowing that whatever his answer was, he would only mess it up more for himself.

"Dang it!" said Toph, grimacing, entertained with the situation.

Sokka freaked out. "I-I mean, I do. I do." he stammered, assuring to the Princess.

"You WHAT?!" Katara snapped, elated.

"I don't," he said, turning towards his sibling whose eyebrows were twitching. "I-I mean, I do. Agr!..." he sighed with frustration. He made a pause and took a deep breath under everyone's wary eyes. "What I'm trying to say it's that I like her, but not like that." he clarified.

"Yeah, I don't agree with that, and neither does your heart rate." Toph mocked, balancing again her chair in two legs.

Sokka frowned in her direction. "Would you shut up?" he begged, clenching his jaw.

The earthbender rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, I will leave you two to discuss this." she said waving a hand carelessly.

"Can you call me once you are all done with this nonsense?" the Princess pleaded, standing up and heading towards the door. "I will be in the hallway, plucking my eyelashes." she said expressionless. Doing that sounded more entertaining than listening to another second of their meaningless talk.

"So, do you like her or not?" Katara inquired, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms, once the Princess headed out the door.

"No," he said, glancing in the direction the Princess had disappeared. "I mean, she has been nice to me and I have fun with her." he confessed.

And she is really pretty, he thought, but assumed that it was wiser to abstain from sharing that thought with his sibling.

"So, you do like her." his sibling stated once more. This time after he thought he couldn't help but blush. His face heated a little bit.

He cleared his throat. "Can we please stop this? But yes, I do like her; just how I like Aang or Zuko, or Toph, when she is not annoying me." he said, frowning towards the earthbender.

"Okay, okay I get it." said Katara, relaxing her posture.

…

"Princess Azula?" a voice called her as soon as she closed the door behind her.

"Chief Hakoda, morning." she said with a little nod.

"Morning. Is everything alright? May I inquire why you are standing here in the hallway?" he asked, respectfully.

She side smiled. "No particular reason. Just your children and his nonsense talk were making me want to pluck my eyelashes." she explained, huffing.

The Chief chuckled. "I see. In that case, I would love to interrupt their nonsense."

Azula dropped her shoulders, relieved. "Oh, thanks to the spirits! Finally, an adult." she said.

"Shall we then?" he said, opening the door and extending an arm to let her walk in first.

...

"Phew… nice. Can we move on from this?" Sokka pleaded.

"Sure," said Katara. "Hey, dad." she greeted him as he walked in, behind Azula.

"Morning," he said with a smile towards his children, "How was your day going? And Sokka," he frowned when he noticed that his son was a little red. "Why are you so read? Do you have a fever?" he reached to touch his son's forehead.

"N-No, it's j-just… Nevermind." he shook off his head and glanced away.

He couldn't avoid looking at his left throughout the corner of his eyes in Azula's direction. She was busy going through some papers, focused only on what she was doing. He was thankful that she didn't catch him staring at her this time, or otherwise, he would have more likely turn redder.

He only liked her like a friend, right?

The meeting began like any other once the members of the Northern Water Tribe arrived, as well as the Earth King and his advisors.

Now that everyone was already used to the flow of the meeting, it was easier to discuss matters easily and more in-depth in a shorter amount of time.

"Aang," Sokka called the Avatar during lunchtime. His friend was busy talking with one of Kuei's advisors and didn't hear him calling him. "Aang. Pst… Aang!" he insisted, whispering loudly, making everyone else's attention turned towards him. "Aang!" he called him again, not getting a reply. Then an idea hit him.

From his plate he grabbed some mash potato with his spoon and using it as a catapult he threw it at the monk.

It hit him in the left cheek.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded his brother.

The Avatar created a small breeze with his airbending that made his plate jump and splash him in the face with his food.

Sokka pouted.

"You had it coming," Katara laughed at him.

His eyebrow twitched, and he repeated the same motion with his spoon, this time hitting his sibling right and square in the nose.

The waterbender blinked, astonished. "Oh, you are going to pay for that." she warned him, bending some water ready to splash him, but his sibling was faster and some more mashed potato hit her. This time in her eye.

She dropped the water she was bending. After wiping her eyes, she opened them, ready for revenge, when she noticed everyone's worried glance.

The water she was bending had accidentally splashed Princess Azula in the face.

The Princess was already drying herself with her bending. Steam surrounding her.

Katara covered her mouth. "A-Azula, I-I'm sorry," she rushed to apologize, "I-I was trying to hit Sokka, but he…" she mumbled, nervously. The Princess didn't seem angry, but she wasn't happy either.

A mischievous smirk appeared on the Princess' face. "So, that's how it is going to be, huh Kara?" she muttered under her breath.

"Azula? What are you doing to…" Zuko tried to ask calmly, but his sibling threw something before he finished talking.

A ball of rice hit Katara right in the forehead. The waterbender blinked confused at what had happened.

Everyone chuckled at the Princess' childish response.

"Nice shot, Azula." said Sokka, laughing loud and whipping some tears that came out of his eyes.

"Can someone describe me Sugar queen face?" said Toph, snickering.

The waterbender frowned. "What are you laughing at, huh?" she said before tossing some food towards Toph.

"Hey!" complained the earthbender, "You got it Sugar queen." she warned her before grabbing some food from her plate and throwing it in her direction but missing and hitting Chief Hakoda instead.

"Guys, guys," Zuko tried to interfere, when things began to get out of hand, as even the adults got involved in the mess.

"Oh, shut up Zuzu," said Azula, smacking his head into the soup plate trying to shush his party-popper ass. "For years I dreamed of doing that." she mocked. He raised his face, wet and covered in the red soup. He gave her a death glare before laughing. He shook his head, sprinkling her.

"Nice look, Zuko." Aang sneered.

"What are you laughing at, baldy?" the Fire Lord replied, throwing the first thing he could grab, smacking the Avatar right in the face.

Aang laughed and bended some air to clean himself, but he ended up creating a bigger mess, and everyone's plates flew in different directions, covering and splashing everyone with food.

A war food began.

Even Hakoda, Arnook, and King Kuei joined the battle.

"This is the most stupid thing I have ever done in my life." said Azula, amused with a smile hiding under the table. The room was a mess, everyone was throwing everything at everyone.

This was the most childish thing she had ever done. She was covered in food in some places and yet, opposite to everything she ever thought about such undignified actions, she found it hilarious. And she was having a delightful time.

"And look how happy are you." said Sokka admiring her genuine smile. The fact that she was covered in stains and food didn't make her look any less beautiful to his eyes.

Her smile grew at his words.

He smiled back.

And for a couple of seconds, they remained just staring at each other, forgetting at everything that was happening around them.

Some mash potato hit Sokka in the face and a heartbeat later the door swung open, abruptly.

"What is the meaning of this?" the loud, authoritarian voice of the Head Court Lady, filled the room, yet nobody stopped what they were doing. "Halt!" she shouted with a deep voice, startling everyone.

Everyone froze in their places.

"Everyone, drop what you are holding immediately!" she ordered.

Everyone dropped the food everyone was holding.

Head Court Lady Naru, sighed when she noticed the mess. "Oh, Raava, please enlighten us," she pleaded, bringing a hand to her chest. "Oh gosh, oh gosh… Just look at this mess!" she complained, staring at the stained carpet, at the food in the walls, and at everyone covered in leftovers.

"I'm sorry, Naru," King Kuei apologized to the old woman, rubbing the back of his neck, "I think things went a little crazy." he said with his glasses covered in food.

"A little crazy?" she raised her eyebrows. "These are the kind of things that one day are going to kill me, King," she glanced at the carpet. "Oh, just look at the carpet. It's all stained! This carpet is older than you. Older than me!" she whined.

"Then it's a great excuse to reupholster!" said Kuei with a smile.

"R-Reupholster?!" repeated Naru, flabbergasted, "Tsk! Ush…" she hit the King slightly. By his amused expression, they could see that she wasn't actually punching him hard. "You are going to be the death of me!"

Seeing King Kuei and Lady Naru's interaction remained her to her own and their Head Court Lady Zadira. The woman that since she could remember had taken care of her instead of her mother until she had been nine. She disappeared a little after Ursa, and her disappearance had affected her more than her mothers.

"You have been saying that since I inherited the throne when I was four," he laughed as she kept hitting him. When Naru stopped he cleared his throat. "I think today we should finish early to go get washed up and get this place cleaned up." said the King, surrounding the sulking old woman's shoulders.

"Agree," said Sokka, "I have food in my…"

"Nobody wants to know!" Azula quickly interjected, making everyone chuckle.

...

After washing up, Sokka headed towards the entrance to meet with his friends. They had agreed to walk around the city for a little while as they had a free afternoon. He was on his way to meet them when he saw the Princess in the Royal Gardens. She was sitting on the bridge over the pond, swinging her legs back and forward.

She was staring down at the water with an absent glance. She seemed troubled, and Sokka thought that she looked like a little girl who had been scolded and grounded.

Now, years later she had found herself drawn to that same spot.

The garden in the Earth Palace might not be as spectacular as the one back in the Fire Nation, but it wasn't completely horrible. For the winter, most threes were leafless and there were no flowers in the bushes, but she could recall that during the spring, -before the end of the war-, that place had been beautiful. The Pavilion and the bridge as well as the lake under the moonlight had been her favorite place during those nights to come to think.

"Hey." he said, sitting next to her at the edge of the bridge.

"Huh?" she turned towards him, blinking back to reality. "Hey." she muttered, still a little absently focused on her thoughts.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sokka asked her looking in the same direction as her, wondering what had her so troubled.

"I like to believe that my thoughts are more valuable than that," she replied. "Perhaps a few thousands of pieces of gold."

He huffed. "Well, I don't have any gold with me, so you would have to tell me for free." he said showing her his pockets.

Azula grimaced. "Nah… I will put you on a list and would charge you later for that." she said mockingly.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Fine. But are you going to tell me? What is going on, now in that little head of yours?" he pointed with his index finger at her.

She sighed, returning her attention to the water. "A few things."

"Mind sharing?" he asked.

"I actually do," she said, staring at her hands on her lap. "But somehow, you always find a way for me to end up telling you. So, what the hell…" she swung her legs faster, a little nervously. She gulped. "The thing is… I have been pondering -for a few days actually- that, with everything that it's happening, perhaps, just to see if I can find more answers about all this, and to also, to try to close a huge chapter of my life, I'm thinking that… that I should go see my father after we return."

Her father had been a man that during his time as Fire Lord, he had kept a ton of spies everywhere. He had also collected tons and tons of information of noble-borns as an 'insurance', as he used to call it in case of unexpected events. Information that only he could accede to. Information that he had made sure to not share with anyone. Not even her.

Even during his Prince days, Ozai had always been a man of many secrets. And maybe, if she asked nicely, -for once-, he could share a few of them and help them solve this mess. Of course, it wouldn't be a simple task, and he might even say no, but it was something that it was worth trying.

If there was someone in the entire Fire Nation that might know the meaning behind those messages claiming that they were fake heirs or a fake lineage, it was Ozai.

And not only that. For a few months, Azula had also been pondering visiting him. She hasn't seen him in years. And she knew that it wouldn't be a lovely visit, but it was necessary as it could possibly, help her close some old wounds. It might help her to move on. To close that dark chapter of her life once and for all.

Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Ozai? Him?"

Azula frowned. "Yes. He is the only father I'm aware of."

"No, I mean," he shook his head, "Why do you want to go see him?"

The Princess took a moment to reply. "For starters, I haven't seen him in years. And probably I can ask him more about our family story in a more detailed way," she said, "I know what the books say, but there must be more to it."

He grimaced. "I don't think it's a good idea."

She side smiled. "I knew you will say that. You must think just like Zuko, don't you?" she glanced at him. She hadn't told Zuko, but she already knew what he was going to say.

"What do you mean?" he inquired, tilting his head.

Her shoulders dropped. "He must think that I'm too weak to face him," she muttered, "That if I go see him, he would convince me to turn against him and I would side with Ozai against him."

The Princess was fully aware that even though she had been working with Zuko for the past year, and that she had helped him as much as she could, he didn't trust her. At least not fully. Not like he trusted his friends, even if he claimed otherwise.

It was something clear to her. She wasn't blind. No matter how much he tried to hide it. He didn't fully trust her. And he might never will.

"I don't think he believes that." said Sokka softly, giving her a warm smile.

He does, I know it; she thought.

"But... is that the only reason behind wanting to go see your father?" he inquired. He had seen her expression and he knew that there was more to it.

Azula bit the inside of her cheek. "Well... that's not the full reason," she admitted, "There is also that… for Zuko, finding Ursa was his way to close a chapter in his life. A dark messed up chapter of our family story. a way to move on. To find peace with himself... Well, for me, I think it would be…"

"Facing your father?" he raised an eyebrow. It actually made sense.

She nodded avoiding his glance. "Yeah. Even if I like it or not, Ozai is my father. And for fourteen years, I devoted all my life to him," she said, "To be his perfect daughter. His perfect little Princess. His prodigy. My entire life was only about meeting his expectations and getting his approval. And for so long I believe that if I got those, it would be equal to have his love, but…" she played with her hands nervously. She didn't know why she was telling him all those things. "... I was wrong. I don't think I ever had those. And it took me years to realize that. So, I want to see him. I wish to face him so I can finally close that chapter and move on. Leave him behind." she explained.

Sokka took a deep breath. "I understand, trust me, I do… But still…" he grimaced. Something in the back of his mind kept telling him that it was not a good idea.

Azula understood his tone of doubt. "You believe he is going to say something that would make me betray Zuko, don't you?" it was more an affirmation than a question.

"No, it's not that," he denied. But the truth was that he was indeed worried a little bit about that. Azula had been loyal to her father till the very last moment, and Ozai was a man with many, many tricks under his sleeve. He might try to get her back to his side, and that worried him. "But your father is really clever. For instance, what does it tell you he is not the one behind the attacks?"

She had also thought of that possibility.

"That's why I need to see him, to ask him that. He taught me to lie, but not only that, he taught me how to read when someone is lying to me. So, I want to go and ask him everything he knows," she told him, "If there's someone who can get information from him, it's me."

"And how do you know that he is not going to use one of his sneaky tricks?" he asked doubtfully, still not convinced if it was a good idea.

She shrugged. "It's worth the shoot. And also, I'm sneakier." she said with a smirk.

"Still," he frowned. "I think I would be more at ease if you could tell Zuko about it, and…"

"Oh, no," she cut him abruptly. "If I tell Zuko he would panic. He would prohibit."

"... Or he could agree and go with you." said Sokka as another option.

"And that's the problem," said Azula, "I know Ozai. He is not going to talk if I'm not alone with him. And Zuko would never allow it." she knew her brother better than anyone, he would immediately dismiss the suggestion, so her plan was to tell him in a way he couldn't refuse.

He scratched the back of his neck. "Azula, I don't think it is a good idea." he repeated trying to make her desist.

"I don't care. I wasn't asking for your opinion. I was just… telling you… and I don't even know why…" she stated, abruptly, "But I'm going to do it. I'm going to see him" she affirmed.

"There is nothing I can make to make you change your mind?" he sighed, resignation.

"No. And you better not tell Zuko," the Princess warned him, staring at him fixedly, "You have to promise me that you would not tell him."

"Then you have to tell him." he retorted.

If Zuko found out that he knew about Azula's plan and didn't tell him about it, he would completely lose it. He would get furious at both of them, for hiding something like that.

"Sokka."

"He is your brother," he quickly replied, "Are you planning on going behind his back? Didn't you say you were mad at him, because he hid from you what happened in Mi Na?"

His relationship with Katara had no point of comparison with Zuko and Azula's one. He still had a hard time trying to understand them. They were willing to shoot lightning at each other and let the other one fall from a cliff. But at the same time, they had their moments. They had teamed up against Katara and Aang in the catacombs in Ba Sing Se. While looking for their mother; they had shared a few moments as normal siblings. And right now, they seemed to be getting along pretty well.

Still, he tried to put himself in Zuko's shoes. They had big trust issues, and he was afraid that Azula going to see her father behind his back would only worsen it.

"I know," she admitted, "And I'm going to tell him. I swear!" she said, when she noticed his skeptical look. "I do. I just… I need to find the right moment and the correct way to bring it up." she muttered, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

"You are pretty straight-forward with everything. Why is this different?" he asked, tilting his head.

It made him curious about the fact that she was acting so troubled and doubtful about this matter.

"Well, yeah, usually I'm pretty straight-forward, but…"

During the past year, she had been trying to regain Zuko's trust. Helping him with his work, agreeing to train with him, coming to this stupid trip, and even though he claimed he trusted her, she knew he didn't. He never will.

For him, there will always exist a part of him that would always distrust her, no matter how much she proved to him that he could trust her. And she couldn't blame him, after everything that she had done, she couldn't.

Azula always lies; it was his mantra growing up. And even though she had told him the truth more often than not, she had used that mantra against him more than once.

He trusted fully in his friends. He trusted them more than in her. And only a misunderstanding could make all her work disappear in a blink. That was why she needed to mention to him her idea in a way that he would take it as calmly as he could in a way that would not create bad understatements.

But it was Zuko, and that was something easier said than done.

"Nevermind," she said, dismissing her words, "Either way, you have to promise me you will not tell him a thing."

"Azula…" Sokka retorted "Why? Are you… Are you afraid he might misunderstand it and might distrust you?" he asked, raising a brow.

"I-I…" she opened her mouth, a little astonished. She didn't want to say it, but he had been able to understand it. She closed her mouth and remained silent.

He took his silence as an affirmation.

They remained silent for a moment, staring at the water of the lake.

"I know he doesn't trust me," said Azula, finally after a moment. "He might say he does, but he doesn't. Zuko had never been too good at hiding things from me. I know how he thinks, and I know he doesn't trust me," Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but she continued. "And I mean, I don't blame him. After everything that had happened between us, it's incredible that he made me his advisor and the Crowned Princess. Still… It's annoying to see that he trusts you -a group of oafs- more than me. After all, I have been working my ass off all last year to prove to him he can." she admitted. For an unknown reason to her, whenever she was in trouble and talked with Sokka, she would end up telling him everything that would be crossing her mind.

It was annoying.

"Ohh…" he muttered.

"Yeah, ohh."

"So, If I were to tell him about your plan, he would…"

"Lose it. First, because I told you before him. And second, he would instantly assume it is one of my 'evil plans'," she said making air quotes, "That's why I need to bring up this matter to him in a way that his little brain would understand."

"Alright," he said, "Either way, if you feel you might need support when you explained to him I will probably help you with that."

Azula huffed. "No. If you are there when I tell him, I'm sure he is going to believe that someway I managed to convince you and involve you in my wicked plots." she mocked.

"Well, they are pretty wicked, aren't they?" he joked.

The Princess rolled her eyes, amused.

"Ha ha," she said with a grin.

"Still, if you are worried about how he would react, I think you are not giving him enough credit," said Sokka, "Zuko might overreact at first, but he would come to his senses. So the sooner you tell him, the better. I'm sure he is also trying really hard to fully trust you. It's probably as hard for him as it's hard for you. I mean, it's understandable you tried to kill us at least mmm…" he began counting with his fingers, "Thirty times?" he joked, with a smile.

"Do you want me to make it thirty-one?" she replied, frowning.

He chuckled. "Anyway, look, I have seen your brother go from a total jerk, to a partially jerk, to a not so jerk guy. He still struggles with a lot of things. Just like you… But I bet that if you give him a chance and you begin to be honest with each other, your relationship would improve."

"So… You and Miss loopies never lie to each other?" Sokka denied with his head. Azula huffed. "Lame. Where's the fun in that?" she said, mockingly.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Well, we do have a lot of fun, mind you," he pointed out with a side smile. "And I'm sure you and Zuko could too. And I don't mean you messing annoying him till death," the Princess snorted, "I mean, Zuko is actually kind of fun. He is terrible at telling jokes. Sometimes he doesn't get sarcasm. He makes a nasty tea. But... he is always willing to help. He has learned from his mistakes. He is trying his best. And sometimes things don't go his way and he just makes it so easy for anyone to make fun of him," he sneered, "What?" he asked, quirking a brow when he noticed that the Princess was frowning and looking at him, narrowing her eyes.

"Do you have a crush on my brother or something like that?" she inquired, tilting her head.

His eyes widened. "What?!" he squealed, aghast. "No!… W-We are friends. Just friends."

"Fine. Just friends." she repeated teasingly with a smirk.

"Tsk!" he grunted. "You know, right now I could throw you into the lake if I wished, you know?" he pointed out.

"I can throw you into the lake," she corrected and added, "And drown you."

Sokka huffed. "Ha, I would love to see you trying, Princess. I'm from the Water Tribe. I love water and swimming." he uttered, pretentious.

He snickered a little, bumping her elbow slightly. She does the same a little harder, with a playful smile. He does it once more, teasingly.

"Oh, stop it," she said, annoyed before accidentally pushing him into the lake. She covered her mouth with her hands.

He squealed. "Hey!" he complained when he swam to the supperfice. His hair falling all over his face.

"My bad. I think I might have gone a little overboard." she said with a grin, trying to hold her laugher.

"You think?" he snarled, brushing his hair away from her face. "Help me out of here." he pleaded, extending an arm towards her.

"Did you say you loved water?" she mocked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you are hilarious, Princess. It's cold." Sokka pouted before splashing her. He chuckled at her little shriek.

Azula kicks some water, splashing him as a payback. "Also, you could use the bath stinky, beast." she said, teasingly.

"Hey! I bathed an hour ago," he complained. The Princess laughed again. "Stop making fun of me and help him out." he said, extending his arm again.

"Fine. Fine." she replied, kneeling and using an arm as support to help him out. She took his arm and pulled him out.

Sokka got out of the lake and climbed onto the bridge when a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"Don't you dar…" uttered Azula, when she saw his face, but before she could end up her treat, he wrapped an arm around her waist tightly.

"Got you." he muttered, before dropping back into the lake dragging the Princess with him.

She squeaked as he jumped back into the cold water of the lake.

Sokka was the first one to come out, amused. "Azula?" he glanced around, but he didn't see her. He thought that it was odd, that it had taken her so long to come out to the surface. So, he dived again, and he saw her and why she hadn't come out.

She was trapped. A plant had tangled in one of her shoes. She was struggling to set it free. She grunted. A few bubbles came out of her mouth. Sokka headed to help her, but before he could see any further, she used her blast of fire to free herself burning the plant.

She rushed to the surface as quickly as she could.

She coughed water as soon as she reached it. Using her fire underwater had left her with barely enough air to reach the surface. She coughed a few times, gasping for air.

"Are you okay?" asked Sokka, worried, "I'm so sorry," he apologized, "Are you okay? Are you alright?" he insisted.

"I'm fine!" she snarled.

They heard a couple of hurried steps on the bridge.

"Are you both alright?" Zuko reached a hand to pull his sister out of the water. She accepted it. And with a pull, he helped her out of it without much trouble.

Katara did the same with her sibling while bending a little water to help him. "What happened?" she inquired, startled.

"Nothing," said Sokka, "It was a stupid accident." he glanced at the Princess' direction, who was still coughing water.

"Accident?" both repeated with uncertainty.

Azula scoffed.

"Yes. An accident." he affirmed, between teeth glancing at both of them.

The Princess quickly stood up and walked away from them. Steam surrounding her. And drops of water dripping from her hair. That was the last time he saw her that day.

...

A knock made him look away from the document he was reading. They had a free morning as the Earth King had some manner to attend with his generals.

So, he had decided to do some work.

"Come in." said the Fire Lord, from the improvised office King Kuei had lent him to work.

Sokka's face popped out. "Hey pal." he greeted him.

"Hey, buddy" said Zuko.

"Busy?" Sokka asked, walking in with his hands in his pockets. After spending part of his night last night thinking about the matter, he concluded that maybe he could talk with Zuko about Azula's plan, hoping to help her somehow.

"A little, but what is it?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Well," the water boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something."

"Is everything alright?" he frowned, concerned.

"Yes." he replied, nodding.

"Then what do you want to talk about?" the Fire Lord questioned his friend, leaning back in his chair.

"It's about… About Azula." uttered Sokka.

He widened his eyes. "Azula? What? Why? Did she do something to you?" he spouted.

"Woah, woah," he raised his hands. "No. She did nothing." he sighed.

Azula had been right, he was quick to rush into conclusions. He needed to figure it out exactly how to say it.

"If she did nothing, then what is it?" he asked.

A/N:

I can't keep thanking you guys enough for all the love. Thank you a hundred times.

Happy late thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates!

PS: nobody has guessed right the reason behind the title. I suppose that good?... hahaha.

Btw, If anyone of you noticed I left a plot hole for quite some chapters please feel free to let me know. I think I have them all covered -as far as I know-, but I could be accidentally skipping one.