Sokka doesn't understand what he did wrong. All he said to Azula was "look in the mirror and see how beautiful you are". Next thing he knew, she bolted out of her room. And he doesn't understand why. What he said was supposed to have been a compliment. Why had she taken it the wrong way? It just didn't make sense to him. Azula usually likes it when he compliments her.

The only way I'm going to figure this out is if I do some investigating. Guess I should ask Zuko if he knows anything.

Sokka finds Zuko in his office, looking at some documents with a scowl on his face. Sokka clears his throat, hoping to get the Fire Lord's attention.

Zuko looks up when he hears the noise "Oh, hi Sokka. What are you doing here? I thought you and Azula were going out on a…date?"

Sokka doesn't miss the way Zuko shudders as he says this.

"You still can't get over the fact that I'm dating your sister, can you?"

"Shut up! I'll get used to it at some point, I just need some more time."

"Zuko, we've been together for a year. How much more time do you-"

"ANYWAY, why are you here?"

Oh, right. Instead of bickering with Zuko, he should really get what he came here for.

"Something happened earlier."

Zuko looks at him, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, "Something happened? What did you do?"

"Why do you just assume that it was me?! It could have been Azula for all you know!"

"Because if it was her, you wouldn't be in here right now. So, what did you do?"

Sokka sighs. He really hates his friends sometimes. "We were getting ready in her room. I was doing her hair for her, and then once I was done, I said ' Look in the mirror and see how beautiful you look.' As soon as I said that, she got up and rushed out of the room. I haven't seen her since then. I have no idea why she reacted like that though. She usually likes it when I compliment her."

Zuko stares at him for a couple of seconds before gesturing for Sokka to sit down "I need to tell you something. You were bound to find out about this sooner or later, I suppose."

Sokka blinks but sits down. "Tell me what?"

"During the year Azula stayed in the asylum, I told the staff there to keep me up to date with her health. I wanted to know what happened to cause her to just… snap like that. I had a feeling that it had something to do with our father, but at the same time it seemed like there was more to it than that. One day, one of her doctors came to the palace to speak to me. She told me that Azula had been experiencing hallucinations. Of our mother. Seeing her and hearing her even when she wasn't there."

Sokka nods. He knows this already, Azula told him as such when the two of them had started their relationship.

"That was when I remembered something. A few days after the comet and Azula was placed in the asylum, the palace staff was cleaning up, when one of them happened to notice a shattered mirror and a hairbrush on the floor. The hairbrush belonged to Azula. Meaning that for whatever reason, she threw the brush at the mirror."

Well this was news to Sokka. Azula hadn't told him about that part. Maybe Zuko is going somewhere with this tale after all.

"I decided to ask her about it on my next visit to the asylum. It took her a while, but she opened up to me about it. On the day of her coronation, she was beyond paranoid and thought that everyone was out to get her and betray her. So she banished everybody who was in the palace. While she was attempting to fix her hair and make herself look presentable, she became frustrated when she couldn't get the top knot right. So, she cut her hair. And that was when mother appeared before her. In the mirror."

Oh. Ohhh. Now everything makes sense.

Zuko continues "They had a conversation, and it ended when 'mother' said I love you Azula, I do. Hearing that caused Azula to snap because she could never remember a single instance that showed her that our mother really did love her. She was always with me, and never really spent time with Azula at all. And when she said that, I thought about it and realized that she was right. So it's no wonder that hallucination is what broke her in the end."

Of all the answers Sokka was expecting to hear, it certainly wasn't this. At least now he knows why Azula freaked out like that. All he needs to do now is find Azula and talk this whole thing out.

Assuming he can find her, that is.

Sokka finds Azula sitting by the turtle duck pond, looking at her reflection in the water. He stops and looks, curious. Since when did Azula come to the turtle duck pond of all places? This was Zuko's favorite spot wasn't it? As well as Ursa's-

Oh

Sokka knows that he has to do something before this gets worse. He quickly sits down next to Azula and grabs her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. The touch startles Azula, who looks up at Sokka with a surprised look on her face. She wasn't expecting anyone to find her here. As a matter of fact, she was hoping that nobody would. Leave it to Sokka to be the one who did. They stare at each other for a few seconds before Sokka clears his throat and says "Can we talk?"

Azula looks like she wants to get up and run. Sokka can't exactly blame her. He knows that this will most likely be a difficult discussion for her to have. But they have to talk about this. What kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn't help his girlfriend out when she was going through something?

"Azula, please, talk to me. I know that this is going to be rough, but you have to talk about this at some point. You can't just let it fester inside you forever. Don't you remember? That's part of the reason why you had your breakdown in the first place. You always held things in."

At this, Azula glares at him. But she knows that Sokka has a point. Low blow aside, she does need to discuss this with him. Best to rip off the band-aid now and get it over with.

"I suppose you spoke with Zuko about this?"

"How did you-"

"If you hadn't, you would have found me a long time ago."

She got him there.

"Good point. Then yes, I did speak to Zuko. I figured that going after you right away wouldn't have gone well at all, especially not when I didn't even know what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Sokka. I'm the one who…who stupidly overreacted over a compliment. I'm the one who should be apologizing for ruining our date before it even got started. When you said that to me, I felt flattered. But at the same time I was scared. Scared that if I looked into that mirror, I would see my mother. Ever since the day of the comet, I've come to hate mirrors. They make me see things. Things that I don't want to see."

Things like my mother, goes unsaid, but Sokka understands.

He desperately wants to pull her in for a hug, but senses that she may shy away from him if he did that. So instead he settles for holding her hand and stroking the back of it with his thumb.

"I get it now. And you don't have to apologize. What happened to you that day was traumatic, and trauma takes a long time for a person to fully get over, if they ever do at all. But there's a difference between now and then."

Azula looks up at him "A difference?"

"Back then, you didn't have anyone by your side to make sure you didn't sink below the depths. Now, you have me and the others. And we won't let you sink ever again, no matter what."

He thinks that this may be the second time that he has rendered his girlfriend speechless, the first time being when he told her he loved her.

A few moments pass before Azula leans into him and says "Thank you, Sokka." and gives him a kiss.