Set: #4
Week 2: Venus
Genres: Humor, Romance
Rating: K
Setting: Ba Sing Se (post-comics)
Venus: Zuko's Secret
Love, beauty, pleasure, relationships
Zuko had a secret…
"Yeah, so I set Azula up on a blind date."
"What?! With who?!"
"Haru." He shrugged. "I don't know, I thought he could be good for her."
"What makes you say that?" Sokka scoffed.
"He's thoughtful, a strong bender, handsome – "
"Well that depends, are we talking mustached Haru or non-mustached Haru?"
"What do you think?"
Sokka crossed his arms. "Hmph."
"I just thought it would be nice for Azula to finally meet someone. She never puts herself out there. Honestly she was pretty reluctant to go on this date, but thankfully I was able to convince her."
"Where are they going?"
…the secret was that Zuko completely lied to his best friend. This "date" was entirely fabricated. Well, sort of. Azula was going. Alone. Zuko just needed to give Sokka that final push to act on his obvious feelings. Ever since his breakup with Suki, the rapport between Sokka and Azula had changed considerably. At first, their playful bickering, taunting, and awkward flirting made Zuko incredibly uncomfortable. Seriously, Sokka and Azula?! His best friend and his sister?! The thought of them together was unimaginable.
Until it wasn't. It kinda made sense, didn't it? Intellectually they were in another league from the rest of their friends, they were strong fighters and strong-willed, always challenging each other, they had a similar macabre sense of humor… and they were both insanely stubborn. Way too stubborn and prideful to act on their feelings. And that's why Zuko had to step in and take things into his own hands.
He never thought he'd be playing matchmaker for his sister, not in a million years. But in an odd way, he sort of owed it to her. After all, it was Azula who had set him up with Mai all those years ago. She had orchestrated a fake group dinner setup that turned out to be only him and Mai, and well, the rest was history. Mai was his Fire Lady. And now it was Zuko's turn to pay back her kindness.
"The Firelight Fountain."
Sokka's jaw clenched.
"I know, romantic, right? Oh, and then they'll be heading to the Jasmine Dragon for some of Iroh's special love tea."
"Special love tea?!"
"Yep! Isn't that great?"
"I don't know…"
"Well, I am concerned about one thing." He paused. "What if Haru arrives at the fountain, sees it's Azula, decides she's not the kind of girl for him, and he leaves? I mean… she'd be devastated. Hm…"
"You know, that's a really good point! Haru may not be comfortable dating a firebender, especially one as, let's just say infamous, as Azula."
"You don't suppose you could… oh, never mind, I don't want to trouble you with this."
"What?"
"Do you think you could check up on their date? Just to make sure Azula doesn't get stood up?"
"Absolutely." Sokka straightened his posture. "I'm on it."
"Oh, and bring flowers too, you know, just in case."
"Good idea."
"Fire lilies. They're her favorite."