"Your house is amazing, Hotaru…" Shihan whispered, eyes wide.

"It is!" Liuwen exclaimed, beaming. "I always wanted to come here!"

"I'm glad you guys like it," Hotaru said, with a gentle smile.

She hadn't invited friends over before. She didn't dare do it when her little sister was too young, and too unlikely to regulate her temper… distressing her friends with the loud, crying voice of little Yuuna didn't sound like a good idea.

But Hotaru had also been nervous of so much as asking for permission. It felt like a great change… a big risk, too. If anyone did anything foolish, it would be her responsibility… whether the foolishness came from her family or from her friends. Either thing was entirely possible.

She gathered her courage a week earlier. She approached her mother and father right before dinner time, and she made certain to do it when neither of her siblings were around, to avoid distractions and unnecessary comments…

"C-can my friends Liuwen and Shihan visit us after school in a week?"

Sokka and Azula were surprised by the request. Perhaps more so by their daughter's nervousness, by how she fidgeted, by how she appeared to be terrified of a negative answer…

"I… think so?" Sokka had said, glancing at his wife. "Do we have any big things scheduled for that date?"

"Not that it would be a problem if we did… Hotaru can host her friends, it's not like she'd want us to be their guides, right?"

"N-no! No need! I… just wanted to ask for permission," Hotaru said, lowering her head. Azula smiled.

"Permission granted. Now… lighten up, will you?" Azula stepped closer, pressing a kiss to the top of the princess's head. "I feared you'd announce you meant to run off with singing nomads…"

"It's all good, kid!" Sokka grinned, patting Hotaru's shoulder: their daughter giggled now. "You can bring as many friends as you like."

Hotaru didn't mean to go overboard: two friends would suffice for starters. If that didn't go poorly, more might follow… but for now, she brought the two she hoped would be the least likely to cause a ruckus, and who hopefully would behave themselves in the presence of her illustrious parents.

"Are your little brother and sister around?" Liuwen asked.

"I'm sure they're off somewhere. Same as my parents…" Hotaru said: both Shihan and Liuwen gaped at her with wide eyes. "What? You already know them…"

"W-well, sure, but we'll see them in their home now!" exclaimed Shihan, gleefully. Liuwen clasped her arm, squealing happily. "They're so dreamy!"

"The perfect couple!"

"Y-yeah… well, they love each other lots, but I don't know about perfect…" Hotaru laughed.

"That's because you don't know what other parents are like," Shihan sighed. "My dad is always moody, and ugly, and he's barely around, and…!"

"My mom always screams at me to do things I don't wanna do," Liuwen pouted. "She keeps saying no boy will marry me if I don't square up, but I'm twelve! Boys won't marry me until I'm… well, I don't know. How old will I be before they want to marry me?"

"I have no idea," Hotaru laughed. "But my mom and dad… well, they're nicer than that, yeah, but they're… normal. I think."

"Hotaru, there's nothing normal about your parents!" exclaimed Shihan, flabbergasted.

"Their love story is legendary!" Liuwen said, with a dreamy smile. "And your dad is so handsome, and your mom is so pretty…!"

"They're the best couple!"

Hotaru sighed: it wasn't the first time she heard people idolizing her parents, let alone her friends… these two were the tamest of the bunch when it came to that, and they still grew this excited over them …

Hotaru didn't realize that matters were about to take a turn for the worse, as they reached one of the main halls through a side corridor. She didn't realize her friends' excitement might just be bolstered if they witnessed anything impressive or surprising… and fate would have it that one such thing would take place right then and there.

Heavy footsteps on one end of the corridor revealed that a rather overwhelmed, busy Azula was making her way across the grand hall just then, accompanied by Song, for purposes beyond Hotaru's understanding: her two friends gasped in amazement at the sight of their hero, even if Azula didn't appear to notice them.

But just as Hotaru was about to speak up, to greet her mother, other footsteps echoed at the other end of the hall: this time, Sokka marched with one of the younger non-bending guards, who appeared to be reporting something noteworthy to him, much like Song did with Azula.

"Oh!" Shihan gasped, covering her mouth with her hands: neither Sokka nor Azula appeared to realize they were in collision course so far… something that surprised Hotaru. Was their respective business as serious as that?

Even their eldest child, who knew them as well as she did, could not anticipate their next move.

On busy days, Sokka and Azula would not be too likely to meet often. The action, the hectic chaos in their respective lines of work, would interfere during time they would prefer to spend together.

Thus, when they raised their gazes briefly to find they were about to cross paths, for the first time in hours, the urgency of their respective business took a backseat. however briefly.

Song and the guard didn't stop: both offered quick greetings to Sokka and to Azula, respectively, and then walked past them… but the pair in question didn't follow their example.

Sokka's hand moved to Azula's waist at once. Hers rose to his neck, without losing a beat.

Their lips pressed together, powerfully and passionately, without a single word spoken between the pair.

They swayed in place, with Sokka tilting Azula down, his passion overflowing as best it could in such limited time: Azula gripped his tunic tightly, unafraid of being dipped, merely determined to enjoy the moment they had stolen as boldly as that…

But it couldn't last for an instant longer. They had work to do.

They pulled back remorsefully as Sokka stood upright again. Still holding each other closely, they spoke in unison:

"I love you."

Their synchronized actions, words and desires brought proud smiles to their faces: that allowed them to part ways again, revitalized by each other, ready to focus regardless of their respective companions' amusement: both Song and the guard had merely stopped further down the corridor, to wait for Sokka and Azula's shared moment to end.

Just as fast as they turned up, they were gone. And neither one noticed that they had been seen, in that rather intimate and affectionate moment, by three pre-teen girls standing by a side corridor.

"Eh… heh. W-well…" Hotaru smiled awkwardly, looking at her friends with uncertainty…

Shihan and Liuwen stood in place, eyes wide as plate, jaws dropped. Hotaru's cheeks flushed: she was used to her parents and their reckless bursts of affection, but perhaps that had been too forward, too bold, for her friends to witness…?

She confirmed as much when the two girls screamed loudly enough to puncture her eardrums, holding hands and jumping in place, squealing about what they had just witnessed.

"THEY KISSED!"

"WE SAW IT! WE SAW IT!"

"THEY'RE THE PERFECT COUPLE!"

Hotaru gritted her teeth, covering her face with a hand, even if she smiled to herself. Her parents never failed to make an impression on whoever crossed their path, that was for sure…