Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

103. Chapter 103: Northern Air Temple 2

Rui Shi took a deep breath: he stood before a closed door, in the top story of the tallest tower in the Northern Air Temple. He wasn't certain of what he'd find within the room, and he dreaded what would happen if his assumptions had been baseless… but he doubted that would be the case. He had stopped by at the gladiator's room to find it empty, and unless Sokka was sleepwalking now, there was no other place he'd be but here.

Therefore, Rui Shi knocked on the door. Hard. And he knocked again after standing by without an answer after a short while.

"Princess?" he called, breathing slowly, trying his best to keep his composure.

Inside the room, Sokka sat up with a start, leering at the door in dread until he heard the Captain's voice. He sighed in relief, his loose hair framing his face, and he rubbed his eyes, for he was still somewhat drowsy.

His companion wasn't in better shape. In fact, she had only reacted to the knocking with a frown and an annoyed groan. She turned on the bed, burying her face on the foot of the mattress, at a lack for pillows since they were where they belonged: at the other end of the bed.

Sokka smiled, only noticing now that they'd wound up upside down through the night. It was no surprise that he would have lost all sense of his surroundings while he was with her.

All the same, he stretched towards the pillows with difficulty, sitting on the bed as he was, and slid them under Azula's head. She had seemed uncomfortable, and the pillows proved enough to stop her from groaning and fidgeting.

"I think I've got to go now," he said, leaning down and whispering into her ear. Azula groaned again and shook her head.

"Y-you just got here…" she muttered sleepily, and Sokka smiled before kissing her cheek.

"I think I've already spent most the night here, in fact," he said. "I should probably go before…"

"Princess?" said Rui Shi's voice through the door again. Sokka huffed. "Can I come in?"

"Why?" Azula growled, and Sokka arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Shouldn't you have told him 'no'? I mean, if he comes in right now…" he said, gesturing at their naked bodies. Azula blinked a few times before speaking a little more clearly now.

"No… no, you can't, Captain," she said, her eyes opening briefly as she turned in bed and angled her body towards Sokka. "What time is it, damn it?"

"I think it's still a little before dawn breaks," said Sokka, gazing at the window. Azula exhaled loudly, frustrated.

"I should kill him for waking me," she grunted. "But… sleep first…"

"I think he came by to make sure I went to my room on time," said Sokka, gulping. "He must have suspected we would do this…"

"I doubt he needed much guesswork to come to that conclusion," she sighed, closing her eyes again. "You always go to your room on time anyways, he didn't have to come…"

"He probably thought it was better to be safe than sorry," Sokka reasoned, sighing and leaning down to kiss her again. "I should get going."

"I suppose…" she mumbled now, but one of her hands found his forearm and held him in place for a moment. Sokka smiled.

"You don't want me to leave?" he asked, softly, and she groaned.

"It's… it's cold. It'd be warmer if you were still lying down here," she muttered, and Sokka took her hand into his to kiss her knuckles.

"Just stay under the covers and you'll be okay," said Sokka, fixing the sheets and blankets to cover her naked body properly. "I'll see you for breakfast?"

"Probably. And then tonight," she whispered, and Sokka smiled. "Work hard today, alright?"

"I'll… do my best," he said, hoping his words and nod would conceal his lack of conviction.

She held his face in place as they kissed as passionately as they could while she was still so sleepy. The exchange was nearly enough to convince Sokka to stay instead of dressing up and leaving as he had intended, but Azula pulled away once she was breathless and pushed him off the bed.

"Get going," she said, sighing. "Or I won't let you go at all."

Sokka smiled as he gathered his clothes and dressed up again. He only took his time to detail the room now, and he couldn't help but blush as he recalled it had been the home to Air Nomads many years ago. No doubt these installations, hadn't been built by such a spiritually inclined culture for what had transpired between them last night…

He kissed Azula's head before setting the uniform's hood and helmet back in place. The Princess had shrunk within the warm covers, hoping to retain some heat now that her sleeping companion was gone. It was easier to notice how low the temperatures were when he wasn't near her…

"You still there, Rui Shi?" Sokka huffed as he grabbed the doorknob. When he heard a low, exasperated groan at the other side he had his answer. "You can go back to your room already, I'm leaving now."

"Fine," Rui Shi growled, against the door. "But you'd better not stay in there despite you're saying otherwise. I've already done more than enough for you two reckless fools."

Sokka grimaced, wondering if Rui Shi truly meant those words. He wasn't surprised, let alone affected, upon hearing someone refer to him as a reckless fool, but for Azula to be included in the same lot as him…?

Sokka only left the room when Rui Shi's footsteps disappeared down the hallway. It would be for the best if he didn't show the Captain his disguise for sneaking undetected into Azula's room at night. Knowing Rui Shi, he'd wrestle the uniform right off him to prevent Sokka from incriminating him or his fellow guards in the crimes he continued to perpetrate with Azula. Still, wearing the uniform from now on wouldn't be wise, Sokka reasoned. Azula had given her guards permission not to wear it during their stay in the Temple, after all… hopefully their escapades wouldn't be at further risk because of that.

The mattress in his room was cold and lacking in quality, compared to Azula's. Maybe the bed wasn't so lousy, but it was impossible for him to give it the credit it was due when his lover wasn't with him. He sunk into the mattress, thinking of her, as per usual, and he let himself doze off…

… Only to wake up several hours later, when the sun was high enough to shine through his window. He groaned and cringed, unwilling to get out of bed until he remembered he wasn't home, let alone was he in the Barge. He was in the Northern Air Temple… and today was the fateful day when he'd begin working on Fire Lord Ozai's bombs.

The thought was so discouraging he didn't want to climb off his bed and get ready for the day at all. Yet his stomach was rumbling, and the thought of food was powerful enough to make him move. He groaned with annoyance as he sat on the bed, his hands sliding through his loose hair. The first day here had been quite wonderful, but he was afraid the rest of the month wouldn't be all that amazing.

He dressed up more warmly than usual, wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath his regular outfit, and left to fetch breakfast hastily. To his relief, he found there was still enough food left for him, though he was surprised, and undeniably disappointed, to find Azula wasn't in the room. He took his seat at the table, frowning a little as he wondered where she might be… she wasn't the only one absent, though. Only half the guards seemed to be eating at the moment. Were they sleeping in, or was Sokka the one who had done that?

"Ready for today?" Taro asked as he took his seat beside the gladiator. Sokka gulped down a mouthful of rice before nodding weakly.

"As ready as I'll be, I guess," he answered, earnestly. "Say, where's… everyone?"

"The Princess chose to take a morning bath before her breakfast," Taro said. "And many guards were done eating by now. You ought to hurry up with that, by the way. The Mechanist was asking for you not so long ago. He should be waiting for you in his study."

"Huh, alright," said Sokka, nodding and eating a little faster, yet not too fast. The more he delayed this, the better it would be for everyone in the long run.

Still, his plate was empty eventually and his hunger sated for the time being. There was no putting off the inevitable anymore. He would have wished to at least see Azula before heading to the Mechanist's study, but he suspected she would berate him for being late if she found him dawdling. He bid farewell to Taro and made his way out of the dining hall, a very unpleasant, sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

He didn't notice he was going in the wrong direction right away, confused by this different and new environment. It took him a moment to figure out his bearings again, and once he had, he finally set out on his way again to the Mechanist's study…

But he stopped on his tracks when he caught sight of Azula at the other end of the hallway, her fingers sliding through her damp hair as she returned from the bathhouse. She had been enjoying the mountains' landscape through the Temple's large windows as she walked, but she stopped as well when she caught sight of Sokka. She held back a smile, but he didn't do the same.

"Hey," he said, and she nodded in his direction.

"Morning, Sokka," she said, curtly.

Her eyes flicked left to right quickly as she assessed their surroundings: the only people around weren't likely to notice the exchange between gladiator and Princess, busy with their own matters as they were. All the same, acting too warmly towards Sokka in broad daylight wasn't advisable, despite of how she had ached to feel his lips on hers as soon as she saw him.

"Was the bathhouse any good?" he asked, and Azula shrugged.

"To be perfectly honest, the heat system isn't much of a novelty for me," she answered. "I can heat up water just fine through my bending."

"Makes sense that it wouldn't surprise you," said Sokka, with a small and uncertain smile. "Still, I'll make sure to enjoy it when I try it out."

"No doubt you shall," said Azula, as Sokka grinned more broadly now.

Azula bit her lower lip as her eyes strayed towards a closed door next to her. The passersby were gone now, and the hallway was as good as empty…

"Anyways, you've got to fetch your breakfast, so have a good meal," said Sokka. Azula nodded and stepped towards the door. Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Uh… Azula? That's not the dining hall…"

"It could be a shortcut that leads there, though," she said, shrugging innocently as she opened the door ever so slightly. "Old buildings like these can hold all sorts of secret passageways, you know…"

"Uh, right, but I don't think this would be one", said Sokka, blinking blankly as Azula entered the room. He grimaced and approached her, stepping into the room cautiously. "Azula, you should be careful not to get yourself into trouble by snooping aro-…"

The Princess closed the door so very gently before grabbing the gladiator's shirt and pushing him to the wall. To her delight, his arms were around her waist in no time, and their lips crashed together pleasantly as they greeted one another in that cold morning. Her hands moved to his face, keeping him in place as she deepened the kiss, her tongue seeking his daringly. He responded in kind, his eyes closed in unrepentant bliss as his hands caressed her over her clothes.

"Morning…" she gasped, parting from him to give him a mischievous smirk. Sokka chuckled.

"Morning to you too, my Princess," he said, pressing his forehead to hers and beaming. "You should've told me you were going to bathe early in the morning. I would have gladly joined you…"

"And everyone would have thought our simultaneous absence was too suspicious. That's why I didn't," she said, smiling and Sokka chuckled. "Though granted it would have been a lot more enjoyable if you'd been there with me. Did you get enough sleep?"

"I'm not sure, but I hope so," said Sokka, with a weak grin. "What about you?"

"Not much, but it's not that important if I slept properly or not. I'm not the one who has work to do today," she said, looking at him meaningfully. "And speaking of which, you should get going. The Mechanist must be expecting you."

"Well, he was late to greet us yesterday so I'm sure he can wait like… ten minutes? Maybe twenty?" said Sokka, with an eager smile. Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"None of that right now. You need to go," she said, leaning in to kiss him again. "I'll see you again tonight."

"Fine, fine," said Sokka, sighing in defeat, but he cupped her cheek and kissed her deeply once more, unwilling to part with her that quickly. She moaned softly by the time they parted after this latest exchange. "Tonight, for sure."

"As long as it's not risky," she said, smiling and nodding. "Good luck today."

"You too, with whatever it is that you'll do," said Sokka, grinning and pecking her lips once more before pulling away from her and straightening his clothes. His hand reached out to open the door, and with that, their charade began again. "Seriously, this weird room, a secret passageway? You know, you need to lay off the conspiracy theories once in a while, Princess. It's not good for anyone to suspect even rooms of being stuff they're not, you know?"

"Stop being ridiculous, I was merely exploring the place," Azula said, sternly, as she closed the door behind them. "It's only natural for old and large buildings like this one to have hidden passageways."

"If you say so," Sokka said, looking at her skeptically. Azula rolled her eyes.

"How about you get to work already, gladiator? You have no time to waste looking into what I'm up to. The sooner you finish your mission, the better for all of us," she said, curtly, before taking off towards the dining room.

Sokka gazed after her with a small smile before steeling himself. He had to find the Mechanist and start with this for once and for all.

He found the Mechanist's office without further distractions: after drawing in a deep breath, Sokka opened the door, and as soon as he grabbed the doorknob he heard the unmistakable rattling of objects that were collapsing on the floor messily.

He opened the door quickly now, his eyes peeled as he found the Mechanist grimacing, scrolls and books scattered around him. The man's small eyes shifted towards the door, embarrassment emblazoned on his face.

"W-welcome," he said, and Sokka raised an eyebrow before stepping into the room, stretching a hand to pull the Mechanist back to his feet.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking at the scrolls on the floor with confusion as the Mechanist rubbed the sore spots where the books had hit him.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I was merely looking for something I'd misplaced… last week's lunch," the Mechanist explained, with a weak smile. Sokka's jaw dropped. "I thought I'd left it near this shelf but…"

"Y-you misplaced last week's lunch?! H-how on earth…?" said Sokka, with a grimace.

"I often forget to eat, you see," said the Mechanist, smiling with resignation now. "My work just seems to consume me, and I can't take breaks for food or rest… so I forgot to eat my lunch a few days ago and I remembered to clean it up just now."

"Wasting good food like that…" said Sokka, looking at the Mechanist in disbelief. "That should be a crime, you know?"

"Then I'm glad it isn't one just yet, or I'd be doing time already," said the Mechanist, as he scratched his bald spot. "Ah, if only it were like that one time with the eggs… that lousy smell made it so easy to locate the food plate. But not this time, it seems…"

"Maybe someone took it away while you weren't watching," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Else the whole place would reek of whatever food you forgot to eat for a week, don't you think?"

"Probably, probably," said the Mechanist, nodding in agreement and stroking his beard. "Ah, well, if that's so then I won't worry. Anyhow, could you please help me rearrange the scrolls? Excuse me for the bother, but…"

"It's fine, it's fine…" said Sokka, leaning down to pick them up just as the spark of an idea reached the inventor.

"Oh, wait," he said, biting his lower lip. "Actually… don't put them away just yet."

"I shouldn't?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as he picked up a few scrolls in his hands.

"No, in fact… we'll be working together for some time, won't we?" said the Mechanist, smiling. "I'm thinking it would be helpful if you familiarized yourself with all the projects I've made through my career!"

"Uh… what?" said Sokka, blinking blankly as the Mechanist took a scroll and opened it, showing Sokka its contents: a design of the heating machine in the bathhouse, along with all sorts of notes scribbled through the page, including mathematical calculations that left Sokka speechless: he'd never seen anything like that.

"I think it's convenient that we both know how the other works before we undertake this difficult mission," said the Mechanist, smiling. "So, if you agree, you can look through the scrolls and see what sort of projects I've undertaken in the past. Perhaps, if you see the way I work, it will be easier to fulfill the Fire Lord's expectations. Don't you think?"

Sokka frowned as he studied at the scroll the Mechanist was still holding open. While, granted, he might need some help when it came to understanding the more complex equations, he wasn't sure that the Mechanist's idea would be all that helpful. How would his understanding of a water heater's design help them design bombs?

Yet… if this was what his current boss was asking of him, he shouldn't refuse. It wasn't bound to be a dreadful task to fulfill, if anything it promised to be rather educational, and more importantly, it would help Sokka achieve his goal of stalling the bomb development. And if he wasted their valuable time by reading scrolls instead of working hard because the Mechanist wanted him to, then it might not seem as though he was sabotaging the situation for good. It was too convenient an opportunity to let it slide.

"I… actually? Yeah," said Sokka, smiling a little. "Truth be told, it looks like you have a different way of doing things than what I'm used to. I've never seen calculations like that…"

"Ah, don't worry, I'll explain all of it as carefully and thoroughly as I can!" said the Mechanist, beaming as he led Sokka to the office's desk.

Sokka smirked to himself as he followed the Mechanist. His first day and he was already on the right track. Or perhaps it was the wrong one. At least, it was likely to be wrong in the eyes of a few, such as Princess Azula…

---

"Do I need to take a guess as to what you're going to say?" said Rui Shi, sighing as he and his current companion halted their walk in the highest courtyard of the Northern Air Temple, next to the tower where Azula's quarters were located.

Azula sighed, folding her arms over her chest as Rui Shi rested on his elbows against a railing in the empty courtyard. It was apparent that the railing was new, and not at all of Air Nomad confection, both because the Air Nomads would not need it, and because the metallic materials it was fashioned from seemed too modern compared to the rest of the buildings. A light breeze blew through the Princess's hair as she approached her guard, an uncertain frown on her face.

"I need to stop acting like there's something going on," Rui Shi said, with an almost sing-song voice. "If I go to your room in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, people will find my behavior far too suspicious…"

"I wasn't going to say that," Azula grunted, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingertips. "If anything, you might have saved us. I know I was in a foul mood about it, but little else can be expected when you wake someone at four in the morning…"

"I was only trying to watch out for you," said Rui Shi, curtly. "I had no guarantees that you two could be responsible on your own. And if you think I saved you, then I guess I wasn't that mistaken."

"It's true that we were fast asleep," Azula muttered. "And we were both a little more exhausted than usual. So maybe your intervention did help this time."

"However, you would rather I don't intervene, wouldn't you?" Rui Shi asked, with a raised eyebrow. Azula grimaced. "I'm afraid I can't promise I won't. I…"

"I know why you do it, and in all honesty, I don't blame you for it," said Azula. "But it is true that if we keep acting differently, it will be easier for others to notice there's something out of place."

"Then stop meeting with him like that and I might not have to show up at your doorstep as I did," said Rui Shi, shrugging, and Azula huffed, exasperated.

"You do realize that it won't make a difference if we stop by now, don't you?" she asked. "The damage is done, and it will stay that way until the day I die. There's nothing else anyone can do about it anymore."

"I'm aware, but if you two keep meeting up like this, word of what's happened is at further risk of getting out," said Rui Shi. "In all honesty… I thought you'd be less reckless. But then again, you've never had much common sense where he's involved…"

"It's not that simple," said Azula, gritting her teeth. Rui Shi looked at her skeptically.

"No? Why is that? Does he make you that happy?" he asked, only regretting his words after he'd finished uttering them.

Azula's nails clawed into the railing as her entire body tensed up. Rui Shi's words had a simple, talkative intent to them, and she knew it. But even so, her heart sank upon hearing them. Indeed, Sokka made her happy… and indeed, she was clinging onto that happiness as she would to dear life: in fact, she was setting that happiness as the highest priority around, instead of keeping her head level as she had been taught to.

Her father had told her, from a young age, that most emotions were unreliable and pointless. Love was something for fools to long for, not for a Princess of her caliber. She was meant to be perfect, to obey his every order, to live an exemplary and royal life. All that had gone down the drain ever since Sokka had showed up. And he had done his very best to convince her that feelings weren't a waste… that those feelings she had buried deep inside herself weren't wrong. It had taken her some time to start embracing that concept: in fact, it had taken the discovery of a new kind of fire for her to accept Sokka's ideas. But upon accepting them, it appeared she had lost sight of everything else…

"You needn't be so upset, I was merely asking… never mind," said Rui Shi, grimacing as Azula took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Captain," she whispered, startling him. "It's true that I've put you through too much with my selfish urges. I ought to make amends for it somehow."

"I said it didn't matter, Princess, I understand that… well, I understand that I don't understand, to be perfectly honest," he said, frowning.

"You don't have to understand. In fact, in your line of work, it would be best if you never did," said Azula sighing. "And considering all the services you've provided, I guess the best thing I should do, after having tormented you as I have with my selfishness, is to find a way to spare your life if worst comes to worst."

"What… what do you mean?" said Rui Shi, immediately alert upon hearing such ominous words.

"I could recommend you for a promotion," Azula said, tapping the railing. "I could have you raised into my father's Imperial Guards. If things between me and Sokka were ever discovered, which I hope they aren't, then you can feign ignorance and I can pretend it happened after you were promoted into superior service. This way you wouldn't be held responsible for my…"

"B-but… no," said Rui Shi, his eyes widening. Azula frowned and looked at him skeptically.

"No?" she said again. "What do you mean, no? Captain, this is the only possibility I can think of to keep you alive despite the circumstances. You'd be a fool not to…"

"I don't wish to stop guarding you," said Rui Shi, and Azula huffed.

"Is there just no pleasing you, Captain?" she asked, burying her face in her hands. "The only other way in which you'll get away unscathed is if I become Fire Lord, since, if I do, I'll have my way with my every controversial decision. But considering the circumstances, I'm not going to become Fire Lord until my father dies, so it means I'll have to wait until I'm… I don't know, around fifty or sixty-years-old? Sounds likely that we'll be able to keep a secret for that long, huh?"

"Well, that is, unless…" said Rui Shi, frowning. Azula's eyes darted towards him with a glare.

"Don't even say it," she said. "I'll hear nothing about assassination attempts on my father. I'd never have any part in something like that."

"I didn't think you would," said Rui Shi. "But it's either keeping your father satisfied or finding your happiness with your slave. You can't have both things, Princess."

Azula frowned, and Rui Shi glanced at her warily. Was that the mask of determination, or was it merely frustration over not having her way with this matter? He knew first-hand that the Princess wasn't used to being denied whatever she set her mind to, and one way or another she'd find a way to obtain what she sought. Still, could she figure a safe way to keep the gladiator by her side while remaining loyal to her father? Rui Shi feared it would prove impossible.

"I guess I can't," she muttered, with a deep sigh. Yet Rui Shi didn't think this was genuine resignation. She was merely thinking, hard, of a solution, a way to preserve her happiness, despite it might get them all killed.

"Don't misunderstand my intentions, Princess," he said, lowering his eyes. "Despite it all, I… I guess I am glad that you've found happiness, even if I'm not that pleased about who you found it with. It's only…"

"That's not as important as safety," Azula mused. "Your job is to keep me safe and sound, not to keep me happy."

"Well, that's why the gladiator is doing the second thing and not me," said Rui Shi, and with a harsh glare from Azula he swallowed hard again. "I guess that was slightly out of line, wasn't it?"

"This entire conversation is out of line, technically," said Azula, matter-of-factly before huffing and shaking her head. "I'll figure out ways to reduce the potential casualties, Captain. If someone should take the fall for what I've done, it's me and me alone."

"You alone?" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow. "But the gladiator…"

"I will not have him die either, in case you thought I would," said Azula, rolling her eyes. Rui Shi nodded.

"I didn't think you wanted him to die, but I'm afraid that avoiding that fate won't be easy for him," said Rui Shi. "Both because of his line of work and because of what you two are up to. I'd think he's aware of it, isn't he? That… that he just might have to die for you, so to speak, because of this."

"Of course he is," said Azula, sighing.

"Then he cares enough about you to not be deterred by death, even," said Rui Shi. "But that's still foolish of him either way…"

"It would be, but fortunately for him, I care enough not to let him die," said Azula, curtly. "One way or another, I'll find a solution, Captain. Until then, please continue to fulfill your duties in the ways you believe necessary, and keep in mind to avoid detection if you show up to wake us again. Understood?"

"Understood. Still, Princess…" said Rui Shi, looking at Azula apprehensively. "I'm sorry if I said anything I shouldn't have. I know… I know that you cherish this a lot more than I can understand, and I will learn to accept it in time. It's a little difficult at times, but…"

"You needn't force yourself to accept, let alone to like, what's happening. If I were in your position, Captain, I can't say I would have been as patient and loyal as you've been," Azula whispered.

"I beg to differ," said Rui Shi. "You have always been loyal to your father to no end. Had you been a Royal Guard, surely that loyalty would have been as mine is towards you."

"Really?" said Azula, looking at Rui Shi with a skeptical smile. "You seem to hold me in far too high regards, Captain, considering I might be the death of you…"

Rui Shi started to smile as well, but before he could answer Azula's words, a loud cry echoed through the air:

"INCOMIIIIING!"

Both Azula and Rui Shi jumped back when a glider came flying straight towards the courtyard. The man manipulating it wasn't a stranger, though: Fei Li seemed to be having the time of his life thanks to this new flying contraption, despite he took a rough landing and fell over himself, the glider spiraling out of control and crashing against a tree.

Azula and Rui Shi blinked blankly as they watched him struggle to make sense out of his surroundings, a goofy smile on his face. Rui Shi naturally stepped towards him to help him find his bearings, and another flying contraption landed in the courtyard just as he reached Fei Li. Azula raised an eyebrow as the Mechanist's son handled his wheelchair's controls skillfully, landing properly as he skidded to a halt.

"Sorry about that, Princess!" Teo exclaimed, removing his orange goggles and smiling at her apologetically. "We were practicing down below, but he got a little adventurous…"

"No surprises there, not from Fei Li, of all people," said Azula, with a weak smirk. "You seem to be as good at gliding as your father said you were, Teo."

"O-oh, he… he said something about my gliding skills?" said Teo, his eyes brightening. Azula nodded.

"He claimed that you were the best glider around, in fact," Azula said. "If the other refugees do it as poorly as Fei Li does, then no wonder he boasts of your skills at the craft…"

"Oh, not at all, the others are pretty good too," said Teo, smiling. "It takes a while to get used to it, but once you get the hang of gliding, you can fly like a bird no problem!"

"The Princess doesn't need gliding for that, pal," said Fei Li, stumbling as he stood up with Rui Shi's help. His smile still hadn't waned. "She flies just fine by herself, you know?"

"Hey, it's true that you said something like that yesterday," said Teo, raising his eyebrows and looking at Azula inquisitively. "What exactly does he mean by that? How do you fly?"

Azula raised an eyebrow, wondering if it would be adequate to put on this show right now. She had meant to go scouting the mountains with Xin Long as soon as she had finished talking with Rui Shi, but there was no urgency to their scouting trip after all, was there? Considering how delighted her dragon was by chasing small critters at the base of the mountain, it didn't seem there should be.

"Well, I did say I would do it…" she said, shrugging and taking a few steps back. Teo raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't stay there, by the way. For your own safety, keep some distance from me when I'm about to fly, Teo."

"O-okay, then," said Teo, nodding and wheeling himself away, followed by Fei Li and Rui Shi, who seemed rather perplexed by Azula's demonstration.

Azula took a deep breath but smiled a little all the same. She alerted Xin Long that she'd need him soon, just before bringing her hands to her chest, still breathing slowly. She eased herself into complete calm and took one step forward, stretching out her arms and unleashing an inferno of blue flames that catapulted her into the open sky.

"Woah!" Teo exclaimed, amazed as he inched further away from the flames. Even Fei Li and Rui Shi watched with unabashed aw as the Princess's silhouette vanished behind a trail of blue blazes.

Azula smirked to herself as she sped up, watching the gliders that flew around the mountain as they maneuvered away from her. Some of them were her own guards, well-aware of the fact that blue flames were their princess's trademark firebending style. Others were refugees, confused and surprised as to how there was a firebender flying through the skies powered by nothing other than her bending skills.

She scoured the skies, hovering well above the other gliders as she kept her arms stretched out firmly. Firepower continued to pour through her extremities, adding speed to her flight. She passed near the other towers of the Air Temple, leaving only blue fire in her wake, but that alone was enough to catch the eye of a certain Water Tribe man. He lifted his gaze from the desk he was sitting at upon noticing the haze of blue through one of the windows in the Mechanist's office.

A smile spread over his features when the figure flew past the window again, now at further distance from the tower. Naturally, it could only be Azula.

"Showing them what flying looks like, huh?" he asked softly, still grinning despite he could only see the lingering flames she had left behind after herself.

"Did you say something?" the Mechanist asked, startling Sokka.

"N-no, no, I was just thinking aloud," Sokka said, smiling awkwardly at the man.

"Oh, talking to yourself is very helpful, yes. If you need any help deciphering my handwriting, let me know!" said the Mechanist, and Sokka nodded as he returned to the scroll he had been reading, the one that detailed the design of the finger-safe knife sharpener.

Azula continued to fly until her limbs started to weaken. Wasting all her power in a mere flight demonstration wasn't that wise, so to everyone's surprise, she stopped boosting herself through her bending and allowed gravity to reclaim her. Naturally, all the people with gliders and the ones in the courtyard were aghast upon seeing her plummeting to the ground suddenly…

Rui Shi breathed out in relief when a dark, serpentine shape came flying from below at full speed, flying straight towards Azula so she would land on the dragon saddle. The landing was quite brusque, but Azula smiled and patted Xin Long's hair gratefully as he flew with pride back to the same courtyard Azula had set out from.

"Great job, Xin," Azula told him, as they slowed upon descending in the open area.

To no surprise, Teo's eyes were wide as open doors now, and so was his mouth. Not only was he already astonished by the sight of the flying Princess, but he was in complete awe now before the majestic dark dragon she was riding.

"T-that was… that was amazing!" he exclaimed, breathless and disbelieving. "It's a dragon? An actual dragon?!"

"You can see him for yourself, can't you?" Azula said, smiling.

"I would like to ask you not to be so dramatic in your flight displays, Princess," said Rui Shi, a grimace on his face. "For a moment there…"

"You had thought I would drop to my death?" Azula asked, with a weak smirk. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, I'm afraid."

"B-but that was seriously fantastic, Princess!" Teo exclaimed, still excited as Xin Long approached him, intrigued by his wheelchair. "I had no idea there were still dragons around, but…"

"I guess gossip doesn't travel that fast outside the Fire Nation, huh?" said Fei Li.

"She has had a dragon for around a year now," Rui Shi said, and Azula nodded. "She tamed the only one to be found in around thirty years or so."

"Seriously?" said Teo, looking at Azula, awestruck. "Then you're a dragon rider. Just… woah."

"And now you understand why I know my ways around flying as well as I do," said Azula, nodding. "It's both thanks to my bending technique and Xin Long."

"Awesome," said Teo, grinning, and Fei Li stepped forward.

"But it wouldn't hurt to learn one more way of flying, would it, Princess?" Fei Li said, grinning as he gestured at his glider. Azula raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Well… it might not be such a bad idea, actually," said Azula, with a smirk.

It didn't take long for the Princess to learn her way through gliding, albeit she found this system far too slow for her liking. It made for enjoyable flights and sight-seeing from above, yet the gliders weren't as easy to control as her own fire or her dragon. Drafts of any kind could make the glider lose its way through the air, prompting Azula to conclude that, while not an entirely bad system, she would rather stick to the ones she was used to.

Her guards, on the other hand, were enjoying themselves fully with this new activity. Even Rui Shi was convinced eventually into taking one of the gliders and trying his luck with it. The only guard who was forced to stay in solid grounds, after a failed attempt at gliding, was Taro, who was short of breath far too easily in these heights. He was left to watch the others, sometimes accompanied by Xin Long and sometimes by himself, if the dragon decided to have fun by chasing and toying with the gliding people.

Most the day passed them by and, busy as they were flying, they barely registered it until the skies began to darken. Still, nighttime arrived much faster in these regions during fall and winter, as Teo promptly explained. Most the guards, and the Princess as well, were slightly put off by the drastic differences between their home and this environment. Not only was it colder, but it was dry and far too elevated; it wouldn't be easy for them to adjust to their temporary living circumstances.

"Some people got used to it faster than others," Teo explained over lunch, with his usual friendly smile. "Hong Ji, for instance, had to take like two years to adapt to the new environment. But most of us were faster than that, so it might be you guys will get used to it for this month too."

"Perhaps we will," a guard answered, Tai Wei. "We did adjust to being the Princess's guards quickly enough, after all."

"Yeah, that was such a challenge that this will be easy as pie in comparison," Fei Li said, with a smirk. Teo raised an eyebrow.

"Why's that?" he asked, looking at the Princess. Again, she sat at the far end of the table, and a smirk spread over her face as she ate her tomato-carrot and cabbage salad.

"The Princess tested us all in many ways before we could become her guards," said Rui Shi, and Teo whistled, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

"So, you guys weren't just assigned to her?" he asked, and the guards shook their heads.

"Members of the Royal Family are allowed to hand-pick their Royal Guards once they're seventeen-years-old," Azula explained. "I naturally decided to assemble my guards as soon as possible, but not just anyone would do. I had a few tests for them to pass in order to prove they deserved to be my guards."

"Wow," said Teo. "What sort of tests?"

"First of all, there was the mandatory firebending test," Azula said. "I would have no guards below average in that area, naturally. But then there were other tests…"

"Individual tests," Rui Shi added, with a small grimace. Next to him, Taro smiled awkwardly.

"The Princess needed to know if we were trustworthy, see," he said. "Because of that, she gave us a lot of… well, unexpected commands."

"She ordered me to sing the Fire Nation's Anthem to the Fire Lord every single time I caught sight of him," said Fei Li, his eyes widening at the memory. "She didn't tell the Fire Lord what was happening, though, s-so he thought I was mocking him and I damn near paid an awful price for that…"

"I was to deliver a very insulting speech she had written for the Ember Island Players," said Taro, gulping. "I was to memorize it and speak it when their group was invited for the Festivals Week, they had a performance… I was nearly run down by angry actors and playwrights, and she had forbidden me from explaining who I was, let alone who had sent me to deliver the speech in the first place."

"Now, now, Taro, I needed to make certain you could survive an angry mob…" Azula said, a devious smirk on her face. Taro actually smiled and shook his head.

"Fortunately I did, though I still don't know how," he confessed.

"My test was to learn how to operate every system of her Barge," said Tai Wei. "With a time limit of two days, and only so she'd test me on what I'd learned on the very next day. I had never studied anything as desperately as I did that time…"

More guards shared their stories, and each one brought a prouder smirk to Azula's face. It seemed the memories of her first days with her guards were rather amusing to recall: some men had failed her tests, of course, and thus they weren't here today… the ones that were had managed to obey her every order, no matter how reckless or dangerous it was. She had needed to know she could rely on them, after all, and they had proven themselves without fail.

"And what about you?" Teo asked Rui Shi, still chuckling after the last story, from a guard who had been forced to communicate through nothing but animal noises for an entire week.

"Me?" said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow. "Well… since I was deemed the best firebender after the first test, the Princess figured I ought to be the Captain of her guards, but prowess alone wouldn't get me the role. So… she gave me an array of commands, including finding out if that rumored manuscript by Fire Lord Sozin existed and, if it did, I had to bring it to her. I had to test her food for poison before she had it, and that was just…"

"It wasn't half as bad as you say it was, Captain," said Azula, rolling her eyes as Rui Shi looked at her skeptically.

"It was so spicy I could have bent through my mouth without meaning to," he explained, as the other guards chuckled and Azula smirked. "It was but a small bite and I could barely take it. That much spice ought to be poison on its own, but apparently it wasn't for her…"

"You exaggerate, Captain, honestly," said Azula, as Teo laughed as well.

"And of course, she tested my common sense by giving me commands I should not follow, only to see whether I gave more importance to loyalty than standing my ground…"

"And I guess you did as she expected you to, didn't you?" Teo said.

"Well, I protested when the command was far too illogical, no doubt… but if she insisted, I would have to do it regardless," said Rui Shi, shrugging. "We swear our vows to the Fire Lord, but our loyalty belongs to the Family member we're serving. We must be ready to sacrifice everything for them, even our very lives."

"W-well, but the Princess wouldn't have you do that, would she?" said Teo, with an insecure smile. Rui Shi raised his eyebrows.

"Perhaps not," he said, his gaze shifting towards Azula, who was frowning a little. "But even then, I would be ready to give my life if need be."

"And so are the rest of us," said Tai Wei, sitting upright beside him. "As we're meant to be, of course. Else we wouldn't have passed her tests, right?"

Azula smiled a little upon hearing that, though Rui Shi's intervention was slightly off-putting. It was true that he was expected to give his life for her if need be, but surely he had always imagined himself dying for her in a battlefield, or saving her life from assassins, if anything… dying because of Azula's clandestine relationship surely was the most shameful and least honorable possibility of all. Despite her insistence to maintain her relationship with Sokka, she couldn't deny how unsettling a prospect that had to be for her guard.

"Heh, you guys must be far more intimidating than you look like, then," Teo said, with a grin. "I guess I've just seen you all in your more casual behavior."

"Indeed, and be relieved that's the case, Teo," said Azula, nodding. Just then, she felt a small pang of pain on her lower abdomen. A certain kind of pain she knew quite well, and that was unrelated to the guilt she felt for causing trouble for her loyal Captain.

She kept a straight face, despite the unpleasant sensation, before moving to stand up. Her guards nearly bolted to their feet as well, but she commanded them to remain seated through a hand gesture.

"I will take my leave now, there are some Air Nomad scrolls I'm curious about," she said, before looking at Teo. "Though I will request your assistance in vacating the bathhouse for my use again, if you would be so kind…"

"O-oh, yes. Sure," said Teo, surprised. Nobody ever took two baths in a single day in the Northern Air Temple, but the Princess hailed from a rather different culture and lifestyle, after all. "I'll get to it right away."

Azula breathed out slowly as she followed Teo outside, ignoring the stares of her guards, especially that of Rui Shi, which was clouded with concern. But if her suspicions regarding the origin of the pain in her abdomen were accurate, then it meant the Captain of her Royal Guards would not be facing deadly peril for his performance as her protector just yet.

---

Sokka was worn out by the time he finally asked the Mechanist for a break at night. His eyes were dry, his fingers itchy after having handled so many dusty scrolls and scrapbooks. His stomach had been growling so loudly the Mechanist could hear it, and when his vision became hazy, he forced himself to ask his current boss if he was allowed to stop for the time being. The Mechanist answered positively right away, and Sokka scrambled out of the office at haste, desperate to have a bite of whatever food he could find.

He was too late to catch up with the others at dinner, so he ate alone, helping himself to whatever food he could still find in the communal kitchens. He thought the Mechanist might join him, but the man was a workaholic: it didn't seem he left his office unless it was to work on further projects outside it. Sokka didn't miss the man's company that much, though: spending an entire day cooped up in an office, reading technical papers non-stop, and needing the man's help to understand most of them, had been far more taxing than he had expected. What he did miss, though, was being near the Princess. Meeting Azula again was certain to brighten his spirits after such a draining day.

He washed up quickly in the bathhouse, but he would have enjoyed the soak in the hot water a lot more if he hadn't been thinking of the water heater's design, which he had analyzed earlier that day. Numbers and equations kept rushing through his mind, and a moment that should have relaxed him didn't take away any of his stress.

The temple was deserted, even more than the previous night, by the time he left the bath house. He pondered his options briefly, unsure if Azula would be waiting for him indeed. She might be sleeping already… so he resolved to stop at her room, and if she didn't answer he'd leave. He was tired as well but spending some time with her was certain to help him forget all about the endless string of formulas scrolling through his mind.

He took a deep breath and stopped at her door, knocking softly but loudly enough for her to hear in case she was awake.

"Hey, Azula?" he whispered, biting his lower lip. There was no answer. His heart sank. "Are you awake or…? I guess not."

He sighed and pressed his head to the door, a grimace on his face. Perhaps he'd had it coming, since he'd spent every night without fail by her side during the past weeks. His luck had never lasted this long before, and he had known his good streak would end sooner than…

The door swung open and he nearly fell as he lost balance. Azula jumped back, startled by his clumsy stumble, and she looked at him with wide eyes as he regained his footing.

"Are you alright?" she asked him tentatively, as he stared right back into her eyes. For a moment Azula feared he'd start crying, given the expression on his face… so she wasn't all that surprised when his arms surrounded her in a tight embrace, a sigh of relief leaving his lips.

"Hell, I missed you," he said, smiling as he held her close. Azula rolled her eyes but smiled as well, patting his back and nodding.

"It sure looks like you did," she said, pushing him away briefly just so she could close the door. "Was it that bad?"

"It was… exhausting," Sokka answered truthfully, with a grimace. "I think my brain is about to explode after all the information I could barely process. But I'm with you now and that makes everything so much better…"

His smile became a lot more heartfelt and innocent now, and Azula had a hard time holding back a smile of her own as he leaned down to kiss her softly.

"I really needed to see you," he said. "Things make more sense when you're around…"

"I suppose, but…" said Azula, swallowing hard. Sokka frowned and looked at her insecurely.

"But…? D-did I wake you?" he asked, flinching. Azula shook her head and he sighed in relief again.

"That's not it," she muttered. "It's only that… you might not get what you were looking for tonight."

"Uh… huh?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "What exactly…?"

"Let's just say I confirmed a few hours ago that I'm not pregnant," said Azula, with a curt grin.

Sokka blinked a few times, staring at her in confusion until the facts clicked in his head. He lifted a finger and opened his mouth, still looking at her warily.

"D-does that mean you're… uh, not feeling very well right now?" he asked, with an insecure grimace. "I figure the way you confirmed it was through, well… blood?"

"Yep," said Azula, nodding. "I suppose I should praise Mai's tea once we return. It's a remarkable brew, considering we've been quite persistent with sex the past few weeks…"

"It's kind of hard not to be, though," said Sokka, with a small smile, but he shook his head eyeing her with concern. "Still, though, if you're in your days then… do you need anything in particular? Should I leave you be? I know it can be tricky to deal with the nasty time of the month, so if you'd rather I leave you alone…"

"You know it's tricky?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"Eh… grew up with a sister in a very small igloo," said Sokka, with an awkward smile. "When you live in such cramped spaces it's hard to keep secrets from one another, and Katara wasn't that secretive about her periods…"

"Oh. Well, that does explain it, surprisingly," said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka smiled as well.

"She had a knack for being a little more aggressive than usual those days," he confessed. "And I learned the hard way not to comment about it because she'd freeze me for being an inconsiderate jerk… and in the meantime, Gran Gran would just sit in the corner whispering to herself about how glad she was for menopause."

Azula couldn't help but laugh softly as Sokka smiled. He was glad his strange recollections of his youth in the Water Tribe would amuse her.

"So anyhow, I get that you might want to be alone for tonight," he said, with a weak grin. "We'll do whatever makes you more comfortable."

"That's awfully considerate, coming from an inconsiderate jerk," said Azula, smiling at him. "Though… would you want to stay? I mean, we really shouldn't have sex in these circumstances, so…"

"Well… that's not all there is to this, you know?" said Sokka, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Sex with you is the most extraordinary experience ever and it makes me feel alive and elated, no doubt, but what really matters when we're together is that I'm with you, you know?"

Azula raised her eyebrows, blushing slightly, and Sokka smiled, stretching a hand to caress her cheek.

"Any time I can spend with you is precious, even if we're just sitting around talking," he said. "If you thought that all there was to this was sex… well, I'm afraid you're wrong. As I said, it's mind-blowing and I seriously love it… yep, seriously. I mean, it's just amazing…"

"I'm glad to hear that," said Azula, with a crooked grin. Sokka chuckled.

"But if that's not a possibility, then I'd gladly do anything else," he said. "If you want me gone, I'll go, but if you want me to help you somehow, I gladly will."

"That's quite generous of you. Still, I think you should do what you want to," she said. Sokka smiled. "Ultimately, it's up to you whether you want to stick around or not."

"Up to me? Then I'll definitely stay in your room," he said, grinning. "Forever. And I'll never go back to work. Yep, that's exactly what I want."

"What in the name of…?" said Azula, as Sokka's smile waned and turned to a grimace of despair. He walked towards a chair in the room and sank in it, rubbing his face with his hands. "Alright, was it that bad?"

"The guy's crazy," said Sokka, sighing. "He barely seems human, if you ask me. He's so obsessed with his work that he can't even be bothered to eat, and I'm sure he doesn't ever sleep either. I… I seriously don't know how he does it. The real problem is, though, that it looks like he expects me to be as tireless as he is! And since he never takes breaks, I never take breaks, and since he never ate then I didn't get to have lunch… it's been a very long, tiresome day and I really wish I didn't have to return to that office any time soon…"

"Food deprivation. Your worst nightmare, no doubt," said Azula, smiling as she walked towards the mattress, settling on it as she stared at Sokka. "Did you make any progress, though?"

"Uh, no," said Sokka, and Azula was surprised he even looked guilty as he confessed the truth. "Not in regards of building bombs, at least. I mean, I learned a lot of things… I think. I mean, I'm not sure if I'll remember most of it tomorrow, because there was too much going on. Y-you see, he had the great idea to make me read up about every project he's developed, so that I'd learn about his style and the way he works… he had to explain most of the projects thoroughly, because a lot of stuff was completely new to me, and the more questions I asked, the more confusing everything was! In the end I just… feel like I need a few days to digest all the information. It was educational for sure, but yeah, in regards of the bombs, there was really no progress. Sorry about that."

"Well, it's only the first day. Perhaps he expected all his work to inspire you somehow," said Azula, with a skeptical smirk. "Still, I figure you've made up for the lack of food…"

"I got some dinner scraps, yeah. I cleaned up too, because my entire body was prickling after spending all day handling those dusty scrolls," said Sokka, shaking his head. "Not a fun day, at all."

"That's a pity," said Azula. "But it does make some sense. You can't start working with a serious project like this if you have no grasp on the theories to sustain it, and no idea how to design a project. So perhaps this drag of a day won't be so bad in the long run."

"Perhaps," said Sokka, nodding and sighing as he slumped on his chair. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Did you have a more entertaining day, or did the monthly visitor ruin it for you?"

"It wasn't that bad," Azula admitted. "I tried out the gliders, flew with bending and with Xin Long…"

"Oh? Tried the g-gliders?" said Sokka, his eyebrows twitching. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Did you read the gliders' design project too?" she asked, and Sokka shook his head.

"Not yet… so I'll probably run into it tomorrow," he said, hanging his head now. Azula looked at him questioningly.

"Are you going to keep doing this forever?" she asked. "I mean… does he plan on ever getting to the actual bomb work or will he have you reading all his scrolls until it's time for us to leave?"

"I don't know, honestly," said Sokka, gulping. The idea was both horrifying and helpful, since it would be a great way to sabotage the mission… but reading more of those scrolls would make his brain collapse of information overload. "I'd expect him not to, but for now, that's all he's tasked me with."

"Hmm…" Azula's voice sounded menacing for a moment, but she shrugged carelessly afterwards. "Perhaps it was only because you were starting today. Surely by tomorrow he'll have enough sense to give you real work."

"Yeah, maybe," said Sokka, nodding, as the Princess dropped on her bed. Sokka gazed at her before approaching her, stretching a hand to stroke her cheek. "Don't worry. I'll probably have real stuff to report to you from tomorrow onwards."

"You'd better," said Azula, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "So… are you just going to stand there?"

"Not if you want me to do anything else," said Sokka, grinning and sitting at the edge of the mattress.

Azula groaned and shifted towards him, settling her head on his lap and closing her eyes. Sokka's fingers laced through her smooth hair and she hummed in approval. Yet he took notice of a small detail as she rested on his legs: there was a small crease between her eyebrows, caused by a soft frown.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, softly. Azula groaned. "Uh, is it the pain? Bothering you too much?"

"Not that much," she whispered. "That's not that I'm thinking about, though."

"Care to share?" Sokka said, his knuckles caressing her cheek. Azula sighed and turned on his lap, opening her eyes again.

"I think today was the first time in ages that I spent most the day around my guards," she muttered. Sokka raised an eyebrow. "And after being at the receiving end of Rui Shi's countless, and well-founded, reservations, it was hard to keep from worrying about whether or not I'll cause their deaths simply because I wanted to be with you."

Sokka frowned as well now and Azula sighed once more.

"Do you ever feel like a completely selfish prick?" she asked him, with an ironic smile. "Because somehow I couldn't stop thinking I'm one through the day."

"I guess I do know the feeling," Sokka confessed, gritting his teeth. "Things wouldn't be all that bad if we were the only ones to face consequences for it, huh?"

"I'd rather you didn't have to face any either," Azula whispered, and Sokka smiled. "But apparently the only way to avoid that would be for my father to die suddenly. If I succeed him as Fire Lord, I could see to it that you remain safe and sound…"

"Fire Lord?" Sokka asked. "Does that mean we'd be allowed to, uh, I don't know, even get married just because you're Fire Lord and you call the shots when it comes to everything?"

"Don't get your hopes high," Azula said, leveling a significant stare at Sokka, which he answered with a guilty grin. "That sort of thing isn't going to happen, I won't have my father die just like that. So, if we're to get-… wait a minute. Did you just… say we could get married?"

"I was just talking nonsense, it's all," said Sokka, with an insecure smile. "I know I'm getting ahead of myself and daydreaming too much, so don't take me that seriously."

"Right," said Azula, looking at him skeptically.

"So, you really don't think that sort of thing can happen" he said, with a sigh. "Your father will rule for many more years, and while he does, we'll be putting everyone else in mortal peril by doing what we're doing."

"Exactly," said Azula. "And while I don't want us to stop this, I just keep thinking I should protect them somehow. If someone should take the fall for this, it should be me."

"There's no way you're dealing with the consequences by yourself," said Sokka, cupping her cheek. "We're in this together and you know it. I'm not going to turn my back on you just because you think you can take on everything on your own."

"That's quite gallant, truly," said Azula, smiling a little at him. "But I'd still rather we avoid that sort of thing, both for our sakes and for my guards. They're good men. They don't deserve to die because of us."

"Nobody deserves to die because two people start a relationship, but this isn't a normal situation, huh?" said Sokka, sighing. "Is there anything you can do to protect them?"

"I suggested granting the Captain a promotion, if possible, but he doesn't seem fond of the idea," Azula said. At Sokka's questioning stare she explained: "A promotion into my father's Imperial Guards, so he wouldn't have to face consequences if we're ever discovered."

"And the others?" Sokka asked, and Azula shrugged.

"Truth be told, their ignorance of our relationship will only enrage my father further. He'd take them for unreliable and useless guards, since they couldn't protect me from you…" Azula mused. "I guess the best thing I could do, for their sakes, would be to dissemble my guard in its entirety. I could make a case, perhaps, that I won't need them because I have a dragon now and because I'm one of the most skilled firebenders in the world…"

"Would your father accept that?" Sokka asked, and Azula shrugged.

"He might still demand that I take guards with me for long trips, probably, but this way they won't be responsible for my personal safety and protection under all circumstances," she said. "It's the best idea I have at the moment."

"I'm glad you've thought of something already," said Sokka. "But you don't have to make your ideas a reality just yet, fortunately. You're not pregnant, so that's one less thing that could give us away. If things start looking too dangerous in the future you can dissemble your guards, or, if you come up with a better solution, we can take a less radical route instead. I figure you wouldn't want to lose them…"

"No, I wouldn't. But it's slightly nerve-wrecking to carry out a secret relationship when you have almost a dozen bodyguards watching your every move," said Azula, with a sarcastic smirk. Sokka chuckled. "Still, you're right. There's one less factor of risk now that we know I didn't conceive anything. It may keep us from having sex for around a week, but despite that, it's a true relief that I'm not pregnant…"

"I guess it is," said Sokka, with a sad smile. Azula raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically.

"You guess?" she repeated, and Sokka gulped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"W-well, I just had thought about a few things… again, I know I daydream too much," he said, with an awkward laugh.

Azula pushed herself up and looked at him skeptically, prompting Sokka to blush a little.

"What exactly were you daydreaming about now?" she asked. "Please tell me it's not about oral sex again…"

"N-no, of course not!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing more. Azula smirked.

"Then what was it now?" she asked, and Sokka scratched the back of his neck.

"Well… when we were still on the ship, I'd spend the days thinking about the hardships we might have to deal with if worst came to worst. So, I thought… that if you had been pregnant despite everything, maybe we could have orchestrated a plan to make sure the child could be born safely, without your father's awareness of what was going on."

"Okay… how?" said Azula, looking at Sokka with confusion but with genuine curiosity as well. Sokka breathed deeply.

"First off, you'd have to find an excuse of some sort to relocate to some distant place in the Colonies," said Sokka. "Something that allows you to be far from the public eye and from your father, so he won't know what's happening for good. You'd take me with you, Song should come too because she has midwife experience, and I had thought Rui Shi ought to be around for the sake of security too. He already knows about us, so it wouldn't surprise him much to hear that, well…"

"That I would be carrying some hypothetical baby," said Azula, raising an eyebrow. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"Exactly," he said. "So, the plan would be for your excuse to last for like… a year or two, perhaps. That way the kid would grow big enough to stop needing you around all the time, and by then we'd be able to return to the Fire Nation."

"And once we returned, how would we explain this sudden kid that showed up with us?" said Azula, with a raised eyebrow. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"I thought we could pretend we had found it during our travels somehow, perhaps claim its parents abandoned it. If the baby were a firebender, you could even have it as a protégé of yours. I don't know how it works exactly, but maybe you could have a room set up for the baby in the Palace… And if it were a non-bender, I could pretend to adopt it, despite it's truly my child, and that way we get to keep our kid around anyhow."

"Well, a fake adoption sounds better than pretending you fathered some illegitimate kid while we were gone," said Azula, with a curt grin. Sokka shuddered and pouted.

"Uh, yeah, fake adoption all the way," he said, as Azula chuckled.

"Still, the kid might look like either of us," she said. "Wouldn't that be suspicious?"

"Likely, but we could just pass it off as a coincidence. Maybe," said Sokka, with a half-smile. Azula shook her head but smiled as well.

"So, I'd have to be isolated for nine months or so…?" she said.

"Not really, only when you start showing," said Sokka, reassuringly. "Some women in my tribe announced they were pregnant, and it would be months before you could actually notice for yourself. You wouldn't have to be in hiding for that long."

"Still, it would be well over three months…" Azula said, with a raised eyebrow. But Sokka caught her meaning immediately.

"No need to worry, you could write an authorization letter for either Rui Shi or Song to sponsor me in whatever fights I might have," said Sokka. "It'd be better if Rui Shi did it, since he's not a slave…"

"So, you really thought of everything, huh?" Azula asked, with a small smile. Sokka chuckled guiltily. "I'm not sure if I should be amazed or if I should tease you for having so much leisure time."

"Well, I did have a lot of it on the ship," said Sokka. "It's been a little hard to indulge in weird fantasies today, sadly."

"You're really something else, you know," Azula whispered, stretching a hand towards his. Sokka blinked, staring at her in confusion. "You're probably the only person in the world who can create an actual fantasy out of a very risky and unwanted situation such as a child born out of wedlock. None of these possibilities even crossed my mind… granted, they're far-fetched possibilities, perhaps too unlikely to be realized, but despite it all, it doesn't sound so bad."

"I'm glad it doesn't," said Sokka, grinning as he rubbed her knuckles with a thumb. "I know there are other, final ways to deal with accidental pregnancies, but…"

"But you'd like to be a father… wouldn't you?" Azula asked. Sokka sighed and shrugged.

"It's not like it's my ultimate life goal, of course," he said. "But well… ever since I was a kid, I just imagined myself as my father's successor as chief of the Water Tribe. And because I wanted to be like him, then I imagined myself as a father too."

Azula gritted her teeth as Sokka smiled weakly at her. He stretched back, lying on the bed now, still holding her hand.

"It was a stupid dream, though. I just wanted to be like him, there was nothing else to it," Sokka whispered.

"So, you don't want children, or do you?" Azula asked, leaning down on the bed as well and resting next to him. "Is it an optional thing, perhaps?"

"It's… it's really not that important anymore," said Sokka, smiling at her. "I was a silly kid back then, and I had no idea what I was dreaming of. I mean, I never even thought about what sort of responsibilities came with being a father and I didn't even care about what my wife would be like. All I knew was that I'd be a father and that I'd tell my son all about my adventures as I brought the Fire Nation down all by myself. There was a lot I didn't understand back then as I do now."

"And what's that?" Azula asked, and Sokka turned on the bed, rubbing her cold arms with his hands.

"That I'd love to have a family, but that starts with you," he said, grinning. "I didn't understand what being in love was, let alone what a relationship would be like, so I simplified everything in my mind, assuming that being a fun father would be the best thing ever. But now I think that, if we can't have kids because our circumstances won't allow it, that's fine. I don't need that sort of thing. You're my top priority, and you always will be."

"But…" said Azula, looking at him in confusion. "That's not fair to you, is it? I mean… you must have dreamt of a good life with a normal family, a normal wife, normal children…"

"And you think that'd be better than what we have?" said Sokka, with a smile. "Maybe I used to think that it would be better to have a normal, boring life, but now…"

"Boring?" Azula asked, with a chuckle. Sokka snickered.

"Yeah, boring," he said. "I mean, look at you. You're extraordinary in every way, and I didn't ever think my future wife would be anything like that…"

"Don't tell me," said Azula, with a raised eyebrow. "As long as she could cook, do chores, and deliver children, anything was good."

"Hey, that was five-year-old Sokka's train of thought, I'm no longer that simplistic," said Sokka, and Azula snorted.

"Right. I seem to remember you claimed to be a simple man who ended up getting caught in complicated things…" she said, looking at him skeptically. "The simple man doesn't mind the complications anymore?"

"Heh, in fact, the simple man has been won over by the complications," said Sokka, grinning. "You think it's remotely possible for me to just go back to a normal, stable, simple life after all we've been through?"

"I suppose not," Azula relented, with a smile. Sokka pressed his forehead against hers.

"I love you, Azula," he whispered, causing her chest to burn with that pleasant fire once more. "That's the one certainty in my life as I am now. Would I like to be a father one day? Sure, but if it's not with you then I don't care for it. I didn't realize, when I was a kid, that the one thing that matters is who you build your family with. But I do understand that now."

"So, if I felt guilty and broke things off between us so you could go start a family with someone else…" Azula started.

"It would be the biggest waste because I already said I don't want it if it's not with you," said Sokka, and Azula chuckled. "Is that so hard to believe, huh?"

"Actually? Yes," she said, with a crooked grin. "You keep saying you don't want it if it's not with me, but even if it could be… Sokka, I'd make the worst mother you can imagine. I'm terrible with children."

"Meh, you're awesome at everything you do," said Sokka, smiling at her. "I'm sure you would do great as a mom as well."

"Well, I am certain you're wrong but do indulge in that belief if you want to," said Azula, smiling a little. "You give me more credit than I'm due."

"Not true. You deserve it all," said Sokka, surrounding her with his arms and holding her close as he smiled happily.

"I just figure that…well, I had a bad relationship with my mother," Azula whispered. "If that's any precedent, then chances are I would be no good with a kid of my own."

"You think that has any relation with how you'll deal with your own kids?" Sokka asked.

"Possibly. Who knows?" Azula said, shrugging. Sokka rubbed her back gently.

"Well, if anything, you know just what sort of things not to do with your own kids," said Sokka. "Considering what little I know about your mother…"

"You're biased by what I've said, no doubt," said Azula, smiling weakly. "Perhaps she wasn't that bad, and it was me who…"

"You were not the problem, Azula," Sokka said, kissing her forehead. Azula gritted her teeth. "I'm dead certain of that."

"Well, you trust me too much, if that's the case," she whispered, but she scooted closer to him, breathing him in and surrounding his waist with her arms. "And most people would advise you not to make that mistake. I'm not a good person, never have been."

"You seem perfectly fine to me, though," said Sokka, with a gentle smile. "So, either I'm right and you have a warped perception of yourself, or you're right and I don't see it because I'm as bad as you are, which would explain why we get along so well. Don't you think?"

His hypothesis prompted Azula to laugh against his chest, to Sokka's satisfaction. He grinned and sighed, his fingers sliding through her dark tresses once more.

"Then if we're that bad, we really shouldn't make a family," she said, with a weak smile. Sokka snorted.

"No, no, none of that," said Sokka. "Our children will be the spawn of our wicked plans, and together, all seven of us will take over the world and…"

"Wait a minute, seven?" Azula repeated, looking at him skeptically. Sokka chuckled.

"Hilarious how that's the part that bugs you and not the world domination…" he said, grinning mischievously at her. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Do you have the slightest clue of how painful it must be to give birth?" she asked, and after smiling innocently, Sokka shrugged.

"I can't really imagine it, but I have heard a lot of painful stories about it," he admitted. Azula looked at him matter-of-factly.

"Then you should know I'm not going to put myself through that process seven times. Not a chance," she said, and Sokka chuckled.

"No, no, it's only five! See, we'll be a seven-member family!" he exclaimed, and Azula covered her face with her hands as he continued to laugh. "It's not that bad, see?"

"You need to stop being ridiculous," said Azula, smiling and shaking her head. "One kid would be more than enough already. And heck, it's not like we can even…! I mean, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but…"

"I know, we can't," Sokka said, nodding and smiling regardless. "But heck, talking about it won't hurt anyone, will it? Having an imagination is a healthy thing, Princess."

"It might hurt in the end, though," said Azula, looking at him warily. "If you keep saying things like these you might even get me on board with the idea…"

"Wait, what? Even though you don't like children?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. Azula smiled.

"I do like the idea of dominating the world, though," she declared, and Sokka rolled his eyes as he laughed, rolling onto his back once more.

"I should've known," he said, and Azula grinned before inching closer to kiss his cheek.

"You're a true hazard in more ways than I realized," she whispered. "First you seduce me, now you're almost making me wish we could have children…"

"Seduce you? That's what I did?" Sokka asked, with amusement. Azula shrugged.

"Can't think of a better word to describe it," she said, wrapping an arm around his chest. Yes, she could think of a better word, but she chose to keep herself in check this time. It was a good conversation; love confessions could spoil it altogether. "Well, then, since you've planned it all so neatly, did you even pick out names for our five brats?"

"Names?" Sokka asked, and Azula raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I didn't."

"Oh, really?" Azula asked, surprised. Sokka blushed before revealing the reason why:

"I just knew you'd reject all my ideas, so I figured it was better if I didn't try to think of names to begin with," he confessed. "You've always said I have a horrible sense for naming stuff, so I thought it would be wiser not to set myself up for failure for once."

"How thoughtful of you," said Azula, with a weak smile. She caressed his chest gently. "Still, you shouldn't be banned altogether from the naming of our fictional children. You can still give your opinion."

"But not give ideas, now, can I?" Sokka asked, and Azula smirked mischievously. He rolled his eyes but chuckled. "Yep, I figured as much."

"At best, you'd name our son Sokka Jr.," said Azula, chuckling. "At worst… well, I don't even want to imagine it."

"A son?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "What about a daughter instead, Azula Jr., huh? Heck… a little Azula. You know, this really is starting to sound like a wonderful idea…!"

"A wonderful, impossible idea," Azula added, but Sokka's delighted smile didn't fade from his face.

"Can you imagine that, though?" he said, looking at her enthusiastically. "For our daughter to be just like you, but of course, tiny-sized. With your beautiful hair and eyes…"

"And with a knack for making fun of her father?" Azula asked, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled.

"That part of her personality might kick in once she's a little older. Hopefully," he said. Azula smiled.

"I can't believe you're actually saying all this and… and as good as falling in love with the idea of our children," she said, amused. Sokka chuckled.

"It's just… wouldn't it be great for us to have a family? Obviously, not just yet," he said, reassuringly. "But the idea of having that sort of life with you is beautiful to me. I guess I just…"

He bit his lower lip and fell silent for a moment. Azula looked at him insecurely, analyzing his expression briefly in order to guess why he hadn't finished that last sentence.

"You miss your family?" she asked, softly. Sokka was startled out of his daze by her words.

"Well… yeah, I do," he confessed. "The past years have been crazy, and I'm obviously thrilled by where we are now, but my old lifestyle wasn't as bad as I used to think it was."

"You thought it was bad?" Azula asked, frowning. "I was under the impression you loved everything about your hometown…"

"Eh, I love my hometown, but that doesn't mean I loved everything about it," said Sokka, grinning weakly. "I just… had a very different life back then, and I really wasn't happy about it. Probably because all I wanted was for my life to actually get started already. I felt like I had spent twenty-one years of my life cooped up in a tiny space, isolated from the world, when I should have been out there fighting for the causes I believed in. I loved my family, and my friends, but I was still… frustrated. I wanted to give purpose to my life. The idea of… of dying there, whether of old age or anything else, without having achieved a damn thing, bothered me a lot during some nights. Of course, by the time I was spending the nights in the Amateur Arena's barracks instead, I started to wish I had actually stayed in the Tribe forever, or that I might actually die on the next day and be done with it…"

Azula tensed up next to him, and Sokka gulped, noticing only now that his flow of conscience had gone down a very dark path at that last part.

"But heck… see how much better things have gotten?" he said, with a smile. "I don't wish for those things anymore. It's been a very long time since I last felt so hopeless."

"Glad to hear it," said Azula, surrounding his chest with an arm and snuggling closer to him. Sokka hugged her too, kissing her brow. "And… I know it means next to nothing at this point, especially since I had no remorse to spare back then, but… I'm really sorry for what you went through. I wish I hadn't made you a slave as I did."

"But if you hadn't, then you would have killed me," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "Those were your two choices at the time. And if you hadn't chosen what you did, we wouldn't have met again…"

"You really don't hold it against me?" Azula asked, looking at him skeptically. "Are you that good-natured, or are you just that in love with me that you've been rendered blind to my mistakes?"

"I'm not blind to anything… I think," said Sokka, smiling. "I don't hold any appreciation for the Amateur League, but in a way, if that was what I had to deal with in order to achieve what I have…"

"I do hope that's not just in regards of bedding me," said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

"I mean it also because of the people we've helped," he said. "The lives we've saved. The chance I had to keep your father from attacking my Tribe… if I hadn't gone through the hell I did, none of that could have happened. My family might be dead by now, along with the rest of my Tribe. So… yeah, I hated my time there, but by now I've learned to accept it and leave it in the past."

"A wise idea, though I guess it can't be that easy," said Azula. Sokka smiled and cupped her cheek.

"You've made it a little easier than it should have been, to be perfectly honest," he said, pressing his forehead to hers. "Thanks to you I've… I've remembered what it feels like to wake up looking forward to what a new day will bring. I used to be like that when I was younger, but as I got older everything became bleak and overwhelming. The only thing that kept me going was the idea of destroying the Fire Nation… and now you've given me back my will to live while teaching me to stop despising the Fire Nation. I owe you a lot more than you realize."

"I… I had no idea things were that way for you," said Azula, frowning. "I seriously thought that all you wanted was to go back home. I never thought you'd been miserable while you were there."

"Those were just the frustrations of a foolish boy who had no idea what he was asking for," said Sokka, with a smile. "I did feel like I had barely lived at all, though. Like I was wasting time. If I think about it now, I had several great experiences in my Tribe that I still treasure today. I love and miss my family, yeah… but, honestly? I'd never felt more alive than I have since you took me as your gladiator. Even when we were at our worst…"

"You still felt more alive than ever back then?" Azula asked, astonished. Sokka chuckled.

"I had something to live for, believe it or not. I made it my life's mission, at the time, to make up for how I'd hurt you," he said. "Of course, I probably haven't managed to make up for it all just yet, but indeed, it's a life's mission. I'll spend the rest of my days trying to fix what I broke, if that's how long it'll take."

"You really think that after everything that's happened between us, you still haven't made amends for all that?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, you did say back then that you couldn't forgive me…" he said, with a weak smile.

"No, I actually said I could, but I would rather not," Azula said, looking at him earnestly. Sokka returned her gaze skeptically.

"Doesn't that mean that I hurt you so badly that you couldn't heal that easily?"

"You don't seem to have understood much of what I said that night," said Azula, with a weak grin. "The real problem wasn't whether I could forgive you or not. The problem was that I was terrified of winding up with a broken heart once again. I didn't want to risk being with you only for it to backfire in the worst possible way. The idea of our relationship failing was utterly terrifying."

Sokka fell into a stunned, amazed silence as the Princess smiled a little, caressing his face with her fingertips.

"At this point, you've been forgiven for so long I often forget you hurt me in the first place," said Azula. "Granted that must sound weird coming from me, I've spent my entire life protecting myself from everything that might hurt me, but you made it impossible for me to keep my distance no matter how hard I tried. Else we wouldn't be lying together here right now, don't you think?"

"Heh, I guess so," said Sokka, with a gentle smile that grew sour quickly. "But I still regret it. When you made me a slave, we were enemies. When I hurt you, we were already allies, so it's still…"

"You're too used to hating yourself for your mistakes," Azula whispered, dropping her head on his chest and caressing his arm. "The real problem now isn't for me to forgive you, but for you to forgive yourself."

"So, you think I should just get over it?" said Sokka, with a weak smile.

"I think that, just as you can put your time in the Amateur Arena in the past, you can do the same with this," said Azula, looking at him gently. Sokka's breath hitched as he lost himself in her golden gaze. "At the very least you can try to. If you can forgive me for all the wrong I've done to you, then it's time you learn to forgive yourself too. We've both made mistakes, whether to hurt ourselves, each other or others around us. Obsessing about fixing every single one of those mistakes, though, might not help at all."

"I guess so," said Sokka, nodding. Azula leaned closer and kissed his lips softly. He hummed into the gentle pressure of her mouth on his.

"So, stop thinking about grim things and keep dreaming about our nameless children," said Azula, smiling. "That might make you feel better."

Sokka smiled back and cupped her face in a hand, kissing her more deeply now. His arms slipped around her, holding her close as they pressed together on the bed. Only the occasional pain in Azula's womb kept her from taking their exchanges further. Their conversation had stirred feelings within her that she wished she could convey to him through their bodies… feelings that she knew to associate to her golden fire now.

Sokka pulled away briefly, smiling gently at her as he tucked some strands of her hair behind her ear. Azula smiled back, pressing their foreheads together.

"I didn't get to say it before, and I had meant to…" Sokka whispered, and Azula looked at him questioningly. "But even though it might sound weird, even if you probably will think I'm crazy… I can't help but feel like my life really began when I met you."

Her eyes widened when he finished his sentence, her lips slightly parted. She was still holding him close, and he was still offering her a warm smile, but she was frozen where she lay in his arms. Sokka laughed softly and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before hugging her tightly. Moments later, she was clutching at his clothes, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Y-you idiot…" she whispered, swallowing hard. Sokka kissed the top of her head as Azula pulled as close as she could to him. "Who the hell says stuff like that, you…?"

"I guess I do," said Sokka, with a guilty smile. "You okay?"

"I… like hell I am," she said, breathing heavily. "I never even… I never imagined anyone could feel that way about me. It's… it's overwhelming, alright…?"

"Sorry about that," said Sokka, with an awkward smile as he rubbed Azula's back gently. "I guess I should've held my tongue after all. I just… really wanted you to know that. But we can get back to talking about Azula Jr. as you wanted us to…"

"Weren't you going to hold back from choosing their names?" Azula asked, smiling despite herself. Sokka chuckled.

"Well, that's your only suggestion so far, so I'm keeping it until you come up with something better," he said, and Azula smiled as she lifted her head towards him.

Sokka's eyes widened when he noticed the tears blinking in Azula's eyes. Before he could say anything, though, she cut the small distance between their lips, kissing him deeply but slowly. Sokka frowned but dove into the kiss all the same, his hands rising to her face to keep her close. The impact of his words was far stronger than he'd expected it to be, but there was no surprise there. He knew better than anyone that Azula hadn't been at the receiving end of love as often as she should have been. She often acted as proudly as a Princess of her station should, but she harbored too many insecurities deep inside of her. He was certain he didn't know nearly enough about Azula's worst fears and anxieties, despite he had come to know her as well as he had.

"Azula…" he whispered, when she pulled away. She swallowed hard and smiled at him, blinking the tears away successfully.

"You are an idiot, yes," she said, cupping his face and caressing his cheek with her thumb. "But…"

"But I'm your idiot," Sokka finished, with a smile. Azula laughed and nodded, pressing her forehead to his.

"Mine indeed," she said, hugging him once more and burying her face in his shoulder. "As… as I am yours."

Sokka's eyes widened again but now his face broke into a full smile as he hugged her tighter. He hadn't expected this response to his words, let alone to hear Azula say something like this. She seemed at ease with showing her feelings physically, but putting them into words was a challenge for her more often than not. He knew as much, so he hadn't expected such a sweet reply from her at all…

"And I'm the luckiest man in the world for that," he whispered in her ear, kissing it as she laughed softly, seeking his hand with hers and intertwining their fingers.

They spoke more through the night, mostly about the children they never expected to have, their worries nearly forgotten as they lay together in bed, their bodies pressed intimately together, their hands still linked. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed after they fell asleep that a knock sounded on the door.

Sokka sighed, knowing it was his cue to leave. Azula was still sleeping, unfazed by the sound at the door. He smiled and brushed her hair with his free hand, but her grip only tightened around his other hand when he tried to pull way. He chuckled.

"Come on, Azula. I've got to go," he said, smiling and leaning in to kiss her forehead. She growled a sleepy refusal and threw an arm around his waist, and Sokka sighed. "Rui Shi will be mad if I don't go."

"Stay… a little longer?" Azula whispered, and Sokka was about to answer when he heard the door swinging open, startling him as he lay next to Azula in bed.

He glanced at Rui Shi guiltily, finding the guard was breathing out in relief.

"Here I dreaded I'd find you both naked," he grumbled. "It's time to go, gladiator. You don't have time to waste."

"Azula…" Sokka whispered in her ear, and she groaned again but released his hand regardless. He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Thanks. I'll be back here before you know it."

"You'd better," she said, regaining some of her consciousness as he sat up on the bed.

Azula pushed herself up with an elbow and cupped Sokka's face in her hands. Rui Shi grimaced and blushed before turning around promptly, thoroughly embarrassed despite knowing all too well that a kiss was nothing in comparison to everything Sokka and Azula had done together so far. It was still awkward to witness their exchanges, though, and Sokka seemed to be aware of it, unlike his drowsy Princess.

"Azula, we've got company," he whispered, and Azula groaned before glancing to the side, finding Rui Shi's back turned towards them. She gulped.

"Oh. Oops. Sorry, Captain."

"It makes no matter, let's just go," said Rui Shi, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingertips.

Sokka smiled kindly at Azula and kissed her brow one last time before standing up from the bed. He didn't miss out on how she rolled into the side of the bed he'd been lying on. A smile graced Sokka's face as he followed Rui Shi to the door, and he gave Azula one last glance before leaving the room.

She hadn't fallen asleep again yet, her eyes fixed on Sokka's figure until he closed the door. She smiled despite he had left, thrilled by everything they had shared through the night. No doubt she was being selfish again for feeling so pleased by yesterday's outcome, considering Sokka had done nothing for the mission her father had given him – nor did he have any intentions of doing anything, as she already knew –, but the bond between them had never felt as real as it had tonight. She couldn't help but be fascinated by that.

She let herself drift off to sleep again, smiling. Her inner fire continued to flare warmly within her chest, in the way it always did because of Sokka…