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...

115. Chapter 115: The Slate, Reprise 1

"Well… it doesn't look all that hideous, does it?" Sokka asked, eyeing his back in the mirror with uncertainty.

The thin line of the scar ran diagonally over the small of his back, starting near his hipbone and ending dangerously close to his spine. He felt chills whenever he remembered his mobility could have been in serious jeopardy if Rhone's metal boomerang had hit him just an inch more to the right…

"Like I said, you should just focus on how manly you look," Azula said, approaching him and surrounding his naked torso with her arms. "Stop worrying about it."

"I seem just a bit too vain, don't I?" said Sokka, chuckling softly. Azula smirked.

"Well, now, you're the one who said it…" she whispered mischievously in his ear. Sokka snorted as she kissed his cheek, containing her laughter.

"You're too much trouble, Princess, seriously," he said, smirking as well as he turned his head again towards her. "It hasn't hurt for a few days now, and my arm is working just fine again. So…"

"So, we're ready to send out another challenge?" Azula asked, with an ironic smile. Sokka snorted.

"Okay, well, maybe that too," he said, taking her face into his hands and kissing her gently. "I really do need to train, though. I should make sure I'm in shape for a fight, first of all…"

"You'll fight someone easy this time around, I promise. Another firebender you can mess over with Wolf's Bane," said Azula, caressing his bare chest.

"That'd be good. And I promise I have no other creepy childhood friends who might want to kill either one of us", said Sokka, pressing his forehead to hers. "Truth be told, I think… I think I've got no more secrets to share, or at least, none I can remember. That's not fair…"

"How is it not?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "You practically know all my secrets by now, if anything it's only fair…"

"What, I do? Are you serious?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening. "Well, now, I was sure you were still hiding things because you're all mysterious that way, but if that's not the case…"

"I can't think of anything I've not told you, honestly. You even know about my first kiss now, so I'd say you know all that needs to be known…" said Azula, shrugging.

"Uh, well, I know what happened, but I still don't know who it was with, now I think of it," said Sokka, tapping his chin and eyeing Azula with curiosity. "Anyone I knew, by any chance?"

"Eh… no," said Azula, with a grimace. "But you know of him. It was… the same jerk I was supposed to marry ages ago."

"Wait, what?!" Sokka asked, his eyes widening as Azula sighed.

"Okay, so now you do know all there was to know about that," she said, with a smirk, as she approached the dresser and closet where Sokka kept his armor and weapons. "It's time to get ready for training, Sokka."

"B-but then… that's why you didn't want to marry him, isn't it?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly. "The prick wouldn't dominate the world with you, so…"

"Yes, well, that's neither here nor there," said Azula, approaching him with one of his blue shirts in her hand. "Come on. Get dressed."

"I'm very sorry you kissed that guy," said Sokka, as she threw the shirt over his shoulders. "You certainly deserved better."

"Oh, I know that. It's why I've been holding out to marry someone who actually will agree to dominating the world with me…" she said, playfully, as he slid his arms through the sleeves. He froze upon those words.

"Wait… huh?"

"You know how it works with me. It's all I can possibly dream of," she said, smirking as she fastened his belt around his waist. Sokka pouted.

"W-well, depending on how you want to achieve that global domination I could join you with it, so long as it's different from what the Fire Nation has been doing in the last hundred years…"

Azula smiled and looked at him in disbelief. Sokka pouted still as she dropped her head on his shoulder.

"Well, I know that's a lie, but it's nice that you're trying to be an eligible suitor all the same," she said, hugging him. "Who knew the day would come when a man would genuinely want to marry me?"

"Well, I'd like to," said Sokka, dropping his head atop hers. "Though you're not wrong that dominating the world makes me uneasy. Don't you think it'd be way too much work?"

"And you'd much rather spend your time doing all sorts of other less taxing activities, wouldn't you?" said Azula, smirking. "Like eating, and sleeping…"

"And sleeping with you," said Sokka, biting his lip and looking at her suggestively. "You know, if I'm strong enough to train again…"

"I was wondering if you'd say that at some point. I thought it was odd that you hadn't yet," she said, chuckling before pulling away. "Come on, then. Get your weapons, and let's do this."

"Hear, hear!" Sokka exclaimed, reaching to grab them before following Azula downstairs.

She had thought they'd start easy, and she even allowed Sokka to wield both her sword and his own during this training round, but just as she was about to warn him not to go crazy, Sokka lashed out with both swords, releasing one of his typical silly war cries as he ran towards her. Azula crooked her eyebrows before she bent fire to keep him at bay. Sokka jumped back, swinging Wolf's Bane to sweep the fire out of the way.

"What do you think you're doing, exactly?" Azula asked. Sokka smiled guiltily.

"Training. That's what we're supposed to do, isn't it?" he said. "Brace yourself, Princess!"

"But…!" she cried out as he lunged at her again.

She huffed in irritation and shot fire at him, defending against him with difficulty. Sokka swung her sword to extinguish the fire, and Space Sword to allegedly stab at her. Azula couldn't help but acknowledge he made quite the fearsome opponent like this, but she wasn't sure he should be one yet: he had to take it easy, he was only just testing his body again after a recovery period of a full month.

"Damn it, Sokka, quit being reckless!" she shouted, before jumping over him, boosted by her fire and striking him on the top of the head with her knuckles.

Sokka chuckled and turned to look at her apologetically. Azula's eyebrow twitched as she looked at him with disapproval.

"What's the big idea?" she asked. Sokka shrugged and smiled guiltily again.

"I know, I need to take it easy," he said. "I'm just happy to be back in the training grounds, you know?"

"Hardly," said Azula, raising her eyebrows. "You're usually as unhappy as can be about it, after all."

"Well, I did miss having my sword back in my hand," he said, grinning. "And I missed sparring with you, too. Because we both know what happens after the sparring, don't we…?"

"Stop getting ahead of yourself, gladiator," said Azula, smirking as she stretched her middle and index fingers towards him. "I might not feel all that generous if you keep acting up, you know?"

"Come on, you know you like it best when I'm rebellious!" said Sokka, laughing before attacking again.

The training proceeded as intended, though with Azula constantly reminding Sokka to stop pushing himself too far. But other than a burst of pain after angling his arm too much, he felt perfectly fine as they sparred between hollow threats and teasing laughter.

Though the laughter and threats ended sooner than later: Sokka had used Wolf's Bane to bend Azula's fire right back at her, and her attempt to evade the flames was successful, but not completely. She had lost balance and missed her landing, dropping on her hand and winding up with a sprained wrist.

"What a fool," she said, shaking her head as he bandaged her wrist carefully, once they were sitting on the living room couch, the weapons lying on the small table. "I should've just bent it right back at you."

"It's not your fault," said Sokka, grimacing as he handled her wrist with care. "Is it too tight?"

"It's fine," said Azula, shaking her free hand dismissively. "I'll have forgotten it hurts soon enough."

"I do hope so," said Sokka, biting his lip before leaning down to kiss her wrist. Azula smiled.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"My mom would always do that when I got hurt. Which happened ridiculously often, as you might imagine," he said, with a crooked grin. "I've never had anyone to do it for until now, though. It's not every day you get hurt."

"No, it's certainly not," Azula conceded.

Sokka caressed her hand and kissed a scar in it, one he had tended to quite some time ago. Azula raised an eyebrow with interest over his gentle touch to her old wound.

"This is your only scar," he noted. Azula nodded.

"It's not that bad, is it?" she asked. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"It's hardly noticeable," he said, pressing his lips to it again. "But it still deserves to be kissed, even if over a year later!"

"Had you tried to kiss it when I got it, I would have likely beaten you to a pulp," said Azula, smirking.

"Always so fierce. It's not fair, Princess," he said, setting down her hand and leaning close to her. "I'd rather you're not wounded at all, that's for sure, but if this relationship is going to work, I get to kiss the wounds you do get. It's a non-negotiable relationship practice."

"It is?" Azula asked, as Sokka chuckled and kissed her cheek now. "Well, that's new. I guess it means I get to kiss all your new and old wounds, don't I?"

"U-uh, well, I mean, it can be mutual if you'd like, though I didn't really think you'd…" Sokka started, but Azula lowered her head and pressed her face to his neck.

He smiled and closed his eyes as her lips grazed the marks she had left on it. Her good hand caressed his chest as she kissed every healed gash slowly and tenderly, prompting him to hum in bliss at the sweet sensations. Azula smiled.

"I guess this isn't such a bad idea, after all," she conceded, looking at him furtively. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"I have a whole collection of those, though, I'll say…" he said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"I suppose I'll just have to take my time getting to them, won't I?"

"You could, I guess," said Sokka, chuckling. "But I'm afraid you'll probably be here till midnight if you plan on kissing all my old scars."

"And how's that a problem?" Azula asked, smirking slowly. Sokka laughed as she leaned in, kissing his lips happily.

He held her closely, and Azula climbed on his lap. Their bodies were in full contact, and much as it had been the first time Azula had been atop him like this, Sokka smiled and allowed his hands to travel down to her bottom. She smiled and pulled away from his lips to give him a questioning look as he squeezed gently.

"Always hung up on the blue fire, aren't we?" she asked, prodding his nose with hers. Sokka chuckled.

"I was actually thinking… if you do want to kiss everything as you said you wanted to, maybe we should go somewhere more comfortable" he said, stroking her hair gently. "Unless you'd rather not…"

"Why… a Princess stays true to her word, doesn't she?" she said, smiling as Sokka grinned and hugged her tighter, standing up while she embraced him fully with arms and legs alike. "Though you do realize that a sprain on my wrist doesn't render me unable to walk, don't you?"

"It doesn't? Really, now?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure that's not the case, Princess. Come on, come on, sprained wrists definitely affect your walking! I know what I'm talking about!"

"You're so ridiculous," said Azula, laughing as he smirked proudly and carried her upstairs.

"I may be mistaken, but from the looks of it, you just might like that about me," he said into her ear before kissing her cheek.

They lay on his bed hours later, and Sokka smiled blissfully as Azula climbed atop his exposed back, kissing his every wound there. She had given proper attention to every mark, but the fresh scratches on his back might need extra care, from the looks of it.

"It's ridiculous how I ended up wounding you further after all that…" she said, caressing his back gently. "That wasn't the point, was it?"

"Hey, I like it when you scratch me," he said, grinning. "No need to be sorry for it."

"Why, I didn't say I was, did I?" said Azula, smirking sneakily before kissing Sokka's cheek as he laughed.

"How's your wrist by now, though?" he asked, glancing over at her. Azula raised an eyebrow and lifted her hand, moving it without much issue.

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore," she said. "Though I'll probably have Song look at it before I go home."

"Your dad will kill me for injuring you, won't he?"

"Why, I doubt it," said Azula, smiling. "If anything he'd be disappointed in me for dropping my guard like that. Besides, with this sort of wound, there's some evidence that we do spar once in a while instead of staying in bed all day, right?"

"Right," said Sokka, smiling as Azula dropped next to him. His hand reached up to caress her cheek. "So… have I passed all tests? Am I healthy enough to fight now?"

"I'd say you are," said Azula, studying his semblance carefully. "The question is whether you're ready for it or not, of course. Do you want to go back already, or would you rather wait a little longer?"

"I think I'd rather get back to it now," said Sokka, turning so he could embrace her more easily. "It's better than to let other sponsors assume I'm an easy mark as I am, huh? Losing against what they'll perceive as just a low-ranked non-bender might make me look… well, weak."

"Let them assume what they will," said Azula. "It's better for you if they underestimate you. That way you can surprise them by winning when they least expect it. That is, if you are up for that sort of thing…"

"You're really worried about me, huh?" he asked. Azula swallowed hard.

"I just don't know if you feel like fighting or not, no matter what you say," she said. "It was a big shock for you, what happened in the Ring of Ash…"

"It may have been, but it's over now," said Sokka, kissing her brow. "The next time I meet Rhone, if I ever do, I won't be as foolish as to do it while hoping he'll have some humanity left in him. And if he tries to kill me again…"

Azula eyed him as he frowned. She caressed his hand, intertwining their fingers as Sokka sighed.

"I really just don't want to kill anyone again, you know," he said, gritting his teeth. "Being free from that burden through your sponsorship was quite possibly one of the first things that made me warm up to you."

"Which only speaks of how much you hate it," said Azula, sighing. "For a man who's seen the horrors you have, you're still too kindhearted. Meanwhile, I don't even know if I'd regret it if I shocked that bastard to death…"

"Heh," said Sokka, with a crooked grin. "And yet you've never killed anyone."

"That might be why I don't think of it the way you do. Perhaps I'd change my mind if I ever did it," said Azula. "But if you don't think you can finish him off, or if you just don't want to, well… maybe I'll have to do it for you."

"I don't think I'll let you," said Sokka, smiling and pressing his forehead to hers. "You really shouldn't taint your hands that way, you know?"

"Neither should you," said Azula. "But sometimes…"

"Sometimes it's kill or die," said Sokka. "And he's the one who's made it so. Which means… that when either of us kill him he'll have no right to protest, right?"

"Right," said Azula, nodding.

"But, setting aside all Rhone-related matters, I do think I'm ready to go back," he said. "It's better that I do already, isn't it?"

"Certainly, for your record's sake," said Azula. "Then… I'll send your next challenge tomorrow."

"Can I go pick it out with you?" Sokka asked. Azula smiled.

"Yeah, I suppose that'd be fine," she said. He beamed and hugged her tighter.

"Alright, I'll just have to hold onto you until then," he said. Azula snorted.

"What, you're not going to let me go home?"

"Damn right I won't!"

"Sokka…"

Laughter and teasing words were exchanged through the rest of the day, now that the dreary subjects of conversation were behind them. Sokka had made quite a good recovery in most ways, Azula found, and even in an emotional level he was far calmer than she had thought he'd be. She didn't dare take credit for it, but he had given it to her all the same: her company rendered every challenge easier to confront. Where there had been walls between them before, where she had been wary of the distance they needed to keep, they could share their every thought and concern now, all such walls and distance forgotten. It made everything different, everything better.

This enabled Sokka to return to the ring a week later, and he was fighting to his best as he clashed with a firebender, Flaming Hawk, who attacked in a panicked frenzy as Sokka deflected every attack with ease through Wolf's Bane's natural qualities. The firebender had hopes to snatch the victory when the fight began, as the Blue Wolf had yet to unleash his second sword, but once he started batting away his attacks like it was child's play, Flaming Hawk had lost all hopes to win.

"Come on, is that all you've got?" Sokka taunted, smirking. The more he tired out his opponent, the faster he would finish this fight.

The Hawk yelled and kept attacking, but every blast of fire was weaker than the next. Sokka readied himself to strike now, tossing his boomerang through the fire and hitting the man square in the shoulder. The firebender shouted as the blow broke his balance: he fell on his back, and since he was clutching his arm, Sokka figured he had successfully blocked his chi.

"Stay away! D-don't get any closer!" the man screamed desperately, kicking fire at Sokka as the gladiator swatted it away as he would a bothersome fly.

"How do you want me to knock you out if I can't get any closer, huh?" he asked, catching his boomerang with his left hand while continuing to fend off the fire with the right. "Come on, I'll knock you out quickly, you won't even feel it. Stop struggling like… hey!"

A powerful, charged fire blast from Flaming Hawk's feet almost struck Sokka, forcing him to jump out of the way. He frowned and dashed forth right afterwards, though. If the Hawk wouldn't play nice, then neither would he…

The Hawk seemed all out of firepower, for his next kick wasn't lined with flames… but it still hurt Sokka beyond compare as it caught him in the groin.

A gasp of horror shook the Arena, though nobody was quite as horrified as Azula. She held back the extent of her reaction by closing her eyes, her hand balling into a fist momentarily as Sokka cursed with every profanity that crossed his mind. Well, that was certain to end the Blue Wolf's patience, but was he going to recover from this new wound as well as he had with the last one?

Azula guessed she'd find out soon, for once Sokka was capable of attacking again he clasped the Hawk's kicking leg with a hand and twisted it, making the man scream in agony before he lifted him by the nape of his neck, following with slamming the hilt of his sword to the side of his head, knocking him out cold as promised.

Oh, but how it hurt… Sokka cringed and dropped on the sand, wondering why on earth didn't he wear armor there. Such a fool he was: he needed to design some form of protection for his private area as soon as possible. He shook his head as the judges declared him the winner, in virtue of the fact that he remained conscious while his opponent was slumped on the sand after the countdown was over. The medical staff poured in quickly, to tend both to him and the Flaming Hawk, and they had to help him stand and walk to the waiting room, his entire body weakened after the injury he had sustained.

Azula found him in a waiting room five minutes later, once she had collected the money from the fight, as a physician offered a bag of ice to Sokka. The gladiator winced before pressing it to his groin, but he sighed in relief when the pain was soothed by the ice's action.

"I'd ask how you're feeling, but I'm very much afraid of hearing the answer," said Azula, with a crooked grin. Sokka looked at her with a pout.

"T-that was awful. I hadn't been kicked like that since I was a kid," he complained. "My sister would do it, you know, but… but I thought it'd never happen again, and you know what? I did not miss it, in the slightest."

"How unexpected that you wouldn't," she said, smiling and sitting beside him. Sokka still looked at the bag in his hands with confusion.

"How do they do this, though? This… ice. I mean, it's not the first time I have been given ice to put on my wounds, but I'd never thought to ask before… where did it come from?" Sokka asked.

"Ah, it's from an old technology that's being used for new purposes lately," said Azula, as the physicians took their leave. "Back in the day, it would be used to cool down firebenders in this prison we have in a small island, the Boiling Rock. It was a method of torture, of course, but it resulted in water icing inside it at times… so at some point someone thought to use the technology to produce ice instead of just freezing people. A typical story of Fire Nation advancements starting out for the wrong purposes and turning out to be quite useful in unexpected ways."

"Heh. Well, I'm sorry for the tortured guys, but it is helpful now," said Sokka, sighing. "Mr. boomerang would be all swollen for days if it weren't for this, huh?"

Azula laughed softly and shook her head, gazing over her shoulder to confirm the door was closed and that they were alone in the room. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"And what's so funny, huh?" he asked, pouting. "You shouldn't laugh, you know? After all the fun you've had with my boomerang, and now you think it's funny that it got hurt?"

"It's not that I think it's funny," said Azula, smiling. "It's just… I'm wondering if I'll even need to drink the tea anymore, just saying."

"What the…?! Hey!" he complained, as she started laughing again. "Of course you will! Don't even think about stopping, or else the risk will be too great! You don't really know what the damage was, so… c-could you just stop laughing?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Azula said, leaning on his shoulder and surrounding his arm with hers. "I know it's not funny, I do, I just… I don't really know why I can't stop laughing. But either way, you did… you did good. So, be proud of yourself, alright? We're back on track after this."

"The only thing that worries me is that no more firebenders will want to fight me now," said Sokka, grimacing as he shifted the ice. "Since I'm kind of unstoppable with your sword…"

"I guess it's lucky that most the fighters at the top of the ranking are firebenders," said Azula. "If they decline your challenges over cowardice it will certainly make them look bad, you know…"

"You think I can fight Combustion Man like this, then?" Sokka asked. Azula frowned.

"Oh, no. Not yet anyways," she said. "He's not just a firebender, Sokka, he can blow things up through some strange technique, you see. Wolf's Bane can bend fire, but I can't say if it would be able to bend an explosion."

"How are we going to find out if it can do that or not?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I have no idea," she said, tucking a loose strand of his hair behind his ear. "But for the time being I'm not risking sending you to fight Combustion Man. Imagine if he blows up my sword, what would we do then?"

"Yeah, fair enough," said Sokka, smiling. "We wouldn't want your sword blown up. Though I'd think you should also worry about my safety, but that's okay, that's fine…"

"I am worried about you too, don't be silly," said Azula. "Combustion Man has metal prosthetic limbs, so I hope you never give him a chance to kick you like the Flaming Hawk did, alright?"

"M-metal?" said Sokka, his eyes wide. His grip around the ice tightened. Azula smirked before kissing his cheek.

"No need to worry about that yet, alright? We're still nowhere close to Combustion Man's level as it is, so…"

"Would it matter if I chi-block a guy like that?" Sokka asked, frowning. "I mean, if his limbs aren't his actual limbs…"

"There might be a way to chi-block him, maybe a non-conventional one, but we're not going to worry about that now, are we?" Azula said, caressing his arm. "Come on, can you walk? We should head back home and keep looking after your boomerang there."

"We should?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly. "So, are you going to, uh…?"

"To what?" she said, as he bit his lip with a mischievous smile.

"W-well, you know… we did decide to kiss each other's wounds better, right?"

His hopes for that ended as soon as Azula burst out laughing again. No doubt the sound of her laughter was lovely indeed, but her rejection of his idea made him blush and pout.

"No fair. It's a non-negotiable practice, Azula!" he whined, as she stood up while wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"You're on fire today, I swear," she said. Sokka snorted.

"That'd be the last straw," he said, sarcastically. "I get kicked in the nuts and then I'm on fire too? The spirits have it out for me today, huh?"

He sighed and stood up as Azula's laughter spree diminished, but it only started over again when he pulled away the ice from his injury to reveal a dark spot of water all over his groin. His eyebrow twitched as the Princess hid her face in her hand, trying to contain her laughter.

"Just grow uuup!" he complained, poking her side and prompting her to laugh more.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but curse it, Sokka…!" she exclaimed, as he surrounded her with an arm and kissed her face.

"Enough laughing at my misfortunes, you wicked woman," he said, as she continued to chuckle. "I need love and nurturing now, Princess."

"Laughter can be part of all that, you know?" she replied, smirking as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"You're so mean," he said, pouting still. She kissed him softly.

"And yet you like it," she said. He smiled.

"Which makes me a masochist," he declared. "No wonder I get hurt so much, huh?"

Azula prodded his nose with hers and nodded. She clasped the ice again and placed it in front of his groin, smirking as he looked at her questioningly.

"Not only will it help, but this way people shouldn't misunderstand why your pants are wet," she said, as Sokka gulped.

"I can't seem to ever stop embarrassing myself, huh?"

"Embrace it," said Azula, cleaning her lipstick marks from his face. "Walk out there with your head held high, and your ice in place, like the shameless Blue Wolf you are."

Sokka actually snorted at that and Azula beamed, their foreheads pressed together. After a moment of tenderness, she pulled away and ushered him to follow her to the hallway. Sokka did so with a sigh, still clutching the ice and hoping not to catch too many people's attention…

But the sound of voices outside their waiting room alerted them that there was someone waiting for them past that door. Azula froze: had they heard the things they'd said? Going by the loudness of the voices outside, it didn't seem like they would have… it also seemed like there was a lot of people, too. She frowned and held out a hand in front of Sokka, keeping him from opening the door.

"What's that?" he asked. Azula shrugged.

"No clue," she said. "But I guess they only got here just now. The hallway was as good as empty when I arrived."

"Y-you don't think they…"

"Heard us?" Azula said. "With all the noise they're making, I doubt it. It's not impossible, but…"

"Maybe they wouldn't have understood what we were talking about even if they did spy on us…" said Sokka, gulping. Azula frowned.

"If they were spying indeed, well… not only are they the worst spies ever, since we've already noticed they're there, but I think my hands will be stained sooner than we expected," she said, stepping towards the door. Sokka swallowed hard again.

"Be careful…" he said, as Azula breathed deeply and placed her hand on the doorknob.

The most prominent voice was that of a man. Azula couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but by the quality of the muted sounds she guessed it was a man in his late twenties, at most. He seemed enthusiastic, and she couldn't help but wonder why he would be that cheerful right at Sokka's waiting room's door.

She frowned with determination before pulling the door open. The noise outside died almost instantly, though the man who had been the loudest kept talking, his back turned towards Azula, so all she could see of him was that he was of average height and build, and that his brown hair was unkempt and spiky.

"So, as soon as we see him, we'll give him all our best wishes and…!"

"Y-Yang. Yang!" said another man, a dark-skinned one who slapped the other one's arm and gestured at the door behind him.

Yang froze, turning around slowly with uncertainty. He jumped upon noticing that the one by the door was none other than Princess Azula herself.

The entire group fell in a reverence towards her, though Yang's bow was imperfect and sloppy. Azula frowned as Sokka lurked over her shoulder, curious and confused, just like Azula, over why this odd crowd of around thirty people would be gathered in front of their waiting room.

Yet soon enough they noticed there was a common theme to them: they wore blue clothes, some of them with gray hats. The combination of colors made Azula scowl, more so upon noticing that some of them were carrying what seemed to be weapon props and headbands wrapped around their heads.

She glanced at Sokka, who looked back at her: both had little to no doubt about who these people were now, and about what they were doing here.

"F-for how long are we supposed to…?" Yang whispered at the previous guy, who only shushed him for his troubles. Azula breathed out.

"Rise," she declared, almost remorsefully.

Once they stood up, she closed her eyes and lifted a hand to her forehead. A brief glimpse at the wolf symbols emblazoned over their clothes was enough to prove her suspicions correct. This group of people could only be one thing…

"G-greetings, Crown Princess Azula!" Yang said, with a nervous smile. "It is with great honor that we…! O-oh. Oh, dear, that's him! He's right…! Ah, damn it, I… Hello there, Mr. Blue Wolf!"

"Uh… hi?" said Sokka, blinking blankly. "You don't have to be so formal, though…"

"Ah, really? W-well, either way!" said Yang, smiling proudly before bowing before them again. "We are the Blue Den, the Blue Wolf's most devoted admirers!"

"Fancy way of calling yourself a fanboy," said Azula, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. Yang flinched and smiled at her uneasily.

"The Blue Den?" Sokka asked, surprised. "Really?"

"Yes! It's a name we picked hoping it would please you," said Yang. "I am the President, and everyone here is a member! We've all followed you for a long time, but we only started the Official Blue Wolf Fan Club recently."

"I'm confused, though," said Sokka, stroking the stubble on his chin. "Shouldn't you be the Blue Pack instead of the Blue Den? I mean, the Den is where the Pack lives, so if you're supposed to be fellow wolves, then…"

"Oh. He… he has a point!" said one of the club members, aghast. "We will have to vote on it!"

"Why would we vote? The Blue Wolf has spoken, we must change the name immediately!" exclaimed a girl, clenching her fists. "It's only right, after all!"

"It's very true, very true. Well, then, never mind about the Den! We are a Pack now!" exclaimed Yang, and the others clapped happily. Sokka smiled awkwardly before glancing at Azula, who still seemed to be having a hard time digesting the current turn of events.

"We thought we would come by to introduce ourselves, since you've had rough fights lately," said the same girl from before, regarding Sokka with doting eyes, angling her body towards his. "We wanted to congratulate you for your success on this one, and see if you were… alright."

Her eyes, along with everyone else's, traveled down to his groin. Sokka blushed as he clutched the ice bag, his lips pressed in a tight line.

"I-I'm okay. Or I will be, at any rate," he said, swallowing hard.

"We sure hope so!" said Yang, smiling brightly. "But even if that's so, we have a gift for you! We thought it might cheer you up!"

"A gift?" Sokka said, his eyes widening with interest as Yang reached amongst the crowd to find a young girl.

She was blushing when Yang pulled her up front, her eyes on the floor as she stood before Sokka and Azula. Her arms were surrounding a pack of papers, and Yang kept ushering her to give the gladiator the gift he had mentioned.

"Come now, come on," he said. "He'll be thrilled to see it!"

"I… I hope so," she said, swallowing hard before raising her eyes towards the Blue Wolf.

Sokka smiled encouragingly as the girl bit her lip and pulled out one of the papers in her arms. Given that Sokka's hands were wet after the ice had condensed around them, Azula was the one to take it, which only made the girl more nervous.

"I-it's just a drawing…" she said, but Sokka whistled with amazement as he gazed upon it.

"Damn, that's me?!" he asked, smiling. "Do I seriously look that cool when I fight?"

"She's definitely made you look more graceful than you really are," said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka pouted.

"Pirin also drew one of you, Princess!" said Yang, but Pirin shook her head as Yang looked at her. "Well, come on, it's a good one too!"

"I-it's no good!" she exclaimed. "She wouldn't like it!"

"She thinks the other one is graceful, she'll like this one too!" Yang exclaimed. Pirin sighed, her eyes flickering towards Azula apprehensively. Sokka smiled encouragingly.

"I'd like to see it," he said. Azula raised her eyebrows skeptically at him he turned his grin on her.

Pirin sighed and shook her head before fishing out the drawing in question. Azula took it again, and she frowned as she studied it. Her reaction caused Pirin to flinch and hide her face in Yang's shoulder.

"See, she doesn't like it, I knew she wouldn't like it!"

"What exactly is…?" said Azula, looking at the drawing with confusion.

"Why, it's the sponsors' balcony from where we sit!" said Yang. "See, see, that's you, or… your hairpiece, I guess."

"The tip of the hairpiece, you'll mean," said Sokka, scratching his head. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"I can't lie, she certainly has some skill when it comes to drawing architecture," she said, tilting her head to appreciate the drawing's perspective.

"Doesn't she?! We always tell her she's great, she's our club's official artist!" said Yang, beaming.

"Do you have more ranks like that?" Sokka asked, curious. His interest in the club's structure seemed to elate Yang beyond belief.

"O-oh, yes we do, yes we do! Would you like for us all to introduce ourselves?" Yang asked, beaming. "We can absolutely do that, yes we can!"

"Why, that certainly sounds like fun, but I don't think I'll stick around to hear it," said Azula, rolling Sokka's drawing together before making to leave. "I'll set up your next fight, meet me downstairs when you're done with this."

"Uh, you sure you don't want me there to…?" Sokka started, but as Azula walked through the crowd he was pelted with questions and introductions, rendering him unable to follow her.

It took some time for Sokka to finally make his way to Azula again, since he was stuck hearing all sorts of stories about his Blue Pack. Hina, the girl who had been staring at him with lovestruck eyes, was a nobleman's daughter and she provided most the funding for the Blue Pack. A young man called Aisen was their tailor, the one who had crafted the shirts they wore, with the wolves emblazoned across them. The one who had shushed Yang earlier was Chen, and he was the Treasurer. A group of three, Guowei, Min and Yihan, were apparently in charge for leading the howling to celebrate Sokka's entrance into the ring, or for the cheering whenever he landed a good blow.

It was overwhelming, Sokka concluded, despite he was also moved to know he had brought all these people together. It seemed weird that they would assemble to support him so enthusiastically, but it brought a smile to his face nonetheless.

He was still smiling as he approached Azula at Shoji's counter, followed by the crowd of cheerful people who were eager to have their hero learn their names, too. He excused himself from them briefly, though, since Azula's body language gave away that something was not quite right.

"Uh, hey. I'm back now," he said, smiling at her nervously. Azula raised an eyebrow, her face marked by irritation.

"Good to know," she said. Sokka chuckled.

"They're such a crazy bunch, but they seem like good people, really. They may be a little hyperactive, but hey, did you know they've actually put on reenactments of my performances in some local theater? It's crazy!"

"For sure," said Azula. He grimaced, realizing she was in no mood to hear about the way his fans celebrated his successes.

"Uh… what's wrong?" he asked, only looking at Shoji now to realize he had his head hung, far more nervous than usual.

"This is what's wrong," Azula said, grabbing a challenge and showing it to Sokka.

"It's… blank?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "What's the point, exactly…?"

"This is a challenge we're supposed to send out, not one we just received," Azula snarled. "Care to look at where the fight is supposed to take place?"

"That's… wait, what?!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes widening. "The Slate?! Again?!"

"It's been five months since your fight there," said Shoji. "I… I was told recently that you had to send out a Slate challenge immediately, since you hadn't yet, and…"

"Woah, woah!" said Sokka, lifting his hands. "Just a second, now, I seem to remember Combustion Man gave up his right to challenge, so by all logic…!"

"Apparently we could only give up the right to challenge in the three months right after our fight, and nobody bothered telling me," Azula growled. Sokka's jaw dropped.

"I'm so sorry, Princess!" said Shoji, grimacing. "I never thought you might want to surrender the right to challenge, but I should have said something anyways…"

"Yes, you truly should have," Azula said, and Shoji flinched. She huffed. "Either way, we have to choose someone for you to fight there in one month, whether we like it or not. At this point there's just no other choice."

"Well, then, no firebenders, even if I have Wolf's Bane. Hell no," said Sokka, grimacing. "Maybe I should pick an earthbender and…"

"Don't be ridiculous, that'd be plain stupid," said Azula. "We're not as weak or desperate as to challenge someone whom we know can't even fight in the Slate."

"I know, I know", said Sokka, sighing. "It'd damage our image a lot, wouldn't it?"

"Yes. Though here I thought you'd be all moralistic and say it wouldn't be right to do it," said Azula, smirking. "I'm glad we're seeing things eye to eye, then."

"W-well, it wouldn't be right, but you know, victory wouldn't be a matter of life and death if I fight an earthbender, right?" said Sokka, grimacing again at her assessment.

"It shouldn't be either if we choose another non-bender," said Azula. "Which would allow you to fight in equal circumstances with your opponent and still have a good chance at winning, going by your prior training. So… we'll have to pick a non-bender, someone who seems mostly inoffensive, and that way we'll head into the Slate without the same impending sense of dread from last time."

"Well, the Blue Wolf did beat the Millennium Dragon in the previous fight in the Slate," said Shoji, smiling. "If you could defeat the Millennium Dragon, you could defeat anyone!"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched: evidence suggested otherwise, he thought bitterly, as his mind drifted towards Toph and Rhone. He had increased his fighting abilities beyond belief after training for the Slate, and even so he had failed to defeat two fighters afterwards. He only hoped not to find other rivals he couldn't beat, like those two.

"That remains to be seen," said Azula, frowning as she stretched out her hand. "Can I look at the Ranking, Shoji?"

"Of course!" Shoji said, swallowing hard and handing the long list to the Princess. "Take all the time you need."

"I intended to," Azula said, scanning the names on the ranking quickly.

She skipped down the top fifty fighters without a second thought. This would definitely be the lowest ranked fight to take place in the Slate, seeing how Sokka hadn't breached the top hundred fighters yet, and Azula wouldn't have him fight anyone around those levels again just yet. People might scoff at them for holding a low-ranked fight in the Slate, but after the clash with Rhone, Azula was past the point of caring: she would worry about their reputation in the Gladiator League whenever they could uphold it without putting Sokka's life in mortal danger.

Most the non-benders near Sokka's level were people they had already fought: the Amazoness and the Feathered Snake caught Azula's eye again, but she didn't think it'd be wise to challenge either of them once more. Someone else might be better, someone who might not sound like a nutjob as Rhone had… though after seeing names like Man's Butcher and the Fiery Nightmare, along with Queen of Pain, she started to wonder if everyone was indeed as crazy as Rhone.

"Any ideas yet?" Sokka asked. Azula sighed.

"Everyone has a stupid name," she said. He smiled.

"You never like anyone's names, Princess. That's not very nice," he said. Azula huffed.

"Come on! Would you like to fight the Clown? How about Pixie?" she growled. "If that's not it, then how about Man's Butcher? Queen of Pain? Seriously, Sokka, if it's not a strangely cutesy name that would make more sense in a circus than in an Arena, it's a creepy name about on par with Kinslayer. This is just…"

"Who are your options so far?" Shoji asked, looking at her apprehensively. "Maybe I can help…"

"Why, I don't really know," said Azula, frowning. "So far everyone sounds… ridiculous."

"Well, Man's Butcher is another gladiator killer, so maybe stay clear off that one," said Shoji. Azula sighed.

"With that name, I didn't expect otherwise."

"As for Queen of Pain, she's actually pretty good, a great hand-to-hand fighter, uses a wooden sword…"

"A what?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. "Why would someone…?"

"Beats me, but she's pretty awesome," said Shoji, smiling. "If I have to recommend a fighter, it'd be…"

"U-uh, excuse me…"

Azula's eyebrow twitched when she heard Yang's voice again. She turned her head slowly, finding the man was beaming as he looked at Sokka.

"I was just wondering if you could sign some of Pirin's drawings?" he said. Azula huffed as Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Maybe later?" he said. "We're kind of in the middle of something here, so…"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I… curses, I'm a fool," said Yang, his hand on his forehead. "Never mind! We won't pester you!"

"Well, you're not really pestering me, that's going too far…" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly.

"You sure are enjoying the attention, aren't you?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Sokka judgmentally. He blushed.

"H-hey, I…! I didn't think I'd ever have a fan club, it's not such a bad thing for me to like it, is it?"

"What?" said Yang, his eyes widening. "Y-you… you like having a fan club?!"

"The Blue Wolf gives us his approval!" shouted one of the members, and the entire group broke into celebration.

Azula buried her face in her hands as Sokka stood petrified next to her, watching his fans clapping, cheering, jumping in glee because of his words. That was not quite what he thought would happen… maybe this fan club matter was a little weirder than he'd expected it to be.

"Ugh, never mind them, Shoji, what were you saying?" she said. Shoji swallowed hard.

"U-uh, just… Queen of Pain may not be such a good idea after all, never mind," he said. Azula frowned.

"Wait, what? Why's that?" she asked. "That's not what you were saying before…"

"N-no important reason, did you have anyone else you wanted to ask about? The Clown? Pixie? The Red Jester? Oh, maybe Firefly? Twist of Shadow?"

"I wasn't asking about those, we were talking about that Pain girl," said Azula, frowning. "What's with you all of sudden…?"

Her words were interrupted again when Sokka flinched and nearly wound up sitting on the counter, panicking over his swarming admirers as he clutched the bag of ice against his privates.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up!" Sokka was saying. The group of overexcited fans approached him, all with papers for him to sign despite Yang had told them to wait until later. "I don't even have a brush, I can't…!"

"Uh, here…" said Shoji, gulping as he offered his ink and brush to the gladiator. Maybe that would help keep them calm, wouldn't it?

Azula rolled her eyes as Sokka sighed and started signing papers, holding the ice still with his free hand. Yang had indeed tried to hold back the others, but by now he seemed to have desisted on it. He was busy talking excitedly to someone else in the group now instead, and he surely would fetch an autograph of his own as soon as the coast was clear.

"Can you focus now, Shoji?" Azula asked, tapping the table uneasily. Shoji swallowed hard.

"I-I just don't think you'll want to fight that non-bender, Princess. Take it from me, she's…"

"You said just a moment ago that she's not a killer and she's a good fighter. Why is she not so good all of sudden?"

"W-well, she's just too good! See, she's only lost seventeen times…" said Shoji, gulping. "She could steal the right to challenge, and that's not what you… wait, that is what you want, isn't it?"

"I'd rather Sokka wins this fight, thank you very much," said Azula, frowning. "But if he loses and we lose the right to challenge I won't mind either. So that's simply no reason not to"

"W-well, maybe that isn't, but you see, she's actually…"

"What now?" said Azula, looking at Shoji in confusion until her attention was stolen by something else before the young man could explain anything.

"… Um, you know, there's others waiting, could you…?" Sokka was saying, and Azula was alerted upon realizing the girl from earlier was standing a little too close to her gladiator, holding her signed picture behind her back.

"See, I was just wondering what you'd be doing later, since you just had this big fight and all… you probably should relax a bit, right?"

"I don't really think that's, uh…" said Sokka, his eyes shifting towards Azula. Her eyebrow was twitching as she wordlessly asked him if he could deal with the girl on his own or if he'd rather she stepped in. "I'm not going to do that, nah, I have to get back to training… can't let my guard down, you know?"

"What? But you just won, you need to…"

"He doesn't need to do anything some fangirl thinks he does," Azula growled, making Hina freeze where she was. "My gladiator has a schedule and a routine, and he's not about to break it to spare your feelings for him."

"M-my…?" Hina said, her eyes widening. Sokka swallowed hard. It was rather obvious that the girl was interested in him, trying to cover up for it now wouldn't work well for her.

"Besides, the part of his body you're most interested in isn't functional right now" said Azula, smirking now. Hina's cheeks reddened and she gasped, while Sokka stared at Azula indignantly, his lips forming a small pout. "So there's no point to taking him anywhere… not that I'd allow him to go even if there was, of course. One would think a highborn girl like yourself would set her sights on a nobleman, not a slave… but perhaps your taste in men isn't quite so refined, is it?"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched. Of course, he knew Azula's words were spoken with the purpose of scaring this girl off, but she was the most refined woman in the entire nation and she was interested in him, too!

Still, he refrained from commenting despite he ached to do so. She was saying what she had to say, there was nothing more to it…

"I… I'm sorry. I should know my place…" Hina muttered, though Sokka noticed reluctance and displeasure in her demeanor now. Azula probably had gone too far, but he had the feeling it wasn't far enough to scare the girl away completely… which wasn't great news for him. He honestly hoped he wouldn't have to deal with a stalker fangirl from now on…

Hina walked away, clutching her autograph and frowning deeply. Sokka swallowed hard before turning to Azula, whose attention had returned to the ranking and the young man sitting behind the counter. Azula's eyes shifted towards Sokka when she noticed he was looking at her with irritation.

"You know, she… she wouldn't be the first highborn to think I'm somewhat handsome," he said, folding his arms over his chest. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Oh? Who else is visually impaired, then?" She asked, unable to hold back a smirk. Sokka clutched his chest, as though she had just stabbed him.

"You're just too cruel today, you know?" he said. "And hey, Ty Lee thought I was cute, didn't she?"

"Oh, please, Ty Lee would think any guy with less than average looks is cute," said Azula. "That's about the weakest defense you could latch onto. And besides, can we focus here? We can carry on dealing blows to your ego later, if that's how you like it…"

"I don't like it!" said Sokka, pouting again before frowning as he looked at the Ranking. "Have you decided on someone yet, then?"

"Why, I was trying to, but Shoji thinks that challenging this non-killer non-bending gladiator isn't a good idea, for some reason," said Azula, pointing at Queen of Pain. Sokka frowned.

"You sure she's a good idea, though? You just said this one was an eerie name."

"But she's not a killer," said Azula. "And as long as she isn't one, she's a good choice."

"Would she give us a serious fight?" Sokka asked. Shoji shrugged.

"I… guess so?" he said. Sokka huffed.

"Well then, what's the drawback?"

"I just… y-you know, maybe it's not a drawback at all," Shoji muttered, biting his lip. "It might be… that it's just me thinking too much. So never mind, eh? Y-you sure, then?"

"Ah, Mr. Blue Wolf!" Yang called again, and Sokka grimaced. Shoji swallowed hard. "I have a painting for you to sign! It's one of my favorites by Pirin, I want to hang it in my living room!"

"Huh, really?" said Sokka, looking at Yang with uncertainty as the man showed him a painting of Sokka lifting his sword towards a sunset, or maybe a sunrise…?

"My wife will love it!" he said. Sokka had a very hard time believing his words.

"Eh… sure?" he replied, taking the paper and signing it.

Azula huffed, shaking her head and looking at Shoji again.

"Yes, we're sure about the challenge. Just send it and let us be out of here now, will you?" said Azula. This matter of the fan club, while somewhat curious at first, had grown tiresome for her quite quickly.

"Alright, alright…" said Shoji, swallowing hard and starting to fill the Slate's challenge as requested.

"So, it's done? We're going back to the Slate?" Sokka said, sighing. Azula shrugged.

"It's not like we had a choice," she said. "It'll be fine. Your opponent only fights hand-to-hand or with a wooden sword, from what Shoji said, so…"

"Eh?" Yang said, as he took the drawing Sokka had only just finished signing. "A fighter who only… has a wooden sword?"

"Yes, it's not likely to be the most spectacular fight the Slate has ever seen, but it will have to do," said Azula, sighing. "Wooden sword or no, your opponent has a very positive record as it is, so as per usual…"

"I mustn't underestimate her, I know," said Sokka.

Yang's eyebrow twitched. His hand trembled as he lifted it, uncertain if to tap Sokka's shoulder to ask him who exactly was this gladiator they spoke of… but the signs were there, weren't they? There were no other fighters of those qualities in the Superior League, that he knew of… so it couldn't be anyone else, could it?

"Y-you don't mean, though, that… that you're challenging the Queen of Pain?" Yang asked.

Sokka and Azula both turned towards him with confusion. His enthusiasm had somehow transformed into uncertainty and, perhaps, anxiety.

"What is it? Do you have a reason why we shouldn't challenge her too?" Azula asked, frowning.

"Maybe he's going to be like Shoji and he just won't say it, heh?" said Sokka. Azula frowned.

"What's it to you that we'd challenge Queen of Pain anyways?"

"J-j-just a moment, now…" said Yang, swallowing hard and looking at them with wide eyes. "You've challenged the Queen of Pain… to the Slate?!"

The rest of the group fell silent too after their leader shouted as he had. He looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. What on earth was it with him?

"What's so bad about that?" said Sokka, looking at him in confusion. "Seriously, what's the deal with the two of you and…?"

He was turning to look at Shoji, just as the young man finished writing the details into the challenge. Yet instead of turning to the drawers behind him to stash the challenge away for whenever the opposite sponsor came by, Shoji breathed deeply and stood up. Both Azula and Sokka watched him, confused and wary.

"What are you doing? Shoji, what…?" said Sokka, as Shoji stretched a hand between the two of them.

It was only then that Azula's mind started to put together why Shoji would suddenly grow reluctant to let them challenge Queen of Pain. It hadn't been until he had seen Yang that he stopped presenting her as a good choice, after all… and that Yang would recognize her just by her fighting style, that he would worry so much about seeing Queen of Pain challenged to the Slate…

"We're supposed to hand challenges to sponsors as soon as we see them," said Shoji, lowering his gaze. "S-so…"

Sokka's jaw dropped. Azula lifted a hand to her forehead, cursing inwardly.

The President of Sokka's Fan Club clasped the challenge with shivering fingers, staring at the paper as though it was heaven-sent. There were genuine tears in his eyes as he took it with utmost delicacy, as though he expected it to come undone if he held it too tightly.

"I… I've been challenged by the Princess…" he said, covering his mouth with a hand as the rest of the fan club gasped in amazement. "I've been challenged by the Princess!"

The group started clapping and cheering, all of them congratulating Yang enthusiastically as Sokka and Azula stood where they were, stone-cold, disbelieving still. The guy was a sponsor? He was leading the fan club of a completely different gladiator, and yet he was a sponsor?!

"I'm sorry…" said Shoji, swallowing hard. He braced himself, expecting both Sokka and Azula to glare at him angrily enough to set him on fire.

Yet first of all they stared at each other in chagrin, having realized that the fighter had not been the problem, at all. Shoji's reservations were over one thing in particular, and they had finally discovered what it was.

Still, they looked at him pleadingly now, to find him grimacing apologetically.

"C-can't we change our minds now?" Sokka said. Shoji sighed.

"I'm sorry," he said again, having no other words to offer them by now.

Sokka sighed as Azula groaned with despair. Despite it all, the Slate somehow never ceased being a problem.

---

"This is absurd. He should have said something! Why the hell didn't he tell us?!"

"Maybe because Yang was standing right there?" said Sokka, sighing. Azula huffed as she paced before him.

"It's no excuse. He could have at least gestured at us, implied the problem was the sponsor! And… and how on earth is he someone's sponsor when he's obsessed with you? Let alone a successful sponsor!"

"Maybe his fighter does all the work," said Sokka, shrugging. "Also… my ice is all melted now. It's just a bag of water, heh…"

"Are you feeling any better yet?" Azula asked, looking at him with uncertainty as he placed the bag on the living room table.

"Eh, been better but also worse," said Sokka, smiling awkwardly. "My clothes are all wet now, though."

"Well, change out of them," said Azula, shrugging. Sokka gulped.

"You won't want to help me with that…?"

"Eh, can't say I'm in the mood with all this nonsense on my mind," said Azula, sighing and dropping on the couch beside him.

They had slipped through Sokka's Blue Pack without as much trouble as they had expected, for they were all too busy fawning over their leader's new Slate challenge to notice them leaving. Xin Long had carried them to Sokka's house, though the gladiator had not enjoyed the trip at all, his injured groin paining him as he sat on the saddle. He had sunk on the couch as his sponsor paced back and forth, gesticulating with exasperation as she pondered the situation they had gotten themselves into.

"Shoji really had been too nice not to make any mistakes ever, eh?" Sokka said, looking at her sideways. Azula shook her head.

"I was far too shocked to react at the time, but when I see him again, I'm going to…" said Azula, her eyes narrowing. Sokka chuckled.

"Okay, okay, no need to threaten him," he said. "All things considered… it'll be alright. I mean, the guy's crazy, that's for sure, but we won't see him at all until the fight, right?"

"Oh, sure, only on every single fight we ever have in the Royal Dome," said Azula, looking at him skeptically. "He's going to be there every time, you know? And this sort of thing with you signing a thousand autographs a day will start happening far too often for my taste."

"Well, then, we just have to escape through the roof!" said Sokka, smiling. "Tell Xin Long to pick us up there and we can avoid them. See? Problem solved."

"I guess it's a thought," said Azula, sighing and rubbing her temples. Sokka pouted as he watched her.

"On another note, though, I guess your taste in men is not refined at all, is it…?" he asked, smirking slightly. Azula huffed.

"She was two seconds away from melting into a puddle just by looking at you," said Azula. "I mean, you could tell too, couldn't you?"

"Sure, but… damn, you were ruthless," he said, chuckling. "She's probably going to cry herself to sleep tonight because you not-very-subtly called her a slut."

"It's far from the worst I've said to someone, and really, I wasn't in the mood to watch some girl asking you out," Azula grunted. "Do excuse me for being too territorial, if that's what I was, but…"

"Hey, I can't say I wouldn't act the same way if it were the other way around," said Sokka, smiling. "Though now you've said your tastes aren't refined either, by those standards you spoke of…"

"Well, maybe they aren't," said Azula. Sokka winced.

"B-but… hey!" he said, as she smiled. "You're supposed to say they totally are, and that I'm actually a great catch! Azula…!"

"You'll have to pry such words from my corpse or so, because I won't ever say them aloud…" she said, smirking. Sokka pouted.

"You're about to swallow that pride, Princess! You'll see!" he said, lunging at her. Azula snorted as he tackled her on the couch, his hands reaching to tickle her.

"Oh, come on!" she said, as the prickle of laughter started bursting from her. "We were talking about serious things, stop…! S-stop that!"

"This is very serious, yes, I am very handsome, and you know it! You've said it before!" Sokka pouted, chuckling too when Azula couldn't hold back the laughter anymore.

They wound up lying across the couch once he stopped the tickle attack, her back against his chest, his arms surrounding her waist as he kissed her jaw line softly. Her armor was in the way, but she had been too frantic over their situation with the Blue Pack to even consider removing it.

"Your pants are still wet, you know," she said. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, you weren't in the mood for fun stuff so there's no need for me to take them off," he taunted her, smirking. Azula snorted.

"You'll catch a cold like that," she said, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"What, just because of this? I'm way tougher than that!" he said, smirking proudly. Azula's skeptical smile made him sigh. "Well, okay, maybe not, but you'll look after me if I do catch a cold, right?"

"You'll make me nurse you to health?" she said. "That's stuff for Song to do, not me…"

"Hey, I nursed you when you were sick," he complained, poking her cheek with his nose. "Meanie."

"You didn't quite nurse me," said Azula, smiling. "I mean… you served as my pillow, helped Song a bit, no doubt, but… you ended up capturing rebels and fighting battles and riding my dragon, right? The ones nursing me in the end were the physicians and Song. You mostly just… sat there beside me until I felt better. Ah, and you kissed me. Because you did kiss me, didn't you?"

"What, you mean at Ty Lee's, or…?"

"No, when you carried me to the bathroom," said Azula. "You just set me down, kissed my forehead, and I only registered what you'd done when you were already gone."

"Ah, that one. Yeah, I did," said Sokka. Azula smirked.

"I knew it. I was sick, but I wasn't imagining nonsense," she said. Sokka laughed.

"I spent all those days holding back from kissing you for real, you know," he said. "There were so many times I wanted to… heck, that was when I finally admitted to myself how I felt about you. But…"

"But you thought you'd get sick too if you kissed me?" Azula asked, smiling a little. Sokka scoffed.

"Like that'd stop me. You know I'm not one to take care of myself unless reminded to," he said, pressing his lips to her cheek. "I just thought you'd be really mad if I tried to kiss you again, is all. I didn't want to be a bother…"

"Well… in case you don't remember, I did kiss you back when you kissed me at Ty Lee's," said Azula, her hand sliding over his. "I really didn't get angry until later because… heh, because I couldn't process what had happened until then. So, if you'd kissed me while I was sick, the same would have happened, likely."

"Huh. That's a surprise," said Sokka, smiling. "So, you would have wanted me to kiss you?"

"Don't I always?" said Azula, sighing and dropping against him, turning her head to look at him. "You think I'd let you do it as often if I didn't like it?"

"Hehe, well, I know you do, but it's still nice to get you to say it…" said Sokka, with a happy blush. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"You're such an idiot," she said, turning around in his arms.

Despite her previous negative, she was starting to feel compelled to take this upstairs now, and not just so Sokka wouldn't catch a cold. He smiled as they kissed, his hands traveling over her back and flanks, sliding under her armor.

"You really understood what you felt for me when I was sick, though…?" Azula asked, as he kissed her face now. Sokka smiled.

"As you might recall, the crazy circumstances made me fear for your safety quite badly. I guess that sort of thing can be an eye-opener. I'd known I had feelings for you for a long time by then, but that was when I accepted fully that I loved you. It was a big relief to admit it, honestly."

Azula smiled and sighed. Sokka raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"What is it?" he said.

"Just… I wasn't all that relieved when I knew I was in love with you," she said, hugging him close. "I accepted it just after we decided we weren't going to act upon our attraction, pretty much. Funny, huh?"

"You… really?" said Sokka, his eyes widening. "But…"

"I thought the feelings would go away in time," said Azula with a weak smile. "But after what happened in Ember Island, I realized that wasn't going to happen at all. I was too far gone to be helped anymore. And it's all your fault, you jerk…"

"Mine? Well, what did I do?" said Sokka, smiling. "You're the one with unrefined tastes in men, apparently…"

Azula smiled too at that, rolling her eyes before kissing him fully. Sokka kissed her passionately, though he noticed she inched away from the wet stains of his clothes. He chuckled at the contorted position of her body, and she raised her eyebrows as she pulled away.

"You need to get out of those pants. Right now," she said, smiling.

"You really think Mr. Boomerang is up for testing, then?" he asked. She shrugged.

"We can find out now, don't you…?"

A knock on the door made them both sit up and fall silent instantly.

"What the…?" said Sokka, his eyes widening as the knock sounded again. Azula grabbed him by the chin, wiping his lips again, as always.

"Run upstairs, change, be back here immediately and at least make it look like we were going to train. We have no idea who that is," she said, frowning. Sokka nodded. "Go!"

He scrambled upstairs, flinching as he leapt the steps two by two, admitting silently to himself that his groin wasn't fully healed yet, as it was. Still downstairs, Azula stood up and straightened her clothes and hair. Her sword was resting on a corner, where she would usually keep it before they started training. She swallowed hard, approaching the door warily as another knock struck the wood.

She pulled it open and found Rui Shi standing outside… next to someone who had to be the tallest woman she had ever seen. Azula blinked blankly.

"What in the name of…?" she said, looking at her guard questioningly. Rui Shi bowed subtly.

"Here I thought you weren't here, it took you long enough," he said, just as Azula registered movement behind the tall woman…

Her face went from confusion to aversion when a head with spiky brown hair popped out from behind the woman, spiky brown hair that belonged to someone she absolutely didn't want to see right now.

"This is it, really? The Blue Wolf's home?" Yang asked, his eyes wide in amazement.

"What the…?! What is he doing here?! Captain, why did you…?!" she asked, looking at him in chagrin. Rui Shi cleared his throat.

"They seem to have something to say to you," he said. Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh, really, now? And you just guide everyone who asks to speak to me right to my threshold? What if they wanted to kill me, huh?!"

"What? We would not!" said Yang, horrified by the sole idea. Azula's eyebrow was still twitching.

"Why, first of all, you'd surely be able to kill them first," said Rui Shi, shrugging. "Second, they showed me something that made me think you'd actually want to talk to them… you sent a challenge to them, didn't you?"

"I…" said Azula, her eyes growing wider as she looked at Yang with irritation. Was this his ploy? He had used the challenge to get himself a chance to visit Sokka's house somehow…? Was the man capable of concocting such wild plans?

"I apologize, Princess…" said the woman, suddenly. "Yang may have given you a bad impression, for which I'm not surprised at all, but we do have some things we need to speak about regarding the challenge you've sent. Things are… well, not as simple as you might have thought…"

"W-woah!" Sokka shouted from behind Azula, as he returned to the first floor to find Yang standing outside his house. "What the heck?!"

"It's him! Look, look, Haiyan, it's him!" he exclaimed, grabbing the woman's elbow and pointing at Sokka. Haiyan sighed.

"I can see that, Yang," she whispered. Azula frowned as the woman looked at her again. "May we come inside so we can discuss this matter more easily?"

The woman's politeness eased Azula's concerns, to a fault… but Yang's excited behavior was quite a strong motivator to keep the conversation outside. Still, for the sake of not being too rude…

"Fine," she said. Sokka gasped.

"Wait, wait, what's going on here?" he said, looking at Azula with chagrin as the woman lowered her head and entered the house, followed by her enthusiastic companion.

"They want to talk about something that concerns our challenge," said Azula, through gritted teeth. "Though… I have no idea who she is, or why they could only do it here, but the Captain brought them and…"

"And now the Captain is taking his leave. I'll see you later," said Rui Shi, bowing again. Azula snarled at him as he closed the door after him: she had the distinct feeling the guard had been smiling underneath his helmet.

"You know, it's times like these that I think he's just…" said Azula. Sokka swallowed.

"Taking revenge?" he said. Azula huffed.

"Yes. Exactly," she grunted.

"It's quite a lovely house," the woman said. She gazed about herself with interest once she could stand upright, after passing the threshold into the living room. Next to her, Yang seemed to be on the verge of losing his mind.

"Uh, thanks," said Sokka, scratching the back of his head. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"It's not his doing that it's lovely, though. Someone else takes care of that," she said. Sokka pouted.

"Can't let me look good, not even for ten seconds, can you?" he mumbled.

"Either way, pleasantries aside…" said Azula, rubbing her forehead before pointing at the woman. "Who might you be and why do you want to discuss the challenge? I was under the impression he was elated enough to cry about it only about an hour ago, wasn't he?"

"I was, for sure," said Yang, smiling nervously before glancing at the woman. "But anyways, for starters, Haiyan is my wife!"

"This is your…?" said Sokka, his eyes widening as he looked at Haiyan. He had been surprised to hear Yang was married at all, but the wife in question was the last kind of person he would have envisioned as Yang's significant other.

"It's my pleasure to meet you both," said Haiyan, bowing down to Sokka and Azula again. "Yang… speaks very often about you."

"I can't say I'm surprised to hear that," said Azula, looking at Yang judgmentally. The man smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"The thing is, though, we… haven't accepted the challenge yet," said Haiyan. "Things are a little complicated right now and accepting it right away would have been irresponsible of us."

"Why's that?" said Sokka, blinking blankly.

"Well, as it happens, we're not in the best situation, economically speaking," said Haiyan, lowering her gaze.

"I don't really have a steady job, the only income I can offer is through being a sponsor," said Yang, sighing. "And that's not steady at all either… most people reject the challenges I send when I set the bid too high. It's unfair, I guess, but…"

"Don't you have an actual career?" Azula asked. "Or are you just a sponsor and a fanboy for a living?"

"Well, the one who earns most the money we live off is actually Haiyan," said Yang, looking at the woman with wistful eyes. "As for my career, well…"

"He's a writer," said Haiyan. Azula and Sokka glanced at the lanky man with astonishment. "Which is why he's not making lots of money…"

"People have this unfair idea that your works won't be worth publishing until you're dead," said Yang, an eyebrow twitching. "Every single time I try to sell what I wrote I'm rejected because I must be dead to be a good writer. It's absurd, isn't it?"

"Not the best profession to choose if you're struggling with money, that's for sure," said Azula, frowning.

"As for me, I do construction work," said Haiyan, sighing. "I'm built enough for it, though some contractors have rejected me at times because I'm a woman. Still, it's the best we have…"

"And the point of this all is, we can't really afford hiring a ship to take us to the Slate," said Yang, lowering his gaze. "I mean, maybe we could, if we stop buying food for the next month, but…"

"Woah, are you really so badly off?" Sokka asked, his eyes widening.

"Construction work doesn't pay too well," Azula muttered. "And you say you can't make a lot of money through fights, yet your gladiator has mostly won. Isn't that enough to keep you afloat?"

"It's helped in the course of the last three years, yes," said Yang. "Sometimes it has bailed us out of serious trouble, but as I said, we don't tend to get paid a lot for fights…"

"Maybe the Queen of Pain needs to become a bigger name in the League," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow and looking at Azula now. "Wouldn't that help?"

"Likely," said Azula, nodding.

"Which is why you really could use fighting in the Slate," said Sokka, thoughtful. "That's a sure way to put your gladiator in the spotlight."

"It's certainly a great opportunity for us, but unless we can afford it…" said Haiyan, scratching the back of her neck.

"Well, don't you think there's a chance you could hire a small boat for passage just for two?" said Sokka. "You can stay in the Capital, doing your construction work, while he takes your gladiator and…"

"Huh?" said Haiyan and Yang simultaneously, looking at Sokka as though what he had said was utter nonsense.

"W-well, I mean, passage for just two would be cheaper, right?" he said. "It's nice that you two are so tight and all, but you don't need to go together to the Slate, do you?"

"But we do have to go together, there's no point if we don't," said Yang, crooking his head sideways ever so slightly. Azula grimaced.

"And that's because you're… you're the gladiator," the Princess concluded, pointing at Haiyan. Sokka froze.

"Of course," said Haiyan, looking at Yang now. "Didn't you tell them from the start?"

"I may have forgotten to, but I didn't say it wasn't you…" said Yang, shrugging. Haiyan smiled warmly.

"Well, it really does make sense that she'd be the Queen of Pain, truth be told," said Sokka, his eyes wide again: the tall, bulky woman suited perfectly the image of the gladiator he had built on his mind, even if her personality seemed perfectly agreeable so far.

"I did think it would be strange for you to have a slave if you were struggling with your money like this," said Azula, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "But I guess you just don't have one after all, huh?"

"Nope, not quite," said Yang, smiling awkwardly. "She's always been very strong, so she suggested she could fight occasionally, see if we could make extra money that way…"

"Alright, so you really are in a pickle", said Sokka, grimacing. "You can't fight anyone too strong, or else you might get injured, and then you won't be able to work in construction…"

"Basically," said Haiyan, with a nod.

"So… you're here to say we should send this challenge to someone else?" Azula asked. Sokka jumped and looked at her in surprise.

"W-well… it's either that or, just… well, if you'd be so kind to help us get there…" said Yang, swallowing hard.

"We don't want to impose, though. If that's not a possibility, then you should definitely send the challenge to someone else," said Haiyan. Yang sighed. "We'll accept any decision you make, and we encourage you to choose whatever is more comfortable for you, Princess."

Azula raised an eyebrow. Procuring passage for them would mean either hiring a ship for them or taking them to the Slate on her Barge… if they were to do the latter, she had the feeling she might end up tossing Yang overboard in the middle of the trip. The man was far too excitable for her liking, despite he seemed to be mostly calm right now… the way his eyes gleamed betrayed he was anxious, though.

All things considered, this wasn't their problem. If anything, it sounded like challenging this pair of gladiator and sponsor, wife and husband, would be more of a hindrance for Yang and Haiyan in the long run. If they had so much trouble dealing with their living expenses, then they should worry about that instead of fighting dangerous battles in risky Arenas…

Yet she noticed the way Sokka was looking at her, and she twitched under his stare. Oh, she knew it: he was moved by their story. Typical Sokka. He would want to help these two however they could, and it was true that they would likely have far more gladiator challenges than ever before if they fought at the Slate, which could result in more money for them…

She glared at him from the corner of her golden eyes, grimacing as he challenged her with his own azure stare. They both knew exactly what was on the other's mind, and they would likely spend hours on end arguing about this matter unless they were decisive about it now.

So Azula sighed and rolled her eyes: Sokka frowned, waiting for her verdict.

"You two are going to carry on with your lives as always," she finally said, looking at Haiyan and Yang with a subtle frown. "You'll keep working in construction and fighting, you'll keep writing or sponsoring her, whatever it is you do that brings you money. You'll eat properly, pay for rent if you have to, and if you have enough money to hire a ship to take you to the Slate, then that's how you'll do it. If you can't save up enough money for it… then I guess we'll have to take you there."

"W-wha…? Would you really?" Yang asked, his eyes gleaming with hope now. Azula huffed.

"You don't seem to be one of those nutjob fighters, and that's exactly what we were hoping for," she said, looking at Haiyan. "I'd rather not risk switching opponents and wind up challenging some murderous madman in the Slate."

"Oh, why…! There's nothing to worry about, I assure you Haiyan won't try to kill you!" said Yang, beaming at Sokka. "I… I…! Oh, dear, this is actually going to happen!"

Haiyan had to clasp his shoulder and smile as her husband started giggling and smiling, clutching her hand before looking at her in amazement. It was still confusing to Azula and Sokka, but it seemed these two actually understood one another when it came to Yang's enthusiasm over the Blue Wolf.

"Oh, we're so grateful to you! I'd… oh, I just would hug you but it's so inappropriate I'm not going to…!" he said, smiling still. Sokka snorted.

"Yeah, please refrain from doing that," he said. "Hug your wife instead, maybe."

"I will!" said Yang, laughing and jumping at Haiyan, slinging his arms around her neck as she lifted him. "We're going to fight the Blue Wolf! We will, we will!"

"Seems like it, huh?" said Haiyan, smiling gratefully at Azula from over Yang's shoulder. "You're… you're very kind to accept our request. We owe you lots!"

"Well, so long as you don't try to kill my gladiator, I'll be satisfied," said Azula, with a curt smile. "Now… was that all? Because if it was, you should tell Shoji you accept the challenge now."

"Yes! We must!" said Yang. Haiyan beamed.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she said, setting Yang down again: it looked like she hadn't even broken a sweat lifting him. "Thank you very much, Princess…"

"It means the world to us, truly!" said Yang, bowing again. "Thank you, and… and see you in one month!"

"Yeah…" said Azula, through gritted teeth as Sokka moved to the door, to let the two surprise guests take off again. "One month it is."

Sokka closed the door behind Haiyan and Yang, smiling to himself before turning towards Azula anew. She had buried her face in her hands, and he chuckled as he approached her.

"This is all your fault," she muttered, her embarrassed frustration increasing at the sound of Sokka's chuckles. "All of it, you jerk, staring at me like that…"

"Oh, come on, you knew it was the right thing to do!" said Sokka. "They're struggling, and they needed help, and we could give it to them. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Yes, there is," said Azula, as Sokka surrounded her waist with his arms. "You keep saying you love me, and heck, you say you fell in love with me back when I was sick? Why, turns out that I was no paragon of human goodness at the time, so that means you should stop trying to make me a good person, or I'll stop being the Azula you fell in love with. I'm not good, and it's better not to be either way."

"You keep saying silly things like that," said Sokka, beaming and kissing her brow. "But you know you're better than you want to admit you are. There's a lot of great things you've done without my direct involvement, you're just blaming me on this one to feel better about yourself."

"I'm blaming you because it's your fault!" said Azula. Sokka laughed.

"Well, actually I'd blame Shoji first of all, the little rascal should've warned us about Yang sponsoring Queen of Pain," said Sokka. "But you know, crazy as he may seem, I'm pretty sure he's not all that bad, you know?"

"Yeah, sure," said Azula, looking at Sokka skeptically. "You just like the attention, as I said…"

"I like your attention better than anything," he said, smirking and leaning closer. Azula huffed.

"Of course you do, but I'm not exactly happy right now because you are becoming more of a manipulative mastermind than I ever dreamt of being. You prick, making me altruistic like this…"

"Well, I'll let you be selfish now if you want," said Sokka, winking before lifting her in his arms. Azula groaned as he carried her off to the stairs.

"You'd better let me, because I've spent all my allotted niceness today as it is," she said. Sokka laughed again, climbing the stairs now, still holding her closely.

"You were nice? Really? You mean just with them, right? Because in case you forgot, you were laughing very spiritedly over my atrocious injury…"

"It was not that bad, or else you wouldn't be up to this now. Stop being so whiny," Azula said. Sokka laughed again.

"Well, we're about to see how bad it really was, huh?" he said, leaning to kiss her.

Azula smirked as he kicked his bedroom door closed behind them. She had the feeling his atrocious injury wouldn't hinder him too much, but she wouldn't complain much if it did. Either way, their routine would have to change drastically from tomorrow: they were going back to the Slate indeed, and this time she would be training Sokka herself to make sure he was set for the combat that loomed ahead.