"It's beyond remarkable, truly," the Head Sage remarked, gazing at the golden fire dancing on Azula's uninjured hand. "I had never seen anything quite like it before."
"Neither had I, but I'm relieved I discovered it regardless," said Azula, with a weak smile. "What sort of uses do you think such fire could have, though? My father said you wanted to study the possibility of finding other purposes for it, outside of ceremonial bending."
"Why, I don't really know," admitted the Head Sage, with a soft laugh. "It might be there's no other use for it, but such a rare sort of fire, with such unexpected behavior… it's nothing like regular fire, is it?"
"It feels quite different from it, yes," said Azula. The Head Sage stroked his beard with interest.
"How do you conjure it, if I may inquire?" he asked: Azula's heart sank. That was the one question regarding her fire that she refused to answer.
She had visited the Temple in the morning, knowing the Fire Sages were ready to work before sunrise. The Head Sage had invited her to a meditation chamber where they sat on plump cushions, studying Azula's gold fire.
"Well, that's… difficult to explain, I'll say," said Azula, with raised eyebrows. "It simply feels like an instinctive ability that I hadn't realized I had. Something just… clicked, I suppose. Does that make any sense?"
"Oh, perhaps not," said the Head Sage, laughing and shaking his head. "But I can't say I blame you, Princess. Explaining fire is certainly difficult. I only knew one man who seemed to grasp fire's concept and capacities perfectly… though, well, he can't help us right now. He might have, if only he were still here, but we will have to unlock the abilities of gold fire on our own."
"Is he dead?" Azula asked. The Head Sage shrugged.
"Perhaps he is," he said. "I can't be sure. But if he were, we should not mourn him. Not after he turned against Fire Lord Azulon…"
"What?" said Azula. The Head Sage sighed. "He turned against my grandfather? Are you talking about…?"
"The Deserter, yes," said the Head Sage, nodding. "Admiral Jeong Jeong."
"Here I expected you'd be referring to a philosopher, perhaps," said Azula, raising an eyebrow. "A military officer understood fire's nature better than you do? Isn't that… odd?"
"I suppose it is, yes," said the Head Sage, laughing. "But Jeong Jeong, much like yourself, Princess, was a prodigy. His mind, body and soul were in perfect harmony and he was the most powerful bender I knew until I met you, of course. He developed his very own training techniques, he even had a teaching method of his creation that greatly influenced other firebending schools… he handled fire in a way few others can. Others such as yourself, naturally."
"Yet he betrayed the Fire Nation," said Azula, raising an eyebrow. The Head Sage sighed again and nodded.
"I cannot say I understand why. The last time I spoke with him, he seemed to… to abhor fire, which I found so utterly confusing. How could a bender hate their own element? And yet… yet he said fire was merely corruption and destruction, an element only fit for the lowliest of human acts…"
"Are you serious?" said Azula, confused. "Why did you think that someone who sees fire that way would have any understanding of fire at all?"
"Why, I'd like to believe he was merely losing his mind at that point, since all prior evidence suggests that he was a genius in regards of firebending," said the Head Sage. "So, unless he truly had lost his mind, I don't know if to think his assessment of fire's capacities was accurate at all…"
"I assure you, it's not," said Azula, shaking her head. "No doubt fire can destroy, if there's something this Hundred Year War has taught us, it's that. But fire is the only element that depends fully on the bender. Its very existence hinges on us, and it's us, as its benders, who decide what we use fire for. Perhaps spending too long in the frontlines took a toll on his sanity, but if this was the full extent of his wisdom, I'm not certain that he was that wise at all."
"You're probably right," the Head Sage agreed. "He may have needed some time to see other sides of fire outside of the battlefield to appreciate it for the element it is, perhaps. Surely if he saw the wonders of your gold fire, he would change his mind, don't you believe?"
"Well, it's a possibility, but not one we'll be testing any time soon," said Azula, lowering her hand and extinguishing the flame. "Jeong Jeong did betray our nation, but aside from that, he has been missing for years, hasn't he?"
"Decades, in fact," said the Head Sage. "He was never seen again after deserting his fleet. Admiral Zhao served with him at the time, I believe, surely he could elaborate more on that matter, if you're interested in hearing it. Also… I'm under the impression he learned firebending with Jeong Jeong, too. Perhaps he has more stories about the man, if you'd like to hear them."
"Perhaps later," said Azula, with a weak smile. "For now… shall we put my fire to the test?"
Exploring gold fire's capacities proved an interesting experiment. Using the fire to burn a small paper proved different than doing so with orange or blue fire: it took longer for gold fire to do it, albeit it seemed to spread faster over the material. Yet it didn't destroy it and turn it to cinders as it went: the damage was gradual and slow, and both Azula and the Head Sage were puzzled by the fire's effect.
Another test proved that wielding it as a shield was surprisingly effective. Azula was surprised, and somewhat annoyed, to find that conjuring condensed gold flames proved a lot less taxing than blue ones. If only she had known this beforehand, she could have used this on her fight against Toph…
The regards in which gold fire differed from regular fire were rather puzzling, yet they couldn't quite conclude anything solid regarding its special properties. The Head Sage was most delighted to schedule another appointment for them the next week, and he bowed deeply as Azula left the meditation chamber in the Temple and returned to the Palace.
She would be able to report success for the time being to her father, both regarding inspecting her fire's abilities and in staying in the Fire Sage's good side, but she decided to leave that for later. Her father would likely be otherwise engaged right now, and she was desperate to spend time with Sokka again, hopefully with no interruptions for the first time in what felt like an eternity…
Yet she came across another unforeseen interruption as she was treading through the Palace grounds, on her way to her dragon's refuge:
"Princess Azula. I hope you're doing well today," said Zhao, bowing his head towards her.
"Thank you, Admiral. Likewise," said Azula, with a dry smile.
Zhao had been briefing soldiers in one of the open hallways, and Azula could have easily carried on to her destination without further ado, but she stopped on her tracks and turned to look at him as he spoke to the men. She hesitated for a moment, pondering if the Head Sage's idea of asking Zhao about Jeong Jeong's wisdom pertaining fire would be any use…
"Is something the matter, Princess?" Zhao asked, upon catching from the corner of his eye that Azula had stopped walking.
She huffed, thinking she'd do best to tell him everything was fine, but her curiosity got the better of her. So, she smiled, and took a step forward.
"I was only… wondering if we could have a short conversation. I'm sure I won't keep you from your men for too long," she said.
"Ah, well, we were as good as finished by now," said Zhao, nodding as the men bowed to him. "I can certainly indulge you, Princess."
The soldiers took off, and Zhao climbed down the steps to the garden, where Azula stood, eyeing him apprehensively. Her reservations towards the man may have been well-founded, but perhaps she had to learn to put them aside whenever it was necessary.
"Is something the matter?" Zhao asked, as Azula resumed her walk to the refuge, albeit a little slower now.
"I had my meeting with the Head Sage, you may recall my father mentioned that…"
"Oh, yes," said Zhao, nodding. "What came from it, if I may inquire?"
"Well, the tests on my fire have only just begun, but there have been some promising results so far," said Azula. "Gold fire may have some value in the battlefield after all."
"Is that so? Why, as if you needed any more fighting abilities…" said Zhao, snorting. Azula smiled a little.
"Indeed. But that's not what I intended to ask…" she said, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes. "As we spoke, the Head Sage happened to mention some man who, according to him, was one of the wisest firebenders he knew…"
"Oh?" said Zhao, raising his eyebrows until he frowned heavily with understanding. "Wait, you don't mean Jeong Jeong, do you?"
"Why, yes, that's who he meant indeed. I believe we once talked about him, too. He was your firebending master, right…?" said Azula, but she fell silent when she heard Zhao chuckling.
"Oh, that he was, Princess. My strict, unyielding firebending master," said Zhao, with a smirk. "He would have me striking an impractically wide stance, doing nothing but breathing deeply for over four hours a day. If I dared say I was tired of doing nothing but breathing he would ask me if I wanted to die, since I was tired of breathing. It took me some weeks to realize it wasn't a threat but… well, his idea of a joke, I guess. It was quite impossible to tell that he was joking, though. He was always so stern and serious…"
"You seem to remember him well, then," Azula commented. Zhao shrugged.
"Being his pupil certainly did its number on me, if mostly because I did my very best to be nothing like him," said Zhao, with a smirk again. "He had some… controversial beliefs about fire. Perhaps the Head Sage told you as much."
"He did," said Azula. "He even abhorred his own fire, or at least that's what the Head Sage understood from the last time he saw Jeong Jeong…"
"Unsurprising, really. Ozai told me about Jeong Jeong's interventions in war meetings," said Zhao, shaking his head. "The older he got, the more senile he would be. He as good as told Fire Lord Azulon, on the very last meeting he attended, that it would be absurd for the war to continue…"
"How was he not executed on the spot for such a bold demand?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow: she had never known anyone to say anything like that to her unforgiving grandfather.
"By virtue of being one of Azulon's very favorite officers, of course," said Zhao. "Azulon gave him a pass on such matters, surely thinking it didn't matter what Jeong Jeong believed so long as he would be loyal to him… and, of course, he was enraged when Jeong Jeong betrayed him. He abandoned his post as leader of the navy, causing a major catastrophe with the fleet he led when Earth Kingdom ships attacked them just when they were regrouping. Without Jeong Jeong's leadership, an easily won battle resulted in a disaster of absurd proportions."
"I remember hearing of that," said Azula. "He forsook his own people, much like my uncle did in Ba Sing Se, regardless of whatever bonds he might have forged with them…"
"Oh, Jeong Jeong didn't forge bonds with people," said Zhao. "He never treated anyone as an equal, so don't bother worrying about the friends he might have left behind."
"Huh, I see," said Azula, frowning. If the man was as aloof as Zhao made him sound, and as uncaring towards those under his command, then chances were he wouldn't understand the different properties of the gold fire she had discovered any more than she did.
"He was certainly a powerful bender, no doubt. Perhaps the most powerful firebender outside the Royal Family," said Zhao. "Hadn't I eased on my training, I might have bested him in time, but until the last time I saw him, he was still a brilliant bender. Though, after your display a couple of days ago, I find he wasn't half as impressive as you are. Though, then again, he stopped being so impressive ever since I first saw your father's abilities…"
"I take it that even in his younger years he was remarkable," said Azula, with a small smile. Zhao nodded.
"Your uncle was too, of course… but whereas much like me, the Dragon of the West took to a military life, your father polished his firebending until neither of us could hold a torch to him. You certainly inherited his talent, there's no question about it."
"I've always hoped that was the case," said Azula, still smiling.
"Either way, did you want to know anything specific about Jeong Jeong?" Zhao asked, as they stopped by the refuge's gates.
"It was nothing but curiosity, Admiral," said Azula, shrugging. "What you've told me makes me think he would have no better understanding of my fire than I do. Which, of course, is only logical… but the Head Sage seemed to think Jeong Jeong might know more about fire than even he did."
"If you wanted endless rambling, scolding and pointless metaphors, perhaps he would give you just what you need, Princess," said Zhao, with a smirk. "But honestly, one like yourself would have nothing to learn from Jeong Jeong. If anything, he should be the one humbly asking for your teachings and not the other way around."
"Bold words. I'm flattered, Admiral," said Azula, flatly – she was long past believing in any compliments he might offer her. "Thanks for indulging me, then. I suppose there's not much to be said for a man who betrays his nation the way he did, after all…"
"Surely not," said Zhao. "If anything, he'd likely be jealous of your talents, wouldn't he?"
"Huh, well, that would certainly be ridiculous, coming from a fully-grown man," said Azula, with a chuckle. "Well, then, I'll see you around, Admiral. Thanks again."
"It was my pleasure, Princess," he said, bowing his head towards her as Azula entered the refuge.
Well, that one-on-one with Zhao hadn't ended poorly. Azula breathed out in relief, guessing Zhao's opinion on his old master wasn't bound to be unbiased… but there was likely some truth to it, too. Jeong Jeong indeed was a man who had turned against his own people, and she remembered hearing of the catastrophic loss sustained by his leaderless fleet after he abandoned his post. It wasn't farfetched for a man of the sort to hate his own element, or to discard his own men as he had. She snorted, thinking that, for someone who surely despised the Fire Nation, Jeong Jeong had acted much like General Bujing, who often favored strategies that hinged on using a faction of soldiers as living bait for the enemy. It was certainly ironic that in his rebellion against the Fire Nation regime, Jeong Jeong had behaved much like the worst of Fire Nation leaders did.
Xin Long welcomed Azula into his refuge with a happy dragon grin, as he lay on the ground upside down, wagging his legs in the air for no reason. Azula laughed as she approached him, crouching beside his head as he greeted her.
"And what exactly are we doing?" Azula asked, looking at him inquisitively. Xin Long wagged his tail and looked through the ceiling, which he had opened with the levers, so he could gaze at the sky freely. "Ah, so you're gazing at the clouds from here? Aren't there better places to do that?"
Xin Long replied that he couldn't do it anywhere better until after he had ferried her off to her daily meeting with her beloved. Azula snorted and shook her head, standing upright as Xin Long laughed and turned around, waiting for her to buckle the saddle around him.
He asked her questions about her gold fire as they flew, and as Azula answered them, Xin Long tried to conjure gold fire too, unleashing plums of blue flames into the sky as they flew. Azula only laughed while trying to convince Xin that it was unnecessary for him to bend gold fire, but the dragon didn't relent.
"Come on, Xin, stop it!" Azula said, clutching his hair as he moved his head side to side while trying to focus on his love for fresh meat to bring about gold fire. "I'm pretty sure that's not the way it works, you hopeless dragon."
Xin Long growled that if she could do it just by loving Sokka, his love for food ought to do it too. His reasoning only brought more chuckles from his rider, who shook her head.
"It's moments like these that make me think you should be best friends with him, actually. Same exact logic I'd expect him to use if he were a firebender, especially since he loves meat too," she said, smiling as Xin descended on the house's backyard.
Azula leapt off the saddle as Xin eyed the house with curiosity. Smoke poured out of the house's vents, and Azula crooked an eyebrow. Did Song burn their lunch, maybe? Or was Sokka up to anything strange…?
"I think I should be fine today, Xin. I don't see any troublemaking earthbenders nearby," she said, patting his snout. "You can go watch clouds or play with them, whatever makes you happiest."
Xin bumped her shoulder with his head, prompting her to surround him with an arm before he took off. She smiled as she watched him fly before entering the house, still perplexed by the smoke she'd seen upon landing.
The natural place to check if there was something burning was the kitchen, so she went there immediately. She frowned once she was inside, finding the culprit for the smoke was working with absolute concentration on a small sphere on his hand. She raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing?" she asked. Sokka jumped.
"Azula!" he said, smiling broadly and looking at her with delight. "J-just a moment, okay? I'm just finishing this one and I'm done for now…"
"You're building your bombs?" Azula asked, sitting on the table Sokka was working on as she eyed his progress with interest. Sokka bit his lower lip and nodded.
"Just gotta fit this right inside… it's not so complicated," he said, carefully placing a mineral Azula had never seen before inside the sphere. She frowned with interest, her chin on her uninjured hand while her elbow rested on her flexed knee.
"What's the idea, exactly?" she asked. "How does it work?"
"Well… this thing here's the fuel, so to say," he said, pointing at the material he had been fitting inside the sphere. "I have small bits of spark stones attached to the end of it: when I pull out the trigger, the spark stones set the fuel on fire, but instead of burning properly, it releases lots of smoke. If I add other components, too, it can become a stench bomb, like the ones I used with Toph. Or I can even make the smoke in different colors…"
"I remember," said Azula, with a small smile. "What's the material you burn?"
"You guys call it smoke salt or something," he said, smiling too. "We didn't really have a name for it down south. Some men found a cave where there was a lot of it, and nobody knew what to use it for, until my dad started using it for bombs… so, whenever I was bored, months after the warriors were already off fighting in the war, I tested some of it and tried to make bombs with it."
"You mean actual bombs?" Azula asked. Sokka sighed.
"Yep. Dad managed to pull it off, so I tried to do it too. You can imagine how amused my sister was with my every failure," he said, with a crooked smirk. "Well, that is, unless I tested the experimental bombs indoors and filled the igloo with smoke. Then she'd scold me all day for it."
"Sounds like you had a hard time with that, being scolded so often," said Azula, smiling fondly. "No wonder you bear with me as easily as you do."
"Heh, well, you'd have to try a little harder to scold me as often as she did," he admitted, with a chuckle as he closed the sphere carefully.
He set the small sphere on a large pile of them, and Azula raised her eyebrows approvingly at the sizeable number of bombs he'd already crafted. Sokka smiled at her.
"I usually take a morning or two to make all the bombs I can, once every several months," he said, pushing himself up from his seating position. "I was running out by now, so I thought it was time…"
"Were you testing variations on the process?" Azula asked. "I mean, since there was so much smoke pouring out of the vents…"
"Ah, well, that was my bad," said Sokka, with a guilty grin. "Set off one of the bombs by mistake, unleashed smoke everywhere. Typical me, huh?"
"Indeed, typical you," said Azula, smiling too as he approached and surrounded her with his arms.
He leaned down to kiss her, and Azula moaned in bliss as he did. At long last, they had one day of nothing but relaxation to look forward to. They could let loose, forget all about their reservations from the past few days and enjoy each other fully…
Sokka chuckled as she pulled him down, lying across the table while surrounding his neck with her arms. She wasn't about to take it easy, that was clear, and he didn't mind her boldness one bit. He kissed her back gladly, supporting his weight on the table as to not crush her.
"Say, I love your enthusiasm…" he said, smiling. "But this might not be the best place for this. There's a window right in front of us, wide open and all…"
Azula sighed and looked at said window with irritation. Sokka chuckled and nuzzled her neck.
"Does it really matter? Nobody ever walks around these parts…" she said. He shrugged.
"Maybe they don't, but here I thought we'd resolved to be a little less reckless nowadays…" he said, looking at her with amusement. Azula's eyebrow twitched.
"Well, I can't say I like that you're being the more responsible one out of the two of us, not at all," she said. He laughed, and she smirked, kissing his ear. "It's been too long, damn it…"
"That it has," he agreed, smiling and standing upright again, bringing her up to a sitting position once more. Her arms remained linked around his neck. "How's your wrist? Any better yet?"
"Not any worse, if that's reassuring. I've managed not to draw too much attention to it," she said. "I don't think anyone noticed I was injured at all."
"Which means you didn't get the physicians to check on it?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged innocently. "Yeah, it's great that you trust Song that much, but you really should have had them look at it too, you know?"
"What for? Such a waste of time," she said, sighing and hugging him tighter. "Would you rather I left to ask for a medical check than to have me here right now…?"
"Hey, I said you should have done it. It's too late to change the past now," he said, smirking and eyeing her suggestively. Azula smiled.
"I knew you'd say something like that," she said, leaning close and prodding his nose with hers. Sokka chuckled.
"How did that meeting with the Sage go, though?" he asked. "Did you go see him after all?"
"Yeah, though it wasn't as productive as it might have been if only I hadn't acted clueless regarding what the source of gold fire is…" she said, with an ironic smile. Sokka gulped.
"Well, it is better to keep that to yourself," he said. "Did you achieve anything regardless of that, though?"
"Hardly," said Azula, shrugging. "Though we did seem to discover that gold fire is easier to condense than blue or orange fire. How about that?"
"Huh, really now?" said Sokka, surprised. "Then maybe… maybe that's what the Millennium Dragon did? Might be his fire was somewhat gold and we never noticed?"
"I don't think so," said Azula, with a smile. "He just has ridiculous stamina, that one. I'm sure everyone would have noticed if his fire hadn't been of the usual kind."
"Yeah, you'd already bent gold fire by then, too," said Sokka, nodding. "Wouldn't have been so hard to notice it if he was doing something similar, right?"
"Surely," said Azula, shifting on the table so she would be closer yet to him, her legs spread around him. "Very well, then, now that we're fully briefed about what we've been up to, can we stop dillydallying and get to it before something else gets in our way?"
"Huh, who knew the Princess could get this eager?" Sokka teased her, stroking her cheek with a hand. "I thought I was the desperate one…"
"You are, you're just keeping your cool right now to carry on with the pretense that our roles have somehow flipped these days," said Azula, smirking. "But no, Sokka, I'm afraid they haven't. Yes, you watched me fight and not the other way around, yes, I'm being reckless to no end… but that doesn't mean anything."
"No? And here I thought I was reading all those signs right, Princess," he said, smirking and surrounding her waist with his arms. "Can't ever beat you at something, can I?"
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," she said, smirking before kissing him again.
She was being so passionate it was taking all of Sokka's self-control to keep from finishing this on that very same table. How he relished in the feel of her body pressed against him in this way, her every motion stealing his breath and making him lose his senses…
"C'mon…" he whispered, embracing her waist and lifting her into his strong arms. "We should take this somewhere else, if you don't mind…"
"I don't mind that much, I'll say…" Azula smirked as she kept kissing him.
He beamed, walking carefully through the kitchen and heading to the stairs. The situation reminded him of their first time, although the mood was beyond different this time around. Still, he meant to pull off the feat of climbing the stairs with Azula wrapped around him once again, there was no question about it…
Or at least, there wasn't until they heard a knock on the front door.
Sokka froze and groaned, halfway up the stairs. Azula as well stopped kissing him if just for a moment, a confused and irritated look on her face.
"What the hell is it now?" she muttered, as Sokka set her down most unwillingly.
"Beats me, but if it's not something serious I'm going to kick the ass of whoever's out there," Sokka grumbled, shaking his head and heading down again.
Azula grabbed him by his sash and pulling him towards her briskly before he could get the door. He was perplexed until she cleaned his lips with her thumb, as she ever did, and Sokka smiled gratefully at her before reaching for the doorknob.
His irritation did not decrease, albeit his confusion certainly increased, upon finding the same visitor from the previous day standing behind the door.
"Toph?!" he said. "What the…? What are you doing here, again?"
"Hey, Dog. Can I… come in?" she asked. Her tone was a lot more serious than it usually was. Sokka scratched the back of his head as Azula approached the door too.
"Well, what's this? You don't want a rematch today, or do you?" she asked, as Sokka closed the door behind Toph. The earthbender snickered, regardless of her previous apprehension.
"Yeah, that burn's still stinging and I'm sore all over, so no thanks. Not yet, anyways," she said, swallowing hard and lowering her head. "I'm sorry I'm barging in right now, I'm pretty sure you were… well, you know just what you were up to or what you wanted to be up to, so no point in me elaborating on it…"
"What's going on this time, Toph?" Sokka said, sighing heavily and looking at her sternly. "You didn't talk, or did you?"
"Of course not," said Toph. "But… Iroh's not happy."
"Because you spent the day with us yesterday?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Toph shook her head promptly.
"He doesn't know I did. Didn't even ask," she said, breathing deeply before clearing up the mystery for the pair before her. "He got a letter, no idea from who, but… it said Zuko was missing."
Azula's brow drew together heavily as Sokka's jaw dropped. He closed his mouth soon enough, casting a concerned glance at Azula before turning towards Toph again.
"Really? Zuko is missing?" he asked again. Toph shrugged.
"I don't know, Dog. I can't read, so I have no idea what the letter said. Just… Iroh was so angry, and when I was starting to suspect he was mad because of something about you two, he told me Zuko was missing. I don't know who told him so, if they're pulling his hair, if he misunderstood… but that's what he told me."
"Zuko… he can't be missing," said Azula, shaking her head. "I mean, he has an entire crew with him, doesn't he? And he has his girlfriend, too…"
"There's no way he would have been captured and taken from them, is there?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.
"I doubt it," she said. "He wasn't that much of a wimp anymore, or was he?"
"Well, he was nowhere close to your level of skill," said Sokka, shrugging. "But he could hold his own either way. If someone had attacked him…"
"Who'd want to do that, though?" Toph asked. "I mean…"
Azula swallowed hard, her mind offering an immediate answer: her father. She tried to hold those thoughts in check, knowing that she had no evidence even if she knew Ozai wouldn't shed a single tear if his son died. Still… what benefit would it bring him to kill Zuko at this point? Wasn't it a waste? Azula was already Crown Princess, fully acknowledged and with no risk of losing said position to her brother. Why would Ozai feel the need to plan something like this, let alone without telling her…?
Well, he certainly did a lot of things without telling Azula, but she doubted he would have kept to himself that he wanted to send an assassin after Zuko. Something about this didn't add up.
"I don't think Zuko has a shortage of enemies, but I also doubt they'd gain enough by killing him to bother doing something like that," said Azula, shaking her head. "If he were dead, the letter wouldn't have said he was missing. If he were captured, the letter would have likely been a ransom for his release. If it says he's missing, then… maybe he just got lost somewhere, I guess."
"Sounds like Zuko, being able to get lost even if he's stuck in a metal ship with no place to run," said Sokka, snorting. Despite herself, Azula smiled.
"Might be he jumped overboard for a swim and the ship captain failed to notice and carried on, full speed ahead…" she said, before sighing. "I guess it's rather cruel of me not to sob and mourn for my brother's alleged disappearance, but it may not be as big a deal as Iroh thinks it is. From what he told me, all he wanted was passage to the Earth Kingdom, and he planned to improvise from there, basically. Which is, of course, a plan worthy of Zuko…"
"So, you think he might have shaken everyone else off and just gone hiking through the Earth Kingdom?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. "Well, that's also very much like him. Though I do hope he took Suki with him. What a bummer it would be for her if he gave her the slip too."
"Well, that is, if she wasn't already regretting going with him in the first place," said Azula, with a malicious smirk. Sokka chuckled.
"You're so mean, and for some reason I just love it," he said. Toph sighed, bringing them to pay her attention again. "B-but anyways, yeah. You can tell Iroh what Zuko told Azula, maybe he'll realize that going missing was Zuko's plan all along."
"That's not what worries me, though," said Toph, crossing her arms over her chest. "I want to think Zuko can look after himself, but we all know Iroh doesn't want to think the same. He wanted to be there with Zuko and wants to keep an eye on him all the time. So now that he can't get any reports on Zuko's movements…"
"You think he's going to go find him?" Sokka asked. Toph shrugged.
"I don't really know, I think he wants to but he's not doing it yet. I thought he'd buckle up to do it right away, but he hasn't so far. I checked on him this morning and he was just writing letters again, a tad bit more frantically than before, but still…"
"Then what are you scared of, retribution?" Azula asked. "You think he'll come after either of us because of his fantasy where I convinced Zuko of leaving, and because he knows you played some part in making him go?"
"I… I'm not worried if he unleashes his rage on me, really," said Toph, lowering her head. "If anything, I'd probably deserve it. But I am worried about you two. What if he… if he starts keeping more careful tabs on you? If he tries to screw you over in some attempt to take revenge for Zuko leaving and disappearing? Maybe… maybe if Zuko can't be Fire Lord, Iroh would want to do his best to make sure you can't be, either…"
"Well, now you're certainly thinking like me. You might have spent too long in my company," said Azula, sighing and rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "I don't know just how vengeful my uncle may be, but it is a risk. If he tried to dig up dirt on me… well, he'd have plenty to use to tear me apart."
"But he won't have a chance to do that," said Sokka, frowning. "I mean, Toph won't say anything, right? If he doesn't even know she was with us yesterday, then he has no idea she's gotten any closer to us than before…"
"So, he shouldn't try to coax any information about you guys out of me," Toph agreed, nodding. "I'll do my best not to mention either of you at all, too. I don't want to give him cause to think I know anything I shouldn't…"
"But that doesn't settle the problem completely," said Azula, tapping her arm with a finger. "Even if Toph keeps quiet, he might still try other means…"
"Like who, Rui Shi?" Sokka asked. "Or… your friends?"
"I don't know," said Azula, biting her lip. "Following us around without our awareness? He's an accomplished military man, he would know how to spy on someone if he feels the need to do it…"
"Well, he hasn't started spying yet, has he?" Sokka asked. Toph shook her head.
"He's been writing letters, as I said…"
"Then… we should probably plan ahead just in case he does start," said Sokka, looking at Azula with uncertainty. "I don't know if he'd really be that bitter, but as you said, it's a risk. Maybe we should… I don't know, stay out of the way just in case he does decide to destroy you in that sort of crazy plight for revenge?"
"Stay out of the way? You mean… we should go traveling again?" Azula asked, with a mild grimace. Sokka shrugged.
"It's a thought," he said. Azula huffed.
"Well, wouldn't be the first or the last time we go on trips so close together, I'm sure," she said. "Where to?"
"You could do another of your Earth Kingdom tours, maybe," said Toph, shrugging. "You just won in the Slate again, you can go show off however you please, right?"
"It does make enough sense. Plus, he's not injured, so we can probably go ahead and do that," said Azula, nodding. "A somewhat extreme attempt to keep Iroh off our trail, maybe, but…"
"It's better than risking him finding us," said Sokka, his hands on his hips. Azula bit her lip again.
"I suppose it is," she said, before turning to Toph. "Thanks for letting us know. It might be we're overreacting, but in the off-case we aren't… you really might be saving our lives."
Toph smiled at last and nodded.
"What are friends for, eh?" she said. "I want to help you guys. I'll do my best at protecting your secret. And if Iroh gives any indications that he wants information on you, or to chase after you, I'll let you know immediately."
"That's good to know," said Azula, with a smile of her own. "It might be good that you know about us, if this is how it'll be. You're a good spy to have on Iroh."
"Eh, I'm not a spy… not really," said Toph, chuckling. "If I were, you'd have to pay me!"
"I pay you by not murdering you for what you know," said Azula, with a playful smirk. Toph snorted and laughed. "Now, really, make sure to keep tabs on Iroh. Try not to let him out of your… earthbending range, I guess, for too long. The more you support him in finding Zuko again, the more likely he is to start trusting you again. And once he trusts you, you'll be able to know what he's really after these days…"
"I'll try, anyways," said Toph, shrugging. "I honestly doubt he'll ever trust me as much as he used to… but I'll try. And I'm not going to spill all his secrets either, eh? I'm your friend, Spicy, but…"
"But you're his gladiator and friend too, huh?" said Sokka, nodding. "Well, we don't need all his secrets, or do we?"
"The more of them we know, the better," Azula disagreed, smirking at Sokka. He snorted.
"You need to be less greedy, you know?" he said, smiling at her. "Still, Toph, all we really worry about is him not knowing about us. As long as he stays in the dark about it, we'll be fine. And if you ever grow suspicious about him wanting to do anything to harm Azula, too…"
"Yeah, I'll let you know," said Toph, nodding. "In the meantime, I should probably make sure he's still writing those letters, eh? I'll keep you guys posted if I can. Might be a little hard to tell you what he's up to when you're traveling, since I can't really write, but…"
"That's the real problem about her being our spy," said Azula, with a smirk of uncertainty. "Well, you could always come here, find Song and have her write anything you may want to report to us…"
"Song? His cook?" she asked, jerking her head towards Sokka. "Am I allowed to do that? I hardly know her… and well, I guess she would know about you two, if anyone else does. I doubt you've kept so quiet that she couldn't catch you, huh?"
"Heh, well, you don't need to poke your business into whatever she knows about us, Toph," said Sokka, with a twitching eyebrow. She laughed.
"Alright, alright. Warn her that I might drop by to ask her to write messages, then," said Toph, turning on her heels. "In the meantime, lay low, stay away from Iroh and make sure you don't do anything too stupid, alright?"
"Same goes for you. Only, stay close to Iroh instead," said Azula, with a curt smile. Toph laughed.
"Sure thing. Have a fun trip!" she said, as she helped herself out of the house without further ado.
Sokka and Azula stared at the door for longer than they usually would, concern emblazoned across both their faces. At last they finally looked at each other, knowing that, for the umpteenth time, their dry spell would not be broken today.
"We have to drop by at the Royal Dome now, huh?" said Sokka. Azula sighed.
"We don't have any pending fights, actually, so… it only makes sense that we would," she said, patting his arm and leaning close to rest her head against his shoulder.
"We're not catching a break anytime soon, are we?" he asked now. Azula chuckled.
"The universe tests our resolve," she said. "But we've overcome worse challenges before, haven't we? Surely a few more hours without ripping each other's clothes off will be bearable."
"What about if we go to the Dome after having ripped them off…?" Sokka pouted. Azula shook her head.
"If we do that first we'll never go. You know that as well as I do," she said, chuckling and clasping his hand in hers. "Come on. Let's get this over with."
Since Xin Long was too far away to ask him for a flight, Sokka and Azula made their way to the Royal Dome on foot. Shoji was slightly apprehensive, even though he smiled when they reached his desk: it seemed his previous mistakes had made him uneasy around the sponsor and gladiator pair, but as they were acting quite naturally, it seemed there was nothing to fear today.
"So, you'd like to travel again?" he asked, as Azula explained what she had in mind. She nodded. "Where to? Ba Sing Se?"
"Uh… no," said Azula, grimacing. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "We've yet to have a single uneventful visit to Ba Sing Se, after all. Maybe we'll have better luck in another city."
"Like what?" Sokka asked. "Yu Dao? Gaoling?"
"Not Gaoling. No way," said Azula. Sokka froze before nodding.
"Yeah. We're better off avoiding that Kuan…" he agreed.
"Yu Dao doesn't sound bad," Azula said, breathing deeply. "Do we have any pending challenges from anyone in Yu Dao?"
"Oh, a fair few, yes," said Shoji, nodding. "You can choose whichever one you like!"
"It'd certainly be an improvement over picking gladiators at random like we did when we first went to Yu Dao," said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Shoji chuckled.
"Yeah, you won't have to do that this time."
"We wouldn't travel outside of Yu Dao, then?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula inquisitively as Shoji opened the cabinets behind him, to gather the Yu Dao-specific challenges for the Blue Wolf. Azula shrugged at Sokka's question.
"It would be less of a bother, wouldn't it?" she asked. "We've only just traveled to the Slate, after all. I'd rather we stay put in one place instead of making excessive, unnecessary use of my Barge."
"And we'd stay with the Mayor again?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula shrugged once more.
"Why not?" she said. "They were kind enough the last time. Unless, of course, you'd rather we don't because it brings back sorrowful memories…"
Sokka gave her a crooked grin as she smirked at him. He chuckled and shook his head.
"To be honest, it might. Like all the glares for my lack of table manners," he said.
"Ah, you deserved them. Eating so grossly in front of highly ranked government officials, really…" she replied, shaking her head. Sokka could only keep laughing.
"I'll do my best not to eat like that again, I promise," he said. "No food between my teeth either, if I can avoid it…"
"Please try to avoid it," said Azula, biting her lip. "I won't have you embarrassing us in front of their entire family. Not to mention in front of their daughter, who seemed to think so highly of me…"
"Speaking of which, didn't you tell that girl to get a gladiator?" Sokka asked. Azula raised an eyebrow.
"Why, I did… but I don't know if she did it or not," she said, shrugging. "I think I told her to challenge us once her fighter was within fifty positions of you, didn't I?"
"Something like that, yeah," Sokka agreed, nodding. "I guess I've made too much progress for her to be that close to us, though."
"It would still be nice to know if she's sponsoring someone…" Azula reasoned.
"Alright, here we go! All of the challenges you've received from the Golden Eye," said Shoji, returning to them with around thirty challenge sheets. Azula eyed him with a glint of curiosity in her eyes.
"Can you answer a question beforehand, though?" she asked. Shoji blinked a few times before nodding promptly.
"Of course, Princess! Well, so long as it's within my area of knowledge…" he said, his voice growing smaller as he spoke. Azula huffed softly.
"If it's not within yours, it's certainly not within anyone else's. I wanted to know if Kori Morishita has joined the Superior League with a gladiator of her own," Azula said. Shoji's uncertainty vanished immediately.
"Oh! Certainly, Princess!" said Shoji, smiling. "A hawk arrived, say… six months ago? And it brought the new fighters enrolling from the Golden Eye. One of them was hers!"
"Is that so?" said Azula, smiling too. "Who might her fighter be?"
"His name is… uh, well, he's a bear. Not sure what comes after, though. I haven't kept an eye on him," Shoji confessed, smiling nervously as he pulled up the ranking and scanned through it quickly. "Bear… aha! Bear-axe, it says. Enrolled seven months ago, to be precise… a non-bending fighter!"
"A non-bender?" Sokka repeated. Azula snorted.
"And a bear, too. I wonder where she got her inspiration," she said, eyeing Sokka with a mocking smirk. Sokka blushed.
"W-wait, if that were the case, she should've made him the Red Bear or something like that," he said. "Or the Green Bear? Maybe the Brown Bear? Gray B-…"
"No need to list all the colors you know, Sokka. I get it," said Azula, shaking her head before turning to Shoji. "How has he fared in the ranking? Is he any good?"
"Well, he still has a perfect winning streak after twenty fights, so I'd say he is," said Shoji. Azula raised her eyebrows with interest.
"Now that's a surprise," she said, crossing her arms and tapping her elbow with curiosity. "He seems talented, then. Better than Sokka, I'd say."
"What?! Hey, my first twenty fights were insane!" Sokka exclaimed, pouting. Azula scoffed. "No way this one could've fought anyone on Toph's level, you know?"
"Why, I have no idea about that," said Azula, smirking. "Maybe he did and we just don't know it."
Sokka's eyebrow twitched while Azula continued to smirk in his direction. Shoji chuckled softly and placed the ranking before them on the counter.
"Well, the Bear-Axe must be strong, but he hasn't risen through the ranking half as quickly as the Blue Wolf did, for sure," he said, pointing at the 336th slot, where the gladiator's name was scribbled. "See?"
"It's no surprise, what we did is a rarity, from what you've said," said Azula. Shoji nodded.
"Your fame and glory were renowned long before you were in the top half of the ranking," he said. "And now that you've won twice in the Slate, you're even more famous!"
"Are we? Here I thought people wouldn't talk about it much on the second occasion," said Azula, eyeing the ranking with interest as she moved to the higher positions.
"Oh, but they have!" said Shoji, beaming. "The Blue Wolf has survived twice in the Slate and taken six thousand points in total after those great performances! On the last ranking update, he was already in the…"
"In the 128th slot," Azula read, raising her eyebrows with interest as she found Sokka's gladiator name on the paper. "And you're ahead of the Dirt Worm again, actually."
"Heh, great!" said Sokka, smiling proudly. "We should keep that up then! I should stay ahead of her if I carry on fighting…"
"You mean, if you carry on fighting and winning," Azula clarified, with a skeptical look. Sokka huffed.
"I've won more than I've lost. See? Only ten losses so far," he said, pouting.
"That's ten too many for my taste," said Azula, smirking again. Sokka gasped with indignation as she chuckled. "Very well, then… we shall challenge several Yu Dao gladiators. And, perhaps… depending on how strong Morishita's fighter really is, we could arrange for a fight between you two once we're there."
"Yeah, the Golden Eye's staff should be able to do that," said Shoji, smiling encouragingly. "Choose away, Princess! And I sure hope you enjoy your trip to Yu Dao!"
"We will, so long as we don't challenge the Millennium Dragon…" said Azula, with mild amusement as she looked through the challenges intently.
There were several interesting fighters amongst their challengers, and Shoji knew about most of them, so he could advise them accordingly. Azula and Sokka ended up selecting three fighters for the time being, giving Sokka a week to rest between each of the fights. Depending on what news Toph sent, they would challenge more gladiators while at Yu Dao and extend their stay in the city until Iroh felt less threatening.
The chosen fighters were The Twilight-Drilled Bamboo Bear, who had caught Azula's eye almost two years ago because of his ridiculous fighter name: according to Shoji it was a very strong earthbender, overweight and apparently somewhat prone to nervousness, but he handled earth like only the best gladiators could. The next one they chose was DragonClaw, the fighter who had injured Blast of Death out of the ranking long before Sokka crossed paths with him. The last one was another firebender, The Torch, who Azula hoped wouldn't prove much of a challenge to Sokka.
They bid farewell to Shoji and returned home, discussing their upcoming fights on the way. They debated what weapons Sokka should use, and theorized on what sort of fights would await them in Yu Dao, along with realizing that Azula would have to cancel her appointment with the Head Sage so they could take off on their new trip.
It was already sunset by the time they reached the house. Sokka only sighed in disappointment as they crossed the door, but Azula clasped his hand, pushed him down on the couch and dropped atop him as comfortably as she could: he was smiling again soon after that.
"I guess we'll have to settle for this by now, as per usual," said Sokka, caressing her hair.
"We can't do anything else," said Azula, smiling weakly. "If we're in the middle of our shenanigans when Xin comes back, he'll be mad and ditch me, so…"
"So, wait, if he did, then you'd spend the night here? Why, where's the downside to that?" Sokka asked, smirking. Azula snorted.
"Says the guy who was so proud of being the responsible one out of the two of us earlier today…" she said, looking at him with amusement as she rested with her chin on her hands, which were on his chest.
"I lose the urge of being responsible pretty quickly, I think," said Sokka, winking at her. Azula laughed and shook her head, leaning close to kiss him softly.
"You're so silly, really…" she said, curling up against him, her face against his neck. Sokka sighed in bliss.
"You think we'll be able to sneak around in your ship, though? Once we go to Yu Dao…" he whispered. She shrugged.
"You've somehow managed to avoid all detection while doing it so far, no idea how," she said. "I don't recommend you do it every single night, but… it might not hurt, on occasion."
"Great!" said Sokka, beaming and hugging her tightly. Azula smiled.
"I'm actually more worried about how things will turn out when we're staying at the Morishitas' home," she whispered. Sokka froze. "I mean… you do realize that would be just as impossible as it was in Fire Fountain City, right?"
"Yeah… plus I probably will have to share rooms with her gladiator," Sokka reasoned. "They didn't have rooms to spare for your guards, remember?"
"Oh, I do," said Azula, sighing. "I'll have to tell them to book rooms at the inn again, or maybe they can stay on the Barge…"
"Yu Dao does have a few issues, huh?" said Sokka, sighing. Azula smiled.
"It's not important, really. All that matters is that we'll avoid Iroh, and that we'll carry on boosting you through the ranking in the process," she said, caressing his face gently. "Even if it means a few things won't be ideal, we'll be protecting what needs to be protected. Right?"
"Right," said Sokka, smiling. "Whatever sacrifices are needed, we'll make them."
"Even if it means sacrificing sex. Right?" said Azula, a mischievous smirk on her face. Sokka sighed.
"Only if we can cuddle once in a while, though," he said, with a crooked grin. "Cuddling is great fun too!"
"Oh, sure it is…" she said, looking at him defiantly as he chuckled and kissed her deeply.
They would take off to Yu Dao in less than a week. They had to make sure Iroh would stay off their trail until then, which meant their escapades would indeed have to decrease to their lowest rates so far. As long as they didn't act in any way Iroh could find suspicious, he would have no luck at catching them doing anything they shouldn't: though he might not prove dangerous at all if his concern and misery over Zuko were so potent that he wouldn't even care for acting against Azula for the time being.
Unbeknownst to the regal sponsor and her non-bending gladiator, however, the dangers posed by Iroh were almost meaningless compared to the perils that lay ahead for them, lurking in the shadows of the Earth Kingdom's lands…