Rui Shi frowned, puzzled. He was certain he had never seen this woman before… but one glance at Sokka and Azula revealed that maybe that 'old friends' comment hadn't been directed towards him. Had these two met this woman without his awareness? When? And for starters, who was she?
"I'm surprised you're still together, actually. Good to hear your relationship's so much stronger than you'd feared," June said, smirking at Sokka. "Looks like you got what you wanted despite expecting otherwise, huh, Sokka?"
"W-what are you… what are you doing?" Sokka gasped, struggling to find his voice as June climbed off the shirshu's saddle. "Why are you here? Were you… were you following us?!"
"You guys? Why would I want to do that?" she asked.
"You were… you were following them," Azula said, her voice low and cold, trembling ever so slightly as she pointed at their two pursuers, lying limply on the side of the road. Sokka cringed next to Azula upon hearing the tone of her voice. June raised her eyebrows and smiled approvingly.
"Sharper than the last time we met, I see. Good to hear. Yes, I was after these two, and now I have them, so…"
"Don't you dare lay a single finger on them!" Azula snapped, lifting a menacing hand in June's direction just as the bounty hunter stretched an arm to pick up the first one.
June stared at Azula in confusion but withdrew her hand despite her skepticism.
"Ah… why am I not supposed to lay a finger on them, again?" she asked. "Don't you understand how my line of work goes, Princess? I catch them, drag them to the nearest authorities, get paid…?"
"Why, the nearest authority is standing right in front of you," Azula snapped. "You're not going to take those two anywhere. Not until I've had a few words with them, at any rate. Why were you after them, for starters?"
"Well, you haven't changed that much, still as pushy as ever," said June, with a dramatic sigh. "There's a bounty on their heads, I found some tarnished cloak that belonged to one of them, Nyla brought me to them. That's the story."
"Really?" Azula asked, her golden glare glacially cold. "So, you just found an old cloak lying about, and it led you to them? There's a bounty on their heads?"
"Will you repeat everything I say or is this your idea of sarcasm? Because it's not really working, Princess…"
"What I think, bounty hunter, is that you weren't trying to track down those two: you were tracking down Jeong Jeong," said Azula, stepping towards June. The woman's eyes darkened: Azula's guess was spot on. "And you're willing to take anything back to Yu Dao to earn your dues, but you know just as well as I do that they're never going to fetch you half as valuable a reward as Jeong Jeong would. That is, if you get paid for them altogether…"
"Huh. So, you're a lot more aware of what's going on than I gave you credit for…" June conceded, staring at Azula with unease.
June's implicit confirmation made the blood chill in Azula's veins again as she stared at the two men lying on the ground. The paralyzed one had retained his consciousness: the one hit by lighting was out cold, although not dead going by the rising and dropping of his chest with every breath he took.
They were Jeong Jeong's people, then. June had found that cloth: she had hoped that it might lead her to the real deal, but it hadn't belonged to the man she had been looking for. But knowing this much was already bad enough news for her and her two companions: this as good as confirmed that what was happening in the Stronghold was only a decoy attack. They had jumped directly into Jeong Jeong's trap, it seemed. Had he been counting on Azula being sent away from the Stronghold, then? Had he known to predict how Shinu would act…?
Azula cringed when she realized Jeong Jeong had probably prepared for anything and everything. They weren't a step ahead of him, they couldn't be: for how long had he been planning this, setting up trap after trap as sophisticatedly as possible, to make sure Azula would fall into them one way or another? Her fists balled, her nails digging into her palms so violently she probably had drawn blood. These new discoveries, along with the bounty hunter's presence, had obliterated the pleasant mood she'd had during most the day.
"Then you… you're after Jeong Jeong?" Sokka asked, his eyes narrow. June shrugged and showed him an old black fabric, the cloak she had mentioned earlier.
"I was. But this was my only lead. I heard he was out there again, he would've been a great asset for my history as a bounty hunter, you know? The most notorious Fire Nation traitor, worth so much I could even buy myself a mansion in Ba Sing Se's Upper Ring with the reward, if I felt like it. Not like I do, though, people there are no fun…"
"Then I suppose your quest was a waste. What a pity," said Azula, with a forced smile. "Go on your merry way and maybe you'll find another piece of cloth that will lead you to some other dead end, and…"
"Ah, and leave these two in your hands? Not a chance," said June. "I can still turn them in at Yu Dao, and if they decided to cooperate, they could help me find Jeong Jeong, so…"
"Why, finding him happens to be exactly why I need them too, what are the odds?" said Azula, rolling her eyes. June snorted.
"Wait a minute. You're after him too? Well, damn. Did the gladiator fights get so boring that you're trying to entertain yourself by taking my job?" June asked, grabbing the paralyzed guy by the hair and yanking him towards Nyla. Azula scowled.
"I'm not doing it for entertainment, and you're not going to take these men anywhere, understood?" Azula exclaimed. June raised her eyebrows defiantly as she flung the guy on the saddle with next to no efforts.
"And why should I do as you say?" she asked. "Do you have anything better to offer me than Yu Dao does?"
"Considering you're working on the wishful chance of making half a coin out of turning in the both of them, I'm pretty sure anything I offer you will be better than Yu Dao," Azula said. June raised her eyebrows with amusement.
"Wait a minute. Are we talking business again, Princess? Well, what a pleasant surprise this is. Ready to sell me your hairpiece this time, then? Though you're not wearing it, curiously. Why's that?"
"None of your business. And I'm not selling you anything of mine," Azula snarled. June looked at her skeptically.
"Then how exactly are you offering me something better than Yu Dao?"
"Because you know just as well as I do that you might as well turn in a half-beaten dog to the authorities than these two if it's money you want. They're no ones. The soldiers in Yu Dao might think you're yanking their hair by handing them over, for all you know. Meanwhile, I need to know why they were following me, what their leader is up to, and how to defeat his forces… It's obvious I need them more than you do."
"Ah, I see. Then, you're saying I should find someone willing to pay me better for my efforts, someone who understands the magnitude of this delicate situation with Jeong Jeong," said June, smirking slowly.
"Is money seriously all you can think about?" Azula groaned, rolling her eyes and glaring at June pointedly. June shrugged.
"Money makes the world go 'round, doesn't it?" she said. "Besides, all I'm saying is that I will find the best buyer for these two. And if that best buyer just so happens to be standing right in front of me, as you eloquently put it before…"
Azula's frown deepened. June stared at her with dead seriousness now.
"You want to question them? You want to know what they're up to? That's just fine by me, but you're not doing it if you don't pay the price to question my guy. Because yes, I'm the one who got this one, remember?" said June, pointing at the paralyzed man she had dumped over her shirshu.
Azula's scowl deepened as June smiled at her. Clearly, letting her go with the only conscious one was a bad idea. She had no clue when the other one would wake again, if he ever did.
"Azula…" she heard Sokka beside her. She only gave him a harsh glare, prompting him to recoil a little.
"What's going on?" said Rui Shi, at her other side. Azula huffed and groaned, shaking her head as June rested against Nyla, eyeing Rui Shi with curiosity.
"Well, he's certainly new," she asked. "Who's this, your second boyfriend?"
Sokka's irritation regarding their cover story only seemed to grow larger by the minute. Now even someone like June assumed Rui Shi was involved with Azula… or at least, she was saying it to rile up the Princess. But the one June had managed to displease now was the gladiator instead of the sponsor.
"I'm…!" Rui Shi started, but Azula lifted a hand to silence him. She wasn't sure how to handle introducing the Captain to June, and she certainly didn't mean to ponder it now.
"You want my money, you say?" she asked. June nodded promptly. "How much of it?"
"I don't know. How much is the information worth?" June asked, smirking.
"Two yuans," Azula retorted sarcastically. June snorted.
"That's a lot of trouble you're giving me for just that bit of money, you know? Have the yuans on you, or is it true that Princesses don't carry cash on them?"
"It is, so you'll have to wait until I get to our destination for me to pay you," said Azula, still smiling sarcastically. "The price will depend on the quality of the information they give me, of course. I'm sure you understand…"
"Uh, I don't know if I do," said June, sighing. "So, basically, if they refuse to say anything you won't pay me?"
"I doubt they'll be that resilient," said Azula, glaring at the stunned one on the ground. "If they are, though, my interrogation methods may grow slightly more violent than I originally intended…"
The one lying across the shirshu's back grimaced. The Princess's hostile glare was upon him now, and he almost wished for death right away. He wouldn't speak, but whatever tortures were crossing the Princess's mind surely would threaten to break his silence…
But he wasn't the only one horrified by Azula's words.
"Azula, what the hell?!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock. "You can't just…! Are you seriously planning on torturing them?"
"Only if they don't talk otherwise," said Azula, with a dry grin before turning to June. "Do we have a deal, then?"
"Oh, well, I guess we do. You're still likely to pay me more than those soldiers in Yu Dao anyways," said the bounty hunter, shrugging and leaning down to pick up the other outlaw. "I'll have Nyla carry them to the tavern, we can finish tweaking all the details of our little deal there."
"Tavern?" Azula repeated. June nodded, slinging the second man on top of the first. The latter groaned in pain.
"It's not far. You and your boyfriends can rest there just fine, relax with something to drink…" said June, smirking as she climbed on the saddle too, twisting back to tie up the men's limbs with thick ropes, just in case the effects of the paralysis disappeared sooner than expected. "That is, as long as they can hold in the liquor. I'm sure one of them can, though."
The comment slashed through both Sokka and Azula as a sword would. The Princess closed her eyes, willing her rage to calm down before turning to the two men, her face a mask of determination and fury.
"Pick up those bags again and get moving. We're following her," she snapped at them.
Rui Shi blinked blankly, obeying her soundly as Sokka did the same, but reproachfully. The crestfallen look on his face was familiar: Rui Shi had seen him show it before, although it was mixed with a lot of other emotions right now. Disappointment and disbelief were amongst them.
"Alright, then, come along…" said June, sighing and ushering Nyla to start on her way to the tavern again, followed by the three travelers.
Azula walked closer to the beast, shooting deadly glares at Jeong Jeong's followers and at June. The bounty hunter surely was aware of the Princess's persistent stare upon her, but she didn't spare a single glance at Azula as she treaded her way through the dirt road, leading Nyla as expertly as ever.
Meanwhile, Sokka and Rui Shi trailed behind them, not too distant but not too close to the beast either. Sokka's insides were churning with a mix of unpleasant emotions, and he had the awful feeling that his great non-conflictive streak with Azula had just been driven to a brusque end. Why June, of all people? Were there no other bounty hunters out there they could have come across? It just had to be her…
"Can I ask…?" Rui Shi whispered next to him, but Sokka's pained grimace made him recoil. "Uh, I guess I shouldn't? But… who is she? Where did you two meet her?"
"Too complicated. Too… messy," Sokka muttered in response, shaking his head. "Long story short, there's bad blood, unpleasant history, and I can't believe Azula is seriously willing to torture those two just to coax information out of them…"
"That's what bothers you the most?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka sighed.
"What bothers me the most is that she probably wouldn't want to be so ruthless and unforgiving if we hadn't run into June…" he admitted. Rui Shi stared at him in confusion.
"The more you talk, the less I understand…" he said. Sokka shook his head.
"She's a bounty hunter, that's all you really need to know right now."
"But… why doesn't the Princess like her?"
"Eh, use your imagination. I'm sure you'll come up with something," said Sokka, sighing. Rui Shi raised a doubtful eyebrow.
"You're ashamed of it. You don't like the woman any more than the Princess does, but it's likely because you're afraid of the Princess's wrath… well, I think I can come to my own conclusions, yes," said Rui Shi, sighing. Maybe knowing the full truth wasn't as good an idea as he had originally thought.
It was almost fully dark by the time they reached the tavern, and it was the only building in the small clearing where it stood. There was a swamp behind the three-story building, which provided the already inhospitable place with an unpleasant scent. The only lights aside from the weak glow of the stars and the crescent moon came from inside the building, pouring out through windows that were poorly blocked with wooden planks.
"This is it?" Azula asked, frowning. It reminded her of the outlaw town where she had first met June. It seemed the woman had a thing for places like these.
"Oh, yeah. My domains, if you will," said June, smirking as she climbed off Nyla, rubbing the shirshu's side before unloading the two men from the saddle. "Get some rest, girl."
Azula watched June with unease as she threw each man over her shoulders. The woman raised her eyebrows defiantly at the Princess before making her way to the tavern's entrance. Azula sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. She followed her, her innards churning painfully, as the two last members of their group followed her inside as well.
The tavern was populated by all sorts of men and women with menacing appearances, some with masks over their faces, others with eyepatches, and a fair number of them with headbands and bandanas. One in particular stood out, with an imposing physique that would have easily enabled him to be a gladiator: his muscles were massive, his brown hair defied gravity, an effect seemingly achieved by the red headband he wore, and his tall, burly body was covered with white clothes fit for a fighter. He was the first to react when he noticed June entering the building, smirking at the sight of her with two men over her shoulders.
"Looks like you had a productive day, June!" he called out to her.
June only smiled and made her way to one of the tables near the windows, dropping her cargo there. Azula, Sokka and Rui Shi followed her to the table: the three of them were drawing stares from everyone in the building, not only because they were strangers, but because they had arrived with June, of all people.
"Have a seat, then," said June, tightening the ropes she had bound down Jeong Jeong's men with. Azula frowned as she watched her, unwilling to do as she was told.
"We're just going to… stay here?" Rui Shi asked, eyeing the surroundings with discomfort. He usually wasn't as snobbish as the Princess, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the idea of spending the night in a place populated by unpleasant-looking people such as the crowd of this tavern.
"Would you rather stay wandering in the dark instead? Not my problem if you do, but these two stay here for the night," said June, patting the tightly-bound captives on the head as she placed each of them on their respective chairs. "If you guys are going to torture… I mean, question them, you might as well get ready to do it here. Maybe book an available room upstairs if you can find one. Talk to the tavern's owner about that."
Rui Shi eyed Azula, waiting for confirmation on those orders. The Princess nodded, though it seemed she did so reluctantly. Rui Shi breathed out and made his way to the other side of the room, where a smirking bartender was pouring drinks for men on stools.
"And now we unwind and have a bit of fun," said June, smiling and stretching her arms before looking at Sokka furtively. "Though I do recommend you don't drink too heavily, of course. Your mistress may not approve of that."
Sokka's eyebrow twitched as he glared at her. His reaction pleased her, and Azula's didn't surprise her in the slightest.
"Sokka…" Azula said, menacingly. He grimaced. "Keep an eye on those two."
"Them?" Sokka confirmed, pointing at the tied men. The stunned one seemed to be returning to consciousness at last, and he blinked groggily as he stared at his surroundings.
"What other two could I mean?" Azula snapped. "The bounty hunter and I need to have a private chat."
"Oh, really? What's this, you're not lending me your first boyfriend again?" June asked, smirking. "No need to be so territorial, I know his heart and soul are all yours and nobody else's…"
"Now," Azula said, her eyes widening as her tone grew more threatening. June stared at her doubtfully.
"I suppose that urge to assert your authority will always be part of our professional relationship, won't it?" June said, sighing before turning to Sokka. "Do keep an eye on them. If this is just some trick to piss me off, you're the next ones who'll know what shirshu paralysis feels like."
Sokka frowned and glanced at Azula in confusion. Was he supposed to do what June didn't want them to? Was Azula dragging her away just to give him an opening to run off with the two men? Or was this something else? Seeing as Azula had conveyed no orders, not even underhandedly, and that she had sent Rui Shi to book a room, Sokka guessed she didn't want him to do anything other than watch them, but he couldn't know for sure…
The Princess only rolled her eyes as June led her away. Sokka watched them go fearfully, wondering if either of them would try to hurt the other during this private conversation. He dreaded what Azula might intend to say to June, especially since she had been ferociously angry for the first time in ages. It wasn't too surprising that she'd be so upset upon coming across the woman again, but Sokka hadn't expected her to be as menacing as she had been towards the two captured men as a byproduct of her rage.
June had led Azula through the crowds of drinking customers, all the way to a storage room in the second floor. She sighed as she closed the door behind them, expecting a vicious, jealous rant right away…
"You know, I'm really not going to try to steal any of your boyfriends if that's what you thought," June said. "I have a lot on my plate, and I really could use the money from capturing rebels, so as much as it may be hard to believe…"
"You're not trying to piss me off," Azula finished, turning to look at her with her arms crossed over her chest… and with a lot less rage in her eyes, suddenly. June frowned.
"Not deliberately, although it's certainly fun since you make it too easy," she conceded.
"As much as you may want to continue having fun at my expenses, that's not what I meant to talk about with you," Azula stated. "I certainly have countless reservations about you, and I don't feel quite as pleased about doing this as you might think… but you can be of use to me. And I can be far more helpful to you than you seem to have realized so far"
"Uh… huh?" said June, crooking an eyebrow. "How does that work, Princess? What am I supposed to do for you?"
"You're supposed to find Jeong Jeong," said Azula, her eyes cold but now with a clever, calculating glint to them. June blinked.
"How?"
"I doubt you could have known as much, but maybe you've already guessed that those two men were after me," Azula said. "I'd been in Yu Dao for over a month when Jeong Jeong started attacking the soldiers from Pohuai Stronghold. We had suspicions that he was trying to capture me, and after we found those two tailing us, all evidence points to the same conclusion: Jeong Jeong's real goal all along was finding or capturing me."
"Woah, that's… why would he want to do that?" June asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, you are the Fire Lord's daughter and everything, but that's stupid. You could electrocute him, right?"
"And I'd gladly do so if he tries to lay a hand on me, but he won't manage to do so. Not if you find him first," said Azula, staring at her sternly.
"How do you propose I do that, though?" June asked. "Nyla can only track down the scent of whoever owns or spends too much time around certain objects, and I doubt those guys have anything on them that belonged to Jeong Jeong. They're just common goons, nobodies. There's no way I can get to him with Nyla…"
"Oh, yes there is," said Azula, raising her eyebrows. "Those two down there? They think I'll torture them for information. They're sure I'm going to show them a world of pain just to force them to betray Jeong Jeong, and as faithful and loyal as they may be to him, nobody in their right mind would sit tight and wait for that sort of hideous interrogation if they find a way to escape…"
"Wait a minute, you want me to let them go?" June asked. Azula shook her head.
"I want you to play dumb, rather. I want us to cause a distraction that will enable them to run off right back to their master. You still have that cloth that led you to them in the first place, right? You'll use it to track them down with Nyla again, and that way they'll lead you to wherever it is that Jeong Jeong is currently hiding. If you play your cards right, if your beast moves in furtively so you can reach him when he has dropped his guard, you'll have secured the biggest bounty in recent Fire Nation history… well, aside from the Avatar, that is."
June frowned, eyeing her with uncertainty. Azula raised her eyebrows.
"What?"
"Why do you… why do you want to help me catch him?" she asked. "I know he's after you, or well, you think he is, but why would you want me to do it instead of trusting your nation's soldiers to do it?"
"Because my nation's soldiers have a duty to our people, one I want them to uphold, since I have no idea how many goons Jeong Jeong has out there," said Azula. "I need them in their stations, and I think you're a lot more reliable at finding people than they'd be, at any rate."
"Huh. And how about the part where you have all those reservations I'm aware of?" she asked. "You were making a pretty great show of how much you despise me as soon as you laid eyes upon me again…"
"Why, yes, I couldn't possibly think lower of you if I tried," said Azula, with a sarcastic smile. "But I'm past the point of worrying about that by now, believe it or not. There's something bigger at stake here than whatever short-lived history you had with Sokka."
"Short-lived?" she said, smiling. "Well, it was, I can't deny it. But here I thought it meant a lot more to you two than it did to me. At least, going by how you reacted when you found out that day…"
"It's been long enough since then for me to make my peace with his foolish mistakes," said Azula, cuttingly. June snorted.
"Here I thought you were being too nice. I guess the resentment really won't go away so easily," she said. "But anyways, you're really offering me a way to capture Jeong Jeong, no strings attached? Or do you happen to want something from me, seeing how you're kindly offering me this strange deal?"
Azula felt sorely tempted to request June never showed her face before her again, but she suppressed the impulsive urge quickly. She breathed out slowly and tapped her elbow with a finger.
"I don't want you to turn him in to Yu Dao's authorities right away," said Azula. "You're to bring him to me instead."
"Ah? You're going to be the one who'll pay me in full for capturing him, then?" June asked.
"No, you'll take him there anyways, later on," said Azula. "But I have a few questions to ask him first. It shouldn't take too long, but still…"
"Well, that's not so bad," said June, shrugging. "Where do you reckon you'll be once I have him?"
"How long do you think it'll take you to find him?" Azula asked. June smirked.
"Nyla can cover the northwestern Earth Kingdom in a single day. If he's hiding anywhere nearby, it won't take me over two days to get back to you."
"Huh. Then I'll have to give you something of mine for you to track us back with," said Azula. "If it takes you longer than that, heading to Yu Dao should suffice. We should be there before the week is over."
"Good. We've got ourselves a deal, then?" June asked. Azula sighed and nodded.
"Don't make me regret it," she said. June smirked.
"I really expected you to threaten me away from either of your boyfriends, you know. I'm surprised."
"Can you stop calling them that?" Azula snapped. "Rui Shi is one of my guards, not a boyfriend by any means."
"Really? Sokka looked so dismayed I was sure you were tormenting him by hooking up with another guy," said June, chuckling. "So, then he's not your boyfriend, but Sokka is?"
"No, he's not," Azula snapped. She wasn't about to label Sokka with such a ridiculous title, never had and never would. "And as you so cleverly concluded, yes, everyone must have assumed that I dragged you here to threaten you over our unpleasant past. I'm sure Sokka and Rui Shi thought so, that is, if Rui Shi has made any sense out of what's going on yet, and that's the way we need it to be for now. So, when we step out of here, we're going to continue being fully hostile and give no indication of what we're really up to, alright?"
"And just when are they going to find out about the schemes you've been plotting behind their backs?" June asked.
"I'll tell them later, but right now we need to rely on their performances as well as ours if we're going to convince our captives that we're too busy with our personal squabbles to remember they exist," said Azula. June smirked and nodded.
"You're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for, if you planned all this as quickly as it seems you did. I suppose the rumors about you are true after all," she said. Azula raised an eyebrow.
"What rumors, exactly?"
"That you're going to be the first Fire Lord with a brain in over a hundred years," said June. Her words stung Azula, for she certainly didn't take kindly to hearing the bounty hunter insult her father that way, even if she was actually complimenting her. "Alright then. Let's keep up our act, continue snapping at each other… I guess improvising our way with it won't be so hard, now, will it?"
"It shouldn't be, I hope," said Azula, sighing and looking at June sternly. "We're in agreement, then. This is how we'll handle this situation."
"Well, I see no downsides to it," said June, smiling. "I'm getting a shitload of money, from the sound of it. Those two pipsqueaks probably weren't worth half a coin, as you said yourself."
Despite herself, Azula smiled and nodded. She breathed deeply and moved to the door, placing her hand on the handle.
"Very well, then. Let's do this," she said. June nodded before huffing loudly when Azula opened the door. "You're unbelievable. You really are."
"Oh, please, you still want me to apologize over this? Can't you grow up, Princess? Don't you understand how the world works, even now?" June retorted, rolling her eyes as she left the room and headed downstairs, followed by Azula.
"Says you, the most indecent, shameless, disgusting slut I've ever met," Azula snapped. June snorted and turned to look at her as she climbed down the stairs.
"Woah, you called me a slut. Doesn't your prissy tongue burn by using such crude language, Princess?" June taunted her.
"You might be surprised to find even princesses like me have a lot less patience and a lot more curse words at the ready than people think we do," Azula growled. June laughed.
"You know, you want me to take you seriously, you really do…" she said, as they approached the table. Sokka still sat there, with the two tied men, as Rui Shi stood beside them. Sokka's eyes widened in uncertainty when he watched them return. "But honestly? I just see a little girl who's too far away from home and who doesn't know anything about the real world…"
"And I just see a brat whose entire bounty hunting career is built on the fact that her dear daddy handed her down a sickening creature that does all the hard work," Azula said, glaring at June menacingly. The bounty hunter laughed.
"Whatever. You're just salty because I tapped that ass before you could so much as blush in his direction," she said, pointing at Sokka, who paled and stared at June in sheer horror. Azula's eyebrow rose slowly, but dangerously.
"You're really asking for it now, you know?" she growled. June beamed.
"Bring it on, then, if you have the guts," she said, making her way to where the bartender was, pouring sake eagerly to anyone who asked.
Azula huffed and shook her head, glaring daggers in the woman's direction. Pretending to have only been arguing with her was a lot easier than she'd expected, especially when June knew just what to say to anger her. Not that her last remark had been all that accurate, for Azula certainly had blushed over Sokka on countless occasions before June even met him, but still…
"A-Azula…" Sokka said, as she made her way to the seat next to him.
"I've met my fair share of assholes, but so far she's the worst of them all," she stated, turning her gaze to Rui Shi. "Get me something to drink. Now."
"Woah! Wait, Azula…" said Sokka, his eyes wide. Rui Shi frowned.
"Aren't we supposed to be using fake names…?" he whispered. Azula snorted.
"What's the point? Those two weren't fooled by that, were they?" she asked, gesturing at the now conscious men. They looked at her in fear, but they still held their tongue and kept completely silent.
They were fully clad in black, their faces uncovered although there were hoods on their outfits. They were in their mid-twenties at most, with dark skin and darker hair. Nothing about them stood out, Azula noticed, other than their unkempt hairstyles.
"So, why waste our time? That bitch won't stop calling us by our names, to begin with. If she hears us using fake names she'll probably laugh it off and make sure everyone in this building knows who we really are."
"I guess that's true," said Rui Shi, sighing and looking at Azula uneasily. "You're sure about that drink, though?"
"Dead sure. Do it now, Rui Shi," she snapped. He nodded and moved to where June was drinking, his shoulders square with tension.
Sokka gritted his teeth and looked at Azula with uncertainty. She didn't look back, her gaze on one of the barred windows as she stemmed in her poorly contained rage.
"Azula… what did you two talk about?" he whispered. Azula snorted in irritation.
"Like you don't know," she grunted. Sokka stared at her apprehensively.
"I thought… I thought we were through with that. I mean, I know seeing her is a bad thing either way, and we don't need her in our lives, but… do you have to be this mad even now?"
"Why, yes, I do," Azula retorted, staring at him menacingly. "Maybe you don't get it, because as you said, it means nothing to you, but it did mean something to me. So no, I can't let it go. I won't stop resenting her, and you'd best make your peace with that. Better for me to say it outright than for me to lie and pretend I'm all over it when it's clear as day that I'm not."
"But… ugh, well, fine then," said Sokka, huffing and shaking his head. "But what about these two?"
"What about them?" Azula grunted.
"You just so happened to say you were going to torture them?" Sokka reminded her. Azula shrugged.
"I need an outlet for my rage, don't I?"
"A-… Azula!" Sokka said, staring at her in surprise. She stared at him with unyielding eyes.
"What? Got a better idea?" she asked as coldly as she could. Sokka stared at her in disbelief.
"I can't understand why you're…" he whispered, but just then he realized that something didn't feel right.
It was too much. She was mad, justifiably, but she was going overboard. Even when they had first encountered June, Azula had only burned him once: she hadn't tried to hurt him again afterwards. Azula's impulses didn't lead her to hurt people physically: she threatened them. Was that what she was doing? Did she think her threats would make those two confess whatever she wanted to know about Jeong Jeong?
But if that was the case, he couldn't ruin her plans now. He had to keep making it look like he believed her, against his better judgment. So he scoffed and shook his head, as Rui Shi arrived with a sake bottle and three cups.
"N-none for us…?" one of the men said, before he could help himself. The other one shot a glare at him.
"What, you want some?" Azula asked, with a sardonic smirk. "Alright. Where's Jeong Jeong's base?"
The two men stayed silent after that. Azula tapped her chin.
"How large are his forces?"
Again, silence. Rui Shi and Sokka exchanged a worried glance.
"What is his ultimate purpose?"
As the men remained silent again, Azula shrugged and grabbed the bottle, leaning it gently over the first cup.
"Have it your way, then," she said, before downing the drink.
As it had been on the first time she tasted mediocre liquor, she regretted drinking it right away. The taste was foul for her, and she damn near spat it out back into the cup. But she held it in against her body's indications, and she swallowed hard before pouring herself another cup and handing the bottle to Sokka.
"Azula…" he said, looking at her worriedly. Whatever she was up to, he knew she wasn't the best at holding her own against a bottle of sake. He highly questioned that this would end well for her.
"What?!" she snapped at him, her golden eyes gleaming fiercely. Sokka gulped and shook his head, reaching for a cup of his own.
"Never mind…" he muttered, pouring himself some sake too. If anything, drinking might help him bear with the chaotic situation.
Rui Shi watched them but didn't join in, despite having a cup of his own waiting for him. He glanced back at June, who was currently chatting with the burly guy who had greeted her. He seemed to be challenging her, but it wasn't until Azula and Sokka had downed more than half the bottle – though it was mostly Azula's doing, in all fairness – that Rui Shi finally saw what the challenge entailed.
A table in the center of the establishment was cleared, and most the customers at the tavern gathered to watch as the smaller woman arm-wrestled the large man. Azula's eyes darted towards the scene as she frowned, her chin resting on her fist as she eagerly hoped that the large man would beat June…
But to her utter disappointment, it didn't happen. If they hadn't seen June carrying fully grown men on her shoulders as though they were as light as sacks of herbs, they probably would have been more surprised to see her defeating the large man. Deafening celebration sounds poured from all the crowd enjoying their showdown. June laughed proudly and offered to buy everyone drinks with the money she'd just earned, but before she could think of enjoying any more drinks, someone stood up from a table and marched towards her, golden eyes blazing with determination.
"Azula? Azula!" Sokka shouted, jumping to his feet and following her.
Rui Shi felt the impulse to chase after them too, but he didn't obey it. Someone had to stay close to the captives or they'd risk a likely escape attempt. So he grimaced and hoped Sokka would somehow manage to keep the situation under control… but he wouldn't hold his breath, truth be told. The Princess was clearly in those kinds of moods where nothing nobody said or did would appease her.
June was laughing with some of the men when Azula dropped on the chair the large man had vacated — he was rubbing his aching hand now as he paced through the room. June raised an eyebrow as she regarded Azula, a slow smirk spreading on her face.
"Well, well. We have a new challenger," she said. Azula scoffed.
"Let's see how good you really are," she growled, placing her elbow on the table.
June smirked and did the same, clasping Azula's hand with hers. A man was ready next to the table to give them the indication to begin, but June wasn't done taunting the Princess yet.
"So, what's our wager? Whoever wins sleeps with your first boyfriend?" June asked. Unsurprisingly, Azula's grip tightened around her hand after that. She chuckled. "Sounds fair to me, right?"
"Sounds like you're asking for a beating to me," Azula growled back. June sighed.
"As you'd have it. Now, you're to keep your other hand off the table at all times, you can't move your elbow…"
"I'm aware of the rules. Let's get started," Azula grunted. June smirked.
"Alright, then. Shall we?" she said, glancing at their improvised referee.
The guy held a hand between their faces and their grips tightened further, as though to break the other's hand.
"Ready? Start!" the man exclaimed, and Azula attacked with as much power as she could muster.
June was genuinely startled by finding herself in an uncomfortable position so quickly in their contest. She tensed her muscles and reeled her arm back into the neutral level, right after Azula had pushed her almost halfway down to the table. The Princess snarled, exerting all her strength to fight back against June's own fearsome power. Yet June was backed not only by far more experience than Azula had, but also by an amount of raw power that overcame Azula's own. It wasn't that the Princess was weak, by any means… but June was inhumanely strong.
She pushed harder, and Azula struggled to remain in the fight, but it wasn't going to work as easily as that. June's strength was overwhelming, and although Azula fought back to the last minute, her knuckles were slammed down on the table before long and again, cheers and celebration broke through the tavern as June crowned herself as the victor for the second time in a row.
"Woops. Looks like I beat you," said June, smirking proudly amongst her supporters' cheering.
Azula huffed and stood up, disappointed and slightly dizzy. She had to balance herself by clasping the table, and she realized she'd had nothing to eat while having too much sake to drink. She cursed her recklessness: no act was worth this much trouble.
"So, I guess I get to bang your boyfriend again?" June asked, crossing her legs and eyeing Azula with amusement, determined to get a rise out of her again. "Here I thought you'd fight harder to keep him to yourself…"
"You can… go fuck yourself," Azula snapped, and June laughed.
"Well, I could but I rather enjoy fucking others for a change," she said, smirking.
"I'm pretty sure you can fuck any other moron in this room if you please," Azula snapped. "Or is it you've tried out all of them already and you know they're no good for you?"
"Oh, low blow. Calling me a slut again? Sore loser," said June, smirking. "And yet the slut gets to bed your man just because you weren't tough enough…"
"You don't get to bed anyone, you blasted whore, you…" Azula snarled, lifting a fist dangerously, but a hand on her shoulder yanked her away from June before anything could get worse.
"Azula, stop! This is getting out of control!" Sokka told her, but she shrugged his hand off and turned to the smirking June again.
"Oh, well. At least lend me your other boyfriend, he's kind of good-looking," said June, smirking in Rui Shi's direction. Azula huffed.
"How're you still alive, huh?" she asked, slurring her words uncharacteristically. Sokka grimaced.
"Azula, you… you've had too much to drink, get back here," he said, grabbing her by the wrist, but Azula kept snarling at June.
"Because really, if you just ride every damn penis you see, you should be festering with diseases by now!" Azula shouted. June let out a bark of laughter.
"If that's how it is, I guess I passed them on to your boy right there, didn't I?" she exclaimed.
And that seemed to do it.
"Alright, you know what?! You know what?!" Azula roared, blue fire spilling from her throat and surprising the other clients of the tavern. "I'm just done with you! I've had enough! You're just gonna…!"
"Azula, stop it!" Sokka shouted, surrounding her by the waist with his arms and carrying her away. "You drank too much, you're losing control! Calm down!"
"Shut the hell up! I'm not going to calm down until I burn her to the bone, you hear me?! Let me down! Let me go!" she shouted as she swung her arms and legs recklessly, fire occasionally pouring out of them.
"Not doing either thing, we're going upstairs and you're staying there until you calm down!" Sokka declared, climbing the stairs clumsily as she tried to wrestle her way out of his arms.
"Stop it! I've got something to finish with that 'ore, that… that bitch, that…" she said, swaying her arms somewhat clumsily now that she had lost sight of June. The ringing laughter of June's friends, drifting to them from the first floor, didn't make her feel much better. "Where the hell's she? I've gotta… gotta…"
"You've got to sleep it off, eat something, I don't know, but you're not going back there," said Sokka, huffing as he made his way to the upper floor.
Azula continued to struggle, sometimes slapping Sokka's arm in a hopeless attempt to make him stop, but her hits were so weak he couldn't help but wonder if she'd unleashed all her energy by arm-wrestling June. Still, she was as defiant and angry as ever, going by her ongoing rant as he pushed open the second door to the right on the third floor. Rui Shi had told him earlier that it was the room he'd been able to pay for, back when Azula and June had left for their private chat.
"She's going to get it, she's… she's the most vile, disgusting thing I've ever met, I'm gonna…" Azula kept rambling, as Sokka pushed the door open.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty sure you've met worse people, but sure," he said, closing the door with a kick before setting Azula down.
It surprised him right away that Azula would shut up so suddenly. He frowned and stared at her, noticing her angry snarl had disappeared, replaced by an expression of dizzy displeasure.
"I may really have had too much to drink. I feel like… like there's fireworks in my stomach and not of the good kind," she said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… okay?" he said. "Azula, are you…? Are you alright?"
"I… I'm somewhat drunk, I guess," she said, shrugging. "Nothing new for us, is it?"
"N-no, but… what happened with the attitude?" Sokka asked, staring at her in confusion. "Where's all the bravado and the 'I'm going to kill June' stuff…?"
"Ah. That," said Azula, clasping his forearm to balance herself better.
Sokka's eyes widened when she suddenly lifted her gaze to give him an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry I worried you so much. Truth is, acting can be rather tiresome…" she said, sighing and walking towards one of the two beds in the room. "Only two beds? How come?"
"There's two because that's all they'd let Rui Shi rent for the night, but… what do you mean, Azula?" Sokka exclaimed, rushing to help her sit on the nearest bunk. The Princess groaned and sat next to him on the mattress, sighing in relief when the spinning world seemed to settle down briefly.
"What I mean is… I had to keep that performance going until the very end so that June can go find Jeong Jeong and bring him back to us," she said, with an awkward smile. "Sounds crazy, I know, but… I had a plan. A good one. Just… wait a minute. I'm trying to… ah! Yeah, yeah, we're going to… we're going to do something very smart, yeah. We will."
"That's… great," said Sokka, raising a doubtful eyebrow. "But why does that involve you shouting death threats and slurs at June…?"
"Ah, that's to avoid breaking character… and to keep spooking out the two losers we captured," said Azula, dropping her head on his shoulder. "They'll try to escape as soon as they have a chance, they'll be frightened because they'll think I'm a sadist with anger management issues, and with the impending threat of torture for information… they'll want out as soon as possible, right?"
"Right, and that's good for us how?" Sokka asked.
"It's good because when they run, they'll go straight to Jeong Jeong to tell him they found us," said Azula. "And June will track them down again by using the cloth she already tracked them with… so she's going to follow them and when she does, she'll also find Jeong Jeong. See?"
Sokka's eyes widened as he stared at the girl lying on his shoulder. So indeed, all the talk about torture had been a trick. How about the fights with June, though? Had they just been tricks too?
"I see… I think," said Sokka, frowning. "And what if they don't go to Jeong Jeong?"
"That… they'll go to him one way or another," said Azula, sighing. "They'll be carrying a message about us, so even if they don't deliver it directly, someone else has to. June just needs to follow every messenger until she reaches the big guy…"
"And that's what you two were talking about privately?"
"Yeah. Told her Rui Shi wasn't my boyfriend too, but she's an ass," said Azula, cringing as her head kept spinning. Her hand found his. "We just had to keep the act going or else… or else it'd be too suspicious, don't you think?"
"Yeah, surely, but… you could've warned me," said Sokka, smiling a little.
"Couldn't do it… sorry, but I was counting on your performance, too," she said, with a guilty grin again. "I couldn't make it work believably if you knew it wasn't serious all along…"
"Heh. Well, that's just nice, really," he said, scoffing but grinning. "You're right, though. I'd have ruined your charade if I'd known all along…"
"Well, not all of it was an act, truth be told," Azula admitted. Sokka groaned and looked at her uneasily.
"The torturing prisoners part was, though, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Then… all the bickering with June wasn't?"
"Not all of it. She really has an unparalleled skill at destroying my patience," said Azula, toying with Sokka's fingers as she pressed her head to his shoulder. His gaze's nature shifted into concern now.
"So… not all of what you said was feigned?"
"No, though most of it was exaggerated for sure," said Azula. "Had to be a convincing jealous madwoman, didn't I? Fooled you, so… so I didn't do so poorly"
"You did a great job," said Sokka, sighing. "I'm just… hell, I can't believe we came across June of all people, damn it. Just when we were on such a good roll, too…"
"My response to seeing her again wasn't a completely feigned reaction, I'll admit," whispered Azula. "It took me a moment to come up with this plan, but… but I really didn't want to believe it was her again. What were the chances…?"
"Yeah," said Sokka, surrounding her with an arm and bringing her closer. "I wish it hadn't happened either. But I guess if your plan works, we won't be so sorry in the end."
"Hopefully," Azula conceded, closing her eyes and resting against him. "May the anguish and irritation be worth it, huh?"
Sokka sighed and turned on the bed, surrounding her fully with his arms. She nestled perfectly in them, her face resting against the crook of his neck as he rubbed her arm gently.
"I'll try to keep myself in check…" she whispered. "But something irrational just always seems to take hold of me when it comes to… to other women you've been involved with. I wish I could control myself, and I try, but… but it's harder than it should be."
"It's okay, I understand. I've been spending the whole trip telling myself to stop wanting to punch Rui Shi every single time someone assumes you two have some sort of relationship," said Sokka, sighing. "I know it's stupid, it's just a cover story, and it works wonders, but…"
"Just thinking I could be someone else's makes you see red," Azula mused. Sokka sighed. "Well, good. Then we might understand each other better than I expected…"
"I know it's not fair, though. Rui Shi's done nothing wrong, but what happened with us and June is… well, saying it's complicated doesn't even begin to cut it," he whispered. Azula groaned in agreement. "You have better cause to be apprehensive than I do."
"But it was long ago. You were different, and so was I," she said. "You won't go around making those sorts of mistakes anymore, right?"
"Never," said Sokka, hugging her tighter. She allowed herself a small smile.
"And I won't kiss you to taunt you into acting like a fool," she whispered, caressing his back. "At least not the way I did that day…"
"You still kiss me whenever you want something from me, though…" he said, smiling too. "Or you do worse things yet, like turning me on and then sending me into battle, making me wait forever until you can finish me off, huh?"
"Ah, that. I've been pretty merciless, haven't I?" Azula whispered, hugging him tightly. Sokka grinned.
"And somehow I just love it. Aren't we a perfect match," he said, but to his surprise, she sighed and clutched his green tunic hard. "Azula?"
"It's just…" she whispered. Sokka gritted his teeth as she failed to find the words to convey her feelings.
"Despite everything, you can't get over it?" he asked, pressure constraining his chest. He wouldn't blame her for that, if that were the case.
"Not… not for the reason you think," Azula said. Sokka frowned.
"Then why?"
"It's not because… because of whatever you did with her. It's not that I think you want to go back to her… because you don't, right?"
"How would I?" said Sokka, caressing her cheek. "I could hardly bear looking at her, still can't, because of how bad it makes me feel just being near her. Same thing has happened with every other woman but you, Azula…"
She smiled a little, but the grin waned quickly as she sighed again. She rubbed her head harder against his shoulder, and Sokka held her carefully despite that.
"That's the problem, see…" she whispered. Sokka grimaced.
"That you're the only woman I love? How's that a problem? I mean, other than in the obvious ways in which it's a problem because of who you are, and who I am, and…" he rambled nervously, as her arms encircled his neck.
"I should be able… should be able to control myself. Should be able to stop hating her and every other partner you've had for no other reason than because they got to you before I did," she said, with a thread of a voice. "It's stupid for me to be so childish, isn't it? I know it is, but I… I can't help it either way…"
"It's not something I blame you for, Azula," Sokka whispered, caressing her hair. "It's nothing I'll hold against you…"
"But I hold it against myself," Azula whispered, her head dropping on his chest now, right above her hand. "You're… you're too patient and understanding. You're too kind. And I… I tricked you today. I had to do it for my own ends, but… but aren't you hurt for it? Don't you… don't you hold that against me either?"
"How could I?" said Sokka, smiling a little. "If you wanted me to be indignant about it you should have done it the other way around: pretend everything's okay, keep calm, and then when I least expect it reveal your true intent was to torture those guys instead of the opposite…"
"So, that's what worries you the most?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "How come…?"
"How? I've never approved of torturing prisoners, or have I?" Sokka said. Azula smiled.
"True. But here I thought you'd be more worried about me trying to set June on fire. Doesn't that bother you at all?"
"I certainly wouldn't like that either, but I'd feel a lot less willing to challenge you over it…" Sokka admitted, biting his lower lip with uncertainty. Azula snorted.
"Ah, the day has come when Sokka finally confesses he fears me… what horror," she said, teasingly, as she raised her head to look at him. He smiled.
"I had hoped you wouldn't be so mad, though," he whispered. "We'd talked about this already, and… well, you were angrier than I imagined you'd be, but I wanted to trust you wouldn't lose control completely. Though it looked like you did when you arm-wrestled her…"
"I'm just realizing now, though, I should've burned her hand…" Azula mused. Sokka stared at her disapprovingly and she smiled innocently. "Oops. Thinking to myself…"
"You said that out loud, silly," said Sokka, smiling and shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you…?"
"Hopefully… you're going to decide that despite how unhinged I can become in seconds, I'm still worth keeping around…"
"What the…? Hey, aren't I the one who's being kept around?" Sokka asked, staring at her in confusion. "Azula… you're the one who makes the decisions here, remember? You call the shots. I'm the gladiator, you're the sponsor, you're the authority and…"
"And I don't know what I'd do if… if you ever realize you've idealized me too much," Azula muttered, her gaze dropping again to where her hand clutched his shirt. "I never said it but… but I'm still afraid. I'm still not sure if… if I'm good enough for you."
Sokka's jaw dropped. She didn't look him in the eye as she spoke, and that already said enough about how deeply she felt the words she was uttering, and how ashamed she was of them, too.
"A better woman wouldn't be so greedy… wouldn't be so selfish," she said, gripping his shirt tightly. "You've already given me more than I… than I ever even dreamt of, so why should it still sting, what you had with her for one night? It… it doesn't make any sense, does it?"
"It does," Sokka said. She gritted her teeth. "And I don't think it's fair for you to… to expect yourself to be over it as easily as that. Azula, we both know that was a bad wound. It… it amounted to betrayal in your eyes, didn't it?"
"Why did it, though? I mean… we weren't anything back then," Azula said, shaking her head. "We weren't even friends yet…"
"We were partners already. And… the two of us were starting to have feelings for one another, right?" Sokka whispered. Azula sighed. "And I said awful things to you, too. The fact remains that… that you've somehow found it in you to love me despite it all. Don't you think the one who should be afraid of not being good enough is me?"
Azula smiled a little and looked at him with disbelief. Sokka cupped her face, keeping her as close as he could.
"I think I'd like to be better than I am, though," Azula said. "I… I want to stop feeling so self-conscious just by looking at her. I want her stupid smirks to stop affecting me. I know she's taunting me, because… because that's what she always does, and I'd like to stop caring for it because I know she doesn't mean half of it. Because, even if she did, I know that… that you'd never go back to her…"
"Yeah, that's all true," said Sokka, brushing loose strands from her hair away from her face. Azula's fist tightened around his cloth.
"So… so why do I still doubt? Why does it still sting? Why does it still matter?" she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. "I don't want to… I don't think it's fair anymore. It's been so long, you've done so much for me, you've… you've proven that you love me in all possible ways. I trust you with my very life, so why does this still bug me so much, damn it? Why…?"
"Because…" Sokka said, shifting on the mattress and sitting more comfortably. "Because this matters to you, Azula. Because you can't help it, just as I can't when anyone assumes you're with Rui Shi and not with me. I know it'd never happen, I know I'm being a fool for taking that sort of thing to heart, and I also know it's not really comparable… but what I mean is that it's not a reaction I can control. Neither is yours."
"So, it's just… a stupid impulse? It's not something we can avoid?" Azula whispered. Sokka smiled.
"Doesn't look like it, no," he said, stroking her leg gently with his other hand. "I guess… it's just human nature."
"Human nature? Really?" Azula whispered, looking at him with unease. Sokka frowned and stared deep into her eyes.
"Yeah. It's not something as unforgivable, or as out of the ordinary, as you might have thought. So, stop assuming it means something awful, don't even dare consider it does. Because if you're thinking what I think you are? Then…"
"Oh, you know what I'm thinking?" she asked, with a crooked smile. "Isn't it bad enough that I can't get you out of my head, you're also using that as an advantage to read my thoughts?"
"Seems like I am," said Sokka, smiling and kissing her lips softly. "Life would be so much easier for us if we didn't feel the way we do when it comes to these matters, but so far I haven't found a solution for that problem. I'm an insecure idiot who's dead sure he doesn't deserve you…"
"Well, for that matter, so am I," said Azula, raising her eyebrows. Sokka snorted. "And I guess the real problem is… I shouldn't be, should I? I mean, I'm… I'm a Princess. I'm not supposed to feel insecure around a damned bounty hunter, of all things…"
"See, that's where the real problem lies, as usual," said Sokka, sighing. Azula stared at him apprehensively. "You think you're not allowed to feel the way you feel because of your titles and your position. Because your father would scoff if he knew you're questioning your self-worth at all. Because it should have never mattered to you in the first place that I got involved with June. It should have never mattered what I did with my life, and I should have never become yours in all the ways I have…"
Azula sighed and dropped her head on his shoulder, unable to say another word. Sokka surrounded her with his arms and held her closely, rubbing her back gently.
"Well… this is complicated, eh?" said Sokka, sighing too as he released her from his hold briefly.
He shifted to settle down more comfortably on the bed, sitting against the headrest. He spread his arms and Azula as good as jumped into them, nestling closely against him and burying her face in his chest. It was as though she was trying to find cover from the rest of the world by staying close to him like this.
They were in silence briefly, as Sokka pondered a million ways to continue their conversation, but it was Azula who broke it, rather than him. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke:
"You once… you once said a monster wouldn't care, right?" she said. Sokka gulped. "You did, didn't you…?"
"And I still think so," said Sokka.
"Then being a monster might cause less trouble, huh?" said Azula, with a small laugh. Sokka smiled and shook his head.
"Maybe it'd be less trouble, sure, but while you'd lose the unpleasant feelings, you'd also lose the pleasant ones."
"Really? Monsters don't know pleasure?" Azula asked, taunting him. Sokka chuckled.
"You know what I mean, dang it. I'm talking about a less physical, more emotional kind of pleasure. Not feeling any jealousy, any uncertainties, any doubts… you'd have to be way too strong or just not human, you know?"
"Would be easier in some ways," Azula sighed. "Don't you wish you could just… stop feeling unworthy of this? Of our happiness? Because the better it gets, the more I hear that stupid, nagging voice on the back of my head that says I don't deserve it. That I've put my urges ahead of everything else, that I can't keep you to myself, that maybe when the time comes, you'll choose staying with your Tribe… and how could I fault you for that, when I can't even fathom leaving the Fire Nation? It's… it's just not fair. I'm not fair to you, or to anyone else, and…"
"You sure aren't being fair to me, no. I did say I wanted to stay with you, didn't I?" Sokka said, pouting a little. Azula's breath caught as she stared at him doubtfully.
"But what if you…? What if you change your mind when you see them, what if…?"
"Azula, I know it's hard to believe," said Sokka, smiling as he lifted her chin and stared into her half-lidded eyes. "But I really meant it forever ago when I said I wasn't going to choose anyone over you. The more time we spend together, the more I refuse to do that. You've… you've made me the happiest I've ever been. I love you so damn much it hurts, even. And yes, I want to see my family again, but I'm sure I won't want to do it if it means losing you. I can't do that, alright? You just… you don't really understand it, do you?"
"Understand what?" she whispered with a soft voice. Sokka laughed softly and pressed his forehead to hers.
"The best thing I've ever done in my life is loving you, I already told you so," he said. "And I'll continue to do it for as long as I live. Doesn't matter what happens to us, doesn't matter how far away we may be, doesn't matter how much time goes by…"
"Sokka, damn you…" Azula said, shaking her head before kissing him gently. "Why are you so…?"
"What?" Sokka whispered, smiling and caressing her hair.
"I don't even know," she said, dropping her head on his shoulder again. "Too good to be true? Too good for me? I… I don't know…"
"Heh. You know, I'm only the man I am nowadays because of you," he said, smirking. "I've got no doubts about it. So, if that were true? If somehow I'm too good for you or too good to be true? It's because of you! So, there you go. I owe you more than you understand or begin to realize. And the fact that you've let me love you like this… I can't stop treasuring it, you know? Even after all this time…"
"Neither can I," said Azula, closing her eyes as she squeezed him tighter. "Even though… even though we shouldn't have. Even though it's so risky, but I just… I can't pull away. I don't want to. I… I just can't do it."
" I can't either," said Sokka, sighing. "And maybe… maybe you're right. We're selfish, and we're jerks to everyone else for choosing our love above everything, but I can't fathom living in any other way. Not anymore. Because really, life without you is no life at all, Azula. You make everything worthwhile."
"Even though… even though we can't just settle down like normal people would? Even though we can't even dream of having a normal relationship…?"
"I thought we'd already discussed that," said Sokka, with a gentle grin. "I don't need that, not at all. Loving you is its own reward. Everything else would be an added bonus. A welcome one, granted, but still…"
"It's something else that I guess isn't fair to you," she muttered. "I can't let you go, but I can't give you a family either, so…"
"Then we don't worry about making a family. I'll leave it to my sister, if my dad really wants grandchildren," said Sokka, smiling mischievously. Azula snorted. "Honestly, though, I'll tell you as much as many times as you need to hear it, but my answer will never change, you know? It's you I want, no one else. If I can't do anything but hold your hand and smile your way, so be it. I'm too lucky already if I can get away with that."
"And after saying all this, you still think I shouldn't feel unworthy of you and your unconditional love," said Azula, shaking her head. "How am I supposed to think I deserve your selflessness, Sokka…?"
"You're worthy of every damn good thing in this world, Azula," he said, burying his face in her hair. "And I know, your dad always told you to discard all feelings, and your mother… well, let's not even go there. But you found a new kind of fire through your feelings for me, didn't you? Love led you to that breakthrough. How could it possibly be a bad thing if your fire responds to it the way it did? How could they be right about repressing your feelings, about anything they ever believed about you, when they have no idea what you've achieved because you've opened your heart to love?"
"I guess your point is that… they're wrong?" Azula whispered. Sokka smiled and prodded her nose with his.
"My point is… you have every right to be happy, Azula. And you have every right to feel nervous, anxious, uncertain, when you feel that happiness is endangered. Everyone does."
"Do I have a right to it at all, though?" Azula whispered. "Do I really…?"
"Why wouldn't you?" Sokka whispered. "Because you're royal? Because you can't be happy and be a great Fire Lord at the same time?"
"I… I don't know. Can I?" Azula said. Sokka smiled and shook his head.
"I can't believe you underestimate your abilities this much," he said, pulling away and smiling gently at her. "Yes, yes you can. And you will, alright? I'm going to be with you every step of the way, pissing you off with my antics, earning myself all your scolding for my nonsense…"
"You just plan on annoying me, then?" Azula asked, smiling. "Because… I can't say I'd mind. As long as you're serious once in a while, too…"
"Just when I really have to be," Sokka said, smiling mischievously. She laughed and shook her head, hugging him tighter.
"I'm sorry I worried you today. I don't like tricking you, believe it or not…" she whispered. He caressed her back.
"I'm glad you worried me over nothing," he said, smiling. "And I'm glad I was some use for your clever purposes, too. Hopefully those two will run off soon… well, that is, if Rui Shi stops watching them too carefully."
"Maybe you'll have to go downstairs to tell him he has to let them escape…" Azula whispered. Sokka hummed.
"Maybe I will," he said, but her grip around him tightened. "I can do it later, I guess?"
"You're only going to do it later. You're staying here for now," she said, nestling comfortably on his chest. Sokka laughed softly and kissed the top of her head.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be."
She sighed, but now it felt as though she was releasing all her tension and relaxing for real in his arms. She still felt her head was spinning somewhat, but she felt safer in his embrace than she had felt in a very long time. For once, alcohol had lowered her inhibitions the right way: she had been able to share many of her innermost thoughts, her concerns, with him and he hadn't disappointed her, yet again. He had listened to all of it, and appeased the violent storms raging inside her heart. Dizziness wasn't important when she felt more inner peace than she had in quite some time.
"I'm glad…" she whispered, surprising him. He had thought she was about to fall asleep by now. "I'm glad you think loving me is the best decision you've made. I'm still shocked that you do, but…"
"That I think so, or that I love you?"
"Both," she answered truthfully. Sokka snickered.
"You're still being silly," he said, kissing the top of her head again. "And yes, I love you. Silly as you may be, half-drunk, insecure… however you may feel, I'll love you no matter what."
"Even if I make ridiculous decisions?"
"I'll try to talk you out of those if they're too ridiculous, but basically, yes," said Sokka, smiling a little. Azula snorted.
"As if you could even tell they're too ridiculous… half of what you do and say is ridiculous already," she whispered. He laughed.
"Hey, you're the one who said you'd make ridiculous decisions in the first place…" he said, stroking her hair gently again before she lifted her face.
Her eyes were still half-lidded, and he had the suspicion her vision was somewhat blurry, but it didn't stop her from lunging forward for a kiss. He held her as the contact between their lips deepened completely. Their hearts ached with the usual burn that took hold of them whenever they were overwhelmed by their feelings for one another, and they basked in the sensation until their long and deep kiss ended.
"Thank you…" Azula gasped against his lips when they parted. Sokka swallowed, holding her face in his hands. "For trusting me. For… for believing in me. For loving me."
"It's been my privilege, no need to thank me. I'll always trust you, believe in you and love you. You can count on it," Sokka promised, with a gentle grin. She responded with one of her own, pressing her forehead to his.
"So will I," she said. "I… I love you, too. I love you, I… I just love you…"
"I know," said Sokka, smiling kindly and kissing her softly again.
She repeated the words over and over: it seemed conveying them once wouldn't be enough, so she said them again and again. He responded with kisses, and with his own love confessions too, his smile ever present on his face.
Rui Shi stood by the door with unease, half an hour after Sokka had carried Azula upstairs. He was afraid of what he might find up here: either his traveling companions would be engaged in a full-blown argument, or maybe engaged in angry sex, and he wasn't sure which one would be worse to walk into. But after standing outside for a moment, and failing to hear any sounds whatsoever, he bit his lip and pushed the door open warily.
A blush crept up his face when he laid eyes upon them. Sokka sat with his back against the bed's headrest, caressing Azula's hair gently while she nestled in his arms, between his legs. Her eyes were closed as her chest heaved a little with every breath she took. They were both fully clothed still, so Rui Shi didn't panic about that… yet finding them like this was as shocking as walking in on them naked. The sense of intimacy surrounding them made him want to walk out the door again right away, for he knew he wasn't supposed to intrude… but he couldn't do that. Not right now, anyways.
"Sokka?" he called him. The gladiator raised his gaze slowly and placed a finger over his lips. "She fell asleep?"
Sokka smiled and nodded, and Rui Shi closed the door behind himself. The noise drifting from downstairs was muffled by his action.
"I really just wanted to check on you two, but I should go back downstairs quickly," said Rui Shi, frowning. "The two captives… I told the bounty hunter to keep an eye on them, but I have the bad feeling that she's not going to. I think a brawl was about to start…"
"Heh. Nice. All the more reason to stay up here," said Sokka, his grip tightening around Azula. "Also, don't worry about the captives. Azula wants them to get away."
"She… what?" Rui Shi asked, his eyes wide. "What's that supposed to mean? Sokka…"
"She came up with a plan in… seconds, I guess? She's really something else," said Sokka, chuckling as he caressed her hair. "She wanted to scare them, that's why she talked about torture and whatnot. They'll run away, June will track them down again, and Azula expects them to lead June straight to Jeong Jeong…"
"Isn't it too dangerous?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka shrugged.
"With that beast of hers, as long as she's cautious she should be able to paralyze him and his followers rather easily. I think, anyways," said Sokka, sighing. "It may be risky, but I guess June's willing to go with it despite that."
"She doesn't seem to be easily daunted," Rui Shi admitted, sitting on his own bed and relaxing a little. "Well… I'm surprised. It was an act, all along?"
"Somewhat," Sokka whispered. "Azula said she'd just blown things out of proportion to cause more impact…"
"But she still hates the bounty hunter, and from the sound of it, it's your fault somehow," said Rui Shi. Sokka's guilty grimace made him snort. "Women make no sense to me. Not only does the Princess fall in love with you, but the bounty hunter fancied you too? Why?"
"Don't ask me," said Sokka, sighing and shaking his head. "I'm as baffled as you are. Though I doubt June thought much of me, to be perfectly honest. She just… eh, well, let's not go into details, shall we?"
"I'm afraid they'll only disturb me if we do," said Rui Shi, sighing and staring at Azula. "I don't remember seeing her quite as angry as that since… probably since the first time we all traveled to the Former Earth Kingdom, actually."
"Yeah, well…" Sokka said, his voice fluctuating in a way that told Rui Shi more than Sokka had wanted to give away. The guard frowned.
"What? Was it… for the same reason? Was June why you two had that spat?" he asked. Sokka groaned and dropped his head against the bed's headrest.
"Didn't you say you wanted no more details?" he whispered.
"I didn't, but now I can't help but be curious," Rui Shi admitted, with a weak smile. "I still don't understand how you two met her at all without me being around…"
"Azula didn't meet her until just before we got lost in the forest," Sokka said. "I met her by myself some time before that, in the Capital."
"I see now," said Rui Shi, sighing. "I think I can fill the blanks on my own, though the more I ponder it, the more it surprises me that you two could bounce back from whatever that was…"
"It surprises me too," said Sokka, staring down at Azula's placid sleeping figure. "I'm grateful for it, but I don't know if I'll ever stop being amazed that she still let me be part of her life again."
"I guess she just loves you that much," said Rui Shi, sighing and dropping on his bed, his gaze on the wooden ceiling.
"And yet she dares doubt she's good enough for me," Sokka said, snorting and shaking his head before hugging her tighter. "I don't get it, never will…"
"Because you love her that much," said Rui Shi, with a sarcastic grin. Sokka smiled too, his forehead on the top of Azula's head. "Well… if you two could survive this, I suppose it means my situation with Song isn't hopeless, right?"
"Right," said Sokka, nodding. "It's not over until one or both of you stop fighting for it."
"I'll keep that in mind, then," said Rui Shi, biting his lip.
"You really do like her, don't you?" Sokka asked. Even in the dimly lit room, Rui Shi's blush was apparent. "Good. She should be with someone who's as crazy about her as she is about him."
"I guess that's why you two are set, huh?" Rui Shi asked, glancing at Azula again. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever witness the Princess being affectionate with anybody, but… I guess you're different."
"I guess," said Sokka, stroking her hair again.
"I'm sorry everyone thinks I'm her husband and not you," said Rui Shi. "But as it has been so far, I'll continue to be the most distant, indifferent and permissive husband you've heard of."
"So, you'll let me get away with holding your alleged wife like this?" Sokka asked, with a raised eyebrow. Rui Shi snorted.
"You've gotten away with much worse. At least she's just resting right now," said Rui Shi. Sokka smiled and nodded.
"Thanks, though… I don't think you really know how much she appreciates and trusts you," Sokka whispered. "Of course, she won't say it outright, but she's glad to have an ally and friend in you, Rui Shi."
"I'm glad to be her ally and friend, too," he said. "And I hold her in high esteem as well, regardless of my disapproval of your relationship… if only she weren't a Princess I'd have less qualms, of course. Truth is, you're well matched regardless of your tendency to clash over nonsense…"
Sokka smiled and looked at him with disbelief. Rui Shi smiled a little.
"Thank you, truly," said Sokka. "For… for everything you've done and continue to do for us. Words really aren't enough…"
"It's fine, Sokka," said Rui Shi, sighing and standing up again. "Hear that, though?"
"Hear what?" Sokka muttered, frowning a little as he tried to listen more intently.
Voices were growing more aggressive downstairs, it seemed. Sokka blinked blankly as Rui Shi approached the door again, the floorboards creaking under his weight.
"I'll wager the brawl is in full swing now," he said. "I'll go check on them… see if the two prisoners are still there or if they've already taken off."
"Alright then," said Sokka, nodding. "We'll be here, just as you left us."
"I figure," said Rui Shi, smiling and pushing the door open to leave the room.
He climbed down to the second floor, from where he could gaze down to the first one: his eyes widened as he watched June lifting the tall, muscular guy over herself and dunking him hard over a table without breaking a sweat. Her superhuman strength was somehow terrifying. If this was how she acted in the middle of a common brawl, he didn't want to imagine what she'd do in a serious fight. Being enemies with June would be terrifying.
Rui Shi took another glance in the direction where he'd left the prisoners. Clearly, June hadn't kept an eye on them at all, and they were already gone. Rui Shi only hoped they wouldn't reach Jeong Jeong too quickly, or else their plan would backfire. It was apparent that June did not intend to pursue them anytime soon, not while she was busy tossing men back and forth, while managing to down a few more drinks in the process.
Rui Shi sighed, clutching the railing that surrounded the second floor's corridor as he continued to watch the brawl down below. The Princess's plan should work wonders, as long as June was as competent as she seemed to be. He couldn't help but worry, but if this paid off, it would resolve this entire matter in one fell sweep: taking down Jeong Jeong would leave his forces just as lost and confused as the Fire Nation battalion he had abandoned during the war. Princess Azula would strike down the Fire Nation's enemies again, and she would preserve the security and peace in the Fire Nation Colonies once more…