Being woken by a kiss to the side of her neck was beyond pleasant. More kisses trailed that one, some over her shoulder, others over her jawline. She couldn't help but sigh in absolute bliss.
"What are you doing…?" she whispered. His soft chuckle made her smile.
"What do you think?" he asked, as his hand caressed her naked abdomen gently. She groaned, shifting against his body so she could press her back to his chest most comfortably.
They had changed positions through the night, but his arms had held her regardless. Now, as he hugged her from behind, Azula felt somewhat vulnerable, but she didn't mind it. She wasn't afraid of being vulnerable with him.
Her legs slid around his, and his hands searched under the covers for hers. With fingers intertwined, Sokka hummed in delight as he continued to kiss her skin. She had stretched her neck, leaving it bare and giving him full freedom to devour it as he pleased. He kissed her non-stop, at times sucking on her skin gently, but he didn't release her hand until she let go of his, to slide her fingers through his long, disheveled hair. He kissed her cheek next, his hand tucking her bangs behind her ear. She turned her face, longing to catch his adventurous lips with hers, but he smiled playfully and lowered his face, kissing his way down her back now.
"Sokka…" she whispered, with a smile.
He chuckled, his hands caressing her body gently. He cupped and fondled her breasts, prompting her to moan heartily, and he slid one of his legs between hers. His thigh rubbed against her core, and she gasped at the burst of pleasure. He snickered.
"You're… you're a troublemaker, damn you…" she gasped, as she felt him climbing back up the bed, so he could hold her properly from behind.
"Not a bad kind of trouble, now, is it…?" he asked, licking his lips and kneading her breasts some more. Azula moaned and shrunk in her frame, struggling to keep the sounds to herself.
Sokka smiled and leaned over her arched figure, making it so both bodies would be perfectly pressed together. But as he was busy with his hands and lips, he didn't anticipate to Azula spreading her legs and reaching down between them to find his stiff manhood. He hissed as her hand encircled it, her fingertips tracing the outline of his length.
"Two can play this game, right?" she asked, throwing her head back. Sokka chuckled.
"Seems so, Princess," he whispered.
He kissed the corner of her mouth now, but yet again when she sought to kiss him he pulled away, teasingly. Azula laughed, shaking her head at his playfulness. His hands slid lower now, imitating hers by caressing her core intimately.
The moans she released were desperate, intense. Sokka's eagerness only increased with every sound. His resistance to kissing her was just a matter of teasing, but right now it felt like he had fallen into his own trap: he could barely contain his own urge to devour her lips with his own.
His fingers touched her insistently, sparks of pleasure born by his touch, and her hand imitated his own just as Sokka surrendered to his impulses. Azula kissed him passionately when he finally brought their lips together: she moaned into his mouth and urged him to fill her already. Her hand was leading his shaft to her opening, placing his manhood's head on it. But Sokka thrusted while still outside her, making it so his cock would brush against all her folds and even stroke her clit. Azula's moan was louder now, and he stopped what he was doing to shush her.
"You're going to wake everyone," he said, laughing and pressing his forehead to hers. Azula moaned softer now.
"That's all your fault, not mine…" she said. "You started it."
"True enough, but I'm being really quiet," Sokka said, teasingly. She chuckled.
"That's because I'm not done with you yet…" she said.
She shifted her hips away, and Sokka was confused by her movement until she reeled back and pressed her ass to his manhood. He almost yelped, and the hand he had placed on her waist clutched her tighter now. Azula chuckled proudly, rubbing against him deviously.
"What willpower you have, still so quiet…" she whispered, arching her head back to kiss his cheek. Sokka groaned and shifted away from her. "Ah, is it too much to take, snow savage?"
"If you don't want me to become a real savage, yes, it was too much," he said, smirking and placing himself on her opening. Azula laughed.
"I wouldn't mind seeing that, truth be told – ah… ah, yes," she moaned, closing her eyes as his cock's head finally entered her.
"Maybe when we go home, you'll see it," Sokka said, stroking her breasts. "Or if we're ever alone in this journey with no risks of being caught…"
"I like the sound of that, I'll say…" she admitted, biting her lip as he went deeper yet.
He lifted her leg, allowing himself better access as he thrusted inside her. Azula's moans were frantic, only interrupted when she gasped in desperation. Sokka hummed, enveloped by utmost pleasure, driven by his urges to give her just as much bliss as she was gifting him with. She sighed, she whimpered, and her hand sought his once more. With intertwined fingers, they continued their slow and steady thrusting, with Sokka moving smoothly behind her, his lips by her ear whispering her name longingly.
Soft sounds and moans continued to be exchanged as the world woke around them, too. The sun had barely risen, and only the earliest rising birds were chirping. Everything stirred, everything came to life, and so did the two lovers as their tryst continued, as their lips met on occasion, with quick kisses that were interrupted whenever either of them thrusted too strongly. There was next to no urgency to their exchange at first, the two of them merely delighted to wake up in each other's company like this, but as it continued, their arousal increased slowly but steadily. They picked up speed, their kisses became wilder, and muffling the moans grew more difficult for Azula. As Sokka panted by her ear she felt her body clench up, releasing the building excitement against him. He couldn't hold back for long either, gasping and groaning while unleashing himself inside her again.
It had been a wonderful night, the perfect way to break their dry spell. The rooms in the house seemed to have relatively thick walls, but they had done their best to keep their voices down regardless. Even now, as they breathed heavily together, they did it as silently as they could, bodies fully pressed into each other.
"Good morning…" he muttered, kissing her cheek. Azula laughed and turned in his arms to kiss him fully.
"Oh, good's an understatement," she said. Sokka chuckled too.
"Here I thought you'd be annoyed that I woke you so early," he said, as she smiled at him.
"I suppose I could be… but you made it worth my while, Wentai," she said, prodding his nose with hers. He smirked. "Slept well?"
"Better than I had for a while," he said. "Might have something to do with holding a naked beauty through the night…"
"Well, now, you've held me over the past few days… just, not naked, but still," she said, smirking. Sokka laughed.
"We both needed this, Princess. You know it just as well as I do," he said. She smiled and kissed him softly.
"Fine. I concede," she said, sighing and caressing his face. "I'm still somewhat sorry for showing up as I did, though. I mean…"
"Yeah, yeah, you didn't want to bother me, didn't want to be a burden with your problems…" said Sokka, smiling. "You're always worrying about that, but you know? I'd rather you tell me what's going on than for you to cover it up because you don't want to worry me. Because if you do that, I'll worry more, and it'd be counterproductive, and I'd get extra-annoying and…!"
"Yes, you made your point," Azula said, chuckling as she pressed a finger to his lips. Sokka smiled.
"How are you feeling, though?" he asked, kissing her finger. "Still worried about it, or…?"
"It's all nonsense," said Azula, smiling and relaxing in his arms. "Every last bit of it must be. The good, the bad, the in-between…"
"Was there anything good? Aside from how you're going to be rich for the rest of your life…" said Sokka. Azula shrugged.
"Well… Aunt Wu seemed to think I'll be married twice," she said. Sokka tensed up. "But she assumed the first one was my marriage to Rui Shi. And then she… well, she didn't say it outright, but she very much implied I'd marry you by talking about some Water Tribe wedding I'd be part of…"
Sokka blinked blankly before a wide smile spread over his face. He laughed and hugged her, and Azula snorted.
"Sokka? Didn't you think that fortunetelling is nonsense…?" she asked, smirking at him. "How is it nonsense when it says bad things, but not nonsense when it says good ones?"
"Because the good ones are desirable, and the bad ones aren't, naturally," said Sokka, beaming proudly. "We shall avoid the bad ones and make the good ones come true!"
"Uh-huh," said Azula, shaking her head. "You're ridiculous."
"And you know I'm right," said Sokka, smirking. "Any other good ones?"
"Well, by your standards… maybe one," she said, shrugging. "Seeing as she used plural when talking about girls… according to her, we may have around three children?"
"Three? Are you serious…? Oh, spirits, that's just…!" Sokka exclaimed, his eyes wide as Azula laughed and covered his mouth with a hand.
"Or… maybe we'll have none," she said, smiling dryly at him. "Two of her fortunes contradicted themselves on that front, so I wouldn't put a lot of faith in it."
"Aw, well, three or none, I don't mind either way," said Sokka, smiling regardless. "Three, though… would you put yourself through birthing babies thrice?"
"Not intentionally, I wouldn't," said Azula, raising her eyebrows skeptically. "Which is why I should make sure to drink my tea dose of the day soon…"
"I don't have a kettle in here, though… you'll need to find one in the kitchen," said Sokka. Azula smiled.
"I'll take care of it by breakfast," she said, sighing and cuddling up to him. "She also said my mind is powerful but frail. It's funny, huh?"
"Frail? Frail how?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.
"Some sort of mental disease, I guess? That's what she implied, but… if the other thing isn't to be taken seriously, why should we take this one seriously at all?"
"Fair enough," said Sokka, nodding. "Still… I'd say we should try to make all three babies, and to get married too. That's the only important stuff she said, and the only stuff worth heeding…"
"Oh, sure. As long as you carry the babies, I'll be in complete agreement with that," Azula said, smirking. Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"I'll carry them after they're born, sure…"
"That's not the part I meant, silly."
"I know, but still…" he whispered, smiling and poking her nose with his. "But marriage, huh? We… we should get married, you know? Maybe as Jing and Wentai…"
"That wouldn't be much use, now, would it?" said Azula. "It'd be as though Azula and Sokka aren't married, even if Jing and Wentai are…"
"I guess…" said Sokka, pouting. "But I still want to marry you."
"And you're still silly, fickle and annoying," said Azula, smiling and kissing the tip of his nose. "And I love you… but it's getting late and I should probably go to my room now."
"What? Nooo…" Sokka pouted, holding onto her stubbornly. Azula laughed.
"We'll be together again before you know it. Now let go, or else Aunt Wu's prediction about a baby may come true when we absolutely can't afford to have it happen…"
"Bummer…" Sokka groaned, as Azula sat up on the futon. "I don't like letting you go."
"It's not going to be forever," she said, as he sat with her, his arms around her shoulders. "You've endured worse challenges, haven't you?"
"Than being away from you? Never," he declared. Azula laughed as she reached for her clothes.
"If that's so, no wonder Aunt Wu predicted you'd be miserable all your life," she said. "We can't be together at every waking moment and you know it, right?"
"Well, maybe not now, but when we get married, like her prediction said…" Sokka said, with a mischievous smile.
"So, you mean in around fifty years? Sure," said Azula. Sokka snorted.
"We'll get married before that, I hope…" he said. Azula shrugged.
"The odds for it aren't so good, I've told you so before," she said, putting her undergarments on first with Sokka's help.
"We could get married in secret…" he mused. Azula looked at him in disbelief.
"Assuming that we could, which… I suppose isn't impossible, it still wouldn't allow us to spend every waking moment together. You won't move into the Palace, nor will I move into your house, so we'll still be separated by our standings in life even if we're secretly married…"
"Huh. So, if I accept that you won't be able to live with me, you'd be open to marrying me in secret?" Sokka asked. Azula froze.
"I… didn't say that."
"You also didn't say the opposite of that."
She looked at him apprehensively as he smiled goofily. She couldn't hold back her laughter soon enough, and she pushed him down on the bed again while throwing her sleeping robe on.
"Damn gladiator, putting words in my mouth…" she said. Sokka chuckled and sat up again, clasping her sash, a thinner and more elegant one than the one the herbalist had given her, and he fastened it around her hips.
"I'm just messing with you, no need to make a fuss about it," he said, smiling as he finished the sash's bow. "There. You're all perfect, ready to go! Though… your hair's a bit messy."
"Heh. Let's just call that bed hair," said Azula, shrugging and turning towards him. "Sokka…"
"What?" he asked, smiling warmly at her. She returned the smile with a kiss.
"Thanks for last night. And this morning, too…"
"You don't have to thank me for anything, really," he said, caressing her face. "I just want to be sure you're okay. If you're happy, I'm happy. If you're sad, I'll fight off what makes you sad. It's how my mind works, you know?"
"Your mind works in very ridiculous ways," said Azula, pressing her forehead to his. "I'm lucky it does."
"I'm lucky you like the ridiculousness," he said, kissing her again. "I love you, Azula. I really do…"
"I believe you," she said, smiling as his kisses grew more insistent.
"You just don't even begin to imagine how much!" Sokka said, beaming and hugging her tightly one more time. "Alright… alright. I'll let go, but you are well aware that I don't want to. Right?"
"I know, you never do," said Azula, her eyes closed blissfully. "I love you too, Sokka. Thanks again."
Sokka responded with another kiss, and only then did Azula pull away from him, lurking towards the door. As she heard no sounds out in the corridor, she pushed the door open and waved one last time at Sokka before disappearing through the door.
He sighed in bliss and dropped on the bed, closing his eyes and hoping to get some more sleep. He'd certainly need it after all the energy he had spent in the last half hour…
By midmorning, Azula was busy brewing her tea after eating her breakfast when she heard someone entering the kitchen in the fortuneteller's house. She stiffened, but she didn't turn to look at whoever had arrived.
"I take it Meng showed you your way around the kitchen," Aunt Wu said. Azula nodded.
"She told me I was free to use this kettle. I hope you don't mind," she said, gesturing at it. Aunt Wu laughed and waved a hand carelessly.
"Of course I don't," she said, sitting at the kitchen table where her breakfast waited. The fortuneteller took in the only other untouched plate on the table. "I take it Wentai isn't awake yet?"
"Well, he hasn't gotten up, at least," said Azula. "He might just be loafing about, lying in bed…"
"I suppose," said Aunt Wu, smiling. "I hope you enjoyed a restful night, Jing."
"It was. Probably the best night's sleep I've had ever since our journey began," she commented.
"Yu mentioned Roshi took off early this morning," Wu commented. "Was something the matter?"
"Oh, no. He merely wanted to speak to the Fire Nation soldiers," said Azula. "We are headed for Yu Dao, so he wants to make sure the city is safe…"
"Ah, I see," said Aunt Wu. "I do hope they are helpful, then. They certainly don't tend to be very nice…"
"The soldiers?" Azula asked. "Can't say I'm surprised. Have they been unpleasant to you?"
"Only once in a while. They seem as skeptical of my gift as you are," she said, smiling. "I tend to travel once a year, to deliver predictions and fortunes to the northern villages. They should be used to that by now, but they always treat me as though I were a hazard when I come back. It's almost insulting, seeing how I've lived in this town for over forty years…"
"They haven't been stationed here for long, or have they?" Azula inquired. Wu shook her head.
"They arrived sometime after the war in the Earth Kingdom ended. Makapu wasn't occupied by Fire Nation forces for a very long time. Even now we barely have six or seven officers…"
"It seems a rather calm town. The Fire Nation shouldn't have a lot to worry about here," said Azula.
"They don't, for sure," said Aunt Wu. "But it wouldn't hurt for the soldiers to try to integrate into our society. I'm sure they would be much happier if they did."
"No doubt," said Azula, smiling and pouring her finished tea on a cup. "But I suppose soldiers don't have happiness in mind when doing their jobs."
"A pity, really. Life is too short to spend it doing things that make you miserable," said Aunt Wu, pointedly before sipping her glass of juice.
Familiar footsteps made Azula react instinctively as they approached the small room. She couldn't hold back a small smile for Sokka when he showed up at the kitchens' threshold, brushing his disheveled hair with his fingers.
"Uh… morning," he said. Aunt Wu smiled.
"Morning. Your breakfast awaits," she said. Sokka smiled gladly and took his seat to enjoy the meal. He didn't wait at all before digging in, to Aunt Wu's amusement.
They were silent as Azula drank the tea, and Aunt Wu and Sokka ate. It wasn't until the fortuneteller was finished that another conversation began.
"So… what do you plan on doing while you wait for Roshi? I certainly hope you won't repeat what you did last night…"
Sokka choked on his food while Azula froze, the cup by her lips. They both blushed and stared at Aunt Wu with a mix of embarrassment, guilt and irritation.
"I'm not judging, of course, I'm only saying it is the middle of the day," she said, smiling. "Most people save such activities for later in the night."
"I think it's up to us to decide when we'll do whatever we do," Azula muttered, grimacing. "Did you hear us, or is it you predicted we'd…?"
"Ah, I knew it was likely," said Aunt Wu. "It's why I told Meng to set up three rooms. It would have been terribly awkward for Roshi to know, right?"
"That's thoughtful of you," said Sokka, lowering his gaze guiltily. Aunt Wu chuckled.
"I'm sure he doesn't hold it against you two," she said. "His heart is with another, after all. But it still is natural for some people to feel awkward about other people's relationships."
"We've done what we could to spare him," Sokka said. "Though… I guess sometimes we fail at doing so."
"You two really love each other, clearly," said Aunt Wu, smiling. Sokka's blush grew deeper. "It's wonderful. There are many joyful lovers in this town. Just yesterday I was visited by a young woman who will soon have her firstborn… her husband used to be shy, but after I convinced him to bring her a panda lily from Mount Makapu, he finally had the courage to confess his feelings."
"So, you're not just a fortuneteller, you're a matchmaker," Azula said, with a smirk. Aunt Wu laughed.
"I happen to know my way with romantic compatibility, yes. I might need to look in depth at yours, though, but from what I can see, you two must have a high rate of it. You may be conflictive, but you'd be rather bored otherwise, wouldn't you?"
"True," said Azula, smirking. Sokka chuckled.
"I'm sure you two will be very happy together," said Aunt Wu, beaming. "Though a little help is never unwelcome, of course…"
"A little help?" Azula asked, as Aunt Wu stood up from the table. "What do you mean?"
"Well, the panda lily I mentioned is one of the sincerest gestures of true love," said Aunt Wu, smiling. "I often advise suitors to bring those flowers to their ladies, if their love is true and pure. Most of them don't climb the volcano, for they believe it's too difficult a feat, but those who have done it can have everlasting love in their lives… at least, that's how it has been so far."
"Huh," said Sokka, blinking blankly. Azula raised an eyebrow.
"Just food for thought," said Aunt Wu, smiling. "I should get back to work, then. I shall say my farewells to the three of you when Roshi returns."
"Sure," said Sokka, nodding in her direction as Aunt Wu left the kitchen. He turned towards Azula now, his eyes gleaming with illusion. "So… everlasting love?"
"Oh, please. Didn't you say that you don't believe any of what she says?" Azula asked. "You're too contradictory, Sokka, really…"
"Hey, I'm just thinking about what the flower represents rather than whatever weird predictions she makes about them," Sokka stated, pouting. "Besides, climbing a volcano could be fun. Didn't you and Toph fight around a bunch of them around a month ago?"
"We did, but I saw no flowers growing on them," said Azula, with a skeptical laugh. Sokka beamed anyways.
"Come on, though. We can go, make the trip quickly before Rui Shi's back, and at least we'll get to see a neat volcano, right?"
Azula sighed and looked at him hopelessly. Sokka smiled at her, begging her with his eyes to say yes. She laughed and shook her head.
"We have to be really quick about it, though," she said, and he jumped in celebration.
"Yeah! We will be!" he promised her, smiling happily.
Despite Azula didn't miss her smaller, yellow dress, it was the better suited attire she had for hiking. She changed into it again somewhat regretfully, and she took off with Sokka to the tall volcano behind the town.
They didn't spot Rui Shi talking with any of the guards outside the town, something they found odd, but Azula reasoned he might have headed to an office to talk with those who were off-duty. Together, the pair climbed the tall mountain, helping each other through the complicated ridges that had been formed by the cold lava that had solidified down the volcano's sides in the past. After around an hour, they finally reached the summit.
"Well, that was fun," Azula admitted, breathing heavily as she stared down through the volcano's crater.
There was no sign of any lava, but she guessed it was buried too low to see. She closed her eyes, though, and her inner fire resounded with heat underneath the mountain. She smiled, about to tell Sokka of what she had sensed, but when she turned, she found he had paid the crater and lava next to no attention. He was studying the panda lilies growing on the crater's rim with a frown, as though deciding which one to pick. Azula smiled as she watched him, and eventually he selected one, beaming approvingly.
"Here you go!" he said, extending the flower towards her. "Now we're going to be together forever, according to the fortuneteller!"
"I suppose we are," said Azula, smiling as she took the flower in her hand. "This is really ridiculous, huh?"
"I guess it is," Sokka agreed, chuckling. "But I had to give it a shot, eh? If the fortuneteller thinks this makes our love everlasting, then by her standards, we're rendering her nasty prediction completely wrong."
"The one about me losing everything?" Azula asked. "I thought you were already sure that it couldn't happen…"
"Oh, I am. I'm just playing the game by her rules," he said, smirking. "She can say I'll be miserable all she wants, but I'm pretty happy by ruining her predictions this way."
Azula laughed and looked at him tenderly. Sokka beamed proudly, but the boyish joy in his features faded as it grew a little more serious, a little less playful.
"Say…" he whispered, stepping closer to her. "There are other ways to ruin her predictions, just saying…"
"Oh? What do you have in mind?" Azula asked. Sokka blushed. "What is it?"
"Just… well, she said you'd marry someone else, but how could you possibly do that if… if you were already married to me?"
Azula's eyes widened, as he smiled somewhat nervously at her. She looked at him in confusion now.
"Would you…? I mean, I know… I know we can't really do it, I know chances are we won't be able to until hell freezes over and whatnot, but…" Sokka said, biting his lip until he took a deep breath. "But if things weren't the way they are, if things were… easier, I guess, if there weren't as many obstacles, would you… would you want to marry me?"
Azula gasped. This wasn't the first time they talked about marriage, but it was the first time he seemed to do it so seriously. What was it with him? Why here, why now…?
"What…? Oh, Sokka," she said, looking at him in disbelief. Sokka chuckled and lowered his gaze.
"It's just… I love it, you know? Waking up beside you, traveling with you, just… being with you. I know I can't always have those things, and I wish I could, but… but I still love it whenever any of them happen, and I just can't get enough of you. I keep daydreaming, thinking about a future where we won't have to worry about anything, where we'd be free to just love each other as we want…"
"A future with three annoying brats running about?" she asked, with a skeptical smile. Sokka chuckled.
"Three brats, none at all, that's up to you," he said, smiling. "I just love you, Azula. I don't care if we can never make it official, if we can't really get married the right way, but I just want to spend the rest of my life with you…"
"And… if we can't get married the right way, which one would be the wrong way?" Azula asked. "Just swearing eternal love to each other the way we would in a wedding?"
"I… guess?" said Sokka, with a crooked grin. Azula chuckled.
"You're hopeless," she said, stepping towards him so she'd lean into his body. She surrounded him with her arms, as Sokka held her too. "I would, gladly, marry you. In any way we can, but…"
"But…?" Sokka said, with a sad smile.
"It's just… we already swear eternal love all the time, don't we?" Azula said, pulling away and smiling too. "Don't you think that, for that matter, we kind of already would be married?"
"Well, this would be different. It'd have a bit of a… a ritual feeling to it, you know?" Sokka said, smiling a little hopelessly. Azula sighed. "You know, that is what all weddings are, so don't tell me now that rituals are for savages or something…"
"Oh, they are, of course they are," Azula said, smiling. Sokka pouted. "But according to the fortuneteller, I'll join in on your ritual one day, so… I guess I'll be a savage by marriage eventually, huh?"
Sokka smiled broadly now, though Azula's own grin grew a little sadder.
"Still, I don't know if I can say yes to your original proposal…" she said. "I mean, it feels irresponsible, to a fault. I understand how you feel, because I feel the same way. I want to be with you, until the end of time… but saying yes when we can't make it happen properly would be wrong, somehow."
"Well, that's fine. As long as you still plan on being with me forever," said Sokka, with a mischievous grin. Azula laughed and hugged him tightly. Sokka embraced her tightly too.
"Ask again when we really can do it," she said, kissing his cheek. "Then I'll say yes, for sure. I promise."
"And what if we never can?" Sokka pouted.
"Even if we never can make it official, we would have spent our whole lives together anyways," Azula said, smiling. "So, by all effects, we would have succeeded at our endeavor, right?"
"Huh. That's one way to look at it," Sokka conceded, nodding.
Azula raised her head and kissed him fully. Sokka held her in place, returning the kiss fervently as they stood at the top of the volcano, the world spreading around them, seemingly coming together in that tall peak to allow them to join in that kiss. She smiled still as she pulled away, gazing at him more lovingly than ever: Sokka's chest tightened under her golden gaze.
"Don't worry," she said. "We'll make it happen. We'll fight all the omens as we always have. We've already come this far… we can go further, I'm sure of it."
"We can," said Sokka, smiling and caressing her hair. "Just… I'm an annoying guy by nature, you know? I'll probably keep asking you just because I can't wait for you to change your answer, hehe…"
"Oh, dear. That's going to be a bother," she said, smirking as she pulled away.
"I won't ask in bad moments, I promise!" Sokka replied, beaming while Azula took his hand and urged him to climb down the volcano again.
"I highly doubt that. You're likely to ask every single time you see me," Azula said, smiling back at him.
"Oh, don't tempt me…" he said, smirking.
"Now, that was just a joke, Sokka…"
"Will you marry me?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No!"
"How about now?"
She couldn't hold back the urge to laugh before glaring at him. He chuckled and intertwined their fingers, his eyes filled with love too. She hadn't given him the best of answers, but he knew her blunt denials were meant to annoy him just as much as his questions were poised to annoy her. She looked happy as she rebuffed him, and he beamed at the sight of her. That was the very smile he wanted to see on her face, forever…
They returned to Aunt Wu's house to find Rui Shi was back as well, standing next to a rudimentary carriage pulled by a single ostrich horse. He was talking to the fortuneteller just then, and he took notice of their arrival once she pointed them out to him.
"Finally," he said, as Azula smiled apologetically at him.
"We didn't mean to take so long," she said. "Did you talk to the soldiers?"
"I did," Rui Shi confirmed, with a frown. "They told me why they were unwilling to let earthbenders through. It seems a group of earthbending renegades attacked Yu Dao a few days ago…"
"What?" Azula asked, her pleasant mood dampened immediately. Rui Shi nodded.
"They were in all black," he confirmed. "They didn't deliver much damage, only trespassed inside a building and escaped. Their soldiers have tried to pursue them, but they failed to find them. Nobody knows where they are."
"Should we still go to Yu Dao, then?" Sokka asked, frowning. "What if they're just setting up an ambush somewhere, waiting for us?"
"Well… I was talking to Aunt Wu and, from what she can see, the dangers that pursue us may just chase us no matter where we go," said Rui Shi, frowning. "I realize it may be risky, but I…"
"You'd rather not endanger this town by staying here," said Azula, crossing her arms over her chest. Rui Shi nodded.
"It's risky to leave, but if we make good time, we might reach Yu Dao safely. The forces there could repeal the attack once before, they should be able to do it again if need be, now that they're already alert and know what to expect…"
"Indeed," said Azula, breathing deeply. "So be it. We should take off, then."
"Make haste," said Aunt Wu, looking at her with a concerned frown. "The dark shapes that chased you… they've grown larger, somehow. The sooner you reach a safe harbor, the better. May Yu Dao offer the protection you all need."
"Thank you," said Rui Shi, nodding towards her.
"We'll try to outrun those dark shapes, then," said Sokka, as Rui Shi climbed at the driver's position, taking the ostrich horse's reins.
After seeing the Captain taking the reins by his own initiative, Sokka decided to sit on the back of the carriage. It wasn't the finest of all carriages, but it did have a proper compartment, with a door and curtains that covered its roof, which offered shade for the passengers. He slid inside and waited for Azula to follow, but she was having a last word with Aunt Wu.
"If those, uh, dark shapes show up and ask you questions about us, lie," Azula said. "Don't tell them anything about us. We were never here."
"I understand," said Aunt Wu, looking at her worriedly. "You are mixed up in some very dangerous matters, aren't you?"
"I'm afraid so," said Azula, frowning. "I still don't know how, but I am. We all are. In any case…"
"Uh, Jing…" said Aunt Wu, lifting a hand as though to stop her, but she didn't touch Azula. The Princess looked at her quizzically. "Just… your fate is not set in stone, as I said. Don't let those predictions disturb you. You are a clever, capable woman. I'm sure the bones must have been wrong about someone, for the first time."
"Huh. I do hope so," she said, with a small smile. "Thanks for the hospitality, and the predictions. I still am skeptical, but I certainly was amused."
"I'm glad to hear it," said Aunt Wu, smiling warmly as Azula climbed into the carriage and sat next to Sokka.
Rui Shi waved at Aunt Wu before shaking the ostrich horse's reins. The carriage rolled up the street, and it was out of sight for the fortuneteller before long. Aunt Wu sighed, once they were gone.
"What is it you fear?" Yu asked her. Her nephew had been standing by the door, watching as the group took off. Aunt Wu turned to him, her anxiety plain across her face.
"Something's coming for them. I don't know what it is, but… but it fills my heart with dread," she said. "I would have told them to stay here if I thought that would help, but… whatever chases them feels unstoppable. I don't know how to help them, Yu."
"You did all you could. They've been warned," said Yu, sighing. "Let us hope that we have done enough."
Aunt Wu turned to look at Mount Makapu, her region's sacred and natural protector. She breathed deeply as she prayed for the spirits to look after those travelers, and to keep them from any harm that might befall them.
The carriage sped up their progress notoriously, even if it was led by a single ostrich horse. It was a great relief for the three travelers not having to walk insanely long distances anymore, especially in such steep roads through the mountains. They only stopped a few hours after noon, to feed and water the ostrich horse and to enjoy a quick lunch as well.
They passed by several villages, but none of them had the dignified beauty of Makapu. It looked as though there weren't many Fire Nation soldiers in those villages either. At risk of being found by their enemies in poorly protected territories, they chose to carry on instead of taking breaks in the villages.
"We're doing well," Azula said, as she looked at the map in the light of an orange afternoon. "We're only two villages away from Yu Dao. We should get there tonight."
"We won't stop until we do, then," said Rui Shi, from the front seat. "I suppose that means you two will have enough time to get cozy back there, huh?"
"Well, if you don't mind…" said Azula, smiling and looking at Sokka furtively.
Rui Shi huffed and decided to focus on the ostrich horse again. He turned and pulled down the curtain he had lifted to speak with them about the route. Both Sokka and Azula laughed softly as she slid closer to him, her head on his shoulder.
"You didn't get a lot of sleep last night, did you?" Sokka asked Azula. She hummed.
"That's your fault, you know…" she said. He chuckled.
"You should have gotten up at midmorning like I did," he said, caressing her hair. "So… how's the big battle going? I hadn't asked you today…"
"Well, Xin Long didn't alert me of anything, so I imagine not a lot happened," she said, closing her eyes and reaching for her connection with the dragon. Only the first glance into his mind told her he was bored, and she smiled. "Seems like it's no longer as eventful as before. The explosives haven't been used, the attacks from the mountain have ceased. I guess the Stronghold has won."
"Heh. That's good news," said Sokka, smiling. "Then you'll see your whimsical dragon again soon, huh?"
"Yeah… I'll let him know to fly back to us once we reach Yu Dao," said Azula, nodding as she settled in Sokka's arms. "For now, though… I'm going to sleep, if you don't mind."
"And if I did mind?" Sokka asked, teasingly.
"I'd still sleep on you anyways."
"Of course you would," he said, smirking. "Hey, Azula…"
"What?"
"Marry me?"
"Not now."
"Damn," he said, shaking his head with disappointment. Azula laughed and lifted her head only to kiss him briefly.
"Quit being so sweet or you'll make me gag," she said, nuzzling his neck. Sokka chuckled and held her, smiling happily and closing his eyes too, deciding to get some more rest as well.
The first village came and went, and by then it was close to dusk. Rui Shi rushed the ostrich horse, an unsettling feeling nestling in his stomach. He knew his anxiety would disappear once they reached Yu Dao. They just needed to hurry, the ostrich horse would have all the rest and food it wanted once they were in the city…
As they started to make progress in a road on the height of a small valley, surrounded by thick trees, Rui Shi's dread increased. Had he picked the wrong road? The sky only grew darker, and he wasn't sure he'd find his way through forest roads with only the stars and moon to guide him. Despite it was ill-advised, they might have to make camp, or stop at the next village…
That was when he saw the black shape, standing on the center of the road, a yard ahead of him. Rui Shi's eyes widened as he tried to discern it, but it was hooded, and the road was too dark for Rui Shi to detail the person properly…
He noticed another shape by the trees to his left. More shapes by the right. Some were on the ground, others at the treetops. His stomach spun around as fear took hold of him: they had caught up with them. They had been waiting for them. They hadn't been able to reach Yu Dao on time.
But he had noticed them indeed, and he wasn't about to continue rolling towards where the enemy lurked. He pulled the reins of the ostrich horse violently, making it stop… and that was the sign he didn't know the shapes were waiting for.
Without further ado, they attacked.
Sokka and Azula, relaxed as they were inside the carriage, only reacted upon the vehicle's abrupt stop. They were confused right away, but when they heard footsteps outside, along with Rui Shi's shouts, they realized what was happening.
"Shit. Shit!" Sokka shouted, kicking the carriage door open and jumping out of it with Azula right before the carriage was set on fire.
They collapsed on a muddy road, and unknown, unwanted hands were on them immediately. Sokka didn't have his weapons, having left them within the carriage with the rest of his luggage, but Azula didn't need any weaponry: she lashed out with blue fire and threatening roars. The enemies all jumped back, away from her and Sokka in fear of her deadly abilities.
"It's her!" one shouted to Azula's far left. She shot a fistful of flames in his general direction before focusing on the closer enemies.
Rui Shi took care of muffling the fire on the carriage, just enough to pull out their luggage. His main intent, though, was to help Sokka get his weapons. The Blue Wolf jumped to his aid, thanking him as he unleashed his black sword and his club. He stood back-to-back with Rui Shi briefly before the two took to attacking their foes.
Some were earthbenders, others weren't. Some wore the fully black attires, others wore tribal-looking clothes. It didn't matter what they looked like or what their abilities were, though, Azula, Sokka and Rui Shi tore through them as powerfully as they could. And as they burned clothes, cracked bones and cut off limbs, the three of them seemed to be on the winning side of this scuffle, leaving screaming enemies lying about in their wake…
But they didn't have the upper hand for long.
Jeong Jeong's men regrouped, and it seemed they would rethink their attack strategy. A number of them scattered, quick non-benders who surrounded Azula and Rui Shi, but earthbenders lifted a wall between them and Sokka. Azula was quick to notice that they had isolated Sokka from them, so she kicked the wall down powerfully, but she would need to act fast if she meant to do something about the surge of foes that sought to overpower her gladiator. She shot fire at them, getting a few off his back, but it wasn't enough. It looked as though most the enemies had resolved to attack him…
They were herding him away from her, and she refused to let that happen. She snarled, shooting fire more eagerly, against the hands that tried to pull her back as well as those around Sokka… but she only heard him scream as the group around him managed to push him down the valley's slope. Most of them seemed to fall with him.
"SOKKA!" she shouted with blue fire, desperate. She had fallen with him down a similar slope before, but not quite like this…
She roared in rage again and calmed herself quickly before charging her limbs with electricity. Rui Shi was still fending off opponents behind her when Azula discharged the first bolt towards the nearby foes. They screamed and collapsed, maybe unconscious, maybe dead. In such darkness, it was hard to tell.
But just as Azula was about to rush down to help Sokka, they heard an unpleasant, inhuman growl thundering through the forest. Azula and Rui Shi turned towards it, and their eyes widened when they saw what it was:
The creature making the awful noise was Nyla, but it wasn't June on her saddle.
Azula's mind went blank briefly before an array of questions started to scroll through her mind. Where was June? What on earth had happened to her? Why was her animal companion in other people's hands…?
The meaning of Nyla's presence, and that she appeared to be controlled by Jeong Jeong's forces, sank in a little too late. Azula decided to attack, and so did Rui Shi, but their fire blasts missed, both because Nyla was remarkably agile and because the two firebenders were shaken up by her sudden arrival. Azula turned to attack once more, but as she prepared to charge her limbs with electricity again, she felt something strike her neck, and her entire body went numb. She collapsed, hearing Rui Shi shout her name just before he started attacking Nyla and her current rider. He managed to get a few blows in, but charring Nyla's fur wasn't enough to prevent the sting of her tongue. He fell as well, stiff, numb, unable to move just as Azula was.
Azula snarled, struggling against the paralyzing toxins that kept her immobile. Hell only knew what these bastards were planning on doing, and they had dragged Sokka away. She needed to move, to get to him before they finished her off…
… Yet the hooded figures didn't continue to attack her or Rui Shi: they took to the forests once again. Even the one who was riding Nyla directed her down the slope through which Sokka had fallen. One by one, they disappeared. Azula's eyes widened. What was the meaning of this? Why had they left? Wasn't this what they were after? Didn't they mean to take her captive, or to do something worse yet…?
Her stomach sank, her eyes widened, her brain grew dizzy as she reached a painful, catastrophic conclusion. A conclusion that filled her with a powerful, paralyzing fear she had never felt before, far stronger than the toxins that had infiltrated her system:
It had never been about her.
Jeong Jeong was after Sokka.
He rolled down a mountainside for the second time in his life, clutching his weapons as hard as he could so as to not lose them, but the blow against the solid ground made his hands release them by sheer instinct. He groaned, and the groan turned into a pained shout when hands yanked him by his hair, others clasped his arms, and others forced him down to a kneeling position. He struggled to break free, but their grip was strong, too strong. He heard the unmistakable sound of weapons unsheathed, and he saw the glint of metal under his neck. A threat. Why? Why not kill him already and be done with it?
He grimaced as he realized they were close to the very heart of the valley. The river was a few ways away… and someone was climbing off a boat just then, stepping towards him with slow but steady footing.
His hair was white and bushy, his skin seemed dark, going by the light that the fire in his hand shed over his face, and he looked angry. Coldly angry.
Sokka snarled at him, still struggling to break free. The knife under his neck pressed to his throat.
"Let… let go of me," he grunted, as threateningly as he could.
"You're not going anywhere, traitor!" growled one of the men holding him down. Sokka's snarl intensified.
The white-haired man finally arrived, as ceremoniously as before, and he stopped a few steps away from Sokka. Sokka scowled at him.
"Don't you dare touch her," he growled. "You're him, aren't you? You're Jeong Jeong…"
"Touch whom?" Jeong Jeong asked, raising an eyebrow slowly. "The bounty-hunter? The Princess? Who are you talking about, gladiator…?"
"The bounty…?" Sokka repeated. Just on cue, Nyla entered the clearing, climbing down the slope to stand not too far from where they were. Sokka's eyes widened. "What…? Where is she?!"
"You are a bold oaf, to be certain," said Jeong Jeong. "You're outnumbered, outmatched, with a knife to your throat, and you still think you have the right to make demands and ask questions…"
Sokka gritted his teeth, hard. Jeong Jeong seemed to be studying him intently, though Sokka wasn't entirely sure what did he expect to find only by staring at him.
"You won't… you won't get away with this," Sokka grunted. "You know he's going to set the world on fire if it means getting his daughter back…"
"Fortunately, those threats are less worrisome when you don't mean to take the Fire Lord's daughter anywhere," said Jeong Jeong, raising his eyebrows. Sokka frowned.
"What…?"
"Did she tell you we could only possibly be after her?" Jeong Jeong asked. "Did you ever wonder to what avail? Do you think we wanted to capture her just so her father destroys the world in retaliation, as you said? What would we gain from such folly?"
"You… you'd take out an important enemy," said Sokka, grimacing. "She's… she's the strongest firebender, she's a leader and she's…"
"She's every bit as bad as her father is," Jeong Jeong said, cuttingly. Sokka froze. "I want nothing from her. I need nothing from her. She is but proof of how rotten the Fire Nation is at its very core, and I have never been a fool to hope she would be any different from the rest of her family. The only one who ever held out such baseless hopes was Piandao, but alas… I am here to prove him wrong."
"Pian-…?" Sokka repeated, his eyes wide. "W-what do you mean?! You know him?!"
"That's none of your concern," Jeong Jeong snapped, but Sokka already felt the blood slowing in his body.
"You're… you're White Lotus. All of you, you're…" he said, glancing about himself in panic. Why hadn't he thought of it? Why didn't he anticipate to this…?
"Clever, are we?" Jeong Jeong asked. "Indeed, we are White Lotus. And someone led us to believe you would be a grand addition to our ranks… someone told us you would change her, turn her into the ruler the Fire Nation needs so that balance can be restored. But you have proven otherwise, haven't you?"
"I… what the hell? What are you talking about…?" Sokka asked, glaring at him.
"You were supposed to influence the Princess," Jeong Jeong said. "So far, I have no reason to believe you have. If anything, I have every reason to believe the opposite happened instead: you have been corrupted by the already corrupt Fire Nation. Isn't that right?"
"What the…? No!" Sokka shouted.
"Then what about our comrades?!" one of the men shouted back.
"Yeah! You doomed them! You're the reason their mission failed!" shouted another voice.
"Their mission?!" Sokka yelled, shooting glares in the general direction of the voices. "Their mission to take Princess Azula captive, to make her pay for everything wrong the Fire Nation has done?!"
"The mission was to release prisoners," Jeong Jeong snapped. Sokka glared at him.
"That's not what your 'comrades' said when I came across them," Sokka grunted.
"Fools that they were. I did not trust that useless scheme, truth be told. Neither did any of the other Grand Lotuses present when…" Jeong Jeong said, but he shook his head. Sokka frowned. "It's of no matter now. You sentenced them to imprisonment in the Fire Nation, did you not? Why did you do that, Sokka of the Water Tribe? Answer me!"
"I…! She said they were going to escape, I just shut down the door!" Sokka answered, somewhat nervously. "I didn't want to harm them, but I had no idea who the hell they were! What was I supposed to do?! They were attacking the Palace, infiltrating it, and I didn't know anything about them! Maybe if Piandao had explained something I would have acted differently, but as it is…!"
"Excuses," said Jeong Jeong, huffing. "So, you don't regret it. You've caused them such agony, and you merely bask in your life of excesses, of luxuries as the Princess's pet…"
"I saved their lives!" Sokka shouted. A general mutter of disbelief and anger rang through the clearing. Sokka snarled. "The Fire Lord told me he would do whatever I asked in return for my services, and I asked him to spare them! I asked him not to kill them, not to torture them! Your friends may be in prison, but they aren't harmed! They haven't been, they're…!"
"And how, pray tell, do you know Fire Lord Ozai kept true to his word?" Jeong Jeong asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly. "Do you know at all, Sokka of the Water Tribe? Or is it you think the Fire Lord's lies are all that believable…?"
"Lies?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide. "He… he said he owed me the safety of his daughter, of his nation. He may be a monster in many ways, but… I don't think he was lying about this. He couldn't have…"
"You are rather gullible, aren't you?" Jeong Jeong asked, shaking his head. "Do you honestly believe Ozai or his daughter can uphold any oaths sworn by honor? That they care for anything but power? Fire Lord Ozai is a madman, just like his father before him, and his father before him! Every last one of them, driven insane with lust for power and glory they don't deserve! They soil fire with their very bending, with their very existences! That accursed lineage is…!"
"You're wrong! Maybe not about the rest of them, but you are about her!" Sokka shouted. "She's not like her father, she couldn't be more different…!"
"She meant to torture my associates for information!" Jeong Jeong snapped.
"She told them that to make them run as soon as they had a chance! She planned the whole thing!" Sokka shouted. Jeong Jeong huffed softly.
"Well, I did suspect as much," he said. Sokka frowned in confusion. "It didn't seem likely for her to let them escape so easily. When the bounty hunter showed up, I grew more convinced of it…"
"She's not her father. She's miles from that!" Sokka shouted. "You don't have the slightest idea of how much she's done for people, for Earth Kingdom people who…!"
"Earth Kingdom? Pretty sure they're the Fire Nation Colonies, aren't they?!" shouted one of the men. Jeong Jeong lifted his free hand to silence him.
"She's helped people," Sokka growled. "She saved them from the Rough Rhinos! She even got back everything they had lost because she discovered the Dai Li's conspiracy…!"
"A conspiracy meant to overthrow an illegitimate Fire Nation government established in an Earth Kingdom city," said Jeong Jeong. Sokka clenched his teeth. "The Rough Rhinos… was that by any chance her own initiative? Or did her father send her to do so in order to protect the Fire Nation's image before the foreigners…?"
"He… I don't know why he sent her, but still…!"
"All along you've been played like a fool," said Jeong Jeong, shaking his head. "You put your trust in the wrong people, you help them, and you don't see the wrong in your actions. You have lost all perspective, haven't you? Did you forget how you suffered in the Water Tribe because of them? Because of the settlement that cost you your freedom? Because of your mother's death?!"
Sokka's eyes widened. Had Piandao shared everything about him with this man? He felt betrayed, utterly betrayed. Where was Piandao, for starters? Why had he shared so many details about Sokka's life with a man such as Jeong Jeong…?
"Tell me, then, Sokka of the Water Tribe?" Jeong Jeong asked, his brow furrowed. "To whom do you owe your allegiance?"
Sokka's eyes were wide still, as he stared at Jeong Jeong in utmost disbelief. Was this why he had chased them down for days, to discover where his loyalties lay? The idea made him laugh, which brought the men around him to scowl at him. Others talked amongst themselves, one even yelled at him to quit laughing. Jeong Jeong's fury only increased.
"You're… you're crazy," Sokka said at last. The offense hit Jeong Jeong hard, a flash of irritation crossed his face. "You're absolutely crazy. You don't know half of what you're talking about and yet you think you've figured out the world…"
"Is that your answer?" Jeong Jeong asked. Sokka huffed.
"No. My answer is a lot longer, very long, in fact," he said. "I just hope you have it in you to bear with it to without shooting fire out of every end of your body in sheer frustration."
"You truly are a disgusting, vile thing…" Jeong Jeong said. Sokka laughed.
"Maybe I am. You know what? I have nothing to say for myself," he said. "I don't have excuses. You think I'm going to say that I hate it, living the way I do now? I don't! Want to know what I do hate? That I can't help all the other slaves, that I can't give them a chance to live the way I do! You think I'm going to tell you I loathe the Princess with all my heart, that I can't wait to be rid of her? I don't! I will fight for her for the rest of my life if need be, because she is nothing of what you claim she is! You know nothing about her! You've never even met her!
"I've spent enough time with her to know who she really is, and who she has the potential to become! You want me to claim I influenced her greatly, that I transformed her?! I didn't! She has chosen for herself when to listen to me and when not to! She learns whatever she can from me, and I learn from her, too! She's made me the man I am today, and I'm not sorry for it, not one bit! I am beyond grateful to her! I am a lucky bastard, the luckiest there is, to be by her side as I am!
"But you know what else I find funny? In fact, what I find the funniest of all? What the blazes have you done for this world, Deserter? Tell me! What have you done so far, as a Fire Nation renegade? How many lives have you changed for the better?!"
Jeong Jeong frowned. His gaze shifted towards his followers, who were staring at him and Sokka with disbelief.
"Ah, them?" Sokka asked, smiling. "You saved them and turned them into bandits, then? Into runaways? Into human bait that you send to fight pointless battles at Strongholds that you know you cannot win?! Is that it?!"
The words stung Jeong Jeong considerably now. Sokka snarled.
"These people follow you blindly, mindlessly, just as any Fire Nation commoner believes in Ozai as they'd believe in a god! And I say to both of you, you're fools! You're assholes! You're just as human as anyone else is, regardless of how great your bending may be! You're bastards who love to believe you're above everyone, who want to command, to lead others with your so-called wisdom!
"And yet you want to look down on Princess Azula?! The Princess who has traveled the Earth Kingdom as a commoner for days now, who has helped people throughout this entire continent?! The Princess who was the first sponsor in the world who treated her gladiator as a human, as an equal?! When I first got injured in battle, she loaded me onto her palanquin, so I could be tended to as quickly as possible! Whenever I fight deadly opponents, I see her standing in the sponsors' balcony, worrying about my fate! She even stepped into a fight when my rival was trying to kill me, and she stopped him! And you dare say she's rotten, corrupt, as bad as her father?! You dare claim as much when you know nothing about her?!"
"You're blinded by your foolishness, boy," said Jeong Jeong, snarling. "By your idealization of the Princess, by whatever pathetic feelings you have developed for her…"
"Say what you will, but your words would mean more if you actually helped people instead of making them join your religious cult," Sokka growled. "Help the people of the Earth Kingdom, of the Water Tribes, of the Fire Nation, half as much as she has done it, and then I'll crawl to your feet and admit how wrong I was. But so far? All I see is that your cult project, this army you've created, has yet to do anything meaningful for anyone but yourself. Did Azula go after the Rhinos because her father commanded it? Yes, she did, and she helped countless people by succeeding in that endeavor. Did she destroy a conspiracy to overthrow the Fire Nation government in Ba Sing Se? She did, and she also took down the potential tyrant, Long Feng, who wanted to take the throne for his own sake and no one else's!
"So, do tell… why should I want to be loyal to anyone else? Why should I want to join the Order of the White Lotus when I don't have a clue of who the hell you are and why you're doing everything you're doing?! Why should I want to help any of you instead of carrying on as I have?! I've kept my people safe, I made Ozai empty that settlement in the South! I sabotaged his bomb-building process to destroy the Northern Water Tribe! The Princess even managed to convince him not to use his new aircrafts to attack it! What have you done for the North?! What have you done for the South?! Because I was in the South for twenty-one damn years, bearing with raids since I was a child, and I never saw a single White Lotus agent trying to help our people! Where were you all along?! What allegiance could I owe you bastards when you have never done anything to earn it?!"
Jeong Jeong stared down at Sokka after he finished yelling, his chest heaving. It took a moment for him to answer that question.
"The man who taught you what to do with that weapon?" Jeong Jeong said, pointing at Space Sword, lying on the ground. "He vouched for you. He said you were our new hope. Our only hope, since Prince Zuko was only ever doomed to be blocked out by his father. He said he believed in the man you were. In the man he thought you could become."
Sokka's heaving chest continued to rise and fall as his angry glare fell upon Jeong Jeong. The firebender sighed.
"I see now that he was wrong. He hoped you would change the world, make it a better, rightful place through your connection with the Princess…" he said. "And yet here you are, pretending to hold us accountable for not putting an end to the Fire Nation's horrors…"
"You know, I wouldn't hold every member of your Order accountable for them… but actually, you and Piandao? You're more responsible for those horrors than Azula herself," he said, glaring at him. "The two of you fought in that army, she didn't. And instead of fighting the Fire Nation in small but effective ways, instead of genuinely helping the people who needed you… you chose to go into hiding. Both of you have! He left without saying a damn thing to me! He left while leaving nothing but that damn lotus tile! How was I supposed to know what he wanted from me?! How was I supposed to read his mind, pray tell?! And he's just gone, as though he'd vanished in thin air… what has he done since? Did he help you build your army of renegades? To what end?! This world has seen so much war already… and you mean to bring more violence to it?! You mean to keep slaughtering your enemies while they slaughter your friends?! Who the hell wins, then?! Who can win when everyone's dead?!"
"The winner is whoever's not foolish enough to step down to fight in the first place," said Jeong Jeong. Sokka's eyes widened.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean…?" he said, almost feeling nauseous now. Jeong Jeong breathed deeply.
"Yet the person who won't fight certainly won't be me. And going by what you've said, it won't be you either," he said, glaring at Sokka. "I suppose this is your answer, then. You reject the White Lotus."
"Like you'd even offered me a chance to join you people in the first place," Sokka grunted, struggling against the hold of his enemies. "You came here to prove Piandao wrong about me, you said so yourself. Even if I had writhed and begged for mercy, you would have stomped on me. So why should I diminish myself for you when I never had to do it for her?"
The words stung Jeong Jeong again. He understood well enough what the gladiator was saying, with his furious snarl and his sharp blue eyes. The gladiator saw more of the Hundred Year War's Fire Lords in Jeong Jeong than in Azula…
"A very dignified man you are," said Jeong Jeong. "Never backing down, never surrendering… it's almost touching. You needn't fret, then. You won't have to beg for mercy to anyone, not tonight, not ever again…"
"What are you…?" Sokka asked, fear rushing through his body.
"You are a waste, gladiator," said Jeong Jeong. "And soon enough you will be as rotten as the Fire Nation's nobility if given a chance. You've been groomed far too well by her. It's time for you to pay the price of your disloyalty to your own people…"
"My disloyalty to…? Didn't you hear me?! I made Ozai withdraw his troops-…!"
"You are everything I am not," said Jeong Jeong. "When shown the glories, the luxuries of the Fire Nation, you were swayed…"
"What?! That's not how it worked, I was trying to-…!"
"When you were offered everything you could have asked for, the temptation was too great to refuse," Jeong Jeong continued. "You never tried to turn away. You never considered it. You were granted so many wonders, and you were too greedy to reject them. I know how it is, gladiator: I was part of the same world! And I saw it for what it is: hollow, empty, nothing but false glories and pretenses of fame that mean nothing! All of it at the expenses of a world that's being torn apart by the Fire Nation's leaders! And yet you fell into it, you were drawn like a moth into the fire, because your mind and resolve were weak! Because you could not know better, and even when you're told to face your shortcomings you refuse to do so! You only see and hear what you want to see and hear! You are a disgrace to your own, a disgrace to all of us who resist the Fire Nation's grip of steel…!"
"Ha, well, maybe I wouldn't be if you and your fun people had decided to recruit me back when I was still in my Tribe!" Sokka exclaimed. "Because you know what? I would have joined you. I would have joined you in a heartbeat back then! But I know better now. I know that you are a madman if you think the Fire Nation is inherently rotten! If you think so you must know nothing about their people, about their lives, about who they really are! They've been lied to, they believe in this war because they've been forced to! But once they're shown the world for what it is…!"
"They will change their ways? Don't make me laugh!"
"Ah, but it happened to you, didn't it?" Sokka said, raising his eyebrows. Jeong Jeong froze. "Why do you think the others would be any different? You think you're the only one allowed to redeem himself? After everything you did during the war, too? If that's how it is, you're not only a madman, but you're an arrogant one, too…"
"And you're an insolent oaf," Jeong Jeong snapped. "An ignorant, foolish brat who understands nothing of what he's talking about…!"
"Oh, now, that was what I said about you earlier. Repeating each other's arguments now, are we?" Sokka asked, glaring at Jeong Jeong defiantly.
The one down on his knees, restrained and with a knife threatening to slit his throat was Sokka… but why did Jeong Jeong feel cornered? How? He clenched his fists and shook his head. He would not let the brat change his mind. He had already proven he was too lost to be saved. He had resolved to put an end to Piandao's infamous plan tonight, and that was what he meant to do right now.
"I see, then. You truly are beyond saving," he said. Sokka snorted.
"For you to save, sure," said Sokka. "But there's no need to worry: Azula already saved me a long time ago."
Jeong Jeong's rage only increased as he stepped away from Sokka, and towards the boat in the river. With a gesture, his men began to scatter. Sokka frowned, watching them leave.
"If that's how it is, I only wonder how she will save you now," Jeong Jeong responded from afar, his glare on Sokka even as he climbed on his boat. A few of the men climbed with him. "Farewell, Sokka of the Water Tribe."
The only people left by then were the ones restraining Sokka, and the one controlling Nyla. She was struggling, trying to shake off her rider, it seemed to Sokka, but it was hard to tell with such an inherently wild animal.
But he couldn't continue trying to study her behavior once he received a very hard punch to the stomach. It made him topple over while gasping for breath. A hand grabbed a fistful of his hair, lifting his head just enough to draw a deep cut across his left cheek with the sharp knife that had been on his neck earlier. Sokka collapsed again after that, and he heard the men scrambling away as he struggled in his plight for air.
Why had they left him alive? They had left, all of them, without doing any harm other than cutting him that way… Sokka lifted his gaze, finding the boat was gone. The men who had been holding him were gone too… and so was the one who had been riding Nyla.
Nyla was snarling, though, as though she had sensed something she needed to chase down. Sokka stared at her in confusion as he held himself up in all fours.
"Hey, easy now, we'll… we'll find June, we just have to…" he started, but the shirshu suddenly roared at him, very threateningly. Only then did he understand what she had sensed:
His blood.
The shirshu was coming for him. That was the fate Jeong Jeong had gifted him with.
"Oh, no… I'm not in the mood for this…" he said, grimacing and reaching for his club.
He found the handle just as Nyla turned towards him. Droplets of saliva slipped down her snarling jaws, through the thick rows of teeth.
The beast had always been menacing, but never like this. Sokka had held a natural fear of her, but he was downright terrified right now. She was going to attack him. She wanted to kill him.
Nyla roared again and rushed towards him. Sokka gritted his teeth, rushing forth too with whatever strength he had left, as good as dragging his club behind him.
The beast approached, and he knew he only had one shot, so he put all his power behind the swing.
The thickest end of his club struck the shirshu's chin from below.
And large, black claws left deep gashes across human flesh.