Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

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

127. Chapter 127: The chase of Jeong Jeong 9

It was midday when Nyla grew anxious and started to run faster. Rui Shi didn't resist, only holding on tight to the reins and making sure not to drop any of the load that he was carrying. He hoped the beast's sudden boost in speed meant they were close to finding her owner, and he wasn't disappointed when, at long last, they came across a hunched figure, who walked with an unbalanced stride through the forest's trees.

She raised her head immediately when she heard the unexpected noises of claws digging into the ground, along with the shirshu's heavy breathing. Upon identifying her long-time companion and only truly loyal friend, June actually allowed herself to smile.

"Nyla? Fuck, it's good to see you…" she said, her voice completely sincere as Nyla rushed to her side.

Rui Shi yanked back the reins to keep Nyla from trampling her human partner, but June didn't seem to mind, embracing Nyla with a single arm and pressing her face into her shirshu's fur.

"There, there, girl. I'm glad to see you too," she said, with a few sighs.

Rui Shi frowned as he stared at June's right shoulder. She hadn't moved her right arm whatsoever so far, and he could see that, aside from her snake tattoo, there were nasty bruises in her shoulder.

"What happened to you?" he asked. It seemed that it was only then that June only noticed he was there.

"Huh? What are you doing there?" she asked, frowning a little. "You're… you're the Princess's second boyfriend, aren't you?"

"Uh… I'm not her boyfriend but I was her other traveling companion, yes," said Rui Shi, with a grimace as he jumped off Nyla's saddle.

June had been the picture of dark and dangerous perfection, deadliness encased in beauty, when he had first seen her, but right now she wasn't even the shadow of her usual image: her hair was a mess, tangled and filthy, her clothes were torn in many places, her skin was colored with bruises and her makeup was long gone. The nail polish in her left hand was gone too, replaced by dirt and dry blood. She didn't have any other apparent injuries other than the likely joint dislocation on her shoulder, but her usual calm and cool façade was long gone. Rui Shi could swear he was seeing fear in her eyes right now.

"What happened to them? Where are they, why are you with Nyl-…? Ugh," she asked, but an instinctive attempt to raise her right arm silenced her as a blast of pain shot through her. Rui Shi grimaced and approached her.

"What happened to you, first of all?" he asked, swallowing hard as he considered how to set her shoulder. "Jeong Jeong's men caught you?"

"They… they did. Caught Nyla first, got me when I tried to set her free," June explained. Despite she didn't usually welcome anyone's touch when she was as vulnerable as she was now, she couldn't recoil when Rui Shi touched her shoulder. He did it so very gently, without causing other bursts of pain. "I fought the bastard, but… he had too many goons, they were too strong together. Next thing I knew, they'd thrown me in some damn pit in the ground and left me for dead, I guess, so… I just climbed out of it."

"You did? How?" Rui Shi asked. "Your right shoulder's joint is dislocated…"

"No kidding," said June, raising her eyebrows. "That's a souvenir they gave me in the fight, it was how they stopped me from fighting back at my strongest. I think I took out around seven of them before they could hold me down… I thought they'd broken my arm, but I understood they'd just snapped it off its socket later."

"I should set it back," Rui Shi said. June's eyes widened.

"Do you know how?" she asked. Rui Shi nodded.

"I went to military academy. It's not the first dislocated joint I see or deal with," he said, matter-of-factly. Despite Rui Shi's words were reassuring, June's unease increased.

"Y-you think you should set it here? Now? It's…" she said. Rui Shi frowned.

"At this rate it will only get worse," he said. "I'm sorry, but… it must be done."

June wasn't a coward, naturally, but she certainly didn't feel like welcoming the promised world of pain that this procedure would bring. She accepted despite her reservations, though, and they got ready to begin the setting process, sitting down a few trees away from where Nyla was. June bit hard on the leather gloves Rui Shi had found in her saddle as he took her arm carefully and began to set the bone again. Tears of pain blinked in June's eyes, though her groans sounded more threatening than distressed. Rui Shi was as quick and efficient about the job as he could be, though, and before she knew it, her bone was no longer protruding unpleasantly underneath her skin. June spat out the gloves and breathed heavily, rubbing her shoulder with her uninjured hand and staring at Rui Shi in unspoken gratefulness.

The Captain of Guards froze, though, when he felt the snout of June's beast prodding his shoulder. He looked at Nyla uneasily, afraid she would be angry he had made her owner scream, but to his surprise the shirshu had no ill intent. She approached June almost shyly, and June caressed her head with her left hand.

"Now, now, I'm fine. Or, well, I will be," she said, smiling. "Thanks, Second Boyfriend. You're very resourceful."

"I have a name," Rui Shi grunted. June smiled. "It's Rui Shi."

"Fine, Rui Shi," she said, pushing herself up and studying Nyla warily. "She's… she's not okay. Someone hurt her badly."

"It must have been Sokka," Rui Shi said. June's eyebrow twitched.

"Say what?"

"In his defense… I think your shirshu damn near killed him."

June's eyes widened. Rui Shi swallowed hard and gestured towards the shirshu.

"I'll tell you the story on the road, if you don't mind. You probably could use an inspection by the physician from the village we're staying in."

"That sounds good," she said, sighing.

Rui Shi helped her climb atop Nyla's saddle and he climbed behind her. He clutched the luggage firmly again and they made their way to the village, while they explained to each other what predicaments had landed them in their current circumstances.

Their journey to the village didn't take long, although Nyla was exhausted by the time they arrived. June took care to feed her when they finally stopped, asking Rui Shi to fetch water for her at the pump in the physician's house, too. Eating and drinking were now difficult activities for the shirshu due to the bad wound on her lower jaw. Yet now that June knew what had happened last night, she wasn't sure if she still had any right to feel angry over it. She glanced at the physician's home, hoping Sokka had survived, despite everything.

Rui Shi entered the building afterwards, finding the doctor and explaining there was another patient for him to inspect outside. He rushed to Sokka's room afterwards, though, his stomach twisted with unease…

The Princess was lying on the bed beside him, her eyes open, dark bags under them. Her hand was perched over his heart as Sokka slept easily, his lips parted. His chest rose and fell with each breath, so Rui Shi sighed in relief at confirming he was alive. The sound alerted Azula, who sat up somewhat nervously.

"R-Rui Shi?" she asked. "What… did you find her? Is everything…?"

"Everything is fine," said Rui Shi, smiling a little as he set down the two bags of luggage. "I picked up everything we dropped… well, I think it's everything. It didn't look like anyone had stolen anything. I found June, yes, and I brought her back. Her shoulder was disjointed, I tried to help her set it, but the physician should still see her, just in case…"

"What happened to her?" Azula asked, despair in her gaze. It was hard to believe that a woman as strong and unyielding as June could have been defeated in battle, but Nyla's very presence in their fight on the roads had already spoken darkly of June's fate.

"I think you should ask her yourself, really," said Rui Shi, approaching her and patting her shoulder gently. "He will be fine while you're gone, I'm sure."

Azula swallowed hard and glanced down at Sokka's sleeping face. He looked peaceful, his breathing slow and even. Stepping away just for a moment terrified her, but the sooner she met with June, the sooner she would be back at his side.

"Has he progressed at all?" Rui Shi asked. Azula nodded weakly.

"He woke up twice so far," she said. "He's been sleeping for a few hours now. I guess he's not likely to wake up so fast again, but…"

"You don't want him to wake up alone?" Rui Shi ventured his guess. Azula sighed. "I'll let the doctor or his wife know, then. I reckon you should talk to June, hear what she has to say about Jeong Jeong so we can figure out what he was up to…"

"Oh, I know what he was after now," Azula said, frowning and climbing off the bed. "Sokka told me the last time he woke up. But still… I should talk to her."

Rui Shi grimaced and eyed her warily. What June had said had bothered him, but if Sokka had already told Azula what Jeong Jeong's true purpose always had been, June probably wouldn't have much of interest to reveal to Azula.

Rui Shi fetched the doctor's wife while Azula stood by Sokka's side. She caressed his hair gently, leaning down to kiss his uninjured cheek and touching his chest again to ensure his heart still was beating. His breathing should have told her as much, but Azula's mind was treacherous: she couldn't help but be paranoid, even when the Mei Liang came back and assured her Sokka would be in good hands. She still spared one last glance at him as she left the room, torn up over leaving his side even if briefly.

Outside, Nyla was munching very slowly on a slab of meat that June had offered her. June's right arm was being bandaged and immobilized by the doctor: he was still finishing the procedure when the bounty-hunter spotted the Princess.

Instead of one of her usual snarky remarks, June actually looked at Azula in chagrin, nearly apologetically. The expression on her face took Azula aback.

"Been a while," Azula said, hoping to break the ice. June swallowed hard.

"You… look like hell," she said. Azula snorted.

"Likewise," she said. June offered her a small smile, surprisingly. "What happened to your arm?"

"Dislodged joint," June explained. "Rui Shi helped set it back. Doctor here's just making sure I don't move it a lot for the next few days."

"I can already tell you're not the kind of patient who listens to orders, though," said the man, sighing. June's smile grew stronger.

Azula glanced at Nyla again, and she surprised herself by not feeling any resentment towards the beast despite the damage it had done to Sokka. She hadn't thought she'd be sympathetic towards it, but it was apparent that she was in pain. The doctor moved on to the creature after finishing his work with June. He was touching Nyla's jaw gently, and she growled and snapped at him whenever he exerted any pressure on her sore wound.

"Well, the bone is somewhat fractured," said Wang, pulling away before Nyla's patience yielded. "It doesn't seem to be a major wound, it should heal itself in due time, but it will hurt for sure. There are some medicines you can try to give her to ease the pain…"

"Great," said June, sighing and looking at Nyla worriedly. "I only hope she agrees to swallow them."

"It's for her own good. I truly hope she will cooperate," Wang said, smiling. "Either way, I expect a strong creature like this will be able to heal quickly."

"Let's hope so," said June. The doctor smiled at her and headed inside again, leaving the two women and Rui Shi by themselves.

June caressed Nyla's head with her uninjured hand, the beast sighing before relaxing next to her owner. Azula stepped towards her and swallowed hard.

"Care to share what happened to you?" she asked. Her voice wasn't demanding, if anything it was slightly uncertain. June looked at her with unease, too.

"Well… let's just say I messed up," she muttered. "I didn't consider there could be bleeding men in Jeong Jeong's campsite. The scent of blood makes Nyla lose her senses…"

"And she attacks to kill whatever's bleeding?" Azula asked. June nodded. "Well, we suspected as much already, but that clarifies it…"

"Clarifies what?"

"They cut Sokka's cheek," Azula muttered. "It was to rely on the smell of blood to make your shirshu attack him…"

"Rui Shi said that he's not dead, though, right?" June asked. Azula shook her head promptly. June released a relieved sigh. "I'm glad. And… I'm sorry. If I had been more careful, I could've captured the bastard before he could act. What's worse is I gave him the perfect means to find you. I know apologies won't mean a lot to you, but…"

"Don't overthink it," Azula said, waving a hand gently. June raised an eyebrow. "I know you weren't planning for things to end up this way. You had nothing to gain from that."

"I didn't plan forward enough, truth to be told," said June, sighing. "I should have known Jeong Jeong couldn't be underestimated…"

"I should have known that too, for that matter," said Azula. "I sent you after him, we agreed on it without thinking of the risks. If you think you were a fool for doing it, I was a fool for telling you to do it, too. But anyways, I take it they took Nyla from you?"

"They muzzled her, forced her to work with them," June said. "Offering her the scent of your belt was enough to get her going. They just threw me in a hole they thought I wouldn't be able to get out of, especially with a dislodged joint, but they underestimated me, too…"

"You climbed out with one arm only?" Azula asked. June smiled weakly. "You're something, bounty-hunter. I guess you've always been freakishly strong, but still…"

"Not strong enough when it mattered most, I'm afraid," June whispered. "I should've been able to resist them, but I was beyond outnumbered. It never crossed my mind that it could go so badly."

"How many people were there?" Azula asked. "Do you have at least some idea?"

"Well over hundreds," June answered. "I can't say thousands because I didn't have a proper view of the entire campsite, but it could have been. He's gathered quite a following."

"I don't know if it's all his, I'll say," Azula muttered. "It seems a fair share could be White Lotus members who simply joined him on this operation. Or maybe…"

"White Lotus?" both Rui Shi and June said. Azula gritted her teeth.

"It's what Sokka said when he woke up a while back," she said. June huffed.

"He woke up, then? And he even told you what happened?" she asked. Azula nodded. "You could have said that sooner, I thought he was still unresponsive…"

"I'm sorry I didn't. You merely asked if he was alive, so… anyways, you can't really talk to him right now. He's asleep again…" Azula admitted, sighing.

"Truth was that they were after him all along," June said, frowning. "Before Nyla was driven to madness, I overheard Jeong Jeong asking the two idiots I followed about Sokka. I didn't understand why they'd be so worried about him… I only put it together a moment before Nyla lost control. I was only just considering turning back and finding you guys to warn you, but I had no choice when Nyla reacted as she did…"

"We didn't understand what Jeong Jeong's allegiances were," Azula whispered. "Had I known he was White Lotus I might have considered Sokka could be his real goal, but without that information we couldn't even have ventured a guess about it. None of us thought they'd be after him."

"But why him?" Rui Shi asked. "The White Lotus should have wanted you, too. They're the biggest rebels against the Fire Lord, aren't they?"

"They are, but their goal wasn't to hurt my father's rule directly," said Azula. "It was… well, to find out if Sokka's loyalties were with me or with them, somehow."

"What? Why would he have been loyal to them?" Rui Shi asked. Azula shrugged.

"Sokka was just as puzzled by that notion as you are. I guess it's because his old sword master seems to be a member, and he left him that White Lotus tile, so they assumed he was… well, initiated in their weird cult just with that. But Sokka never even knew what that tile meant, so how was he supposed to even feel like one of them?"

"They're pretty stupid," said June, with a grimace. Azula snorted.

"Yes, I'll say they are," she said. "In any case, he… he chose to be loyal to me, they took that to mean he was better off dead, so they used Nyla to finish the job…"

"You know, I don't tend to care one way or another about politics of any kind…" June confessed. "But right now. I'm tempted to start chasing those White Lotus bastards for everything they've pulled in the last two days."

"I can't blame you, but if I were you, I'd put as much distance as possible between yourself and them," said Azula. "They're going so far for their ideals it's hard to say if they're a bigger hazard to the world than my nation is…"

"I'd say you're exaggerating if I hadn't seen how big that camp of theirs was," said June. "It's like every possible dissenter of your father's regime has joined them."

"It makes me wonder if they've lost all touch with what their group used to stand for," Azula muttered. "Maybe the White Lotus wasn't completely deplorable from the get-go, but what they're doing nowadays couldn't be further from their alleged set of beliefs…"

"Well, I don't know anything about their beliefs, but I'm still unwilling to forgive them for dislodging my shoulder and, most of all, for using Nyla for their schemes," said June, and she glanced at Azula with unease. "I'm glad you managed to save Sokka on time. For a while there I… I really feared the worst."

"He'll be touched to know you worried so much about his wellbeing," Azula said, with a subtle hint of sarcasm. June smiled, despite herself.

"You know, you three grew on me," she said. "It only happened recently, I'll admit, but you still did. I was looking forward to handing Jeong Jeong over to you. I hate that I failed to do it."

"It's not your blunder alone," Azula sighed. "It was my reckless idea, don't beat yourself up for it. We're lucky you survived at all, that all of us did. If anything had gone slightly differently, chances are that…"

She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Her breath caught in her chest, and she had to shut her eyes tightly to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from them. She needed to stop thinking about Sokka's close call every ten seconds…

"I know, I know," said June, sighing and standing up. Nyla groaned softly, moving her head wistfully towards her. "But I'm still pissed off. I've almost never failed to finish a job, you know? I don't like this stain on my bounty-hunting history."

Azula smiled weakly as June moved to make sure Nyla's saddle was well in place. The Princess raised an eyebrow.

"You're planning on leaving already?"

"Well, I don't have a lot to do here," June said. "I should go someplace else to find the herbs I'll need to force Nyla to swallow, and the sooner we find those, the better."

"There's an herbalist across the river to the east…" Azula said. June nodded.

"Yeah, I've been there a few times. I guess Miyuki will be happy to know she's in no danger of being devoured by Nyla today," she said, smiling a little.

"Good, then. Also, did you blow all your money at the tavern?" Azula asked. June raised an eyebrow.

"Not all of it, just a fair share," she admitted. "Why?"

"Well…" said Azula, sighing and approaching the packs that Rui Shi had recovered.

They didn't have a lot of money left, but Azula separated it in two unequal piles before handing June the largest of them. The bounty hunter was perplexed.

"Wait a minute, I'm not taking your pity money," she said, frowning. Azula huffed.

"Pity? Really? This is my idea of compensation for a mission gone wrong that I should be responsible for," she said. "So, take it or leave it, bounty hunter, but this isn't about pity. It's because… well, my gladiator nearly killed your beast."

"My beast nearly killed your gladiator. One would think that would make us even," said June. Azula shrugged.

"Indeed, one would, but I don't. I dragged you into a mess that you didn't have to be involved in, so I'm compensating you for it unless you decide to be a very virtuous woman who won't take money that's being offered to her freely," Azula said, raising an eyebrow.

Despite herself, June sighed and took the bag. She smiled a little at Azula.

"That's… too thoughtful of you. Royals aren't supposed to be all that generous, you know?"

"Take it as a bribe, then," Azula said. "The next time I need someone found, I expect you to give me a discount on your services."

"Do I really need to? Such a bother…" June said, teasingly, before climbing on Nyla's saddle.

She watched the two firebenders from atop Nyla's saddle, her semblance remorseful. Rui Shi nodded in her direction, and June looked at the still consternated Azula with worried eyes.

"Tell him I apologize on Nyla's behalf," she said, startling Azula. "When he's awake again, of course."

"Right," said Azula, nodding.

"And… I'm really sorry things went sour as they did," she said. Azula looked at her somewhat hopelessly. "But I'm glad you could help him when you did. If anything can be said for certain, it's that he's lucky to have you."

Azula's eyes widened, and she trembled a little as she processed those words. June smiled weakly.

"Take care. And I mean it, you look like you haven't gotten a proper hour of sleep in years," she said, with a raised eyebrow.

"I feel like I haven't gotten a proper hour of sleep in years," Azula answered, matter-of-factly. June chuckled.

"I can lend you my eyeshadow, then. You can color your lashes, so they match the bags under your eyes…" she suggested, teasingly. Azula snorted.

"And then I'll look like an otter-racoon. Sounds like a plan," she said, sarcastically. June chuckled again.

"Sounds about right," she said, ushering Nyla to move by shaking the reins gently. The beast groaned and stood up somewhat clumsily.

June focused on Nyla as the shirshu started walking, and once she did, June turned to wave curtly at Azula and Rui Shi. Nyla took off through the same road where the chaos had unfolded earlier, and Azula and Rui Shi only watched them leave quietly. Once June was out of view, the Captain placed a hand on his charge's shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Azula swallowed and shrugged.

"Still… still afraid, I guess," she admitted. She wasn't sure how she was able to say the words so easily when she had been raised to show no weaknesses, no fear, in the face of anything.

"Let's go back inside, then," said Rui Shi. "You might feel better by his side."

"Probably," Azula admitted, as they turned back to the house.

"Did he say anything else about the encounter?" he asked. "Aside from them being White Lotus…?"

"Nothing as important as that, no," said Azula, clenching her fists. "I feel so… so foolish for not even thinking of it. It was true that I could make no sense out of Jeong Jeong's motivations, but once you factor in that he was White Lotus, everything becomes clear."

"It does," said Rui Shi, sighing. He patted Azula's back. "But he's gone now. He must be sure that Nyla killed Sokka, so I doubt we have any cause for concern…"

"I'm not too sure," said Azula. "But if he dares come back to finish the job, I'll probably murder him in cold blood."

"I'll fend off the rest of his followers so you can have a clear shot," Rui Shi said. Azula smiled a little, pleased by Rui Shi's complicity.

They entered Sokka's room again to find Mei Liang chuckling at something he'd said. Azula's eyes widened, and Rui Shi saw her tense shoulders loosen up slightly when she saw Sokka was awake and talking to the woman. Sokka was weaker than Rui Shi had ever seen him, but he seemed to have his wits about him already if he had been saying something amusing.

"Ah, look, they're back now," said Mei Liang. Sokka glanced to his side and smiled when he saw Azula. "I told you your other friend was here now, too."

"Hey there," he said, moving his hand a little in a failed attempt to wave at them. "Uh, I guess I'm not so strong as to say hi yet…"

"Don't force yourself," Azula said, walking up to his bedside quickly and taking his hand in hers. "How are you now?"

"A little hungry," Sokka admitted. Azula smiled weakly.

"Aren't you always?" she asked, reaching out to stroke his hair gently before looking at the Mei Liang. "Can he have more soup?"

"I suppose, he hasn't reacted poorly to it so far," said the woman. "It's a miracle, truly, that he's had no problem eating when his injury was so bad. The cauterization you performed was… well, miraculous, really. It's almost like it restored his tissues, really…"

"Miraculous indeed," said Azula, biting her lip. "I suppose we'll never understand how it happened."

"He's a very lucky guy, to be sure," said Rui Shi, moving to Sokka's side too and smirking at him.

"Don't know how I got this lucky, honestly," said Sokka, smiling weakly as Azula stroked his hand gently.

"Well, lucky boy, I shall fetch your soup now," said the Mei Liang, smiling. "If you keep responding well to it, we might give you something better later, alright?"

"Bring it on…" said Sokka, trying to sound very enthusiastic but lacking the strength to do so.

As the doctor's wife left, Azula sat on the edge of the mattress while Rui Shi grabbed a chair. Sokka eyed them with uncertainty.

"She said you were talking with someone outside…" he said.

"June," Azula said. Sokka bit his lip. "She was relieved that you made it out alive. She discovered you were the White Lotus's target just before they got to her and Nyla."

"Crap," said Sokka, sighing. "Did they hurt her…?"

"A dislodged joint, namely," said Rui Shi. "And… well, she was thrown in a hole too, so she wouldn't be able to follow them easily."

"They're insane," Sokka said, sighing and shaking his head. "Did you get her out of there, Rui Shi?"

"No, she got herself out," said Rui Shi. "Also… it may sound slightly paranoid, but we probably should stick to our fake names for as long as we stay here."

"You're right," Sokka said, closing his eyes. "It's good to know she was okay, though…"

"Yeah," said Azula. "She was worried about you, too. Said she apologized on Nyla's behalf. I guess she was more attached to you than she let on."

Sokka snorted at the suggestion, and Azula smiled a little. He shook his head weakly.

"I doubt that," he said. She squeezed his hand.

"All the same, I'm glad you're awake again," she said. "Did you remember anything else worth mentioning?"

"Uh… can't think of anything right now," Sokka said, biting his lip. "I guess the asshole held back from saying genuinely incriminating stuff… but he did say he didn't agree with their rescue operation in the Capital. You know, when they first showed up…?"

"Is that so?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Did he think it was too dangerous or…? Oh, never mind. Surely he didn't care for the lives of his comrades enough to want to help them."

"It's likely. I did tell him he was as bad as any Fire Lord for sending his people to die in the Stronghold just over a scheme to have a few words with me…" said Sokka. "He didn't like that, of course."

"You have no sense of self-restraint, do you?" Rui Shi asked. Sokka smiled weakly and shrugged almost imperceptibly.

"He also said there were… Great Lotuses? Grand Lotuses? So… leaders, I guess. Probably like him," Sokka said. "I think Piandao is one of them, too. But I imagine there could be more of them…"

"It's a more complicated group, and likely a bigger threat, than we thought," Azula said. "Who knows how far their influence reaches, how many people they've assembled over the years…"

"June said she wouldn't be surprised if there were thousands of them," Rui Shi said. Sokka grimaced.

"And she surely didn't see all of them," he said. "If each Great Lotus has around the same number of followers, and there's at least two more of them…"

"It's an army," Azula concluded, rubbing her temples with her fingertips. "A blasted, massive army with more power than we thought. It's been born right underneath my father's nose and we never even suspected it…"

"Underneath your grandfather's, rather, if not before that, too," said Sokka. "Jeong Jeong ran off while Azulon was still in power."

"And the attempt on General Iroh's life was also perpetrated by them while Azulon ruled," said Rui Shi, nodding. "They've had a long time to build up their strength, to gather their army, and they've done it so well no one even suspected them…"

"Indeed, and now that we do know, I don't know what to do about it," Azula whispered, shaking her head. "How would we uncover this conspiracy when we don't know where to begin? What little we know about them is worth nothing…"

"That's true…" Sokka conceded. "But maybe you should stop thinking about it while we're as cut off from our resources as we are now. It won't be much use for you to worry so much if we can't do anything…"

"He's not wrong," Rui Shi said, nodding. "But your words actually extend to you too, Sokka. The less stressed you are about everything, the easier your recovery should be."

"The mind has a crucial part to play in healing the body," Azula muttered.

"I guess," said Sokka, with a weak grin. "I'll try to relax, then. If I remember anything else, though…"

"You can tell us in that case, but until then, you should stop worrying," Azula said, reaching to touch his hand gently. "You know now that June and Nyla made it out alive too. Chances are the unforgivable bastard won't come to check if you really are dead, either…"

"And I got back everything we had to leave behind on the road," said Rui Shi, proudly, before leaning down to pull out Sokka's boomerang from a pack. "See?"

"Eh, my old friend. I'm glad to see it," said Sokka, smiling weakly. "Thanks, Rui Shi. It's great that you could get everything back."

"Indeed it is," said Rui Shi. "Though… the Princess's belt is missing now."

"It's not the first one I lose," Azula said, before giving Sokka a meaningful look. "Someone once sliced one of them cleanly during training…"

"I… that was a mistake," said Sokka, and Azula smiled gently. "And then you tried to sew it back together…"

"And that way I remembered why I hated school's crafts' class as much as I did," said Azula, shaking her head. Sokka smiled.

"Were all lessons in the Royal Academy for Girls like that?" he asked. Azula shrugged.

"Most of them were. We studied all sorts of tea ceremonies, I was bored beyond belief by them," she recounted. "But history and geography classes were enjoyable, and depending on the work we were studying, literature as well…"

Rui Shi listened to Azula, knowing full well, as did everyone else in the room, that the change of topic wasn't only welcome, but necessary. On normal occasions Azula wouldn't care to share her memories from her school days, but right now she spoke of them with such ease it felt natural, but oddly out of place at the same time. She needed to stop thinking about Sokka's wound, about the image of him lying on his own blood, and she was taking advantage of every possible distraction to do so.

She took to helping Sokka to eat once the doctor's wife returned, and she helped him eat more through the day whenever he said he was hungry. The doctor recommended that he started trying to regain the strength of his limbs, starting with his hands, but Sokka's trembling grew more violent whenever he moved them. As ever, he was disappointed with himself, but Azula kept reassuring him and telling him not to push himself too far.

It wasn't until Sokka fell asleep again, by nightfall, that Rui Shi stopped by Azula's side and placed a hand on her shoulder. The sitting Princess raised her head towards him, a hand still on Sokka's chest.

"The… the Stronghold?" he asked. "Has your dragon sent any information?"

Azula nodded. Xin Long had been rather bored in the last day, anxiously waiting for her to call him back to her side.

"The attacks ceased since yesterday around midday. They expected it to mean they were getting ready for the full assault, but…"

"But it didn't happen," Rui Shi finished.

"No. They'd already caught June, likely. They knew just how to find us, that we weren't in the Stronghold. They didn't need the decoy attack anymore," said Azula.

"I'm surprised by how well they planned it all. Well, how well he planned it all," muttered Rui Shi. "The initial attack was meant to draw you out to the Stronghold?"

"Or leave us relatively defenseless in Yu Dao while all the soldiers rallied to defend the outpost," said Azula. "They had the explosives just in case we went to the Stronghold, which we did. They probably wanted to know for sure that we were in there before using them, though…"

"So, chances are that Jeong Jeong sent a group to search Yu Dao, to make sure we really had left the city," said Rui Shi, frowning. "He might have thought you'd sent Xin Long alone…"

"But once he knew we weren't in Yu Dao, he had to make sure we were in the Stronghold before risking an all-out attack. He probably had lots of his men to patrolling all over the area, and the two bastards we caught were the ones who had the lucky hit."

"Yes. That must be it," said Rui Shi, sighing.

"He had resources, had everything planned," said Azula, shaking her head.

"And yet we only fell in his trap because he got lucky that Nyla was driven mad by the scent of blood," said Rui Shi, raising an eyebrow. Azula frowned. "Truth be told, his plans weren't paying off. Not until that happened."

"Which really means my blasted, greedy scheme is what caused this," Azula said, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Rui Shi swallowed hard. "I just… I was in over my head and didn't suspect it. I thought I'd have it under control because even in the worst cases in the past, I've always found a way to be triumphant. I got the Rhinos, I dealt with the Dai Li, even the first time I crossed the White Lotus it didn't end badly thanks to… thanks to Sokka. So, I was immersed in this false sense of security, and I thought… I thought I could do it again. I was sure of it, but…"

"You almost did, though. I know it's hard to accept it right now, but… you almost did," said Rui Shi, his head low. Azula sighed and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. Almost isn't good enough," she muttered. "Almost nearly got him killed."

"You saved him, though."

"I could have spared him the brush with death if I'd considered something could go wrong," Azula said. "Where Jeong Jeong planned for multiple scenarios, we mostly just made up our movements as we went. He had quite the advantage over us, he knew these lands better than we could, he had enough time to plan his every move. And we fell into his spider's web because I couldn't even fathom what he was up to…"

"None of us could. There was no way we could have suspected it with what little information we had," said Rui Shi. "We did too well regardless of the circumstances, if you ask me. We almost reached our goal, even… if we'd been faster maybe we would have done it, but sadly…"

"Truth be told, I can only wonder what sort of disaster would have occurred if they'd caught up with us either at this village or in Yu Dao," said Azula, grimacing. "There were too many of them. Chances are they could have reduced the city's defenses in a heartbeat, and…"

"Things would have turned out worse yet," said Rui Shi, clenching his fists.

"Maybe the one thing we can agree on is that this could have been much worse," said Azula, swallowing hard.

Sokka's slow breathing was one of the main things that could have been worse. The safety of the most important of the Fire Nation colonies could have easily been compromised, too. With as many followers as Jeong Jeong likely had, chances were that he could have held the city at least for over a month or two before Ozai could retaliate effectively…

"Indeed. And beating yourself up over what did go wrong won't help at this point," said Rui Shi. Azula gritted her teeth, feeling like a scolded child. "Now we need to see to his recovery, and get back to Yu Dao as soon as possible. If Xin Long says the Stronghold is safe, then…"

"I'm not having him come fetch us here and now, mind you," Azula muttered. Rui Shi frowned. "Not only do we not know whether Jeong Jeong's followers might notice him flying here, which would likely alert them that maybe Nyla didn't finish the job… but also, we can't let these people know who we are. Especially not after what they've seen of the relationship between…"

"Between you two. Yes, I understand," said Rui Shi, sighing. "But it's the best way to travel…"

"On normal circumstances, yes. But these aren't normal circumstances," Azula replied. "I don't think Sokka can ride a dragon as he is, or any animals, for that matter…"

"We'll need another carriage," said Rui Shi, swallowing hard. Azula nodded.

"If anything, we can have Xin Long surveilling the area from above once we're traveling back to Yu Dao. But I won't risk letting these people see him," she said. "I doubt they have any suspicions regarding who we are, and I would rather it stays that way."

"Understood," said Rui Shi, nodding.

"Which means… you shouldn't act all stiff and obedient, Roshi," she said, with a weak smile. "What do you think I am, a Princess?"

Rui Shi smiled and shook his head. Azula sighed, her hand still on Sokka's beating heart. Rui Shi bit his lip, holding back from asking her if she was touching her lover that way just to make sure he was still alive, for he didn't need to ask at all: her actions spoke for themselves.

"So… when do you expect we'll take off?" Rui Shi asked. Azula shrugged.

"Once he's better. He's not going on another trip if he's still too weak for it, however short it may be," she said. "So, whenever he's ready, we'll leave."

"Very well," said Rui Shi, nodding and standing up. "I guess I'll go sleep out in their living room, then. You'll…? Oh, well, why should I even ask?"

Azula gave him a sympathetic, somewhat apologetic smile, but Rui Shi only smiled back at her.

"He'll be fine. Truth be told, he'll start healing magically just by having you near him, I'm sure. So, go on ahead and join him," said Rui Shi, with a dramatic sigh. "That way we might take off a little sooner."

"As long as you're right about his healing rate, that is," said Azula, but she nodded in his direction. "Thanks, Rui-… Roshi."

"Hmm. Don't mention it, Jing," he said, with a crooked grin before leaving her and Sokka by themselves.

Once more she climbed on the bed beside him when they were alone, and she slept with a hand on his chest, her head nestling on his shoulder. As soon as she was comfortable, she felt his head gently dropping against hers, as though he were subconsciously drifting towards her warmth.

She closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep with a little more ease than earlier that day. Still, she wasn't in luck. She kept waking with starts through the night, her heart racing, her nightmares still chasing her. The only way to make sure her dreams were only dreams was through Sokka's breathing and heartbeat. She cursed herself for her many weaknesses, but her exasperation with herself didn't chase them away. By the time morning arrived, she had scarcely rested at all. And despite he was in a worse physical state than her, Sokka seemed to notice her lack of rest.

"Hey…" he whispered. Her eyes were open, but she was startled when she heard his voice.

"Sokka?" she asked. "Did I…?"

"You what?" Sokka asked, blinking a few times, trying to shake off his lingering drowsiness.

"Wake you?" she finished, looking at him somewhat guiltily as she loosened her grip on his shirt. Sokka smiled.

"Not really, no," he said. "What's wrong? Were you uncomfortable…?"

"I… no, no. I'm fine," she said, shaking her head and pressing to him. "I just had some trouble sleeping for no reason. It's nothing."

"You should try to get more sleep, then," Sokka suggested, but Azula shook her head.

"You're awake now, so I should see to getting you something to eat, right?" she said, sitting up. Sokka smiled a little.

"I am a bit hungry, hehe," he admitted. Azula smiled.

"I'll see what I can do," she said.

"H-hey…" he said, his shaking hand grazing her gently when she was about to climb off the bed.

"Yes?" she said, and Sokka bit his lip.

"Just… I wanted to kiss you," he said. Azula's smile grew a little more heartfelt with that.

"Did you, now?" she asked, leaning close and complying with his wishes. Sokka sighed happily as her lips brushed his lovingly. "There you go."

"You're the best…" he said, with a happy grin. Azula chuckled before jumping off the bed.

The rest of the day wasn't too different from the previous one: Sokka mostly laid down, eating whenever he was hungry, talking whenever his two companions struck a conversation, sleeping when he was drowsy again. His stability was good news, though, and there were no secondary effects to be found for anything the physician had done to treat him.

By the third day, though, he had regained more strength, and his stomach begged for food a lot more often. He tried to eat without help, but his trembling was still too violent to hold a bowl or chopsticks properly. Nevertheless, Rui Shi offered to help him get back to using his hands and arms, and he started to do so by arm wrestling him somewhat playfully. It never ceased to make Sokka smirk in disbelief.

"Come on, then. Show me what you're made of," Rui Shi grunted, menacingly, and Sokka snorted. His grip on Rui Shi's hand was shaky, but he tried to strengthen his hand by putting some strength into pushing Rui Shi's. "Too weak. Too weak…"

"Damn you, wait till I'm all good and I'll… I'll show you just how strong I can be," Sokka said, with a chuckle. Rui Shi smirked.

"Big talk for a wimp like you," he teased Sokka, but despite his best efforts, Sokka only laughed and gave up, and Rui Shi sighed. "Here I thought trash talking would help inspire you…"

"Almost did, but it was too ridiculous to work," Sokka admitted, smiling. "Thanks, though, for doing this. It might be I'll beat you at it again in a couple of months…"

"I'd think you should hope to do so in a few weeks instead," said Rui Shi, raising his eyebrows. "She'd be much happier that way."

Sokka swallowed hard and nodded. Azula had left to take a proper bath for the first time in what felt like ages, trusting that Sokka would be fine with Rui Shi, and that his condition would only continue to improve. The two men had been working on getting his strength back for around ten minutes now, but clearly there was a lot worth addressing regarding the Princess's wellbeing.

"I'd love to be back on my feet so she can stop worrying," said Sokka. "I mean, I understand… this is the worst that's happened to me ever since we became partners. Heck, it's worse than anything that happened before that, too. But… it's too hard to see her this way. Hell, I'm sure I'm getting better sleep than her and I tend to wake up over the burn's pains all the time. And she just…"

"Keeps putting her hand over your heart," said Rui Shi. "To make sure you're still…"

"Yeah," said Sokka, gritting his teeth. "I don't mind being touched by her, obviously, but… I'm just worried about her, too. I'm the one who almost got cut in half, but she's the one who's most shaken up by the whole thing. Then again, I guess… if our roles had been reversed, I'd be just as mortified by it."

"It can't be easy to fear the one you love is about to die," said Rui Shi. Sokka swallowed hard. "Then again, I thought… well, maybe I was a fool to think so, but you've been in mortal peril so many times before that…"

"You thought she'd be used to it?" said Sokka. Rui Shi sighed.

"I guess this was worse than ever before, though, as you said…"

"It was," Sokka repeated. "And I can't blame her entirely for being so shaken up by it. I'm pretty sure I'll have nightmares about this for the rest of my life. But still, I just…"

"What?" Rui Shi asked.

"I wish I could cheer her up for real, you know?" said Sokka. "Make her forget about what she saw. Forget about how close I was to dying. But I guess it's easier said than done…"

"Must be," said Rui Shi. "And no solution for that comes to mind right now, frankly. I guess… the best way for you to help her is by getting better, isn't it?"

Sokka frowned with determination. Rui Shi was right, though Sokka knew that forcing his recovery wasn't going to help either… but he needed to be better. He needed to get better, mainly for Azula's sake.

"Well… if that's the case, how about another round?" he asked, lifting his hand with some difficulty. Rui Shi raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you want to get pummeled again?" he asked. Sokka smirked.

"Bring it on!"

By the time Azula returned, Sokka was struggling but besting a weak Rui Shi, who mostly laughed as he allowed Sokka to get the better of him this time. Sokka knew his rival wasn't putting up a fight, but he still did his best and pushed Rui Shi's hand down on the mattress effectively.

"Woo! I win!" Sokka exclaimed, trying to celebrate by throwing a fist in the air, but he flinched when his abdomen stung upon his fast movement. "Uh… okay, I'll celebrate in a couple of weeks."

"Good. This way you can't rub your victory in my face," Rui Shi said, smirking and releasing Sokka's hand.

"Well, well. Beaten by a convalescing man?" Azula asked him, smiling. Rui Shi shrugged.

"What can I say? At this point I'm sure he's only faking the pain, so you'll coddle him all day," he said, with his best innocent façade. Sokka snorted and Azula smiled at her gladiator now.

"I'd be in equal parts angry and relieved if that were the case," she said. "How are you feeling, then? Ecstatic over your victory?"

"I have never been prouder of myself," Sokka said, smiling at her. "How about you? Was the bath good?"

"Indeed, and you'll be needing one of those sooner than later," she said, raising her eyebrows. "Not to offend you, but…"

"You stink," Rui Shi finished, with a happy grin. Sokka's eyebrow twitched and he attempted to kick Rui Shi gently for that… but his leg didn't respond with enough power yet.

"Well, then, find a bottle of perfume and I might stink less, Roshi," he grunted. "Or am I going to get washed on this bed somehow?"

"If only there were a way to do it, I wouldn't mind," said Azula. "But as it is, you need to be able to move and at least sit up if you want to clean up at all…"

Sokka bit his lip and nodded, and Azula breathed deeply as she moved to support him in case he'd need it. With her help, and a little of Rui Shi's, Sokka managed to push himself up and sit on the mattress, his numb body paining him with every movement.

"Damn, I'm rusty," he grunted, stretching his fingers and sighing in disappointment before looking at Azula with a raised eyebrow. "But… I guess I did sit up, didn't I?"

"Yeah. You did," she said, with a relieved smile.

He grinned too as she surrounded his shoulders with her arms, and he decided to stay upright for a little longer. If it'd make Azula happy, he would gladly sit up for the rest of the day, regardless of the more frequent stings of pain that burst on his burns because of this position.

He worked harder through that day, eating more solid food than before and even trying to walk a little, although his legs gave away easily if he didn't have anyone helping him support his weight. Nevertheless, by the next day he tried again, determined to get better results this time.

He longed to leave this room, and he especially wanted to reach Yu Dao as soon as possible. His only hope to appease his troubled lover was returning to the Fire Nation with her: settling into their routine again might finally serve to soothe Azula for good. She was mostly in a better mood, and she napped once in a while, but he had noticed just how frequently she woke with a start, her breath hitching, her eyes wide in terror. He had no need to ask about what nightmares were plaguing her, what fears were plaguing her mind. It killed him inside not knowing what to do about it.

He thought maybe his recovery would appease her, and he focused fully on that. But on the next day, as he stood up with his own strength, taking a few steps with uncertainty while holding onto the bed, Azula came inside his room again after having left to eat breakfast. She gasped indignantly.

"What are you…? Sokka!" she berated him immediately. He grimaced and sat on the bed guiltily, avoiding her gaze and fiddling with his thumbs. The burns on his abdomen stung, as though berating him, too.

"I was just checking if I could walk a bit…" he muttered. Azula frowned as she stood in front of him.

"Well, the next time you can check that with supervision," she determined, stubbornly. "Get back up there."

"Okay, okay…" said Sokka, sighing and pushing himself back into the mattress fully. Azula walked around until she stood at the foot of the bed, where she clasped his ankles with each of her hands. "I wasn't going to push myself that hard, you know…"

"I was just thinking you'd been way too obedient through this recovery," Azula grunted. "I guess it was about time you acted up."

"I just want to be better, nothing wrong with that, right?" he asked, looking at her apprehensively. Azula sighed.

"Not with wanting to be better, but there's something wrong with forcing your recovery if your body can't take it yet," she said. "Haven't you considered forcing it could make things worse for you?"

"I guess not," Sokka sighed, staring at the ceiling as Azula moved his feet gently, to help the circulation of the blood through his veins. "I'd been thinking a lot about other things instead of that…"

"Other things?" she said, looking at him with uncertainty. "Do I want to hear this?"

"Eh, it's complicated. Part of you will want to, another part won't…" Sokka admitted. Azula sighed.

"Out with it," she said, her curiosity yielding quickly enough. Sokka smiled a little.

"It's just… don't you think it's a little convenient, how Jeong Jeong could plan everything to the last detail? Do you really think he knew how to predict Shinu's behavior, or do you think…?"

"Do I think what?" Azula asked, sighing and looking at Sokka with uncertainty as she guessed at what he was getting at. "Do I think that he's working with Jeong Jeong? That this madman has actually turned highly-ranked members of my father's army against our nation?"

Sokka bit his lip and Azula sighed. She shook her head.

"I want to think the explosives they had in store for the Stronghold indicate otherwise," she said. "If they thought they'd need something so extreme to catch us in case we were in there, it probably means they didn't have any inside support. Else they… they could have entered the Stronghold somehow, likely. I don't really know how, but…"

"So, you'd thought about it?" Sokka asked. Azula sighed.

"You're not the only one who's been thinking too much, about too many things, over the course of the last two days," she muttered. "I'm probably overthinking most things, truth be told, but… I've thought about it. I know there's at least one highly ranked White Lotus spy in my father's closer circles, but I doubt it's someone like Shinu. He would have an alibi for what happened during the attack to the capital, and he couldn't have supplied his friends with the uniforms the way we've discovered they did…"

"So, it's not him, or…"

"Or there are two spies. Or more than two," Azula said, gritting her teeth and shaking her head before lifting Sokka's legs gently. He grimaced as she made him flex them. "Slowly now…"

"More than two…?" he repeated. "S-so no one's safe from suspicion?"

"Who could be? At this point… at this point I'm only willing to trust you, my father and my guards," Azula confessed, shaking her head. "There's too many of them, Sokka. June said… thousands, maybe. And they're a mix of all nations, from the looks of it. The two bastards we fought in the Palace were water and earthbenders, Jeong Jeong is a firebender, and just like Piandao, he's from the Fire Nation…"

"So they're… a group seeking balance somehow," Sokka mused, frowning. "Funny how poorly that's going for them, huh?"

"You don't think that's real balance, do you?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head.

"Not at all. Jeong Jeong… heh, one of the things that annoyed him the most was that I said he couldn't be so arrogant as to think he was the only Fire Nation person who could learn better," Sokka said. "He doesn't seem to have a shred of love for his nation left in him, says it's corrupt and whatnot… but hey, he did confirm what you suspected."

"What I suspected about what?" Azula asked, still helping Sokka flex and stretch his legs.

"You know, when he said that I was Piandao's only hope to change the Fire Nation through you," Sokka whispered. "He also said Zuko was only going to be blocked by your father. So, I guess it means that… that Zuko was their first plan. We were the second one."

"He saw a chance to fulfill their plans through us. He might have manipulated me through you somehow? Are we both… pawns of the White Lotus without our awareness?" Azula frowned.

"Uh… yeah, I think not," said Sokka, shaking his head. "Else Jeong Jeong wouldn't have tried to kill me, now, would he?"

"True," said Azula, sighing.

"Truth is, I know I shouldn't think of him fondly after knowing he's in cahoots with that bastard, Jeong Jeong," said Sokka, breathing deeply. "But I'm wondering if this is really what he was going for. Maybe Piandao suspected that the two of us would become… well, what we are. Maybe he stopped meddling between us because he didn't think he had to do it anymore. Maybe he also never explained what the White Lotus was because he doubted I'd need to know…"

"That's possible, too," said Azula, frowning. "Piandao's past was sketchy for sure, but… he never did anything bad to you, did he? He didn't try to force any weird White Lotus teachings on you…"

"Unless his training itself was a White Lotus teaching somehow, no, he didn't," said Sokka, sighing. "He was a great master. It's why it bothers me that… that he'd be with them."

"Well… who knows? Maybe they're like the Fire Nation," Azula said, shrugging. Sokka raised an eyebrow. "You know, the entirety of the Fire Nation isn't as rotten as Jeong Jeong believes, right? So… maybe they're not quite as bad as we think they are. At least a handful of them, like Piandao, might not be such terrible people…"

"I hope so," said Sokka, sighing as Azula's therapy session on his legs seemed to come to an end.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked. He smiled.

"Ready to go out jogging," he said playfully. Azula snorted and shook her head.

"You're really getting better, aren't you?" she said, gazing at him fondly. He smiled, flexing his legs on his own accord now and relaxing in a new position.

"Whether you want to believe it or not," he said. "Soon enough I'll be training with you again, and you'll be annoyed by how easily I can beat you…"

"Oh, aren't we confident," said Azula, smiling. Sokka grinned proudly. "We'll see about that then. But for now, rest. And eat."

"Okay…" Sokka said, sighing in defeat. Azula caressed his thigh gently before climbing off the bed.

She helped him with those exercises at least twice a day, and he was making considerable progress because of them. The combination of all factors allowed him to walk better on the next day, and as he managed to leave his room for the first time since their arrival, both Azula and Rui Shi came to a non-verbal agreement quickly afterwards: it was time to leave.

Wang gave them some more instructions regarding what Sokka's diet should be from now on and offered them some food and water for the short road ahead until they reached Yu Dao. Rui Shi had to dig through their bags to gather whatever money they had left: it wasn't much, but what he offered them seemed to be a lot for the couple, since they reacted with absolute delight.

Azula focused on making sure Sokka could endure the journey. She had helped him to the living room and Sokka had taken his seat at the couch. It was the same couch where, almost a week earlier, Azula had waited with Rui Shi while the doctor and his wife treated Sokka. He looked a little too eager to go, and Azula smiled as she held his hand to appease him. It wasn't trembling so violently anymore.

Rui Shi had managed to find another carriage, a far more rudimentary one this time. He helped Azula guide Sokka towards it, standing behind them as the Princess surrounded Sokka's waist with an arm to keep him well supported. Sokka walked slowly, but he was strong enough to reach the vehicle. He managed to climb the few steps up to the cabin, and he breathed out in relief when he took his seat. He waved at Wang and Mei Liang from where he was.

"The best of luck on the road!" said Mei Liang, smiling warmly at him. "Take care!"

"You too. Thanks for everything!" Sokka called out, smiling back.

Rui Shi climbed aboard on the driver's seat once more, and they waited for Azula to finish thanking their hosts.

"I know you think you didn't do a lot since… since that cauterization was somewhat miraculous, but still, you were too generous by accepting us into your home as you did," Azula said. "I won't forget this."

"Neither will we. I hope Wentai will be better soon," said Wang, smiling at Azula. "Take care of yourself too, though. You need to be in good shape to look after your husband, after all."

"I guess I do," Azula admitted, with a weak smile.

"Have a good trip to Yu Dao, Jing," said Mei Liang, and Azula bowed her head respectfully towards them.

"Thank you for everything," she whispered. "Truly."

Wang and Mei Liang waved at them as the carriage pulled out of their street, and Azula kept smiling and glancing at them until they were out of sight. By then she sighed and slumped on her seat next to Sokka, sending word to Xin Long so he'd know they were on the move. He had been lurking not too far from the village for a few days now, waiting for Azula's signal.

He caught up with them once they were well into the next road through the wilderness. The three travelers were considerably paranoid, staring warily around themselves, startled by nearly every shifting shadow they saw. When Xin Long, clad in his armor, finally landed before them, Azula sprung from the halted carriage and rushed to greet her animal companion. Xin Long surrounded her with his long body, his face sterner than Sokka remembered seeing it before. He wondered if the dragon felt guilty for not having helped his rider when she needed it…

"We're okay… we're okay," Azula said, patting Xin Long's armored neck. She smiled at him, actually feeling calmer now with the dragon's presence. She turned towards Rui Shi and Sokka. "Well, I think it's time we do prepare for heading into Yu Dao."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly. Xin Long groaned somewhat sweetly in his direction, and Sokka smiled. "Hey, buddy. Missed you, too."

"Are you saying we can't show up in Yu Dao looking so… peasant-like?" Rui Shi asked. Azula sighed.

"It may sound shallow of me to say so, but no, we shouldn't," she said. "Can you dress in your guard's uniform now?"

"I think so," Rui Shi said, reaching back for one of the packs to find his outerwear. "What will you do?"

"I guess the same thing" said Azula, sighing as she climbed on the carriage again to search through the bags for her own clothes. Xin Long took the chance to press his head against Sokka's side, prompting him to laugh and slide his hands through his hair.

Xin Long contorted in quite a funny way to form a screen around Azula, keeping either Sokka or Rui Shi from seeing her as she changed into her usual clothes. Rui Shi was noticeably uncomfortable by this, but he focused on dressing up too, putting his usual uniform on top of his current clothes.

"Say, he didn't have to hide you from me," Sokka told Azula, teasingly, once she was back in her royal outfit. She rolled her eyes.

"People could have showed up from anywhere in the road. Xin Long had to be efficient," she declared, proudly. Sokka chuckled. "As for you… I guess all we can do is tie your hair again, huh?"

"I don't get to dress up nicely, then?" Sokka asked, pouting. Azula shook her head promptly, searching for his hair tie and approaching him to take care of the matter herself.

"You get to rest and relax and not put your body through any strain you can't handle," she stated, brushing his hair with her fingers before tying it up. Sokka hummed happily.

"You should do that more often. Feels good," he said, with a goofy grin. Azula huffed and looked at him skeptically.

"Morale-wise, you're definitely back to yourself. A complete recovery, to be sure," she said. Sokka beamed proudly. "Xin Long and I will surveil your progress from above. Get going again, Rui Shi. Yu Dao won't be far."

"Yes, Princess," said Rui Shi, back to his usual self now that he was in full uniform again. Sokka wasn't all that happy by Azula's decision to surveil instead of accompanying them, though.

"Do you have to do that?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Well… it's safer this way. If anything bad were to happen, Xin Long and I would handle it. I'm sure you won't miss me that much," she said, smiling a little. Sokka pouted.

"You underestimate my ability to miss you!" he declared. Azula actually laughed, shaking her head and climbing off the carriage.

Sokka sighed as Azula and Xin Long took off, but he smiled as he watched how they remained airborne above the road. He wouldn't feel too anxious if she stayed nearby like this.

"You two are incorrigible, aren't you?" Rui Shi asked with a little amusement, after ushering the ostrich-horse to continue walking. "She can't seem to stop worrying about you, to the point where she can't sleep… and you can't stand spending ten seconds away from her either."

"We are a little hopeless, I guess," Sokka admitted, smiling weakly. "But we're worse these days, truly. The latest events did shake us up badly."

Rui Shi swallowed hard and nodded. He had been impressed by how well Sokka had been handling it so far. Maybe his reluctance to be separated from his savior was but another consequence of his survived murder attempt. Unsurprisingly, Sokka felt safer when Azula was nearby – being without her might unleash the fears her sole presence could keep at bay.

"For what it's worth, though… you're getting better," Rui Shi said. "I'm glad she was so driven to find you. I'm glad she could save you."

"Nyla struck you two, was it?" Sokka said, frowning. "I think you only mentioned it in passing…"

"She did, but the Princess fought the toxins quite powerfully. Through sheer willpower she crawled towards where you'd fallen, dragging her body with a single arm at first," Rui Shi said. Sokka's eyes widened. "And when the doctors were finally looking at you, she was…"

"Upset, I imagine," Sokka mused. Rui Shi sighed.

"That's a very light word for what it was," he whispered. "She loves you, Sokka, probably too much for her own good. I had never seen her quite as miserable as she was when she thought you were on the verge of death."

"I guess," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "She… she told me that maybe I should love her a little less. That the next time some freak threatens to kill me if I stay loyal to her, I should lie and say I'm not. But heh… she doesn't seem to realize that she's just as bad as I am. She has said she can't go on without me, but… but she has to. She needs to. This world needs her a lot more than it could ever need me."

"Well, I don't know about the world, but she does seem to need you," Rui Shi said. "And maybe her advice is spot-on. If you think she can't be so quick to discard her life, you shouldn't be, either."

Sokka sighed, glancing down at his bandaged abdomen. The burns still stung, even if the pain decreased every day.

"I guess you mean I should worry more about myself, but… at this point I want to recover more for her sake than my own," Sokka admitted, with a guilty smile.

"Not so surprising, since she's a mess in her own right," Rui Shi whispered. "But once you're better, protect your life a little more. Maybe not for yourself, but to spare her the sorrow."

"I'll do my best. But, say… if something did happen to me…"

"Didn't you just agree to…?"

"I did, I did," Sokka interrupted Rui Shi, who glanced over his shoulder to look at him accusingly. "But I can't know what the future will bring. I have no idea, so… if anything did happen to me, can you promise me you'd make sure she goes on? Can you promise me you'll see her through her time as Crown Princess and then as Fire Lord, when the time comes? That you'll remind her of everything she still has to achieve? Can you promise that you'll try to… to encourage her to find happiness again somehow?"

Rui Shi froze. Saying yes to those words wouldn't be so difficult, but the prospect of agreeing to do that was terrifying. He had seen what Azula had been like while she feared for Sokka's life. He had the feeling she'd turn into little more than an empty carcass if he died for real.

But even so, he understood where Sokka was coming from. He knew there was no one else Sokka could ask this of, either. So he nodded, and Sokka released his breath in relief.

"I promise," Rui Shi whispered. "But… don't make me fulfill those promises if you can avoid it. I'd rather see you fulfilling them yourself."

"You'd…?" Sokka started, but he smiled as Rui Shi turned to the road again. "Heh. Thanks, Rui Shi."

Azula couldn't stop looking down, her eyes firmly set on the carriage below them. Xin Long groaned gently at her, trying to cheer her up and ease her anxiety. She only responded by patting his neck and thinking she'd only feel better once they reached the city.

After a few twists and turns in the road, and after coming across a few human settlements in Yu Dao's outskirts, at last they reached the city walls. Azula breathed out in relief, directing Xin Long to fly a little closer to the ground now. She watched as the guards on the walls jumped in surprise, both upon seeing a Royal Guard leading such an undignified carriage, and upon noticing the airborne dragon.

"Sir! Do you need help, sir?" a soldier by the gate asked. Rui Shi shook his head and waved at them.

"I'm merely heading to the Mayor's home. I'll get there just fine by myself," he said. "Keep up the good work."

The soldiers stared at him as he passed through the gate, their eyes drifting towards the wounded Sokka on the carriage. He smiled awkwardly and lifted a hand in polite salutation.

People on the streets turned to look at them, some pointed up at the sky, too. Azula kept following Rui Shi and Sokka's carriage through every street, Xin Long's flight barely a few feet above the tallest buildings in the city. Reaching the Mayor's house seemed to take forever, and they only garnered more attention with every spin of the carriage's wheels. It wouldn't feel too different from arriving in the city in normal circumstances, if only this trip hadn't left them broken and defeated.

Rui Shi yanked the ostrich horse's reins to a halt before the Mayor's house. The sight of it, along with the building next door, was unexpectedly relieving. Their journey hadn't even taken two weeks, but it had felt like a lifetime instead.

Xin Long landed brief moments after Rui Shi stopped the carriage, and Azula didn't waste time in jumping off the saddle and walking up to Sokka. Rui Shi had climbed off the carriage and headed to the door by then.

"How are you feeling?" Azula asked Sokka, making to step on the carriage, but he lifted a hand. Her eyes widened.

"You… shouldn't," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "We're not using fake identities anymore, remember?"

Azula froze and lowered her head a little. Had she grown so used to the life they had settled into through the last few days? Even now, dressed in her royal garb as she was, Sokka had to stop her from doing something foolish. She used to be perfectly able to differentiate between their double lives, keeping Sokka in check rather than the other way around. Was this slip-up momentary, or was she really losing her grip to this degree…?

"Well, what did you think I was going to do?" she grumbled as believably as she could, rolling her eyes and looking at him skeptically. Sokka blinked blankly before smiling with unease.

"Oops. I just thought… never mind," he said, waving his hand carelessly again. Azula sighed.

"How are you feeling, then?"

"Eh, the trip was okay. A few bumps along the way, but I was alright," said Sokka, smiling. "I could use some water and food, though…"

"Well, you can have some now," Azula said, pulling out some of the supplies they had been carrying and handing a waterskin to Sokka. He drank it eagerly just as Mrs. Morishita came to the door.

Rui Shi took off his helmet and bowed his head towards the woman. She was startled by his presence, more so when she noticed the Princess and her gladiator behind the Captain.

"Oh, my…!" she gasped, taking in the uncharacteristically miserable appearance of all three travelers.

Azula and Sokka glanced at her as well, just as Rui Shi announced, half-heartedly:

"We're back."

---

Sokka's room, on the second floor, was well out of bounds for him in his current state. He ended up taking up residence in the living room, a place he found agreeable enough to nap in once he was resting on one of the couches. Rui Shi had rushed to the next building, where the rest of their group waited: they had arrived days ago, after it became clear the Stronghold would not be attacked anymore. All of Azula's Royal Guards ended up filing into the Morishita house shortly, every last one of them desperate to see their Princess and hear the full story from her and Rui Shi in the house's backyard.

Azula hadn't started explaining yet when Kori and Sneers rushed into the backyard as well, having just arrived home to hear the Princess was back. They joined the explanation just on time, though, and listened intently, with as much horror as the guards did. Still, as Azula was wrapping the story, Kori was snarling, her hands balled into fists.

"We should've known…" she said, shaking her head. "I mean, it was so suspicious, but still!"

"Kori…" Sneers whispered. Azula's gaze shifted towards them.

"Known what?" she asked the Mayor's daughter. Kori looked at her almost guiltily.

"The very night when you left to deal with this?" she started, swallowing hard. "Someone in all black snuck inside Sneers' room. There was two of them at first, actually. When I started chasing them through the city, I noticed there were more, and they even escaped in the end…"

"They were earthbenders, weren't they?" Rui Shi asked. Kori nodded. "It's the attack we heard of at Makapu Village, Princess…"

"Makes sense," said Azula, huffing. "They were trying to find out if we were still in the city, likely. Or, well, trying to find out if Sokka was, at any rate."

"I did think that they were after you," Kori admitted. "But…"

"They only looked around my room," Sneers finished. "Maybe checking that Sokka wasn't there was enough, or… I don't know. Maybe it's because his weapons were gone. That might have been how they knew he wasn't in the house."

"It's likely," said Azula, sighing and shaking her head.

"Even so, everyone survived. They didn't get what they wanted," said Tai Wei, his arms folded over his chest. "It may not feel as a victory as it is, but it's not a loss either. The gladiator survived."

"Not just survived, he made those White Lotus bastards choke on their doctrines, from the sound of it," said Fei Li, smirking. "I'm going to commend him for that, if anything."

"It's not just that, though," said Taro, his hands in his pockets. "He's made himself an enemy of the White Lotus by staying loyal to the Princess even in the face of death. That's not something any slave would be willing to do."

"It sure isn't," said Fei Li, smiling. "That man's something serious, huh?"

"I guess…" said Azula, sighing somewhat dramatically. "Just don't say that to his face, or his ego will be boosted beyond proportion."

The guards laughed, but Rui Shi stared at Azula with uncertainty. She was playing her part well enough again, but her performance wasn't covering completely for how shaken up she had been by last week's events. Still, she continued talking before anyone could point out that she wasn't being completely herself right now.

"In any case, Jeong Jeong will hear we're in Yu Dao in no time," she said. "And if he's still determined to have Sokka dead, well, he might try to attack again. Therefore, if we'd like to avoid giving him the chance…"

"We'll have to head back home as soon as possible," said Rui Shi. Azula nodded.

"We can't risk staying here any longer. There should be next to no means for him to harm Sokka in the Fire Nation, so it's the safest place to go now," she said. "Get the crew, have them prepare for setting out at haste. The sooner we leave, the better."

The guards nodded, and Rui Shi divided the group in half, so that a fair number of skilled firebenders would remain in the house, in case word of Sokka's survival reached Jeong Jeong faster than expected. The others took off to oversee the preparations for the next trip.

It was around dusk when the ship was finally ready. Sokka had woken, eaten a rather good meal, and he'd even had a chance to talk with Sneers and Kori, who updated him on their progress in locating Smellerbee. They had set up a challenge with her sponsor in a couple of months, which would give them time for Sneers to recover from his last fight and for them to travel to the Capital properly. Sokka smiled as they talked, surprised by how distant that particular matter felt for him right now. He barely remembered why Azula and him had chosen to travel to Yu Dao in the first place…

The time to part ways arrived in due time, though, and Sokka was taken to the port on a classier carriage this time, accompanied by the Morishita family and Azula. Xin Long flew above the vehicle again, keeping an eye on it while the Royal Guards followed on their own carriages.

"Good luck with your recovery," Sneers told Sokka once they were at the dock. Sokka smiled and nodded, clutching onto Taro's arm for support.

"Thanks. Good luck finding your friends. They'll be happy to see you," he said, bowing his head towards Sneers before Taro led him up the ramp slowly, towards the main deck of the Barge.

The Princess watched him go, relieved that Sokka had enough sense not to drag out his farewells. He shouldn't overexert himself, not when his recovery was still halfway in progress.

"I'm sorry things ended so badly," Kori said, bringing Azula out of her daze. "I hope the next time doesn't turn out like this. Well, if you ever come to Yu Dao again, that is…"

"If traveling to Yu Dao feels safe again, I might," Azula said, breathing out slowly. "In any case, good luck with your sponsoring career. I'm sure you two can go the distance."

"Yeah, well, we'll try. If we get to be half as good as you two, we'll count ourselves lucky," said Kori, smiling at Azula. "But still, if I ever think Sneers is good enough, we might send a challenge to you guys…"

The prospect made Azula freeze where she stood. Gladiator fights. She would have to send Sokka into battle again, as it always happened. Why on earth had she forgotten about that too until just now…?

"Heh, well, I look forward to that as well," Azula whispered, with a weak smile. "Good luck, Kori."

"I… thank you, Princess. For everything," said Kori, with an earnest smile and a deep bow. Azula sighed and ordered her to rise before making her way up the ramp, too.

The Barge took off shortly after everyone had boarded it. Azula had already headed inside her room by then, though, rolling in the silk sheets she had missed direly. She sighed again, finding she couldn't quite stop doing so as of late. Even now, as everything was back in place, after Tai Wei had spoken encouraging words, she couldn't quite feel as anything but a failure after what had happened. How would she explain all this to her father? He would be utterly displeased, disappointed, to know his reliable daughter had allowed the greatest threat to the Fire Nation to slip between her fingers. He wouldn't forgive her for it.

And yet… the idea wasn't all that horrifying. Disappointing her father had been her greatest fear for as long she could remember, but by now it paled compared to the horror she had experienced in those woods, watching Sokka speaking with a thread of a voice, blood everywhere…

She cringed, hating herself again for letting the image return to her mind. But she couldn't stop it. She couldn't help it. It didn't matter what she did, her mind would bring that visual back again, as potent as ever, afflicting her in ways nothing else could.

The barge set sail into the night, the mantle of darkness spreading across the horizon. Azula ate her dinner and lingered on her bed, her eyes unfocused, her mind slowing down as she felt herself relaxing. She closed her eyes in due time, finding a comfortable position. Her breathing was timed, calm, and the rhythmic repetitions were perfectly appeasing.

Night, darkness, in the middle of nowhere. No lights in the sky. No sign of anything, until a dark red moon finally started to shine above, its glow matching the blood, the blood, the streams of it that scurried over the ground to where she was, and its source was no other than…

Azula jumped, her heart racing, her breathing agitated again. She couldn't help but clench her fists as she sat on the bed, snarling as she punched the bed in sheer frustration. What was wrong with her? She needed to stop this already. It was pathetic. It had been a big shock, no doubt, but it was over. He was fine. Sokka was fine. He was…

Fear took hold of her again, so powerfully she felt she was losing her balance even if she was sitting down. The sensation was that of vertigo, something she had seldom experienced before. She was shivering before she knew it, briefly wondering if her body and mind were conspiring to kill her. At this point, it wasn't hard to suspect as much.

She couldn't find any peace of mind. It didn't matter how hard she tried, it was impossible. She drew her knees up, yanked her bangs with her trembling fingers, cursed at herself for the umpteenth time. It was enough. It had to be. She couldn't go on like this…

But what was she supposed to do to stop it? How could she be victorious in this fight, if the enemy was none other than herself?

She spent hours sitting on that bed, her face buried between her arms as she kept them crossed over her knees. The images in her mind lost their power at times, and regained them by the next moment. The fear of losing Sokka kept returning to her, making her feel as though the very earth was splitting beneath her, filling her with helplessness as she fell into an impossible void. She gritted her teeth, ashamed, but she couldn't take this anymore. She couldn't bear it. She only knew of one solution to this predicament, and it was either abiding by it, or spending the rest of the night tossing and turning.

Her heart was racing as she made her way through the ship in the middle of the darkness. Her footsteps were as silent as could be, and they didn't alert the two guards pacing through the ship, or the sailors who were working on the night shift. She didn't have to cross their path, though: all she needed to do was go downstairs and find Sokka's cabin.

The vertiginous feeling returned as she was getting closer. She gritted her teeth, trying to battle against the accursed, repetitive images in her head, against that soft voice, nagging at her, telling her that when she opened the door to his room he would not be breathing, that his heart would not be beating…

She finally reached the right door, and she opened it delicately, carefully. She slid through a small opening, closing it slowly behind her as she looked at Sokka.

He hadn't woken up, but his bare chest, and bandaged abdomen, were in plain sight. His chest rose and fell with each breath. Just that, and the ground below her feet was reinstated. The vertigo was gone. The world wasn't crumbling around her anymore.

She sighed, gritting her teeth, feeling stupid again. This was going too far. What was wrong with her? Why was she so weak now, when she had spent all her life fighting to be strong?

She stepped towards him, her fingers reaching to touch his chest. There it was: his heartbeat. It was rhythmic, calm… until it wasn't.

Her eyes widened as she noticed he was waking up. She drew her hand back, wishing for some reason that she could run, hide someplace, so he wouldn't know what she had been doing… but her feet refused to answer. She was left standing where she was, and he opened his eyes drowsily.

"Azula…?" he whispered. She gritted her teeth.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," she said, avoiding his gaze. Sokka blinked a few times.

"You okay…?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his hands. She swallowed hard.

"Yeah, I just… couldn't sleep," she said, simply. He didn't need to know more than that.

"Huh," he said, as she sat at the edge of his bed. He smiled. "Want me to sing you a lullaby?"

The proposal was as ridiculous as it was unexpected. Azula's dour mood was dispelled if only briefly as she stared at him in disbelief. He smiled innocently.

"I promise I will do my best," he said. She snorted and laughed, shaking her head.

"Right. Songs about pebbles of stone sure will lull me to sleep, no doubt," she said. Sokka chuckled.

"I know a few others," he said. "There's one about a mom cooking a stew, but the kids won't eat it, and she gets mad…"

"Okay?" Azula said, smiling in disbelief. Sokka chuckled.

"I'll have to think of others, but that one came to mind," he said, smiling and reaching out to touch her hand with his own. "I missed you."

"We were apart for half a day only. We're going to have to bear with worse than that when we're home," Azula said.

Instead of speaking matter-of-factly, as she usually did, she spoke the words sadly. She wasn't lecturing him, nor was she skeptical about his ability to get by for a few hours, or days, without her. If anything, being away from him was terrifying. She had no idea if Sokka would be kidding if he claimed again that he couldn't stand being apart from her: she could barely take being separated from him right now, as it was.

"We should just stay at sea forever then. That way you can keep sneaking in here, or I'll sneak up to your room when…" Sokka started.

"You're in no shape for that," Azula interrupted him, sighing.

"When I get better, I was going to say," Sokka said, smiling a little. "But for now, you can come here instead. There's not a lot of room, but I think you can fit in this bed too…"

She was still rational enough to know that it wasn't a good idea. She needed to be upstairs in her room before sunrise, and at this rate she wouldn't get a lot of sleep either way. Still… he was here. It was him, and having him next to her would serve to dispel her nightmares, her fears. She wasn't going to get much sleep until dawn no matter what, but it would be better than nothing.

"I'll have to go by sunrise, though," she whispered. "If I don't wake up on time, you'll have to make me go, okay?"

"I'll have a hard time making up my mind to do that," Sokka said, with a weak grin. "But okay. Better to have you for a couple of hours than not at all, right?"

Azula smiled, guessing he had similar thought patterns to her own. Despite she still felt weak, foolish, for caving in to her desperation, his warm welcome helped appease her a little. She climbed on the small bunk, stretching out on her side right next to Sokka. He would have gladly turned and held her properly, but the burns stung if he laid down in any position that wasn't face-up. He had to settle for reaching for her hand and turning his face towards her to smile gently.

"Sure about refusing my lullaby, then?" he asked. Azula smiled and nodded.

"Don't make me go through your singing again, please," she said. Sokka pouted.

"Then you sing one. How about that?"

"You're not tricking me into singing for you, Sokka."

"Oh, well. Then I'll do it…!"

"Shut up," Azula laughed, pressing closer to him and silencing him by placing her hand over his mouth.

He laughed too at first, but soon began to kiss her hand softly. She only withdrew it to replace it with her lips, her hand moving now to hold his face, to trace his neck and collarbone gently. He closed his eyes, at ease in her arms, by kissing her like this…

"I'm glad you're here…" he whispered. She swallowed hard.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"It's harder to sleep when you're not with me," Sokka explained, smiling a little. "I'd gone the whole night waking up constantly. Wasn't much fun. But now you're here, and… I'm sure it'll be better."

"I do hope so," Azula whispered, kissing him again and pressing her forehead to his.

They needed each other, then. She wasn't the only one who was desperate, affected so badly by the circumstances that she couldn't get over two hours of sleep each night. He slept better if she was with him, so how could she deprive him from that? She needed him just as badly, so it was the perfect arrangement… wasn't it?

"We'll be okay," Sokka said. Azula stiffened, his left hand sliding into her right and intertwining their fingers. "We'll be… just fine…"

His words were reassuring, even though Azula had a hard time believing them completely just yet. Still, she nodded, kissing him softly before curling up against his side. One hand held his, the other fell atop his chest again. In the end, the lullaby he sang for her was that of his rhythmically beating heart, easing her into sleep at last.