"So… what do you think?" Haru asked, smiling nervously.
He didn't have much reason to be nervous, as his mother's mouth was wide open in awe upon contemplating Ty Lee's modest house: to the Earth Kingdom native, it was as good as a palace.
"This is where you've lived over the last few years?" she finally asked, blinking blankly.
"I-I know it's not that pretty, and it could use more maintenance," Ty Lee confessed, biting her lip, "But don't worry! I'll start looking after the gardens, and I can hire someone to fix the cracks on the walls, and…!"
"Cracks on the walls?" Haru's mother laughed. "What are you talking about? This is flawless!"
"Oh, you'd think so, but we kind of, um… broke a wall once, we just covered it up so it wouldn't be visible, but yeah…" said Ty Lee. Her future mother-in-law smirked.
"I'm afraid of asking how you did that, so I won't," she said. Ty Lee's cheeks flushed while Haru looked at her apologetically. "Well, then, are we going inside?"
Haru opened the door, spreading his arm towards the vestibule and the sitting room. Ran gazed around herself in amazement, taking in the house's details with a keen eye. While there were some adornments that were as Fire Nation as could be, everything was classic: nothing promoted the war or the firebending supremacy that fueled Fire Lord Ozai's creed. Better yet, there were Earth Kingdom adornments everywhere in sight, too: paintings, vases, small plates with yellow and green themes hung on the walls, as did twin gold fans…
"Goodness…" said Ran, laughing softly as Haru set down all their bags in the sitting room. "I never expected to see so many Earth Kingdom goods anywhere in the Fire Nation."
"Oh, I always bought anything I could find," Ty Lee said, smiling. "I thought… I always figured it might help Haru feel a little bit closer to home."
Haru smiled warmly at her, placing a hand on the small of her back as Ty Lee rested her head on his shoulder. Their newfound, comfortable closeness was everything Ty Lee had ever wanted from a relationship, and she remained stoked about having found it all with Haru.
"It sure worked," Haru said, kissing the top of her head.
Ran kept gazing about the house in wonder, impressed by its simple elegance, only raising her eyebrows with slight disapproval at the uneven earth on the backyard. She turned again soon enough, a satisfied smile spreading over her face.
"Well… so far, it seems to be an agreeable place to live in," she said. Ty Lee smiled widely and clapped, as Haru grinned.
"Then I hope you continue to feel that way, going forward," he said. "We'll do our best to make this a home for you."
"I'm sure you will," said Ran. "Though I will say… I still don't wish to become an Honorary Citizen. I understand the advantages, but…"
"It's okay, I know why you wouldn't want to," said Ty Lee, grinning apologetically now. "You're free to do as you wish, of course. If you change your mind, I'll be happy to help you do it."
"That's very generous of you, Ty Lee," said Ran, smiling and taking another glance across the house. "Everything has been really generous of you, truly. You found love with a remarkably sweet girl, Haru."
"I did," he said, beaming as Ty Lee blushed. "And I'm very lucky and grateful for it."
"Oh, Haru…" said Ty Lee, laughing as she buried her face in his chest.
"Well, then, which shall be my room?" Ran asked, smiling eagerly.
It was a strange feeling for Ty Lee, one she wasn't sure she'd ever feel again, let alone one she might ever get used to. Ran had proved to be a gentle woman, with as warm a heart as could be. It was no wonder Haru was such a kind-hearted and sensible man, for he had been raised by a wonderful mother.
But what truly delighted Ty Lee was knowing that, despite starting her journey to the Earth Kingdom fearing she was on her way to losing Haru, she was coming home today knowing he was the love of her life, and she was his. She had set out as a lonely woman, desperate for love, and she had come home to find she was part of a family now, for the first time in years. She couldn't keep the tears from flooding her eyes whenever she let herself think about it…
"Are you okay?" Haru asked her, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. It startled Ty Lee out of her happy daze.
"Oh… yes," she said, smiling warmly at him. Haru grinned right back. "I've thought we should give her Suki's old room, it's in good shape still, so…"
"Sounds perfect," said Haru, beaming and taking Ty Lee's hand in his own. "Let's take her there, then."
"Of course!" Ty Lee agreed, reaching for Ran's hand as well and leading the two Earth Kingdom natives upstairs.
It had been a long trip, but every hardship and struggle had been worth this payoff: Ty Lee had a family now, and it was one she intended to protect and treasure with all her might.
The Fire Lord's eyebrows twitched as his gaze raked the words on the final page. His chest burned, but he was tempering his reaction, at least for now. His daughter's speech in the Festivals had already hinted at the dangerous thoughts that coursed through her mind lately, but he never thought she would take her new beliefs this far. His brow furrowed before he set down the document, taking a deep breath to soothe himself before ordering his assigned Imperial Guard to send for Princess Azula at once.
She arrived within a few minutes, clad in her golden armor. While she had a nonchalant air to herself, Ozai could see in her sharp eyes that she was aware of why she had been summoned.
"Is something wrong with the documents I submitted for your approval, Father?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "I was on my way to the Grand Royal Dome, but if you need me right now…"
"I do, Princess Azula," said Ozai, pronouncing her name and title slowly. Dangerously, as if to imply she might lose her status if she took a single step out of line.
To his chagrin, Azula was unimpressed. She merely stared back at him as though she had nothing to regret, nothing to take back. He had already suspected, and dreaded, that she might have lost some of her reverential admiration towards him, but only now did he face that indisputable reality head-on. He frowned before extending his hand towards the chair across his desk.
"Please," he said. Azula sat down nonchalantly, as he requested. "I have read your documents indeed. Your strategies for the homeless people seem feasible, and it's a good solution for this problem. I have approved this project, and I shall provide you with the funding you will need for it."
"That… thank you," said Azula, her attitude softening now, just as Ozai had hoped it would. "I was ready to handle it on my own, as you could see on the papers, but…"
"It would seem your plans are stable and steady enough that the expenses for this project are perfectly justified," said Ozai. "I am willing to make a gamble on you, Princess Azula. See to it that this investment is, indeed, worthwhile."
"Thank you, Father," said Azula, bowing her head curtly towards him. "I'm honored to have your support in this endeavor."
"As for the second document…" Ozai said, and to his irritation, Azula's former steel returned at full strength.
She knew exactly what he did to manipulate people. She had seen it up close for years on end, endured it herself several times, and too often she had been too scared to contradict him, but not today. Suddenly, it seemed all her past reservations had vanished: who was the woman sitting opposite to Ozai now? Was there any remnant of his daughter left within her?
"I understand it must seem intrusive, subversive too, but after what I've experienced and what I witnessed at the prison rig, I couldn't reach a different conclusion," Azula determined. Ozai huffed.
"Is that so?" he asked. "May I inquire why is that the case? Was there truly no choice but to conclude that slaves deserve to be treated with as much respect as porcelain dolls do?"
"Why, I don't remember writing that. Perhaps someone tampered with the document," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Ozai looked at her skeptically. "Yes?"
"Well, you certainly came home with quite the sense of humor," he said, shaking his head. "You wrote, in this document, that slavery needs to be controlled. That slave owners ought to be held accountable for breaking the laws that you have composed and proposed should be approved by me and my council to regulate the slavery system. You believe, it would seem, that slaves have it too hard in this society. Is that it?"
"Oh, no doubt they do, but this isn't about them," said Azula, shrugging. Ozai frowned at her casually uttered claim. "I've always understood why you decided to start the slavery system, and it certainly has worked wonders so far. But I don't think you're aware of some complicated factors at the very lowest levels of the slavery system."
"Do enlighten me, then," said Ozai, his face a mask that spelled out, bluntly, that she would fail to change his mind.
"Slaves came from the Earth Kingdom, initially. There are a few rare ones, such as my gladiator, who come from the Water Tribe," Azula started, undeterred by Ozai's evident skepticism. "And of course, you know it well, Fire Nation citizens who break the laws, or do anything they shouldn't, can and will be demoted into slavery. All this will be fine and good for the first few decades this system is functional, I suppose. But you see… you'll run out of Former Earth Kingdom citizens to enslave in due time. Even if the Water Tribes fall before us, the same will happen with their people, eventually. Within a few generations, slaves will have died out because of practices such as what happened in the prison rig, such as what happens in the Amateur Gladiator League. Such as what happens in towns like Shu Wo, where slaves are treated with less respect than the dirt on which their commoners tread.
"This system, as it is, is simply not sustainable. You won't have enough slaves to satisfy your nobility or your middle classes if they keep dying over poor treatment by careless masters who don't value their lives but demand their services. And that is what my document is truly about, Father."
She should feel triumphant by now, no doubt, for Ozai's initial skepticism had shifted into wariness. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was right. Ozai didn't care enough about slaves to bother pondering how the system should work: as far as he was concerned, slavery was a form of punishment to those who had too much pride or lacked the means to become Honorary Fire Nation Citizens. He had slaves in this very Palace, and he knew most noblemen had their own, too, but he had never quite pondered the possibility of a slave shortage now that the system was in place.
"You… propose control," Ozai said. Azula nodded. "It's no surprise, I suppose, as that's what I would consider ideal, in any situation… yet I'm not convinced."
"How can I clear up your uncertainties, then?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.
"You believe controlling our nobles and middle class will be the answer," Ozai said, tapping the desk between them with a finger. "But you know why I provided them with slaves in the first place. This life is meant to be a lesson for the slaves: they wasted their chances to join us and now must face the appropriate punishment for it. And depriving the upper classes from slaves would turn that punishment around, in a sense…"
"Is that so?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "Slaves simply won't be mistreated and won't be killed. They will still be expected to provide their masters with the same services they already do."
"And if they grow complacent?" Ozai asked, raising his eyebrows. "If they get… funnier ideas than just being treated with decency? I understand you wish to uphold your speech, Azula, but this… this is not sustainable either."
"I can't say I see where the problem lies, Father," Azula said, intertwining her fingers. "Any slaves who act out will face consequences, the same way any upper-class citizen would… oh, but perhaps you mean that you can't demote them into slavery twice? Ah, that must be it…"
"Do you take this matter seriously at all, child?" Ozai asked, his patience thinning by now. And yet Azula remained undeterred.
"You believe they can stage an uprising. Join forces and rebel against us," Azula asked, looking at him sternly now. "Well, considering the kind of lives they're living right now, they have a much stronger motivation to rebel and die fighting right now than they will if they're given minimal privileges and the chance to carry out a decent life. The Amateur Arenas are ripe for riots and uprisings, precisely because of the conditions in which their fighters are currently enslaved.
"And speaking of gladiators… there's a fair number of Superior League ones, mine included, who are slaves as well. They're properly trained and quite possibly capable of taking out our average soldiers, the best of them might even defeat highly-ranked officers too. If they ever decided to join forces because they've had enough of being treated like garbage, which I truly hope won't happen, it's quite possible that our most clever source of entertainment for the masses will outright turn against us and wreak havoc throughout our cities, for they will have the power to achieve exactly that.
"Yet you already have the example of one gladiator who hasn't done that. One slave who has been given more privileges than he was worth, quite likely. And you have even presented him as the poster child of the ideal slave, haven't you? You've had him paraded in parties and social events as the kind of slave most others should strive to be like. I removed him from a life-or-death situation and now he's even capable of fighting off rebels and damn near dying for his employer if need be. That is what you deemed to be the ideal slave. And the only reason why he's become who he is now… is because I treated him as an employee indeed, because I could see he was someone who would only give back as much respect as I gave him. You can't parade my gladiator as an exemplary slave that every other slave should seek to imitate if most of them are being starved, abused and beaten to death on a regular basis. They would never act the way my gladiator does if their conditions don't improve."
"And if they were fed well, and treated with respect, they might still choose to rebel and now they might have the strength to succeed," Ozai said, raising his eyebrows. "Perhaps whoever is left in the city that belongs to the White Lotus could recruit these well-fed, properly-treated slaves, and then what will be left for us?"
"Well, considering a common slave has no noteworthy bending or weapons training… if they presented a genuine threat to our armed forces, that would only reflect poorly on our soldiers," said Azula, raising her eyebrows. "The most dangerous gladiators are, presumably, already being properly fed and not mistreated. It's true for the Millennium Dragon, for instance, the second-best gladiator in the Superior League, and a slave. He hasn't rebelled, though, and neither has mine. Which hypothetical scenario is more likely to come true, a rebellion of weakened but outraged slaves, or a rebellion of softened slaves with no hopes of finding better lives than the ones they're currently leading?"
"If they're no threat when strong, they're no threat if they're weak either," Ozai declared. "I understand your concerns regarding economy and the eventual decrease in slaves, but I suppose that can be fixed if slaves procreate and their children are born into slavery…"
"Just how likely is that to happen?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "Especially considering the harsh control most of them are subjected to. From what little I understand, women in places like Shu Wo and Hui Yi would likely be forced to abort any children they conceive, given the kind of work they're forced to do, and if that's true for them, it's probably true for female slaves in most households. Even if they were to conceive any children, which is doubtful, there's a strong chance that most of them wouldn't carry a pregnancy to term because it'd be inconvenient for them to work while pregnant. You can't count on a second generation of slaves to bail you out if the first one can't create the second one. But…"
"Oh, of course they would be able to make a new generation of slaves if they were well-fed and treated with respect," Ozai said, condescendingly. Azula shrugged.
"I can't see why not," she said. "At the very least, if there's fewer female slaves at risk of being brutalized and murdered, there's a stronger chance that they'll provide you with that second generation of slaves you hope for."
Ozai's brow was furrowed, and Azula remained impassive. She refused to relent, it was clear…
But so did he.
"I cannot accept this," he said. Azula's eyes narrowed.
"You can. You're simply choosing not to because you expect your nobles will be outraged if you try to control how they treat slaves," she said. Ozai huffed.
"You propose the creation of these laws, and of a task force to control slavery throughout the city at first, and throughout all the territories that belong to us, later on," said Ozai. "And you even suggested that, if there are no recruits to be found for said task force, that women should be encouraged to join the armed forces of the nation. You expect them to stroll through the city checking on every slave?"
"I do," said Azula, shrugging. "And you always say the army is spread too thin, which is true. This is a solution for that predicament. There are already a few women in service here and there, aren't there?"
"They enrolled some years ago," Ozai confirmed, almost unwillingly. "They serve with the Domestic Forces, though."
"Then it's simply a matter of enrolling others and assigning some of the already trained women to this specific task," Azula said. "You've kept women contained in the Domestic Forces, none of them has risen to a position of power… with all that in mind, why not have them work on this project? There's a decent chance they'll want to be part of it, especially if they're promised they'll advance through this task force's ranks far more easily than through the Domestic Forces'…"
"Because, Princess Azula, there is no project," Ozai said, harshly. Azula sighed "I will not change what needs no change. You have more than enough duties to uphold as it is, and I will not have you undertaking multiple assignments, as you seem to wish to, just to please me. Slavery has become an important asset to our society and culture, and you would do best to remember that."
"I sought to improve it, that's all," Azula said, nearly between gritted teeth. "You have always encouraged me to try harder, to do my best with everything I ever do… and I found an area in our society and culture that needed and deserved improvements. That is all there is to it."
"Is it, really?" Ozai asked, raising his eyebrows. Azula frowned. "Because as soon as I started reading it, I had the very distinctive feeling that this document is barely the first step towards abolishing slavery entirely. Am I wrong?"
"Abolishing slavery? That's madness. I can barely begin to imagine how many problems that could cause," Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Ozai frowned, surprised. "It's only been a decade since it started, and yet slavery has become so ingrained within our society that… well, any Fire Lord who tries to outlaw it will be run out of their office within the fortnight. I would never demand anything so extreme from you, Father."
"You wouldn't, then?" Ozai said, raising his eyebrows. Azula nodded. "Well, I suppose you would be smart enough to know better than that, after all. At any rate… I suppose that is all we had to discuss. You were on your way to the Royal Dome, then?"
"I was," Azula said, lowering her gaze before bowing her head towards her father. "I know it's a lot to ask… but please, take my project into consideration. It may need more work and I can readjust whatever you believe can be improved upon, but… I only want to help you and the Fire Nation, Father. It's all I've ever wanted."
"I should hope so," said Ozai, sighing before waving his hand dismissively towards her. "Go on, then. The Dome awaits you."
"Thank you for reading my proposals," Azula said, bowing again before standing up. "I'll be back soon."
"Very well. Have a good day, Azula," Ozai said, as the Princess turned on her heels and left the study quickly.
He glared at the door through which she had vanished. Azula was too accomplished a liar and a manipulator: he couldn't quite believe her declared motivations were genuine, and he was still certain that she had bigger plans in mind than what she was saying she did.
Her project had its merits, there was no denying it. Nevertheless… it was impossible, for many reasons, both the ones he'd told her, and several other reasons he never planned to disclose to his daughter. He picked up the document again and stared at it for a moment, his cold eyes showing no mercy as he raised his free hand. A small burst of flames appeared at the tips of his fingers…
And yet he hesitated. His father hadn't listened to him, at any point in time… Ozai had been determined not to be that kind of father for Azula. And yet he was about to do exactly what Azulon would have done to him, if he had tried to craft a project the way Azula had. Well, perhaps that wasn't true: Ozai had the sense to burn the papers while Azula was gone, while his father would have likely set them on fire in front of Ozai, without even reading a single page.
The fear of becoming exactly like the man whose legacy he had always wanted to destroy gnawed away at him. He had torn down Azulon's statues and replaced them with his own. He had renamed places, welcomed back the dragons, undone countless laws his father had put into place, many of them on whims. He had outdone Azulon in regards of the Earth Kingdom conquest, becoming the one Fire Lord who had forced their strongest rival nation to its knees…
He had thought he had destroyed Azulon's legacy, never considering that maybe he was part of that legacy. His stomach churned, twisting just as the pages would, once the fire started consuming them…
With a snarl, he tossed the intact pages into a drawer and closed it brusquely. He would find the key for that drawer and lock it, and he'd never to look at the damn project again. Hopefully that was already better than what Azulon would have done.
A light breeze brushed against him, even though it wasn't a windy day.
His eyes widened as he forgot about the drawer for now, knowing that sensation announced the arrival of someone he had been expecting for weeks now. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, but Ozai wasn't genuinely uncomfortable. He merely turned towards the nearest window, watching as a dark shape manifested from thin air.
"Tell me you have good news, Seethus," he nearly growled. While Seethus wasn't to blame for his bad mood, he was still reeling from his conversation with Azula and could barely control his bad temper. "I won't stand for anything else today."
To his relief, Seethus nodded. After such a draining conversation with Azula, Ozai finally had a good enough reason to smile, or rather, to smirk.
"Do tell, then. Did you find anything?"
"I have, Lord Ozai: a vast number of suspects," said Seethus, "I have tracked down most of them by now. Shall I proceed?"
"You shall," said Ozai, a wild smile on his face now. "I knew you wouldn't fail me. Get on with it immediately, Seethus."
Seethus bowed his head, before the dark colors of his large cloak faded into nothingness. Ozai smirked proudly, wickedly. Perhaps his daughter was failing him right now, but Seethus could easily fix Ozai's sour mood, as long as he did his job right…
And he always did.
"So, he's going to fund the project for the homeless people?" Sokka asked, his eyes wide. "Really? Out of the good will of his black heart?"
Azula nodded, though there was no enthusiasm in the gesture. She had fetched Sokka at his house, as ever, though she had agreed to Song's polite offer of tea before taking off to the Dome. Sokka had been in his usual blissful mood around her, until Azula shared the outcome of her meeting with his father, once they were airborne again.
"He claimed as much, but granted, I figure he was merely trying to reward me for doing something that he could approve of right before shutting me down with everything else," Azula answered, as she tugged on Xin Long's bridle, directing him down towards the Grand Royal Dome. "Nothing my father does is straightforward, but it's also not as mysterious as he wants it to be, either."
"I suppose not," said Sokka, grimacing. "I'm glad he didn't do anything bad to you, though. That's the main thing I was dreading, as you know…"
"He didn't, but I still had hopes that our meeting would be more productive than it was," Azula huffed, shaking her head. "I don't know what it will take to make my father change his mind about slavery, but I hope I figure it out soon. I can't wait to put a stop to this madness already."
"You will. You're smarter than anyone I know, and you always achieve everything you set out to do," Sokka said, briefly pressing his forehead to the back of her head. Azula swallowed hard. "You'll pull it off."
"I hope you're right. I really do," she said, her disheartened eyes set on the rapidly approaching ground.
Xin Long landed softly; Azula and Sokka climbed off his saddle and the Princess patted the dragon's snout gently as thanks. Xin Long shook his head afterwards, making his mane and whiskers dance in the wind, before jumping into the air anew. Azula waved at him as he left before turning towards Sokka, who waited with a small smile on his lips.
"But anyhow… we should focus on the good things," he said, hands on his hips. "That he approved the homeless people project is…! Uh, you know? We really should come up with a better name for it than that. That one's so long, and it doesn't sound remotely interesting…"
"Well, as much as you certainly outdid my expectations recently, naming-wise, you're not allowed to give this project a name," Azula said, smirking at him as they walked towards the Dome's doors. "This is a little more important than foolish pet names."
"No doubt, but it still needs a cooler name. I propose…!"
"Not listening."
"Hey, you've come all this way with me just because you've respected and listened to me when…!"
"When it comes to matters where your input is useful, this isn't one of them," she answered bluntly, leaving Sokka open-mouthed and glaring at her in disbelief.
"You cruel, heartless Princess, preaching one thing and practicing another…" he grumbled under his breath as they walked through the vestibule. Azula couldn't hold back her soft laughter as they made their way to Shoji's counter.
As ever, people watched them reverently, many bowing down towards Azula. She had grown used to drawing their attention, and by now she did a fairly good job of ignoring most people in the Dome and their constant reverences unless she had no choice. Today was shaping up to be no different, until she found there was someone arguing with Shoji at his counter.
"… Can't you send for him or something? This is outrageous!"
"I… I understand you're distraught, but we can't do anything if a sponsor defaults," Shoji explained, grimacing. The man at the counter groaned in irritation.
"I can't believe that coward would chicken out on me like this. After he sent the damn challenge in the first place! How dares he?" he grumbled, shaking his head and inching away from the counter.
The man's new position allowed Shoji to spot Azula and Sokka. His eyes brightened quickly, but he still eyed the other sponsor warily as he waited for the man to walk away for good.
"I know it's not the way anyone wants to be victorious, but it's not within our power to do anything else," said Shoji, bowing his head gently towards the sponsor. "I hope this won't happen again."
"It better not. That Pyro Tornado bastard has been a thorn on my side for years, it was finally time to finish this nonsense with him and he just bailed? Damn him for good…" said the man, throwing his hands up in the air. "Fine, fine, I'll just leave, then. Curse that bastard…"
The man didn't seem to take notice of Azula and Sokka, something unexpected in these halls. He merely stormed off towards the stairs that led to the lower floor, leaving behind a relieved Shoji and a confused pair of gladiator and sponsor.
"Good day. I'm glad to see you both," said Shoji, smiling warmly. Azula nodded towards him.
"I suppose you must be, if that's what you have to deal with all day," she said. "What's wrong?"
"Just a defaulted match," said Shoji, shaking his hand carelessly. "The Light Bearer's sponsor is a bit abrasive. Some sponsors hate traveling and giving their best efforts to attend fights that won't happen… and he's one of them, of course. As the Pyro Tornado didn't show up, he's officially beaten him… but he's angry that he bothered accepting the challenge at all."
"The Light Bearer?" Azula repeated, frowning. "Isn't that the third-best gladiator in the League? I think I've seen his name in the ranking before…"
"Yeah, he's one of the crowd's favorites," Shoji said, smiling a bit. "His usual Arena is the Ring of Ash, but he'll come here in hopes to fight stronger rivals often. He's only lost a handful of times, and he's dangerously close to beating the Millennium Dragon for the second place… The Pyro Tornado is nowhere near as high in the ranking, but his sponsor has been challenging him non-stop for years now. It's the first time there's been a defaulted fight between them, even after the Light Bearer sliced off the Pyro Tornado's hand…"
"Tore off his hand?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. "Wait, but… is he a non-bender?"
"No, he's a firebender, but his firebending is pretty strange," said Shoji, shrugging. "I don't know much about it but… he can cut people with it, somehow?"
"Sounds like a tough rival to beat," said Sokka, grimacing. "You're not sending me against him, are you, Azula?"
"Not yet, I suppose," Azula smirked. Sokka glared at her begrudgingly. "We'll have to study him properly before you fight him. If I think you're in good enough shape for it, though…"
"Yeah, I bet I'm going to be a damn great fighter without one of my hands," Sokka declared, looking at Azula skeptically as she smiled at him. "Sounds like a grand plan."
"At any rate, we didn't come here to discuss household rivalries," Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest. "We've come back from winning a Pairs Tournament, so I'm curious if we've improved at all after that achievement…"
"Oh, well… you did," Shoji said, but his half-hearted smile didn't convince Azula, unsurprisingly.
"Why does it look like you're about to give us bad news, then?" she asked. Shoji sighed.
"It's just, well…" he said, offering Azula the long scroll with the ranking. "I guess you can see for yourself."
Azula frowned as she read quickly through the ranks. She reached the hundredth fighter as fast as she could, knowing Sokka had been on the 118th position the last time, so he had to be higher than…
Her face was a mask of disbelief when she spotted him. Sokka glanced over her shoulder to look, too, and his jaw dropped.
"What?! WHAT?!" he yelled, leading Azula to smack his chest lightly over being unnecessarily loud. "Y-you mean we won a Pairs Tournament, earned around two thousand points, and we only rose two positions?! What the hell is this?!"
"It's… the highest levels of the Superior League?" answered Shoji, with a sad smile. "It's what everyone goes through. I know it's not reassuring at all… but at least you're the 116th by now, right?"
"Right," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "How many points did we get, exactly?"
"That'd be… two-thousand, seven-hundred and sixty," Shoji answered earnestly, reading through information he had received from the Green Gates. Azula gaped at him in disbelief.
"And that was just… two spots. Well, I suppose you'll have to hope everyone in the top hundred will drop out spontaneously, Sokka, because I doubt you'll ever become the number one gladiator at this rate…"
"Well, all things considered, the Blue Wolf has risen ridiculously fast, only rivaled by the Blind Bandit," said Shoji, looking at them earnestly again. "And she's probably only ahead of you for a couple of positions because she's fought a few more times than you have…"
"She'll keep boosting ahead of us now that she has the Slate," Azula grunted, shaking her head.
"Well, I don't know if this will mean anything to you guys, but as he was your partner in the Tournament…" said Shoji, smiling as he scanned the scroll for another competitor. "Your friend, the Emerald Rockman, rose thirty spots and has never been in better shape, from what I heard from the tournament's report…"
"Did he?" Sokka asked, looking through the ranking for Haru. "Where was he before?"
"He used to be the 176th, just before participating in the tournament. Now he's gone up to 146th!"
"Woah!" Sokka said, eyes wide as he confirmed Haru's new position directly. "He really did get a boost, huh? And… hey, he's reached a hundred victories after the Tournament! We ought to celebrate that, huh?"
"Celebrate his hundredth victory while we can't seem to rise above our current levels in the ranking?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows skeptically. "I suppose Ty Lee would be delighted to revel over this, but I, personally…"
"Hey, I'm just trying to be happy for him, I want to find the positive ray of sunshine in the midst of this… stuffy situation we're stuck in within the ranking," Sokka sighed. Azula shrugged.
"I suppose we got used to rising fast, after all. We were bound to stop doing it over time," she said. "We'll have to devise a better plan than this. Something more efficient. Joining more events, perhaps…"
"Only if they'll give us ten thousand points," Sokka mumbled, irritable. "Looks like that's what we'd need to rise at all, from now on."
"Well, we knew this wouldn't be easy," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "We can't give up just because it's an uphill climb. Like I said, we just need a new strategy, but for now…"
"For now, we challenge someone ordinary and boring?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. Azula smiled and shrugged.
"We can start from there, figure out the rest of our plans later," she said, as Shoji offered her all her pending challenges.
They resolved to select The Fiery Nightmare, a firebender at the 170th position on the ranking. With Wolf's Bane as one of his weapons, Sokka had become nearly invulnerable against flames, which meant his better opponents by now were, indeed, firebenders. Azula was studying the rest of the challenges they'd received, hoping to single out the firebenders Sokka could take out easily within a week or two, when she heard familiar voices on the nearby staircase.
"… Please, can't we use this story instead? I know she's not as popular as the Light Bearer, but my wife fought in the Slate, remember?"
Azula raised her gaze towards the stairs to find two men climbing down to the vestibule, near Shoji's counter. She recognized the Superior League's chairman easily enough, with his long moustache and bald head, but it took her a moment to place the spikey-haired man speaking hastily beside him.
"Goodness, I'd forgotten about him," Azula mumbled. Sokka raised an eyebrow before noticing the pair on the stairs too.
It would have been easier to recognize Yang if his wife had been walking closer to him, but she lagged behind, speaking to her admirers, it seemed. She mustn't have wanted to interrupt Yang's heated discussion with the chairman.
"You have already run two stories on the Queen of Pain, and so far, it hasn't resulted in decent sales, Shuyu. She needs to be more popular than she is, popular like… like the Blue Wolf! Greetings, Princess!"
Azula smiled awkwardly as the chairman bowed towards her. Unsurprisingly, Yang, or Shuyu, gasped and made an exaggerated reverence of his own. Azula's eyebrow twitched as she wondered whether Yang was bowing at her or at Sokka.
"It's my pleasure to see you on such a fine day," said the chairman, beaming at Azula upon rising at her command. She nodded.
"I'm sure it is," she said. "Is something the matter?"
"Oh, nothing of consequence, merely matters of business strategies," said the chairman, smiling as professionally as ever. "I have many meetings to attend, I do pray Shuyu won't bother you…"
"Well, I certainly hope not, though I have no idea who Shuyu is," Azula said, looking at Yang questioningly. The man jolted upright, looking at her nervously. "Did you change names when I wasn't keeping tabs on you?"
"I-it's just my pen name," said Yang, smiling awkwardly. "I'm still me…"
"I can see that," Azula said, with a smirk, before turning towards the chairman. "Have a good day, then, chairman."
"Thank you! The same for you, Princess! I can't wait to watch your next fight in the Royal Dome!" the man exclaimed, bowing once more as he took off, towards a door to the side of the vestibule.
"It's been a while, Yang," Sokka said, smiling at the man. "Sounds like you're still working for the Gladiator League, huh?"
"Y-yeah, it is fortunate that I have kept this job…" Yang said, half-heartedly. "It's just, um… it seems I have a lot of room for improvement still."
"I'm sure it's nothing that serious, though, or is it?" Sokka asked, smiling and waving at Haiyan, who was finally walking down the stairs. "Hey there!"
"Oh, what a surprise!" said Haiyan, smiling warmly before bowing her head towards them. "I hope you've been well, Princess, Blue Wolf."
"We're fine, came home to discover we've risen as high as two positions in the ranking after earning over two-thousand points, but we're fine…" said Sokka, his eyebrow twitching. Haiyan smiled at him sympathetically as Yang groaned.
"You won the Pairs Tournament, I heard as much…" he said. "How I wish I'd been there to chronicle every fight!"
"You should have been," Azula reasoned, frowning. "Reporting on events might just be the best way to make more sales. What's the last story you published?"
"Well… you can see it for yourself," said Yang, pointing at Shoji's counter.
The counter was ever covered in fliers and papers, be it because Shoji was struggling to organize all his documents or because of the countless promotional fliers for events that they always kept on that counter. Azula practically made a habit out of ignoring them, thus she hadn't noticed the newer leaflets, sticking out amongst the promotional fliers for an event called Gladiator Brawl. The ones Yang was responsible for were titled: "Gladiator League Chronicles".
"They think I need to be more descriptive and pick the violent fights instead of the more interesting ones," Yang pouted, picking up one of the leaflets and handing it over to Azula. "Thirsty Raven is one of the fastest rising gladiators in the League, along with your own and the Blind Bandit, so I figured I'd choose him for last week's fight, but apparently nobody wants to read about a non-bender with mind-numbing agility, with the ability to overwhelm nearly every opponent he faces through speed alone…!"
"He's not a well-known fighter, I take it?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "Maybe you need to choose the top ranked fighters…"
"Such is what I tried to do today" said Yang, with a dry grin as he gestured at the blackboard where the Light Bearer and the Pyro Tornado's forfeited match seemed to gleam cruelly over the author. "But that famous rivalry failed its public for the first time ever, it seems, and unless I write an article speculating on why the Pyro Tornado failed to show up, today's fights won't do me any good either."
"How about waiting for one of Combustion Man's fights, then?" Sokka suggested.
"Oh, I've already written Combustion Man's fights three times as it is," Yang groaned, rolling his eyes. "What's the point? 'And then he stepped forward, with his voluminous metal limbs, took aim at his enemy and blew them up as violently as an anvil falling on fresh pudding!' That's as good as every fight he's ever had. If I was just there as part of the audience it might be more interesting, but trying to write anything worthwhile about that kind of combat is just… ugh."
"Yang is having a hard time lately," said Haiyan, smiling awkwardly. "Well, I suppose we both are…"
"You too?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. "What happened to you?"
"I spent a few months out of the ring," Haiyan answered, sighing. "And out of the construction projects too. They won't take me back, it seems…"
"Wait, why?" said Sokka, eyes wide now. "Did something bad happen?"
"Well, yes. I broke my ankle," Haiyan said, lifting the fabric of her trousers slightly to show Sokka the bandaged leg. "It's healed enough that I could fight and win today, but the construction projects refuse to have me again. They say I'm not reliable, so…"
"You'd be more reliable if they paid you better," Sokka mumbled. "Then you wouldn't need to have two jobs, would you?"
"True," said Haiyan, nodding promptly.
"So, you've hit another serious slump?" Azula asked, grimacing. Yang gritted his teeth and shook his head.
"You mustn't worry, Princess!" he exclaimed. "You already helped us a lot, I cherish this job, and we'll get by somehow! You needn't give us a hand if you…!"
"Good to know, but maybe you're the ones who ought to give me a hand this time around, instead," Azula cut him off, shrugging.
Even Sokka stared at her in confusion at her unexpected words. Yang blinked blankly, utterly puzzled.
"Y-you mean… oh?" he said. "Is there anything we could do for you? B-because if it is within our power…!"
"Not within yours, I'm afraid," Azula said, glancing at Haiyan instead. "Within hers, instead. It seems you need a stable job, and I'm in need of someone to hire, so, if the job suits your liking, I'd say you're my first and, so far, only candidate for it."
Sokka was open-mouthed now. Azula looked at him nonchalantly and shrugged, pleased when she saw him smiling slowly.
"You just can't stop being ridiculously efficient, can you?" he said. "Holding a job interview in the middle of checking on our raking position and sending new challenges…"
"What can I say? My schedule is too packed these days, I have to do multiple things at a time," she said, smiling.
"W-wait, what sort of job are we talking about?" said Haiyan, her interest piqued. "I mean, I'm very much intrigued, but… I can't say I'm fit to do all sorts of jobs."
"Nonsense! You're the most talented woman there is!" Yang exclaimed, childishly. Haiyan smiled warmly at him.
"Well, do you cook?" Azula asked. Haiyan nodded. "Are you capable of cleaning a house?"
"I am… do you want a servant?" Haiyan asked, surprised. "I thought you had the best ones already…"
"No, I don't want a servant," Azula said, waving her hand carelessly. "You can write and read too, can't you?"
"I can indeed."
"Can you play the figure of authority for others in need of guidance?" Azula asked. Haiyan's eyes widened.
"Can I… huh?"
"Sure she can!" Yang exclaimed, beaming. "She's always bossing me around!"
"I…! I don't do that!" Haiyan said, looking at Yang accusingly as he embraced her arm.
"You do, and I love it!" he declared. Haiyan blushed and shook her head.
"As far as I can tell, she sounds like a good candidate," Sokka said, smiling at his sponsor. Azula nodded.
"I suppose the one thing left to ask is whether you'd agree to move out of your current living arrangements and to your new workplace," she said, with a sigh. "It's quite the commitment, I know, but it would be for the best if you could live with the people under your charge…"
"Wait… living in my new workplace?" Haiyan asked, blinking blankly. "Y-you mean, me and Yang?"
"Oh. Well, clearly, I wouldn't expect him not to move in with you, it's true," Azula said, with an awkward smile. "Doesn't sound like anything that ought to happen to a married couple, right?"
"It doesn't, but…!" exclaimed Haiyan, covering her mouth with her hands. "Goodness, this is…! Where, exactly, is that new workplace?"
"Well, nowhere just yet," Azula confessed. "But hopefully within the city, or, at worst, on the outskirts…"
"But it would be a real, actual house? With walls, and roof, and…?" Haiyan asked. Azula nodded warily now.
"I wouldn't expect you to live under a bridge, if that's what you're worried about…" she said, as Haiyan laughed in joy.
"Well, our house isn't particularly remarkable, so it wouldn't have been much of a switch-up to live underneath one!" she said. Yang pouted.
"Hey, it's not that bad," he mumbled. "You built most of it yourself!"
"That doesn't mean it's any good," Haiyan said, sighing. "It's… a really cheap cabin I improvised with whatever spare materials my old construction guild had. I'd always been on the lookout for new material to improve our house with, but…"
"But we never thought we'd get a new house, just like that," said Yang, smiling slowly. "Still… what sort of job are we talking about? So far, it sounds like you want Haiyan to… babysit a house?"
"That should be called… house-sitting" said Sokka, nodding wisely. Yang stroked his chin.
"Isn't house-sitting's meaning just to sit inside a…?"
"Enough grammar games here: if you want to know what the job is I'll explain it now," Azula said, looking at Haiyan earnestly. "I haven't scouted for anyone else who may need this job, but you two sound like you're in dire circumstances right now, so… once you know what it is, you can either take it or leave it."
"Very well," said Haiyan, nodding slowly.
Azula told Haiyan, explaining the situation as thoroughly as possible. Yang's eyes widened, for the complexity of the situation stunned him quickly. But it became apparent that he wasn't the one in charge in their household when Haiyan gave Azula her answer, with the determination and certainty of someone who would not change their mind:
"I'll do it."
Two weeks of preparations and planning passed by in a blur. Within that short time, they selected a house, and it was almost completely ready to receive all its new tenants. Haiyan and Yang would move in first, and before the week was over, the homeless people would do the same. They would finally have a proper roof over their heads rather than the Prison Tower's own – the prison's guards were eager to transfer the responsibility of looking after the ravenous homeless people to anyone else who'd take them.
The married couple had brought their belongings to their new house today. Azula had offered to find them a carriage with which they could bring everything with them, but it seemed they could easily carry everything in their arms – mainly, in Haiyan's arms. The house appeared awfully big for the two of them right now, as all four of them toured through its rooms, but everyone knew that would change once everyone else moved in, too.
"It's so classy I think I'll cry," Yang whimpered, shaking his head as he gazed about himself in amazement inside the fancy building. "Never did I actually believe I'd get to live someplace like this…"
"Well, it's up to you to keep it in its classy shape," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "To the two of you and your future housemates, actually."
"And it's one heck of an improvement for you guys, right?" said Sokka, beaming as he clapped Yang's shoulder with a hand.
"Things have certainly fallen into place quite smoothly for all of us with this arrangement," Azula commented, closing her eyes in relief before turning to Sokka. "At any rate, are you ready to go yet? We are due to fight near sunset, remember?"
"I just have to get my weapons, I left them by the entrance," Sokka said, smiling as he waved a hand carelessly at Azula. "We'll get going in a moment, Princess, no need to nag me."
"As if," she said, scathingly, but Sokka only smiled as he left to fetch his weapons.
"Say, is it okay if I go to the Dome with you two?" Yang asked, softly. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I could also stay here and help Haiyan, but I haven't written anything for the past two weeks and… a Blue Wolf fight would be the best way to get back on the ostrich-horse, eh?"
"All things considered, I will pay Haiyan a considerable salary," Azula said, crossing her arms over her chest. "If your job is troubling you too much, you could give it up. Maybe you're not fit for that kind of writing."
"I… might not be. But then again, who is?" Yang groaned. "Whenever I write anything, they'll correct my content until they've rewritten it in their words entirely, and later on, when it won't sell successfully, they blame me for failing to write a good article. It doesn't make any sense, does it?"
"It proves the people who hired you have very little understanding of writing as a profession," Azula said, nodding. Yang sighed in relief.
"I'm so glad someone else gets it," he said. "Of course, my wife understands, but if you do too, then I am all the more reassured…"
"You seem quite miserable, I will say," Azula mumbled. Yang's relief was wiped away quickly.
"I… what?"
"You were so enthusiastic when we first met that it was almost cringeworthy," Azula said curtly. Yang flinched, as though she had stabbed him through the chest with her sword. "But suddenly it seems you're nowhere near as joyful as you once were. Is the job that much of a disappointment?"
"Well… they've forbidden me from being part of the Blue Pack," Yang muttered. Azula grimaced, knowing that condition wouldn't sit well with the man. "I'm still one of them, by all effects, and I always give them tips about which fights to watch, and I can tell them when the Blue Wolf will be fighting next, if I find out. But the chairman and the board say I have to be impartial, and I won't be if I'm the president of the Blue Wolf's fan club…"
"Huh. No wonder you're not happy," Azula said.
"It makes sense, I know it does, but… it's irritating," said Yang, sighing again. "And really, writing for them isn't the same as being paid for what I'm inspired to write. They want me to write whatever they want, they don't care about my own ideas and interests. I feel… stuck, to a fault. I want to write freely again, but I can't give up my job. And I won't leave Haiyan to take care of being the sole breadwinner in our home, I can't be that useless a husband."
"Then why not write whenever you return home after work?" Sokka asked, walking back to the corridor with his weapons in tow. Yang was startled by his intervention: he hadn't noticed Sokka had heard his plight, let alone had he expected him to have something to say about it.
"W-well, I do try, but I'm so tired already that I can barely make myself write another word by then," said Yang, shrugging. "I have a story idea in mind, too! I think it could be fun, but I don't know if anyone else would think so too…"
"Considering you already have a job, does that matter?" Sokka asked, scratching the back of his neck. "You could write it for yourself, you know, if just to have something fun to do instead of only writing articles on violent fights."
"I suppose that makes sense," said Yang, rubbing his chin with his thumb. "Then… a story about a noble school? About the group of top students in the institution! They'll form a team, and they work to improve said school, and as they do it, they'll laugh and cry and fall in love, and… and I need one last thing to make it work. Something… strong!"
"Like… one of the students is preparing for joining the army?" Sokka suggested, with a dry grin. "So he has to work out and then that makes him… physically strong?"
"I thought you were better at storytelling than this," Azula said, looking at Sokka in disbelief. "I guess you really didn't make up that legend about the South Pole's wolf spirit, it was too well-thought-out for your literary standards, apparently…"
"Hey!"
"Well, thanks for the idea, but not that kind of strong," said Yang, smiling with mischief now. "I meant… 'the criminal underground world will catch up to them'-kind of strong!"
"The… what?" Azula said, looking at Yang skeptically now. Suddenly Sokka's idea sounded a lot more coherent than she had given it credit for.
"You know, in an idealistic world where there's no war, violence exists in different ways," said Yang, his eyes shining with malice. "So… there's this whole secretive world of cruel criminals who will catch the leader of the students and he will have to fight with everything he's got to return to his old life, but even if he succeeds, he's no longer the same person, and…! Uh, maybe I shouldn't spoil you much, just in case I ever do write it and you want to read it!"
"That's… thoughtful," said Azula, inching away from Yang slowly. "Well, as you aren't likely to publish it, feel free to write that utterly strange story if you want to. You could stay and work on it instead of coming to the Royal Dome with us…"
"No, no, I have to go," said Yang: even though he was talking to her, his mind clearly was elsewhere. "But I guess I'll just plot the whole thing while we're on our way there, that ought to serve me well…"
Azula and Sokka watched him walk towards the room's threshold, his eyes darting side to side in erratic movements; it seemed Yang couldn't help but be completely ridiculous in front of them.
"Are you just going to take off without saying anything to your wife?" Azula asked when he had reached the door, and Yang jumped.
"Goodness, I was about to do it again! Sorry, sorry, I won't be long!" he exclaimed, rushing past them again, on his way to whichever room Haiyan was unpacking at now.
"Must be fun to have a husband who forgets about you just because he's busy coming up with completely absurd stories, huh?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows derisively. Sokka chuckled and looked at her warmly.
"Well, I can promise you I won't do that kind of thing once we're married," he said. Azula snorted, glancing up at him in disbelief.
"Once we're seventy? I'll be lucky if you remember me at all, period," she said. Sokka rolled his eyes. "What? Senility is a genuine problem, Sokka, you should know that…"
It was risky, as it ever was, to kiss her brow and hold her close while laughing softly at her taunts. Yang would return at any given moment, but even Azula seemed to forget about that for now. It had been a while since they'd last had a real chance for any intimacy, as they had been in Yang and Haiyan's company too often these days. If all they could have was one moment, they would take it.
"I intend to be a good husband before I become senile," he said, as he pulled away, his hand caressing hers. "Even though according to your predictions I won't be your husband before then, will I?"
"I'm afraid not," Azula sighed dramatically. Sokka laughed.
"Then I'll just have to be a good fiancé for most our lives, if that's all I can do," he said, squeezing her fingers gently before letting go. "Still, I suppose a writer's mind works in weird ways, doesn't it?"
"I wouldn't lump all authors together with this one," Azula said, staring again in the direction Yang had set off to. "Every new encounter we have with him further convinces me that he's one of the biggest fools I've ever met."
"At least you seem to like Haiyan well enough," said Sokka. "Makes sense that you do, of course. You have a lot in common."
"We do?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Why do you say that?"
"You're both hard-working, talented women who have terrible taste in men, from what I can see," Sokka declared, beaming. Azula rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. "Hey, it's true! Anyone can see I'm the one who's well out of my league here…"
"Anyone would think that, yes. But I know better," Azula declared, looking at him matter-of-factly. "You're in a league of your own, you are. You earn the respect of heads of state with such ease it looks like child's play, and yet you want to keep pretending you're just some ordinary guy?"
"It's no pretense…" Sokka pouted. Azula smiled.
"It's not, you simply underestimate yourself far more than anyone else does," she said. "The rest of us know better."
Sokka bit his lip to hide his own grin, but before he could say anything else Yang came back in a clumsy hurry.
"Okay! Okay! I'm ready now!" he said, smiling awkwardly. "The Dome awaits!"
The walk to the Dome was short, but uncomfortable. Yang didn't ask Sokka a thousand questions, nor did he bother Azula by stammering nervously around her… but he walked right behind the two of them, eyes still shifting in a frenzy, lips twitching as he pondered whatever he was pondering.
"I'm tempted to ask what he's thinking of," Sokka smirked. Azula scowled at him. "What? Aren't you curious?"
"About the story of a group of students who join organized crime? Not really," Azula said, as they climbed the steps to the Dome.
"No, the story isn't about that," Yang said, surprising them by proving he had heard their every word. "It's about the students, in general. Two of them, specifically, but everyone will be important…"
"So… there's no organized crime anymore?" Azula asked.
"Oh, of course there is, it's just not the center of the story," said Yang, shrugging as Sokka opened the doors of the Dome for them. Azula stared at the writer with the most exasperated scowl Sokka had seen on her face in quite some time. "At any rate, I have to go to the judges' balcony, it's where I'm supposed to be for my writing… I'd never want to go so soon, but I have so much to plot that I won't be good company in the meantime!"
"Yeah, well, feel free to go ahead," Azula said, with a sardonic grin. Sokka chuckled.
"Good luck plotting whatever you're plotting. Just, don't forget to write the fight's actual article while you're at it," he said. Yang smiled guiltily and nodded.
"Good luck for you too!" he said, waving at Sokka while walking backwards towards the stairs. "Do your best today! You know I'm rooting for you!"
Sokka nodded promptly at Yang before following Azula to Shoji's counter. The young man seemed busier than ever, struggling with a stack of papers when Azula reached the desk.
"Oh, Princess," said Shoji, smiling awkwardly as he stopped scanning through the papers briefly. "Welcome… you're a bit early, though. Your opponent isn't here yet."
"Is that so?" Azula asked, frowning.
"I hope waiting is alright with you," he said. "A lot of sponsors these days are annoyed about spending more time in waiting rooms than in fights, but…"
"Well… I guess I can exhibit more patience than they can. We'll wait indeed," Azula decided, glancing at Sokka meaningfully.
He tried to school his expression into complete neutrality, but he couldn't manage to do so, at least not entirely. He gritted his teeth and smiled a little, his heart already racing. Other sponsors and gladiators might indeed find it irksome to waste away in waiting rooms… but the two of them had discovered the virtue of those rooms' privacy a very long time ago.
Regardless of their somewhat-recent argument regarding where their relationship had truly begun, there was no argument to be had about what had been the first step that had changed their bond entirely. They never forgot the circumstances of their first kiss, aware that they had done it for such wrong reasons… and yet it was one of many treasured memories they shared, and they were happy to relive it whenever the opportunity arose, too.
The door was locked, the blinds by the windows were closed: no one could be a witness to the Princess's shameless straddling of her gladiator on one of the waiting room's couches. Was this the same room where they had first kissed? It was near impossible to tell, as all of them had been designed to look the same, so it just might be. After years, they were back where they had begun, and this time no ill words would be spoken out of spite by either of them. This time, neither one would shirk away from the challenge their relationship posed for each other.
This time they would give themselves completely to their exchanges, as they had done consistently for over a year now. Their heated kisses were relentless, desperate, just as wild as they had been that day. Sokka's hands traveled over Azula's body with more confidence, and Azula gladly leaned into his touch as she continued to respond to his lips and tongue with her own.
Breathing went forgotten easily for them when they were caught in their whirlwinds of passion, which was why Azula parted unwillingly from Sokka to take a deep breath, her armored chest heaving against his. He only groaned and sought her lips again, selfishly wanting more of her.
"Where d'you think you're going…?" he grumbled, moving to kiss her jawline instead. Azula laughed breathlessly and draped an arm around his neck, to pull him closer.
"I'm going nowhere unless someone knocks on that door…" she answered, still panting heavily. "We've come a long way, haven't we…?"
"Hmm?" Sokka said, amused. "Sure, nowadays we make out before fights rather than afterwards…"
"Only because afterwards we have sex instead."
"And that's the main reason why I wanted to fight again sometime soon," he answered proudly. Azula laughed and dropped her head on his shoulder. "We have to take everything we can get, right?"
"And we do," she said, smiling warmly. "The last months have been chaotic, I know that… but once Haiyan gets the hang of looking after the homeless group, I'll be available for our inappropriate dalliances once more."
"That's bound to happen within a week or less… right?" Sokka asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Azula laughed and kissed his cheek. "I know, I know, I'm a depraved fool, but it's your fault…"
"That you're depraved, or that you're a fool?" she asked, stroking his cheek gently.
"Well, both, on some measure," he smirked. Azula scoffed. "I'm only this depraved and this foolish because I'm crazy about you. Really, though, it's not my fault that you're so addictive… that's all on you, Princess."
"You speak such bold words, gladiator," she said, her voice low and threatening. Sokka smirked as Azula returned to her previous position, face-to-face with him. "Have you no shame?"
"Says the woman whose legs are fully spread as she sits atop me, in a public building?" he asked. She bit her lower lip and shrugged.
"Well, when did I ever claim I wasn't a depraved fool in my own right?" she smiled. He laughed and kissed her eagerly, leading Azula to fist his hair in her hands.
"I love you," he said happily against her lips, and she sighed in bliss.
"And I love hearing you say that," she responded. He scoffed.
"Just hearing me say it? What's that supposed to mean?" he pouted, bringing her to laugh again and kiss him eagerly to silence him.
His goofy indignation often served to fuel his passion further. He'd grow more assertive and controlling when he was pretending to be mad, and Azula genuinely loved that side of him more than she ever thought she would. Yielding to him ever proved satisfactory, and she smiled as he changed their positions on the couch, pinning her down on it as he attacked her neck voraciously.
They were constantly on the verge of going all the way, of forsaking all caution and concerns that someone might catch them. But while teetering over the edge without caving in could be fun game, eventually the frustrations would start to pile up… and said frustrations caught up with Azula quickly, upon realizing she needed Sokka to do some rather unspeakable things to her that they should never be caught indulging in at the Grand Royal Dome.
"Goodness, it's been well over half an hour," she said, rolling her eyes as Sokka kissed her face softly, one of his hands moving dangerously close to that weak spot between her legs. "Did they forget to call us?"
"Might be. I wouldn't sweat it much if I were you," Sokka mumbled, smirking. "Just enjoy the moment…"
"I want to," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "But I'd rather enjoy it in your house, where there aren't as many potential eavesdroppers who might hear my obnoxious moans."
"That's fair," said Sokka, smiling weakly.
"That my moans are obnoxious or that there aren't as many eavesdroppers?" Azula asked, smirking. Sokka laughed.
"Again, I have to say, both," he teased her. "I do love all your sounds, though… making you lose control that way is a very nice hobby of mine, you see."
"How amusing," Azula said, yanking his wolf's tail lightly. Sokka groaned and bit her neck in retaliation. "Still… I really do think I should check downstairs. Maybe something's happened…"
"Weren't we capable of far more patience than all those boring sponsors and gladiators who aren't us?" Sokka smirked, leering at her with amusement. "I know we can't do everything we wish we could, but still…"
"I did say we would be more patient, I didn't say we'd be endlessly patient," said Azula, sitting up on the couch again and forcing him to sit with her. "I don't know for how long we're supposed to wait before our opponent officially forfeits the match…"
"The staff will likely come to fetch us if it comes to that," said Sokka, matter-of-factly, before frowning. "Still… do you think they forfeited?"
"It's possible," Azula shrugged. "If they're not here at the scheduled time it's not a good sign."
"I get that, it's just… didn't someone else forfeit recently?" Sokka said, looking at Azula meaningfully. "You know, back when we confirmed today's challenge, the Light Bearer's opponent forfeited, didn't he?"
"Yeah, and Shoji said sponsors weren't happy lately about spending more time in waiting rooms than in fights," Azula said, biting her lip. "It's… fishy. It may not mean much, maybe sponsors are being more irresponsible these days for no apparent reason…"
"Could be a coincidence," Sokka agreed. But Azula looked at him uneasily. "… Or not."
"I think we'll go have another chat with Shoji, just to be sure," she said, her hand moving towards the pocket where she kept her portable makeup set. "If we're merely making mountains out of molehills, all the better for us."
"Though, if our opponent forfeited, all the better, too," Sokka declared, smiling broadly. "That way the only wounds I'll sustain today will be from your nails on my back, right?"
"You are a serious masochist if you enjoy that," Azula said, smiling too before kissing him chastely one last time. "Alright, let's find out what's happening, shall we?"
Sokka was somewhat reluctant to go, once Azula had finished reapplying her makeup, as it showed when he pinched Azula's buttock just before she opened the door. She shot him an indignant glare that he answered with a proud smirk.
"If you dare do that again after we're in the hallway, I will skewer you," she said. Sokka chuckled.
"I know, I know…" he said, folding his arms across his chest to reassure Azula that he would behave himself now. She shot him a meaningful stare before leading the way to the corridor.
A surprising number of spectators were in the corridors too, and they didn't seem pleased. Many seemed to rant amongst themselves, and only a few of them noticed Azula and Sokka were passing through. The vestibule was even more packed: an unpleasant and tense atmosphere hung over the Grand Royal Dome.
"What's going on?" Sokka asked, frowning as Azula moved towards Shoji's counter. A lot of people were arguing at the bets' counter, where the staff member in charge seemed to struggle with keeping people at bay.
"I'm not sure," Azula said, turning towards Shoji. The boy's face was the picture of anxiety, and for once he seemed to find no relief when he spotted Azula and Sokka.
"O-oh, I'm… I'm sorry, Princess," he said, gritting his teeth. She stepped forward, her brow furrowed.
"What are you sorry about? What's going on? What happened with our fight?" she asked.
"The Fiery Nightmare and his sponsor have yet to arrive," Shoji said, trying to sound professional as he spoke. "I… I don't think they'll arrive at all, though. We've had so many forfeits recently, and… people aren't happy for it. Yours is the ninth forfeited fight ever since the Pyro Tornado didn't show up."
Azula gazed about herself in the vestibule. Most the spectators crowding the place seemed displeased, and several of them sported blue clothes and wolf masks. A few of them were familiar: the Blue Pack.
"They came here to watch the fights, and they don't want to go home empty-handed… quite literally in some cases," she concluded, watching as the bets' counter grew more crowded still.
"It's bad enough whenever anyone forfeits, but we usually don't see as many forfeits in such a short time," Shoji said, swallowing hard. "Nobody knows what's happening, but… it's unsettling."
"Have you guys looked into it?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. "Have you reached out to the sponsors who aren't showing up? Maybe they…"
"Excuse me?" spoke a small voice behind Sokka.
He turned around to find a large group of his fans, eyeing him hopefully. Several of them wore the Blue Pack's typical apparel, but only a few faces were familiar for the gladiator.
"Will you be able to fight today?" the same girl asked Sokka. "We have new cheers and chants we were hoping to use today to support you…"
"Uh, that's great," said Sokka, with an awkward grin. "But things aren't looking promising. It's possible my opponent won't show up today."
A groan of disappointment coursed across the group, and Sokka watched them helplessly. Were they going to cause any trouble because he wouldn't fight? There were raised voices by the bets' counter already: the last thing they needed was a new source of trouble.
"Can't someone else fill in for your opponent?" a guy complained now. "We were looking forward to this all week!"
"I'm sorry, but it's really not something any of us can fix right away," Sokka said, scratching his head. "Besides, it wasn't a fight against someone that important, you guys should've taken it easy…"
"But we wanted to cheer you on!" the first girl exclaimed.
"We've created new signs and banners everything!" said someone else, and at once, the group of fans lifted said signs…
Signs that had a thumbs' up gesture drawn across them. Sokka's eyes widened, and his eyebrow twitched in disbelief. Azula watched the scene with disbelieving amusement, guessing the tales of Sokka's misunderstood gesture had crossed the ocean rather quickly.
"We wanted you to see these in the crowd, so you could be boosted into victory!" exclaimed another fan. The others were quick to cheer in agreement as Sokka covered his face with his hand.
"Well, that's… very thoughtful of you guys," said Sokka, with a forced smile as he looked at his fans again. "But… well, other than the obvious issue, you could just… y-you know, hold these back until my next fight? I'm sure Azula-… the Princess will schedule another one soon."
"It's a shame that it won't be a surprise anymore, though," said the first girl, sighing dramatically.
"You deserve as much support as we can provide you with!" exclaimed another guy, one with a wolf mask hanging on the side of his head.
"No doubt he does," Azula said, surprising the Blue Pack when she spoke to them. "And I'm sure he appreciates every bit of support he receives from you guys, no matter in what form."
"I… uh, sure?" Sokka said, looking at Azula with confusion.
"Perhaps you should give these new posters of theirs your seal of approval?" Azula smirked. "You know, sign them, give them your autograph, all those things important people like yourself are supposed to do…"
Sokka looked at her in disbelief as she smirked proudly. Unsurprisingly, the Blue Pack was stoked with the idea of having their hero autographing their new banners, and they were quick to form a line for Sokka to sign their many Blue Wolf goods.
"You're really something, Azula…" Sokka grumbled under his breath after signing the first papers he was given, using Shoji's counter, ink and brush to do so. Shoji gave him permission for it just before rushing off to speak to his boss in the center of the vestibule.
"I suppose you can consider this my revenge," the Princess declared. He scowled.
"Revenge for what?" he squeaked, as she eyed him skeptically.
"Maybe you need to backtrack for a couple of minutes and remember just what happened on our way out of the waiting room…"
Sokka huffed and rolled his eyes. Azula feigned innocence again as she rested against the counter, watching as Shoji spoke to his boss. Whatever they were talking about didn't seem to reassure the young man at all. This string of forfeits in the Royal Dome was certainly a cause for concern.
"I know this whole situation is strange, but it feels out of place for people to react this badly to it," Azula said, frowning. "Granted, nine forfeits in two weeks are more than expected, but you'd think people wouldn't be so angry about missing a couple of fights when there are so many others they could watch…"
"Well, in our case, and in the Light Bearer's, we're pretty popular," said Sokka, biting his lip before signing the fourth poster. "And ours was the last fight of the day, too. I suppose those who were expecting to place their bets on this fight weren't around for the previous ones."
"Possibly. Still, were you the most popular fighter of the day?" Azula asked, glancing up at the board, where all the daily battles were always written.
The first few names didn't ring any bells, but eventually they spotted Scoundrel, someone Sokka had fought once before. Going by the result Shoji had written into the board, Scoundrel had successfully won. It wasn't marked as a forfeit, unlike the fifth fight of the day, between the Stealthy Feline and Flame Storm…
The sixth fight had been held, though… but both Sokka and Azula were frozen cold upon reading who was the winner.
That name seemed to cut deep inside them, inside of Sokka most of all. A cold chill rushed through their bodies, for this revelation had ruined their relatively good mood in seconds.
"What is he doing here?" Sokka finally whispered, all thoughts of his fans and his failed fight forgotten by now. His semblance had darkened quickly, filling Azula with a sense of dread. "We had to go to the Ring of Ash to fight him back then, why would he…?"
"Maybe his sponsor stopped being a cheapskate about traveling? I don't know," Azula answered, looking at him warily. "Sokka…"
"I-it's fine. It doesn't matter," he said, shaking his head and turning towards the next fan. "You wanted an autograph or something?"
"Y-yes! Please!"
Azula watched him with unease, hoping now that the Fiery Nightmare would never arrive. She didn't want Sokka to step into the Arena in the unbalanced state he was sure to be in right now, after reading that fighter's name on the board.
"Well, I've spoken to the chairman," Shoji's voice reached Azula, startling her as the young man sank into his seat. "It seems your fight has been ruled a forfeit officially by now. I'm sorry…"
"It's fine," Azula said, surprising him. "I didn't have to travel too far to get here, I'm not about to throw a tantrum over this."
"That's… really good to know," said Shoji, smiling a little.
"But I…" Azula said, turning towards him and speaking softer now. Sokka was talking to his fans now, so she assumed he wouldn't hear her. "I want to ask you something."
"Yes?" said Shoji, eyes wide with curiosity.
"Since when is the Kinslayer fighting in the Grand Royal Dome?" she said, frowning. "Is he here to stay?"
"Well, he hasn't changed his preferential arena," Shoji said, surprised by the question. "But he is fighting in the Dome these days, yes. He's been here for a couple of weeks now."
"A couple of weeks?" Azula repeated, frowning. "How often has he fought since?"
"Not too often, just twice, I think," said Shoji, biting his lip as he looked through the records. "Is something the matter, though? I know the Blue Wolf lost against him, but…"
"It's nothing," Azula said, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I was merely curious."
"Oh. Well, if that's the case, I figure he's just testing the waters here," said Shoji, shrugging. "I'll let you know if he changes arenas for good."
"Right. And has he…? Has he carried on with his antics?" Azula asked, frowning. "I mean, has he kept killing other gladiators?"
"He's tried," Shoji said. "He hasn't managed to do so in the Grand Royal Dome, though. He's a strong fighter, and he's won every time, but some opponents aren't as easily killed as the ones from the lowest levels of the ranking."
"Makes sense," said Azula, biting her lip. "And where is he in the ranking now, if I may ask?"
"Well, currently he'd be…" said Shoji, rushing down the long scroll. "He's the 283rd, but that's bound to change after I add his latest vict-…"
"HELP! HELP ME, PLEASE!"
The conversational buzz in the vestibule, and even the raised voices, died out upon the sudden bellow that reached them from the front doors.
Azula and Shoji stopped talking immediately, and Sokka's fans jumped away from him as he turned around, almost in a frenzy. His nerves were already on edge after reading Rhone's gladiator alias on the board, and these shouts only made him tenser still.
"What the…?" said one of the fans, shrinking behind him.
The man at the doors had the getup of a firebending fighter. Azula frowned and stepped closer, while most people moved away from the man. Sokka followed her quickly and a few staff members of the Arena approached as well, Shoji amongst them.
"Help me, I…! I couldn't do anything, I couldn't help him, I…!" the man was rambling, his eyes out of orbit. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.
"What are you talking about?" Azula spoke, her voice authoritarian. "Who needs help?"
"Taka, m-my… m-my sponsor, he…"
"Your sponsor?" Sokka repeated, frowning. "Wait, are you…?"
"It's the Fiery Nightmare," Shoji confirmed, nodding promptly. Sokka glanced between the fighter and the young man, astonished.
"What happened to your sponsor?" Azula asked forcefully again. The Fiery Nightmare lowered his head, shoulders shaking again.
"I… I don't know, I… I had to run for my life…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Azula asked. "Why would you or your sponsor be in any danger?"
"I don't know, but I… I saw him crumble!" exclaimed the man, shivering as he lifted his gaze towards her. "I saw him turn to ash, I… I saw it and I ran, b-before it could get me too…"
"What on earth are you talking about, young man?" the Dome's chairman said, all eyes widening now as they gazed at him.
"I saw him turning to ashes…" the Fiery Nightmare repeated, sobbing. "I saw my sponsor… I think he's dead. I think he's… dead."
The words made Azula feel dizzy, as though she weren't standing on stable grounds anymore. Either this man was a very good actor, one who had decided to send the entire Grand Royal Dome into chaos for no reason… or he was telling the truth, no matter how outlandish his story appeared to be so far.
Azula glanced at Sokka instinctively, finding he was just as worried and unsettled as she was: all those forfeited matches, too many of them, too frequently; Rhone's name on that board, when he had never ventured into the Capital before, as far as they knew. And now this, a man who apparently had turned to ashes… If there was any truth to that last story, it meant they were facing many dangers, some of them beyond their understanding.
Something bad, something rotten, plagued the Gladiator League and the Grand Royal Dome. And for once, Princess Azula had no idea what to do about it.