She was no stranger to soaring in the sky, but it was certainly a new experience to steer her path through the clouds by using ropes and an engine, rather than by asking her dragon to fly in one direction or another. Nevertheless, Azula carried herself with the grace she was well known for, and Sokka could only smile approvingly as she followed his every instruction.
"Not bad at all, sailor" he said, smirking. Azula raised an eyebrow, pouring some more fire by bending into the hot-air balloon's engine "You may be a better sailor than any Fire Nation citizen has any right to be"
"Well, you've been a better firebender than any Water Tribesman has any right to be, so I think that makes us even" Azula stated, eyeing him with a knowing grin "Is the flight suiting your fancy so far?"
"How wouldn't it?" Sokka said, breathing in the fresh air and exhaling noisily "I'll as good as forget I was poisoned, at this rate"
"Good" said Azula, her smile warming as she gazed at him.
It had taken him around two weeks to declare he felt better, and even so, Azula wasn't sure she could take his word for a fact. She didn't dare send him off to a new fight yet, despite she had received word from the Grand Royal Dome that her pending challenges were piling up like never before. Sokka's victory over the Mad Alchemist had turned him into the most talked-about gladiator in the entire League, and his sponsor, for one, could not be prouder of him for it.
Sokka, though, seemed overwhelmed by his success even now. He would blurt it out at times, just as he had upon winning in the Slate for the first time. Azula found it endearing that he would look at her with such disbelieving confusion every time she reminded him that yes, he was considered the unofficial best non-bending gladiator of the League. It grew easier for him to believe it with every passing day, but even so, he was at his best when he wasn't thinking about the League at all. Teaching Azula how to steer his hot-air balloon seemed to be a perfect way to keep him busy and distracted from his new reality as a trailblazing gladiator.
"Looks like the weather's not going to last, though" Sokka said, upon gazing at gathering gray clouds in the horizon.
Azula had been busy working the balloon so far. She grimaced at his accurate assessment of the weather, knowing Sokka would ask her to land again to avoid risks… and she didn't want to do that just yet.
"We still have some time, don't we?" she said, biting her lip. Sokka snorted.
"Well, Princess, really…" he said, smirking smugly and relaxing with his hands behind his head "I figured you'd insisted so much on going for a flight today because you wanted to get busy with me, but you do realize having a go at it in the rain can be hazardous for our health?"
"Since when do you protect your health so zealously?" Azula asked, feigning innocence. Sokka smiled.
"I don't protect mine, I protect yours" he said "Really, though? You want a quickie right now?"
Azula laughed and shook her head, surprising Sokka. His arrogant attitude faded quickly at her negative, and he leaned forward, hands poised on his crossed knees.
"No? Then why do you want us to stay airborne?" he asked "Seems a little too risky, you know? Air currents, rain, lightning and thunder…?"
"It doesn't look like such a bad storm, but I guess you're right…" Azula said, breathing deeply before sighing "I just like being far away from the world with you, just like this. Somewhere we won't be bothered, somewhere we can be free to be ourselves without fear of retribution, or that someone will find us…"
"Heh" said Sokka, smiling too "Deny it as you will, Princess, but you're a romantic at heart like no one else I know"
"That… that's offensive" she declared, blushing slightly. Sokka laughed and pushed himself up "Seriously! I'm just being honest, it's not because it's romantic or…!"
He embraced her from behind, his lips softly kissing her cheek. Azula fell silent, near pouting as she refused to look at her lover. He seemed quite pleased with himself, holding her closely as he was.
"There's nothing wrong with being a romantic, Azula" he said "No need to be offended"
"You're seriously saying I'm worse than you, Mr. Flower Petals and Candles?" she grumbled "Or worse than Ty Lee, for that matter. You said I was a romantic like no one you knew, so…"
"Well, maybe those things don't feel remotely as romantic as the stuff you've said sometimes" he said, smiling and burying his face in her neck "Because when you say those things, it feels more genuine than any big gestures I can think of. And I love that about you"
"Well… good that you do. Though I don't know how it feels more genuine than the countless things you've done for me over the years" she mumbled, finally surrendering and clasping his arm with her hands.
"I don't know either" said Sokka, chuckling "But it's the truth of it"
"Must be you're biased towards me, as usual" said Azula, huffing "Incorrigible gladiator, ever giving his sponsor too much credit…"
"Not true, I give you all the credit you deserve!" he pouted now, hugging her tighter. Finally he brought Azula to smile again, and she turned in his arms before wrapping her arms around his waist too.
"Either way, I just want to stay like this, if just for a bit longer" she said, sighing "We don't spend nearly as much time together as we should"
"Hmm, I agree, but you do realize we could spend time together down at my place anyhow" he said, smirking "If you want to privately hug me, we can just head to my room and stay in there. And heh, if you want, we can even hug without our clothes and…"
"Your mind permanently resides in the gutter at this point, doesn't it?" Azula asked, with a dry smirk. Sokka laughed and kissed the top of her head.
"What can I say? You know what it's like when I recover from bad fights. The first thing that comes back to normal is my libido" he said. Azula smiled.
"Yes, I'm quite aware that's how it works with you" she said, lifting her head and looking at him warmly "Meanwhile, I'm merely grateful you're better at all. That poison sounded terrible"
"And it felt terrible" said Sokka, sighing dramatically "See? That's why my body needs the entire opposite feeling right now! And that's why…!"
"Goodness, if you keep this up, I'm steering us back home right now" Azula said, rolling her eyes despite she was still laughing. Sokka smiled and pressed his forehead to hers.
"Fine, fine. I'll shut up about it" he said, before kissing her lips softly "Either way, let's not stay up here all day, at least. Can we agree on that?"
"Maybe" said Azula, cupping his cheek "For now, though, we ought to talk about whatever we'll do next, now that you're all healed and better"
"Well, for one thing, our side of the Iroh challenge is complete" said Sokka, biting his lip "Toph mustn't be done with hers yet, right?"
"Doubtful" said Azula, shaking her head "You didn't have many non-bending gladiators left between yourself and the top, only a few others aside from the Mad Alchemist and you've already defeated them all. But little less than half the top gladiators are earthbenders. I doubt she'll have much trouble with them, but it will take some time for her to defeat them all"
"So… what will we do in the meantime?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly "Prepare for an impending fight against her?"
"And against Combustion Man, too" Azula sighed "There's no telling whether you'll have to fight him or not, after all. For, if you beat Toph…"
"Heh. Beating Toph" Sokka repeated, with an uneasy smile "That's yet another concept I have trouble grasping, especially now. She already knows all my techniques and skills after we helped her train for the Slate. Beating her now…"
"It would be difficult, but not impossible" said Azula, gazing at him meaningfully "I'd like to think so, at least"
"Still…" said Sokka, stepping away from Azula and resting against the balloon's railing "What should we do to prepare for a fight against her? Even if I found the materials for the blinding bomb, it'd be useless against a fighter who's already blind…"
"Then a deafening bomb" said Azula, shrugging. Sokka's eyes widened.
"Deafening bomb?" he said "I mean, it sounds like a good idea, but how would I protect myself from that kind of thing? Ear plugs? Going by how Song keeps buying new ones, I don't think anyone's developed good enough plugs to protect ears from seriously loud sounds…"
"I guess not, if the ones she uses to ignore us aren't working" said Azula, with an awkward smile "Anyways, if not that, then… something to limit her bending, I guess. Chi-blocking is useful, but she'll know to expect it this time"
"Do you think there are any other methods to block someone's chi other than that? Maybe something like… like shirshu venom, actually"
"Heh. Are you going to ask me to track down June?" Azula asked, looking at Sokka skeptically. He flinched before shaking his head promptly "Because if you did, you'd be the one to milk the venom out of that beast, not me"
"I wouldn't ask you to milk anything's venom, but I said something similar to it! It doesn't have to be shirshu venom!" Sokka said, nervously. Azula merely stared at him with amusement.
"I guess you'll never truly believe that I'm over that, will you?" she asked. He blushed.
"T-that's not what I… I-I mean, well, we've talked things through, s-so…"
"You're so cute when you're nervous" Azula declared. Sokka huffed.
"So I'm cute, but if I say you're romantic…?"
"It's entirely unacceptable, of course!" Azula said, beaming. Sokka smiled and shook his head before reaching in to hug her again.
"Clever Princess" he said, burying his face in her hair "I do trust you, if you thought otherwise… it's just always a sore subject"
"It is, but you needn't worry about it" she said, caressing his back "What you do need to worry about is researching if there's any substance in the world, akin to shirshu venom, capable of annulling someone's bending if just for a short time"
"Annulling someone's bending" Sokka repeated, biting his lip "It sounds unbelievable, really. If that kind of thing existed, don't you think other people would have resorted to it before?"
"You could apply the same logic to metalbending" said Azula. Sokka blinked blankly "There's a chance more earthbenders aside from Toph could have done it if they'd merely tried, and only now that she's discovered it will they start testing their own boundaries. If she could achieve something unthinkable and change the way people thought of her discipline, why couldn't you do something similar when it comes to disrupting bending?"
"Hmm" Sokka bit his lip "Well, it's a thought, at least. I guess I'll research that, then. I'd say maybe, if it's a substance, we should see if it can be used in one of my bombs? Using outright poison like what the Mad Alchemist did feels, well…"
"Dirty?" Azula asked, smiling weakly "I agree, it seems at least slightly less dangerous than poisoned darts. And maybe you could use something similar with Combustion Man, right?"
"I guess? But his bending's weird, isn't it?" said Sokka "You and Toph always have to take up positions, katas, there's a whole method to it… with him, it looks like he aims with his forehead and blows things up with his mind. Do you think this kind of weapon could disrupt his bending too?"
"Maybe, who knows?" said Azula, before sighing "Though admittedly you'll need a back-up plan if it doesn't. A good one, too"
"Hmm" said Sokka, biting his lip as he stroked Azula's hair "You know, the Mad Alchemist had that weird fire-throwing tsungi horn, right?"
"Oh, yeah. And it was quite an undignified imitation of firebending, too" Azula said. Sokka smiled.
"No need to get all stingy about it" he said "It's just an invention, even if to you it feels like an offense to the so-very-sacred art of firebending and whatnot, huh?"
"How funny" Azula grunted, poking Sokka's flank and making him squirm as he chuckled "Well, then. What about the weird tsungi horn?"
"I guess it reminded me of the bombs I never did finish for your dad" said Sokka, biting his lip. Azula raised an eyebrow.
"And what does that have to do with anything?" she said. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.
"You'll think I'm crazy" he said "But, well… a firebender once told me that the only way I could possibly beat her was by making her lose control of her bending"
Azula frowned, uncertain of what he was talking about. Sokka bit his lip and chuckled as he eyed her with childish curiosity.
"Can't remember that?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Not really. When did that happen?"
"When we first met, actually. In the South Pole" Sokka answerred. Azula's eyes widened, and Sokka's proud grin only surprised her further.
"That was… Sokka, that was half a decade ago" she said, looking at him in disbelief "How do you expect me to remember everything I…? Wait, how do YOU remember everything I said?"
Sokka laughed as Azula continued to stare at him in amazement. He shrugged after a moment under her scrutiny, his smile warm.
"I did tell you I'd been obsessed with defeating you for the first two years I spent in the Fire Nation" he said "I kept pondering how to make that happen, once I was in Hui Yi's Arena. How to get you to lose control of your fire so I could, well…"
"Yeah, I understand, no need to sugarcoat things now" said Azula, smiling a little "And?"
"And I never came up with an answer, of course" said Sokka, with a sad grin "I didn't really expect to, until… until I fought the Mad Alchemist, I guess. Through the fight I kept wondering how he'd fight against earthbenders or firebenders by using those sorts of weapons, you see: whenever he made streams of scorching hot sand or used those oil bombs to make a huge burst of fire… both things seemed to be beyond what any firebenders or earthbenders can generally do by their own power. So, if, say… if you have a pool of oil, and a firebender only releases a small spark on it…"
"All of it catches fire" said Azula.
"And in a sense, that means they lose power over the initial flame they bent" said Sokka "Can you take down an oil fire easily?"
"Not easily, I would say" Azula admitted "It can be done, but we can't bend the oil itself, only the fire. So we'd have to control the entire field of flames to extinguish them effectively, otherwise the oil will continue to fuel it until it's been completely consumed"
"I thought as much" said Sokka "So, with the weird tsungi horn, it seemed to me that he was using some gas instead of oil. Something like the gas the Mechanist had in his mountain. Something like…"
"Like the bombs you were planning to build" Azula said, frowning. Sokka nodded "But he was using the gas in a controlled fashion, surely. There had to be some sort of gas output, something he could measure, kind of like the that gas fills up this balloon. Too much of it and we'd go too far up, too little and we'd never rise from the ground"
"Exactly. He had control of his tsungi horn somehow" said Sokka "But… what if there's no control at all? If I made those bombs with the gas in them… I wouldn't control the way the gas behaves at all. But if I toss it near him, just as he's firebending…"
"He'd catch fire" Azula said, frowning "All of him. And it's an invisible gas, if I remember correctly, so… it'd be the air itself on fire. Figuring out the area of effect of the gas would be extremely difficult: with oil it's much easier because it's a visible liquid, but with invisible gas…?"
"It'd be a crazy gambit, I know" said Sokka, nodding "But don't you think it might be the best way to cause him the kind of trouble he won't know how to guard against, that he might not be able to defend himself from? If his own fire becomes his enemy…"
"You might have him" Azula said, looking at him with uncertainty "And yet… you do realize you'd be at risk of catching fire too, right?"
"Uh, yeah. That's also true" said Sokka, smiling awkwardly.
"This would have to be a last resort, if it comes to that" said Azula, shaking her head "It's a terrifying idea, though. With something like that, you'll truly be the scourge of firebenders everywhere, Sokka"
"Oh, please, look at you! You've never had trouble with me before, have you?" Sokka said, smiling innocently. Azula snorted, looking at him in disbelief.
"I'm by far the firebender who has suffered the most at your hands" she said "With all your terrible name ideas, your awful manners, your disrespectful behavior…"
"That's what you've suffered about then?" Sokka asked, smiling a little guiltily now "Doesn't sound so bad, does it?"
"Oh, don't diminish it now, you wicked gladiator" she said, smirking at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her expression softened soon enough though "Though there's something you've done too many times so far that I've been suffering over consistently, and you know exactly what it is"
"Uh… getting half-killed by people?" Sokka ventured a guess, with a toothy grin. Azula rolled her eyes at his expression before hugging him tightly.
"At least you're only half-killed, it's easier to heal someone who's only half-dead and not fully dead" said Azula, sarcastically. Sokka laughed "Still, though, we're planning ahead this time and that means there's a chance neither Toph nor Combustion Man will hurt you that badly. Seems like you'll finally give me a stress break, huh?"
"Hopefully" said Sokka, smiling and stroking her cheek gently "So, now that we have a sort-of plan… shall we go research somewhere? Maybe the city library has something helpful on bending-annulling substances?"
"Unlikely" said Azula, raising an eyebrow "It's worth a shot, but… I guess I ought to look in the Temple. Maybe there's something there"
"Neat, maybe we can go together!" Sokka said, beaming. Azula laughed and kissed him softly.
"Maybe. But some other time, perhaps" she said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"Why's that? It's not like we're up to anything important, we could probably get there before the storm hits, right? Though maybe you do want to be up to something important…?"
With that, he wiggled his eyebrows and Azula laughed, tightening her hold around his neck to kiss him deeper. As much as she had no intentions of humoring him today, it ever bolstered her spirits for her gladiator to be as mischievous and filthy-minded as he was. As far as she could tell, he desired her every bit as much as he had since the first moment, if not more. They'd been properly together for quite some time now, and every day she felt at further ease with him, safer, more loved than she ever had been. He had often claimed he wasn't worthy of her… but every day that went by, Azula grew more convinced of the opposite. She wasn't sure she'd done anything good enough in her life to warrant being with a man as extraordinary as Sokka. All she could hope for was that one day she'd actually change the world, just as they had talked about. That one day they'd bring back balance… and maybe then she'd finally feel she deserved a love like theirs.
But she was no fool, certainly. Even if she didn't feel deserving of such happiness, she wasn't stupid enough to let it go just because of that. All she could do was endeavor to make Sokka even happier than she was, in the best ways she could… and she hoped to have made the right call on just how to do that today.
Together they steered the hot-air balloon back to the house's backyard, and it landed softly once Sokka finished instructing Azula on how to take the landing slow and easy. Sokka breathed out in relief once they were safe, on solid ground: Azula offered him a smug smirk, waiting for the gushing praise she expected Sokka to lavish her in. He laughed and hugged her, kissing the top of her head.
"Yes, yes, you're a faster learner than me, even" he said "You'll be the one sailing shirtless whenever we get around doing that, at this rate"
"Oh, now, I will consider it, but only if you do it too" she said, smirking "And… only if we're genuinely, truly, alone"
"So shy…" Sokka taunted her, snickering "Come on, Azula, your body is absolutely splendid, you don't have to…"
His teasing would have continued, his hands raking her flanks and hips, but movement inside the house startled him. He frowned, raising his eyebrows.
"Huh?" he said "Did Rui Shi have a free shift today?"
"Why do you ask?" Azula said, opening the small door of the hot-air balloon's basket. She gestured for Sokka to climb off the flying vehicle, lagging behind to lock the door safely as he made his way through the backyard.
"I just… thought I saw someone in there" said Sokka, blinking blankly while glancing through the window "I mean, maybe I'm just imagining things, but…"
"Here I thought you were already over the Hina incident" Azula said, raising her eyebrows "It's been a while, you know. You said you were adjusted to your new bed and everything…"
"I am, truthfully I hadn't thought about it in a while, but just now…" said Sokka, walking to the backdoor with uncertainty.
Behind him, Azula smiled to herself as she waited for him to step through the threshold. It seemed she was still skilled at misleading her gladiator whenever she wanted to do so.
As soon as Sokka stepped into the living room he noticed something was different… but he couldn't detail the odd décor in the house when he was startled by a loud exclamation:
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
He nearly jumped out of his bones when their friends came into view: they had been hiding behind the couch, inside the kitchen, even in the rooms upstairs. His eyes were wide as he took in the origami cranes decorating the house, the festive lanterns of countless colors, and his friends smiling cheerfully at him.
"W-woah, what is this?!" he said, grinning as well, while still nervous.
"Oh, you know what this is about!" exclaimed Ty Lee, behind the couch, beaming as she pointed at a large banner, hanging right over the threshold that led out of the living room. She wasn't the only one behind the couch, for Haru stood beside her. Mai was by the kitchen, while Song and Rui Shi were up at the stairs' balcony. Sokka eyed them all with amazement, laughing as he read the words on the banner.
"Congratulations, top non-bender of the Superior Gladiator League" he said, looking at them in disbelief "You guys, seriously… you decided to throw a surprise party over this today?! It's been two weeks!"
"Well, it was agreed upon by the pertinent authorities that you were in no condition to celebrate anything two weeks ago" Azula said, smiling and placing a hand on the small of his back. Sokka's eyes widened as he looked at her in amazement.
"Now, wait a second… is this why you were keeping me away from home today?!" he asked, looking at her accusingly, although with amusement "Why, you…!"
"And you didn't even see it coming. It worked like a charm" Azula said, proudly, as Sokka laughed and wrapped an arm around her.
"You're unbelievable, why would you do this?!" he said. Azula shook her head.
"Now, now, if you're going to hug someone all gratefully about this, go hug Song" she said, patting his shoulder "She's the true culprit here, I'm merely a co-conspirator"
"Wait, seriously?" Sokka said, glancing at Song who was walking down the stairs by now "Song…!"
"No need to make a fuss!" she laughed "I just thought you deserved something nice after such a milestone! It's really not much, just a small party, but…"
"Oh, it doesn't matter how small it is, we'll make it grand and amazing!" Ty Lee exclaimed proudly. Haru laughed at her confidence, while Mai rolled her eyes, grinning all the same.
"Well, damn, Song…" said Sokka, chuckling before wrapping his other arm around his housemate "You're unbelievable!"
"It's nothing, really" she said, smiling and patting his shoulder "You deserve this kind of stuff, if just once in a while"
"Only once in a while, though" Azula said, smirking "If we do it too often it'll go right up to his head, for sure"
"Yeah, yeah, as if!" Sokka huffed, as Azula laughed.
"Then, are we ready to party?!" Ty Lee exclaimed, beaming "I've brought a lot of drinks, we can have so much fun…!"
"It's only eleven, Ty Lee" Mai chided her, but Ty Lee merely pouted while lifting her bottles.
"It's never too early for a good party, Mai!"
Azula sighed in hopelessness, though Sokka was amused by Ty Lee's behavior. He gazed at the decorated house, noticing with a glance that there were several dishes waiting to be served, sitting on the kitchen counter. They certainly had prepared for this, and he had been none the wiser. Perhaps he couldn't quite wrap his head around his achievement yet, but his friends and sponsor certainly were thrilled about it all the same.
"And Rui Shi had a day off after all, then?" Sokka asked Rui Shi, who joined them after following Song downstairs.
"Once Song told me she'd decided on a date for your big congratulatory party, I asked Fei Li to let me take off this shift so I could help her" he said, smiling too. It was as strange as ever seeing the man out of his uniform for Sokka "Since it's Fei Li, he had no qualms with it, though of course he has no idea what we're really up to, or else…"
"Or else he would've insisted on joining us" finished Song, smiling awkwardly "I didn't think it was a good idea for anyone who didn't know about you and the Princess to be here, so…"
"Yeah, that's probably wise. Especially if there's going to be alcohol involved in this" said Sokka, with a guilty grin. As guaranteed, Azula slapped his arm gently, looking at him reproachfully.
"And what's that supposed to mean, mind you?"
"It means Sokka's ready to party!" Ty Lee intruded again, jumping between Sokka and Azula, draping her arms around each of them "Come on, let's get started!"
Sokka only shrugged in deference to Ty Lee as she dragged him to the couch and offered him the first drink of the day. He eyed her with uncertainty as she uncorked a bottle and poured some of its content on his small cup.
"Cheers, I guess" he said, once he had taken the cup into his hands "What am I drinking, anyhow?"
"You'll see. I'm sure you won't be disappointed" said Ty Lee, beaming.
Azula eyed Sokka with uncertainty, but he smiled and raised the cup in her direction.
"Well, then, if I'm to make a toast, despite no one asked for it, then I toast to the only reason anyone's calling me the top non-bender of the Superior League" he said, proudly "Azula, I was a complete nobody when you found me and look at what you've done to me now. People actually want to challenge me to battle, imagine that!"
"Boggles the mind, doesn't it?" Azula answered sarcastically, smiling as Sokka chuckled.
"I owe it all to you, and everyone here knows it!" he declared "I love you!"
"I… curses, you're already shouting that kind of thing in public and you haven't even had the first drink?" Azula said, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips while trying to conceal her blush. The others laughed.
"Since he brought it up, though…" said Mai "From my understanding, he's the top non-bender only because he defeated the current top non-bender?"
"Uh, yeah. That's about it" said Sokka, smiling before sipping the cup's contents. After he smiled approvingly at Ty Lee, she beamed and proceeded to pour cups for everyone else.
"Then he's not really the top non-bender despite he has proven he deserves to be. At least, not according to the numbers system or whatever it is they have there, right?" said Mai, looking at Azula with uncertainty. Azula shrugged.
"True enough, but like you said, he proved he deserves to be. Soon enough he'll rise into the top fifty, and then higher still" she said, with certainty.
"Right, but that means Ty Lee will try to get us drunk again when he does surpass the top non-bender, points-wise, doesn't it?" Mai said. Azula bit her lip at her friend's accurate assessment, and Ty Lee giggled as she pressed a cup into Mai's hand now.
"Of course I will! And when he's the top gladiator of the ranking, too! Though, heh, he's probably not going to stay there for long because Haru will defeat him eventually!" Ty Lee declared proudly. Haru's eyes widened.
"N-no, no, none of that" he said, looking at Sokka with unease. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.
"Come on, we're both gladiators, and we both have every right to reach for the top!"
"But I don't want to fight you again! You're too strong by now!" Haru exclaimed.
"That's the wrong mindset for this, darling! You can't just assume you won't beat him!" Ty Lee pouted, forgetting about her drinks momentarily to scold Haru for his lack of confidence.
Song returned by then, helped by Rui Shi in bringing plates filled with food. They placed them on the living room table, watching as Azula took Sokka's cup momentarily and drained some of it.
"Heh. Look at that, she actually bought something worthwhile this time" said Azula, raising her eyebrows upon tasting the refined gouqi jiu. Song grinned.
"I asked her if she had something really good to celebrate the occasion… she said she'd surprise us all" she explained "I hoped she'd know just which drink to pick"
"Seems like she did" said Azula, smiling and returning the cup to the gladiator, who was still smiling in disbelief at the entire situation.
"I have to say, this is the first surprise party anyone's thrown for me" he chuckled.
"Well, hopefully it's been alright so far, though it's only been like… five minutes of it" Song said, smiling awkwardly "I wanted to invite Toph too, I figured that'd be great fun… but from what the Princess said, she hasn't been in the city in over a year"
"Yeah, she's off traveling the world like some sort of nomad" said Sokka, smiling weakly "It's okay, she'd probably spend the whole party picking fights with me, saying that it doesn't matter that I'm the strongest non-bender because she'd still wipe the floor with me, and so on, and so forth…"
"Well, yeah, I guess that would have happened" Song agreed "Still, I figured it'd be great if we could invite as many of your friends as possible…"
"I don't need it to be lots of people" said Sokka, smiling warmly at her "This is perfect, Song. Frankly, this is exactly the group I'd like to celebrate this crazy milestone with!"
"The only one missing is the dragon, I guess" said Rui Shi, raising his eyebrows.
"He wanted to be here, but he would've made a mess of the house if he'd tried to barge in through the door" Azula smiled "He'll drop by later, there's no need to worry about him"
"Yeah, and other than him, no one else would've been safe to invite" said Sokka, grinning awkwardly "Yeah, this is perfect. Weird, unexpected, even random! But still, perfect"
"Good to know you think so" said Song, smiling and squeezing his shoulder gently.
They drank and ate, enjoying themselves for a few hours with nothing but casual conversation amongst themselves, until the natural troublemaker of the group jumped up from her seat and smiled proudly at the rest of them.
"Very well, then! As we've eaten and had plenty to drink…" Ty Lee declared, with a proud smile.
"Rather, you've had plenty to drink…" Azula mumbled next to Sokka. He chuckled and poked her in the ribs, making her squirm as they exchanged a complicit smile.
"… It's time to play a game, of course! You can't have a decent party without games" said Ty Lee, knowingly.
"Oh? What kind of game?" Rui Shi asked, confused. Ty Lee grinned at him.
"There are many kinds! There are drinking games, and flirting games, and…!"
"I think everyone in this room is in a committed and serious relationship, so please scrap that last idea" Mai said. Ty Lee pouted as the others laughed.
"Well, fine, you won't play those, but we could just play them with our actual partners, right?" said Ty Lee, wrapping her arms around Haru's neck as she stood behind him. The earthbender raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of games do you mean, though?" he asked "I don't think I've ever heard of anything like that"
"W-well, it's just, when I was younger and went to parties more often, there was this game where everyone would have a number assigned to them" Ty Lee explained, pacing nervously in front of the rest of the group "Afterwards, each person would pick a paper out of a bowl with the numbers, and they'd have to lock themselves up in a small room with the person they picked out and…!"
"And?" Azula asked, with a knowing smile "What happened then, Ty Lee?"
"W-why are you asking me like that?!" Ty Lee exclaimed, blushing uncharacteristically "You know just fine what was supposed to happen…!"
"Oh, I certainly don't" Azula said, staring at her nails nonchalantly "I never played that particular game, must have only happened in the parties I wasn't invited to…"
"Heh, that's okay, we can go play it right now" Sokka said, leaning into her ear to whisper the words. Azula's attempt to tease Ty Lee weakened after that, as she laughed even while looking at Sokka reproachfully.
"You played that kind of game, then?" Haru asked, looking at Ty Lee with surprise. She flinched under his stare.
"W-well, I was young, and everyone was…! W-well, nothing too crazy happened, ever! You don't have to worry!"
"I'm not worried" Haru laughed, looking at her tenderly "But it does sound like a game that people in serious relationships shouldn't play, like Mai said… maybe we should play something less dangerous instead"
"Eh? But where's the fun in not playing anything risqué?" Ty Lee pouted "That's not as much fun, Haru!"
"You say that now, but you're so competitive you'll have fun all the same" he said, smiling and patting her head before looking at Sokka "Do you have any card games? Or maybe… Mahjong?"
Both Azula and Sokka's eyes lit up at that suggestion. It wasn't long before the two pairs of sponsors and gladiators were sitting at each side of the now clear table, carefully playing Mahjong while scrutinizing each other warily. Mai merely sat behind Ty Lee, offering unwelcome advice on how to play her next hand, while Song and Rui Shi watched from a much more neutral standpoint.
Ty Lee and Haru made their moves carefully, yet they were constantly on edge by the strange, quick moves Sokka and Azula made whenever their turns arrived. Each of them sat facing their respective partner: soon enough it became apparent that Sokka and Azula's competitiveness had likely brought them to outright forget they weren't only playing against each other.
Ty Lee tried not to allow that to deter her, as she discarded a tile… Azula reached for it quickly, and Sokka scowled as she set down her third completed group. Unsurprisingly, she smirked at him across the table as he shook his head in an attempt to force himself to focus.
"They just can't take anything easy, can they?" Mai sighed "No wonder he's already the top non-bender of the League"
"It's funny how alike they can be without even noticing" Song chuckled "I've always thought they're the only ones who can keep up with each other"
"Going by this ridiculous display with Mahjong, you'd be right to believe that" Mai confirmed, with a small smirk.
Mai and Song had only met once before, during the last Ball. As dissimilar as they were, the two found it easy to get along with each other right away as they worked together with the others in preparing Sokka's party. And so, the three onlookers continued to watch the game together, though Mai eventually broke her silence once more to poke Ty Lee's shoulder.
"Stop gathering tiles based on how pretty they are" she said. Ty Lee pouted and shot a glare at her "Seriously, you'd have a chance to win if you gathered more than just flowers or bamboo sticks…"
"I know that! Shush, Mai!" Ty Lee grumbled, turning again as Haru discarded a new tile…
To everyone's surprise, it was Sokka who clasped it now with a loud:
"HA! I win!"
Indeed, the tile had enabled him to finish his last combination: his three opponents were left staring at him in disbelief, though he only had eyes for the Princess, as usual. He seemed to be overflowing with pride over having defeated her.
"Eh. I suppose I can let that slide because you're being honored today" Azula said, with a smirk. Sokka snorted as he placed his fists on his hips.
"I won fair and square, Princess! Accept it!" he declared, as Azula smiled and pushed herself up.
"Fine, you won, like you always seem to lately. But as your sponsor, your successes are mine too, therefore…"
"Oh, come on! That's not true for Mahjong!" Sokka pouted, as the Princess laughed and ushered Rui Shi, Song and Mai to defy Sokka with the tiles next. Ty Lee sulked as she walked away from the table, having hoped to win that round, but at least Haru was quick to comfort her by wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
It seemed Sokka's games with Azula's guards had truly built up his ability as a Mahjong player. The group didn't play many rounds, but although Rui Shi, Mai and Azula won a few, Sokka was the most consistent winner. For some reason, he seemed to take more pride in that than in being the top non-bender… though as far as Azula could tell, it was merely because he still couldn't quite believe he'd succeeded at the monumental task they were celebrating that day.
By the time their small Mahjong tournament was over, with Sokka as the proud and obnoxious winner, Ty Lee's latest scheme took root… but to Azula's surprise, it seemed she had an unexpected ally for this one.
"You see, when Song invited us to this party I thought, well, parties need music!" she said, beaming "So I asked her if perhaps she knew how to play an instrument or two, and…"
Ty Lee glanced up the stairs with a clever smile. Azula frowned: Rui Shi had gone upstairs barely moments before Ty Lee's latest explanations, hadn't he?
"What exactly are you up to now?" she asked "It involves… Rui Shi?"
"That's right!" Ty Lee smiled proudly "I'm sure even you don't know of your guard's most secret talent, or do you?"
Azula blinked blankly with uncertainty until Rui Shi reappeared at the top of the stairs… carrying a large wooden instrument in his hands.
Azula was quick to recognize the pear-shaped instrument as a pipa, and she continued to look at Rui Shi in disbelief as he reached the bottom of the stairs. She wasn't sure if he was blushing or not, but he seemed more than a bit awkward about the situation he had gotten himself into.
"You know how to play it?" Azula asked, both amused and curious by now. Rui Shi shrugged.
"I learned long ago, before I entered the academy, even" he said "I've practiced for about a week, but even that isn't bound to be enough, so… do forgive my clumsy performance"
"There's no need to apologize" said Azula, smiling and shaking her head "Though I'm surprised you guys planned this in advance so well"
"I told Rui Shi about Ty Lee's music suggestion and he said he could play for us" said Song, smiling shyly "It may not be as crazy as whatever she had in mind, but…"
"Hey! I don't only have crazy things in mind!" said Ty Lee, though she immediately rushed towards Haru once Rui Shi took his seat at the couch and began plucking the strings slowly "Well, then! Time to dance!"
"Dance? Really?" Haru asked, with a small smile.
"Of course!" said Ty Lee, beaming "That's what music is for!"
"That's a fallacy if I've ever heard one" Azula said, rolling her eyes. Sokka chuckled as he came to stand beside her "Music can simply be listened to, you don't need to dance to it all the time"
"Maybe you don't. But it looks like Ty Lee does" said Sokka, reaching for Azula's hand as Rui Shi got started with his first song.
Haru was quite unsure of himself as Ty Lee steered him into dancing with her in the odd circular patterns Sokka found utterly illogical. He huffed in disbelief and Azula smiled at his reaction.
"You'd think Ty Lee would know something better than vulture dancing…" he mumbled.
"See? For that kind of dancing, even you would admit it's better to consider music its own thing" said Azula, smiling. Sokka sighed and conceded defeat.
"Quite right, Princess, quite right" he said, smiling as Rui Shi's rhythm accelerated steadily.
Despite his reservations, soon enough Sokka was enjoying the sight of them dancing to the beat of Rui Shi's complex melodies. He tapped his foot to the music, while Song clapped lightly to accompany Rui Shi.
"Seems like Song's enjoying it too" Sokka chuckled "If only Rui Shi weren't the one playing, she'd surely be dancing with him just as well"
"I'd offer to take over for him, but I don't know how to play the pipa" Azula admitted, with a weak grin "I learned several melodies for the guzheng when I was younger, but…"
"You did, now?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows. Azula bit her lip "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the last time you heard anything about my musical talents you went crazy and started singing weird songs about rocks" Azula said, matter-of-factly. Sokka looked at her skeptically.
"If you'd just told me sooner, we could've started a musical squad, you, Rui Shi and me!" he said "I'd play the drums, he plays the pipa and you play the guzheng! It's perfect!"
"Why on earth would we ever feel the need to do that?" Azula asked, amused.
"Because it would be fun, who needs a better reason than that?" Sokka asked, grinning as Rui Shi's song ended.
Mai joined the clapping momentarily as Ty Lee and Haru thanked Rui Shi for his performance. He bowed his head towards them before starting to pluck his instrument again, with a more upbeat song this time. Sokka raised his eyebrows before giving Azula a playful smirk.
"Our turn!" he declared. Her eyes widened.
"Woah! Wait, what's that supposed to…?! Sokka!"
The song had many different strokes, each one stronger and faster than the previous one. It seemed to be the kind of music Sokka enjoyed, though, for he couldn't seem to stop moving his feet to the beat, even if it was difficult to predict its changes. Soon enough it looked like a competition between himself and Rui Shi as the pipa performer smirked, his fingers moving with ridiculous agility over the strings while watching the gladiator shifting on his feet as quickly as he could.
All the while, Azula merely stood next to him, watching Sokka with amusement and confusion, hoping he'd be so entertained by his strange competition with Rui Shi that he'd forget entirely about his intent to dance with her. Naturally, she wouldn't be so lucky.
"Come on, Azula! Join in!" Sokka laughed, reaching for her hands and pulling her closer so she would move along with him.
"Hell, no! You say our traditional dancing makes us look like vultures, but you look like you're stomping on ants!"
"Oh, come on, Azula! With those thick boots of yours, this can't be all that hard for you!" he laughed.
As the song's rhythm changed, so did his dancing pattern. Despite how embarrassing it was to be caught up in his ridiculous antics, Azula wound up letting him lead her into his ridiculous dance. Oh, she was making a fool of herself, there was no doubt about it, and Mai was certainly never going to let her get away with this without a ton of jabs about how easily she had been swept up by her gladiator's absurd dancing style… but just as the first time Sokka had tried to dance with her, Azula's entire body yearned to join him. It didn't matter if his dancing made no sense, if it was completely different from all the dancing she'd ever done in her life… because ultimately, he was right: it was a lot of fun.
"Come on, Azula! You can't just let him lead all the time, he'll get all cocky if you do!" Ty Lee taunted her, though she was amused by the spectacle all the same, as both her and Haru clapped along with Song.
She didn't need to be challenged twice, of course. As though it were a battlefield, as though it were a duel, Azula eventually began making her own moves around Sokka, startling him in a very pleasant way. In no time the pair of them were laughing as they jumped together, having trouble keeping up with Rui Shi's apparently erratic playing. And yet everyone in the house couldn't seem to help but smile and laugh at the clumsy and ridiculous dance taking place before their eyes. Who knew the dignified Princess Azula would ever let herself be caught with her guard completely down, as she laughed while twirling in place with her foolish gladiator?
By the time Rui Shi plucked the strings with the final note, Azula and Sokka were exhausted, both over laughing so much and because of their wild and reckless moves. The song had been much longer than Ty Lee and Haru's, and they certainly could use a break as they rested against each other, while the rest of the group clapped at their efforts.
"That's how they do it in the South Pole!" Sokka finished, prompting everyone to laugh even louder, as Azula pressed her face against his chest.
The surprise party had been one of the highlights of the latest months, as far as Sokka was concerned. It had been unbelievably fun to share a whole day with their friends, laughing, drinking, playing and dancing without a care in the world, impervious to the light rain that had fallen outside for most the afternoon. It had been much better than the lavish parties he had attended in the Palace: there were no expectations, and all of them had been free to do as they had pleased. Eventually even Mai had agreed to dance with Haru, and Song and Sokka had danced along another tune that Rui Shi deliberately performed to test Sokka's footing skills once more.
By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted but happy. It was a rarity to say as much about Mai, but she had been grinning as well as she said her farewells to them before boarding the carriage with Haru and Ty Lee, upon the arrival of a cloudy dusk. All in all, the party had been a cozy and fun success.
"You have a night shift now, right?" Sokka asked Rui Shi, as they worked together to put away the Mahjong set and drinks that had been left around the living room "Seems like it'll be a challenging one, staying awake properly after all those hours of playing the pipa…"
"No need to worry, I can handle staying awake for several days at a time, as you already know" said Rui Shi, smiling "Either way, you do have a way with rhythm. I'm surprised anyone can actually dance, if that's dancing, to the beat of a pipa composition…"
"What'd you mean, if that's dancing?!" Sokka huffed, indignant. Rui Shi only smirked with proud malice as he walked off with the many empty cups to the kitchen.
As much as it had been a crazy day, cleaning up, if just superficially, didn't take so long. Only half an hour later, the two natural occupants of the house, as well as their respective lovers, were back in the living room, relaxing after having worked to put away everything from the party.
Rui Shi and Song sat side by side on the couch while Azula took to sitting on the small table, much as Toph often had when she had dropped by at Sokka's house. Sokka, on the other hand, had taken his seat on the floor right in front of Azula, relaxing against her legs with a satisfied smile on his face.
"You really didn't have to go this far, you guys" he said eventually, gazing up at the banner that still hung on the threshold that led to the vestibule "I appreciate it lots, but I sure didn't see it coming. What kind of gladiator gets a party thrown just for, well…?"
"Reaching the pinnacle of his discipline in the Superior League?" Azula asked, stroking his hair "No doubt none of them, especially no non-benders, considering it's been years since any non-benders succeeded at that…"
"Right" said Sokka, with a small smile "But still…"
"You two have done more for me than I could have ever asked" Song cut in, surprising them "From the moment you found me in the market all those years ago, I… I had no idea what kind of fate awaited me. I was afraid, somewhat, because… well, you were the Princess, and for all I knew, the higher the social standing of my employer, the worse treatment I'd get. But… I've actually been happy. I never thought I'd be happy again, not after everything that happened in the Earth Kingdom, and yet… I am"
"Song…" Sokka said, with a weak grin. Song smiled warmly at him.
"You two changed my life for the better" she said "Without you, I wouldn't have met Rui Shi, and I certainly would have never found my mother again. When I see you together, I know you have a bright future ahead of you. Don't ask me how, but I just… I just know you do. You're both always working so hard to succeed in the Gladiator League, even after, well…"
"Even when their relationship evolved as it did?" Rui Shi finished, with a raised eyebrow. Song laughed "Although it must be said that their training regime seems to have loosened up a lot since"
"Oh, sure thing, that's why he's a better fighter than ever now, huh?" said Azula, looking at Rui Shi skeptically. Sokka stroked his chin.
"Who knows? Might be getting laid is the secret to my talents" he said, smiling proudly. Unsurprisingly, Azula rolled her eyes and lightly yanked his hair for his words "Hey!"
"What I meant, though…" said Song, lightly chuckling at their antics "Is that you two have become such valuable friends for me that, well… I really just wanted to do this. Both to thank you for all you've done for me, and to encourage you to keep moving forward, so you can achieve everything you set out to do"
"Well, I sure appreciate the thoughtfulness" said Sokka, grinning earnestly now "Though I guess now I ought to throw a surprise party right back at you one of these days, because if someone puts up with too much nonsense in this house, it's certainly you, eh, Song?"
"Oh, none of that…" she said, laughing as Azula and Rui Shi nodded in agreement.
Sokka chuckled and relaxed against Azula again, while Rui Shi pulled Song into a gentle hug. The smile on the young woman's face was serene and blissful.
"You talk a lot about all you owe us, but…" said Sokka, sighing "We owe you lots, too"
"Very true" Azula convened.
"Then I guess we all owe each other heaps of things, from the looks of it" said Song, laughing "Either way, we're very lucky slaves, aren't we?"
"The luckiest, by far" Sokka said, closing his eyes "Though I'm certainly luckier than you"
"Oh?" said Song, smiling weakly.
"Of course I am, you're always looking after me" Sokka said, chuckling "Truthfully, all of you are. Even Rui Shi, though he'll never admit it…"
"Heh. There's nothing to admit" Rui Shi grumbled, bringing out a few laughs from the Princess and Song.
"I don't really know how I've been strong enough to come this far" Sokka said "For a long time I thought… it could have been anyone but me. If by chance my opponent that day in the Amateur Arena had been a bit smarter than me, you would've taken him instead…"
"Have you ever wondered just how likely it was for you to run into anyone smarter than you?" Azula asked, caressing his forehead and prompting him to look at her "I can't think of a single gladiator in the Superior League who fits that requirement, for starters. It'd have been pretty difficult to find one of the sort in the Amateur League"
"Heh" he said, smiling weakly "And then you say I'm the flatterer"
"You're the one who always says it's not flattery if it's true…" Azula said, smirking "You're terribly blind to your own virtues and you have a tendency to think less of yourself than you should. A very bad habit, you know? You ought to be more like me"
"Oh? Because your opinion of yourself is perfectly accurate, then?" Sokka asked, amused. Azula smirked.
"Of course it is" she said. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.
"Well, as you'd have it… I guess I'm finally starting to think maybe there's more to me than I thought, after all" he said, closing his eyes "Otherwise… I couldn't have come this far, huh?"
"Definitely" Azula said, nodding.
"But it's still true that I didn't get this far on my own" he said, breathing out and looking at Azula wistfully before glancing at Song and Rui Shi as well "You've all supported me in your own ways, for so long, and… I don't think I'll ever thank any of you enough for it. I'm damn sure I wouldn't have come this far without all of you"
"That's quite true as well" Rui Shi determined. Once more, he prompted Song to laugh with his blunt words "Especially without Song. Who would have kept you fed otherwise?"
"If I'd had to cook for myself for all these years, I'd probably have died out of food poisoning rather than in the Arena" Sokka laughed. Azula rolled her eyes again but smiled.
"And that's exactly the line of reasoning we followed when we hired her" Azula said. Sokka chuckled.
"What I guess I'm trying to say is… you guys are definitely the best friends I could've asked for" he said. Rui Shi raised his eyebrows.
"Here I thought the Princess wasn't merely a friend…" he said. Sokka grinned proudly.
"She can be my friend and future wife at the same time, you know" he said. Azula blushed slightly but smiled regardless "No need to separate both things, Rui Shi"
"Of course" said Rui Shi, with a soft chuckle.
"Anyways, thank you" Sokka said, smiling and relaxing again "If I've found a way to live in this skin of mine, after all the mistakes and messes I've made… it's only because of you guys"
Azula continued to stroke his face gently, as Rui Shi and Song gazed at him with uncertainty. For as proud and strong as he often acted, Sokka suddenly appeared vulnerable and small as he rested against his Princess's legs. It wasn't as though he was broken, or as though he were genuinely weak… but he was baring his uncertainties for everyone to see right now, trusting all three of them would understand him.
"If any of us has any business being here today…" Azula whispered "It's because of you, Sokka. And… and it's not just because you're the best non-bender of the League, in case you thought as much. It's because… it's because you're you. Simple as that"
Sokka's smile grew more earnest and he opened his eyes to gaze at her. Azula smiled back, cupping his cheek gently.
"So it's us who should be thanking you" she said "That was the whole point of the party anyhow"
"Well, if that's how it is, it backfired" he laughed "Because all I keep thinking is you guys are too damn amazing and I love all of you!"
Azula laughed as Sokka wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her belly. Rui Shi smiled at the sight of them, despite he didn't usually enjoy their displays of affection. Song grinned warmly too, her hand squeezing Rui Shi's as she relaxed against him. She had remembered her beginnings with them quite often lately: their first encounter, when she had been fortunate enough to spot that limping gladiator wandering the market warily, dodging the avid salesmen… All of them had once been broken in their own ways, and they had all undergone journeys of their own over the past three years. But right now, Song felt at ease like she never expected she ever would after all the grief and tragedies she'd faced through her life.
It was a small moment, with happily shared laughs amongst all four of them, and yet Song couldn't help but treasure it fully. She hoped they would have another occasion like this one day, but if they didn't, the memory of one wonderful afternoon would forever be engraved in her mind.
Azula offered Rui Shi a lift home on Xin Long, which he accepted gratefully. As soon Xin Long sighted Sokka, he covered the gladiator in dragon kisses to congratulate him for his grand achievement. Sokka was wiping off dragon drool as Rui Shi and Song embraced in the backyard, and Azula smiled at the sight of her gladiator's scowl.
"I understand he's merely messing with us, but he really should understand kissing me is your area of expertise, not his" Sokka pouted. Azula laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Even so, after all that dragon licking I'm not sure I'll be exercising my apparent expertise much right now" she said, smirking. Sokka pouted and glared at Xin Long judgmentally. The dragon merely smiled with an open mouth, his tongue slipping out over the rows of teeth as he feigned total innocence.
"Yeah, yeah, you're cute as hell, you troublemaker" Sokka scolded him, shaking his head before turning to Azula. She stroked his stubble gently before offering a very light kiss, followed by laughter.
"You really do smell like dragon breath" she said, walking away and to the saddle "Take a bath as soon as you can, maybe by tomorrow it will have worn off"
"It better!" Sokka exclaimed, grimacing and rubbing his face frantically. Xin Long's laughter only brought him to scowl at the creature "Not funny, Xin!"
"We'll see you both tomorrow" Azula said, smiling as she took her place in the front seat as Rui Shi climbed behind her "Get some rest, Sokka. We'll start with some light training in the morning"
"Which kind?" he asked, with a mischievous smile. Azula's raised her eyebrows.
"Depends on how dragon-like you smell tomorrow, I suppose" she said, with a dry grin. Sokka groaned and sulked, to everyone else's amusement "See you later, then"
"Fly safely!" Song said, smiling and waving at them as Xin Long leapt into the twilight sky.
Sokka sighed as they left, but he grinned soon enough. Despite all the dragon licking, it had been one of the best days he'd enjoyed in ages. He grinned at Song, who smiled too.
"Feel free to take that bath any time" she said, promptly. Sokka did a double take before looking at her accusingly.
"Song…" he groaned, as she laughed softly "You really can go from being the sweetest girl in the world to saying the meanest in just moments, huh?"
"I'd think you'd be used to it, the Princess seems to be even worse than me in those regards" said Song, shrugging.
"No doubt" said Sokka, smiling a little "Well, Song… thanks for this crazy surprise. I definitely didn't expect it, so a job well done with keeping it a secret"
"You were too busy being on a daze over what you'd achieved, it was the perfect opportunity to sneak around without your awareness" she said, smiling still "You may not think it, Sokka, but you really do deserve it. This, and so much more…"
He smiled and breathed deeply, gazing at their house. At the place that had become a home, a haven, a safe place like nothing he'd ever known. It had been three years… but they had been amazing years, all in all. Everything they had built so far had been stable and strong, and he felt at further ease with himself than he had in a very long time. Perhaps ever since he had organized that attack on the settlement, or… no, before that, even before his father had taken off to war. Perhaps before his mother's death, or Rhone's departure…
Perhaps he never had felt at such ease in his entire life, truthfully.
He smiled to himself, closing his eyes as he allowed the feeling to rush inside him, accompanied by a soft breeze. Perhaps this was how Azula had felt when she had first started to bend gold fire… He wouldn't be surprised if it was. But for once he truly was at peace with himself and the man he'd become, for the first time ever. He could only hope that sensation would take proper root and last for many more days…
Rui Shi had taken off to the guards' barracks quickly, and Azula had relieved Xin Long from his saddle before taking off to her own room. After so much jumping around while dancing with Sokka, she definitely could use a bath right away, and a proper night's rest too…
But a day as successful and smooth as this one couldn't possibly continue so seamlessly. Not with her luck, at least.
"Princess! Princess, it's urgent!"
Azula froze upon hearing the voice of one of her former Royal Guards drifting out of a corridor to her left. She quickly identified him as Qiang and she regarded him with raised eyebrows. The man was racing towards her desperately, breathing heavily when he finally stopped before her.
"We've been looking for you everywhere, but…" he said, before shaking his head promptly "The Fire Lord has summoned a council meeting. It's urgent"
"A council meeting…?" she repeated, eyes wide.
No council meetings were summoned this late in the day. Generally, those meetings had to take place early in the morning in case they dragged on for too long… it was well past dusk by now. Would Ozai's officers be able to attend at such short notice?
That he would summon a meeting in these circumstances spoke for itself, though. Azula's heart seemed to freeze when she dared ponder what could possibly have thrown off her father so badly that he'd demand for his council to gather so promptly. No doubt, it couldn't be good news. Were they losing the war in the North, perhaps? Or maybe the White Lotus had answered Ozai's abhorrent murder spree in some manner or another…?
The blood chilled in her veins at those thoughts, dreading whatever course of action her father would take if either of her predictions turned out to be accurate. She couldn't do anything but obey, though. Whatever reasoning her father had to call for such a meeting, she had to be there. It was better to find out what the problem was before jumping to any conclusions, either way.
She stopped by her room only briefly to ascertain her appearance was acceptable before rushing to the Throne Room. Imperial Guards opened the curtains for her, and she wasn't surprised to find there were only four other officials inside the room, aside from her father.
The wall of fire between him and his subjects looked wilder than ever. Azula's unease increased as she walked to her rightful place at his side. She spared a glance at the map around which Ozai's subjects sat: Zhao was there, looking every bit as confused as she felt. Judging by his expression, he didn't know what was happening either… if that was the case, it probably wasn't anything to do with the North. Ozai would have been likely to brief him about any information pertaining a mission Zhao was so attached to… the White Lotus, then?
She bowed to Ozai promptly as she reached his right side, and Ozai hardly spared a glance in her direction as she took her seat.
"You were busy, I heard?" he asked. Azula swallowed hard.
"Were you waiting long for me?" she asked. Ozai surprised her by shaking his head.
"I summoned this meeting around half an hour ago" he said "But the guards claimed they couldn't find you, so I thought… but you're here now. Good"
"I only just came back from my gladiator's house" she admitted "His healer, well, had the idea to celebrate his victory against the top-ranked non-bender of the Superior League. It's why I wasn't here as soon as you called"
"I see" said Ozai, though his voice gained a quality Azula couldn't pinpoint right away. Was it bitterness? Had he suddenly started to dislike Sokka? It wasn't exactly unexpected, for Azula had never really understood why her father was so tolerant and permissive of her gladiator… and yet something told her that wasn't quite it. Her father was usually straight-forward about whatever bothered him when his emotions were rampant as it seemed they were this time "What matters is that you returned on time. And as I doubt anyone else will be able to attend on such short notice… perhaps we shouldn't waste any more time"
"You're sure?" Azula asked. Ozai nodded.
"Let us begin, War Minister Qin" he said, louder now. The nervous man jumped to his feet, as did the other three and Azula.
They recited the Fire Nation Oath as ever, but Ozai didn't take as much pride in the words as he usually did. With a nod of his head, everyone but Qin took their seats.
"Please, War Minister" said Ozai, spreading a hand towards the rest of the attendees. The War Minister nodded.
"This meeting has but one topic" he said, speaking as solemnly as he could "There has been a slave uprising in the southern town of Fazhan"
Azula's eyes widened. All the officers in the room stared at Qin in surprised disbelief, but the man carried on speaking nonetheless, disregarding their reactions.
"The local soldiers have contained it, but only enough to confine the rebellion to the building where it began" Qin continued "And that would be Fazhan's Amateur Gladiator Arena"
"Amateur gladiators are rebelling?" Azula said, her voice unsteady.
The place where her heart had felt so full only moments ago now had turned into an abyss. A sense of dread, of unsettling fear, took hold of her entire being, and she had to make efforts not to tremble visibly. This… this was what she had warned her father of. What she had wanted to help him avoid. And he had ignored her.
And it had been gladiators, unsurprisingly, just as Azula had expected it to be, if any such rebellion ever took place. No wonder Ozai hadn't taken kindly to any news about Sokka today.
"Indeed, the gladiators of the Fazhan Arena have rebelled openly" said Qin "It seems they killed their handler, and it's presumed they may have also killed the guards who kept order in the Arena. They have remained in their building for the time being, but only time will tell if they'll act out against the town's people again if they find a chance to do so"
"And that's not something we can allow" Ozai declared, with a fierce frown. Azula clenched her fists over her crossed legs "I have summoned you at short notice because one of you, any of you available officials, must go quell this rebellion before it takes root. I care not who does it, but I want the responsible slaves to be brought safely to me, so that I may dispense the justice they deserve for this heinous crime"
Heinous crime… they had killed their guards and their master, after years and years of being forced to kill and do nothing other than killing for days on end. Why would they deserve any punishment if they were merely doing what was expected from them on any given day? Azula allowed herself the bitter thought, even if she knew she could never speak it aloud. Had she dared, she could have said her goodbyes to all her ambitions to bring the Fire Nation into a better future… and yet keeping her silence would help no one either. These slaves… these rebels were most certainly going to die. Knowing Ozai, they would die publicly, as a demonstration of power by the Fire Nation's regent. No one would get away with rebelling under his rule, and he would make sure to drive that message across in whatever way he could.
But it wasn't fair. Azula's stomach churned, twisted and turned, as she heard the men debating who would handle this. She ought to chime in, to say she would do it… and then set the slaves free. But if she did that, she wouldn't hear the end of it. She would be a traitor in her father's eyes. She would be as bad, or even worse than her brother. If she feigned incompetence, inability to deal with such a serious threat, her father would never trust her again. Their relationship was on dangerous grounds as of late already without adding new complications to it.
But if she did nothing… she could never live with herself. Her entire soul seemed to shatter at the thought… for Sokka had been in an Amateur Arena once. Sokka could have easily led one of those revolts if he hadn't been as broken and depressed back then to even consider doing it. And if Sokka had been subjected to a punishment like whatever Ozai had in mind right now for these rebels…
She closed her eyes promptly. If there was something she absolutely couldn't allow herself right now, it was breaking down in tears in the middle of this meeting. No, she had to think, to stop being so emotional and think. There had to be something she could do, anything…
"Then, all in agreement regarding this conclusion?" Ozai asked, bringing Azula out of her thoughts briefly "Shall Admiral Zhao be entrusted this mission?"
Her chest hurt painfully upon hearing those words: Zhao would be merciless, surely. He had been surprisingly kind lately, he had even been nice to Sokka… but he wouldn't be to rebels. The main reason why he respected Sokka was because he'd determined he was different from the rest of the slaves, from the rest of his kind. These rebels would never receive the same treatment. His mercilessness was surely one of the reasons why Ozai seemed so pleased by his war council's quick decision.
All hands raised in agreement. Begrudgingly, Azula raised her own as well. Not doing as much would have meant having to offer an explanation, or an alternative to Zhao… and as it was, she couldn't give either thing to her father. Telling him she didn't want these slaves killed was madness, and yet that was all she truly wanted to say…
"Then I shall perform my task to the best of my ability" said Zhao, bowing his head towards the council before standing upright "I will send word to the Capital's southern base and I'll bring a contingent of soldiers with me to Fazhan as quickly as possible"
"Our people count on you to muffle this threat for our nation's safety, Admiral Zhao" Ozai declared, his sharp eyes staring at Zhao meaningfully, with determination. The Admiral nodded once more before bowing, fist in palm, towards his Fire Lord.
"I will not let you down" he declared, firmly.
Ozai and Zhao, united in their goal to kill slaves. If this was a nightmare, it was about the right time to wake up from it.
But it wasn't one, and Azula couldn't quite forgive reality for that. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. Why now? Why would they rebel so suddenly, why would they do it so ineffectively? Those gladiators… they surely had no plans. They had acted without thinking, most likely, murdering the guards and slave master on impulse… and while Azula couldn't quite blame them for turning their strength against their slavers, she could for not having a proper strategy to follow after that. What was she supposed to do now? How could she help them? How could she possibly make a single move without alerting her father of her involvement in this matter? How could she save them without defying Ozai openly enough to risk starting some sort of civil war between them?
She reached her bedroom only half an hour later, and she took a long time in the tub to ponder her possibilities. But every idea was another dead end. She was going nowhere: traveling to Fazhan on her dragon to save those rebels would be a completely idiotic way to proceed. Sending her dragon alone would be no better, for he was the only living dragon anyone knew of, and his allegiance was also well known: her father would always figure out she had been behind it.
She couldn't go. She simply couldn't leave the city, so it meant she had to figure out another way to deal with this. She had to ask someone else for advice, someone who might have better insight on what could be happening in an Amateur Arena and how to help the rebels in a not-so-dangerous way…
The thought brought terrifying ideas to mind. She hugged herself in the water, instantly rejecting the newest notion that occurred to her… but what choice did she have, really? What other choice was there?
Telling Sokka was the only way out of this mess. He would never forgive her if she kept something this big, this important for him, to herself. And they'd agreed they would stop prioritizing each other above all else, hadn't they? This mattered to him, it would matter even more than it did to her, so… it was only right. Even if it would kill her inside not to be able to come up with a safe solution for this mess, it would be better if she told him… for Azula was good at long-term planning, except for when her emotions were compromised, just as they were now. Sokka, on the other hand… he was the most talented improviser she knew. He could weave wonders in the Arena all the time, without quite planning anything beforehand… would he be able to do it this time, too? Would he be able to come up with a solid plan they could execute quietly, without her father's awareness, in a situation where Azula was frozen cold, unable to make a single move that wouldn't result in a figurative or even literal suicide?
She knew she had to find out one way or another. She had dinner quickly, then slipped under the covers in her bed and waited patiently for ten minutes, at least, before dashing out of the mattress and opening the trapdoor. She couldn't waste any time, at least, not any more than she already had. She had to reach him. She only hoped he'd be able to keep his emotions at bay, something she was failing at miserably this time around…
As ever, reaching his house seemed to take forever through the tunnels. By the time she'd climbed out near his house she feared it was already close to midnight. She rushed to his door and slammed a fist on it loudly, hoping to wake him up in case he was already sleeping…
She had to knock twice again until the door opened. Sokka looked at her with distrust at first, until he recognized her in the dark of the night. Song stood near the stairs, startled and worried by the loud noise by the door.
"Azula?" said Sokka, staring at her in confusion "What…?"
"Sokka" she said, her anxiety spilling over her words immediately "S-something's happened. Something bad"
"Woah. Okay?" said Sokka, ushering her in. So much for hoping his peace would last… "What's wrong?"
He closed the door, but Azula stayed in the vestibule, looking at him with such guilt he started to fear she'd tell him she would be forced to marry someone against her will. Yet the words that came out of her mouth, if far more believable, were no less disturbing.
"There's a slave riot in an Amateur Arena" she blurted out. Sokka's lips parted, the blood draining from his face as the words registered in his mind "And… I… Sokka, I have no idea what to do. I couldn't think clearly, I can't come up with a plan, my father's already sending Zhao to deal with it and I…"
"Slave riot?" Sokka repeated, and just as Azula had expected, his blue eyes gained that ice-cold quality they ever did whenever something brought out the worst in him. Her stomach sank "Where? When did it start?"
"I guess it must have happened today, but it's… it's a southern town. Fazhan" she said. Sokka breathed deeply and nodded, frowning.
"A slave riot" he repeated "If it's in an Amateur Arena, then… they're probably on a suicide mission. If they're going to die eventually, might as well die fighting the actual enemy, right?"
"And I can't blame them for thinking so" Azula said, nearly looking at Sokka pleadingly "But… I don't think you want that to happen. I don't think any of us do. Sokka…"
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his determined frown gave Azula pause. A good pause, for a change. Maybe he had come up with a solution, as easily and quickly as that…
"No, we don't want that" he said, breathing deeply again "So I guess I'm going to Fazhan"
Azula had expected an idea. A plan he would tell her how to execute, a strategy, even if a faulty one she would be able to correct for him.
She hadn't expected him to reach that conclusion, of all conclusions.
"What?" she said, terrified disbelief in her features.
His eyes were unyielding, unrelenting as ever when his mind and heart were set on one thing. He had never had the courage to rebel in the Amateur Arena… but today, others had displayed that kind of bravery. The least he could do was offer them a hand, even if his sponsor couldn't agree with that.
"I'm sorry, Azula" he said, placing his hands on her shoulders: she was at a loss for words now, horror plain on her features "I'll be back before you know it"
"Y-you… curses, Sokka…" she said, trembling even more violently than she had earlier today.
Of all things, she hadn't thought this would be the result of their latest encounter. And yet she should have known. She should have, for the fool before her was reckless and courageous like no one she knew. And as far as he was concerned, he had no right to live the life he was living while other gladiators could barely survive for another day.
But her entire being was shaken to her core. What if Zhao caught him trying to help the slaves? What would happen to the two of them in that case? Her father would immediately know Sokka had found out through her: it wouldn't be the first time she disclosed war meeting contents to her gladiator, after all. But this time, her father was nowhere near as happy and permissive with her as he had been back when the second waterbender of the South had been discovered. This time, if they allowed themselves any slip-ups, they would be just as likely to join the rebellious gladiators in the execution her father was surely already arranging…
And Sokka was no fool. He knew that, if he were to fail, that was the outcome they'd face, but this was bigger than the two of them. They couldn't keep talking about how they'd save slaves one day if they wouldn't make a move to save them when they had a chance to do so.
It was time to act, openly, against Ozai's orders. And while Azula was terrified, justifiably, of the prospect of doing so, Sokka's heart was more than steeled for this moment: he would save those gladiators one way or another, no matter the cost.