Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

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

393. Chapter 393: A New Era 4

A New Era

4

Blue skies and seas converged in a distant horizon: even nature appeared to evoke peace and harmony as the Barge progressed on its journey to the Northern Water Tribe. Thoughts of the upcoming challenges she would face there daunted Azula at times, but they were still weeks away from their destination. She had enough time to brace herself for what was to come, time she would be perfectly content to spend with her lover and their daughter.

That she didn't need to hide Hotaru in her room perpetually, that she wouldn't have to tuck her into the hidden compartment of the ship, that she could even walk around deck with the child in her arms, still baffled the Fire Lord. She flinched often, instinctively hiding Hotaru from any sailor or guard who might be nearby, but there was no true danger anymore. If any did arise, however, the baby would be protected by her parents, fierce as they were, as well as Xin Long, Katara and Aang: nothing seemed all that terrifying when so many powerful people – and a dragon – were ready to keep the child safe.

The first day of journeying passed by smoothly: the excitement of setting out on a new trip didn't ease up even by the next day, after a restful night in which Hotaru only woke up her parents once, needing a change of diapers that Sokka ensured to take care of while Azula nestled in bed still, drifting into sleep as Hotaru's voice quieted down. By morning, they shared breakfast together at the ship's dining deck, and this time around, regardless of being used to flinching away from Sokka's gestures of affection out of fear of being watched, Azula resisted the learned impulse and laced her fingers with his often, even letting her head rest on his shoulder on occasion. Hotaru, sitting on Sokka's lap, enjoyed her father's mischief that morning as he took to testing if their child was ready for more kinds of food…

"She doesn't have teeth yet, Sokka…" Azula warned him. Sokka hummed.

"That's fine. More meat for me!" he snickered. Azula smiled, shaking her head. "But I thought maybe she could try a bit of soup… how about it, Hotaru? Let's see…!"

He picked up a small cup, dipping it only slightly in his miso soup. The baby gawked at the plate with confusion as her father tipped it carefully, letting the liquid touch the child's lips.

Hotaru blinked rapidly and pulled away from the cup at first, startled by the flavor. Azula kissed her brow reassuringly… then, Hotaru raised her hands and reached for the cup again: Sokka let out a victorious cry.

"Ha! She liked it! Good girl, Hotaru, grow up to be a glutton like your mom and dad…"

"Oh, come on, I'm not…! W-well, I'm not as bad as you."

"Spicy ramen and mochi would like to have a say on that…"

"It's only two kinds of foods that do that to me!" Azula laughed, looking at him in disbelief: Sokka smirked, sticking his tongue out at her. "You're by far worse than I am in that department, it's not even a competition…"

"Eh, it was one with the spicy ramen," Sokka smiled, biting his lip. "Say… back in the day, you said you'd hire Jiare as your personal cook or so. Were you just joking, or are you still interested in doing that?"

"Well… huh," Azula's eyes widened. "I doubt we can afford to do that right now, honestly. No Palace, so… she'd have to bunk up with everyone else in the house? That would make no sense…"

"Right. And after the Palace is rebuilt?" Sokka asked. Azula bit her lip. "Azula…?"

"I'd have to think about it," she said. "I mean… we could go back to Firelight one day. Maybe reveal who we really were? But, well, you know… that would be awkward, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know. Sounds fun to me," Sokka smirked. Azula huffed. "Imagine the wild tales they'll tell about us… the legends that will be built. The two careless travelers, so deeply in love, found refuge in Firelight Town… and the townsfolk welcomed them, offering kindness and support, and…!"

"And spicy ramen."

"And they even helped them get married," Sokka said. Azula smiled and nodded. "A few years pass, and the married couple returns, regal and glorious, with their child…! And they reveal they were the Fire Lord and her Gladiator all along. They thank the town profusely for all their help… while taking up another spicy ramen challenge. It's the perfect folk's tale!"

"Says you," Azula chuckled, as Sokka helped Hotaru drink some more soup.

"Better than tragedies where lovers jump into volcanoes, if you ask me," Sokka said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Well, you do have a point," she said. "Maybe we've had too many of those tragic stories across history, huh?"

"I'd say so," Sokka nodded sagely. "It's time we start putting forward ridiculous, funny stories instead."

"And the idea that generations will forever remember us through ridiculous stories is… well, interesting," Azula said. "I wonder how that would change Fire Nation culture."

"I'm sure it'll make it better," he decided, smiling as he drank some soup of his own. "Our world needs… less tragedies and more inspiration."

"Here I thought you'd say more comedy instead," Azula smiled.

"Eh, same thing," he teased her, leaning over to kiss her brow softly.

The comfort she felt, relaxing by his side as they shared their first breakfast aboard that ship in years, wrapped snugly around Azula's heart. Even if they were floating at sea, miles from civilization, she knew the sensation all too well… a sensation she had forsaken and as good as forgotten until he had returned to her life. She was home at last… because he was, too.

Once the meal was finished. Azula picked up Hotaru this time, brushing her hair gently with her fingers after Sokka handed their trays over to the cooking staff. He showed himself as friendly as could be, but the apprehension and fear in their reactions around him didn't go unnoticed. Even so, Sokka didn't make a fuss for it: after everything he had been up to, it would take many years before Fire Nation people stopped seeing him as a terrifying figure… that is, if they ever did.

"How do you feel… being back aboard the Barge?" Azula asked, with one last glance at the kitchen staff before they walked away. The staff seemed to flinch under her gaze, bowing impulsively, hoping to offer enough respect to avoid consequences for their behavior. "I'm sure you'd rather we were sailing with our last crew instead, but…"

"Nah, I feel better knowing your guards are keeping the Fire Nation safe while we're gone," Sokka said. "A few awkward moments with your terrified staff don't really amount to much to me, I'll say. You might think it does, but…"

"But you've changed," Azula said, eyeing him with curiosity. "Back in the day, the Sokka I hired as my gladiator would've been confused and weirded out to find so many people offering him reverence and being utterly terrified of him…"

"Eh, well, back in those days, the Sokka you hired had no idea why he was so scary," Sokka remarked. "Let's just say I've earned the fear by now, or at least, I feel like I have. It's not fun, no, but… if it means people will leave us be, I'll take it. Sooner than later, they'll all realize I'm still the same goofball I ever was."

"Will they?" Azula smiled. "You know, you can be a goofball and be terrifying all at once… if someone has proven that, it's certainly you."

"Heh. Do you find me that daunting, Princess?" he asked. Azula snorted.

"I don't, mostly because you apparently don't find me daunting either… Fire Lady," she hissed. Sokka yelped, and she laughed at his reaction. "That's right. If you won't call me Fire Lord…"

"I will! Just, on special occasions!" he squeaked. "It's fine to call you Princess when we're not up to anything important, I'm sure…"

"I know it's a habit that will be very difficult for you to break, love, but I just get the feeling you're not trying to break it at all," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "Almost like it's easier to stomach that you loved a Princess than that you love the Fire Lord…"

"I mean, you're the Fire Lord in question, so… it's not hard to fathom at all," Sokka chuckled. "Would be a whole other thing if, well, you were talking about loving any of your predecessors. Yeah, nope, they all suck…"

"Fair," Azula smiled. "And it's their fault that you can't use my actual title properly… thus, their fault, then, that I'll keep calling you Fire Lady if you won't call me Fire Lord."

"Is this a new thing, then, between us?" Sokka smirked, as they wandered across the deck together. "How about if I spar with you for my dignity, huh? If I win, you can't call me Fire Lady…"

"Not happening," Azula said, beaming. Sokka gasped. "I'm not taking on a fight I'm going to lose. You'll have to put up with being called Fire Lady because I'm not about to…"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean, a fight you're going to lose? Who says you'd lose it?" Sokka squeaked.

"I do. You beat me the last time we crossed blows, I haven't trained at all since… I'm guaranteed to lose," Azula smiled. Sokka pouted, reaching towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Hotaru cooed, nestled between their chests.

"You're not guaranteed to lose because…"

"If you say you'll let me win I will ensure Fire Lady becomes your official Fire Nation title," she cut him off. Sokka froze.

"I… wouldn't do that?" he smiled awkwardly.

"No, sure you wouldn't," Azula chuckled: he groaned, dropping his head so he'd nestle with his forehead against hers.

"You always drive the hardest bargains. It's not fair, Azula, really…" he pouted.

"You'll have to be more persuasive," she decided, with a mischievous smile.

"Will I?"

His tone was smooth and dangerous now: Azula bit her lip briefly, but her mouth soon found itself quite occupied once Sokka kissed it fully, holding her in place. She hardly had time to react to each of his motions, for when she returned the kiss, he teased her lower lip by brushing it with his tongue. When she sought to tease his tongue with her own, his teeth nibbled lightly on her lower lip instead: her resulting gasp saw him deepening the kiss further, as good as jousting against her tongue once he boldly slipped past her every defense.

Azula laughed into the kiss despite being on the losing end of what shouldn't be a competition at all… but was she losing, truly, when everything he touched seemed to burst into pure, blissful pleasure? She relaxed into it, tilting her head to offer him better access, switching to holding Hotaru in one arm while her free hand grabbed hold of Sokka's shirt…

"Oh, wow."

Azula broke away from the kiss abruptly: Sokka nearly stumbled once she stepped back, and he braced himself on her shoulder over the sudden loss of balance. The Fire Lord instinctively turned away from the male voice that had startled them, cheeks blazing with fluster while Sokka regained his footing, smiling and waving awkwardly at his judgmental sister and the perplexed Avatar, standing next to her.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to intrude…!" Aang explained, cheeks flushed. Katara snorted.

"Well, I'm not sure if this counts as an intrusion, considering they were standing in the middle of the most public space on this ship…" she pointed out, with a smirk. Sokka laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as Azula seemed to continue to shrink unto herself, not quite ready to face the other pair yet.

"We may just have gotten carried away…" he said, biting his lip. "Morning, you two?"

"Morning," Katara said, with a judgmental smile. "You know, if you two need alone time that desperately you could very well just go for it… Aang and I could babysit, and you can, I don't know, get a room!"

"We do have one," Sokka said, with a small voice. Aang chuckled. "C'mon, Katara… I caught you two doing the same thing in the North Pole, remember?"

"It was supposed to be late at night and you weren't supposed to be lurking anywhere around, so it's different…" Katara said, though her cheeks flushed. "Besides! My main concern is Hotaru, she's just stuck between you two and you're not giving her any attention…"

"She gets plenty of attention," Sokka pouted, smiling over at the embarrassed Azula, who finally started to turn back towards Aang and Katara. "Today she drank miso soup! Tell your aunt she's being pesky for no reason, Hotaru…"

Despite her eagerness to tease her brother, Katara couldn't help but smile warmly at the little girl nestled in Azula's arms. Hotaru gaped up at her with interest, and Katara stepped closer, leaning in to look closely at the child.

"Hello there, Hotaru," she said, raising a hand to stroke the child's hair. "Had fun drinking soup, did you?"

Hotaru cried out, slowly smiling at Katara: the waterbender's smile widened, tightness surging in her chest at the child's reaction.

"Fuck… how did you make such a cute baby, Sokka? Doesn't suit you at all…" she said.

"All Azula. I had nothing to do with the cuteness," Sokka said, proudly. Azula laughed, shaking her head.

"As if anyone with sense would ever call me cute…"

"Hey, I…!"

"With sense, I said. You absolutely don't count."

"That's true, you certainly don't," Katara smirked, standing upright again as Sokka yelped.

"You… okay now. You two are not about to team up against me, are you?" Sokka said, eyeing them fearfully. "That's… that's not allowed, you know? It's one or the other, but not both at once!"

"Oh, now, is this your truest, biggest fear of all time?" Katara laughed, hands on her hips. "My brother is scared of being teased beyond belief, apparently? Nice to know…"

"Well, is he really?" Azula asked, eyeing Sokka skeptically. "Knowing him…"

"What?" Sokka pouted. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"You enjoy it when people torment you. That's one of the reasons why you have no sense," she said. "You might just want us to team up indeed…"

"I most certainly don't!" Sokka exclaimed.

Aang chuckled at the strange, teasing argument between the three: Katara glanced back at him, amused, knowing he wasn't quite likely to join the banter, but pleased to see his reaction to it.

"You're really lively," Aang said. "Kind of like you were… back in Whaletail Island."

"Oh," Sokka blinked blankly. "Well… things were much easier back then."

"For you, in some ways, sure," Katara said, raising her eyebrows. "I still vividly remember having to run down that pier, screaming your name at the top of my lungs… I really thought you'd slip through my fingers, you know?"

"And I really thought you were fighting as a gladiator, but we both were proven wrong in our own ways back then," Sokka smiled. "How are you liking it, then? Being aboard the ship you chased that way…"

"You mean, the ship that took you away from us again? I… I don't know. It's huge, compared to everything else we've ridden on," Katara said, with a weak smile. "I can't complain about our room, though. That's a really comfortable bed. My head hit the pillow and I don't think I even realized I'd fallen asleep until I woke up and the sun was rising again."

"I'm glad it's comfortable," Azula said. "If you need anything else, well, provided it's something that we can do, just let us know."

"Uh… can you ask the staff to give me more vegetables in my meals?" Aang asked, with an awkward smile. "Half of the meal was, uh…"

"Oh. Yeah, we can arrange that. It's no trouble," Azula said.

"The Fire Nation's diet is very meat-based," Sokka said, nodding sagely. "But if you insist, you can have all my vegetables, I'll take your assigned share of meat, and…!"

"There's no need for that," Azula scoffed. Katara glared at him.

"Don't mess up your diet that way! Eat healthily, Sokka! You have to set an example for your daughter, too," she said, smiling at Hotaru again. "Or do you want her to think you're even more of a baby than she is?"

"Well, she doesn't have teeth and can't eat meat yet, so clearly I'm less of a baby if just because of that…" Sokka pouted. Azula chuckled, shaking her head.

"I hope you can come up with a better argument than that once she does grow out her teeth," she said.

"I have a few months to think about it still, don't I?" Sokka said, with an awkward smile.

"Hmm… I don't know if you do, actually," Katara said, leaning over to look at Hotaru pointedly. "She's… what, six, seven-months-old already? It's bound to start happening soon."

"Really?" Azula raised her eyebrows. She turned Hotaru in her arms carefully, prompting the baby to open her mouth by gently touching her jaw. "Well… I don't see anything yet."

"The lower ones are bound to happen first," Katara said. "I think it varies from kid to kid, but I was often asked to help out with medicine for babies back in the Tribe, and some of it was for teething."

"Medicine?" Azula frowned, eyeing Katara with uncertainty. "Will she need…?"

"She might. But truth be told, she's kind of lucky: she has a waterbending aunt!" Katara smiled, stroking Hotaru's hair again. "I can heal her gums if they start causing her too much pain. She might take to crying quite randomly, throwing far more tantrums than she usually does… if she's not hungry, and if her diaper's all dry? It's bound to be that."

"Damn," Azula said, swallowing hard. "Song used to help me unravel whatever was going on with her. Feels like I should know more about a child's growth and development stages than I do, but… I didn't really expect she wouldn't be around to tell me what to do."

"Well, I'm no Song, but I can give you a hand anyway," Katara offered, with a tight smile. "There's also going to be all the northern healers… surely they'll be able to help you, be it with Hotaru or with anything else you might need. Bet they've got way more experience with kids than I do…"

"Did you help Zuko a lot with Mari and Zi?" Azula asked. Katara snorted.

"Me and my Gran-Gran delivered them," she said. "I did more work with Zi, but still…"

"Damn," Azula's eyes widened. "Well, I'd say you have plenty of experience, then."

"You went through it yourself, though… that's definitely worse than helping deliver," Katara laughed.

"Possibly, but… I can't imagine how it must be to stand at the other end of that mess," Azula said, eyes widening. "I've grown convinced that bloodthirsty warriors have never seen things remotely as grotesque as what healers have to deal with on a daily basis. You're all rather admirable."

"Uh… I'm not sure you should be talking about that collective as though you weren't part of it," Katara said, with a small smile. "Didn't your gold fire heal and purify corruption?"

"It can, but… it's different. You can't really use it for everything," Azula said, with a grimace. "I can't exactly help my daughter's teething with gold fire, can I?"

"I suppose not," Katara admitted, with a small smile. "All the same, you're an honorary healer to a fault, I'd say. At any rate! If Hotaru gets sick in any way, let me know and I can try to fix it with waterbending, alright?"

"Thanks. I appreciate it," Azula said, smiling too. "Your aunt's looking out for you, Hotaru. Maybe… maybe you should thank her personally?"

"Oh?" Katara's eyes widened.

Azula smiled as she raised Hotaru towards Sokka's sister: only then did Katara realize that she hadn't had the chance to actually hold the child until now. She smiled slowly, eyes aglow with excitement as she slid her hands under Hotaru's armpits, hoisting her carefully and bringing her close.

"Why, hello there," Katara grinned. "Finally, I get to hold you…"

"Oh… you hadn't yet?" Azula's eyes widened. Katara smirked.

"Yeah, well, my brother's a jerk so he doesn't want to share her…" she said: Sokka pouted.

"If you wanted to hold her you could've said something…"

"And then you wouldn't have let me do it just to be a jerk," Katara concluded: Sokka's smirk spoke for itself, and Azula rolled her eyes before elbowing him lightly.

"Can I try next?" Aang asked, smiling down at Hotaru. "I mean, once you need to rest your arms, of course…"

"Sure," Katara said, but Sokka cleared his throat first, grabbing Aang's shoulder firmly and yanking him towards himself.

"If you do… no airbending around her. No flinging her ten feet into the air and catching her in an airbending pillow or any crazy thing of the sort that I know you're capable of. You hear me?"

His stern, menacing tone still sounded somewhat goofy to Azula… but not quite to Aang, who tensed up and nodded promptly, immediately nervous.

"Y-yes, Sokka, I… I'll be careful!"

"You better be," Sokka said, narrowing his eyes. "I punched the lights out of you once before. Literally at that. Don't make me do it again."

"I-I wouldn't. Nope. No worries," Aang said: Azula blinked blankly.

"And to think you've given me a hard time for being too mean to people in the past…" Azula said, eyeing Sokka with amusement. "Sounds like I taught you well, if anything."

"You did," Sokka said, firmly. "But I think I have a point here, don't I?"

"Nah, you don't," Katara smirked. "He's never done anything too dangerous to Zuko's kids: he'll be fine with Hotaru as well."

"I don't know about that…" Sokka eyed her skeptically. Katara snorted.

"If you don't, then… tell you what: leave Hotaru to us for about two hours. Maybe watch us from afar if you don't trust that Aang will be careful… but if we make it for that long without causing any chaos with her, you'll finally have to rope in that protective father thing and accept that you're not the only person who can keep her safe."

Sokka's goofy grimace brought Azula to laugh again. He sighed after a while, eyeing Azula with narrow eyes, sparks of ideas blooming in his mind…

"You sure about that?" Sokka asked, looking at Katara again. "You promise you two can handle Hotaru and anything she needs?"

"Just give us her diapers and toys, and it'll all be fine," Katara smiled, rocking Hotaru gently. The baby cooed softly, glancing back at her parents.

"If you're sure you can handle it…" Azula said, raising her eyebrows.

"We can babysit once in a while. I'm sure it'll be fun," Katara said, beaming. "I'll just… turn Hotaru against you two, same as I did with Mari and Zuko."

"I knew you had a secret agenda going on here," Sokka said.

"First word she'll ever say is 'Katara'!" the waterbender declared: Aang burst out laughing as Sokka's eyebrow twitched. Azula chuckled, shaking her head.

"If she does talk for the first time while she's with you, though… you'll come fetch us at once," Azula said, leaning close to kiss Hotaru's brow. "You'll spend time with your aunt and uncle now, Hotaru. Is that okay with you?"

The baby reached over, touching Azula's face gently, then her hair. Azula smiled fondly, kissing her again before pulling back.

"Better leave now or the impulse to take her back will overwhelm me," Azula chuckled, shaking her head. "Let us know if she gives you any trouble, then."

"We will, but she won't. She's adorable," Katara smiled, jolting the little girl in her arms carefully. "Let's go, let's go! We'll have a fun party today, Hotaru!"

"Are you sure about this?" Sokka asked Azula, as Katara and Aang stepped away, both fully focused on amusing the little girl. "Not that you've never left her in other people's care, but…"

"I'd think you're the one who should trust them more, not me," Azula smiled. "What worries you so much about this, Sokka?"

"Well, you heard me, Aang's reckless sometimes and thinks his airbending's really fun and whatnot," Sokka sighed. "He might just throw her in the air, you know, like people do sometimes to amuse their kids… but she's so little!"

"I know," Azula smiled. "But I doubt he'd be so irresponsible… from what I just saw, he's scared shitless of you."

"Uh… w-well, I don't know if shitless, but…"

"You threatened him, and he looked like he was about to pass out," Azula said: Sokka's cheeks flushed. "You really underestimate your power to this day?"

"I suppose I may have wielded my authority a bit too harshly," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Maybe I'll, uh, have to have some bonding time with Aang later. Make him be a little less scared of me. But, you know, only when he's not watching Hotaru."

"Of course," Azula smiled, rolling her eyes before dragging Sokka back to the ship's tower.

Within another ten minutes, Hotaru and her new babysitters were fully set with all they'd need to keep the child entertained and healthy for the next hours. Katara seemed aglow with joy, utterly enthralled by her niece, who appeared to enjoy her attention in a rather contained way, at first… shortly, though, she started giggling, wiggling her small body as Katara showed her toys she liked, rattles that Hotaru often thrived in shaking to her heart's content.

"She really does seem to be good at it," Azula smiled, her heart aching at the sounds of her daughter's sweet laughter. "It's… it's strange, not feeling apprehensive or nervous when Hotaru makes any noise. Be it laughter, be it crying…"

"I suppose your previous trips with her were nerve-wracking," Sokka said, arms folded over his chest.

"Keeping her confined to a tiny space in my room's hidden compartment when I wasn't around… it was terrifying," Azula said, shaking her head. "And every time she wept, I kept thinking something, someone, was bound to come get us. Fortunately, it didn't happen, but… I'm just glad she's finally free to shake all those rattles like there's no tomorrow."

"She's okay now," Sokka said, earnestly. "I know I was harsh with Aang and all, but… I'm sure she'll be fine with them, and all around. Nobody's going to harm her."

"I know. I… I'm sure of it," Azula smiled: Aang seemed to be doing a trick to impress Hotaru, rapidly spinning marbles with his airbending right before the child's wide, amazed eyes.

Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder, reeling Azula close again. She nestled in his arms, pressing her head against his chest, ever the comforting pillow she relished in. His hands rubbed her back and flanks gently, much as his lips often pressed against the top of her head.

"I'll admit, though… it's nice seeing you acting like the goofball I remember again," Azula said, with a slow smile. Sokka snorted.

"Is it, now?" he said. "It's not nice to think you might strike up an alliance with my sister, though…"

"Aw, come on. You're not actually jealous of that, are you?" Azula asked, amused, gazing at him with mischief. Sokka chuckled.

"Not at all, but… oh. Wait. What if I say I am?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "Would you feel the need to reassure me that I'm your favorite person in the world? Or, uh, second-favorite. Hotaru is… wait. Third, maybe, because Rei… crap. I'm losing a lot of ground here, aren't I?"

"You?" Azula laughed, pulling back to cup his face between her hands. She shook her head before kissing him promptly. "Dork. As if you could ever stop holding my heart in your hands…"

"Oh? Is that so?" he smiled, wrapping his arms fully around her waist.

"Do you need reassurances?" Azula asked. Sokka bit his lip. "Because I can think of a few things we could do while these two are so generous as to watch our baby for us…"

"Well, they did mention we should get a room… but can we really go for it right now?" Sokka said, biting his lip. Azula shrugged.

"I mean, there are perks in being in a publicly known relationship," Azula said. "No need to only sneak around at night anymore. And what else could we do on this ship to pass the time, anyway?"

"Back in the day, it was sparring in the day… then a different kind of sparring at night," Sokka smiled.

"True, but I'm not sure I ought to try sparring properly, as things stand, and you probably could use the break from so much fighting after all these years. You must be exhausted…" Azula said, hands running up and down his arms before reaching up to his shoulders. Sokka chuckled.

"Are you quite sure about this?" he asked. Azula shrugged. "I thought we'd oversee their babysitting duties…"

"I mean, if you'd rather do that…"

"Now, I didn't say that," Sokka pointed out. Azula chuckled.

"Come on. We have a long journey ahead of ourselves. Might as well relax and enjoy it as best we can," she said, kissing him again.

Sokka held her in place, lips brushing hers repeatedly. The kiss the others had interrupted could very well continue blissfully now, this way… perhaps asking them to take care of Hotaru wasn't a bad idea whatsoever.

"Alright… alright. Let's go. And let's be subtle. And quiet. Don't want them to judge us too much, do we?" Sokka smirked, wrapping an arm around Azula's waist. She sighed.

"Accept that they're going to judge us regardless. That's part of the deal that comes with not having a secret relationship anymore," she chuckled.

He kissed her brow as they marched into the tower once more… but this time, to stay upstairs rather than just to bring Hotaru's goods. Aang watched them go, raising his eyebrows at their smiles, the intimacy of their caresses, until they were gone from view.

"Eh… maybe we'll have to watch her for longer than a couple of horus," Aang pointed out. Katara snickered.

"Perfect. My plan worked out just as intended," she said. Aang snorted.

"Did you want those two to, well… go upstairs again?" he said. "Because that's what it looks like they're doing…"

"You can tell Sokka to call me the best sister in the world later," Katara declared, with a haughty grin. "I knew exactly what they were bound to end up doing once we took this one off their hands."

"Wow. Zuko would likely be throwing up over the side of the ship instead…" Aang smiled.

"See? That's why I'm the best sister in the world," Katara smiled, though her mischief faded soon enough. "Frankly… it just seems like they're going to be overworked to hell after we get to our destination. They hardly caught a break while we were in the Fire Nation too… they're usually with Hotaru in the room, so I doubt they get frisky nearly as often as they want to."

"Do you think they do it while she's around?" Aang asked, eyes wide. Katara snorted.

"A lot of parents do that. Newborn kids usually won't notice provided the parents aren't too messy," she said. Aang's cheeks flushed, and he giggled guiltily.

"That's… something I hadn't thought about before. At all," he said.

"You kind of need to keep your kid nearby in case anything happens," Katara reasoned. "It's one of the reasons why parents are also so damn happy and eager to move kids to their own rooms once they're old enough…"

"That adds up," Aang chuckled.

"Either way… it just feels like they've barely had time to really just enjoy being back together," Katara said, hoisting Hotaru properly in her arms as the child shook her rattle happily. "After Azula woke up, after the battle? We had the meeting where the Agni Kai was decided, and then they spent that night together, sure, but it was so they could go on into the next stuff. And then there was Ozai's funeral, then the Agni Kai itself, then she got crowned and she's been Fire Lord and overworking herself constantly until now. While I haven't seen Sokka this happy since, well, Whaletail Island, yes, I do think they ought to take time to themselves. That kiss we walked in on kind of spoke for itself…"

"Maybe it did," Aang smiled awkwardly. "I wasn't expecting it."

"Me neither," Katara said, shaking her head. "But all things considered, he was that passionate about her all along so…"

"They'll really have a hard time in the years to come," Aang reasoned, glancing up at the sky. "We'll be there to help, but… I don't know how much help I can offer when it feels like they have a better understanding of everything that needs to be done than we do."

"They do," Katara agreed. "Best we can do for them is support them, and… hey, if this means I get to spend actual quality time with my niece? I'll happily take it."

"Sounds like you schemed all of it just for Hotaru's sake," Aang smiled teasingly. Katara hushed him, a guilty grin on her face as she took the rattle, shaking it gently: Hotaru squirmed in her arms, squealing happily.

"I mean… just look at her, damn. She's so cute," Katara said, eyeing Aang with an earnest smile. "Even Mari and Zi didn't mess me up this badly and I loved those two with everything I had. I don't even know what it is about her… she's just so sweet without even trying."

"Must be she takes after you," Aang decided, with a proud smile: Katara froze, cheeks flushing as she looked at him in disbelief. "Truly!"

"I… doubt that. Though… Zuko says Mari takes after Azula," Katara reasoned, frowning. "Is this… a thing? Kids taking after their aunts? Oh, I doubt it. If it were, I'm sure Hotaru would've already started waterbending or firebending… did they say if she was a bender? Or is she not one?"

"I don't know," Aang shrugged, smiling at the little girl.

"If she is one and isn't constantly using her bending by sheer impulse, then she's not that much like me," Katara chuckled. "Dad always talks about how I threw a tantrum over the soup I didn't want to drink, and I bent it away from me. That's how they realized I was a bender…"

"You think she'd have to throw a tantrum too to bend?" Aang chuckled. "Ah, maybe she's just waiting for the right moment to show us what she can do. And if she'll be cute and play with her toys rather than throw tantrums, well… that's better for all of us, huh?"

Katara chuckled and nodded: Aang made a goofy face at Hotaru, whose attention was immediately overtaken by the playful Avatar. Katara smiled warmly at the sight of her lover, amused by his interactions with the child: Hotaru made to climb on Aang's lap next, and he was elated to hold her, eyes aglow as the child touched his face with her small hands.

"Uh… sorry. No hair, no beard… just eyebrows," he chuckled. "Guess she finds me less fun than the rest of you."

"No need for that, I'm sure she's going to like… your arrow!" Katara said, beaming as she guided Hotaru's hand over to Aang's tattoo. "See? It's blue! Yes, I know, it feels the same as the rest of his head but isn't that color fun, Hotaru?"

The child seemed entirely perplexed by what her aunt said, but she continued to trace the arrow's shape as Katara hummed a playful song. The waterbender laughed carelessly as she hugged her niece, basking in the child's squeals of joy…

As much as he was delighted to play with Hotaru and Katara, a thought inevitably flourished in Aang's heart: the thought that one day, perhaps, they would be playing this way with children of their own.

His earnest smile caught Katara off-guard when she met his gaze again. He chuckled, leaning close to kiss her brow.

"We're going to do this one day ourselves…" he said. Katara smiled.

"We will, after we get married. You'll have little cousins, Hotaru. Would you like that?" Katara asked, stroking the child's hair. Hotaru continued to seem entirely perplexed by whatever they spoke of, and Katara chuckled at the apparent cluelessness. "She'll be on board after she meets the cousins she already has. You'll love Mari and Zi, Hotaru."

"Oh, she'll love Amarok, Shina and Kallik too!" Aang grinned. "I bet they'll be really excited to meet her."

"So many kids…" Katara said, with a careless smile. "That brings me so much hope. The All those babies… they'll grow up in a world without war at last. I mean, sure, Amarok did face a lot of the war, Shina and Kallik might remember a few things once they grow older… but it'll be over for good. They'll be safe, free…"

"And we'll make sure it stays that way," Aang assured her, smiling warmly. Katara grinned and nodded.

"That's our job. To give you and all little kids like you a brighter future, Hotaru," Katara said, hugging the little girl warmly. Hotaru cooed, and Aang wound up joining their embrace, too. "Your parents worked a lot to make sure you could have one… so we won't let that go to waste. I promise."

"I promise too," Aang said, an arm around Katara's shoulders as he reached over for another rattle: Hotaru squealed at the sound of it. "Heh, want to see the marbles trick again, Hotaru?"

Katara chuckled, relaxing against him: the golden sun above warmed them as the ship continued to travel out of the Fire Nation's inner waters… this time, the vessel took a sharp turn north, further north than it had ever traveled before. The warmth would fade quite soon, once they reached the frigid waters of the North Pole… they'd do best to bask in the sunlight now, to have fun watching Hotaru underneath the summer sun, until the temperatures dropped once they neared their destination.

Meanwhile, Sokka and Azula returned to their cabin. Sokka had been elated to return to it the previous night, reclaiming yet another place with treasured memories. Even now, after having spent the night there, Sokka smiled warmly upon entering the room, admiring it in careless joy.

"I need to get used to being here in broad daylight," Sokka remarked, hands on his hips.

"Right," Azula chuckled. "I suppose you'd always associate this place with dim lighting…"

"Even though I was here during the days on our last trip together… still wasn't enough, I'd say," Sokka smiled. "And it got dark eventually once we went south, so… yeah. It's so odd, being here like this without having to worry about what anyone will think… you reckon we'll ever get used to it?"

"Hopefully someday," Azula said, patting his back. "But it doesn't seem like we'll be doing that anytime soon."

"Eh, just means we're more grateful for it," Sokka said, smiling as he stepped up to the bed.

He sank in it with a careless sigh, eyes closed. Azula watched him briefly before joining him, taking her seat beside him, reaching over to stroke his hair.

"It's really nice to be here," he whispered. "I always liked your cabin."

"No kidding," Azula smiled. "It's big, luxurious and allowed us to sleep together quite often…"

"Sure did," Sokka grinned. "Got lots of nice memories here. Remember when you were dining with Ty Lee that time, and…"

"Oh, how could I forget," Azula rolled her eyes, smirking at him. "You were unbearably shameless that night."

"And you still fucked me," he smirked.

"Well, shamelessness has never been a deterrent to your appeal, so of course I did," Azula smiled, trailing her fingers over his face. "This place really does bring good memories to mind. It's… it's why it was hard for me to return to it when I did a few months ago, knowing you wouldn't be here."

Sokka bit his lip, reaching up to take her hand in his. He kissed her fingers softly, and Azula watched him with heartfelt affection.

"Wasn't much fun the last time I rode the Barge altogether, too. I fucked up, attacked you…" Azula said. Sokka huffed.

"Doesn't matter anymore," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and urging her to lie down with him. "The past is in the past. If we dwell on every single fuckup behind us, well… we're never going to find peace, that's for sure."

"I suppose so," Azula stretched beside him: she lay on her back, while he was face-down, watching her intently. "Do you take your own advice too?"

"Me?" Sokka raised his eyebrows. "How so?"

"I mean… are you not dwelling on any of your mistakes anymore?" she asked, rolling on her side. "It feels like you aren't, but… not because you're actually over it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka smiled slightly.

"It means… that I suspect you're just not letting yourself think of all that," Azula said. "Which might be wiser. But the way you've been acting lately…"

"You… don't like it?" Sokka asked. Azula snorted.

"Of course I do. You're my goofball," she said: he grinned carelessly upon hearing those words. "And I love everything about your sillier side, Sokka, but… you remind me of the old days in many more ways than you probably intended to."

"Do I?" Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"You'll say that can't be such a bad thing, and sure, maybe it's not bad," Azula sighed. "But I do remember how you told me that you seldom slowed down to process what things meant for you. You focused so much on making me happy throughout our relationship … and while I appreciate that, I see you being quite so happy, quite so goofy, and I can't help but wonder if you're lightening everyone's load while not really thinking about your own."

"I… I don't really feel like I have one now," Sokka said, blinking blankly. "But maybe you're right, and I'm just ignoring it? I…"

Azula smiled, crawling on the bed and slowly clambering over him. Sokka smiled upon feeling her warmth as she relaxed atop his back, pressing soft kisses to his shoulder.

"Just take a moment… look inwards, or just close your eyes," she said. "Let yourself feel and… share it with me, if you want. If you don't, that's fine too. Just… feel this happiness for yourself. Be a little more selfish for once."

Her final words were lined with teasing, and Sokka chuckled as he followed her advice. Her gentle affection, the smooth press of her body upon him, trapping him against the bed, served as an unexpected source of comfort. Little by little, he let himself fall into a state of calm… and as all his swirling energies slowed down, the truth of his emotional state flourished. Warmth, gentle and blissful, rushed from his chest in pulsating waves…

"Is… is this what your gold fire feels like?" he asked, with a small smile. "Might be. I… I feel good. I feel… relieved. I… I don't really know how to describe it in words, but…"

"It's okay if you don't know," Azula smiled, kissing his cheek. "As long as you're at ease…"

"I might be. Feels like I am, for the first time in ages… it does feel like I am," Sokka said, smiling and making to turn around.

Azula hoisted herself slightly, allowing him to face her: the wonderment in his gaze warmed her, too... but the sight of tears, blinking in his eyes, gave rise to a similar, choked-up sensation for Azula as well.

"I… I really haven't let myself think about it. You're right," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "It's been… a whirlwind. We've barely been back together for a few weeks… I was leading an army into hell merely a month ago. But it all seems so far away now, it… it doesn't seem real anymore, and this does. And… and I like that feeling, you know? I… I like feeling like myself again because you're with me. Maybe that's why I've been like this, why I haven't slowed down at all… I finally feel like I'm where I belong. Right by your side."

"And I belong by yours," Azula said, cupping his face before kissing him softly. "Even if you mess with me by calling me Princess when that's not my title anymore."

"Somehow… it doesn't feel like that bothers you that much," Sokka smiled. Azula chuckled.

"Curse you for seeing right through me as you do. It… it doesn't. It reminds me of old days, but… it's a good source of bickering, you know? We always had fun with our pointless little arguments."

"We still do," Sokka smiled, taking her hand in his. "Being here with you is a miracle. I… I know I have it in me to achieve things I never thought I could. Maybe things nobody else could do…"

"Ah. Have you finally accepted that you're special?" Azula smiled. Sokka chuckled.

"There had to be something worthwhile in me, if you'd love me," he said. "But I guess I kind of found it for myself at last. I… I really love this. Being on the road with you again, being a parent with you, just knowing that we're setting things right… it's amazing. But… I do admit I worry a little."

"You think we might fail?" Azula asked.

"I think we might be too busy, rather," Sokka said, sadly. "Not that I think that's a bad thing necessarily, and I do believe we can handle any challenge… but moments like these aren't bound to come by as often as we might need them to."

"I suppose so," Azula said, biting her lip. "We ought to… to set up some kind of routine, then."

"Really? You mean, once we go back home?"

"Not just then," Azula smiled. "The routine will be for all our busy days. We may have to face complicated matters and solve countless problems and handle diplomatic relations and whatnot… but we'll take at least one hour out of every day to just spend time together. We don't need to do anything in particular in that hour, we can very well just sit down and eat snacks…"

"Heh. I'm not sure I could have you to myself for an hour and just eat snacks…"

"That's fine by me too," Azula laughed, kissing his lips softly. "But what I mean is… we'll make the time to ensure that we don't lose ourselves to work. We'll have a moment to simply be us, to connect with each other, to forget about our problems and just indulge in the relief of being together."

"Sounds good," Sokka smiled. "But… this is additional to sharing all meals, right?"

"Well… yes."

"And it would be an hour at any point in time while we're not in bed, right? So… not in the mornings, when we wake up. Or at night, when we're going to bed…"

"Securing as many hours of time together as you can?" Azula smirked. Sokka chuckled.

"I'd like to. What's the point of being Fire Lord and, uh, Gladiator if I can't just abuse our few privileges, eh?"

He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly. Azula laughed, leaning close to kiss him fully.

"At least while we're on the road we won't have to worry about that," Azula said, relaxing atop him, her head on his chest. "We can just be together constantly. But I know that once we go back, things will certainly grow more complicated…"

"You might need to be in many places at once. I can help you with that, even if it means we'd have to be apart for short periods," Sokka said, kissing her brow. "But as much as it'll suck not being together constantly, you're not facing all this mess on your own, love."

"I wouldn't be Fire Lord otherwise," Azula said, with a sad smile. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "You really think I would've won that Agni Kai if I hadn't thought you'd stand by me no matter what?"

"You mean… you'd have lost to Zuko intentionally if I'd been a dick and decided that I wouldn't help you rebuild the world and the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked, amused. Azula snorted.

"Obviously, I would have," she said, matter-of-factly. Sokka let out a burst of laughter. "Seriously! If you'd told me you never wanted to go back to the Fire Nation, that you'd still want to be with me but that you weren't about to marry the Fire Lord, well, I would've abandoned the race at once and run after you wherever you might have gone next. Easy as that."

"You're mad," Sokka smiled, cupping her cheeks and kissing her. "With so much potential, so much you could offer the world… and you'd give it all up for little old me?"

"I've already tried putting other things ahead of you, love, and it's been utterly depressing. Disgusting. The worst choices I've ever made," Azula said, shaking her head. "I know you like to pretend you don't matter that much, but… you do. More than you know. If I can face whatever comes my way, it's only because my faith in you is stronger than any fear of what we'll face."

"Mine in you is just the same," Sokka said, stroking her hair gently. "That's… that's why I know we're doing what's right. It's not that I don't think Zuko could've done it too, you know, maybe he could have, but… if it's us? We'll get it done way faster, right?"

"That's for sure. And we'll throw in several improvements nobody saw coming, too…" Azula smiled. "This world isn't going back to what it was. It'll be something new… and hopefully, something better."

"We'll see to that," Sokka smiled, sitting up, and bringing her with him as he did.

Azula nestled on his lap, a gentle smile on her face. The way he gazed at her, those adoring, blue eyes… she truly had survived over a year without them, somehow, and that was probably one of her most outlandish feats yet. It truly had been a short time since their reunion, since they had reconnected… but the difference between how she'd seen the world before then and how she could see it now could only be credited to having him by her side.

"I admit… some things do worry me," Sokka whispered, leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss upon her shoulder. Azula hummed, letting him trail his lips over the clothes that concealed her old scar. "I suppose it's easy enough to imagine that all will be fine if I stay with you… that your people will embrace what we are simply because they don't really have a choice. But… I was pretty scared that Shoji would hate me, when we saw him again."

"You…" Azula said, running her hands through his hair. "Huh. You thought… the people who had once looked up to you might resent you for your role in the war? That they might not forgive you?"

"I don't know if I would, if I were in their shoes," Sokka smiled sadly. "It's a really messed up feeling. And… well, I don't want to cause you more trouble than necessary. People are a little shellshocked at the moment, but once they come out of it… be it those who once looked up to me or those who always hated me, I dread what will happen if they decide they don't like me as your partner."

"You expect… assassination attempts?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka frowned, his features hardening as though with cold steel at that thought. "We'll keep a lot of security around to prevent that…"

"I know. You haven't been careless in that respect," Sokka said, kissing her shoulder again. "But I worry that, as soon as we lower our guard, assume things will be alright… ugh. Your father was controversial as hell and somehow he got away with it for ages. How…?"

"Seethus, is my guess," Azula said, bluntly. Sokka shuddered.

"Right. Fuck. We're not about to do that, of course…"

"Not that we could. He's dead," Azula sighed. "I don't think we need to do it anyway. I mean, people will always talk, Sokka, and rumors will always spread…"

"I just don't want there to be conspiracy theories that make it look like you and me are the villains somehow," Sokka pouted. "Then again, maybe in some eyes we are…"

"Maybe," Azula said, caressing his chest. "I'm afraid I can't be that much of a tyrant, in good faith, and punish anyone who says anything against us. If I dared, well… it would be a rather bold way to betray everything I've claimed I'll stand for as a leader of the Fire Nation. People will talk, they'll be free to do so…"

"Okay, but… say someone starts a really stupid rumor. Prints it, spreads it… it'd be slander against the Fire Lord, right?" Sokka said, caressing her hips. "Don't you think, if it came to that, that you'd be allowed to retaliate…?"

"With… what? A trial?" Azula asked, blinking blankly: Sokka's eyes blazed.

"That sounds about right. Heh. That should work!"

"I suppose it could, but… what if they aren't lying?" Azula smiled. "What if they think they're slandering us by spreading rumors that we were in a secret relationship long before you went to war, and that we did terrible things like, uh… fucking on my father's throne, for instance?"

"That… would still be inappropriate to say about the Fire Lord," Sokka said, cheeks flushing slightly. Azula chuckled. "Well, we'd have to judge on a case-by-case basis! Just like with slave masters!"

"I suppose, but… I'd advise you not to worry too much about that when we have so much more to fix across this world," Azula said, kissing his brow. "I know you don't want us to be in danger, for anyone to cause us harm… but I think we'll be alright, love."

"I hope so," Sokka pouted. "No one's taking me away from you again. Not even you. If you tried, I'd cling to you like there's no tomorrow and not let you go."

"How dare you…" Azula gasped, looking at him in feigned outrage. Sokka smirked. "Even if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"Yep."

"Okay, Sokka, for the record: I was messing around with that question. Don't do that if I have to go to the bathroom," Azula laughed: he chuckled with her, shaking his head before burying his face in her chest.

"But I can't just let you go to the bathroom without supervision! What if someone wicked is waiting to ambush you there? I'll have to make a full, thorough security check before you can hit the loo…"

"I'd kick you out before you could try," Azula said, firmly. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head. "Goof. See what I mean? You can't help but take serious things into a completely ridiculous direction… and I love that about you. Damn you. I used to be far more respectable than this before I knew you."

"Did you? No way your sense of humor was born after you met me," Sokka smirked. Azula laughed, shaking her head.

"Fair enough, it wasn't. But you updated it… and made it a lot cruder than it used to be."

"Aw, really? That's actually flattering, I'll say," Sokka smiled. Azula kissed him, chuckling against his lips.

"Frankly… I know you're the scary, intimidating Gladiator just as much as you're my goofball," Azula said, caressing his cheek. "I guess that's why I find it hard to believe that anyone can threaten us. If they so much as try, we'll destroy them for sure… and if they don't, we'll simply be happy together. Just like this."

"Just like this," Sokka smiled.

"I understand your worries, though. I share them, even," Azula said, kissing him briskly. "A lot of people, I think, would probably judge me quite a bit considering that I very much have publicly done things with you that people aren't supposed to do… not even after they're married."

"Really? Kissing in public is forbidden?" Sokka asked, amused.

"Frowned upon, rather," Azula chuckled. "It's considered improper behavior."

"Well, you're the Fire Lord. Write a law about public displays of affection after all the serious stuff is out of the way, and…"

"I'm not going to do that."

"Aw, c'mon, Azula! Poke fun at your people, you know you want to!"

Azula laughed, shaking her head before hugging him snugly. He smiled, wrapping his arms around her body, feeling her in full contact against him.

"This trip might just be our best one," Azula said, kissing right above his necklace. Sokka hummed in agreement. "No big fights needed… and we can have time to ourselves often, just like this. Not that it's strictly appropriate, sure, but… no one's going to stop us anyhow."

"They can't even if they try," Sokka smiled.

"We're too scary, apparently," Azula said, resting her head on his shoulder. "And we really could use the time to just relax with each other, too…"

"Or do more than just relax…" Sokka hummed, a hand sliding ever higher over her flank. Azula smiled.

"Well, technically we did come up here for that purpose…" she reasoned. Sokka snickered. "Are you in the mood, or is it really weird for you that your sister enabled our latest tryst?"

"Uh… kind of weird when you put it that way," Sokka reasoned. Azula laughed. "But eh, I take whatever chances I can get. It's how we've always been, right? Opportunistic when it comes to sex, down to our very cores."

"That's right," Azula smiled: she leaned in, kissing him fully and smiling into the contact between them. "It's… it's going to take a while to get used to this, too."

"We've done it several times since we got back together…" Sokka pointed out. Azula laughed, shaking her head.

"Mind you, I… I never thought I'd get to do this again, so I'm quite content to relish in it every time it does happen," she chuckled, cupping his cheeks. "I love you. And… I'm really glad that you don't think my body's disgusting now."

"You…? Pfft! Are you for real? You completely crazy… come here! Let me show you just how hot your body is! Crazy woman, I tell you…!"

Azula's laughter echoed across the room at Sokka's playful outrage: his hands wasted no time undoing the sash he had fastened for her that morning, tugging her upper body's clothes open while kissing her relentlessly. While she knew he wouldn't take her comment particularly well, she relished in his passionate reaction, in his refusal to let her put herself down at all. Her body gradually became exposed for him, and she wasted no time ensuring that he would be naked just as well: wearing less clothes, and far easier ones to remove than Azula's, Sokka eyed her greedily as she pulled off his changshan, shoving it off his shoulders to expose his strong chest to her eager eyes.

"Honestly, with all the scars and bullshit I've got all over me and you've never stopped finding me appealing…" Sokka huffed, watching Azula's eyes darken with desire as she gazed at him. "Give me more credit, now, will you?"

"I… I'm sorry. I'm glad for it, Sokka," she laughed, hands over his chest. "But you know I've always been a perfectionist…"

"And you've always been perfection. That hasn't changed," he smiled, kissing her briskly again. "Now… let me look at that chest of yours. It's only fair…"

His playful tone brought her to laugh as he undid her breast bindings, a wicked grin across his lips. She kissed him, repeatedly, ensuring to keep his head up while she did… preventing him, thus, from looking down at her. While she might have done it intentionally before, right now the mischief Azula dared inflict upon him only sought to tease him further…

"Azula…!" he pulled back, only for her to push him down on the bed, still unrelenting with her kisses.

Her bare chest pressed against his: the friction immediately triggered blissful arousal for her, but she didn't slow down. Upon daring open her eyes, sensing his tension, she found her lover glaring at her reproachfully: the sight prompted her to laugh against his lips, even though she continued pressing their lips together. Sokka growled, then, clasping her head between his hands, his tongue darting deep inside her mouth, dancing wickedly around hers.

Slowly, her control faded as he took over. Azula's moans drifted from teasing to earnest, as Sokka's every caress set her skin ablaze with need and desperation. Both things were rather useful antidotes against her insecurities: the eagerness to be claimed by him outdid all dark thoughts easily, though they weren't all that powerful these days…

He rolled them in bed, and Azula's defeat was further proven once he pulled back, breaking their kiss, chest heaving as he smiled proudly at her half-naked figure.

"Ha! I… fuck, I win. Hell, yeah, do I win," he said: the perverted grin across his face saw Azula laughing too, cheeks ablaze with fluster.

"Damn you," she smiled, fighting the impulse to cover up. "Outsmarting me that way, Gladiator…"

"If I'm ever to beat you at something, it better be at proving you wrong about yourself. Absolutely," Sokka smiled, running his hands over her thighs now. "And I charge onwards, to complete victory!"

Azula laughed, covering her face with her hands as Sokka finished tearing off her clothes, dropping them on the cabin's floor. By the time he had undone her underwear, too, he smiled groggily, admiring her under the daylight that, to his utter delight, crossed the windows with ease.

"Y'know, I really ought to take my time worshipping you now," he smirked, caressing her calves, palms grazing her skin, touching as much as they could reach. "Not only do we have the time, for once… but you can't even try to hide your glorious body in the shadows of nighttime or poorly lit locations. As you have so far."

"I… wasn't trying to hide anything," Azula laughed, dropping her hands. "That we've mainly had sex without much lighting wasn't exactly intentional on my part, insecurities aside…"

"Say what you will… I'm about to have myself a feast," Sokka grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Azula snorted, but she had no chance to rebuff him before he claimed her lips with a new kiss.

There was little urgency to it this time: unlike their first round in the house, in the middle of the night, after baring themselves to each other as intimately and devastatingly as they had, there was no pressing need to rush back to Hotaru's side. Unlike their wild tryst before the coronation, the world wasn't at a standstill while they indulged in each other recklessly. For once, they were free to simply spend as long as they cared to in bed, relaxing in each other's caresses, teasing and kissing as though this particular round of lovemaking would never end.

Sokka stopped their kisses often, however, to relish in her body anew, proving a point to Azula, ever enraptured by her. He pulled back, gazing at her with eagerness, taking in every detail, focusing particularly on his favorite curves. Azula smiled for it, breathing out heavily once his hands caressed her sensitive breasts…

"I know, I know. I have to be careful," he smiled. She shivered in his arms.

"Don't spill your daughter's food," she said, with a slight grin of her own. Sokka chuckled, kissing her fully.

"They're huge, though," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Way bigger than ever before…"

"I wonder if they'll stay that way," Azula smiled. "I doubt it, really. Once I stop breastfeeding Hotaru, it's likely that it'll all go back to normal."

"Oh, really?" Sokka pouted. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Next time you knock me up it'll happen again," she said. "And it starts rather early in the pregnancy, too. I didn't exactly produce anything early on, so… you'd get away with playing dangerous games by then, just saying."

"Eh? Would I?" Sokka smirked deviously. Azula laughed as he dove between her breasts, happily nestling his face between his favorite soft pillows. "You know, you didn't have to make me look forward to it even more than I already did…"

"Woops," Azula smiled, pulling him up and kissing him again. "I… I look forward to it too. Experiencing all of it again with you. I… I want you there every step of the way…"

"And I want to be there. Without question," Sokka smiled warmly, kissing her again. "I keep… keep picturing what you must have looked like, with a pregnancy belly…"

"Ugh, yeah, well…"

"You must have looked beautiful."

Sokka smiled warmly, and her cheeks flushed for it. She eyed him with uncertainty, but he seemed entirely convinced of his words.

"Well. I guess we'll see if you think so when it does happen again," Azula said, somewhat bashfully. "But there will be no takebacks if you don't like it, just saying…"

"I'll love it. Just as I love everything about you, silly woman," Sokka chuckle, leaning in for the next kiss.

He fondled her chest gently still, and Azula sighed at the pleasant sensations born from every smooth touch of his finger. There was little difference between the lust in Sokka's touch years ago compared to how it was now. Eminently, their every moment of intimacy nowadays felt more brittle, more emotionally charged, after everything they had faced and lost while they were apart. Even something as seemingly simple as feeling his hand upon her waist, as gazing into his eyes as he smiled at her, counted as a glorious miracle still.

Said miracles continued to bloom as he kissed his way across her body, daring to lightly press his lips across the valley of her breasts before moving his way lower, over her stretch marks, faded over time, as well as her navel. He relished in her pelvis twitching with arousal once he reached it, a wicked smile across his face as he proceeded to tease Azula thoroughly, hands caressing her inner thighs lightly, lips and tongue teasing her navel and prompting her to jolt repeatedly, crying out in desperation as she bucked her core against his chest.

"Sokka…" she whimpered. His hands trailed over her thighs again, rising to her ribcage, fingertips tracing her bones. She shivered, bucking against him still. "You tease…"

"Yep," he smirked. Azula laughed at his shamelessness as he kissed lower and lower on her pelvis… but not enough to reach the goal he should have been seeking.

"Can't you just…?" Azula groaned. Sokka chuckled. "You're cruel."

"I suppose I am," he smiled, fondling her flat abdomen next. "A man has a right to cherish his wife's body… well, wife, future wife… have we decided yet how to feel about that? I can't really stop thinking of you as my wife already…"

"Heh. It's… only a matter of time before it's official, in everyone's eyes…" Azula said, her breath hitching as Sokka kissed his way around her. "But… maybe I won't let you call me that unless you cut to the chase and eat me out already."

He actually laughed at her threat: she smiled, slightly embarrassed at having reached that degree of desperation, but Sokka kissed her navel once more in reaction to her words.

"Fine, fine… that's a compelling argument," he smiled.

Without further ado, his teasing hands finally reached her core, spreading her open for his eager gaze to see: even back in the day, letting him be quite so perverted as to inspect her up and close had embarrassed Azula, no matter if she had felt quite flattered by his adoration. Right now, still insecure, still unsure if he truly saw no difference between how it looked before and how it was now, Azula shivered under his greedy gaze.

"Don't say it's beautiful or I'll kick you," she blurted out. Sokka laughed.

"Kick me all you want…" he said, leaning close to kiss her clit: she gasped, chest jolting upwards at the sensation. "Every inch of you is beautiful. And I'm a pervert… and I'd gladly look at you forever."

Azula sighed as the pleasant feelings bloomed with each kiss he pressed upon her. Sokka licked his way across her folds, humming pleasantly as he explored them thoroughly, tongue slipping over every ridge, tugging at her most sensitive skin with his lips, ever glancing up at her face to ensure that she was enjoying this.

He loved seeing her flushed cheeks, her overwhelmed small motions as she seemed not to know how to respond to his shamelessness: her hand moved as though to reach for him, then it ran over her hair, only to clamp on the mattress instead. It was her other hand that grasped his wolf's tail, impulsively undoing it before gripping his hair firmly, be it to keep him in place or to pull him away…

Or to drag him closer in still, prompting him to spread his mouth wide open and engulf as much of her core with his lips as possible.

His tongue took turns slipping inside her and toying with her clit: he hummed pleasantly at her warmth, her taste, her every small reaction to the pleasure he elicited in her. Much as they had spoken earlier, he often forgot to reason with what all this meant for him, focused as he was in ensuring her happiness and peace… but as he nestled between her legs, feeling them tremble over his shoulders, Sokka groaned with bliss as he continued to devour Azula's folds eagerly. How he had missed her… every single thing about her. That he could do this again, that he could do it at all… it made no sense to grow emotional over oral sex, he knew, and he damn near laughed at the notion, but he held back the urge to do so as he caressed her legs again, hands slipping below her rear, cupping each ass-cheek to hoist her into his mouth fully.

He knew every inch of her body, just as he recognized the cues of her voice. While he would have loved to continue exploring her thoroughly, he knew better than to let the build-up go to waste: his lips focused their attention on her clit as he brought his fingers to her entrance, dipping them into her moist opening slowly, widening it with slow, circular motions that saw her whimpering, moaning with abandon as her body thrashed against him.

"S-Sokka…!" she managed, among countless desperate, unintelligible moans.

He didn't respond with anything coherent, too busy providing pleasure to slow down at all: her voice hitched, her moans shriller…

Her legs shuddered violently as she arched her body into his mouth: he slid two fingers inside her, massaging her convulsing walls, compelling her to continue thriving in pleasure… she seemed to suck him in, even, to his utter delight, and he buried the fingers to the knuckles inside her. Her desperate cries became breathless as he continued still, kissing her clit teasingly, tongue toying with it, flicking from side to side as he touched her as intimately as he dared.

"S-Sokka…!" again she called his name, be it to beg for more or for respite, instead… He eyed her, meeting her glazed eyes over the large mounds of her breasts… curses, they were glorious. He wanted to pleasure them, too, but he wouldn't dare until she allowed him to… "P-please…! Just…! Sokka…!"

"You're… so delicious," he managed to say, with a teasing smile. "And so beautiful. What a view you're giving me, love…"

She shuddered, surrendering to the warmth that enveloped her: she had thought to beg him to come up already, to push his way inside her… but those words triggered some kind of blanket of bliss in her mind that she couldn't possibly resist. That he desired her so much, that he couldn't seem to stop feasting on her… she loved that more than she could possibly say to him. He undid her defenses so damn easily…

She gave herself to pleasure carelessly, selfishly, once more: if he would continue to do this, she wouldn't stop him. She lacked the willpower to do so, for he had somehow eased her into a mind-numbing state of bliss that blinded her to any common sense: she wanted him to keep going and she urged him to do so by bucking her hips at the rhythm of his questing fingers, letting his tongue and lips trail back and forth over her clit…

Her next orgasm was explosive, but smooth: the louder moan escaped her throat, giving away Sokka's new success at building her climax, and he smiled as he kissed her clit lovingly, closing his eyes as he navigated her latest orgasm with his fingers. Azula collapsed as he slowed down, chest heaving, sweat spilling from her brow and pooling on the ridges of her skin.

Sokka pulled back and sighed happily: she was a wonderful mess, lying across their bed, legs fully spread for him still. While he knew she felt uncertainties and fear regarding how appealing she might still be, the sight of her like this remained the most erotic possible visual he had witnessed.

"You're fucking glorious," he said, licking his lips. "And you taste amazing. As you always have."

"I… I…" Azula managed, chest heaving as her arm fell over her eyes. Sokka chuckled, delighted by the sight of her reddened cheeks. "I really needed that…"

"You did, now, did you?" Sokka smirked, climbing over her body as he always did, kissing his way upwards, over her abdomen, through the valley of her breasts. "Here I thought I was going overboard, but… you seemed to like that."

"I like that… I like you," Azula managed to say, with a groggy grin as he finally reached her face: he set her arm aside to gaze upon her, overwhelmed and entirely seductive as she remained for him. "Don't know if… if you knew that…"

"That you like me? Oh, no. Not a clue," Sokka smirked. "You seriously have no idea what you're doing to me, Azula…"

"Me? Last I knew, I… I was just lying here and you were doing all the work," she laughed. Sokka chuckled too, leaning close to kiss her lips: she seemed utterly unconcerned by tasting herself on him, as she ever had been.

"As if," he smiled, bracing himself atop her. "You egged me on just when I thought you'd tell me to slow down or stop…"

"That's your fault," Azula remarked, chest heaving still: the sight of her mounds rising and falling immediately drew Sokka's greedy gaze. "I'd… I'd remind you that my eyes are up here, but you've stolen whatever dignity I had. Do stare all you like, love…"

"Thank you for your permission," Sokka smirked, leaning in to kiss her again. "Y'know, if you're ever insecure again, thinking I'm not going to find you as appealing anymore…"

"What, you'll prove me wrong this way every time?" Azula laughed. Sokka grinned wildly. "I… I will have to be insanely insecure often, then. That was fun."

"That's not the takeaway you're supposed to… goddamn it," Sokka laughed, pressing his brow to hers. Azula laughed too, hugging him tightly. "Stop being so clever for five seconds, will you?"

"My brain kind of fizzled out for much longer than five seconds earlier," Azula laughed. "Your fault if you didn't take advantage of that when the time was right…"

"Right, right, of course it's on me," Sokka smiled, shaking his head and kissing her again. "Fuck, I love you. I love you so much…"

"I love you too," Azula smiled warmly, hugging him snugly with arms and legs alike as he dropped fully atop her.

Again, the lack of urgency saw them slowing down, no matter how aroused they might be. Sokka had grown used to ignoring his erections in favor of Azula's pleasure long ago, and he merely lay between her legs, pressing it against the bedding while kissing her slowly and sensually. The blissful sensations bloomed and rushed upon every brush of their lips, every teasing twirl of their tongues, every breath they stole from each other.

Azula's fingers slid through his hair, his smooth strands ever delightful to the touch. Her free hand traveled down his back, dipping at every strong muscle, at every scar across his body. She relished in feeling him with her, delighted by his weight atop her, wishing he'd stay right there for good… though the friction between their lower bodies encouraged her to want more than that. She breathed deeply, tucking her belly in so that her hand could slip between them, and she trailed her way down his firm abdomen, to the base of his cock.

"A-…" he started: his eyes widened, then narrowed again at the burst of bliss when she touched him.

Azula hummed, raising her eyebrows at his reaction: she tugged at it, shifting its direction so that it would no longer merely rest on the mattress… now it nestled against her slit, and she groaned at the delightful sensation of that hardened shaft against her.

"You really ought to know better…" she said, with a teasing smile. "Look at how hard you are… and all you do is pleasure me. We've talked about this…"

"I… I like it when you come lots and lots," he groaned, kissing her cheek, moving to toy with her earlobe next. Azula laughed. "And you should, too…"

"I like that plenty… just as I like playing with your boomerang," she hissed into his ear: Sokka chuckled, groaning as he surrendered to her touch. She fisted the base, pumping him slowly, licking her lips as she did. "Talk all you want about how big my breasts are now, but you…"

"It's bound to be the same size it always reaches…" Sokka laughed.

"Doesn't make it any less impressive," Azula smiled, pumping him still: his brow rested against hers as she aroused him further, and Sokka's heated breath fell upon her lips, to her delight. "You think you're ready yet?"

"Hmm… probably?" Sokka said. "Fuck, we really ought to go again…"

"Again? We're not even done the first time…"

"Another. And another…" Sokka laughed. Azula's laughter joined his as she threw her head back: he dove for her neck, kissing it eagerly as he thrusted into her hand.

"Here I thought I was the ambitious one between us…" she smiled, relishing in his attention anew. "How… how do you want to do it, then?"

"How?" Sokka asked.

"If we're about to go three times, according to you… which, mind you, I'm not opposed to," Azula laughed, "might as well go for variety, huh?"

"Variety…" Sokka repeated, with a slow smile. He thrusted into her fist once more before pushing himself up, a dark smirk across his face. "Turn around for me?"

Azula's body shivered at his request. She bit her lip and smiled, though, letting go of his hand and following fit: Sokka lay atop her back, and now Azula truly was trapped between him and the mattress, with very little room to maneuver.

"Wanted me all at your mercy like this, did you?" she asked: he kissed her cheek, hands sliding between her and the mattress, lightly teasing her clit. She gasped, and he kissed her for it. "Sokka…"

"Love doing this while we're face-to-face, don't get me wrong, but… if we're about to go wild on each other, this should be fun too, huh?"

"More like you're about to go wild on me. Which, I dare say, I'm fine with," Azula chuckled: she pushed her rear up, directly brushing his manhood with her ass-cheeks. Sokka groaned at the sensation, rubbing himself between them. "Go on, then. Take me, Sokka."

Often he relished in teasing her for as long as possible, but the thought didn't occur to him at all upon hearing those words, much less while his manhood nestled as it did between her mounds. He hummed, pulling back and clasping her hips, hoisting them slightly off the bed.

"Okay, I know I said I had no more dignity, but that wasn't an invitation to prove it…" Azula said, cheeks flushing as she smiled upon finding herself on all fours. Sokka snickered.

"I'm just admiring this new view… sorry if it bothers you," he said, clasping her rear firmly with each hand. Azula moaned, legs spreading further as she indulged in the caress, the building anticipation easily helping her forego all embarrassment.

Finally, his thumbs slid down to part her opening for further ease: Azula gasped, supporting herself with her elbows on the mattress when the head of his cock finally brushed its way through her opening.

Her heightened cry was music to his ears. Sokka shuddered with bliss once her warmth enveloped him, squeezing him immediately, be it by instinct or by Azula's design, he couldn't quite tell…

"Oh, Azula…" he groaned, slowly filling her, deeper and deeper: she accommodated him as perfectly as ever, crying out with delight as he parted her walls with his glorious shaft.

"Fuck… fuck, please, yes…" Azula moaned, her head pressed to the pillows against the bed's headrest. Sokka smiled, hands sliding over her rear, her flanks, lightly caressing the side of her breasts.

"Come here…"

He hoisted her, pressing her back fully against his chest: Azula gasped as he spread his legs, lowering himself and ensuring to buck into her from behind while keeping her as close to himself as possible. She reached back, fingers sliding through his hair as she met his thrusts anew, eyes closed, lips parted with every new burst of pleasure he elicited inside her.

"S-Sokka…!" she called him, her body as good as melting under his touch: his lips raked her shoulders, the nape of her neck, her jawline and cheekbones… he offered her no quarter, pushing his way inside her as she clung to him as best as she was able.

She was the one who found his hands and led them to her breasts, impulsively, carelessly: he kneaded them gently, and the bliss only heightened for the eager Fire Lord. She cried out, pressing herself against him, seeking his lips with her own.

"S-slow…" she whispered. He hummed, cupping her breasts carefully.

"This good?" he asked. She hummed and nodded, kissing him again. "Tell me if… if you want anything else…"

She nodded breathlessly, kissing him back once he claimed her mouth eagerly, and he pushed into her once more: he wouldn't breach any boundaries she hadn't expressly allowed him to. Even now, he hadn't touched her nipples, but the thrill of holding the engorged breasts still sent his mind reeling with delight.

She truly had no need to worry about how desirable she was: his entire body burned with need of her, and he found nothing faulty, nothing displeasing in it. For as long as they had been intimate, Sokka worshiped her body without restraint, delighted to make love to someone he found impossibly beautiful, and towards whom he felt an unrelenting attraction… none of that had changed now. If anything, an even stronger emotional component, the gratitude over the chance to be with her anew, appeared to bolster his attachment and devotion, guiding him to bask in her body to the fullest.

Azula's desperate cries saw her leaning forward again, and Sokka dipped down with her, keeping her back to his chest. She breathed heavily as they wound up collapsing fully on the mattress once more, and Sokka slowed down his thrusts as he held her closely, stroking her hair, kissing her cheek as she delighted anew in feeling herself blissfully trapped by him. His manhood continued to plunder her depths, though he slowed down now, hoping to ensure she would not be overwhelmed…

"You okay, love?" he asked, nuzzling her neck softly: she stretched it for him, allowing him to kiss her skin, be it above or below her necklace.

"Don't… don't slow down. Don't stop…" Azula whispered. Sokka smiled, a hand sliding under her body to tease her clit: her yelp upon the bloom of pleasure saw him snickering, pressing his face to her shoulder. "Sokka…!"

"I don't know who's greedier… me or you," he responded, kissing her cheek.

She sought his lips, and in doing so, pushed him back so he'd lie on his side, same as her. That liberated his hand further, enabling him to touch her as boldly as he cared to while she willfully sought the kisses she had long been addicted to. Her leg slid over his hips, draped around him, offering as much access into her core as he could find from this angle. Sokka's slow but deep thrusts saw Azula crying out in helpless bliss, compelling him to kiss her as each sensual sound enticed him further.

His release wasn't far, but he restrained himself as best as he was able, knowing he wanted her to come undone first, just as he ever did. His finger teased her clit further, and Azula's cries gained further urgency: her half-lidded eyes gazed up at him between each kiss, and his need to continue claiming her overwhelmed him. He loved her so much… he was completely hers, entirely delighted to spend as many hours of the day as he possibly could making love to her this way. For this only seemed to bolster his desire: it was never enough, it never could be… he wanted to do this forever, and he truly hoped nothing would get in the way of that, at long last.

Her hitching whimpers gave away that she was close: her chest heaved in rapid bursts of breath, her heart racing underneath her ribcage, and those tingling blissful feelings only continued to gain strength, be it upon her clit or deep inside her, where his manhood slid delightfully over her every weak spot…

"I… I'm almost…!" she announced, unnecessarily, for he knew already… but that she'd say it stirred his excitement further. An irrational side of him emboldened him into moving faster as Azula's cries of passion enveloped him. She wouldn't last much longer… neither would he.

Her climax was violent, her body shuddering wildly as she came around him: Sokka groaned, hugging her tightly with one arm, prodding her clit continuously with his other hand. Her loud moans might just have echoed across the ocean this time around, but he didn't care… for he was entirely lost in that marvelous friction between their bodies. He was lightheaded as the wondrous sensation continued, all stirred by his continuous thrusts and intimate caresses upon her skin…

When she finished a second time, she slapped the mattress with a flat hand, breathless and desperate for respite just as much as she wanted the bliss to carry on infinitely. This time, however, Sokka succumbed to his own arousal, crying out as well while clinging to her desperately: she navigated her climax while he pulsated inside her, spurting his seed within her core among thrusts that ensured he'd deplete himself fully in her depths.

He slowed down both his hand and his thrusting once he was well and truly spent… but he didn't pull either thing back just yet. Instead, he touched and teased her clit gently now: she was so soft, so sensitive, and yet she gave herself to the pleasure rather than running away from it. She turned her head towards him, cheeks flushed beautifully, and she kissed him again.

"Sokka…" she moaned, slumping in his arms. "Fucking hell, Sokka…"

"Heh… liked that?" he asked, smiling warmly as his finger finally stopped. Her body twitched one more time, even so.

"You think…?" she said, closing her eyes, chest heaving. "That… that certainly felt like a blast to the past, heh…"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sokka smiled, hugging her smoothly: his manhood slipped out of her, and his hand caressed her womb now. She hummed at the blissful soreness, letting her leg finally drop from its awkward position, draped around him.

"We really… haven't had enough time to catch up like this," she said, with a chuckle. "Fuck… fuck, that was too good. Way more intense than I thought we'd be…"

"We were… free to do as we pleased. For once," Sokka smiled. "Though… I'm sure the entire ship knows. You know. That we…"

"Oh, no. Do you think they know that we… that we are in a relationship?"

She said the words dramatically, teasingly: Sokka snorted and cackled against her neck, and Azula smiled as she kissed the side of his head.

"I was a little loud, yes. I suppose I'll… I'll own up to that," she smiled. "In my defense, no living being could be fucked like that and not moan their hearts out, so…"

"I suppose," Sokka said, kissing her lips softly. "Well… just get ready to be judged once we get out of here. Unless, of course, you'd rather we don't…"

"We'll have to," Azula smiled sadly. "I'm not leaving Hotaru in your sister's custody for good."

"That's the only reason not to stay in here forever, frankly," Sokka chuckled, prodding her nose with his. "But hey, she gave us two hours…"

"Two hours indeed… and are you sure we haven't burned through them yet?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"As far as I'm concerned, we haven't," he grinned. Azula snorted and eyed him skeptically. "What?"

"Opportunistic Gladiator," she said, sighing as she turned in his arms: Sokka welcomed this new embrace fully, locking lips with her at once. Her leg slid up over his anew, seeking even more intimacy still, hands groping his strong chest shamelessly. "You really think we have the time to go again?"

"Might as well pretend we do, even if we don't," he chuckled, kissing her cheek. "Can you think of any serious reasons not to? This is fun, Azula…"

"Of course it's fun, but we do have to check on our daughter and…"

Her easygoing demeanor, as she allowed him to kiss her face and neck, shifted suddenly: her brow drew together, fingers slipping through his hair before she raised his head, to meet his gaze with her worried own.

"I didn't drink the tea."

Sokka froze. Azula grimaced, dropping her head against his shoulder.

"Uh… huh. Fuck," Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Everyone's teased us that we'll come back with one more baby… I really hope we didn't pull that off on the very second day of our journey," Azula laughed, shaking her head before disengaging from his arms. "Damn it, I just haven't done it in so long…"

Sokka pouted upon the separation of their bodies, but he smiled groggily as he admired her curves. She made her way to the dresser, ambling awkwardly after their last tryst. A water jar, a tea set, the box Mai had given her… she returned to the brewing systematically, heating the water with her bending quickly. The feeling of his gaze upon her compelled her to turn around, and she found her careless lover admiring her with a bright grin, chin resting on his hand, his elbow on the mattress.

"Perfect from every angle," he chuckled. Azula rolled her eyes but smiled. "My Princess… uh, my Fire Lord?"

"You'll never get used to it. That much I can tell," Azula smiled, shaking her head. "We can't go again right after brewing it, though. I mean, I think not… we always waited some time for it to take effect…"

"We did," Sokka nodded. "But do we actually know if that's necessary…?"

"You really are going all out today, aren't you?" Azula smiled. Sokka chuckled.

"I admit, not having the pressures we usually do is kind of nice," he smiled, stretching across the bed, closing his eyes. "I missed being a horny slob with you in this cabin."

"See? That's exactly why I hardly knew how to be here without you when I traveled again," Azula smiled. "And why that probably triggered our horniest spiritual connection…"

"Heh. That one was fun," Sokka smiled, glancing at her. "Not as much as this is, though. Just having my beautiful naked wife at my mercy… standing right there, fully exposed for me to swoon over? It's perfect."

He grinned wickedly. Azula laughed, shaking her head before continuing with the tea brewing. If he truly enjoyed ogling her as much as he seemed to, she had no intentions of stopping him.

"Will you partake in this dreadful ritual with me anew, or will you leave me to drink this mess alone?" she asked: Sokka jolted and sat up quickly, clambering over the bed to reach her side. "Well. That's eager of you… remember how bad it tasted?"

"I do. But I loved suffering through it with you," Sokka smiled, standing up and stepping closer to her as she poured the tea. He wrapped an arm around her waist, kissing the side of her head, and Azula relaxed happily in his arms before handing him one cup.

"Cheers," she said: he chuckled, tapping his cup against hers.

"To our health… and to our reckless rounds of sex. May they continue forevermore to no consequences," Sokka grinned: Azula lightly elbowed him before bringing the tea to her lips.

She swallowed it all in one go, but she grimaced once she lowered the cup, shuddering over the taste.

"It's back to being gross. It's been way too long since I last drank it… and Rei's tea is actually good. It gave me impossible standards," she groaned, turning in Sokka's arms as he drained his own much more slowly.

"Well, we can always just make the next baby already, if this grosses you out too much," Sokka smiled. Azula scoffed. "What?"

"We'll get to it eventually. But mind you, more babies does mean less chances to do what we were up to just now," she said, cupping his cheek and gazing at him intensely. "I may be Fire Lord… doesn't mean I should be pawning off my children to anyone who'll watch them just so I can ride your lap whenever it suits me."

"Hmm. You should. Ride my lap, I mean."

"Sokka…"

He chuckled, kissing her cheek before finishing his tea: while he had mainly been teasing, it didn't take over half an hour for his suggestion to come to pass. Passion rushed and surged between them easily, and the gradual reacquaintance of their bodies fulfilled them like few other things ever could. Thus, after another long, blissful period of teasing, kissing and groping without restraint, Azula found herself sitting atop him, bucking over his newly hardened shaft, hands on his shoulders as she willfully impaled herself on him. Sokka's entranced eyes hardly seemed to leave her bouncing breasts, and as shameless as he might be, Azula found she rather appreciated the utter honesty of his lust. She relished in feeling so desired, in knowing she still could seduce the only man she ever wanted to share a bed with…

Somehow, her need of him only seemed to increase even after another set of blissful climaxes, once he sat up and held her closely, face buried between her breasts at her will. He should've had his fill, and she feared he might have, but when she offered to take his manhood into her mouth, he relented, happily startled by her willfulness as she ignited his desire anew. The longer they continued, the more powerful their mutual desire became, as twin storms clashing and unleashing an overwhelming force of nature, one that might ravage everything in its path…

But rather than an utterly wild round, their third was slow, smooth, affectionate instead. Sokka lay atop her, kissing her long and deep while offering slow strokes, bucking his hips against hers. Azula's legs remained locked around his waist, same as her arms on his neck, and her occasional gasps for breath were nonetheless followed by more deep kisses, more of the overwhelming, blissful sensations born from the deeply intimate contact between their bodies. They took their time, unconcerned with any common sense, simply arousing each other anew, gradually, easily, exchanging no end of kisses and teasing, loving words.

Reclaiming their intimacy proved to be a wondrous antidote to all that might have ailed them thus far: they relished in each blissful thrust, in every kiss and caress, as any insecurity and uncertainty fled for good. Their bodies thrummed with wild energy as their hips rolled together at the same rhythm, and that energy fizzled into a warm, welcome tranquility once they finished together anew, sharing kisses deep and sensual until their very last aftershocks faded, leaving them spent, satisfied and still eager to indulge in each other for as long as they might have the chance.

"We… we need to do this again," Sokka whispered against her lips, kissing her greedily. Azula nodded, fingers through his hair.

"All across this trip… t-then later, when we're back…" she moaned, without interrupting their spree of kisses. "You're right. You were right… I'll just… make myself a mandatory break… of five hours a day or so…"

"Will you?" Sokka chuckled, prodding her nose. "I could get behind that, you know."

"I'll just… oh, Sokka…" Azula moaned, as his mouth trailed over her neck now: she couldn't seem to stop smiling, splayed on the bed underneath him, just where she wanted to be. "I should've lost the Agni Kai after all…"

"Pfft," Sokka chuckled, cupping her face and kissing her anew. "Don't be silly."

"We'd have so much more time, is all…" she laughed, pressing her brow to his. "Oh, I love this. I love you, I… I missed this."

"Me too," Sokka whispered, cupping her face delicately. "But we'll do it over and over, until we don't even remember that we missed it once, heh. We'll make up for all that lost time… we'll make love every day, or as close to that as we can manage. I mean… you're Fire Lord. Your whims should be made law, right?"

"Right," Azula smiled, shaking her head. "You're a bad influence, Sokka…"

"You should've realized that long ago," Sokka chuckled. "You kept pretending I was a better person than you, well, there you go. I'll happily distract you from all duties just for sexual gratification… for the both of us, of course. I'm not that selfless, mind you…"

"Ah, so if I asked for you to pleasure me, and we had no time for anything else, you'd refuse?" Azula smirked.

"We could always do it simultaneously, you know?" Sokka wiggled his eyebrows. "We always said we'd go evenly at things. Doesn't sound right not to when it comes to that…"

"We most certainly do not go evenly at sex," Azula laughed, fingers slipping through his hair as she kissed him again. "You're too generous. I do wonder, though, what your selfishness in bed would look like…"

"Uh… huh?" Sokka smiled. "Is that some kind of trap, maybe?"

"No, it's genuine curiosity," Azula smiled, draping her arms around his neck. "You're always so attentive to me… I wonder if I could ever turn the tables."

"You surely could… but I don't want you to," Sokka smirked. Azula bit her lip. "Nothing turns me on more than making you come undone."

"Really, now?" Azula smiled: he kissed her teasingly, tongue darting out to touch hers only briefly.

She was the one who reeled him in for a deeper, longer exchange: he angled his head for better access, pinning her wrists down on the pillows as she moaned sensually into his mouth. If they kept this up, the fourth round would be just around the corner…

Or so they thought until reality, quite literally, knocked on their door.

"Uh… guys? Sorry to interrupt, but…"

Sokka groaned, breaking the kiss and dropping his head on Azula's chest. She smiled, stroking the back of his head: the sound of a whimpering child behind the door gave away the reason behind Aang's interruption easily.

"I suppose it's lunch time. For her, and for us, too," Azula reasoned, glancing out the window.

"Guess we took way longer than two hours, huh?" Sokka smiled. "Oh, well. It was worth it."

He kissed her again, gazing at her with earnest affection before pushing himself off the bed. He draped Azula's body with the sheet they had crumpled across their lovemaking, and he put on a set of trousers quickly. That he'd boldly answer the door without anything on, without fixing his hair, without making any effort to hide what they were doing… an utterly foolish smile spread across Azula's face at that realization. The shamelessness would bite at her later on, no doubt… but the sight of the man she'd soon marry anew, owning up to their relationship fully, with no fear of the consequences, provided her with one of the greatest bursts of joy she had ever experienced.

Aang handed Hotaru over to Sokka quite awkwardly, cheeks red, for the nature of what had been happening in that room was no secret: Sokka, however, only smiled as he hoisted Hotaru in his arms, stroking the child's hair as she whimpered helplessly.

"No worries. Mom's going to feed you now," Sokka said, kissing Hotaru's brow. "Everything's alright."

The reassuring words seemed to encompass exactly what they felt on that day: for once, Azula actually believed them deep in her heart, in ways she never had before. Sokka turned to face her, as he closed the door, and they shared an earnest, heartfelt smile. Everything truly would be alright… or at least, it would be until they reached the destination of the first branch of their journey.

Katara awaited Aang by the dining deck: as much as she had encouraged her brother and his lover to do exactly what they had, she had very little interest in witnessing the signs of whatever they had gotten up to. The sounds hadn't been quite as loud as they could have been, with the sea's wild waves often serving to muffle the noise… but the occasional cry of passion certainly had reached them all across the space of the four hours the pair had spent locked up in their cabin.

"Okay… baby delivered," Aang smiled awkwardly as he took his seat across Katara. She smiled, shaking her head.

"I'm going to guess they made no efforts to get out of there, did they?"

"Uh… no," Aang admitted, with an awkward smile. "If their relationship was like this all along, well… kind of makes you wonder how nobody caught them for so long. At least, nobody bad."

"I suspect they're letting loose like never before. What kind of journey have we signed up for?" Katara sighed, with an awkward smile. Aang chuckled, reaching over to take her hand.

"At least he's happy. They both are," Aang said.

Katara smiled more earnestly, lacing her fingers with his: they were happy, too… but Sokka's joy upon reclaiming his bond with Azula certainly had been as overwhelming as Katara had imagined it would be. To think that she had once been adamantly against their bond… and now, she even found herself grateful to the thought, the hope, that she'd never again have to see her brother's depressed, miserable demeanor upon being torn away from Azula's side.

"Guess we'll just have to get used to it," Katara said. "And… we should find ear plugs."

Aang chuckled and nodded: their food was starting to run cold, so they got started with it together, guessing Sokka and Azula would turn up for their own meals sooner than later. And Katara might just mess with her brother, once they did… but for now, she relished the peace she surprisingly had found permeated the Royal Barge. As hard as the roads that followed might become, Katara relaxed, for she would have no cause to worry about Sokka's happiness and peace of mind in the years to come.