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It wasn’t her fault.
Not exactly.
How could it be her fault? She and the Avatar had been dating for over three weeks before anyone had bothered to inform her of that fact. By then the window for proper introductions had most certainly closed. How was she supposed to know that accepting the Avatar invitation to split a custard tart was their first date? He’d shared desserts with Zuzu on other occasions, but that didn’t mean the Avatar was dating the Fire Lord.
No, there wasn’t a chance that Azula could be held responsible for not knowing the name of her boyfriend after they’d been together for two months.
Regardless, she would fix it.
Azula started with observations. She was not spying. Even if she was, as the Avatar’s girlfriend, it was her right to look at him.
Toph
Azula leaned against one of the columns on the far side of the sparring grounds, waving away a stray spray of dust with a flick of her wrist. She watched him, eyes lingering a little longer than she strictly needed to. As if his name could be found in the creases between his tattoos and the muscles through his shoulders. She looked longer, just in case it was.
It wasn’t.
She waved off another cloud of dust from the hollering little mudslinger. The girl called insults outs between her movements. Which might have been useful, but Azula had to assume the Avatar’s name was not actually, “Twinkletoes.”-If it was, she might have to rethink their relationship status. Shaking her head, she waved to him. Her lips twitched, trying to swallow down a chuckle when the Avatar almost fell backward in his enthusiastic return of the gesture.
Azula left the training field.
Sokka
The three of them had been tasked with picking up some herbs in the markets for the Water Tribe Female. Water Tribe Male ranted about the substandard offerings of sea prunes in the Fire Nation. A dull roar from the crowds around them drowned out most of his complaints. Azula’s fingers laced with the Avatar’s before she could lose him in the throng of activity around her.
He squeezed her hand in his and side-tracked their mission when he tugged her to a stall with colorful rice candies. Azula sucked on a particularly sticky, chewy piece. A conveniently large enough rice candy meant she couldn’t participate in Sokka’s conversation with the Avatar. She could listen, however, and wonder who in Agni’s name Bonzu Pippinpaddleopscicopolis the Third was.
If that was her boyfriend’s name, she would definitely have to reconsider their relationship. Azula Pippinpaddleopscicopolis, the Third or otherwise, just didn’t have the right ring to it.
She changed her tactics to interrogations.
Mai
"Why would you think I would know that?"
Ty Lee
"Hmm, well my sources tell me it's Kuzon Fire. But that doesn't seem to fit him, does it? Kuzon is a winter name and the Avatar is more of a summer."
Appa
The sky bison didn’t talk.
She didn’t know why she bothered asking him.
It was not just to give her an excuse to visit him and stroke his fluffy fur for a few minutes.
Don’t be ridiculous.
Uncle
“His name?” Uncle asked, stroking his bearded chin in contemplation, “What is a name when you truly know another’s soul?”
Azula stalked away, reminded why she never asked Uncle anything.
Zuko
Azula perched on one side of Zuko’s large desk, her feet tucked beneath the flowing hem of her robe where they couldn’t disturb any of his scattered parchments. Her brother scowled, “There’s a chair right over there, Zula.” He gestured with the end of his stylus.
She shrugged, “And? I’m perfectly comfortable right here,” Her eyes flicked down to one of the documents by her side, “You spelled armistice wrong by the way. It’s with an i after the m, not an e.”
Zuko rolled his eyes. He scrounged around in one of his desk drawers for a moment, before he shoved over a sheet of fresh parchment along with another stylus and ink well, “You copy it over it then,” he said when she raised an eyebrow at him.
Smirking, Azula tugged the parchment closer, “Of course, it is my honor to serve the Fire Lord.” She began to scribe the corrected missive. “I have a question for you, Zuzu,” she said in as casual of a tone as she could manage, “when you were on your hunt for the Avatar, how did you find out his name?”
Zuko paused in his reading, a bemused grin grew across his face, “It wasn’t through formal introductions if that’s what you're asking. I think I just overheard it at some point. All of them were so loud whenever they fought me. Why?”
She hummed, dipping the stylus back into the inkwell. “No reason.”
They were useless. All of them.
There was nothing else for it. She’d have to go to the source himself.
The Source Himself
She found him in the courtyard sitting by the fountain. His shoes had been abandoned in a heap behind him, toes trailing through the water and leaving ripples behind. Azula slipped off her shoes. She lined them delicately against the fountain’s edge and slid onto the stones beside him. Her bare toes brushed against his in the cool water.
He slung his arm around her shoulders, tugging her a little closer to close the gap between them, “Hey Wonderstruck,” he whispered, warm breath brushing the fine hairs closest to her ears.
Azula pursed her lips. She flushed every time he called her that. It always left a strange feeling of guilt mixing between the rush of butterflies in the pit of her stomach, “Must you call me that? It was hardly a romantic beginning of our relationship.” They’d moved past it fairly quickly of course, but it still made her want to squirm.
Squirming was decidedly not royal behavior.
He gave her an earnest nod, “Because it doesn’t matter how we started, I’m still struck by you everyday, Azula.” He turned and pressed his forehead against hers, their noses brushing. The Avatar moved in for a kiss, but Azula couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled away, her eyes downcast and cheeks flaming. “Azula?” he asked, “Are you okay?”
“No, this feels worse than having almost killed you, I-I-I,” she mumbled it to the base of the fountain, her toes curling in the water. Azula pressed her fists into her face until he gently pried them away.
“It can’t be that bad, Azula, just tell me.” His hand lingered on her cheek. A cool palm and his calming tone soothing the flames she felt blossoming beneath her skin.
Azula sighed.
She told him.
He laughed.
His shoulders quivered against hers, “Oh, is that all? That’s easy to fix.” He turned to her, his hand dropping from her cheek in order to give her an awkward bow from his seated position on the fountain, “I’m Aang Gyatso, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and you are?”
She recovered enough to return the gesture, “Princess Azula Sozin, the pleasure is all mine, Aang Gyatso .”
“So, now that introductions are taken care of, can I get back to kissing you? I was kind of looking forward to that, Princess Azula, ” he said. The Avatar, Aang, didn’t bother to keep a straight face.
Azula leaned close. Her lips stopped just short of his to say, “Yes, Aang , you can kiss me now.” He grinned and complied, fingers twisting lightly in the loose hair at the base of her neck when their lips came together.
“Enjoying my name?” He said when they broke apart for air.
She hummed and gave him an airy shrug, resting her head against his shoulder, “Well, I suppose anything is better than Pippinpaddleopscicopolis.”
“You think so, hmm?” He flicked his fingers. A stream of water flew up with the motion to gently land on the princess’s nose. She let out a playful shriek as the cold water splashed her in the face. Tugging on Aang’s arm, she swung to the side, toppling them both into the fountain. For a moment he stared at her, wide eyed and dripping.
Aang chuckled. He shook his head, water sprayed in all directions and the princess again. But she was already soaked, so she didn’t mind in the least.
That had to be the reason for it.
His goofy smile just before he kissed her again certainly couldn’t be responsible for her not to mind it.
Nor could it be the reason Azula suddenly didn’t think she’d mind too much if his name was Twinkletoes, Kuzon Fire, or Pippinpaddleopscicopolis.