Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Best Served Cold

Part 1 - Young Love

In the Water Tribes, he was known as Azulon the Scourge.

After years of prosecuting the war against the Earth Kingdom, the aging Azulon considered his ongoing lack of victory and turned his mind to the matter of legacies. He discovered worry that the Avatar- lost to the world since the days of Sozin- might have died and been reborn in accordance with the cycle. Thus, he began two additional campaigns: one against the Northern Tribe and one against the Southern. Every Waterbender at the South Pole was either captured or killed, and while the Tribe at the North Pole was able to fight off the same fate, the Fire Navy had bottled it up into a single walled city.

In the Fire Nation, he was known as Fire Lord Azulon.

Most people could not remember there ever being another Fire Lord. Sozin had died soon after Azulon's birth, and the boy had grown up handling the pressures of both the war and the crown with stunning ease. While a Firebending prodigy, his passions laid in administration and mathematics, enabling him to effectively lead the Fire Nation with all its societal contrasts, and even advance it along his father's vision. Even as his sons grew up and into their own, Azulon never weakened, never let his age affect him. With his hair and skin both bone white, he was just as strong and aggressive as the day he was declared a Man.

In the Princess Azula's mind, he was just Grandfather, the old man who was in Uncle Iroh and Dad's way of inheriting the crown.

She wasn't the only one who made that mistake.

The first impression Azula had of her new home was Gray. The clouds above were gray, the sea was gray, the sands were gray, and the village itself was gray. She didn't even know that wood came in grays; perhaps villagers in the Northern Earth Kingdom painted their houses that way on purpose? But who would want to live in an ugly gray shack?

Who would want to live in a shack, whatever the color?

What was left of her family was standing at the ship's rail with her. Mom squeezed both children and said, "Well, I think it looks quaint." Zuko and Azula, in turn, exchanged grimaces. 'Quaint' was not a word that translated into being fit for Royalty in any way.

Suddenly, Azula realized she might not be Royalty anymore. She was born with Royal blood, but if she were still Royalty, why would she have had to leave the palace? And anyway, it was Dad she inherited her Royal lineage from, and now Dad was...

Azula stopped thinking about it and focused on the village. "It looks dirty and infested with peasants."

"Now, Azula-"

"No!" Azula turned to glare up at her mother. "Stop lying. You don't like it any better than I do. It's an ugly, backwards little infestation, and nothing like home."

Mom met her gaze calmly. "No, it's nothing like home. And... you're right, I don't like this place. But it's safe, and so I'm going to accept it, and do my best to like it. A Princess accepts difficulty with honor."

Zuko shuffled, ignored by both mother and daughter, but not willing to leave their company. He was weak like that, and, even though she was younger, Azula was much stronger. Still, she also knew how to strategize. Sniffing disdainfully, Azula turned away from her mother and leaned on the rail again. The ship was much closer to the shore now, but she couldn't see a dock. Was the boat just going to slide right up on the sand?

Behind her, Zuko finally piped up. "What kinds of people are going to be there? Are they nice?"

Azula rolled her eyes, but no one saw. Mom moved to put her arms around her young son and said, "They won't hurt us. They're friends of the nice swordsman who helped us leave the Fire Nation. They're people like us, who need a special place where they can be safe."

Azula decided right then that she didn't care about being safe. She'd prefer to have her Dad back.

The boat did just beach itself on the sands, but at least they put out a ramp made of tied-together logs so that Azula and her family could disembark without getting their feet wet. That told Azula that these people weren't familiar with Firebenders because anyone worth their Bending could generate enough heat to quickly dry off. (Of course, Zuzu couldn't yet.) Perhaps the villagers expected Azula and her family to be dressed better? Their clothes weren't poor in quality, but they were a far cry from the silks and armors that the Royal Family was entitled to. Still, at least the peasants had the politeness to come out and meet the new arrivals. Azula wished she had her crown so that she could receive her new subjects properly, but a Princess accepts difficulty with honor. She stood straight and traversed the sands regally as she approached the gathered crowd.

The people wore a mix of colors. Most favored green, and there was a scattering of blue, but a significant portion of the crowd wore grays. The old woman in the lead wore a tunic of faded purple, but she was unique in that respect. The two children of similar skin-tone who trailed immediately after her just wore blue.

Azula looked at them and waited for them to bow.

Then Mom bent at the waist while spreading her hands out humbly, and Azula felt her own jaw drop. Mom straightened and said, "Thank you for sheltering us. We are honored by your kindness, and vow to honor in turn the multinational harmony of the village you have built here."

Zuko hastily bowed, but Azula just crossed her arms and scowled; she was not bowing to peasants, and she didn't care who had a problem with that.

The old woman just nodded at them. "You are welcome. My name is Kanna. My son Hakoda leads this village, but he is away. Chey will show you your house and let you know about your share of the chores. Mind your children." Then she turned and started shuffling away, the rest of the crowd moving with her.

Azula looked up at her mother, wondering if that was as insulting as she thought. "Mom, the peasants didn't seem very welcoming. I thought we were safe here." Mom was blinking with surprise, and Azula knew she was right.

"We are safe. And welcome, like Elder Kanna said." Mom closed her eyes and sighed. "We'll just have to work to make friends, is all. You're good at making friends, so that shouldn't be too much of a challenge for you."

Azula smiled. That was true, she was very good at making friends. Back at the Royal Academy for Girls, she found Mai and Ty Lee, the best girls in the entire school, and made them her friends. (she didn't miss them she didn't miss them) Azula glanced over at Zuko, and was pleased to see him looking glummer than usual; he didn't have any friends. Ever. "Don't worry, Zuzu. After I make friends with the smartest, most fun kids around, I'll catch you a Water Tribe barbarian whom you can play games with."

Azula grinned at Zuko's blushing scowl, and ignored her mother's lecture about how 'barbarian' was now a bad word.

It turned out that the two blue-clad kids who trailed after Old Woman Kanna were the only kids in the village, besides Azula and Zuko now. This was less than pleasing, but Mom had challenged Azula, so she couldn't back down. The elder was a boy and the younger a girl, so they would make a perfect pair of friends for Zuko and Azula. Hopefully, they would have some useful skills; friends were fun, but they were also tools, and had to be taken care of like good tools.

As soon as the ugly Chey man showed them their house (another horrid gray shack), the young Princess snuck off to explore and stalk her friendship prospects. She would do better without Zuzu tagging along, and if Mom knew what she was planning, there would just be another lecture about not calling people 'peasants' anymore.

Friendship, in Azula's experience, started with observation.

The village itself wasn't terribly busy, but everyone was occupied with some rustic task or another. Azula was fascinated by one man who was cutting up some dead animal, but she could always learn more about that later. Others were carving things, or building things, or repairing some shack or another. It was all so silly. They should just have found some servants and forced them to do all that work. Maybe if they did, they could build some real houses and not have to live in ugly gray shacks.

She didn't find the Water Tribe kids until she got to the other side of the village, right along the beach. The girl was dancing or something at the surf's edge, while the boy sat on the sand and watched her. Then Azula realized that the water in front of the girl wasn't moving with the other waves. It was rising and falling of its own accord. In time with the girl's movements.

Waterbender.

Intriguing. Grandfather had ordered all the Waterbenders killed.

Azula watched for a while, crouched behind some tall grasses. The girl didn't seem to know many moves, being content to just influence the size and lapping of the waves in front of her, but she kept at it with a diligence that Azula could respect. The boy just lazed about, chewing something while he alternated between watching his sister and chattering at the edge of Azula’s hearing. Perhaps he was the village idiot. Azula read about village idiots in her old storybooks.

The young Princess decided it was time to act on the intelligence she had gathered. She put on a nice smile and walked out to approach the other kids. "Hello! I'm Pr- um, Azula. Today, you have been graced by fate, chosen to be my companions. What are your names?" Both children turned to stare at her. The Waterbender froze up completely, and the water around her flattened. Azula bit back a sigh. Perhaps they were Simple. "I. Said. I'm. Azula. Who. Are. You?"

The boy stood up. "Gran-Gran said you're from the Fire Nation. Is that true?" He leaned forward, feet spread apart with hands held out from his body, and stared at Azula with narrowed eyes. It was a typical attack stance.

Ah, so they weren't simple. They were intimidated by her greatness. That was good; Azula could definitely work with that. Snapping a hand up like a magician making confetti explode out of thin air, she summoned a ball of beautiful orange flame in her palm and said with all due authority, "I am a Child of Fire, born to bring light to a dark world."

The Waterbender girl shrieked like an injured messenger hawk and ran away.

The boy pulled a bone knife of some kind from his belt and pointed it right at Azula. "Stay back! I won't let you hurt my sister!"

Azula blinked several times, trying to decide what to do. She didn't think she had done anything overly aggressive, and she considered herself an expert on aggressive actions. Perhaps these kids had never seen a Firebender before? She supposed that might be scary. But what to do about that? Finally, she found an option that experience told her was most likely to diffuse whatever this strange situation was. "Truce!" She lowered her hands slowly and let the fire go out. "Truce."

Then the adults arrived.

"I didn't attack anybody! They asked if I was from the Fire Nation, so I provided a visual aid." Azula crossed her arms and sat down on her new (it better be new) futon. "It's not like I lit anyone's hair on fire. Which I could have."

Mom buried her face in her hands in a most undignified manner. She stayed that way for a full ten seconds before she looked back up at her daughter. "Azula, I know this is difficult. We're starting a new life in a very strange place, a kind of life with which you don't have any experience. It's inevitable that there are going to be... misunderstandings. We have to be as nice as possible so that people will learn to like us. That means, for now, no Firebending near other people. Especially not anyone from the Water Tribes."

On the other side of the one-room shack, Zuko made a show of kicking the wall, but not very hard because he was a baby that way. "Great, first we have to wear gray clothes while we're here, and now we can't Firebend. Way to go, Azula. You're such a Dum-Dum."

Azula looked over at him, decided she didn't like the superior look in his eyes, and launched herself screeching at him. Mom herself was screaming by the time she tore the two kids apart, and made them both sit in opposite corners of the house until the Chey man brought stew for dinner. Azula didn't know what her mother was so upset about; it's not like she lit Zuko's hair on fire, which she could have.

That night, lying awake on her futon, Azula heard Mom sobbing in the dark. She wondered if Mom missed Dad, too.

Morning came and, over breakfast, Mom delivered a briefing that Azula only half-listened to. Something about having to go learn how to boil tar or somesuch nonsense. Mom noted that Zuko and Azula were going to have to learn how to do chores, too. "But for now," Mom said, "I can't deal with learning this and dealing with you two, so you get to stay home and stay out of trouble. Remember not to wear anything red." Azula wanted to roll her eyes, but didn't; Mom was in a really bad mood this morning, and even Azula knew to respect her mother's bad moods. Already on her way out the door, Mom finished with, "Why don't you two go find someplace to practice your hand-to-hand defense? Just spar with each other, and watch that you don't Firebend. Azula, no spraining your brother's joints."

As soon as their mother was gone, though, Azula stuck her tongue out at Zuzu and took off into the village. She had better things to do than baby-sit her own big brother.

Like finding those two Water Tribe kids and figuring out what their problem was.

Azula knew stealth, and she was soon moving through the village completely unnoticed in her new (it better be new) gray tunic. She didn't find the Water Tribe kids on the beach like yesterday, so she had to do more searching. She did find Mom in the carpenter’s shack, holding a big bucket of black goop that another woman was stirring, but that was boring to watch. Once again, she saw the big man carving up batches of meat, and Azula was quite impressed by the length of the knife he got to use. Mai would be jealous (she didn’t miss Mai she didn’t miss Mai ). Still, that wasn't what she was here for.

She found the kids behind the oldest-looking shack in the village. Both of them were combing through a pelt that had been detached from its animal owner and strung up on a rack. Checking to make sure that her topknot was still nice, Azula walked slowly around to the small yard. "Good morning. I hope you two are feeling calmer today."

Both froze at her voice. The boy recovered first, turning to face the Fire Princess and waving the girl away. "Go inside, Katara. I'll take care of this."

Katara. Azula made a mental note.

She waited for the Waterbender to leave before speaking again. "You act like I'm going to do something horrible to you." She widened her beautiful golden eyes in a way that never failed to get Mom on her side. "I just want to be friends with the Waterbender girl. She seems nice."

"Katara doesn't want to be friends with any Fire Nation monsters." He turned around again with a stomp. "And neither do I."

Hm, this was odd. Everyone at the Royal Academy for Girls wanted to be friends with her. It was much better than being her enemy. It was like all these people didn't know anything about Royalty. Azula decided to teach them, starting with this one. He wasn't as old as Zuko, perhaps Mai's age, but you had to start somewhere, and he was convenient.

Azula walked around to face the boy again. "Oh, now that's not very welcoming. My family has been cast adrift by our nation, and when we come to grace your village with our friendship, you call us monsters. What have we ever done to you?"

"All Fire Nation people are monsters. And you!" The boy began waving his hands in front of him like he was having some kind of seizure. "You can do the wooshy-fire-thingy with your hands! We definitely don't want that around here!"

"Really." Azula leaned into his face and narrowed her eyes. "And just why wouldn't you like the Agni Warrior's gift to my people, the gift that enabled the world to rise out of savagery, the gift that allowed us to separate ourselves from the beasts?" She reached out and quickly grabbed his tunic. He was taller than her, so she just yanked and unbalanced him so that she was the only thing keeping him from falling. "Hm?"

He looked down at the ground, then up at her, and Azula could see the delicious fear in his eyes. Then, his face set and his eyes grew hard. He shifted his jaw as if to speak, but instead he spat right in Azula's face. "Because you Firebenders killed my mom!"

The barbarian's saliva dripped down Azula's cheek. She felt the Fire kindling in her heart, reaching out along her chi-paths in search of this peasant's fragile skin. She wanted so much to burn him. But a Princess accepts difficulty with honor. Azula let go of the boy with one hand, and used it to calmly wipe the spit off her face. Leaning forward so that her hot breath splashed against Sokka's face, she hissed, "Firebenders killed my dad. Mom says that if Fire Lord Azulon, my grandfather, ever found us, he would kill us all as a warning to other traitors. So spare me your petty anger, barbarian."

Then Azula clenched her soiled hand into a fist and slammed it into the boy's face so hard her own knuckles hurt. She threw him to the ground and stomped off, managing to successfully make it out of the yard before the tears fell. She had them back under control by the time she got home.

A Princess accepts difficulty with honor.

Soon enough, everyone was talking about "Sokka's" black eye. It didn't endear Azula to the locals at all, but then, she wasn't expecting it to, even though she could have used fire but didn't. Zuzu, on the other hand, apologized to Sokka and his family on her behalf. Unprompted. Azula bet that people just loved him already.

To ashes with them all!

Azula vowed that she would be on the next boat out of there, even if it meant she would be a kid alone in the world. Mom was completely impotent, Zuzu was a disgrace, Dad was at best a pile of ash in the family crypt or scattered across a footpath somewhere at worst, and Grandfather was a vindictive monster who wouldn't roll over and die when it was his time. Azula didn't need any of them. She was better off alone. If no one could appreciate her the way Dad did-

Until another boat arrived, though, Mom insisted that it was time for Azula to learn a chore. "Honey, I think it'd be best if you started contributing to the village's well-being. It would give you something to do, and people will come to appreciate you if you help out."

Azula scowled from her stupid, too-thin futon. "Zuzu doesn't have to learn a chore."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Your brother is going to learn a chore, too. He's going to come to work with me at the carpenter's." Sitting down next to Azula, Mom put on a smile that didn't reach her beautiful golden eyes. "Now, where would you like to work? You've been walking around the village. Did you see anything you want to try?"

She didn't want to do peasant work, but there was one job that at least looked a little interesting. And if she was going to be out on her own, it might be a useful skill. "I saw a man cutting up animals. He had a really nice knife."

Mom blinked. "The butcher?"

"Is that what they call it?" Azula considered that. "But where do the animals come from? He wasn't cutting up one of those they keep for fur in the pens. And I didn't see any large farms like the Governors administrate for Gr- Fire Lord Azulon."

"They hunt for them, honey. Large farms would give away this village's location, so they send hunters into the woods to catch the large animals."

Azula slowly smiled. "I want to hunt. Away from these stupid peasants."

Zuzu ran up and leaned on their mother's shoulder. "Please let her do it! It'd be nice to send her off on long hunting trips. And the adults will take care of her."

"And if you let me, I won't have to find new ways to keep my Firebending sharp. Here in the village." Azula giggled and smiled up at her mother with her own beautiful golden eyes. "Where everyone will see me."

Mom sighed and sunk her face into her hands again.

A hunting trip was heading out soon, and Mom's request to let Azula go along was accepted by the leader, a man in green named Hun. On the day, Mom brought Azula out to the village's center around mid-morning. A group of men were gathered, checking over their backpacks and spears. Azula herself brought a knife and a few supplies, but nothing like the huge packs the others did. Typical. Mom had left her completely unprepared.

Then the last arrivals showed up, and Azula was at a loss for a reaction.

It was Sokka, bearing his own large backpack, with his grandmother and sister trailing behind him. When he saw Azula, his eyes widened- well, his one good eye widened, while his puffy black eye stayed shut- and he froze in place. "Aw, you have to be kidding me!"

Azula gave him her best death-glare, the one she learned from Dad, but Mom stepped in front of her immediately. "Azula is very sorry she hit you, and promises that she'll be on her best behavior during this trip."

"Wait, she's going on a hunting trip?!" Sokka looked up at Kanna. "But girls aren't allowed to hunt?"

Azula blinked. "Why not? My mother has already explained the bathroom situation, and I'm confident I can handle it. But no peeking!"

Katara gasped and started tugging on her grandmother's dress. "I want to go too! I know how to pee in a bush! Please please please I want to try hunting!"

With a sigh, Kanna leaned down and rubbed the top of her granddaughter's head. "Katara, if you go hunting, who will help around the house? Your father is still on his trip. If you want, you can ask him when he gets back about going next time." Then she looked over at Mom. "Are you sure about letting your daughter go this time? It's just going to be men, on this trip, none of them her family."

"If she were any other little girl, I would agree that it's a troublesome situation.” Mom just massaged her forehead like she had a headache. “But I know Azula."

Sokka sighed. "Hmph. I hate this place. Back in the South Pole, men did men-jobs and women did women-jobs. None of this crazy mixed-up stuff."

Azula hadn't even got out the first syllable of "barbarians" out before Mom gave her enough of a kick to silence her.

Hun's instructions were simple as they set out for the hunting grounds, deep in the forest. "Follow me, do what I do, and shut up." Azula liked him; he was just like a Fire Army general, and the long march to the hunting grounds helped reinforce that image. What she wasn't so pleased with were his instructions for setting up the campsite once they arrived late in the afternoon. "Azula, since you didn't bring a tent, you'll bunk with Sokka. Don't kill each other."

"But!" said Sokka.

"But!" said Azula.

But it did no good. So Azula simply sat and watched, steaming a little (literally), while Sokka set up his small tent. Planting one of the support sticks into the ground, he grumbled, "Feel free to help any time."

Azula rolled her eyes. "Feel free to teach me if you want help. Dum-Dum."

"Why are you even here? Hunting is man's work!"

"Obviously, I'm here to torture you. Now that I've been exiled from the Fire Nation, I've decided to take up a sacred mission of annoying any Water Tribe boys I meet. And I seem to be so good at it!"

Sokka didn't say anything to that. He just kept working on his tent. Azula may not have liked the situation, but she kept an eye on him regardless, taking in the way he set up the tent's structure, and draped and fastened the covering into place. She committed the entire procedure to memory. She might have to live out of a tent if she ran away from home.

That done, the two children were called over to help with other chores around the campsite. Azula was allowed to light the campfire but didn't get the appreciative noises she was expecting for the ease with which she got a good blaze going. The whole group sat around the campfire as they ate their dinners, and the talk soon turned to jokes that Azula didn't get. She resolved to find out why it was so funny to say that Mom was 'hot' for a Fire Nation woman; as far as Azula knew, her mother's temperature was standard for a Firebender. Sokka seemed to be generally enjoying himself, black eye and all, and for some reason that annoyed Azula. She just ate her apples- the only food her mother had packed- and observed everything.

Then it was time to go to sleep.

In Sokka's tent.

"This side is yours, and this one is mine," was the first thing the Water Tribe boy said as they unrolled their sleeping bags.

Azula clasped her hands together and gave him an imploring look. "Ooh, don't be so mean. You can feel free to cuddle if you get lonely for your family in the night. My brother loves cuddling with me." She punctuated the offer with a smile that was all teeth.

Sokka ignored her, to Azula's disappointment. Zuzu always reacted so deliciously to sarcasm.

Once Azula was settled in her sleeping bag, Sokka reached up for the lantern hanging from the tent's central support stick, but she beat him to killing the flame with a simple exhalation and hand motion. The tent plunged into darkness, and Sokka said, "I wish you would stop with the Firebending."

Azula didn't take that bait, but it did bring to something else to mind, and she figured that she had nothing to lose with this barbarian. "Did your mother fight in the war?"

"What?"

"You said the Fire Nation killed her. Was she a soldier?"

He was silent for so long she had begun to think that he wasn't going to answer. "No, she wasn't a soldier. The Fire Nation came looking for Waterbenders and attacked my Tribe. They killed her in my family's home. Katara was the last to see her."

Azula considered that. She supposed it was sad, in an abstract way, but if his mother was a Waterbender, then that was for all intents and purposes the same thing as being a soldier. Her lessons on Grandfather's policies had been clear on that much. She was drifting off to sleep, vague shapes of Enemy Waterbenders who looked like the screechy Katara girl swirling through her mind, when Sokka spoke again and snapped Azula back to full waking. "Was your dad a soldier?"

Azula snorted. "My dad was a prince. He wanted to rule the entire Fire Nation as Fire Lord. We lived in a palace and had servants to do our hunting for us."

"So then how did your dad die?"

"I- I don't know." Azula surprised herself at the admission. She knew all the proceeding events- that Uncle Iroh had lost cousin Lu Ten and shut down the Siege of Ba Sing Se, that Dad had asked Grandfather to be made the crown prince, and how Grandfather had decided to punish him for it. Dad was going to have to kill Zuko, something Azula found rather funny, but then Mom found out.

It was all vague from there. The next thing Azula knew, Mom was waking her up in the night, telling her that they had to go right away. They left the Capital in the night, and on Ember Island, they found announcements of Dad's execution for treason, along with wanted posters for the rest of their family. Mom had then taken Azula and Zuko to Shu Jing, to her swordsman friend who she thought could help them get away.

"I thought he was the best," Azula found herself saying. "I was his favorite. But then he messed up somehow, and they killed him for it while I ran away."

And that was all there was to it. The one person whom Azula respected in all the world, the only one who valued Azula for who she really was, was dead because he wasn't as good as he thought he was. So what else might he have been mistaken about?

In the dark, Azula suddenly felt very, very alone.

Sokka's voice came back softly. "Do you want to hurt them for what they did to your dad?"

Azula let the thought bounce around her mind as she felt sleep overcoming her again. "I guess it's worth trying." It was a purpose, at least.

The two children slept through the night, unconsciousness allowing them to be at peace in each other's presence for the first time.

Sokka woke up early the next morning, if you could call the sluggish dark before dawn a 'morning.' This was his first hunting trip, and so the first time he was getting up before the sun while camping. He didn't mind mornings, but this was a new challenge he hadn't expected. He fumbled in the impenetrably dim shadows for his spark rocks, intending to light the hanging lamp so that he could get ready, but he couldn't find them. Maybe he left them in his knapsack? But he'd never find them in the darkness! Then he remembered that he had another way handy to light the lantern.

But wouldn't that be betraying Mom?

But not living up to the expectations of being a true hunter would be betraying Dad.

Sokka reached over and poked Azula. She didn't react, so he moved his hands until he found her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. Reminded of how Katara would wake him up on Gran-Gran's orders, he leaned over and blew gently down at what he figured was her face. "Time to wake up, evil Fire Nation girl."

Azula groaned and stirred. "Wha."

"I need you to reach up and light the lantern."

"Wha."

"Are you awake?"

"Nh."

"Come on! Hunters get up before the sun." He shook her harder, and blew some more air into her face.

"Stp tht." She started sitting up, so Sokka got off of her. He waited in the darkness for a moment but nothing happened. Finally, Azula's voice croaked out again, "Lmp?"

"You can't find the lamp?"

"Yah."

Sokka reached out again, groped for Azula's hands, and when he found one, he lifted it up and stuck it in the lamp. "Now do the fire."

It was another long moment, but then Azula's breathing picked up, and the lamp glowed to life. In the new light, he could see that Azula's eyes were still closed, and her slack face made it look like she was still sleeping. Sokka poked her again. "You gotta wake up so that we can hunt."

"Yah," she said. Then she collapsed back on her bedroll.

By the time Azula actually woke up, they didn't have long before it was time to report to Hun outside, but once she was conscious, she worked quickly and efficiently. Sokka finished his own preparations by strapping Boomerang to his belt, then quickly tying his hair back in an awesomely manly Warrior's Wolf-tail. He looked over at Azula, and spotted her playing with her own hair. As he watched, she tied a string at the base of the topknot-thingy she always wore, and then let go of her hair.

The topknot flopped to the side, and some hairs escaped in the front to hang over her face. She deflated into a truly profound slump.

Tugging his own hair, Sokka said, "Um, you okay? We gotta get outside to Hun."

"That was my third attempt." She didn't even turn around to say it. "I can't go out looking like a... an exile."

"Well," Sokka found himself saying, despite his black eye’s continued soreness, "I could try."

Now, Azula did turn. "You? Touch my Royal person?"

"Hey! You didn't mind this morning. Besides, I've helped my sister with her loopies. Your topknot doesn't look that hard."

Azula stared at him with her freaky golden eyes, and then nodded. "Very well. Be quick about it."

And he was. Sokka actually really liked helping Katara with her loopies after Mom wasn't around anymore, but she hadn't needed him for that in a while. It was too bad, because while it was totally unmanly, a small part of him found making the pretty arrangements to be really rewarding. Azula's normal look was relatively simple, but he took special care to properly proportion the small, dagger-like bangs she liked on either side of her face.

That done, he stepped quickly away and grabbed his spear. "Come on, we're almost late!"

"I know," she grumbled. "And your work is pleasing."

It was only after he was out of the tent that he realized the statement was probably a 'thank you.'

Sokka was starting to think that Hun was just trying to keep him out of the way.

He had come on this trip- gotten Dad's permission to go on this trip- to learn how to be a real hunter in this strange green land. The settlement had been here for a year, since just after Mom died and Dad had taken his family somewhere that the Fire Nation would never find a Waterbender. In that time, all Sokka had learned was that the life skills he had so painstakingly cultivated in the South Pole were completely useless in a land of warm winds and forests. Except for the few Water Tribe warriors who had come with Dad, and the occasional Waterbender traveler from the North who Dad could convince to stay a while and teach Katara some moves, the village was made up entirely of Earth Kingdom refugees and Fire Nation fugitives. Sokka and his family had been forced to adapt quickly, and the boy couldn't help but think that sometimes the other villagers looked down on anyone who wore blue.

Except for Dad. They were impressed with him.

Well, Sokka had his own problems with some of the other villagers. He didn't like any of the Fire Nation people, even if they did wear gray now, and he was going to show the Earth Kingdom hunters that anything they could do, he could learn and improve upon. He wasn't some yokel from the South Pole; he was Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe.

Except Hun wouldn't even teach him! "Take the Fire Nation monkey girl," he had said, "and show her how to move through the forest. You know that much, right? Good. Tomorrow I'll show you how to throw a spear, or something." Sokka didn't say that he already knew how to throw a spear. Dad would be hearing about this when he got back from his latest trip!

If he cared.

So for now, Sokka led Azula through the forest. He was pretty sure he was following a game trail, but he wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't like following tracks in the snow. "So, do you know what fresh grass tracks look like?"

Sokka glanced back, and saw Azula looking at him through narrow eyes. "Aren't you supposed to know?"

"Did you miss the part where this is my first hunting trip, too?"

"Your logic is contradictory. If you don't know, and this is your first trip, and this is also my first trip, what would possibly lead you to conclude that I know?"

Sokka didn't reply to that. Stupid Fire Nation girl thinking she's smarter than him. She probably thought he was a yokel, too. Then he spotted something just ahead, something that he thought was a good sign. "Look, droppings!"

"Ew. Don't step in it. You'll stink and then all the animals will smell you coming."

"No, I mean we're on the trail of something. I've heard about this part, we need to check if they're warm to see if the animal is still nearby."

Azula's eyes grew wide. "I don't know if I have the fine Firebending control for that. How warm do you expect them to be?"

"No no no." Sokka shook his head to clear the thought of Azula doing her crazy Fire Nation Firebending Fire dances in front of a pile of poo. "I mean one of us needs to touch it."

Their gazes met.

"Let's just keep following the trail," Azula finally decided. Sokka nodded his agreement. He might have made some squeally sounds as they stepped carefully over their find, but Azula thankfully ignored them and they both moved on.

Sokka was still thinking about how a real hunter wouldn't have been afraid of touching droppings when the coyotaroo popped out of the foliage, bit down on Sokka's Warrior's Wolftail, and yanked the boy to the ground with a twitch of its canine head.

This wasn't Sokka's first encounter with a dangerous predator, though. He had even been terrorized by a tiger-seal, once, back in the South Pole. It didn't even take him a full second to understand that he was under attack, and although he might have screamed like a little girl at the surprise, his other immediate reaction was to thrust his spear right at the coyotaroo's face.

The doglike creature sprang back with all the strength of its curved back legs. Sokka scrambled to his feet and attacked the creature with a proper thrust of his spear, but it hopped away again with a taunting bark. Sokka dashed after it, but every thrust of the spear just sent it dodging in circles around him. It was enough to make him growl in frustration.

The coyotaroo growled back, deeper.

Then a ball of light and heat flew between Sokka and his prey, exploding into fire. Sokka cried out and stumbled backwards, but the fire didn't go anywhere near him. It curved along the grass back towards the coyotaroo, circling it with perfect curves and trapping it in a ring of flame. The animal whined and hopped again, but the flames rose in time with it, blocking it from escaping.

Sokka stared in wonder until Azula's voice cut into his thoughts with, "Stab the stupid creature already! I don't know how high it will jump if it gets scared enough!" Sokka glanced over to see her in a fierce-looking stance with her arms held up and away from her body, her face intent on the fire. Then, remembering his spear, Sokka took it in both of his hands, targeted the coyotaroo's chest as it reared back from the flames in front of it, and gave it a running stab.

The hit was true, and the animal died as Azula extinguished the fire by lowering her hands. One tongue of flame that had settled on Sokka's spear went out as well.

It was just the two children on the game trail with their catch.

"Wow," Azula declared. "That was easier than I thought. Want to catch another one?"

Sokka blinked.

They brought back three of the coyotaroos back to the camp by the end of the day; the carcasses were tied to Sokka's spear, which both kids supported, one on each end. Despite the weight, Sokka grinned with pride at the stares of the other hunters, and he could only imagine that Azula was doing the same behind him. Let them all get a load of that! Water Tribe wasn't so bad after all, huh? Of course, the same could be said for the Fire Nation, considering Azula's help...

"Coyotaroos," he heard one man grunt. "Their legs are good eating. Those kids did pretty good."

Hun snorted. "The furs are singed. Could have set the whole forest on fire if the monkey girl lost control."

That hadn't even occurred to Sokka. Dropping his end of the spear, he turned to look at his partner. "Really? We could have set the forest on fire?"

Azula let go of her end of the spear as well, and put her hands on her hips. "Did you hear him? That's only if I lost control." She stepped forward so that her nose was just shy of touching Sokka's. "You will never see me lose control." Leaving their catches on the ground, she stalked back to their tent.

Sokka was so rattled that he barely heard the other hunter speaking to Hun again. "Those two are gonna get married, aren't they?"

"Nah, she's just being a little fire-monkey again."

Overall, Sokka and Azula returned to the village quite pleased from their hunting trip. They did so again from their second a little while later, and a third after that. It was only then that Dad finally came back. Sokka wasn't there for the landing, being in the house with Gran-Gran and Katara pretending not to be learning how to sew, and so the first he knew of it was when a nail was suddenly driven into the wood above the front door.

By the time they emerged from the house, Dad had finished nailing the first of three dented Fire Nation helmets above the door.

Despite the awkwardness of that, Dad had smiled when he saw his kids and wrapped them up in big hugs. He told Katara that he had brought her another Waterbending teacher who would be staying for a whole two weeks this time, and he gave Sokka a club that he claimed had felled a Fire Nation Captain.

That night, Miss Ursa showed up at their house, knocking daintily on their front door in the middle of a Family Storytime session about Dad's recent battle with a giant Spirit Owl. "Chief Hakoda," she said with a dazzling smile when he answered the door, "it's so good to finally meet you. I remain in awe at your accomplishments in establishing this village and keeping us all safe from the Fire Nation."

Katara stayed over by Gran-Gran, but Sokka crept up behind his father to better check out the situation. He hadn't seen much of Azula's mom yet, really, and he was curious.

Dad's head moved up and down as he took in the sight of the guest. "You must be the Princess."

"Yes. You have my undying gratitude for offering a haven to my children and I. But I was hoping to speak to you about a small issue. I apologize for disturbing you with it, but I wanted to be sure I'm respecting your proper authority."

"I'm listening." Dad crossed his arms over his chest and stayed right where he was, blocking the doorway.

"Thank you. As you might have heard, my daughter has been allowed to serve the village by learning to be a hunter as part of the regular trips, and this has been most agreeable to my family. However, it's come to my notice that the hunting party's regular leader, Hun, has been calling my daughter a... a 'fire monkey.'" Miss Ursa's face, which had been very friendly this whole time, shifted for a moment so quick that Sokka wasn't even sure of what he saw. "Would you care to speak to him about this matter?"

Dad leaned back a step. "I don't see the need."

Miss Ursa blinked. "Oh. Then it would be okay if I handled the matter?"

"If you feel the need. But you shouldn't be causing trouble."

Miss Ursa moved a little, leaning against the doorframe and looking up directly at Dad. "I don't wish to be any trouble, Chief Hakoda. I'm just looking out for my children, in a new home where I want them to become good members of the community. As a parent, I'm sure you-"

Dad moved so fast even Sokka was startled. In an instant, his hands shot out to clutch the doorway and Miss Ursa jumped back with wide eyes. "I'm the only parent my children have left," he said so softly that Sokka could barely hear it. "The Fire Nation is the cause of that, and from what I've been told, you were happy enough with the situation until it turned on you. I'll honor my offer of refuge to anyone who needs it, but there are a lot of bad feelings towards the Fire Nation here, and perhaps you should be more understanding of that."

Miss Ursa left without another word.

As they settled back down for storytime, Sokka kept his eyes on the floor. "Um, Dad, Azula's a good hunter, and maybe Hun shouldn't be mean to her. It's not a big deal, right?"

Dad lifted Sokka's head so that their eyes met, and Sokka was surprised to see his father smiling down on him. "You're a good kid, but our home here is more fragile than you'd think. You'll see, when you're old enough to come with me on my trips, how justice is truly served."

The next day, Hun had a black eye, and he never said anything about monkeys again.

It took six months for Sokka to work up the nerve to say anything about it to Azula. They had both volunteered to train as guards for the village in between hunts, and were whiling away the afternoon doing sit-ups. Sokka hated sit-ups, but at least he was fit enough that he wasn't out of breath like some kind of fat bandit king. "Hey, what do you think about the war?"

Azula wasn't even sweating. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, you used to live in the Fire Nation. And the Fire Nation started the war."

For a while, he didn't think Azula was going to answer. Finally, she said, "The Fire Nation teaches that reason for the war is to bring civilization and progress to the corrupt and backwards foreign lands."

Sokka had to halt his exercising mid-crunch when he heard that. He tried to speak, but the sustained pressure on his abdomen made that hard, so he flopped to the ground before trying again. "They- they make it sound like a good thing! That's so messed up!"

Azula stopped for a breather as well. "Of course. That's how leaders lead. I, of course, figured out the truth: the Fire Nation is strong, and the other lands are weak, so the strong take what they want from the weak. It's a simple fact of existence, played out on a global scale."

Sokka turned his head and looked at the girl lying on the grass beside him. "And you liked that better?"

Azula shifted and met his gaze with her strange gold eyes. "I did. Then I learned that my Dad and I were weak. Now, I- I think it's probably smart to avoid making assumptions about people. And nations." She started her sit-ups again, adding almost as an afterthought, "And someday I'll make the Fire Nation even weaker than me."

"Sounds good. I'm in." Sokka watched her exercise, and couldn't help but notice the hard, serious look on her face. Tired of all this angst, he reached over, poked a finger into her side, and wiggled it. "Tickle tickle tickle!"

Azula squealed and convulsed, grabbing at the spot and motioning with her hands, and Sokka didn't even realize what else had gone with that until a wave of cold ran down from his finger.

Then the pain hit. A squeal pushed out of his throat, and his finger glistened in the sunlight. "Ahhh! You- you bur- burned me!"

Azula's face swung right up against his, golden eyes wide, and her words tumbled out almost too fast to make out. "I'm sorry I order you to be okay!" She gasped for a breath. "Quick, cover it and don't let any air get at it. I'll get your sister."

"No!"

Azula blinked. "What?"

Sokka moved his arm around his body and stuck his finger into the armpit, then clamped the other arm down over it. That seemed to cut off a portion of the pain, as far as he could feel. "Don't get Katara. She'll tell and you'll get in trouble."

"But she can heal you with her Waterbending."

He shook his head. "She only learned fighty Waterbending." Slush, his finger really hurt. Maybe sticking it in the brook wouldn't be a bad idea. "Dad only brings those guy teachers for her."

Azula's face scrunched up at that. "Hmph. Hasn't anyone here heard of a combat medic?" She finally leaned away from him, her facing relaxing, and crouched on the grass. "Are you okay? It was an accident. I apologize for my... well, lack of control."

Sokka kept his finger right where it was, even if it did make it him look like a demented lemur. "And here you told me I'd never see it. Um, I think I'm going to take the afternoon off, filch a bandage or something. Tell them I pulled a muscle."

"Okay. Um, th- thanks for- um, thanks." Making a sign in the air, she added, "It shall be considered an honorable wound, forevermore."

"Great." He was much more impressed with the actual 'sorrys' and 'thanks' he got. For all her rough, sharp, jagged edges, Azula was a good partner. Sokka decided that he didn't mind covering for her.

Later that day, he asked Dad what a 'medic' was, and one conversation later about oopsies on the battlefield, his father decided to see if a Healer from the North couldn't be persuaded to visit for a little bit.

A year later, the wound was long restored to clean skin and completely forgotten. Sokka and Azula were once again in the grassy fields between the village and the forest, but today they were in the company of their siblings as well. Azula and Zuko were both sitting with crossed legs and closed eyes, while Katara worked a steam of water through the air in complicated patterns that Sokka found more funny shapes in than a field of clouds. He, in turn, was sharpening the edges of his Boomerang and watching the others.

"I'd like to be a wandering swordsman," Zuko said to the standing question.

Katara spared him a quick glance. "Wandering where?"

"You know, around. Just walking the earth. That's the point of wandering. Just going around and helping people who need it. Like Xiangyu." When no one reacted, he added, "You know, the guy from the adventure stories?"

Azula didn't even open her eyes. "Why swords when you're a Firebender?"

"Well, you know, not all people like Firebenders."

No one responded to that. Finally, Katara said, "I'm going to go up to the North Pole and teach all the women there to fight. Then we'll form our own army and invade the Fire Nation."

Azula's lip quirked. "I like that one. Better than being a simple assassin."

Sokka scraped his whetting stone slowly alone the sharp side of his Boomerang. "I think we should all stick together. We're already used to training together, and we all spar often enough to know each other's strengths and weaknesses. That's, like, half the work of forming a super-team already. We can free the water-women or whatever, then wander the Earth Kingdom for a bit and see the sites and blow them up, but we'd be most effective as a team, don't you think?"

Katara guided the stream of water into the flask at her side, then relaxed and looked at Sokka. "I don't think Dad's warriors would like us working with... well, Firebenders. No offense!" She smiled at the siblings from the Fire Nation. "You two are our friends, but we'll need their connections with the Whit- um, his connections- if we're going to win the war. We'll take you back home when the fighting's done, if you want."

Zuko's eyes snapped open, only to fall into a stream of blinking. "Your dad doesn't like us?"

Sokka put Boomerang down. "He doesn't say anything explicit, but the last time we saw him, he warned us about upsetting the rest of the village with 'unwise alliances.' Also, he seems to get real tense when Miss Ursa is around. I think they really don't like each other."

"Oh," Katara breathed. "Is that what that was? I thought that maybe they used to- um, you know."

Azula opened her eyes, and stood up in front of Katara. "Your father and my mother are not, nor have they ever been, romantically involved." Turning away, she added, "And I don't think my mother would be happy with us going off to war with you two, either. I think she worries that with no other marriage prospects around, Zuzu and I will marry you two in some foreign ceremony that won't really make us husband and wife. Our parents are ill at ease in each other's presence because they're on guard, like enemies awaiting an attack. Trust me, I've been trained to see such things. Sexual tension looks completely different."

Sokka's heart skipped a beat. "You can see sexual tension? How do you train for that?" Azula wasn't even a teenager yet! Of course, he wasn't quite either, but-

She just smirked at him.

Behind them, Zuko jumped to his own feet with a growl. "The next person who mentions sexual tension in the same thought as my mother is getting their head dunked in the brook."

Azula finally broke eye contact with Sokka. "Oh, grow up, Zuzu."

The years passed much like that. Sokka and Azula became both hunters and guardians, focused on their responsibilities to the village. Sokka had the distinct impression that their professional partnership was tolerated by the older generation only because of their effectiveness, but that was good enough, because together they could run rings around anyone or anything the village was willing to throw at them.

As grown-up-feeling and empowering as that was, the moments Sokka enjoyed most with Azula were the times they could just get away from it all, like the time he taught her how to fish. She learned from him with the same intensity with which she honed her Firebending, taking careful note of how he baited the hooks, put them in the water, and pulled the catches in.

When he asked why, she just said, "I can't know what skills I'll need until I need them."

"Need them for what?" Sokka almost asked, but then they put another line into the river, and Azula sat next to him on the bank, and it was just kind of nice. Sokka may have leaned a little against his friend, and she let him, but in the quiet of the forest, with no one around to witness them, could it be said to really happen?

Yes. In Sokka's considerable opinion, it very much could be.

So it was that years after a trio of scary foreign Royals arrived on a gray beach, an older, wiser, and much more confused Sokka found himself walking down to the same beach with his sister to see if the Firebending siblings were free.

"Oh wow," Katara said when they reached the sands, and Sokka had to agree. Azula and Zuko were sparring again. The sister was obviously winning, keeping control of the fight's pace even when she gave ground, but that wasn't what truly captivated him.

He just found himself awed by the way the twelve-year-old Azula moved.

It was music in motion, if he could be allowed to indulge in a completely nonsensical metaphor. Sokka didn't even really care about music, but he definitely enjoyed the sight of Azula here.

With a leaping butterfly kick, she flew sideways over Zuko's latest fireball. The centrifugal motion carried her feet so that she landed upright directly in front of her brother, and she finished the fight by popping a bloom of orange flames right in front of his face. Zuko cried out and stumbled backwards, tripping and landing full on his back in the sand. Azula planted one of her feet on Zuko's bare chest, and gave him a grin that looked decidedly superior. "You flinched, Zuzu."

Sokka couldn't help it. He began clapping. Beside him, Katara crossed her arms, snorted, and said, "Don't let your tongue hang out too much. You'll catch flies."

Sokka spared her a glare. Katara was completely misinterpreting his interest. Sure, Azula was pretty, and her legs had become especially interesting in the last few months, but Sokka just admired good warriors, was all. Katara had probably been rooting for Zuko and was ticked now. Resolving not to let his sister get him sidetracked, Sokka trotted over to the Firebenders. "Nice match," he said.

Azula snorted. "For half of us." She stepped off of Zuko and turned to face Sokka. "So, come to observe another of my flawless victories over my inferior brother?" She clasped her hands behind her back and stuck her chin out a little, smiling.

Sokka smiled back. "Heh. I- uh, I mean, you looked good- not that you ever look bad, because you know, you're very conscious of your appearance- in a good way- and I like that shoulderless tunic on you, plus you're a really good fighter... but that's not why I'm here." Sokka ignored the way his face was burning. "Your mom asked me to come get you two."

Zuko's eyebrows rose from his sprawl across the sand. "Our mother came to you about us?"

Katara ambled over. "Not quite. She was asking anyone in gray where you were, but then Sokka and I decided to cut to the chase and just pass on her message."

"Um, yeah." Sokka gave a slow nod. "I guess we're a rogue diplomatic envoy. Anyway, the important part is that this freedom fighter guy just walked in out of the woods- specifically looking for our village, he says, and you can imagine how thrilled Dad is about that- and the whole town is assembling to hear him out.

"He says his name is Jeong-Jeong."

Zuko didn't react, but Azula's face grew thoughtful.

The town assembled into its usual color formations: blue Water Tribe and green Earth Kingdom clustered together but with a little bit of mixing at the shared border, and the gray Fire Nation grouped within razor sharp lines. Sokka stood beside his Dad at the front of the Water Tribe assembly, with Katara and Gran-Gran somewhere in the center. It was lucky that Dad was around for this, as his trips had only lengthened as Sokka and Katara grew up.

Across the clearing, Sokka could see Ursa standing a step ahead of the other Grays in the middle of their front line, flanked by her children.

Jeong-Jeong himself stood in the center of the whole gathering, alone by distance but not by attention. He stood like a soldier, but his body seemed unusually tense to Sokka, and his eyes scanned over his audience with a probing intensity.

Then the newcomer began speaking. His voice had none of the soft strength of Dad's; it was all snapping and hard edges. "I have come to you to offer the Firebenders of this settlement a way to erase your burden." That got the crowd talking, but Jeong-Jeong ignored the commotion. "There is no use denying it. The world is out of balance, but the Fire Nation alone is not to blame. Fire itself is the enemy, and Fire lives within my nation's Benders. We cannot purge ourselves of it, and we cannot even control it. We are all tainted by it, dragged down to the level of animals by the urges it ignites within us. At best we can simply resist it, and direct its pain against those who would give in more readily."

Ursa's voice rang out from the crowd, just as sharp as Jeong-Jeong's: "Perhaps you should speak more plainly of your proposal." Affirmations came from other gray-clad Firebenders.

Jeong-Jeong nodded. "Some of you know me. Most don't. I used to be an Admiral for the Fire Nation. Now I am a Deserter. A traitor. I could go no further in the depravity demanded by the monster Azulon." In the distance behind the guy, Sokka caught Azula flinching at the name, but she didn't make a sound as Jeong-Jeong continued. "I intend to strike back at the Fire Nation, purge my past mistakes in the only worthwhile way possible. I will overthrow the Fire Lord within two years, and destroy the country's ability to wage war. Who will come with me?"

Dad stepped out form the crowd as Jeong-Jeong said, "two years." Sokka could see that the muscles in his father's neck were at their tightest, and that sent a jolt of worry rattling up his spine. What would throw Dad off like that?

But all his father said to Jeong-Jeong was, "You're referring to... you know about it?" It wasn't loud enough to carry very far, but Sokka heard it clearly.

The Deserter nodded. "We share some connections, it seems." Then, louder, "Any Firebenders who wish to come with me, I leave at dawn tomorrow. Don't worry about ever coming back to this... 'haven.' It will be victory or death."

Even before Jeong-Jeong pushed through the crowd and back out of the village, Sokka could feel the heat emanating across the clearing from the Fire Nation grouping. And he could see, even from this distance, that Azula was standing on the balls of her feet.

Ursa, however, just tossed her hair behind her shoulders and called out, "I'm going to remain here. Self-destructive crusades are for those who can't let go of the past. I was raised better than that." She stalked off through the crowd of Grays, and Dad glared at her the whole way.

Dang. If only those two could work together, the Fire Lord would be hiding from them.

"You don't really believe that junk about fire making you evil, do you?"

They were in the yard behind Sokka's house, and the only light was the glow of the moon above. Nevertheless, Azula's golden eyes were vivid when she turned to answer Sokka. "My, my, you’ve grown up, haven’t you? Well, to answer your question, not particularly. I'm more interested in it as a metaphor."

"A metaphor?"

"Yes. Jeong-Jeong is, essentially, offering me a chance to get revenge on Azulon for what he did to my family. To me."

Sokka couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So, what, you're going with him? I thought-" Well, no, they hadn't quite agreed to anything. She said she liked Katara's idea of invading the Fire Nation, but the conversation had kind of fallen on its face when they got to talking about Dad and Miss Ursa. "You're kind of young to run away and join a fanatic, don't you think?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't be stupid. You and I are smarter than anyone else in this village, and I'm every bit the Firebender my mother is already. I don't care at what age Water Tribe boys go ice-dodging; I can take care of myself, and anyone who gets in my way." When she spoke again, her voice was softer, slower. "Jeong-Jeong only asked for Firebenders, but you could come with me. I could make him accept you. He certainly hasn't bought into this joke of a community, and you're one of the few who ever cared about its supposed ideals. You're smarter than you realize, and I... think you could be a valuable partner."

She- she was asking him to run away with her? Sokka's heart hammered in his chest, and he had to sit down on the grass before he fell over. She wanted him to come with her... but he would have to leave everyone- Katara, Dad, Gran-Gran- and go with the crazy Deserter guy. The brain in his heart had a definite answer it wanted him to give, but his primary brain had a good, long list of reasons to say no.

Sighing, he grabbed Azula's hand and pulled her down to sit in front of him. "You're already valuable here. Please, stay. I want revenge on the Fire Nation, too, but we're both too smart to go for it this way."

Azula studied him for a long moment, her golden eyes pale like ice in the moonlight. She let out a breath and nodded. "Okay, I'll stay."

Then she leaned over and kissed him.

The next morning, Sokka woke up to the sound of a frantic knocking on the door. He wasn't anywhere near as fond of mornings as he had been when he was a kid, especially when he wasn't on a hunting trip. He tried swatting the noise away, before sleep fully left him and took that nice dream with it. He had been dreaming about Azula, how they were talking in the yard, and then they shared their first kiss (which was way nicer than he would have expected the act of pressing lips together to be), and then-

Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait.

That wasn't a dream!

Sokka opened his eyes and snapped upright with enough force to flip his futon underneath him. Gran-Gran was opening their house's door to reveal Miss Ursa standing there with wide, bloodshot eyes. "Is Azula here? Have your kids seen her? I can't find her anywhere!"

Oh slush.

By the time Sokka got out to the forest's edge, the only one there was Dad, staring through the trees. When he heard Sokka running up from behind him, he just shook his head. "Forget about them. We can't afford any distractions if your mother's spirit will ever rest easy."

END PART 1