Chapter Text
Sokka
Addressed To: Her Royal Highness, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation
The first I have ever been told of you were all in stories. Tales of the war, that did not even speak your name, but in every horrifying fact, laid the underlying thread that would always lead back to you. For you were inevitably part of it all, through the bloodlines that led the men into my village, it all leads back to your empire. Your father reigned with fire, and so do you, so did all your forefathers and all of your men that came to take the lives of my people.
Where children from better generations of the past grew up with mythical folktales, the stories I grew up with were made of true monsters. And from every surviving soul in our little village, a gathering of memories that would in turn shape the next generation’s fairy tales. Where the future generations will learn of the hateful past that you and your Nation had cursed us all. Hopefully there will be a next generation. With the rate at which my people are disappearing, I fear that hope is slowly diminishing. Especially since we have been informed of you.
From the instance I overheard the harsh whisper of your name from the returning warriors, I knew it was and always had been about you. The sound of your name was an alarming thrill down my spine, like a recognition of someone I have always known and yet to meet. As though, the mystery of fate decided to leave traces of you within me, hinting at the prospects that awaited us both.
You might wonder at the incredulity of me writing to you as it’s most probable that none of the actions you have bestowed upon our people are of great concern to you. However, I am very moved to write, for you have taken everything from me. My father was amongst the ones your ships had attacked in the last week. And he was not one of the returning men.
It really should have been me out there instead, and yet here I am, writing to you while my dad lay lost to the seas. I now can only wish that I had insisted on being with him, that at least, there would have been a chance I could have helped.
And even now, I’m sure Dad would have said I’m being too rash, too hasty, that I needed to stay back in the village. He said he needed me to remain, to protect the others. But I knew his words were all just a ruse, he didn’t want me risking myself out there. Keeping me trapped in the ice fortress was the best option to stay safe, and I couldn’t blame a father for wanting that for his children. It was all Dad wanted for us, to be safe, especially since we lost mom.
Yet, how could I stay?
With every venture out, we lose more warriors, and with less folks in the village, we lose more hope. Staying behind was just as likely to wait for our unavoidable end. I am not going to sit behind and wait around for my cowardly death. I refuse to resign myself to a war that never gave me a chance to fight.
And now armed with the knowledge of you. How was I supposed to ignore the insistent call from your name… for everything within me claws at you, like a heady punch in the gut that sickened me. Just the single murmur of your name, rose a raging turmoil that hungers for you. There’s an insatiable need to understand how a mere girl, not much younger than I, could leave a bloody entrail of victims in her name.
So I hope you’re ready… For I am coming for you, Azula.
From: Sokka, Son of the Chief, Southern Water Tribe.
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Azula
Addressed to: Sokka
How contrived it is that you concluded that fate has bound us together just because my name strikes fear in you. It is rather ridiculous for a water peasant like you to believe that you are a worthy subject for a Royal like me to be concerned with. But I guess, even the smallest of creatures can have ambitions beyond their means.
You speak of my name with such reverence that I almost find it rather flattering that my name would be part of your folklores. Let them all remember me in history as the great Princess of the Fire Nation. Funny how you would portray me as the villain here, but we know there are many sides to a story, and no matter what, at least I know my legacy will be spoken of in generations to come. Well, as for you, we can’t really promise that now can we?
Especially when your father was probably right, you are too brash and too bold for your own good. Rushing into a fight with me when you are nothing in combat against my fleet. Just because some forlorn vengeance drives you. Pathetic.
I have to say, this is definitely making you less remarkable and more likely that your name will be lost in the sea before your venture even makes it out that far. What a waste for any potential legacy on your part. It seems, your father can only hope to have another son, one worthier than you.
Oh yes, and by the way, your father still lives.
We fished him and a few other survivors out of the waters after the battle. He remains in custody with us.
If you are so determined, then by all means, come meet me on board my ship. Then maybe, just maybe, we might find some compromise, and you could have your father back.
The One & Only,
Her Royal Highness, Princess Azula