#and sokka is trying to follow in hakodas footsteps but he can’t because he’s never left home

[comradekatara]

i think about their relationship so often.

the chiastic parallels between kanna risking her life to travel to the other side of the world during a war, only for katara to make the same perilous yet inverse journey north two generations later. how the shot with kanna looking on with tears in her eyes as hama is taken by the fire nation, the ship's hull closing as she looks out at her decimated tribe, her best friend with tears in her eyes, is a beat for beat exact callback to katara looking on at aang, the only difference being that aang attempts to smile hopefully for katara before his face, too, ultimately clouds over with despair. the fact that kanna is constantly nagging katara to do her chores, to stop messing around, to follow the rules, to stay put, to listen to her brother. she knows katara, knows her intimately, because she once was her. that brave, daring, hopeful, adventurous girl who wanted nothing more than to escape the confines of her of her monotonous existence, who wanted to travel and find freedom and hope elsewhere.

but katara is now her responsibility, and she knows all too well that a girl like that can be trouble, can be a danger to herself and others. especially if she's a waterbender. kanna saw her people massacred, her best friend taken by the fire nation, her daughter killed sacrificing herself for katara, the girl who carries the hope of her entire people on her shoulders. and she loves katara, she loves her so much, sees so much of herself in her, but it is also her job to rein her in, to keep her indoors, doing domestic busywork like sewing and laundry so she doesn't try to run off, try to run all the way to the other side of the world, so her antics, through her bending mishaps or otherwise, don't cause her to accidentally alert the fire nation and have their entire fragile existence come crumbling down after she and sokka have done so much to maintain it, to protect katara, even when katara feels like she is being smothered and overdisciplined and robbed of a childhood.

katara wants the opportunity to train with a master. of course she does. she considers her waterbending the most important part of her identity, the part of her that brought hope to her tribe and killed her mother in equal measure. she's the only person left who holds the key to their cultural artform, this crucial piece of their heritage. and of course kanna would love it if katara could hone her craft, but her first priority is always keeping katara alive, and if that means she can't become a bending master, then so be it.

raising a teenager is hard, really hard. they don't like being told that ordering them around and telling them to stay in the borders you've drawn for them is "for their own good." the only reason kanna doesn't have the same problem with sokka is because he doesn't actually consider himself a teenager (although he very much is), and he not only follows her rules but enforces them. they are on the same page; safety is the priority, katara is the priority. but katara hates how restrictive their rules are, hates how sullen and strict and serious they are. how hopeless they are, how resigned they are to leading lives of misery in the fraught safety they've created for themselves. she wants to see the world, to have fun, to have friends, to help others instead of being the one constantly being protected and sheltered.

of course, kanna and sokka are not hopeless and depressed and numb by nature; they have been hollowed out into shells of themselves by the war, by the promises they've made to keep katara safe. sokka grows so much by traveling the world, absorbs so much new knowledge so quickly, makes new friends and lovers, gains new perspectives, reaches his full, incredible potential by being dragged out of the comfort zone he clings to in the pilot. and kanna has already undergone her bildungsroman, lifetimes ago. she knows what it is like, what it means to experience the adventure katara desires. but she never told her. she never once mentioned to katara that the south pole is not all she knows, that she too once longed to leave the place that was stifling her, suppressing her freedom. she is afraid to tempt katara, to be anything other than the strict authority from which she once left everything she ever knew behind to escape.

until the avatar returns. until the legend she used to tell katara before their world became too hopeless, of the old days when the avatar kept balance and the world was not at war, is made real again. when katara, who found aang, who believed in him from the beginning, brings the avatar back, through her desperation and her rage and her indomitable hope for a life that can be bigger and better than kanna and sokka's dour little pocket of resignation and grief.

kanna has always believed in katara, has always known that there would come a time when katara was to bring back hope to their tribe. so now, trusting sokka, katara's sworn protector, to stay by her side and do right by her, she ushers them on their journey. katara, her little waterbender, hero of the southern water tribe, and spitting image of kanna.

#this is probably the most important post ive ever made #like. my entire blog could just be summed up by this post #id in alt text #analysis #katara #kanna #sokka #kanna&katara #kanna&sokka #aang&katara #hama&kanna #there were more screenshots i wanted to include here but tumblr has a 30 img limit >:( #like the fact that kanna is the one who tells katara stories about the avatar (!!). etc. #hey girls. did you know. that uhm... the bond between a grandmother and her granddaughter is the most important thing in the world???? #this is also another point in favor of chief katara btw #bc hakoda was chief but he was overseas & traveling the world #whereas kanna was chief of the village. their home. #and sokka is trying to follow in hakodas footsteps but he can’t because he’s never left home #whereas katara WANTS to leave home (like kanna did) but kanna is forcing her to stay by her side #until she gives katara her blessing to grow into herself just like she did as a teenager #and kataras homecoming thus means following in kanna’s footsteps to lead their people #which isn’t to say that sokka doesn’t either #but that they do lead like kanna always wanted them to: together #combining the worldly & the traditional. the globe & their home. hakoda and kanna. kya and hama. #their destinies intertwined; their legacies fulfilled #and katara!!!! is kannas!!!! spitting image!!!!!!! #ok im done now. sry

[panda-noosh]

all my friends go to hell {Sokka x Reader}

Words: 8.8k

Summary: Sokka joins the army. He doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. 

Genre: angst 

Notes: ask me about commissions! - masterlist - yeehaw, have some unedited Sokka content because we die like men here at @panda-noosh

----

Sokka isn't meant to fight.

   You notice this from the moment you lay eyes on the boy, clambering onto that boat with his boomerang hanging from his shoulders, his body buzzing with excitement. That was the first red flag – how excited he was, how prepared he looked, how he grinned and bowed to every single person he passed, including you.

   It was sad, really, because you knew you were going to have to watch the realisation sink in eventually. At some point during his journey, it was going to become very clear to him that joining the ranks really wasn't all it’s made out to be. It's brutal work, torturous, tiring work, and anyone who thinks otherwise is going to get the shock of their life when the truth is revealed.

    Erin stands beside you, her buff arms folded over her chest. She narrows her dark eyes at Sokka as soon as he steps upon the boat, dressed in his oversized coat and a smile to go along with it. His blue eyes are alight with excitement as he hops up to the general and shakes his hand, bowing as he says, “It's an honour, sir, an honour. Do you remember my dad? He was part of the army too!”

   “Ah,” Erin mumbles. “So that's why he looks so excited.”

   You glance over. Erin, being six feet tall, is able to get a better view of the newcomer, but whether you can see him or not doesn't matter due to how loud his voice is, how well it carries across the deck.

  “We were all excited when we first joined,” you reply. “He's no different to the rest of us.”

   “But we all caught on pretty quick that this isn't the party we thought it was going to be.” She shrugs. “I just hate seeing the naivety, you know?”

   You purse your lips, because you do know. You know from experience, just as Erin does, just as every single person on the ship does.

  “Ah well,” you mumble, turning on your heel and heading back towards the workers deck. “He'll find out soon enough.”

  ----

  The wind is rowdy tonight.

  You hear it as you lay in bed, a dull whistle that mingles with the sound of footsteps thumping along the upper decks. It keeps you up sometimes, especially when it gets this bad, when the ship rocks back and forth and people are being told to stay in bed to keep themselves safe before the next stop. It makes this whole thing real. It makes you feel like a soldier, which is exactly what you are, but a fact you try and ignore as much as possible.

  You stare at the wooden ceiling, hands folded across your stomach. You try and focus on the days work you have ahead of you, how you're down in the weapons lounge for most of it, how you're going to have to polish and hold the weapons people will use to fight in due time. It's not exactly a pleasant thought, but it's a days work, and you long for the distraction.

  Eventually, however, these thoughts aren't enough to keep your hyperactive mind at peace. You stand up, knowing full well you're not supposed to leave your room after curfew, but you've been here for a while, so maybe the general will be a little easier on you.

  You head out onto the main deck, giving confused soldiers nods as you pass them. None of them stop to scold you, knowing full well there's no point in doing so – you don't listen. Not really. You take orders, and you do your job well, but you do what you want when it comes down to it. That's part of the reason you were sent off to join the army in the first place, but again, you don't think about that time.

  The wind really is bad tonight. Your hair blows in your face. Your face goes numb, fingers tingling from the wind burn. The deck is empty, though, as people fear the wind too much to step foot on it right now. You've seen it worse, though. Much, much worse.

  You head over to the handrails and look over. The water sways and bashes against the side of the boat. Fish leap from the water, making ripples in the waves. Up ahead, rocks protrude from the ocean. A little further ahead there are lights, civilisation, a life away from violence.

  Must be nice.

  You inhale the scent of salt water, heavy in the air as the wind lifts it to full attention. Nowadays it feels like the ocean is the only scent, the only sight, you've ever seen. You don't remember what else is out there, having been away from it for so long.

  A wooden board creaks behind you.

  You don't jump, merely glance over your shoulder with narrowed eyes, a silent warning for the culprit to just back away now; they aren't meant to be up here.

  “It's a bit chilly, don't you think?”

  You turn fully, hardly recognising the voice. Standing behind you is Sokka, dressed in a bath robe that you have no idea how he got his hands on. He's looking at you with a grimace, shoulders bunched up around his ears, teeth on the verge of chattering.

  “What are you doing up here?” you ask.

  “My room is boiling. I'm not used to the warmth.”

  “Enjoy it while you can. Once we dock, things like heat are gonna be few and far between.”

  Sokka shrugs, strolling to your side. His hands curl around the railing, making his knuckles pop. “I'm not too mad about that, to be honest; I'm from the Southern Water Tribe.”

  You know this.

  “Oh, really?” you reply.

  “Yep! Son of Chief Hakoda.” He leans in, lowering his voice to say, “You may have heard of him?”

  You stare blankly at the newcomers face. Of course you know Chief Hakoda, but you won't admit that.

  Sokka blushes at your look of confusion, quickly pulling away. “Oh. Well, he's my dad. He's my hero.”

  “He sounds like a . . . cool guy.”

  Sokka nods happily, staring out across the ocean. “I'm Sokka, by the way.”   “I know. I heard you tell the General.”

  “Really? I didn't see you there.”

  You shrug, not having the heart to tell him his voice carries. You could have been on land and still heard him. “Well, I was.”

   “Cool, cool.” Sokka nods again, tapping his fingers against the metal railing. You can't help but watch him; why is he still here? The conversation is dead, and you clearly have no interest in continuing it, so why is he still stood here?

   Finally, he turns to you and says, “Have you been here long?”

  Here. The army. Have you been a soldier long? Have you been witnessing death for a while now?

   You swallow the lump in your throat and say, “I was basically raised on this ship.”

   Sokka recoils like you've slapped him, though his face lights up with happiness. “Really?”

  “Yep.”

  “So you're like. . . well known?”

  “I guess so.”

  “I'm surprised I didn't recognise you. What's your name?”

  “Y/N.”

   Sokka hums like your name is some kind of riddle he has to figure out. You don't expect him to recognise you, of course, considering you spend most of your time trying desperately to remove your name from the topic of war and battle, even though it's been your whole life.

  “It's really windy out here, isn't it?”

  You look over and nod.

  Sokka shakes his head and mumbles, “We'll probably get in trouble if we're caught out here, won't we?”

  “You, maybe. I think I'll be fine.”

  “You didn't tell me off.”

  You shrug. “It's not my place. I'm nothing more than your common soldier.”

 “A common soldier who doesn't have to play by the same rules as everyone else.”

  You pout. Sokka chuckles, knowing full well he's hit the nail on the head.

  “It's cool,” he says. “But you should probably head back to your room, just so you don't get blown overboard.”

  He's right, of course. You glance back at the ocean you have grew up on and nod once. Sokka grins, following you to the stairs where the both of you will part and go your separate ways. You turn to him, wondering if he has anything left to say, wondering what he possibly could say, but he's standing there with his hands tucked into the pockets of his fluffy bath robe, and you're curious to hear what he's thinking.

  Finally, he says, “It was lovely meeting you, Y/N.”

  Your stomach flips as you nod back and mumble, “Nice meeting you, too, Sokka.”

  And with that awkward interaction finally pulled to a close, Sokka says goodnight, bows, and heads down the opposite staircase, leaving you to stare at his back as he leaves to get some rest for another hard days work.

  ----

  The next few days pass slowly, as they tend to do when you have little work to get done, and no land to explore. You sit on the deck of the ship, staring out at the ocean with an axe leaning against your leg, ready to grab if something happens.

  Nothing happens.

  Sokka talks to you in passing every now and then, giving you excited waves that you never know how to respond to; you're never exactly excited to see him, but you're curious. The son of a Head Chieftain should surely have a trick or two up his sleeve when it comes to weaponry, but so far, you haven't seen Sokka lift anything other than his boomerang. He's good with that, but how good can it be on a battle field?

  Besides that, Sokka is far too busy getting comfortable in his new ranks to stop and have long, valid conversations.

  Today, however, you are due back in the weaponry lounge. From the moment you woke up, you have been slaving away on the lowest level of the ship, sharpening swords and axes, listening to the Benders overhead practice their powers, as they always have permission to do.

  The door to the lounge opens shortly after midday. Sweat lashes from your skin, and you wipe it away with the back of your hand before turning to look at Sokka as he slowly closes the door and sneaks inside, looking around like he's going to get in trouble.

  “You can come in, you know,” you yell across to him, making his head snap up and his eyes widen in surprise. “You're not banned from the weaponry lounge or anything.”

  Sokka sighs, wiping a hand over his forehead. “It's so warm in here.”

  “Warm in here, cold out on deck. You're good at picking up on the climate.”

  Sokka scowls, strolling to your side. He looks down at the axe laid across the wooden desk, the one you have been busy sharpening to perfection for the past ten minutes. He pokes the point and flinches away.

  “That's sharp. Good job.”

  “Thanks.”

  He tucks his hands in his pockets and goes quiet; he actually looks awkward, or perhaps more secretive, like he has something to say but doesn't know quite how to word it.

  You glance at him, trailing the rock over the axe's edge. “You good, soldier?”

   He flicks his eyes up, offering you a forced, bright grin. “I'm fine. Why?”

  “You just look a little tense. That's not like you.”

  “What's that supposed to mean?”

  You shrug. “It's the truth. Things been getting difficult for you?”

    Sokka sighs, shifting from one foot to the other. “I just needed a break. It's exhausting out there sometimes.”

   “Yeah, you'll find that never changes. I'm tired, and I've been here for eighteen years.”

  “I just didn't expect it to be so. . .”

  “Challenging?” you suggest.

  Sokka nods. “Exactly.”

  You sigh, setting the rock down. You turn to him, wiping your hands on a towel you have clipped in the waistband of your trousers. “It gets easier, don't get me wrong. But you have to go through the transitional faze first.”

  Sokka raises a brow. “'Transitional faze?'”

  “You come in here thinking it's going to be the best time of your life, that you're gonna go to war and save lives and come home to a hero's welcome.” You shake your head. “It's not like that. It's far from that, actually. It sounds like you're in the stage of finding out it's not all sunshine and rainbows on this ship. It's actually pretty hell-ish.”

   Sokka flinches. “I wouldn't say hell-ish.”

  “I would.” You turn back to your work. “But that's just my opinion.”

  “Why do you hate it so much?”

  Your hand freezes.

  Sokka steps closer to you, so close you can feel his breath tickling the side of your neck, making goosebumps arise on your skin. It startles you to the point you stumble away, dragging the axe along with you. It scrapes against the wooden desk, echoes through the room.

  Sokka steps back, startled. “I see you on deck sometimes, just sitting there, staring at the water. You never look like you want to be here, even though you've never known anything different.”

  “Why would I want to be here?”

  “Why wouldn't you?”

  “Because I don't fancy running into battle, watching my friends die every other day. That's why!”

  You inhale shakily, trying desperately to calm yourself down before you say something you regret; you've dealt with newcomers before, people blinded by their desires and the lies they have heard about what the army is really like, but Sokka is just. . . different. He's different in the sense that you don't want him falling into the same trap as everyone else. You don't want him to be heartbroken over his expectations being shattered.

  He looks around like he's going to find the words floating above him. “That's not how I think of it.”

  You close your eyes, slumping against the table. “How do you think of it, Sokka?”

  “I'm doing my part.”

  “Your part?”

  “Without this – without you – my home would be destroyed right now. The Fire Nation would have taken us over years ago, and trust me, they've tried. I've seen it happen. I've – I've lost people to – to that kind of thing.” He hiccups, trying to regain his composure. You look at him, heart breaking at the genuine anguish now on his face, how he refuses to meet your eyes. It's so unlike him. “Nothing comes without consequences, but sometimes it's better to just think of the reward at the end of it all. That's how I get through the day.”

  You stare at him. He's your age, for crying out loud – so young, so innocent, so blind to the reality of it all. Yet the words he just spoke are so smart, so true, that you feel a little daft for not thinking like that sooner.

  “Okay.”

  Sokka's eyes snap up. “Okay?”

  “You make some good points,” you mumble. “For a member of the Water Tribe.”

   Sokka blinks before the grin breaks out across his face. He laughs, scratching the back of his neck as his cheeks heat up. “Oh. I get it. A bit of teasing. Well, jokes on you, coming from the – uh. . . Where are you from exactly?”

   You chuckle and nudge his shoulder, pushing him back towards the door. “Get out of here, Ol' Wise One. I have work to do, and I'm sure the General doesn't want you slacking, either.”

  “Oh, so you're gonna make me guess.” He grins cheekily, stumbling towards the door, pulling his jacket on over his work shirt. “That's cool. I can do that. Get back to me in an hour or two, and I'll tell you the exact location you're from without you even giving me a hint.”

   You roll your eyes, call over your shoulder, “Goodbye Sokka!”

  The sound of his laughter is cut off by the door slamming closed behind him.

  ----

  It's not like you've never been on land before.

  It's become a rule amongst the old time crew that the ships have to dock at least once a month, both to pick up refreshments and to stop the crew going insane throughout their travels. Once a month – sometimes a little less, if battle is busy – you are allowed to walk into shops and talk to others. You are allowed a tiny allowance of which you spend the majority of on sweets and other unhealthy goods that would never get past the front door of the ship. You are allowed to sit in the grass and stare up at the sky without it moving. You are able to smell barbecue cooking in someone's back yard, and it is always marvellous.

  Today is the mandatory docking day. The General isn't happy about it, saying you should probably keep sailing so you can get to the main destination a day earlier, take the Fire Nation by surprise, but nobody else agrees. After nearly an entirely month at sea, everyone is getting a little tired of it. The restless nights sat up listening to the wind, the sickening smell of the ocean, having to hold onto the railing every time you take a step lest you get blown overboard.

  This time, you dock in the Earth Kingdom, which certainly isn't your first choice of location, but you're too exhausted to argue. Your hands are charred from hours spent in the weaponry lounge, and your stomach is weak from malnutrition; a diet of fish and other sea food doesn't do a person any good. The first sweet shop you see will be entirely ransacked by you and whoever wishes to join you.

  The sun beams down upon the trees that litter the Earth Kingdom. In the distance, the turnip man is yelling out his offers, though he pauses and grins when he sees you walking towards him. You didn't even wait for anybody else to get off the ship; as soon as the ship was stationary, you were lowering the bridge and sprinting onto land.

  “Y/N!” the turnip man yells; nobody knows his real name. Growing up, he was always just the Turnip Man, and he's never disclosed anything else. “There you are! I was beginning to think your boat had gone under!”

   You give him a hug, unable to ignore his balding head and old eyes. It's a startling reminder of just how long you have been away, and you hate to think about how you must look.

  “How have you been?” he asks, pulling away. “Everyone's been asking about you.”

  Your cheeks heat up. “I've been fine. Busy, though.” You glance around. “The place is looking a little dead.”

  And you're telling the truth. The streets you once remembered as busy and cluttered are now barely inhabited, the odd pedestrian rushing past with their heads down, not even giving you or the other solders a glance.

  The Turnip Man frowns, giving a passing, startled woman a sad little smile; you know something is wrong when the Turnip Man makes eye contact and doesn't advertise his turnips.

  “Hey,” you mumble, leaning forward to catch his eyes. “What's going on?”

  “Don't you worry yourself about us,” he replies, nudging your shoulder. “It's been happening everywhere; I'm surprised you haven't seen it, what with all the travelling you do.”

  “We spend most of our time on the ocean. What are you talking about?”

  The Turnip Man sighs. “Everybody's just scared, little one. The Fire Nation are coming alive again-”

  “We're trying to stop them.”

  “And we all appreciate your efforts, but they're moving quicker than they did last time.”

  Last time.

  You remember the day so well. Sitting on the boat with your friends, receiving the news that the Fire Nation had gone underway with their worst massacre yet, taking out most of the Northern Water Tribe and a portion of the Southern Water Tribe. Your people had been too late. The job you were supposed to complete, your only purpose, had been shattered.

  You swallow the lump in your throat and say, “Have they been here?”

 “Not yet, but it's what we're all expecting. With Ozai ruling-”

 “He's no ruler.”

  “'Tis true, little one, but he's on the throne and he makes the orders. Everybody is just trying to stay safe.”

   “We'll keep you all safe.” You look into his eyes, suddenly more determined than you've been in months. “I promise you.”

  Turnip Man gives you a sad little smile, one that tells you he isn't entirely convinced, but he's not going to argue.

  Behind you, the dirt billows as someone runs to your side. Sokka doubles over, hands on his knees, panting for air. “Jeez, you move fast!”

  You pull him up straight by the collar of his work jacket. “Sir, this is Sokka. Sokka, this is-”

  “Call me Turnip Man. Everybody does.”

  Sokka blinks, and then breaks into the widest grin you've ever seen. He shakes Turnip Man's hand vigorously. “Sweet name, dude! I'm Sokka, as Y/N just mentioned. Soldier representing the Southern Water Tribe.”

   Turnip Man smiles. “Aah, a man who's proud of his home.”

  “Very proud, sir. Very proud indeed.”

   “I'm glad to hear it, boy.” Turnip Man releases Sokka's hand and turns back to you. “I'll let you two go now; I have turnips to sell, and I'm sure Y/N is buzzing to go and get some sweets whilst they have the chance.”

  You grin, giving Turnip Man one last hug; Sokka gives him a second hug, and before you can protest, he is walking beside you along the street of the Earth Kingdom, a skip in his step.

  “So, you're from the Earth Kingdom, huh?”

  You very nearly trip over thin air. “How the hell-”

  “You hugged Turnip Man like he was some kind of father figure,” Sokka says, grinning from ear to ear, not even looking at you. “That makes me believe that you've lived here before. Probably when you were younger. Probably when you were growing up.”

  You scowl, turning back to the path ahead. “Okay, Detective. Good job. You've got me all figured out.”

  “I don't even know why you wanted to keep it a secret so bad.”

  “Because it's none of your business where I'm from.”

   Sokka raises a brow, glancing at you. “Well, it's hardly encrypting information, is it? I don't see what the big deal is.”

  “I just prefer keeping my private life private, that's all.”

  “No wonder you have no friends.”

   He says this and then he laughs, so you know he is joking.

  But here's the thing – sometimes a laugh isn't enough to make the joke funny.

  A lump forms in your throat as you remember the faces of those you once called a friend; it's like you're a curse sometimes. That's truly what you think. You get close to people and then they go into battle and die, and you have to start all over again. A person can only go through that a certain number of times before they give up trying to make friends.

  And Sokka isn't stupid. He picks up on your silence and immediately his laughter dies away, followed by an awkward, “Oh god, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.”

  You rub the back of your neck and shrug. “It's okay. You're not exactly wrong.”

  “No, I am wrong. You do have friends.” He sounds desperate now, and that only makes it worse. “Everyone on that boat thinks of you as a friend. I'm your friend!”

  “We're not friends, Sokka.”

  You don't know why you said it. Maybe just to hurt him in the same way he's hurt you. Maybe because it's true. Maybe because, if you say he's not your friend, the universe will believe you and leave him alone.

  It's as if he physically deflates. His eyes dart over, just to make sure you're not telling some twisted joke, and when he sees your straight face, he looks away and mumbles, “Oh, right.”

  “I don't have friends.”

  “No, I get it. You're edgy. You're a lone wolf.”

  You raise a brow. “Are you mocking me?”

  He lifts his hands in fake surrender, angering you even more. “Hey, what other explanation could there be? I've been nothing but nice to you from the day we met!”

  “I never said you haven't been, but-”

  “But you're strong and independent and you don't believe in other people liking you, because you don't need anyon else. Is that it? Have I guessed right?”

  You freeze, curling your fingers into fists. “Shut up, Sokka. You don't even know what you're talking about! You've been part of the army for three weeks!”

  Sokka scoffs. “I'll leave the ranks before I let myself have the same lonely mindset as you.”

   You open your mouth to respond, but his words are poisonous and your throat closes over. You step back and shake your head, muttering, “Leave me alone,” and Sokka doesn't argue. He stares at you a moment longer before turning on his heel and heading back towards the docks. You hear him mumble a, “Hello, Turnip Man,”  before he disappears round the corner, leaving you stood there feeling heavier, and more guilty, than ever.

  ----

  Getting back on the ship is awkward.

  You never took Sokka for one to keep secrets, and it's obvious now that you were right in that assumption. As soon as you clamber back on deck, all heads turn to you, some looking angry, some just downright curious. It's no secret that Sokka has somehow managed to win the hearts of everyone on ship, but you never expected them to take his side over yours, not after so many years of watching you grow up.

  You walk past them all, as you usually do. You don't want to get into it with them, and you certainly don't want to explain yourself. What happened between you and Sokka shouldn't even be that big of a deal, considering Sokka has only been on board a small number of weeks. You barely know the guy. You have no warmth for him.

  You head to the canteen. It's pretty crowded in there, too, but by the looks of things, Sokka hasn't made an appearance yet; the people in here don't yet know about what happened.

  Besides Erin, of course.

  As soon as she sees you, she clambers from her seat and storms over. Being six feet tall, it's difficult for her not to turn a few heads. Her long blonde hair is in plaits today, swinging to and fro as she stampedes towards you.

  “There you are.”

  “You were looking for me?”

   She scowls, grabbing your arm and dragging you into the tiny nook on the other side of the canteen. “Don't play dumb. Sokka told me to check on you, but he wouldn't tell me why.”

  Your stomach drops, both with guilt and surprise. “He told you to check up on me?”

  “Yep. Wanna explain what happened between you two?”

  Your face heats up. You remember the argument, how petty it was, how stupid. You only said those things because you were afraid – are afraid – of getting close to people, and it was selfish of you to push him away like that.

  Erin bends down, fighting to meet your eyes. “Well? Did something happen?”

  “We just got into an argument,” you mumble. “It's not even that big of a deal.”

   Erin reels back, bushy eyebrows shooting up her forehead. “Since when did you get into arguments with people? That means you actually have to give a damn.”

  You shrug. You genuinely have no answer for that.

  Erin sighs. “Well, the poor guy seemed pretty upset. I've seen him walking around the ship every now and then, and he's always got a smile on his face. It must have been a bad argument if you managed to upset him so badly.”

  You close your eyes. “Don't say that.”

  “I'm just telling the truth,” she replies.

  “I already feel like a shitty person.”

  Erin pauses. “What actually happened?”

  And you don't want to go into detail, so you don't. You give her the basic run-down, things she already knows, feelings you have expressed to her on multiple occasions. She knows all about your problems with getting close to people, how all of your friends have been doomed to death as soon as they announce they feel something friendly towards you. She understands why you would push Sokka away in the way you did.

  “But you clearly like him.”

  You freeze, the words so confident when coming from her mouth. She says it like it's obvious, like every single person who's ever laid eyes on you and Sokka understand that you both enjoy each other's presence.

  “I think he's alright,” you mumble. “He's – like – a cool guy.”

  Erin scoffs. “Yeah. Real cool. I'm just saying, I've known you for a long time, and not once have I seen you feel guilty about doing what you think is right.”

  It's a fair statement, and you both know it. Why Sokka is any different is a complete mystery.

  “Maybe you two should talk,” Erin says. “He really did seem upset, Y/N. I wasn't just making that up.”

  You purse your lips. Just the idea of going up to Sokka right now to discuss everything that happened makes you feel ill, which is probably pretty childish; you were part of a problem, and you should face it head on, just like you do with everything else in life.

  You tell Erin you need to go, and you head back to your room, where you don't emerge for the rest of the day.

----

  You're docking far too soon.

  Only yesterday you docked at the Earth Kingdom. You still have another two weeks before you're due to arrive in the Fire Nation. Why is the bus stopping now?

  It judders, and that's what wakes you. You don't recall how long you've been asleep, but you're groggy when you finally hop out of bed and stumble over to your weaponry table. You grab your sword and march upstairs, trying desperately to clear your eyes of sleep and grime; if the General were to see you in such a state, he would be furious at you for slacking.

  You follow the sound of the screams up onto the main deck.

  There they are in their ranks, dressed in red, war paint streaking their faces. The sight is scary, all too familiar, giving you flashbacks to a time you thought you would never have to return to. People are screaming and running for cover. Swords are clashing against swords. Suddenly, everything you've been training for is being pushed to the forefront.

  Someone knocks into you. You stumble, just barely managing to catch yourself. You swing around, ready to stab, but you stop immediately when you see Erin staring at you, wide eyed and frenzied. “They moved quicker than we thought.”

  “What do we do?” you demand.

  “We've gotta get everyone off the boat, Y/N. All the kids and the staff; we need to get them to safety.” She tries tugging on your arm, ready to sprint towards the canteen where no doubt everyone without a weapon is hiding. However, you pull out of her grip, snapping your head round to the deck; people are fighting. Fire is being thrown left, right and centre. Swords clash against swords. Injured people litter the deck, and you can only pray that none of them are dead.

  “Y/N,” Erin hisses. “We have to let the older ones handle this. There's a time and a-”

  Sokka jumps out from behind a barrel and starts yelling.

  Erin's head snaps around, her jaw dropping in horror. “No.”

  You don't even think. You can't. Your brain is no longer working to it's full capacity, and so you tug out of Erin's grip and dive head first into the battle. Behind you, Erin screams your name, calls you an idiot, and you cannot listen, because Sokka is sword fighting even though he doesn't know how to properly use a sword.

  The Fire Nation soldier whirls around when he hears your war cry. His sword clashes against your own, sending sparks in the air that mingle with the flames already taking over the deck. Behind you, something explodes, and people scream, and the boat lurches to the side. Sokka stumbles, catching himself on the hand rail, but you can't lose focus. You keep eye contact with the soldier in red and sneer as best you can.

  “Well this was a bit of an unexpected visit, wasn't it?”

  The soldier laughs. Laughs, and that's what really drives you over the edge. In that smile, you can see the faces of the people he has slaughtered, the families he has left distraught and helpless just because he can. They are the reason you flick your sword blade up and whirl, catching his knee just right. He cries out, buckling as blood gushes from the wound now embedded in his thigh. You take the chance to slam the hilt of your sword into his head. His eyes flutter closed and he crumbles to the floor, moving no more.

  You look up at Sokka frantically. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “That was so cool!” Sokka exclaims, rushing towards you. “The way you blocked his first hit? Incredible. You have to teach me how to-”

   You shove him out the way just as a blast of fire threatens to take his head off. Sokka cries out, but you're cry is even louder as the flames graze your upper arm, singing the material of your uniform, just catching the skin beneath. Your legs threaten to give out as your skin smoulders, but you keep yourself upright and slash your sword, catching the oncoming soldier in the side, knocking him over the railing – it certainly isn't your best move, but it's the best you can do whilst also desperately trying to focus on the pain embedded in your arm.

  “Y/N? Y/N, oh god, are you okay?”

  You don't have time to turn and tell Sokka to shut the hell up. Another enemy soldier is already barrelling towards you, his hands outstretched – a Fire Bender, a fact which is confirmed when he blasts fire in your direction. You twist out the way, letting the flames slam into another barrel of gunpowder behind you; it explodes, taking yet another chunk out the side of the boat.

  The Water Benders are keeping the boat afloat by now, but it won't last long and you know that; you've seen their powers deplete quite quickly when they're stressed. You only have a handful of minutes left until the entire ship goes down in either flames or waves.

  Either are deadly.

  “Sokka,” you pant, scrambling to your knees. You don't even look to see if he's listening, your eyes trained on the battle taking place in front of you. “Sokka, get out of here. Go down to the canteen and follow every order Erin gives.”

   “No. No, I can't just leave. You're injured!”

  He scrambles to your side, but never gets the chance to touch you before you're forced to your feet by yet another brutal explosion. This time, the entire left side of the boat crumbles, allowing waves to flood the deck. The Water Benders lift them as best they can, throwing them back, but the water keeps coming; a few people with water powers are no match for the entire ocean.

  “Fuck,” you hiss, stumbling to your feet. Sokka helps you, gripping your elbow but you shove him away and hiss, “Get down to the canteen!”

  You don't know if he listens. You can't keep still for that long. You delve back into the battle, helping your fellow soldiers in the way you have been trained to do, taking lives and trying to ignore the pain and shame that comes with it. You watch people die, because that's what you're here to do. You are on this boat, knowing full well that people will not make it out alive. You could be one of the dead ones at the end of this.

  And that's what it feels like when the flames catch your legs.

  You feel nothing at first – nothing major. Just a little tingle at your ankles that slowly makes its way up your leg, until eventually you're forced to look away from the battle and inspect the damage. Your heart lurches into your throat when you see your trouser leg on fire, taking the skin beneath with it. Once you've seen it, the pain becomes unbearable, because you know it's there. You can see the damage, the skin slowly peeling away before your very eyes.

  You scream, which is something you never do in battle. Your leg buckles and you fall to the floor, knees splashing in the water that has now engulfed the deck. Around you, people call your name – friends, people you tried pushing away because you were too scared to let them anywhere near you. Right now, with the pain flooding your system, you want to apologise to each and every one of them. You want to tell them how much you love them, how much you appreciate them, how much you-

  You are scooped from the floor.

  You cry out, startled, but your voice leaves you when you look up to see Sokka pressing you against his chest, ducking fireballs left, right and centre. His eyes never meet your own as he runs, ignoring the flames and the people screaming. He jumps over dead bodies and pants in your face, but you're too dazed to look away.

  His face is really pretty. You should probably tell him that before you die.

  “Your face is really pretty.”

  The last thing you see before the darkness takes over is Sokka looking at you inquiringly, a perfect eyebrow arched.

  ----

  You always hate waking up after a battle.

  You hate it even more when the first thing you see is the General glaring down at you.

  His face is just scary in general; gnarled, like it's been knotted. His lower lip has been bitten to pieces, and he has scars that go past the point of mysterious and head straight into downright brutal. He's sitting in a chair now, one leg folded over the other, staring at you intently.

  When you meet his eyes, he says, “You're awake.”

  It's instinct to want to scramble upright and give him a salute, or a nod, or a god damn bow, but you're frozen. You don't even respond.

  He sighs and leans forward, hands folded. “Why weren't you awake when the Fire Nation made their merry way onto our boat?”

  Your stomach dips. “The boat. Oh god, the boat.”

  “The boat,” the General parrots. “Long gone now, I'm afraid; our Water Benders could only hold up for so long. It went down, taking multiple of our people with it.”

   Your eyes well up. You shove the tears away, scared of making this moment any worse with your emotions.

  “It was near enough a massacre,” the General continues. “Erin is dead. So are a few junior soldiers.”

  The first tear slips. Erin.

  “You should have been there for them, soldier. You should have been keeping watch on that deck.”

  You close your eyes, a lump forming in your throat that is impossible to work past. You felt pain on the deck earlier on, but this pain is indescribable. It's unbearable, the worst thing you have ever felt. You remember Erin's smile, and the way she clapped her hands when she laughed. She laughed a lot, this loud and intimidating bark of enjoyment that made newcomers flinch, but made you laugh along with her. She was your friend.

  What a cursed word that is becoming.

  Slowly, the General stands up from his chair. It's like he knows the conversation is over, that his words have paralysed you to the point of no return. You have nothing to say to that, nothing to defend yourself with, and it hurts even worse that he knows that is the case.

  “I hope you make a full recovery, soldier, and soon,” he says. “Not all of us were so lucky. Even the ones who know how to do their job.”

   He leaves after that. The room is a little dimmer, your body a little more numb. You roll onto your side, ignoring the sharp pain that spirals up your leg. You curl up, hugging your knees to your chest, and you cry. You cry for Erin, and for the people who lost their lives, people you couldn't save.

  You want to fall asleep, but it doesn't happen. Night turns into day turns into night again before you're finally released from the infirmary. You make your way to the only home you've ever known – wherever the army is. Today, they have decided to take refuge in an old village in the south of the Earth Kingdom. You walk through the door of the tiny inn they have chosen, and immediately you see Sokka.

  He makes eye contact with you, but does not move from his seat. In front of him, he has a mug of something warm, and he's wearing a knitted jumper with a pair of trousers. There's a cut just beneath his left eye that has been knitted together by stitches that have not yet dissolved. He looks fierce. It's weird on him.

  You don't approach him. You just let him stare before his eyes become too much and you duck your head down, heading for the stairs without even asking what room you've been assigned. However, you don't make it that far before Sokka is grabbing your warm, whirling you around and cupping your face. You flinch when his delicate fingers make contact with your skin, but you don't pull away because you haven't felt a warmth like this in days.

  His blue eyes trail along your face, inspecting every inch. He purses his lips and asks, “Does it still hurt?”

  “No,” you croak. “I'm fine.”

  He drops his hands and steps away, giving you more space than you want. “Do you remember what happened?”

  “The General told me.”

  “Y/N...” He bites his lip, as if unsure of how to word what he wants to say. “I'm so sorry about Erin. I know you two were friends.”

  You shrug. “It happens. This is what life is like.”

  You turn before he can see the tears, but he grabs your arm. “Don't do that.”

  “Don't do what, Sokka?”

  “This. Pretending everything is okay.”

  “Nothing is okay right now.”

  “Exactly, so you don't have to act like none of it is effecting you.”

  You turn, glaring at him the best you can with your swollen eye and split lip. “Are you really doing this again?”

  He furrows his brows. “Doing what?”

  “Pretending you know everything about me.” You pull your arm from his grip. “Stop acting like I'm not scum.”

  Sokka reels back at that, blue eyes widening. “What?”

  “The General told me what happened,” you bark. “And he let me know that none of it would have gone down if I'd have just done my fucking job right! I was meant to be on watch that night, and I went to bed instead. I went to bed.”

  Something crumbles. You haven't cried for the past four days, sitting alone in that infirmary, knowing everyone you've ever known hates you for being so careless. You thought just because you've been here the longest means you can get away with anything, but it all comes with consequences. How you could be so selfish-

  “Y/N, you alone wouldn't have been able to fight the Fire Nation off whether you were sat on deck or not.” Sokka cups your face again, forcing you to look into his eyes. “The General told you it was your fault?”

  “He was telling the truth.”

  “Bullcrap.”

  It's the closest Sokka has gotten to swearing, so it takes you by surprise.

  “He's – He's – How could he just say that? You wanna know where that rat bag was when it was all happening? In his office, making phone calls. Whilst everyone else was out there risking their god damn lives, he was phoning people.”

  You blink. Sokka's cheeks are red now, and he's gritting his teeth. His fingers are warm around your cheeks, but he isn't letting go and you're not pulling away.

  “I just can't believe the nerve of him.” He shakes his head. “My dad would never put up with this. He treated all his soldiers with respect-”

  “Sokka-”

  “I'm gonna go and talk to him.”

  Your eyes widen, but Sokka's already storming towards the exit by the time you properly process what he's just said. You spin on your heel and scramble after him, calling his name desperately.

  “Stop, don't be an idiot,” you hiss, grabbing for his arm. He walks a bit faster, dragging you along. “Sokka, I'm serious. It's not worth it.”

   “I know what room he's claimed as his office,” Sokka mumbles. “I won't even knock, that's how angry I am...”

  You groan, but none of your protestations get through to him before he's turning the corner and slamming his fist against an oak wood door painted bright red. On the door handle is a sign that reads DO NOT DISTURB, which just makes the entire situation ten times worse.

  “Sokka, please-”

  The door bursts open. Standing there is the General, knotted face looking even more furious than usual. You cower behind Sokka, still gripping his arm tightly.

  Sokka straightens up; he's awfully tall for an eighteen year old, very nearly eye-to-eye with the General.

  “What the hell do you want, boy?” the General demands.

  You expect Sokka to back down once he's heard the General's anger, but he doesn't. He steps forward and says, “You got a minute, big guy?”

  “Oh, god...”

  The General raises a scarred brow and says, “What is this about? I have death letters to send out.”

  Your grip tightens on Sokka's arm. He glances down at you, mumbles something you don't pick up on, before turning back to the General.

  “What you said to Y/N was really uncool.”

   His voice doesn't even waver.

  The General pauses. “What?”

  “It was uncool, and untrue, too. Y/N was out there fighting for me. They were protecting me, because I was stupid enough to think I had enough experience to throw myself into battle. Without them, I would probably be dead right now.”

  You glance up; Sokka's jaw is clenched, his hands curled. His eyes are darker than you've ever seen them; the look is almost terrifying.

  The General shifts his weight. “You're one tough son of a bitch coming up to me to tell me this.”

  Sokka shrugs. “You were bullying my friend. Y/N lost people too. The last thing they need is to think they were the one that caused it.”

  The General scowls, but you're surprised at the fact he says nothing in return. He stares at Sokka, and then he looks at you, and then he slams the door closed.

  Sokka stumbles back. “Hey! What is he-” He goes to slam his fist into the door, but you drag him back before he can. Your heart is thumping with something you can't quite place, a completely new feeling that is making you dizzy. You want to cry and laugh and smile all at the same time, and it's all very confusing.

  “He's a coward,” Sokka says, before throwing his head back and yelling, “COWARD!”

  “Shut up.” You try and sound angry, but the words are intertwined with a laugh. Sokka looks at you, startled by the noise, but his face breaks into a grin when he sees you smiling, dragging him down the halls.

  “Are you laughing?”

  “That was the dumbest thing you could have ever done.”

  “Hey! I did it for you.”

  You look over. “Nobody's ever done anything like that for me before.”

  Sokka's smile falls into a frown, eyebrows furrowing. “Wait, seriously?”

  You shrug. “People aren't really that nice to one another in this line of work.”

   “But. . . But you saved my life.”

  Sokka pauses then, digging his heels into the carpet to stop you from dragging him along any further. You stumble back, and he catches you just moments before you crash into his chest. You turn and look at him, raising a brow.

  “I did my job,” you correct. “It's what I've been trained to do.”

  “Yeah, but I still appreciate it.” He awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. “To be honest, I thought you hated me after our little argument on docking day. I thought I really messed up.”

   You blink; after waking up to the news of Erin being dead, and seeing Sokka stand up to the General for you, you had completely forgotten about the argument. It seems like such a small thing after everything else that has happened.

  “Sokka,” you say. “I don't hate you. I've never hated you.”

  He lifts his eyes, a hopeful glint glittering within them. “Really? But you said-”

  “I know what I said,” you grumble. “I didn't mean it. I just. . . It's a fear of mine, you see. I feel like I kind of curse people when I claim they're my friend.”

  Sokka blinks. “That's so dumb.”

  “Excuse me?”

  He laughs, genuinely amused. You don't know whether to laugh along or get really angry. “Y/N, that's so dumb. You're literally in the army – people are dying because this is the job they have, not because you've called them your friend.”

  “But-”

  He cups your face, tilting your head to and fro as if trying to wake you up from a deep sleep. “I'm serious. You're smart enough to realise that, surely.”

  “People are just safer when they're not associated with me.”

  Sokka rolls his eyes. “Bullcrap. You saved my life earlier – that's the complete opposite of you putting me in danger.”

  You stare at him. He stares right back, a cheeky grin forming on his face. Your voice is quiet when you say, “Why does someone like you even want to be friends with me?”

  His smile tilts, becomes a little softer. He stops shaking your head and instead gently trails his thumbs beneath your eye. “Because someone like me needs someone like you sometimes.” He leans forward. Your heart thumps in your chest, panic seizing you, but you don't pull away. “And sometimes, someone like you needs someone like me. Don't you agree?”

  You flick your eyes to his lips, and apparently that is answer enough. He laughs lazily and leans in, kissing you. Your brain short circuits, part of you so confused that you very nearly pull away, but then you remember this is Sokka and he's that guy you literally dove into battle for, and you like him, you really, really like him. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him closer, standing on tip toe to chase his lips before he can pull away to check that you're okay with him doing this.

  He mumbles something against your mouth, but the blood is rushing through your ears so you don't even hear him. You just nod, humming an affirmative as you kiss him back. Sokka laughs, placing his hands on his hips before he finally pulls away, panting for breath.

  “Sorry,” you say quickly. “I got carried away, and-”

  “Don't – you – dare – apologise.” He speaks each word through a breath, his smile growing with each one. “I genuinely thought you hated me earlier.”

  “No. No, I don't hate you.”

  “Well, clearly.”

   Your face heats up. You swat his shoulder, grumbling curse words beneath your breath. Sokka laughs and wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his side.

  “You might die now, you know,” you say as Sokka walks you back to the lobby.

  Sokka sighs, his breath fanning your neck. “I doubt I will, but if I do, that kiss was the best goodbye present you could have given me.”

#atla #atla fanfic #atla fanfiction #atla fic #avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender fanfic #avater the last airbender fanfiction #avatar the last airbender fic #sokka fic #sokka #sokka fanfic #sokka fanfiction #sokka atla #sokka atla fic #sokka atla fanfic #sokka atla fanfiction

[bellatrixobsessed1]

The Art Of Remembrance (Part 2)

The sickly feeling is growing in the pit of his stomach. Having fully slumped onto him he can hear and feel that her breathing has grown shallow again, irregular. The rise and fall of her chest is becoming increasingly inconsistent. Some dark part of him wonders if he should care. He tells himself that it might not be her at all, that it wouldn’t make sense for Azula to be anywhere near the tribes. In that vein he couldn’t chance letting someone innocent die. 

Who is he trying to fool, even if it is Azula, he doesn’t feel right letting her die either. 

Katara comes back with a bundle of clothes. “Katara, watch her for a minute, I’m going to find dad.” 

Katara’s brows furrow. “You’re what?! Look at it out there!” She gestures to the window. “You’re the one who told me to stay inside.”

“She’s not going to make it without dad, I don’t know how to take care of her.” He lifts her bundled form onto the sofa and lays her down. “I don’t think that waterbending can fix this.” 

Katara kneels down and inspects the firebender. “Sokka, I can’t lose you. Dad can’t lose you.” She watches him disappear into the other room. 

“You’re the one who always wanted to stop and help people out. Even if it could have gone terrible for us.” He calls.

Katara sighs. “How are you going to find your way home? I can barely see the tree a few feet away from the house.”  

“With this.” He reemerges with an armful of rope, netting, and cloth. “Dad and I keep them for fishing and hunting. I’ll only go as far as all of this can get me.” 

She bites her lip. “Be careful, Sokka. I’ll see what I can do for her.”

Sokka nods as he tugs his parka on and then his gloves, and another set of gloves, and--this time--a pair of snowshoes. 

“If you get too cold, please just go to the nearest house and stay there. Losing two people is worse than losing one.” 

And two alive is ideal, he thinks. He draws his hood over his head and casts a final look at who he assumes is Azula. He hopes that he has bundled her up tightly enough to keep her alive a little longer. 

He takes his first step into the snow storm. With a piercing slap, it shows him exactly what his task is going to be like. The cold is already intolerably biting. The wind screams at him, a shrill banshee wail with a frosty breath. He refuses to look back at the house. The warm house with the blazing fire...he shakes his head and takes another step. He’d last seen Hakoda at the center of town, which isn’t all too far from their own home. By the time he makes it to the first house, his teeth are chattering considerably and his fingers are pulsing. “Gran Gran?” 

“Sokka, what are you doing here?” 

He almost asks her the same before he remembers that she had volunteered to watch their neighbor’s children while they vacationed in the Fire Nation. They certainly chose the right time. “I’m trying to find dad, I need his help.” 

“Sokka…”

“It can’t wait, someone is going to die.” 

Kanna shushes him. “Not in front of the kids. What’s going on Sokka?” She whispers.

Quieter he replies, “I found someone in the snow and now I need to find dad. I’m going to stop in each house to warm up until I find dad. When I find him we’ll go as far as we can and if we start to get cold, we’ll take a break in the nearest house that will let us in.”  He hopes to take as few of those as possible. “Do you know where dad is?”

Kanna nods, “Four houses over with Bato.” 

.oOo.

“...Gonna be fine.” The voice is distorted. 

“...warm....” Under the distortion she can’t tell if the voice is male or female. 

“...back soon...and…” Nor if there are one or many people speaking. 

She fades in and out but she can’t seem to ever wake herself in full. Even if she could she knows that she is too weak to do anything. Her body feels numb. Or maybe she doesn’t have one at all. Maybe she is already in some sort of between state, well on her way to the Spirit World.

She tries to open her eyes again but they are so heavy. 

She can’t feel…

She wants to feel…

“Careful!” It is a different voice. “Be very gentle.” 

There is only blackness but she finally does feel something. That something is warm and it is on her forehead. She is starting to feel more things; a tingling in her right hand, a pressure on her left, a sense that something is horribly amiss. 

“Not yet! Don’t let her wake up yet.” 

Like that she slips away again. 

She tries to fight it but there is no fight left in her. 

She is warm, very warm. Warmer than she has been in ages. She savors it with everything she has. Out in that tundra she had feared that the cold would never leave her, would wrap its icy fingers around her bones perpetually. Her cheek rubs against something fuzzy...or furry? It doesn’t matter, they are nearly the same in sensation. 

She doesn’t yet open her eyes because her head still spins. She rubs her fingers over the fuzz...the fur? 

She inhales and opens her eyes. The light is glaring. She tries to sit up but her head is still dazed. The dizziness within it sends her head back down. She fights to stay awake but her fight brings no fruition. 

“She’s really hot.” Says a voice. She feels a hand on her head. “We should give her some water.” The voice is female. 

Azula forces her eyes open, she squints against the light but only for a moment before the woman eclipses it. She utters a question but her moving lips make no sound. The once soothing warmth is now uncomfortable. She tries to sit up again but she is tangled in blankets. 

She doesn’t remember how she has gotten here. 

She doesn’t remember a lot of things. 

She needs to remember.

She needs to…

“You’re awake.” The woman notes. “Sokka was really worried, we weren’t sure if you would.” 

She stares at the woman.

“Here, have some water.” She holds out a waterskin and helps to unravel the blankets. “Gran Gran has some seaweed stew cooking, I promise that she’s a much better cook than Sokka.” 

“Sokka?” Azula murmurs. 

“He found you in the tundra.” 

Azula’s brows knit as she puts the pieces together. Some of them anyhow. “How bad was it?”

Katara winces and exchanges a look with someone behind her. Azula steals a look at this person and decides that he must be Sokka. 

“It’s...not good.” The man replies.

“Why?” She finds that she doesn’t have the patience for guessing games. “Just tell me how bad it is.” Perhaps she shouldn’t be so cross with the people who have saved her. She lays back down again, rolls onto her side, and presses her cheek into the cushion. 

“You got frostbite and hypothermia. And now you have a fever.” Says a third person. An older man. 

“Look at your hand.” The younger man adds. She isn’t sure if he is Sokka or if it is the older man. 

Instead of asking, Azula holds her hand out in front of her and flexes her fingers. 

“The other one.” Says the younger man. Azula holds up her left hand and flexes her fingers. Her four fingers. She swallows hard, feeling queasy. 

“We had to amputate it, it was already dead.” Noted the older man. 

All she can muster is a soft and hazy, “But I needed that.” 

“You’ll still be able to firebend and whatnot.” Says the older man. “I’ve seen men and women with greater injuries…” 

She isn’t quiet listening anymore. She wonders just how much more she will lose. Her eyes linger on her left hand. She thinks that maybe she should shed some tears, but some how she can’t manage. Instead she runs her undamaged fingers over the bandage until the woman says, “don’t do that you’re going to hurt yourself.”  

Azula withdraws her touch. “Am I missing anything else?”

“We were concerned about your toe.” Answered the younger man. “We decided to let you keep it though.” He laughs. She doesn’t share his sense of humor. 

“I’m going to see if Gran Gran has you stew ready.” The woman gets up. The older man follows her. 

“What were you doing out there?” The remaining man asks. 

“I was getting away from them.” 

“Them?” The man questions. “Who are they.”

She shrugs, “I don’t know. They’re them.” 

His eyes seem to light up with realization. “You need to go back there, it’s for your safety and everyone else’s, as soon as...”

She throws herself off of the couch and sends the both of them to the floor. She holds a small flame to his throat. It flickers orange as it licks dangerously close to his flesh. She hears footsteps and knows that she hasn’t got a chance. She is already feeling faint. She crumples to the ground again. 

“What’s going on?” It is the woman. 

“She tried to get up and she fell…”

She has to give him props for covering for her. 

She wakes up on the sofa once more. Her entire body screams and scolds her for dealing it more abuse. While her body shouts, the man is quiet. She doesn’t think that he realizes that she has come to. She gives a soft cough and he turns around. 

“Sorry, I thought that you were someone else.”

“Who did you think I am?” 

“My friend’s crazy sister.” He shrugs. “She’s dangerous...and completely nuts.” 

Azula eyes him blankly. “Oh.” 

“I’m Sokka, who are you?” 

“That’s a good question, I’ll let you know when I figure that out.” 

Sokka laughs, “you can just say that you don’t want to tell me.”

Azula massages her temples. Her head was already pounding a good one and this man is somehow managing to hike it up a notch. “They did something to me...that’s why I had to leave. I think that they did a lot of things to me…”

His smile fades, “you were serious? You really don’t know your name?”

“I know my name and that I escaped from an institution.” She replies. “But I don’t know the person behind that name. I don’t remember that person.” Azula watches his expression screw into the image of concern. 

“Your stew is getting cold.”

“I just told you that I don’t remember anything and that I escaped from an institution and you want to talk about rank-smelling stew!?”

Sokka flinches. “Look, eating makes me feel better when I’m all bandaged up. I’m just trying to help.” 

Azula exhales and her face softens. She holds her hands out. Sokka gives a half smile and sets the bowl in her hand. Truly the smell is unbearable, like fish and stale ocean water. But her stomach is empty and she can’t particularly afford to be choosy. She reluctantly has a spoonful. The texture is slimy and gushy against her tongue. She forces it down and bunches her face in disgust. After the third spoonful Sokka snickers, “if you hate it that much you can just ask for something else. We can fry up some fish.”

She puts the bowl aside. “How long were you going to make me suffer?” 

“Three more spoonfuls but then you did that thing with your face and I decided to show mercy.” 

“I’ll remember this, Sokka.” She vows. “And I don’t have a lot of memories, so it won’t be hard.” 

He bursts out laughing again. “Just make sure you store that memory next to the one of me dragging you out of the tundra.”

“Yeah, that one is a blur.” 

He leaves the room and in his absence she takes in her surroundings. The place is rather cozy; skins and furs line the walls and floors. They hang above the fireplace alongside a few pots, pans, ladles, and mugs on hooks. The fireplace is glowing warmly. She slowly gets to her feet and wanders closer to it, dragging with her a trail of blankets. She holds her hands out in front of the fire, taking special care to look everywhere but at the bandaged stub. The room is rather cluttered, the previously noted furs are spread out atop each other in a seemingly random array, some overlapping one another.  She sees books and scrolls throughout the room and a chair pushed up against the wall. It has another blanket tossed over it. There are a few shelves lined with herbs and decorated with animal tusks and teeth. In another corner is a rack of weapons that ranged from primitive spears and clubs to rather intricate swords and modern hunting tools. 

“Cod or salmon?” Azula jolts at the sound of his voice. 

She shrugs. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve never tried either.” 

“I’ll cook them both.” They sit in silence as the fish sizzle and pop. It doesn’t smell all too bad, not compared to the hellish odor that her other meal emitted. He hands her the cod and she takes a regrettably large bite. Her face bunches up again. 

“Alright, how about salmon?” 

She takes a significantly smaller bite. “I’m starting to think that I hated seafood.”  

He chuckles. “You’re definitely Fire Nation. Here, we had some fruits imported from your homeland and dad managed to get a moose-lion.” 

“Why didn’t you mention that before?” 

“Wanted you to try something new.”

She picks out a mango and savors the taste as Sokka begins cooking the moose-lion meat. She still feels dizzy and nauseous. She tries not to think about that too much. “Why did you help me? You could have died.” 

“That’s kind of what me and my friends do.” He shrugs. “Besides, if I didn’t I would have never gotten to see all of those priceless faces.” 

She lets her face go deadpan again. 

He shudders, “alright, that’s a scary face. You look way too much like her when you make it.” He pauses. “You said that you know your name?”

“Only because they kept saying it to me.” She confirms. 

“What is your name?” 

She tosses the mango pit into the fire. “They’ve been calling me Azula.”

#Avatar #Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Fanfiction

[seyaryminamoto]

It Had To Be You - Christmas

At last, a glimpse at IHTBY's sequel. It's not finished, but it's as good a time as any to post the first bit :) hope you all enjoy it! Happy Holidays!

___________

The monsters were coming down on them in waves, and all their eyes glowed red. All of them were out for blood. All of them meant to destroy the pair in the tunnels.

“I told you we had to go the other way, you idiot!” she shouted, casting wheels of flames repeatedly to rid herself of the threats, but no matter how strong she was, or how many supplies she had, her energy was only going to continue dropping as the snakes, spiders and scorpions rushed to attack them.

“I’m sorry, okay?! Next time I’ll listen to you!” her hero companion yelled back, sweeping his twin swords back and forth, attempting to shove the enemies away through his special techniques, which had the power to blast the creatures off, but new ones always took the places of those he had cast aside.

“Oh, sure, because there’s going to be a next time!” the pyromancer exclaimed.

“You know, this might not be the best moment for sarcasm! Oh, shit, I need potions!”

“I’m running out already!”

“You’re WHAT?! Didn’t you stock up when we were at the village?!”

“Well, sorry if I didn’t think we’d need ninety-nine potions! For crying out loud, we’re better off dead!”

“No, no! Don’t give up on me, we can still…!”

But even though he was advocating for her to carry on fighting, a scorpion struck him with its sting. He was paralyzed, incapable of fighting if only for ten seconds… and ten seconds was all it would take.

“No, no, NOOOOOOO!” Sokka shouted, striking the buttons with unreasonable force, but there was nothing he could do. BoomerAwesome’s HP bar dropped to zero, and his avatar blinked a few times before disappearing.

Sokka grimaced and dropped on his couch’s backrest as his character was reset into the nearest village. He glanced upwards warily, to find Azula was snarling at the screen, doing her best to survive despite he was gone, but the odds weren’t good. She cursed under her breath repeatedly until she huffed in frustration and pushed away from the computer, glaring at him so fiercely he thought she’d burn a hole through his forehead.

“I told you we had to go through the tunnel on the right” she said, slowly, proof she was quite angry “I said it time after time, and yet…”

“Now, I… I know I should have listened, b-but my instincts…!”

“Your instincts were proven wrong, weren’t they?!” Azula exclaimed, exasperated “Ugh, honestly, Sokka! I know it was a fifty-fifty chance, but still! Now we’ve lost all our supplies and all the progress we had made through that blasted cave!”

“I know, I know” Sokka replied, his eyes dropping before he looked at her apologetically “Sorry…?”

Azula’s eyebrow twitched upon the look on his face.

“Sorry… sorry doesn’t fix anything” she muttered, gritting her teeth, trying to remain unaltered despite his expression made her feel like smiling at him “Next time we’re doing what I say, simple as that”

“And what if you fuck up like I did this time?” Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, that’s the thing: I won’t” Azula stated, proudly “Because unlike you, I don’t make decisions things based on my ‘instincts’. I’ll think things through”

“Heh, as you said, it was a fifty-fifty chance” said Sokka, pouting “And that’s how everything goes in that cave. So how are you going to think things through if it’s all on chance?”

“Simple” she said, with a malicious smirk “I’ll send you first, and if you don’t survive, I’ll know I must go the other way. See?”

Sokka was the one glaring at her now, and Azula smiled proudly.

“Oh, I should’ve seen that one coming, huh?” he said, and she shrugged.

“It’s the price to pay for following your instincts, Boom” she declared.

“Well, then, as far as prices go, I think you’ve got to pay one too for being so mean…” he said, cracking his knuckles and standing up, moving over to her side of the table.

“How exactly…?” she said, still smiling but looking at him warily.

She didn’t want to smile at all afterwards, but she broke into full laughter, unwillingly, when he started tickling her. He sat on the couch next to her, reaching for her every weak spot while she tried to push him off her to no avail.

“Stop! Stop it!” she exclaimed, in the middle of her laughs, but he didn’t budge. He smirked at first, proud to make her giggle uncontrollably, but soon enough he was laughing as well as she succumbed to the tickling.

“Who’s laughing now, eh?” he said, as they ended up splayed over the couch, his fingers still dancing over her flanks.

“Stop it, you… damn it, can’t you let me be mad at you for once?” she asked, still laughing.

“Nope” he smiled, nuzzling her neck “How would I ever live with that?”

Months had passed since their fateful discovery of who the other truly was, since that first, unbeknownst to them, date they had shared together. They had spent said months basking in the other’s company, both by going out together and by playing in Dannan, as they always did. Nowadays, Azula would bring her laptop with her to Sokka’s house, where they could play together, in person, and enjoy themselves to the fullest.

They would play in the living room, specifically, on the long coffee table. They placed their laptops back-to-back and sat across the other in the comfortable couches that surrounded the table. At times they would sit side by side, but not when they were undertaking serious missions such as the one they had just wasted. They would have more chances to do it, but it was a time-limited quest. The sooner they finished it, the less pressure there would be.

“Alright… you won’t have to live with that, but I’ll be calling the shots next” Azula declared, looking at him defiantly.

“Ow, boo. Now that’s something I definitely can’t live with” he said, smirking at her before leaning in to kiss her.

Azula smiled despite herself, knowing he would let her lead this time around without question. She suspected he wanted her to fail to get them to the end of the quest, if just so he could throw at her face that she could make mistakes, all the same as he had. Still, if they succeeded, as she was certain they would, then it would be a good thing for both of them.

“Well, that’s too bad for you, because that’s how we’re doing it now” Azula stated, sitting up again, Sokka’s arms draped around her shoulders.

“Fine, then” he said, with a dramatic sigh “Let it not be said I don’t keep my wife satisfied”

“You know, that can be misinterpreted easily” Azula said, giving him a sideways look, and Sokka raised his eyebrows, amused.

“Well, how foul-minded of you, Gil” he exclaimed “I didn’t see that one coming!”

“Oh, please…” she said, rolling her eyes as Sokka shook his head dramatically.

“I married a pervert and I didn’t know it…” he said, as she laughed again.

“You might be glad about it one day, you know?” she replied, and he looked at her with amusement.

“Oh, really? Well, dang, Azula…” he said, as she laughed more and buried her face on his shoulder “Here I thought you were as innocent a girl as humanly possible…”

“Every single time you assume something about me, Sokka, I prove you wrong” she said, smirking “One would think you’d be used to it by now”

The sound of footsteps coming from the stairs made Azula pull away from Sokka instinctively, and he raised an eyebrow at her bashful behavior just as Kya, Sokka’s mother, appeared in the living room, carrying a large box with her. Azula had been coming to Sokka’s house frequently for quite some time now, but she still was somewhat cautious regarding displays of affection in front of Sokka’s parents. She was more than willing to kiss Sokka in school, for she didn’t care what her peers might say, but Hakoda and Kya’s opinions of her, on the other hand, were actually important for Azula.

“Mom?” said Sokka, standing up and walking towards her to help her with the box “What exactly…?”

“Oh, I thought you were busy playing so I didn’t ask for help” she said, smiling at Sokka and afterwards at his girlfriend, who was looking at her with confused eyes “Are you taking a break from the game?”

“Yeah, Sokka got us killed” Azula said, simply, and Sokka pouted while Kya laughed softly.

“Well, you can take that break by helping me with this, if you wish” said Kya, setting the box on the floor. Azula raised an eyebrow and stood up, walking towards the box while Sokka looked at his mother with a grimace.

“Uh, mom, I don’t think so… I mean, Azula is a guest, after all, so it’s not really appropriate for her to help, you know…?”

“A guest? I’ve been coming here almost every day for over four months” Azula said, raising an eyebrow at Sokka, who pouted again.

“Still, it doesn’t mean you should work in this… whatever this is” said Sokka, frowning before turning to his mother “What is this, actually?”

“Oh, Sokka, you promised you’d help me this year” said Kya, looking at her son reproachfully “Don’t act innocent. You know all too well what time of year it is”

Sokka’s eyes lit up upon those words, while Azula was still rather confused.

“I… I did promise, yeah” he said, smiling weakly “But maybe we can postpone it or something? Do it tomorrow? Azula is here today, after all, so…”

“What exactly are we talking about in the first place?” Azula asked, raising an eyebrow “What did you promise, and what are you keeping in that box?”

“Well, it is November 15th already” said Kya, smiling “And it’s the date in which we traditionally set up Christmas decorations in our house”

Azula stared at Kya in surprise, as Sokka smiled at her too, enthusiastic upon the very mention of the word “Christmas”. Azula blinked a few times and smiled weakly, despite herself.

“Huh. So that’s what you’re up to” she said “So early, though? It’s still mid-November…”

“It’s never too early” Sokka said, proudly “But we always do it on November 15th. That way we get to enjoy the Christmas cheer properly!”

“Okay, then” said Azula, with an awkward smile that made Sokka freeze.

“Wait” he said, looking at her worriedly “Don’t tell me… you don’t celebrate Christmas? Is your family Jewish? Because we can have Hanukkah stuff over here too if you want it, right, mom? We don’t mind! Cultural diversity is always good!”

“It’s good to know you’re not opposed to the idea” Azula said, amused “But that’s not it, Sokka”

“Then what is it?” said Kya, worried “You don’t like the holiday season, perhaps?”

“Well, I… wouldn’t exactly put it that way” said Azula, with a grimace “My family has never been one to celebrate Christmas much, is all”

“Really?” said Sokka, surprised “Well, we do celebrate it over here. We set up all the ornaments, and the lights, and keep to the traditions and…”

“Heh, don’t tell me you’re the sort of families that set up so many lights that you end up taking out the power of the entire block” Azula said, teasingly, looking at Sokka with amusement.

“N-no! Well, it only happened one year, it doesn’t happen all the time!” said Sokka, an eyebrow twitching now as Azula laughed.

“As you probably can tell for yourself now, Sokka is a big fan of Christmas” said Kya, surrounding her son’s shoulders with an arm. Sokka chuckled at that “As are all of us. It’s quite a fun season of the year for the family”

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised” Azula said, smiling “He did seem the type who would get excited over Christmas”

“I just hope you don’t dump him now due to incompatibility, though” said Kya, jokingly, and Sokka looked at Azula, aghast.

“You wouldn’t!” he exclaimed, as she laughed.

“If incompatibility over small things was a reason to break up, I’m pretty sure we would have done it ages ago and for reasons other than Christmas” she said, and Sokka wasn’t quite sure if he should be reassured by that.

“Not like we’re that incompatible, girl…” he said, pouting “We’re the best duo in Dannan, and you know it!”

“Even if your instincts do get us killed, yes, I suppose we are” said Azula, smirking, and Sokka grinned guiltily now.

“Well, then, uh… should we really do this?” he asked his mom “I guess it could be fun to try and get Azula into Christmas spirits, but maybe we can just set things up on the weekend instead…”

“But you two always go out on the weekends anyways” said Kya, raising an eyebrow “All things considered, you actually spend most your time together. If you want to wait until she’s not with you, I think we’ll end up setting the decorations by Christmas Eve instead…”

“Well, that’s what my family does” Azula said, shrugging, and Sokka looked at her in disbelief.

“Say WHAT?!” he exclaimed, his eyebrow twitching “You’re joking, aren’t you? You guys wait till Christmas Eve?!”

“Yeah. I thought it was fairly normal to do that” said Azula, blinking a few times.

“B-but… but when do you go shopping for Christmas presents for your friends and family?” Sokka asked, his eyes wide “And setting up the tree? And how about reading ‘The Night Before Christmas’? And the food, the Christmas feast?! Don’t you guys do that?”

“Well, we don’t read that, no” said Azula, shrugging “My mom handles the food, usually. And she takes care of shopping too, though the matter of presents in our house is probably fairly different from yours. One day my dad decided to sit us down, Zuko and I, because he had to tell us something important, and without further ado he said Santa Claus wasn’t real and that the presents that we’d found under the tree didn’t come from him. So we haven’t had Christmas presents since… since I was four, I think”

“WHAT?!” Sokka said, his jaw dropping as he paled considerably. Kya as well was horrified, her hands on her mouth “Y-you were… four?! Y-your dad told you this when you were FOUR?!”

“Well, yeah. What’s the big deal?” said Azula, frowning and looking at Sokka with confusion “Really, relax. It’s not like he ruined us by doing that… at least, he didn’t ruin me. I had already figured the big legend with the fat guy and the fancy beard made no sense, so…”

“You thought so when you were four?!” Kya asked, baffled.

“Yeah, I mean… how could he possibly visit every single home of every single child in the world in a single night?” she asked, raising her eyebrows “Reindeers that fly, one of them with a glowing red nose to light their way? It all sounded so very ridiculous that I didn’t really believe it, so when dad admitted it was a lie I was almost relieved…”

“B-but Azula, the magic of Christmas…” said Sokka, his eyes tearful as he looked at her in disbelief “You never ever believed in that?”

“Uh… no?”

“Hell… the incompatibility is too strong now. I’m not sure I can handle this” he said, his eyes wide as Azula slapped his shoulder.

“Stop that. Sure, we had different childhoods, so what? It’s not like I lost all my innocence because of this. If you’re worried about me not getting enough gifts, don’t be. My father buys me and Zuko whatever we might ask for, so…”

“B-but that’s not the point!” said Sokka, grimacing “You’ve never experienced the Christmas cheer properly and that’s unacceptable!”

“Oh, and what exactly am I supposed to do about it now?” Azula asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow “You can’t go back in time to convince my parents to share the proper holiday cheer with me, can you?”

“No… but we can have you experience it now!” he said, with a determined smile. Azula’s eyes widened.

“Wait… huh?” she said, as Sokka clasped her shoulders with his hands.

“Azula, you’re about to find out what Christmas is all about!” he declared, to Kya’s approval and Azula’s utter confusion.

“I am?” she said, as Sokka let go of her shoulders.

“You don’t have to work too much, if you don’t want to” he said, grinning “But we’re going to set up Christmas decorations and start spreading Christmas cheer in hopes it infects you!”

Azula looked at her boyfriend with disbelief as he and Kya opened the large box, revealing all sorts of Christmas decorations to place around the house. She wasn’t entirely sure how she’d gone from setting hideous monsters on fire at Dannan to watching Sokka digging through a box for Santa Claus figurines, a toy train and its tracks, and several other Christmas-themed gadgets. But then again, things always had a way to change drastically when it came to her and Sokka. Fortunately, most those changes had been for the better ever since their relationship had begun. Maybe this would be for the better, too. She had never cared much for the Holidays, personally. Her uncle’s Christmas parties annoyed her to no end, and she had little to no interest in Christmas in itself… but perhaps this year she might see what was so special about this particular holiday. Much had changed over the course of a few months… so her stance on Christmas just might change a little, too.

She approached Sokka as Kya left to fetch another box, and she smiled despite herself as he pulled out Santa Claus hats, a bright smile on his face.

“You guys actually have those?” Azula asked, and Sokka chuckled “I hadn’t thought that you guys would be such a Christmas-enthusiast family, but it makes sense that you are…”

“Does it annoy you much?” he asked, as he put on his hat “Because it’s a lot of fun once you get used to it”

“Of course you’d think so. You’re a Christmas enthusiast after all” said Azula, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled and offered wordlessly to put a hat on Azula’s head as well. She paused as she looked at the red hat with uncertainty “Uh… must I?”

“If you’re going to experience Christmas first-hand, Azula, then you must indeed” said Sokka, proudly, as his hands reached out to put the hat in place. Azula grimaced and Sokka chuckled “Come on, don’t be a party pooper. It’ll be fun!”

“So you say” said Azula, but she smiled nonetheless.

The process to set up Christmas decorations took far longer than Azula expected it to, but to her surprise, it was far more enjoyable than she could have imagined it would be. She didn’t doubt that she had only found it so enjoyable because of the company, though. Kya and Sokka’s enthusiasm was as infectious as they had promised it would be, and despite Azula wasn’t about to show it overtly, she soon found herself quite cheerful as well. The colorful sights were rather beautiful, each decoration special in its own way, and watching Sokka and his mother as they debated on where to place everything was quite enjoyable.

She found herself helping them willingly, following Kya’s instructions as she and Sokka set up wreathes in the halls, holly and ivy to be found at every corner of the place. Sokka was beaming happily soon enough as Azula took the initiative at times, opening boxes herself and smiling in surprise as she looked at the decorations within.

“So… you guys have a plastic tree?” Azula asked, raising an eyebrow as she pulled the trunk of the fake tree out of a long box. Sokka sighed and shrugged.

“I’ve got no idea what’s worse for the environment, if plastic or real ones, but that’s what we have” he admitted “Getting a real one every year was too expensive, so dad decided we had to cut our losses a couple years ago and we’ve had a plastic one ever since. We use this cool spray to make it smell like it’s real, though, if that counts for anything”

“Heh. So I guess that’s one thing we’ve always had that you guys don’t” said Azula, smirking “Despite my family has never had much holiday spirit, at least we did have real trees every year”

“Oh, really?” said Sokka, raising an eyebrow “Well… that’s good to know, to be honest. I was starting to fear your family was worse than what I’d understood…”

“Could it be worse than it is just because of our lack of Christmas traditions, really?” Azula asked, skeptically, and Sokka smiled.

“Well, I’m actually just relieved that things aren’t that bad for you. Your family can’t be that lousy if you guys still get a proper tree and decorate it together”

“Uh, I didn’t say anything about decorating any trees” Azula pointed out, and Sokka frowned.

“Huh? You just leave it there without any decorations, then?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“No, it’s already decorated” said Azula, and Sokka’s jaw dropped.

“W-wait… you guys buy trees that are already decorated?! Y-you don’t even…?!” he said, looking at her in disbelief as she shrugged, as though it were a completely normal idea for her.

“Dad always chooses one and sends it home a few days before Christmas Eve. He wouldn’t have time to decorate it, mom is… well, you know what she’s like, and Zuko and I usually don’t like to engage in that sort of family nonsense, so in the end it’s more convenient this way, really”

“It’s… it sounds like it’s convenient, Azula, but that’s not right! Heck, now you’ve convinced me, your family is really worse than I feared!”

“Oh, please” said Azula, rolling her eyes, but Sokka shook his head.

“None of that! We are going to set up this tree, young lady, and you will see how much fun it can be!” he said, making his voice hoarse on purpose as he folded his arms over his chest, his frown as determined as it was comical. Azula smiled.

“You are such a pain in the ass, Boom” she said, rolling her eyes. He chuckled a little as he returned to the tree’s box, pulling out the plastic branches that they’d have to attach to the tree’s main body.

As they were building the tree, they heard a key turning at the front door. Both Sokka and Azula glanced at it instinctively to find Hakoda and Katara arriving home, their eyes widening at the sight of the brand new décor in the house, along with the empty boxes they hadn’t put away just yet.

“Ah, just amazing! It looks beautiful, Kya!” Hakoda exclaimed, proudly, before noticing that only Sokka and Azula were nearby. His eyes brightened all the same upon seeing them, though “Oh, hello there, you two! Did Kya make you help, Azula?”

Upon the mention of her brother’s girlfriend, Katara grimaced. She raised an eyebrow and looked at her with some irritation, despite Azula looked far more inoffensive today than ever before. Katara had probably never witnessed a stranger sight than Azula sitting next to Sokka on the floor, building a Christmas tree while wearing a Santa Claus hat.

“Not Kya, it was Sokka’s doing” Azula answered, and Sokka pouted.

“Hey, I said you didn’t have to do much if you didn’t want to, you chose to join me out of your free will!” he declared, prompting her to smile and roll her eyes.

“Then she really did help?” Katara asked, looking at Azula with disbelief “Do you even like Christmas?”

“Not that much, looks like, but it seems she likes me well enough to help us out with this” said Sokka, his childish pout now replaced with a goofy smile. A flustered Azula poked him in the ribs with one of the branches in her hand, making him squeak and inch away from her.

Katara sighed as they argued foolishly, wondering for the umpteenth time how the couple in her living room had become a thing at all. She already knew the story, but to this day it was as good as unbelievable. She had trouble thinking of Azula as anything other than Sokka’s tormentor, even though it had been months since their relationship had begun.

“Oh, you’re home!” Kya exclaimed, appearing at the top of the stairs with yet another box in her arms.

Hakoda beamed as she came down to the first floor, and he took the box from her before setting it down. He swept her into his arms and kissed her happily, to Katara’s embarrassment and discomfort. Kya giggled and smiled at her husband, whose excitement had naturally been caused by the festive decorations.

“So I guess you approve?” Kya asked, when Hakoda finally pulled away, his eyes still bright with cheer.

“Absolutely!” he declared “I should go decorate outside too, now, shouldn’t I?”

“Perhaps you could leave that for another day, it’s late and you must be tired” said Kya, smiling at him and at Katara as well “Welcome home, sweetie. Was school okay?”

“It was fine, noting much to report” said Katara, smiling awkwardly. At least, nothing beyond the obvious discomfort caused by the constant displays of affection between her brother and his girlfriend during the recesses “I was out with Aang for a while, Dad picked me up afterwards…”

“As thoughtful as ever” said Kya, placing her head on Hakoda’s shoulder. The tall man grinned happily and Katara smiled too. At the very least, she had to concede that Sokka’s happiness with Azula reminded her of that dorky grin Hakoda often had whenever he was around Kya.

As Sokka and Azula finished building the tree, Katara placed a few more decorations around the house and Hakoda fetched the last box upstairs. When he returned downstairs he realized there was a familiar Christmas song playing through the speakers of their old stereo system. Kya smiled happily at him as she tapped her foot to the music that she had set up, hoping to entice him with it. Naturally, she succeeded at that: Hakoda swooped in and took her into his arms, twirling her as they started dancing to the tunes, their laughter filling the place along with the music as the three teenagers watched them, two of them with amusement, the other one with embarrassment.

“Oh, please… Mom, Dad, stop that!” said Katara, shaking her head yet smiling anyways as her parents danced “You’re going to break something if you keep dancing like that!”

They didn’t listen to her, though, and they continued to dance cheerfully to Deck the Halls. Katara rolled her eyes and buried her face in a hand, and Sokka chuckled as he watched his parents dancing.

“Do they do that every time?” Azula asked, smiling as well. Sokka nodded.

“And Katara tells them they’ll break something every time. She was right one year, too” said Sokka, with a guilty grin “We had one of those big Christmas snow globes, with figurines of Santa Claus and this snowman in it… and then my dad crashed against it, and that was the end of the line for the snow globe”

“And your sister scolded them for it, of course” Azula said, smirking, and Sokka nodded.

“She takes pride in being the responsible one around here” he said, watching as Katara struggled to create a safe zone around her dancing parents, taking away all objects that they might break if they bumped into them “Which I guess means she’s just the one who’s no fun, huh?”

“Sounds like it” said Azula, still amused, but her smile waned as she watched Kya and Hakoda twirling and laughing together.

It wasn’t often that she would think of her own family while she was around Sokka’s, but for some reason the thought came to her right now. She couldn’t help but think that there was no way she would ever witness her parents being as loving as Sokka’s were… she couldn’t remember ever seeing Ursa and Ozai enjoying each other’s company like this. Despite Katara’s obvious discomfort by watching her parents’ overt displays of affection, she was rather lucky, by Azula’s standards. She’d never been bothered by the same thing when it came to her parents, simply because she couldn’t remember the last time they had been loving towards one another…

“You okay, Azula?” Sokka asked, noticing she had spaced out briefly. Azula blinked a few times and nodded, smiling at him.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I was just… thinking” she said, shrugging. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

“Thinking… that you want to dance too?” he asked, with a mischievous grin. Azula laughed and shook her head.

“Honestly? I’d rather not. We still have to finish this, don’t we?” she asked, pointing at the tree, and Sokka chuckled and nodded.

“We do. I’m a lousy dancer myself anyhow, so I’m glad that’s not what you wanted” he said, as he stood up to fix the top branches of the tree, with Azula’s help.

Hakoda and Kya’s dancing spree ended soon enough, to Katara’s relief, and Kya left to prepare dinner as Sokka and Azula started to set up the tree’s decorations from the last box Hakoda had brought. Katara approached, willing to help out too despite it meant cooperating with Azula, but she knew Azula wasn’t likely to act out right now. Truth to be told, she had become far more docile towards everyone after she had started dating Sokka. Granted she was still rather snarky at school, but even then, things had become a lot less tense than they had been for two years.

The fights for the table at lunch were over by now, and so were the walls between Azula’s group and her brother’s, since they had practically merged into a single one. Mai and Ty Lee had adapted to this change well enough, albeit Mai seemed to dislike the large crowd at times. Regardless, she would usually engage in conversation with either Zuko or Aang, even with Katara once in a while. Ty Lee, on the other hand, had befriended Suki quite quickly, and to most of their surprises, she got along with Toph rather well too.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t too often that all friends were together in the same place… because, quite often, Sokka and Azula would slip away to eat somewhere more private, away from the prying eyes and snarky remarks from their peers. Azula enjoyed making them uncomfortable by being overtly affectionate with Sokka, but she actually enjoyed being alone with him much more than anything else. Given how enthusiastic he usually was about their time alone, it seemed Sokka agreed with that too.

The changes didn’t bother Katara too much, and she was particularly thankful for Sokka and Azula’s thoughtfulness when they decided to head off on their own instead of staying in the crowded table. Yet she couldn’t do anything about them when they were at her house, playing their favorite MMORPG together and either arguing whenever things went wrong in the game, or making out a little too enthusiastically when things went right.

Hence, it was a relief that they would act normally for now, that the three of them could work on setting up the tree without arguing, actually getting along without trouble for once…

Sokka set down the tree stand and placed the plastic tree in its proper place as Azula looked through the box, pulling out small decorative balls of green and red, along with several other hanging ornaments that were a little less conventional. She smiled at the sight of Chewbacca amongst the decorations, wondering whose it was.

“That’s my dad’s” said Sokka, chuckling as he circled the tree, wrapping a long cable with lightbulbs around it “He’s been a fan of Star Wars since forever”

“If it were up to him, the tree would be covered in Star Wars stuff” said Katara, smiling as well as she started hanging the balls in the branches, as soon as Sokka was finished with the placement of the lights.

“Well, it’s a way to keep Christmas diverse, I suppose” said Azula, raising her eyebrows as she placed Chewbacca in a random branch.

Kya smiled as she watched the three teenagers working together, her cellphone at the ready so she could snap a picture once Sokka had stood up. He was crouching on the floor, plugging the lights into a power source to make sure they would work properly. To his relief, it seemed the lights were in a perfects state. They blinked in multiple colors, as they were intended to. Sokka smiled and stood up, beaming proudly at the tree, and then the bright white flash from Kya’s cellphone camera alerted all three teenagers that they were being watched.

“Mom!” Katara exclaimed, as Kya chuckled.

“Come on, it’s a beautiful moment!” she exclaimed, as Sokka laughed as well. Azula simply crooked an eyebrow “I had to take a picture”

“She’s been like that ever since she got her first cellphone with a camera” said Sokka “Can’t stop snapping pictures of everything she thinks we’ll want to remember, but then she forgets she took them in the first place…”

“I do not!” Kya declared, but before she could protest further, she was pulled into an embrace by Hakoda again… who was wearing a very strange hat now “Oh… so you found your mistletoe hat”

“I did indeed!” Hakoda said, proudly “It’s my actual favorite Christmas decoration”

“You like it better than Chewbacca?” Azula asked, smiling and pointing at the tree ornament. Hakoda nodded promptly, to Kya’s approval.

“It’s much sweeter after all” he said, with a soft chuckle before tilting Kya back and kissing her rather dramatically now. Katara struck her forehead with the palm of her hand and returned to decorating the tree as Azula looked away, wishing she weren’t blushing. Sokka only chuckled at the sight, pulling out a Darth Vader ornament now.

Yet as Azula focused again on the tree, along with the others, a projectile flew straight at Sokka’s head, surprising him as it bounced against him.

“Your turn, Sokka!” Hakoda exclaimed, grinning as Kya giggled. Sokka grabbed the mistletoe hat and smiled awkwardly before swapping it for his own hat.

Azula had been busy fixing an ornament when she felt a finger tapping her shoulder. She had been about to ask Sokka what was going on when she turned around to find him wearing the mistletoe hat. She looked at him in disbelief as he smiled goofily, thoroughly enjoying the sight of her flushed cheeks as his parents laughed. Katara groaned and shook her head, moving towards the back of the tree so she wouldn’t have to watch the spectacle that she knew Sokka and Azula would present now.

“Are you kidding me?” she asked, as Sokka shrugged.

“It’s the first time I can wear it for real!” he exclaimed, proudly “Come on, it’s not like we’ve never…”

Azula rolled her eyes before grabbing Sokka’s shirt and pulling him close, cutting him midsentence with a fiery kiss. He grinned into the contact of their lips and hugged Azula as they kissed under the mistletoe hat, to Kya and Hakoda’s approval.

“Please don’t start dancing to the Christmas music now too…” Katara groaned, and she soon wished she hadn’t said the words, or else Sokka probably wouldn’t have started swaying in place at the beat of the songs playing in the stereo still.

Azula couldn’t help but laugh now as he danced clumsily with her. He took her hands into his as his feet moved along with hers in a very strange flow of movements that might not suit the music all that well. It was Hakoda and Kya’s turn to be amused, and Sokka and Azula were blushing yet smiling brightly as they swayed together to the cheerful Christmas songs.

It wasn’t often that Azula stayed for dinner, but Kya insisted that she had to do it this time around, in return for having helped out with the Christmas decorations. The tree was beautiful and bright, with a star shining bright at the very top, which Azula had placed there since she was the guest of honor for today. The house was truly festive right now, with Christmas music still playing softly in the stereo as they ate dinner at the kitchen’s table.

“I do hope you enjoyed yourself today, Azula” Kya said, with a gentle smile. Azula grinned back and nodded, swallowing the bit of steak she had in her fork.

“It was surprisingly fun, I admit it” she said “It seems like you guys know just how to celebrate Christmas… from a month and a half beforehand, perhaps, but you do”

“It’s the best way to enjoy the festivities” said Hakoda, proudly.

“I do hope you won’t get into trouble with your parents for being late today, though” said Kya “You’re not under curfew, are you?”

“Oh, no. They…” said Azula, holding her tongue upon second thought. It wasn’t a good idea to express her views about her parents that openly, at least not to Sokka’s parents “They won’t mind, I think. I’ll explain what happened, they shouldn’t have any problem with it”

“Well, I could give you a ride home, if nothing else” said Hakoda, shrugging “It’s pretty late so it’d be safer this way, right?”

“That… that would be very nice, actually. Thanks” said Azula, with an unusually kind smile. Sokka grinned at the sight of it.

“In fact…” Kya started, biting her lower lip “Maybe there’s more we can do for your family, after having kept you here all day”

“What? Seriously, they don’t mind, they’re…”

“Maybe that’s the case, dear… but I’d very much like to invite them over to our Annual Christmas Party” said Kya, beaming.

Katara raised an eyebrow, Sokka’s mouth turned into a comical ‘o’. Hakoda grinned, and Azula seemed utterly perplex.

“Your… Annual Christmas Party?” Azula repeated. Kya nodded enthusiastically.

“It’s not a lot, don’t expect anything too fancy” she said, between giggles “But we have a lot of fun playing Christmas-themed games, reading The Night Before Christmas just as Sokka mentioned earlier…”

“I read it last year, hehe” said Sokka, smiling “We take turns each year”

“We eat Christmas Ham, too” said Kya, proudly.

“We spend hours in the kitchen working on the whole meal, actually” Katara said, smiling awkwardly “It takes a lot of effort and in the end there’s more leftovers than anything…”

“No way. You get leftovers with Sokka in the house?” Azula asked, smirking skeptically. Sokka chuckled.

“That’s just how much food it is” he said, beaming.

“It would be wonderful to share it with more people this year” said Kya, sighing “I understand if your parents are busy, of course… but it would be a good opportunity to meet them”

The prospect made Azula unexpectedly self-aware. She wasn’t one who’d usually feel embarrassed by her parents, not when her father was the successful CEO he was, not when her mother usually got along with people with ridiculous ease, regardless of Azula’s reservations towards her. But the idea of introducing them to Sokka’s family filled her with uncertainty. How could she introduce her parents with their distant, chaotic marriage to the happiest family she had ever known? Hakoda and Kya would likely be quite disappointed, and she knew her father wasn’t bound to approve of Sokka’s parents just on the basis that they weren’t as rich as he was…

“I’ll… well, I’ll see what can be done” Azula said, biting her lip “I can bring it up, but I don’t know if they have other appointments. When would you hold it, exactly?”

“On Christmas Eve, of course!” said Hakoda, smiling proudly.

“And then when the clock strikes twelve he kisses Mom and they make such a fuss…” Katara sighed, shaking her head. Kya and Hakoda exchanged happy, loving gazes.

“Well, this year you and I should do the same, huh, Azula?” Sokka asked, beaming at her.

Now Azula felt powerfully compelled to agree. She looked at Sokka and smiled gently, knowing that she definitely wanted them to grow old together, to be just as deep in love as Kya and Hakoda still were, once they reached their age. She couldn’t want anything else.

But this meant bringing her parents, though… and that wasn’t something she could feel comfortable with, even if she knew spending Christmas with Sokka would be a thousand times better than doing it as she usually did: staying cooped up in her room, watching whatever TV show struck her fancy and ignoring every single reminder of the holidays if she could get away with it.

She wanted to be with him in Christmas Eve. She really did… even if the price was bringing her parents, too.

“I can… I can try” she said, nodding “I’ll tell them about it. It’s just… well, as I said they might be busy. But, if they were, could I maybe…?”

“Oh, spend Christmas Eve with us anyways?” Hakoda finished. Azula blushed a little “Why, of course! We do love having you around!”

It was obvious that Katara didn’t agree with that statement, and Azula warily glanced at her to see her grimacing in disapproval… but strangely, she didn’t make a face or whisper under her breath that she didn’t want anything to do with Azula. There was no passive-aggressiveness from her of any kind. Either her sister-in-law was warming up to her, or she had something else up her sleeve…? Whatever it was, Azula was surprised and relieved that she wouldn’t protest about Azula’s potential intrusion in her family’s holiday celebration.

“So… I can come anyways? I won’t intrude on your family celebration if I come on my own?” she asked, with a weak smile.

“What? Well, dear, you’re family now!” Kya exclaimed, beaming “I’ve thought of you as family ever since Sokka introduced you, so there’s no intrusion whatsoever. You’re always welcome here”

The words stung hard, in places she didn’t know she had inside her. Maybe this really was what Christmas was about, Azula thought, as she lowered her eyes and smiled, nodding weakly before excusing herself to go to the bathroom quickly.

Sokka watched her, somewhat surprised to see her go, but he turned and looked excitedly at his family again now. Hakoda and Kya beamed at him.

“Thanks, Mom” he said “I would’ve asked eventually if she could come, but I didn’t think you’d suggest it yourself…”

“Oh, but of course I had to!” said Kya, chuckling “It’s so wonderful for you to have this relationship, Sokka. And to think she hasn’t ever experienced Christmas properly…”

“She hadn’t? What do you mean?” Hakoda asked.

“Her father buys a decorated tree every year” said Kya, her eyes wide “They don’t even decorate until Christmas Eve!”

“I think Zuko mentioned that a while back…” Katara mused. Hakoda and Kya looked at her in disbelief “What?”

“Why didn’t you say that sooner?” Hakoda asked, astounded.

“Well, it… never really crossed my mind” Katara said, shrugging “I think I told him that sucked, but he said not to worry about it, so…”

“You should have said something” said Kya, shaking her head “Oh, those poor kids. We should invite Zuko too!”

“We can invite him, though I don’t know if he’ll want to come” said Sokka, chuckling “Knowing him he’ll be annoyed by being around me and Azula for too long…”

“A protective older brother, is he?” Kya asked, but Sokka shook his head.

“More like Sokka and Azula are annoying and obnoxious just to piss him off” said Katara, with a smirk. Sokka chuckled guiltily.

“Well, tell Zuko we made Sokka promise he’d be in his best behavior” said Kya. Sokka pouted “Promise, Sokka”

“Fine, but if we cross any thresholds with mistletoe I’m not holding back!” Sokka said, proudly. Katara rolled her eyes as her parents laughed.

Azula returned, looking somewhat refreshed, and she continued the meal while smiling as Sokka told her more about what she could expect for the party. On top of that, he took the liberty to invite her for Thanksgiving, too. Azula smiled and caressed his hand under the table.

“But, say… since Thanksgiving is soon I guess we’ll only have her as a guest” said Katara “But, um, if we’re going to bring Zuko over for Christmas, could we…?”

“What, dear?” asked Hakoda. Katara bit her lip.

“Invite, uh, others too?” she asked.

“Like Aang?” Sokka asked, munching on the last bit of beef he had left. Katara blushed a little.

“Well, of course! Invite all your friends if you like!” Hakoda exclaimed. Katara froze at that, her eyebrow twitching.

“My… friends. Of course” she said, smiling awkwardly.

“So we’ll have the most crowded Christmas party ever?” Sokka asked, beaming.

“We will, as long as they don’t have their own family celebrations to worry about” said Kya “If they’re free to come, they can absolutely do so”

“So it’ll be like a Christmas party of our lunch table?” Sokka asked, chuckling.

“And with Azula’s parents, if they can come” said Hakoda.

Katara seemed to want to say something, but she held back. Briefly, Azula wondered if it was some sort of protest against Azula’s exclusive treatment… but there was no sign of the usual hostility Katara harbored towards her. Something was strange about her right now, but since it wasn’t bothering her, Azula figured she’d let it slide.

“Oh, these will be holidays to remember! We’ll have to make extra food!” Kya declared, prompting everyone to laugh.

“You said you always have leftovers” said Azula, smiling.

“But with all these people to feed we’ll need to go further!” Kya said, chuckling “Oh, it will be wonderful, for sure!”

Their excitement was quite contagious indeed, but Azula feared she’d feel that excitement dwindling and dying once she returned home. Her family was the complete antithesis to Sokka’s, and she highly doubted Ozai would find this disruption to his routinely traditions as wonderful as Kya did.

Yet Kya was ever enthusiastic about the prospect, and Azula didn’t dare consider letting her down. She would try to ask her family to come, regardless of what the answer would be. She was going to make it clear, though, that she’d be spending the holidays at Sokka’s place regardless of what they wanted. At this point in time, her relationship with him was far more important than any restrictions her parents might want to impose on her.

Then again, they seldom imposed any. At most, she faced her father’s disapproval, but there were hardly any rules she had to abide by. She was sure she’d get away with having a fun Christmas for once, by her adorable boyfriend’s side.

Kya hugged her and thanked her for all her hard work today, just before Hakoda gave Azula the lift home. Azula said not to mention it, for it had hardly been work at all. Katara didn’t quite say goodbye, but for once she had a valid excuse for it in the form of washing the dishes. Sokka would naturally tag along with Azula and Hakoda, so he led her to the garage later, her hand in his.

She sat on the car’s backseat, while Sokka took shotgun and Hakoda drove. Father and son spoke at leisure, mostly about Sokka being allowed to drive Azula by himself the next time, since he had a license he was making no use of. The conversation made Azula smile a little, but she only listened to it wistfully, guessing that was what a normal relationship between father and son would look like.

At last they reached the large three-story brick house where Azula lived, and Hakoda whistled in amazement as he saw it. He knew Azula’s father was a CEO, but he had no idea her family would be this wealthy.

“Well, have a good night, Azula” he said, smiling at her over his shoulder “I hope your parents can make it on Christmas, too. You’ll have a month to get them to come around if they’re not sure”

“I’ll try my best” said Azula, smiling too. Hakoda beamed.

“See you later, then. Tomorrow, likely” he said, looking at Sokka who grinned happily at his dad.

“Good night” Azula said, still smiling as she opened the door and climbed off the car.

Sokka joined her on the sidewalk, and he led her hand in hand to the door. Hakoda innocently gazed out of his window at the passing traffic, giving his son and girlfriend proper privacy.

“Uh… hey, if you don’t want them to come over that’s alright” Sokka said, looking at her empathically “I know things are tricky with your parents and family, so… if you’d rather not invite them at all, we can tell my mom that you did and they said no and…”

“No, no… I’ll try anyways” said Azula. Sokka swallowed “I know it’s weird that I’d be willing to try at all, but… I guess it’s better if I do. They probably will say no anyhow, so that way we won’t have to lie to your parents”

“Well, I’d rather not lie, yeah” said Sokka, smiling a little “Still, do whatever you’re most comfortable with, okay? I don’t want you pressured into anything you don’t want… in fact, if you don’t want this at all…!”

“Could you shut up?” she asked, laughing, as he blushed nervously “I do want to go. Of course I do. It sounds like it’d be the best Christmas ever”

“Really?” Sokka asked, relieved and surprised at once.

“I want to try, if anything” Azula said, shrugging “Hopefully I’ll enjoy it, huh?”

“I… I’m sure you will” Sokka said, grinning “I’ll keep my craziness under control, I promise, so you won’t have to worry about a thing…!”

“Oh, please, like you could possibly do that” she said, smirking and leaning close to hug him “Don’t even worry, dummy. I’d rather you continue to be the silly boy I fell in love with”

“Huh. Even in front of your parents?” Sokka asked, biting his lip. She shrugged.

“Like I care about what they’ll say about you” she said “They could disown me for it and I’d still be with you”

“Heck, that’s romantic but sad. I hope they won’t do that” said Sokka, caressing her back gently “Still, if they do… you can absolutely come live at my place! You saw Mom and Dad like you lots, and Katara wasn’t even that bad today, so…”

“There aren’t any free rooms at your place, though” said Azula, smirking. Sokka blushed “So I guess I’ll have to bunk in with… your sister”

“What?!” Sokka asked, aghast, and Azula laughed “I mean, sure it’s more appropriate, but noooo…”

“You were saying I’m the perv earlier, but you’re already thinking about sleeping with me?” she asked, cupping his face. Sokka giggled guiltily.

“What can I say? We’re both foul-minded” he admitted. She laughed and leaned in to kiss him.

But when they parted Sokka wasn’t quite as playful anymore. He held her close, and he was looking at her somewhat intensely. Azula knew it was weird for him to be serious, but it was weirder still for it to happen so suddenly. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop caressing her gently.

“Say… when you excused yourself” he started. She felt her stomach churn at the question she knew was about to come “What happened? Were you okay?”

“I…” she whispered. Her first instinct was to lie, but she closed her eyes and forced herself not to. She didn’t want to lie to him, not ever. She refused to let dishonesty damage their otherwise perfect relationship “I was a little overwhelmed, yeah. I’m sorry, I…”

“Don’t be” said Sokka, caressing her face “Just… can I ask why?”

“Well it just hit me that… that I’ve never had a family quite like yours” she whispered. Sokka gritted his teeth “I’m so used to mine that… I didn’t really expect yours to be this warm. To hear your parents say I’m welcome, that… that your mother thought of me as part of the family ever since she knew we were together? It just… it meant a lot. I know it sounds dumb, but…”

“It doesn’t sound dumb at all” Sokka said, hugging her tightly and burying his face in her hair. She held onto him just as tightly “I’m sorry you never experienced anything quite like it before… but I’m more than glad that my parents are being so nice to you. I love the idea of you being part of our family…”

“Are you saying you’re going to propose now?” she asked, with a small laugh. Sokka bit his lip.

“Well, now, I didn’t say that but now that you mention it…” he said. She laughed again and pulled away, a few tears blinking in the corners of her eyes.

“We’re still too young. Wait a little longer, okay?” she said. Sokka pouted.

“Like… tomorrow?” he asked, with a playful smile. Azula laughed and kissed him again.

“I love you” she said, pressing her forehead to his. He beamed at her.

“And I love you, too” he said “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course” she whispered, and he kissed her again.

They held the kiss longer than any of the ones they’d exchanged today, and Sokka smiled as they parted. He stroked her cheek gently before moving back towards the car, walking backwards so he wouldn’t lose sight of her.

“I’ll be pestering you on Dannan as soon as I get home!” he said, smirking “We still have to get that boomerang!”

“Good lord” said Azula, with a dramatic sigh. She smiled as he chuckled, though, and she opened the door so she could step inside while she watched Sokka and Hakoda pull out.

She sighed once they were gone, and she inevitably allowed her mind to wander towards the future. One day, surely, they’d be able to spend every waking moment together for good… she hated parting from him, even though it had been months of their relationship already. Her love was so strong it seemed about to tear her to shreds whenever they weren’t together. But fortunately, they could text, or chat, or play together even then. That sufficed sometimes.

Still, after what might happen now when she spoke to her parents, she suspected she’d need a good virtual therapy session with Sokka to soothe herself. She had mostly avoided them for the past five years, hardly holding any long conversations with either one of her parents, although she’d certainly been a little less unforgiving with her father. Yet her father was most likely the one who wouldn’t take this well. Her mother might just jump on the chance to put on her ‘mother of the year’ façade in front of Sokka’s family, though… the idea made Azula’s insides churn in a very different way than they had with Sokka earlier.

She made her way inside, climbing the stairs and leaving her backpack in her room. Her family had been in the dining room, she caught sight of them on the corner of her eyes, but they hadn’t been too surprised either to see her arrive at this hour or over her lack of greeting. Surely they expected her to come downstairs just to get food, and maybe they’d greet her then… that is, if they expected her to do so at all. She had been known to sneak downstairs once their dinnertime was over, to eat by herself so she wouldn’t have to put up with them.

But alas, she’d already eaten and she’d be going down to face them anyhow. The thought made her almost wish she could do what Sokka had suggested, and just lie about having told them… but the memory of Kya’s gentle smile and words gave her the last bit of determination she had needed. She had to talk to her parents, even if just to get no for an answer.

Zuko was with them, which was going to be a bigger bother yet, but Azula hoped somewhat wistfully that he wouldn’t cause much trouble. She knew, though, that he wouldn’t simply stay quiet as she spoke with their parents…

“Ah, Azula” her mother said, once her daughter appeared at the dining room’s threshold “There’s more food in the fridge, you can heat it in the microwave…”

“I already ate” Azula said, curtly. Ursa blinked blankly.

“Oh? At Sokka’s house?” she asked, and Azula nodded.

It was beyond strange to talk to her mother, beyond tense, too. She didn’t quite enjoy it, never had. She had to steel herself to get through the whole thing, though…

“You weren’t imposing on them, were you?” Ozai asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula grimaced “Zuko said they’re not a family of means…”

“They may not be like us, Dad, but they’re fine. They tend to cook too much either way” Azula answered, sighing.

Ozai raised an eyebrow but nodded, and he focused on his food again. Zuko glanced at Azula with uncertainty as Ursa sat where she was, not touching her unfinished food. The tension was so ridiculous Azula felt like grabbing Zuko’s empty plate and smashing it on the floor just to make everyone act normal for once. Chances were her mother would just say it was an unfortunate accident, though… Azula huffed. She had a family of automatons.

“Well, if you already ate, what’s up with you?” Zuko asked. Azula’s eyebrow twitched. Was he trying to send her away?

“She might just want to be here for now, Zuko. Don’t be rude” said Ursa, smiling at her son.

Azula’s twitch grew more violent. Oh, sure she wanted to be here, in the most unbearably unpleasant dining scenes of all time. She couldn’t help but compare it to the one she’d enjoyed at Sokka’s house… maybe she ought to lie to her father, claim she was pregnant, and get him to kick her out just so she could go live with Sokka for good. She could hardly stand this.

“Well, he’s not entirely wrong, really. I’m here for a reason” she said.

Those words didn’t help. If anything, Ursa’s eyes widened as though she were afraid Azula was about to declare something terrible. Even Ozai set down his cutlery and looked at his daughter with wary uncertainty. They were acting as though she was carrying a bomb inside her shirt, and even Zuko was starting to sense something was really wrong with all three of them.

“Well… what is it?” he asked his sister. He’d gladly see this tension evaporate so he could have second servings in peace.

Azula bit her lip before breathing out. She could see Ozai growing paler. Oh, dear, he really did think she was going to say she was pregnant. Damn, she wanted to do it just so she could get a good laugh about it later with Sokka… but no. She held back, despite her sense of humor advised otherwise.

“Sokka’s family is a little… well, very different from ours” she said, biting her lip “Today they were setting up their Christmas decorations, actually…”

“Huh. Katara did say they did it ridiculously early some time ago” Zuko reasoned. Ursa and Ozai glanced at him briefly before focusing on Azula again.

“I was helping them with that” Azula explained “I didn’t do anything too complicated, and it was… it wasn’t bad at all. So don’t take it wrongly and assume they were forcing me into some kind of unwanted work…”

“Well, truth be told, you and your brother have been far too sheltered” said Ozai, frowning “You should have a hard day’s work for a change”

“What?!” Zuko exclaimed, his eyes wide. Azula stared at her father in disbelief.

“Did you have a hard day’s work at all through your teenage years?” she asked.

“No. But my point still stands” Ozai said. Azula rolled her eyes.

“Never mind” she said, shaking her head “Anyways, they treated me to dinner to thank me, so that’s why I already ate”

“Well, that’s very nice of them” said Ursa, smiling. Azula nodded, containing her usual urge to disagree with her mother in everything “I hope you thanked them for it”

“Of course I did” said Azula, through gritted teeth “Anyways, that’s not the point. The thing is, we were talking and his mom said… well, she talked about their Annual Christmas Party, which apparently is a lot less formal than it sounds, so don’t get your hopes high, Dad”

“Hmm. I hadn’t, actually” Ozai said, raising an eyebrow. The mere mention of the word Christmas already was a sure way to make him not take something seriously.

“Good. Well, they told me I can come over for it” she said. Ursa’s eyes widened, and Azula was surprised to see she actually seemed disappointed, maybe even upset? Why, though? It wasn’t like their own family’s Christmas celebrations meant a damn thing, did they?

“O-oh. Well, that’s quite sweet of them” said Ursa, smiling somewhat painfully. Azula swallowed hard.

“I mean to go, so I just wanted to establish that… in case any of you want to take up the extended invitation as well” she said.

And now they all frowned in confusion.

“Extended invitation?” Ursa repeated. Azula sighed.

“Yes, Mother” she said, curtly. Her tone was as cold as ever, but the situation was so uncanny that it hardly bothered Ursa “They wanted you and Dad to be there too. And Zuko. But if you didn’t want to go, that’d be just fine as well…”

Zuko’s jaw dropped, and Ozai finally seemed to be taking the matter more seriously as he eyed his wife carefully. Ursa’s eyes glinted now, though, and Azula clenched her fists.

“So… yeah. That’s what’s going on, that’s what I wanted to say” she said “It’s on Christmas Eve. You can make up your mind about going later, if you don’t know what to think yet”

“Oh, but… it would be so wonderful”

Azula tensed up. Ursa’s voice almost trembled as she spoke. Was she about to cry? The look of utter terror in Azula’s eyes betrayed just how uncomfortable she’d be by that. Why would she cry at all?

“Wonderful? Truly?” Ozai asked her. He seemed just as puzzled by his wife’s reaction as Azula had been.

“I… well, it’s just… we’re never invited to these sorts of things, are we? Not unless they’re related to your work” she said, looking at him almost shyly “It’s never something… small, cozy. I mean, that’s how it would be, surely?”

“It… isn’t likely to be that small” Azula pointed out “There’s bound to be a ton of food, along with more decorations than in a Christmas store, so…”

“That must be quite beautiful” Ursa said, smiling. Azula’s stomach lurched.

Why wasn’t she able to tell herself Ursa was pretending to be excited about this? Why did her reactions move something inside her heart, something she hadn’t known existed until today? Something that was fairly close to that same fiber that Kya and Hakoda had stirred earlier, when they had made it clear that they welcomed her into their family…

It was her mother. Her mother was a liar, a cheater, someone she despised. And still she couldn’t help but stare on in surprise at such a favorable response to Kya’s proposal. Did this really mean so much to her mother?

“Uh… well, I wouldn’t mind going” said Zuko, shrugging “Katara’s going to be there too, right?”

“Sure. You can go sit with her in the corner of the single siblings” Azula teased him. Zuko’s eyebrows twitched as he glared at his sister. Ozai huffed.

“Well, she certainly has a point. One would think that since you’re older, you’d have had a serious relationship sooner than your sister…”

“I-I…! I’m just waiting for the right girl!” Zuko exclaimed bashfully. Ozai looked at him in disbelief “W-what…?”

“Nothing. It’s just typical of you, is all” he said, shaking his head and looking at Azula now “They aren’t just doing this to share the Christmas cheer though, are they?”

Azula swallowed hard and shook her head. Ursa’s enthusiasm froze briefly.

“What do you mean…?” she asked. Azula sighed.

“Well, evidently… his parents wanted to meet you two” she said, looking pointedly at the floor “It was as good a chance as any. So I guess that’s one of the reasons why they asked”

“You guys have dated for like two months and you’re already introducing your parents to each other?” Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula glared at him.

“I guess time moves at a different rate for you than the rest of humanity, brother, but it’s actually been four months. And yes, that’s what people in serious relationships do. Welcome to the real world”

Zuko huffed and folded his arms over his chest. Ozai smirked a little at Azula’s answer to her brother, but strangely, Ursa didn’t come to her son’s rescue. Azula glanced at her again, finding her smiling a little to herself before looking at her daughter.

“And… did they say what we should bring? I mean, it can’t be a Christmas party without…”

“I’ll have my people buy some gifts for everyone in attendance” Ozai said bluntly. Azula froze and looked at him in disbelief “What? It’s what Christmas believers do, isn’t it?”

“I… guess? But after all these years it sounds a bit strange coming from you” she answered earnestly. The remark did seem to hit her father a little harder than intended.

“I also meant… with the food, maybe?” said Ursa “I could make something, or we can buy the ingredients, or I could even get in touch with Sokka’s mother and ask her if she needs any help cooking and…”

“Woah, okay, slow down” Azula said, curtly “I get it, you’re excited, I’ll ask. Knowing them, they may not need that much help, but I’ll just… wait, does this mean you’re going?!”

The realization struck her, hard. They hadn’t rejected the invitation. Ozai hadn’t dismissed the idea immediately. Her mother hadn’t dodged it by claiming to have other things to do. Did they actually want to do this?

“Well, of course. If they’re inviting us it’s only correct to do so” said Ozai, looking at Azula skeptically “Or is it you expected your parents to be rude to your, uh… significant other’s family?”

Azula genuinely snorted. Ozai wasn’t one to use the terms boyfriend and girlfriend, especially not after he met Sokka once when Azula had brought him over to her house for a change. The two hadn’t hit it off whatsoever, but Ozai seemed determined not to give off the worst impression he could. If anything, he was usually in his best behavior possible when he was near Sokka. At least, it was as good as it could get when he was near the boy that, according to Ozai, surely had already deflowered his so very innocent daughter.

“I… I really like the sound of this, Azula” said Ursa, smiling at her “Thank you”

“I… I’m not the one who came up with this” she clarified, unwilling to let her mother even consider that she wanted to spend more time with her “I’m merely a messenger. I just thought I’d say something right away before your schedule got busy with, uh, other events, maybe. So, uh, fine then. Christmas Eve it is. I’ll let Sokka know you’ll be there, then”

The three other members of her family followed her with their gaze as she left the dining room, on her way to her bedroom. She rushed to it, closing the door behind her and wondering how did such surreal experience happen at all. Did her no-nonsense father genuinely agree to attend a happy, careless Christmas party? Did he seriously want to be there?

No, he had actually reacted just as skeptically as ever at the mention of a Christmas party. He had been skeptical even of Kya’s motives, so surely he wasn’t all that stoked, but…

But when Ursa had asked what they should bring, he jumped right away to uncharacteristically offer to buy gifts for everyone. Why? Was it… was it for her? For Ursa’s sake?

#sokkla #sokka #azula #hakya #I guess? #hakoda #kya is very much alive thank you #katara #zuko #ozai #ursa #do enjoy!

[salixj]

Secret Paths of Hope

Footsteps thundered behind them. Azula grabbed Sokka's hand and dragged him through a door into a narrow  corridor, a service corridor by the looks of it - no ornaments, wallpaper and carpeting were simple, lighting was serviceable. Plain doors met them at every angle. Azula chose another door and they were back into the main part of the palace. "This way!" she shouted, and pulled Sokka toward an alcove hosting a large urn with a plant that scrapped the sides and back. "She'll see us..." Sokka began and then his mouth fell open as lightening flashed, directed downward toward the edge of the side wall, and the panel slid back and to the side. With a jerk Azula pulled him into the dark hole. Azula stopped, Sokka didn't. He bashed his elbow against the back wall, then bounced backward and bounced against the back wall, which had silently closed behind him. "Ow!" Sokka exclaimed, and slid to the floor. "Shhh!" Azula hissed. "The rooms not soundproofed!" Then she tripped over him, falling onto his thigh, using his other leg to lever herself up. "What are you doing on the floor?" she asked, as she raised a low flame in her hand. "Wall," he pointed. "I banged into the wall and then banged into this wall," he tapped behind him. "I didn't know that wall," he pointed in front of him, "was there?" "Oh. Yeah." Azula bit her lip. "Sorry." She crunched up her nose and knelt down. "So, you aren't badly injured? Because I'm not sure your sister is in the mood to cure you right now. Though she would love this. Use it against me..." Azula curled up beside him. "Against us... we are a team Azula." Sokka slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "And I won't let her do that." He kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Shhh!!!" Azula said urgently, her head cocked to the side. She rose, gestured at him to follow, and took him around the corner toward the back of the alcove. She held her finger to her mouth, and doused the flame in her other hand. A second later he saw a sliver of gold-colored light gleaming in front of him. Azula pressed her face to the slot and he did the same, reaching out for her hand, still warm from the fire it had held moments before. They were behind the potted plant, peering through the leaves at the corridor in front of them. Soon he heard the footsteps as well. Heard his sister shriek. She must have been at the end of the corridor. Aang and Zuko must have finally caught up with her. "I will not!!!" his sister screamed. "I will kill her and I will freeze him until he stops being brainwashed." "But snookums!" Aang protested. "Shouldn't we at least..." "I'm going to kill her." There was a thump.  "Kill her and bring her back to life and then kill her again." She must have pulled away from them because she was running again, and now, in a blur passed in front of them, Zuko and Aang at her heels. Aang caught her and dragged her back a bit, and he and Azula continued to watch the exchange. "Katara, what if I promise to have my guards find her and bring her to me," Zuko pleaded. "I'll confine her to her room, and you can take Sokka away." Sokka squeezed Azula's hand, letting her know he wouldn't let that happen. "Let's go talk in my office, okay? Please?" "Now see sweetie, isn't that a good plan?" Katara narrowed her eyes. "I want to hear that command!" "Of course. Let's just go to my office..." Zuko smiled and placed his hand on her elbow and led her away. "Not happening." Sokka said as Azula closed the slit and the room returned to darkness. "Do you understand that Azula? I'm not letting anyone separate us." Azula said nothing for a few minutes, then took his hand again. "Let's go listen to them."  She raised a flame again, and indicated a section of the floor, raised a flame in her other hand, then touched, simultaneously, the top right and bottom left corners of the section, then the opposite sections, then the middles. This time the panel rose, and Azula held her hand downward. There was a pole in the center with prongs coming off it, like a ladder going down. Azula held her hand downward, lighting the space. Sokka could see the floor below - it wasn't far down, perhaps half a floor below the floor the stood upon.  "Go down and step to the right, from where you are standing now," she instructed. Sokka grabbed a pole and started downward, Azula coming directly after him, taking the other side of the pole. In a moment the door was latched again and Azula, doused her flame. Soon he was on the bottom. He stepped to the right and felt Azula beside him. "Where are we going?" he whispered. "Soundproof down here," she told him in a normal voice. "Though not where we are going." She raised a flame again. No one else could tell but he could. It was almost as if she had masked her eyes. "Azula, I promise you. I'm letting no one separate us." Azula sighed. "We can listen this way." She directed him toward the left. "Stay close!" "Azula." Azula shook her head and Sokka lapsed into silence. "Let's go." They walked side by side. Soon the reasoning for her command became clear as in several places it seemed that she was disappearing into the walls, gaps covered by clever architecture.  There were two spaces were there was nothing but a gap between sections of the floor, longer than a good jump would cover. In these places she lowered, then raised a hidden bridge.  For all the strange turns they made Sokka estimated they had only been about five minutes in the tunnels. "Wow." Sokka said as they crossed. He peered down. The floor was a good story below. "Unlikely that the person would die. Just be captured. I can then go interrogate them." "Have you ever caught anyone?" "As far as I know I'm the only one who has been down here in over a thousand years. I've upgraded things. This way," she slid open another panel. They had to step up and over a doorway. "Here. Now we have to be quiet again." She bit her lip, clearly about to trust him with something. "My spies are much fewer now. And I don't...I don't trust people, not beyond you." Sokka nodded, not at all surprised. "So ... I do my own. Father use to send me through the ducts. I found other ways. And upgraded. " She looked up at the ceiling. "My brother's office is above. It is pretty much soundproofed but still ... quiet." She opened a door revealing a cabinet filled with old blankets, candles and other odd suppllies. "Gets rather cold," she explained as she took down a few blankets as well as a candle.  There was also a weird, Y shaped tubing, much like a doctor would use to listen to someone's hearts that she grabbed from another shelf.  Azula handed him the blankets and the weird tubing, then lit the candle. Another door was opened and they entered a small chamber, clearly meant for one. Crowded with two. Which wasn't unpleasant, considering it was Azula he was with. Azula set the candle into a holder on the wall while he layered two of the blankets on the floor, reserving another to cover themselves. Azula reached above her, the ceiling being inches from their heads, and slipped a piece of the ceiling out of the way, attaching the single section to a stud in the ceiling above, then handing him one of the free ends, the other she put into her own ears. "and another thing!" Katara was saying. "If she ever comes near him again....write this down!" "I'm writing, I'm writing!" Zuko said. "You will imprison her for life. FOR LIFE!" Katara shouted. "In a deep hole she can never get out of." "Not happening," Sokka whispered to her. Azula laid her head on his chest. "I don't care what anyone says." "Snookums!!!" Aang protested. "Shouldn't we try..." "NO! This is my brother we are talking about. Clearly she has brainwashed him. Did you write that down?" "I wrote it down! I wrote it down! Anything else?" "Let me think." Azula sighed. "Zuko isn't going along with this," Sokka whispered in Azula's ear. Azula shifted on him, clearly uncertain. He didn't even need to see face to know that. "Aang certainly isn't going along with it." She made a kind of nod with her head. "I don't know that he disagrees though." "He does." Sokka dragged her onto his lap. "And it doesn't matter. My opinion matters." "Yes," Katara said. "She can't even write him. EVER. No matter what. If she does..." "I know, I know," Zuko said. "Imprisoned for life. Deep hole. Writing it down." Zuko sighed. Someone, Sokka assumed Katara, was tapping their foot, a steady papapapap above them. "Are we through now?" Zuko questioned. Katara sighed. Sokka wondered exactly what other demands his sister could even think to make. Whatever she was going to say was left unsaid as the door to Zuko's office crashed open. "This is where you all are!" Sokka recognized his father's voice. When had he arrived? He wasn't due till much later that day. "But where's the happy couple?" Ursa asked. "Happy couple?" Azula turned to stare up at Sokka. “I'm so excited," Hakoda said. “So where are they?" “Sokka wants to marry AZULA!” Katara shouted. “I know!  I'm beside myself. Joining our families like this," Hakoda said. There was a brief moment of silence. “AZULA!” Katara said. Azula gripped his hand. “Yes, Azula. Firenation's one and only Princess, at least for now. Sister of the Firelord.” Footsteps padded across the floor. “I know Katara, and when I first heard, well I was a bit surprised.” “I wasn't,” Ursa said, almost laughing. “I knew the two were falling in love before they did themselves.” Sokka gave Azula a kiss. “This is who your brother loves," Hakoda said. Sokka wished they could see as well as hear. In his minds eyes the scene played out. His father standing with his hands on his sister's shoulders, a gentle pressure , making her look up at him. “And this is who I will love. If trust your brother...” “I do but ....” “Then you need to trust his choices. And she is his choice. And he is hers.” The room quiet again. A chair scraped against the floor. “Katara, about these orders?” Zuko asked. The papers rattled. “Katara,” Aang said. “Please?” “I still don't like it,” Katara sighed, and there was a scritch scratch of the papers being torn. “But okay.” Ursa laughed, and someone clapped their hands. “So, let's go find the happy couple. Before they elope," Ursa said. “I think I know where they are.” Azula stood, took the listening device and sealed the hole in the ceiling. “We should go let them find us.” She took up the candle and headed for the door. “Leave the blankets, I'll get them later.” Sokka dropped the blankets he had been gathering and joined Azula at the door. “Okay fiancée. Let's go meet the family. But where does your mother think you are?" Azula smiled. “Ruins. She hated that I played there. ‘You touch those walls they'll fall down all around you!’ ” Azula sniffed. “Yeah. Imagine that. Worrying that her daughter might get killed by falling stone.” Azula frowned. “Oh.  Oh! That's what she was worrying about?" Sokka shook his head. “Sometimes my lovely bride to be... In a few minutes you can ask her yourself. I assume there is a shortcut?" Azula nodded and took his  hand.

#Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #corrected my name mistake

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Wan High Weeping (Chapter 28)

Katara wished that she hadn’t let Aang run off, in retrospect it would be her fault if things went unwell for both she and him. They should have just stuck together. She should have known that Sokka would get wrapped up in the party and forget about her. Frankly she didn’t understand why spin the bottle appealed to him at all, considering he had a pregnant girlfriend. In equal part, she didn’t understand why Suki didn’t have a problem with it. The more she thought about it the more frustrated she got. With nothing better to do, she flipped through the pages of her book.

She heard footsteps behind her and jerked. "Wow there, it's just me."

 Giving the book a good slam she exclaimed, "well gee, thanks, Sokka!" She was growing more frustrated by the second. He knew very well that she was on edge and he was going out of his way to bother her. Just like everything else, this whole thing was a joke.

 She noticed him rising his hands, the gesture only irked her more. "You're jumpy tonight."

 "I know right, it's almost like I have a stalker or something who just so happens to be at this party. It's not like I came here because my older brother said that he'd hang out with me." And now came the part where she blamed herself. Because, really, who else was to blame. "Wow. I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I thought that this would go well…" She knew very well that it was going to be an awful time but she took the optimistic route and went against her gut.

 "Come on, Kat. Now you're making me feel bad."

 "You should feel bad." Suki said for her. "We told her that we'd make sure she had a good time tonight and we decided to play spin the bottle instead."

 Katara thought that she muttered an apology as well but she was pretty much done listening. She was at her wits end. She was really only a finger’s length away from snapping at one or both of them. Why, oh, why had she let Aang leave?

Sokka sat down next to her and she made a point of ignoring him. Though she didn’t know if that was a good idea. He and Suki were pretty much her only line of defense at this crazy party. This crazy party that was sending her anxiety soaring through the roof. She should have stayed home and carved pumpkins with Hakoda and watched Halloween specials with Kya. Spending the night at home with her parents like the dork she was, would have been the wiser choice.

 “Want to have a go at the pinata?” Suki tried.

“Might help you let out some of that tension.” Sokka added

 The only things she wanted to take a bat to right then were Jet’s kneecaps. But she didn’t protest and allowed the couple to lead her over to the pinata. She offered it a good swing but barely put a dent in it so she passed it to Suki, opting to look over her shoulder again.

There he was.

Watching her.

But only until he met her gaze, then he was back in the crowed again, probably off to harass someone else for a moment.

 She stepped to the side for a swarm of people to pick up the candy that flowed from the pinata. At least now she could do something else, she didn’t see the point in breaking the pinata only to have to fight for the prize.

 "The baby wants to take a trip to the concessions stand."

 "The baby or Suki?" Sokka asked.

 Apparently, that was their new thing, asking if Suki wanted to do something or if it was the baby. Katara supposed that it didn’t matter who was asking, she was getting kind of hungry anyways. She gave her approval of their new activity idea and they were on their way, but not before Sokka could make another one of his needlessly sexual jokes, “but the real snack is right here." That kind of humor never struck her fancy and it certainly wasn’t earning him any brownie points that night."Eww, gross." She swatted him. "Not in front of your little sister."

 Katara didn’t really know what she had expected. But the pair, though they sat with her, basically ignored her to flirt with each other and give bedroom eyes. She whipped out her book again, she might as well be in the safety of her home doing that. But no, she had taken Sokka’s word. Sokka and Suki’s…she might just find a seat a Teo’s lunch table on Monday.

.oOo.

 "Oh, hi Katara!" TyLee’s voice was the first pleasing sound that she had heard all night. She didn’t know how she had forgotten about TyLee! Maybe Aang was busy with Moo-Chee and maybe her brother and Suki were busy with each other. But it looked like Mai had ran off too. They were in the same dismal boat and in the same dangerous waters.

 Katara set her book down and wrapped her arm around the girl. “Where’s Mai?”

 TyLee shrugged. “She’s not in a good mood tonight.”

 “Is she ever?” Katara asked.

 TyLee thought for a moment. “She used to smile more. Anyways she kind of just snuck off after she saw the whole Azula thing...”

 The Azula thing? Katara wondered.

 “I feel kind of bad, ya know? I was going to say something but Usha kind of beat me to it and then Azula left. I don’t think she even noticed me.”

 “What Azula thing?” Katara asked. “What happened.” She didn’t care for gossip, but she’d probably hear about it anyways, she might as well get it from a more reliable source.

 “To be honest, I don’t exactly know what happened. She was eating a lot though.”

 Katara furrowed her brows. “Teo mentioned something like that to me.”  Azula was the last person that she wanted to sympathize with, but she was making a tad too easy. Before she could really put any pieces together she was interrupted by a sharp and jesting wail.

 "You better not!"

 But Sokka was already licking Suki’s face.

 The entirety of Katara’s own bunched up in disgust. "Really, Sokka?"

 She watched Suki smash a brownie into his face.

 "That's fair."

 TyLee was rather gleeful. "You guys are funny."

 "I do my best." Sokka replied with as stupid half bow.

 But Katara wasn’t amused in the slightest. "You two need to get a room, that's what you need to do." She fixed him with her best angry glare. She barely listened to his equally as idiotic joke. "Ya know what, Sokka? Sure. It's whatever you want it to be.” She picked up her book, hopped off of her chair, and stomped…well, she didn’t know which direction she was stomping in, but she was stomping.

 "Katara!" She almost didn’t hear TyLee. Even though she did, she kept walking, she didn’t want Sokka nor Suki to follow her. It was only when she gained a safe distance that she slowed her pace.

 “Are you okay?” TyLee asked.

 “Just perfect!” Katara threw her hands up.

 “What’s going on?”

 “I only came to this ridiculous party because Sokka said that we’d be hanging out, but all he wants to do is flirt with Suki. I swear he’s probably the horniest idiot alive!”

 TyLee laughed softly, rubbing at her bicep. “I know what you’re feeling. I’m only here because Mai said that she wanted to hang out.” Her face fell. “People have been really…distant lately and I don’t know if it’s me or them or all of us.”

 Katara tried to think of a response.

 “I think that it might be me. I’ve been kind of a downer lately. I pulled away from Azula.”

 “Why?”

 “I was kind of getting tired of watching her pick on you and other people. She wanted me to join her like usual and I just don’t like making people sad.” TyLee replied.

 That cheered Katara up some. “That means a lot TyLee.”

 “But I pushed Mai away and the girls on my poms team too.” She sighed. “Everyone is so used to peppy, happy TyLee, that when she’s gone, they leave too.” She paused. “I can’t be happy all the time…”

 “Why aren’t you happy?”

 “It starts with a J and its dressed like a zombie.”

 “I wish he was a zombie. Then we could take him down and no one would care.” Katara agreed. She tired to smile but she partly blamed herself for TyLee’s problems. She had a hunch that Jet had used TyLee as a rebound. If only she hadn’t broken up with him…

Now she was thinking all crazy. Of course she had to break up with him.

She just wished that she knew how to be rid of him entirely.

 She wished that he wasn’t leering at her from his spot by the punch bowl.

 She turned back to TyLee, trying her hardest to ignore him and the vibes that he was sending. She finished off the lollipop she was holding and took a sip of apple cider. She looked back in Jet’s direction but she had lost sight of him.

Maybe it would be a good idea to stare him down all night.

 Uneasily she asked TyLee if she knew which direction he had went in. Katara set her cup down and beckoned for TyLee to follow her. She did a decent sweep of the areas closest to them before returning to her seat with know insight as to where Jet had disappeared too.

 She decided that it was indeed, much worse when she couldn’t see him.

 .oOo.

 Katara just wanted to go home. TyLee or not the party was taking a massive toll. The room was getting stuffy and her glittery make up was starting to feel scratchy. Evidently, she was feeling a little dizzy so she took another sip of her drink. There were way too many bodies in that room and they were only making the temperature rise. She never did do good in the heat. She drank another sip. Evidently the whole party scene was making her feel nauseous.

 She wanted to call Sokka so badly, but she also wanted to stay mad and let him know that she was furious. The best way to accomplished that, she had found over the years, was to ignore him and his childish antics.

Lord, her stubbornness was going to be the death of her.

 “I have to go to the bathroom.” TyLee noted. “Come with?”

 “Yeah, sure.” Katara nodded. She didn’t exactly have to go, but she didn’t want to be alone either so she followed TyLee passed the kitchen and into a hallway. It was easy to forget how many of these parties TyLee probably attended, until she watched her navigate the house with ease.

 TyLee found the correct door and slipped in with an, “I’ll be quick.”

 Katara nodded, thinking that she had made the right call. She was still a little fuzzy but with some distance from the pounding music and the disorientation of the flashing strobe lights, she was starting to feel a little better.

Better but sleepy.

 She checked her phone for the time. Nearly 12:30. She groaned, she should have been in bed an hour ago at most. Ideally, she would have been in bed three hours ago. This party, if not her stubbornness, was going to be the death of her.

 “Hey kitty Kat.”

 The slow drawl sent a chill down her spine.

 “I was hoping we could have a one on one conversation.” Jet smirked.

 She looked at the bathroom door. She really didn’t want to ditch TyLee. But she had to get away from Jet. She was certain that TyLee would understand. Hell, TyLee might even thank her for leading Jet away from her. So she made a run for it.

 It was hard to text Sokka while running. It was harder still with her head spinning. It was too hot. There were too many people. Yet Jet was the only person she could see. She had to find someone, anyone. Oh, where was Aang?

 Hell, she’d take help from Mai if she could pick her out in the crowd.

 She spied Moo-Chee striding triumphantly back towards his corner. That meant that Aang had to be nearby! Relief coursed through her as she spotted a bald head in the crowd. “Aang!”

 From the look of it, he hadn’t heard her. So Katara cried out again, this time with more power and desperation. “Aang, please!”

 An arm snaked around hers. Her heart raced. She was going to have to fight. She hadn’t hit or shoved anyone since the elementary school playground. She gave Jet a good knee to the stomach. She heard the air woosh from his lungs, but his grip on her arm only tightened. So she clawed at his arm. She was feeling so faint and oh so hot. “Aang!” She called out again, knowing very well that he wasn’t there. Why wasn’t Sokka answering her?

Was he that mad?

She should have texted Suki and TyLee too.

 She was such a fool.

A fool for coming to this party.

And a fool for doing so with no plan in mind.

#Avatar #Katara #TyLee #Sokka #Suki #Azula #Mai #Aang #Toph #Jet #Zuko #Fanfiction

[seyaryminamoto]

This is the first time I have come across Sokka and Azula being shipped seriously. This interests me, so would you care to explain why you ship them? =)

Well, I have explained a few times before… or a lot of times xD but alas, if something can get me rambling, it’s a question like this.

Alright, soooooo… why Sokka and Azula? Why not any other combination of characters? Why did I have to choose these two despite their canon interactions are so few and far apart that sometimes it made me, a hardcore shipper, lose my mind, desperate for more?

Everything really sums up to one word: potential.

People have all sorts of reasons to ship anything they like. The most common one you see out there, in fandoms, is history: the childhood friends trope is very loved, for instance, and even I can’t help but love certain ships built on the basis of long-term, strong relationships that could endure absolutely any obstacles. When shows take ten thousand years to get that big fan couple together, people will start gushing about all the history the pairing has, and alas, it’s a great reason to love a pairing!

But as you will notice, there’s no such canonical history between Sokka and Azula. What is the root of this ship, if not shared history? What makes me say they have potential, when they seldom interact?

The potential we shippers see comes from something else entirely. It comes not from history, but from the contrast between their characters, the parallels, the similarities and the differences between them. All this brought together can give birth to a unique relationship that, to this day, I can’t realistically picture brewing between any other characters in this show aside from Sokka and Azula.

Alright, to start off:

1. The parallels and circumstances: Sokka and Azula were born to the family of leaders in their respective nations. The situations aren’t 100% the same, but their fathers are the leaders of their communities and their mothers had a closer relationship with their other sibling. In regards of their relationships with said siblings, Sokka and Azula are the rational, even cold-blooded siblings at times, in contrast with their emotional and hot-headed siblings, Zuko and Katara.

Curiously, with the upbringing they have, Sokka and Azula both turn out to be the siblings who tease the others, the ones with the sense of humor (I will never let anyone forget Azula’s absurd puns), They’re the ones who grew up with a tight bond with their fathers, looking up to them and wanting to follow on their footsteps - not that Zuko didn’t try to do it too, but the difference here lies in how the fathers reacted to it: Ozai embraces Azula’s attempts to imitate him and rejects Zuko’s, while Hakoda tries to teach Sokka how to be a leader and a warrior, much like he is. So, Azula and Sokka have similar relationships with their fathers.

And just so, they’re the ones who are more military/strategy oriented of their pair of siblings. Azula was, hands down, a strategist and intellectual, shown as she can recite perfectly what Ozai requests from her as a child in Zuko Alone, and shown again when Zuko asks her about Sozin’s history, uncertain of his own knowledge but assuming Azula would know better. Sokka, likewise, is the “plan guy” in Team Avatar, and the one who was ecstatic and determined to go to a Library. Sokka loves learning new things, and from the looks of it, Azula may be intellectually inclined as well.

Also, they’re the most awkward flirts you’ve ever seen. Combine “Maybe we could do an activity together?” with “That’s a sharp outfit...” and you find yourself with the most hilarious attempt of courtship ever seen.

Considering all this, we also have the issue that comes with their insecurities. The complicated relationships with their mothers, the sense of inadequacy... they’ve both canonically felt the despair of not being good enough, Sokka struggled with it silently for a long time, begrudging his sister for her special skills. Azula felt it too, while watching as her friends picked to side with her brother over her. Sokka felt it as well when his father left him behind in the Water Tribe as he took off to the war... and Azula did it in the same circumstances, years later, as her father leaves her behind, too. Even in these regards, they’re similar.

In conclusion, their upbringing may have just had a hand in grooming them into being this similar to one another, no matter that they were as different as they were. These experiences are the kind of thing that could easily bring two people together, realistically speaking. There’s a lot of potential bonding that could happen because of this.

2. The differences: these two are also vastly different, and of course, the opposites attract notion has been repeated to no end with this ship and many others. But what’s going on with Sokkla isn’t that simple, I believe. People can ship something on the premise of “opposites attract”, but I personally can’t do it unless there’s more substance to it than just that (ergo why I like the parallels I listed above more than I like the differences).

So, let’s list the obvious differences, shall we? Princess and peasant (despite there’s a lot of people who like to think otherwise, but upbringing-wise, Sokka lived far more humbly than Azula did and that’s really what this is about), water and fire, bender and non-bender, moral and amoral, sociable and loner, healthy family and unhealthy family. 

Amongst the not-so-obvious differences, I said they’re great at strategy, but as it turns out, they’re great at different kinds of strategies: Sokka loves long-scale plans, but they fail for him more often than not. He’s better at improvising, at thinking of solutions on his feet. Meanwhile, Azula is the opposite: she regroups when a plan fails, then builds new plans steadily, but with perfect precision so that everything falls into place when it has to.

The differences abound, by the tons, but as you may see, they’re not the worst kind of differences. While it sounds cliché as heck, even the example of the way their strategies work is ideal to prove why these differences aren’t quite as problematic as they can seem. If they work together, those differences become complementary. Take your time to imagine what a strategy concocted by Sokka and Azula would look like: who on earth would be able to stop these two if they joined forces? I tell you, no one on ATLA’s cast would stand a chance xD

The differences between them are pivotal for the third point, I’ll say. And that’s where things really kick in.

3. What they could become together: Sokka and Azula are of course not without flaw, they’re both pragmatists to the point of cold-bloodedness, he can be really goofy sometimes, she can be extremely amoral often, so as much as I adore them in every sense, I know there’s a lot of room for character growth in both of them, even now (yes, I sing praises for Sokka’s development, but I’ll be damned as a fan if I didn’t realize he can grow even more than he already did!).

The one who clearly needs to grow more is Azula, nobody will question that. Her downfall is very heartbreaking and everyone wants her to heal. I am not going to claim Sokka and Sokka alone can patch her up, that’s absurd. But I do believe Azula needs support from someone who’s as emotionally strong as Sokka proved to be throughout the show, someone who will stand by her even in her darkest moments, someone who doesn’t give up on those he loves. Sokka fits the requirement just right. 

3A. But why Sokka, and not anyone else? Because Sokka, who’s one of the characters with the best moral compasses in this show, is also not a preacher. If Azula chooses to take an aggressive stance on something, or a threatening one, Sokka might talk her down from that by showing that approaching the problem from a different angle will be more efficient. Sokka isn’t above murder, that’s something that cannot be forgotten: he knows sometimes you can’t find peaceful solutions for problems, as it was in canon when they killed Combustion Man. But Sokka would seek any other solution before reaching the point of killing someone. Spending time with someone who has a good moral compass, but who isn’t high-and-mighty about it, is the kind of thing that I think Azula would benefit from. With him, she can learn to let go of her father’s teachings of using fear as the means to control anyone: Sokka would show her why that’s pointless, really.

And speaking of which… it’s canon that Sokka isn’t inherently terrified of her. Azula could intimidate Ty Lee into submission, even send Mai away with a mere suggestion (and sure, Mai glared at her but still left as she was asked), she can terrify her brother and uncle enough to make them think the Earth Kingdom killing them isn’t as bad as being handed over to Azula… and yet, when she goads Sokka during in the Eclipse, he doesn’t hold back. He doesn’t back down. He gets up in her face and yells, demands for the truth. He will not let her walk over him, and even when she regains her bending afterwards, he makes a move as if to go after her before he realizes it’s futile. But he isn’t scared. He’s courageous enough that in the Chase he swings his club at her as she’s running off, tosses his boomerang faster than the elements the others sent at her. His sword threatened her far more than Zuko’s bending in the Boiling Rock when the two of them took her on. Sokka kept her in check, never hurt her, but it SHOWS that Sokka isn’t going to back down on her just because she’s threatening. Heck, even the comics prove this! He took her on, one-on-one, in the Search. And heck, he survived despite the roof collapsed :’D wouldn’t you consider that quite a feat?

Point being, Sokka will NEVER let Azula walk over him. And this is something that makes me believe he’d gain her respect rather quickly. He’s not a minion, he’s not a vassal: he’s a leader in his own right, and I believe Azula would acknowledge it. 

Why would she? Because she ditched an entire firebending procession in favor of traveling with two non-benders. Because she took a legion of earthbenders under her command, no matter that they weren’t Fire Nation: contrary to the popular belief, Azula’s sense of superiority doesn’t blind her to other people’s skills, regardless of who they are or where they come from. She’s willing to find allies anywhere, and the show proves it clearly. Why would she scoff at Sokka for being a non-bender when she didn’t do this to Mai and Ty Lee? Why would she scoff at him for not being Fire Nation when she didn’t do that with the Dai Li? Well, my answer is that she wouldn’t scoff at all. Not if they met under better circumstances than they tend to meet in canon, or if they amend their relationship somewhat.

Sokka has a lot to offer Azula, but the first thing that hooked me on this pairing was the realization that he might actually make her laugh to the point of tears. Sokka’s jokes, silly as they can be, are the sort of thing that definitely could fly with the girl responsible for “the Avatar’s fangirls”, and nobody’s ever going to convince me otherwise. The real thing that hooked me is that this goofy boy, with his witty comments, his sarcasm, his often poorly-disguised enthusiasm for all things new, could really bring happiness to someone like Azula. The little history between them is bad, yes, they were at opposite sides of a war, but as enemies they could respect each other. As friends? I think they would find they suit each other really well, their senses of humor match, their countless list of things in common do, too. Even if someone doesn’t want them to become romantic, the potential between their interactions is so great it fascinates me even after all this time. They have it in them to be amazing partners, whatever the nature of their relationship.

The bad blood between them isn’t the kind of bad blood I see between Azula and any of her Fire Nation friends. She never expected anything good from the members of Team Avatar, but she did from the Fire Nation gang. She had helped her brother out but that went to waste in her eyes, and their relationship only ever got worse to the point of them damn near fighting to the death in the finale. She was definitely not the greatest friend to Mai and Ty Lee, but she believed they were friends for real: they betrayed her. The amount of backstabbing Azula has received is kind of overwhelming. People can think she had it coming, whatever, but those wounds are a lot more likely to open again when dealing with the people who inflicted them in the first place. Team Avatar was always just the enemy for her. She doesn’t need to bounce back from being double-crossed with them, so honestly, I find that establishing bonds with them could be smoother for her than trying her luck with everyone who turned their backs on her before. She should have new friends that she knows aren’t lying to her face, or shooting glares at her when she’s not paying attention. 

And that brings up another reason why Sokka is so good for her, in my opinion: he is terribly, ABSURDLY, blunt and honest. Sokka’s attempts to lie his way out of anything are laughable, and for someone like Azula, it’ll always be obvious that he’s lying. But he’d never lie about serious things, too, which is where his great principles are a wonderful thing for this relationship. He’s not going to be dishonest to her, and she’ll know it. She’s a people person xD she can tell when someone’s absolutely honest, and she’ll find that Sokka is practically incapable of dishonesty. So whenever she’s doing something he disapproves of, he’ll say it. He speaks his mind, always, no matter the cost. He doesn’t even know how to hold his tongue. 

Finally… the honesty part ties in with something essential for me in a stable, healthy relationship for Azula. This girl has gone her whole life telling herself she’s a monster: when someone as honest as Sokka gets to know her, and lets her know she’s not one? No doubt her life would end up upside down because of it, but she’d know he’s not lying. She’d know he’s saying it because he truly believes it. Sure, it’s a huge source of drama for their relationship anyways xD but if Sokka loves her, her fears of not being deserving of love could start to be dismissed. If her enemy from the times of the war could possibly grow to have feelings for her… well, first off she’d think he’s crazy xD but once it kicks in, so much of what she feared and dreaded about herself would be disproved. I know many people expect this problem of Azula’s to be fixed through her family, but as I said above, the bad blood there is so damn bad that I don’t see why someone else can’t do it instead. Maybe it’s not the ideal way, but I believe it would work. 

So, that’s quite a bit on why Sokka suits Azula as well as he does. But you might be wondering by now if it’s a two-way street: can someone like Azula be good for someone else? Well… you might be surprised.

3B. But why Azula, and not anyone else? Sokka has a ton of love interests in-canon, and a ton more ships outside of canon. So why would I dare claim Sokkla is the best ship for him?

Something funny I like to bring up is that what people love in Sokka’s most popular ships gets gathered into one with Sokkla. 

The main reason why people ship Yuekka: impossible love, princess and peasant, he did everything he could for her, didn’t stand a chance and fell head over heels for a girl who loved him but loved her nation too. So… Azula and Yue are obviously characters who differ in A LOT of aspects, in fact, in most of them. But they share two things: they’re princesses, and they would do ANYTHING for their nation. Azula’s goal when striving to become Fire Lord is to be a great leader for her nation, remember? Curious coincidence, right? So… if Sokka falls for Azula, you get these same elements that you had with Yuekka. Funny.

Top billed reason why people ship Sukka: “I’m a warrior but I’m a girl too”. That quote sold a lot of people on this ship, and frankly it’s the main reason why Sokka and Suki are together at all: both are warriors but her feminine side appeals to him anyways. Do I even need to say who’s a girl and a warrior, AND A STRATEGIST JUST LIKE HIM…? Yeah. I don’t. You already know :’D

Top billed reason why people ship Tokka: Toph and Sokka were hilarious together, right? Got along really well, they even bonded over Katara being annoying and all that. They were the nickname ones, the jokesters, offered a lot of comic relief in the show. But alas… I am not a fan of the comics, yet Sokka and Azula provided comic relief just fine too. As I pointed out above, Sokka and Azula grew up with very similar siblings: they could just as easily bond over that, too.

Point being, Sokkla can pull everything off. At the same time. It really can. You could say that Sukka’s famous line applies to Tokka too, but it doesn’t work with Yuekka. You can’t say the appeal of Yuekka can also be found in Tokka because Toph actually doesn’t care for worldly affairs the way Yue did (she doesn’t join Team Avatar out of wanting to help people, she does it to be free and to have a chance to be herself, completely personal reasons). The comic relief thing about Toph and Sokka having similar senses of humor can’t apply to either Sukka or Yuekka. And Yuekka’s circumstances simply don’t apply for Sukka either.

So Sokkla has the potential that every one of these ships has, and more. It even gathers factors that the other ships didn’t have (as I mentioned, relationships with family, interest in strategy and intellectual pursuits), and adds several that I find pivotal for why Azula can help Sokka grow lots:

Azula is a challenge. What does canon show us regarding Sokka and challenges? He absolutely THRIVES in them. Sokka can claim he wants to have a peaceful and easy life, but the minute something extraordinary happens, he’s all over it and doing his best to be part of it. Sokka was set free from burdens and allowed to grow into the young man he became because of the challenge of stopping the Fire Nation. It was a fight they could have lost, but he did his damnedest to help his friends succeed.

Yue was a challenge of sorts for him, too. She was out of his reach, and he tried to love her without being with her, which showed an amazing nobility from him and proved how much he can care about the people he falls in love with. It ended too fast for anyone to say if that relationship could have gotten anywhere, but it was promising, if anything.

As for Suki… I really don’t love the ship. And one of the reasons I don’t is because while they care about each other, I feel that Sokka doesn’t need to try at all. Being comfortable is fine, but as I said earlier, Sokka thrives in challenges. He loves proving himself, and he did to Suki early on, but he doesn’t need to prove anything anymore. Thus, their relationship isn’t the kind I think would suit Sokka best. It’s not a relationship that compels him to do better, to try harder, to give it his everything.

A relationship with Azula would be the absolute opposite of that. Sokka would know Azula doesn’t settle for mediocrity in anything and he will not be a man who doesn’t deserve her. He would constantly strive to better himself, and she would help him reach his potential as a fighter and even as a leader, because that’s the kind of stuff she knows, and it’s the kind of stuff he’s interested in. So he can learn more about these things with her! In any case, he’s not going to have a single second of boredom with Azula. Not a chance. And I really think that’s something Sokka would love to enjoy in his life: a relationship that never ever feels complacent.

And another thing that always gets to me is Sokka’s acute awareness of how ordinary he seems in comparison to all his friends. It’s a nonsensical thing if you ask me, HE’S WONDERFUL! XD but he has these insecurities, and those insecurities can gnaw at him a lot. Wouldn’t it be great for him to be with someone, a partner who would make him realize how amazing he is? And I don’t mean that Azula would spend all day coddling him and telling him he’s remarkable: I mean that she would make him feel remarkable, because nobody can hold a relationship with Azula the way Sokka can, no matter how hard they may try. In a fully stabilized relationship, where they’ve both worked together to reach their full potential individually and together, these two really would develop a bond like no other. A relationship this incredible would be so strong it could reduce Sokka’s insecurities a huge lot. And I’d say that’s yet another point in favor for this ship. 

4. The potential: with everything I said, I think it should be clear now why I talk so much about this ship being one based on potential. Nothing is set in stone, you can really do whatever you want in fanfiction with this pairing. You don’t have nearly enough canon interaction that you can take as shippy, no landmarks, nothing you absolutely need to feature… you really can do anything.

There’s Sokkla fics about them being partners in some organization, be it the White Lotus or anything else, there’s Sokkla fics where they’re a happily married pair, there’s fics where Azula captures Sokka that can start dark and go light, or even stay dark all along. There’s modern AUs, there’s crossovers of all kinds… there’s SO MUCH you can do with Sokkla. So much. These two really aren’t limited by anything, as far as I can see. People can portray their relationship as the healthiest in the Avatarverse, but some enjoy drama or angst, and they can take the relationship towards a toxic angle if it suits them. Someone can write them in the fluffiest of fluff, simply being happy together, and instants later they can give them the wildest smut you’ve ever imagined. And if done right? Everything will work. EVERYTHING.

Canon didn’t give us the ship, but it gave us the possibility. As I am, I don’t even worry about it becoming canon or not anymore: the richness of stories I’ve seen with these two is so vast I am constantly in awe over it. There’s been some serious fanfiction masterpieces for Sokkla that anyone should read (but if you want those, there’s another ask for fic recommendations waiting for me, so hold on and I’ll get to it eventually xD). The worlds that can be created for these two are amazing, truly.

And well… maybe you know this, but I’ll say it in case you don’t. I’ve spent almost five years of my life writing a fic about Sokka and Azula in the most compulsive manner EVER. Five years WITHOUT writer’s block. Five years of constant work in an AU that has already spanned over 1.6M words. What can I tell you of this experience? That I could have never made it this far, and created something this vast, with another leading pairing. I can’t replace their characters with others, I can’t write a version of Gladiator with, say, Toph and Zuko instead. It wouldn’t work. I can’t do it with Azula and Aang. It would never work the way it does if the main characters weren’t Sokka and Azula, and if their relationship wasn’t the main line that moves the plot forward (or slows it down, sometimes). I’ve rewritten ATLA as a whole, and gone further than I ever imagined I would with a story.

And it’s all because of them. Because that’s how much potential they have. Whatever criticism Gladiator deserves for my decisions, the fact remains that the story wouldn’t even be even a pale shadow of what it is if it weren’t about Sokka and Azula.

Lastly… doesn’t hurt that they make a beautiful pair, does it? :D

(Sokka and Azula by Drakyx)

Nope. Certainly doesn’t hurt one bit.

So, I hope if you got through this absurdly long ask, you would take two things with you: first, this wonderful ship has a ton of potential and it just takes a willing eye to see it. They’re a remarkable match in every way, seriously. Sometimes I get so lost in it I forget there’s next to no canon material about them, because of how real the connection between these two characters feels to me xD

The second thing I want you to take with you is…

… I talk a lot. I have too many feels about Sokkla. If you ask me to talk about them, I will ramble for hours, as I just did :’D hope you enjoyed reading my crazy gushing, and if your curiosity is still stirred, stick around and I’ll recommend Sokkla fics very soon! Thanks for the excuse to squee about them!

#anon #sokkla #sokka #azula #and I rambled again #how many times will I ramble today I do not know but I sure am happy about this last session of rambling xD #this is the kind of stuff I wanna talk all day about yes