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thebleedingwoodland · 2 years

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Time to release draft I wrote in year 2021.

Warning: ⚠️Very long post, no hide. Important critical about faulty of The Sims 3 game content directed to EA (Electronic Arts) company. ⚠️ English is not my first language. I cannot input many images/pictures for evidences because the post is already too long, please do research by yourself to find more images/pictures.

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As an ethnically Chinese, I baffled seeing what EA portraying China/Chinese culture in TS3 World Adventures world Shang Simla. For more than 10 years. It is full of wrong ignorant portrayal, obviously without asking input from actual Chinese people and portraying the world as “China inspired East Asian world with American Chinatown based on what Westerners’ perspective”.

If you are non Chinese, non Asian, please do not believe nonsense what EA made in Shang Simla.

Using icon of Japan: Torii Gate.

To be more specific, Itsukushima Shrine.

There are Great Wall, Chinese Gate, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven in the game, why didn’t (logically) EA made the icon based on one of the builds? France and Egypt have correct icons with same build in the game, Eiffel Tower and Pyramid. Imagine if Windenburg, TS4 Europe world, has American Liberty Statue as icon, what’s your reaction?

There is one person already complained about the matter on EA forum, no response from EA themselves. https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-World-Adventures-is-incorrect-and-technically-racist/td-p/3474359

Symbol for China should be: Forbidden City / Great Wall / Pai Fang (牌坊)

Shang Simla residents bowing to other Sims when greeting. Chinese people DO NOT BOW when greeting people, but shake hand as usual. The only Chinese people bowing is when we are in important respectful and formal events, such as showing respect to the dead person in funeral / cemetery and religious events, or any formal apologies by company and services in China and Taiwan. For normal occasions, meeting other people casually, there is no bow in Chinese culture, only Japanese and Koreans who bow. I guess EA added the “bow” culture to make Shang Simla more “exotic” and more “Asian”, as Al Simhara and Champs Les Sims have local gesture greeting.

Fortune Cookies. There is no such thing as Fortune Cookies in Chinese culture. Fortune Cookies are cookies originated from Japan, spread to USA country, popularized by Japanese immigrants to Chinese restaurant in USA. “China” world? More like American Chinatown, located in USA. It is not first EA did that mistake in TS3, In TS4, EA added Fortune Cookies symbol in street food vendor for Chinese food stall.

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/fortune-cookies-2/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_cookie

Accurate historical Chinese food / dessert = Mooncake (in Autumn) or Zongzi (in Summer).

Mooncake, TS3 CC made by LunaYue

Left: Zongzi from Southern part of China, TS3 CC made by me, right: Zongzi from Northern part of China, TS4 CC made by Rex.

There is Korean household in Shang Simla. Ho Sung Kim, Hui Young Kim, Sun Young Kim Why did EA added Korean Sims in “China” country? As if EA wants to mix up China setting, Japan icon & bowing culture, Korean Sims as one “exotic” East Asian country. Why called it China (literally in-game) if EA added fusion with Japanese and Korean elements?

“Asian trait” for Shang Simla residents, instead of “Chinese trait”. Did EA know Asian is continent, not only one country? Which consists many countries? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_countries_by_area China only cannot represent Asian continent. Southeast Asian countries and other regions of Asia do not use chopsticks when eating. Southeast Asia uses spoon & fork and hand. South Asia uses hand.

Houses in Shang Simla are very exaggerated Ancient China palace style, so silly and hilarious. According to EA, Chinese resident house must look like stereotypical exotic curved palace like portrayed in movies.

While ordinary Chinese residents (in villages) are like THESE .

Square boxy, normal looking roof. Curved palace looking like what you saw is for kingdom in high position in ancient dynasty time, not for poor or ordinary peasant citizens. If you see that kind of curved building in modern time, is for community lots and as tourist attraction. Not for ordinary residential houses. I envy for Al Simhara and Champs Les Sims, they at least have better portrayal of Egypt and France in modern setting, but in villages. Their Sims residents do not live in tacky Versailles mansion- like house or Pyramid-like building.

There’s one dish called Egg Rolls, which is actually called Spring Rolls in Chinese & Asian countries. The dish placed together with noodles in one plate, which looks very weird and gross 🤢 , it’s like putting burger and spaghetti in one plate.

Chinese and other Southeast Asian countries place and eat Spring Rolls in one plate, as a individual meal or snack, not place it together with another main course meal. Like THIS.

I suspect the culture of American people putting all food in one plate in “Americanized Chinese food” buffet restaurant.

Small issue but a bit annoyance: Shang Simla wives have the same last name with their husbands. While actually in Chinese culture, married women still keep their birth last name, not following their husband’s last name. What I know, western culture forces married women to change their last name same as their husband‘s last name. As TS3 game has feature of separating last name and household name, better make more sense to make the husband and wife of Shang Simla residents having different last name.

EA confused “modern setting but taking place in village” with “ancient time”. “Shang Simla, China is home to people that value discipline, peace, and clarity of mind over all else...” . The description is very stereotype Hong Kong Kung Fu movie (Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, etc) taking place in ancient time. Real Chinese culture value family, fortune, culture, food over all else. “Discipline, peace, clarity of mind”...? Must be “fantasy” made by westerners thinking China is still stuck in ancient dynasty time practicing martial arts with martial arts-like “discipline” rules like depicted in fictional movies. EA must be confuse “Quietness, peaceful society” to Japan. Chinese people culture in general is very extroverted, loud, and noisy. Champs Les Sims and Al Simhara obviously taking place in modern but in village. “ Champs Les Sims, France offers the cultural elite some of the finer things in life. Sims can learn the fine culinary art of nectar making, or flash over with a camera to learn the Photography Skill.” Sounds normal and applicable in modern time. Local Champs Les Sims do not dress like in ancient European Medieval or France Revolution era. Local Al Simhara wearing conservative long dress with head cover as Muslim society, not ancient Egypt Pharaoh-like clothing.

Very stereotype view about Chinese by westerners: Kung Fu. TS3 Martial Arts in-game are not comparable to real Chinese Martial Arts, definitely not all. It’s just a made up cartoony fighting of generic punch, kick, parry for E rating game / suitable for children by EA, mix up with Japanese Karate (breaking block). If you want to see better portrayal of Chinese Martial Arts for Teen Rating game, go play fighting game like Tekken. (Nah, that’s fighting game. For real life wushu you can see example like THIS or many more on internet. I’m not interested in Chinese Martial Arts.) --- You know the most realistic ethnic Chinese people’s activities? KARAOKE & GAMBLING ! 😂 Also, “fighting” to pay the restaurant bill first.

Whoever making this chopsticks animation is violating the most basic principle of 3D animation : Doesn’t look at the real life reference. TS3 has the worst eating using chopsticks animation compared to TS2 and TS4. You cannot hold food with chopsticks in real life like this, it’s just lazy animating.

How to Hold Chopsticks (in English language)

(Do not use “It’s too difficult, it’s foreign culture!” as an excuse. Asian food is already globalized and famous in western countries. I know you westerners have experienced holding chopsticks to eat Chinese/Japanese food in your country. If you do the 3D animation job, do it professionally, regardless the difficulty!). Left-handed is very uncommon in Asian countries, and many Asian and Middle East countries with significant Muslim population sees left hand is “dirty hand”, right hand is “good hand” , including Egypt, which is Al Simhara, fictional country EA portrayed in-game. EA must be careful at portraying culture outside than American. Majority people in this world using right hand, not left hand. TS2 and TS4 right: Using right hand, why TS3 suddenly switched to left hand?

English version of the game is much more hilarious:

In English version, Shang Simla signature dish named “Stir-Fry”. “Stir-Fry” is cooking technique, not name of the dish. Is like naming boiled egg as “Boiled” and Fried rice as “Fried”. Why didn’t the dish named “Stir-Fried Chicken/Pork/Beef” or “Stir-Fried Vegetable” or “Stir-Fried Noodles” to make more sense? Furthermore, the 3D food object themselves is bad. Sorry to say, what EA’s made is very laughable and doesn’t deserve to be called “Chinese Dish”.

Chinese food always combine all stir-fried ingredients into one in one plate! Not separated like North and South Korea! As a real life designer, I notice that EA employee pick wrong yellow colour for noodles-like texture, random western leaf decoration, separated (?) into two. Real stir-fried noodles looks like THESE.

Appetizing yellow, vibrant colour, fresh, combining all types of ingredients into one. My guess is because American Chinese buffet again as the responsible why the “Chinese” food in American country look like what EA portrayed 🤢 To be honest, I am disappointed why the signature food of the in-game country must be ordinary home-cooked food cooked for 10 minutes, not something exquisite, restaurant/chef-made such as Peking Duck? Peking Duck is national dish of China. When I was in vacation trip in Guilin, China, I always served with Peking Duck in all restaurant I visited. Must be because American Chinese buffet again that serves Americanized style Stir-Fried food as popular “Chinese” food known for American people.

In TS3 WA EP English version, Spring Roll is named as “Egg rolls”. In Asian countries, not just China, Spring Rolls （春捲）are THESE. You westerners are mistaken Spring Rolls with “Egg Rolls” name, then you wondered why “Egg Rolls” made without eggs 😂 . Egg rolls （蛋捲）are THESE. Made from eggs. Biscuit and crunchy. In TS3 WA EP Traditional Chinese version, the dish is correctly named 春捲 . I researched about Spring Rolls in English language, it seems like U.S.A like / obsessed about Spring Rolls as Chinese food. Probably because Spring Rolls often served in Chinese restaurant in U.S.A? If EA wanted to create accurate signature dish of China, it must be: 1) Peking Duck 2) Noodles / Rice Porridge / Century Egg / Braised Pork Belly / Hot Pot . Not Dim Sum because Dim Sum already in Base Game.

Shang Simla resident names in English version are confusing, mix up Last name as first name, first name as last name, there is parody of real life famous Chinese person, there are made up names such as Adaeze, Bebe, Louie (??) How could these names fit to China world at all?

If EA cannot portray specific country decently, don’t ever dare to call the fictional world as the real life ones.... If the result is disastrous like this, better to call it just Shang Simla, do not call it China. What EA portray is not China, but “East Asian inspired world mixed with American Chinatown in western view”.

How could EA, a big corporation, biggest video game developer, with big budget, did not hire someone expert to do research about the culture they portrayed first? Was there no internet connection in EA studio? Didn’t they at least has Chinese descent employee in their office? California has many Asian descent include Chinese. EA has headquarters in Beijing and Shanghai.... EA market this game to other Chinese countries (not just China) such as Taiwan and Hongkong, hiring Traditional Chinese translator to translate the game, also there are many ethnic Chinese and other Asians who play the Sims game, of course we can recognize the inaccuracies very easily.

This is another example of westerners making profit from product sales portraying Asians without doing research, without consulting to the actual Asians people at all. Look how mess Disney’s Mulan (2020) movie is. Every Chinese descent and actual China people hate it for ignorant portrayal and inaccuracies by western moviemakers without doing research at all, also bad story plot, suddenly fantasy mixed with random Chinese element wuxia/xianxia stereotype that looks cringy parody, wrong phoenix (western/Egypt phoenix, not Chinese FengHuang), Chinese letters on sword looks like bad/awkward Chinese tattoo by westerners. I have real life sibling still hating and complaining everytime Mulan 2020 was mentioned 😂. Western Simmers from USA, Europe keep taking screenshots of Shang Simla, saying Shang Simla is beautiful.... You westerners call Shang Simla beautiful because you don’t know Chinese culture at all, you only see the landscape and don’t see how awful the culture portrayal of EA made in that world.

Now I want to know how bad the portrayal EA made for Champs Les Sims as France world and Al Simhara as Egypt world.... I can see Al Simhara is too stereotyped as “Indiana Jones raiding tomb adventure” site. I see there are many French Simblrs.. please post and elaborate if you find any inaccuracies 😁

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Arguments:

- It’s just a game:

Whoever complain like this must be casual gamers who only playing The Sims as Barbie dressing simulator or Candy Crush mobile game and do not have experience of playing real video game titles. EA is one of biggest video game company with big budget releasing AAA video game titles to make profit, similar to Disney. They’re not free CC creators. Whoever create game placing expensive price tag with very big budget for making big profit from international players must be responsible to create product with quality and effort, including consulting & do research to local people & culture to depict culture outside their default culture (American). I bet you Americans and Europeans complain if you find inaccuracies or any stupid fatal mistake depicting your own country and culture. It’s not just cultural inaccuracies, there are many bug, glitch, cheaply-made, bad animations, missing features or any factors are not deserved in The Sims game that supposedly AAA expensive game titles.

- The Sims is marketed heavily for U.S.A. and European countries to appeal U.S.A. and European players:

Video games, any titles, any genre, is marketed to international people, not just western countries only. The Sims is translated to Chinese language, sold in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and any other Asian countries. If EA marketed heavily for western countries only, why are EA hiring Chinese translator then sell their games into those countries? Hiring translator + shipping + marketing to other countries have costs too.

- But we westerners are accustomed/used to Fortune Cookies as they are cookies that usually available in Chinese restaurants!

“Chinese” restaurant? Ha ha ha. That is Americanized Chinese restaurant. Every Chinese restaurant in every country changed to suit local people’s taste, so no longer authentic. In my country, Chinese restaurant provides not authentic and hybrid to local cuisine in my country too. Please broaden your knowledge, google Fortune Cookies for 1 minute and it says originated from USA. Furthermore, Shang Simla is located in China in-game by EA, it is supposed to depict China, not Chinatown in western country. It is unprofessional/laziness from EA by not researching or consulting to actual Chinese people (I repeat: They’re big company, not free CC creators). No need to use World Adventures EP to provide Fortune Cookies, just release in Base game or Store content separately. Because using World Adventures EP to introduce in the Shang Simla, China world, it makes as if Fortune Cookies belongs to Chinese culture / China, while actually it’s foreign/alien cookies for us ethnic Chinese.

- The Sims 3 World Adventures is focused heavily on adventure, explorations, and martial arts. It’s family-oriented / cartoony game / parody of life anyway.

I know that The Sims game is parody of American suburb life. Countries often depict other countries with stereotype. Focusing on martial arts because China/ Chinese culture is often depicted by foreigners as Martial Arts because Hong Kong / Chinese martial arts movies taking place in ancient time is very popular internationally, no wonder Chinese culture is stereotyped with martial arts. But this inaccuracies or any stupid fatal mistake is supposed to be not happening if the employees whoever create the game do research carefully. Mistaking Chinese symbol with Japanese symbol? Seriously?

How about American country world has Eiffel Tower or Pisa Tower as symbol icon? France world has American Liberty statue as symbol icon? Croissant and spaghettis placed on the same plate? Croissant has shape and colour resembles to poop? France world has Pizza and French Fries depicted as French culinary specialty in that world? Champs Les Sims, France world has German household and Italian and Spanish elements, local Sims trait has “European trait” instead of French trait? France world has stereotype castle-like or Versailles-like house build? France world has stereotype ancient French revolution clothing complete with fork sticks and fire torch, with depiction of the world like “Seeking for equality and fairness, [reference to French Revolution]” ancient stereotype for the world that supposed to be placed in modern setting in village? You want to depict adventure and exploration culture, but with this kind of depiction, I bet actual French people will not feel comfortable, and other westerners from USA or any other western countries will recognize the stupidity and inaccuracies easily.

- EA will not make super realistic depiction of world like its real life country. China in TS3 World Adventures is supposedly focus on exploration/adventure not miniature real life China and realistic society with karaoke, gambling, and focus on family.

Yeah, I know. I didn’t expect EA, The Sims game developer from USA will include karaoke and gambling or any super realistic for cultural world depiction, it must be something famous and stereotype from the country. Champs Les Sims world has the most normal description: “...offers the cultural elite some of the finer things in life. Sims can learn the fine culinary art of nectar making, or flash over with a camera to learn the Photography Skill.” Shang Simla: “...value discipline, peace, and clarity of mind ...” sounds very exaggerated too heavily focused on martial arts in ancient time in fictional movies and confused with Japanese Zen Garden or Chinese Spa/Meditation by Americans. Better description if Shang Simla is “...offer the cultural experience, culinary, and successful exploration will be granted with good fortune. Sims can learn Martial Arts skill...” Strong points of China (and Chinese culture) is the culture and food. Martial Arts is supposedly a bonus, not the prime feature. If Champs Les Sims has nectar making, these prime features of Shang Simla that fits for the game:

Making noodles. Noodles are the most oldest food invention in history, recorded 4.000 years ago in China, becomes important meal in Chinese culture. Imagine the cartoony/goofy animations when Sims crafting noodles then fail with funny expression. Very fitting to the game.

Or making dumplings.

Calligraphy

Majiang (Mahjong) technically gambling. EA had made playing cards table for TS2, just re-use the cards game table coding.

LION DANCE video

Giving simoleons in Hong Bao (Red Envelope) to Lion Dance, then Sims will be granted with ‘Good Luck Charm’ or ‘Good Mood Moodlet’. Lion Dance has cartoony moves, jumping from one pole to another, so it’s very fitting to The Sims game.

Not the Fortune Cookies in-game. Fortune Cookies is American, so it’s useless, doesn’t provide any functional and wasting potential for The Sims 3 World Adventure EP to represent real culture.

It’s unfortunate that Americans or western people in general seem to think Chinese culture is “Kung Fu - Dragon - Kung Fu - Dragon - Exotic palace looking building from the East - qipao / cheongsam - Americanized/westernised Chinese food.” only.

-But they are American company!!111!! As a company from different country/culture they could be at least cannot represent other cultures 100% accurately! Shang Simla is fictional world!!1!!

Whoever complain like this must be casual gamers who only playing The Sims as Barbie dressing simulator or Candy Crush mobile game and do not have experience of playing real video game titles. 😂

There are Lion Dance and Hong Bao (Red Envelope) as Lunar New Year update in The Sims Freeplay in year 2015. Yeah authentic representation 😁 , by The Sims Freeplay mobile division team, different team than EA The Sims 3, made exclusively for players from Asia.

Whoever game developer team behind it had done great job: did research and obviously had consultation to actual Chinese people. (I mean, how many average American/western people in general aware of Lion Dance and Hong Bao?)

No need for EA team to travel far away to China to survey, just do deep research on internet and asking someone working in EA ethnically Chinese. Costs $0 for them. There are a lot of authentic real culture that will give more unique, fresh idea, great input into the game if only the game developer team willing to spend their time and effort to do research.

I applause the authentic representation but too bad it’s in mobile game.

https://www.techinasia.com/sims-freeplay-cny-update

Other games? Sleeping Dogs.

Developer from Canada, Publisher from Japan, the team behind them seems to don’t have Hong Kong and Chinese ethnic, but they did great job at representing fictional Hong Kong setting looks like actual real life Hong Kong.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/307690/Sleeping_Dogs_Definitive_Edition/

I’m not from Hong Kong, but definitely feels the Southern Chinese culture vibe. Authentic street food, noisy people, pedestrians eating noodles with styrofoam package in street, night market, shrine to pray, Chinese festival, Lion Dance, Jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), realistic street fighting (not Kung Fu), game price is more cheaper than The Sims 3, definitely they didn’t make stupidity such as mistaking Chinese icon symbol with Japanese icon symbol and including Fortune Cookies. (My Sleeping Dogs save game file is corrupt, you can take a look at Youtube videos).

The Sims is the only proper game with genre of life simulator on the market, but disappointingly, the developer of the game do not take the quality of the game very seriously about dining. I often see many action games, fighting games, other genres portraying authentic food, how to dining properly with right utensils, right hand, although they are not life simulator genre. The Sims? The genre of life simulator? Eat with left hand, eating animation still like a cartoony greedy pig, do not use fork and knife elegantly but instead using only fork with stiff animation, wrong chopsticks hand position, not authentic food, food only represented in one plate = one meal = for one person which is lazy coding & no innovation. In real life, one person put many meals on dining table to pick and choose to put on that person’s main plate/bowl, not just eat on one plate only.

-Why are you complain so much? Show some respect to EA’s employees!

I’m real life employee who have been working as 3D Artist & Animator for video games and movies companies for years. No need to be employee for this kind of industry, as a customer who had paid the product must be feeling disappointment and anger if the product you buy is broken, not working, faulty, and after service is bad. Not the employees’ fault, not at all, the fault must be upper management of company, who demand income as fast as possible, hiring few low-skill workers to cut production cost as possible to force them to create many assets in-products as many as possible in short deadline, not doing research, not brainstorming the ideas and resources well because the company do not have good communication and time management or probably do not have much fund to pay research, then release product immediately although the product is not finished/developed well. My guess is that upper management in EA doesn’t care quality of The Sims game itself, as the game is seen as “Children’s Toys”, marketing for teenage girls / majority women, so the company doesn’t take it seriously, contrast to EA’s sports game titles, Battlefield, Star Wars’ Battlefront, or any titles marketed strongly for teenage guys / men.

Look at complaint at someone who’s saying Shang Simla icon is wrong, is Japan’s Torii Gate. No response from EA at all. Very unprofessional, while the fault is the company itself.

EA Sims 3 division, if you couldn’t do the research, give the world to ethnically Chinese, to be remade by actual Chinese employees (I know it’s impossible, The Sims 3 is ended, already 12 years old). Seriously. Clearly EA has money, power, headquarter in Shanghai and Beijing.. It would be much better, authentic portrayal, than ignorant stupid wrong portrayal that seems to make fun of Chinese culture in bad way and misleading to western/international players. I’m only Chinese descent, dislike portrayal of Shang Simla world, let alone Chinese Simmers live in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

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coldhndss · 3 months

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──★ ˙ ̟ Blue Lock matchup No.5 @mooncakes-and-peaches

Hello! This is my last current matchup. I’ll be writing more soon as I have 3 shorter bonus ones planned for the few people who sent in after the cut-off. I’ll be opening them up again soon once I find I have more free time! I also have some special types of matchups planned so stay tuned!

So anyways, some of the things you noted in your matchup felt really refined and sort of sophisticated, in a way? So, with that, I decided to match you to Reo Mikage!

I know you’re anime only, and so matching you to Reo might not make much sense now, but his personality really shines through in the manga, and I might write a bit over my intended limit trying to prove that to you, so hear me out!

―୨୧⋆ ˚ “I'm a huge homebody. I enjoy watching TV… drawing occasionally.. writing ideas and characters for stories…”

“…and working out (my goal is to look fit and I’ve actually managed to get some muscle!) I like playing tennis, but I have to be in the mood and the weather has to be right.”

If you’ve read most of my matchups so far, I’ve said this same thing a few times, but most of your description sort of gave me Reo vibes (if that makes sense). We know that canonically, Reo is/was studious in school, achieved high marks and always performed well in what he did/does. Despite this, I feel as though he’d definitely enjoy staying home after a long day of training (as anyone else probably would). Though, Reo would definitely motivate you to play more tennis; he’d probably see potential in your skills despite you having specific conditions to be in the mood to play right! He’d also bring you along when he has training at the gym, and the two of you would train together, and this way, the both of you can meet your fitness goals together. Though on those off days when the both of you aren’t in the right mood to go to the gym, you’d stay home, and binge watch a TV show together, sharing a bowl of popcorn and different types of chocolates that he picked up from a super-high-end chocolatier earlier that day. I feel like Reo, being the rich kid that he is, is probably used to super refined tastes, like 95%+ dark chocolate. I’m not sure whether you like dark chocolate or not (personally, I absolutely love it) but if you don’t he’d try to convince you to try it, and if you do, the two of you would eat the box of chocolates together.

―୨୧⋆ ˚ “I'll let things slide here and there, but I've never been a big risk-taker/have been rebellious. At the same time, and I know this is contradicting, I'm a very lazy individual, but recently I've been doing better doing what needs to be done and more.”

Seeing as Reo is kinda a textbook spoiled rich kid, he also carries a little bit of a ‘look at me, I’m following the rules’ kind of personality, but not necessarily in a bad way. Seeing as you’re someone who seems to avoid trouble, he may see you as a ‘refined’ individual and take interest in that. We know that Reo is a huge business and stocks nerd, (duh) his family says it all. So, I’d imagine that he’d constantly yap to you about those types of things, asking you if you’ve seen the stocks today, and always telling you and about the shifting economic state of whichever country is on his mind today. I may be wrong about this, but in the case that you do know about those types of things (I def do not) I can imagine the two of you talking about it for hours. In the case that you don’t really know much about business-y type things, you’d listen to him talk and talk about something he read in a book he bought earlier that day, only to end his yap session by saying:

“Well, I don’t really care since I don’t want my dad’s company anyway. I’ve got Nagi, and together, our soccer will…”. Congratulations, yap session number 2 is about to begin! Although, you don’t really mind, because seeing Reo finally have something to call his own brings a special type of warmth to your heart. His newfound motivation towards wanting to be good at something that he grew from nothing himself definitely makes you feel like you can motivate yourself to build your own skill at things that you already enjoy doing.

I’d imagine that Reo would obviously bring you to meet Nagi. He’d take you along to watch him practice one time and introduce you to his closest friends (literally only Nagi, maybe Chigiri? – but I won’t spoil anything for you). Seeing as you didn’t mention soccer as one of your interests he might suggest that the three of you play a sport together one day, and you’d suggest tennis. With Nagi being the talented freak he is, his general skill in almost anything he does may physically exhaust you, with you opting to watch him and Reo go against each other in a match while you keep the scores. That’s not to say that you’re bad at playing tennis, of course. Nagi is (was) known to make these types of underhanded comments at another person who isn’t up to his skill level (😭).

―୨୧⋆ ˚ “I don't have an aesthetic, I just like to wear whatever is comfy and don't really stray from my regular stuff (another thing I need to work on).”

Given his riches, Reo would obviously have expensive taste. If I’m not wrong, he wears designer clothes and all that jazz. So, seeing as you also have a super self-improving orientated mindset, (in my opinion) he’d always motivate you to do new things and open your avenues up a little. That’s why I think he’d pamper you with new clothes, or randomly take you ‘shopping’ where in reality he takes you to get one of those colour analyses, where the person would help you figure out what colour ‘looks best’ on you. He’d pay extra attention to it and buy you things based on what the analyst says. Of course, he takes it with a grain of salt, and lets his personal opinion seep through when buying you gifts. As for you, you’d give him a little ‘fashion show’ where you try on the clothes he bought you so as to not disappoint him, even if they’re not really your style. In the end, you’d pick out a couple pieces that you ended up liking a lot and scold him for splurging (just because he has tons of money, doesn’t mean he should spend it all!). He’d also take note of the types of things you ended up keeping and use it as reference for his next shopping haul for you. From personal experience, he knows that money isn’t the only thing that can keep a person happy, so he definitely tries to not overwhelm you with all his gifts and stuff. Seeing you smile and be content is one of the most important things to him, and he’d be absolutely torn if he was the reason for you to feel any sort of sadness.

#btw all the character dividers in this series were made by me :D #coldhandsss #writing #blue lock #fluff #anime #bllk #blue lock x reader #reo mikage #mirage reo #blue lock reo #reo x reader #reo mikage x reader #bllk x reader #matchups

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kithtaehyung · 4 months

Note

*slowly slides note across table with the scenario i see playing out if oc asks yoongi if he’d peel an orange for her while trying to look nonchalant*

*Yoongi hands oc a small plate with a peeled tangerine and all of the sections laid out neatly*

“Mm? What’s this for?”

“You said you wanted to eat an orange earlier but I only have tangerines right now. I’ll go to the store later and buy some for you.”

*fast forward to tomorrow morning*

Oc opens the fridge and sees a small plate full of fresh fruit with peeled oranges, bunny-shaped apples and other fruit that’s laid out neatly, along with a little note that reads:

“For you, doll. They’re good for your health so make sure to eat to them before you go to work.

Yours, ^-ㅅ-^”

-🥮

MOONCAKE PLSSSS😭💕 this is too adorable and I cannot handle all these scenarios at once!! The bunny shaped apples launched me into the sun are you kidding me🥺

#RAHHHHHH #🥮 anon #asks:3tan #3tan717 #717games #*ryenfictalk #mailbox💌

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youremyheaven · 17 days

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okay so i'm so the anon who brought up how freaky solar men are up & i thought abt how i wanted to go abt this like i was orig. going to continue my spiel and outline every single kink i saw as a pattern but ... i just want to be concise + this is an astro blog i don't want to get too graphic on here so here's me wrapping it up (sorry this one is anti-climatic):

so at the root of it solar men go into sex - honestly any situation in their lives - asking themselves 2 things.

how can i have fun here? & how can i maximize on said fun?

how & will this feed into my ego?

it's an oversimplification of solar men but i think thats the gist of what drives them in any situation. so you can use that logic to apply to whether you'd think a solar man would be into smth sexually or not. like for e.x. solar dom men tend not to be munches in the bedroom (sorry girlsss 😭). but it makes sense as to why when you apply the logic of them being ego & pursuit of happiness driven. and if you do meet a solar man who does like eating their girl out ask them their reasoning for it and i swear their reasoning will somehow fall into this logic too (e.x. "it's fun for me" or "it makes me feel like im the man")

anyway with that being said there's only one other kink they rly lean into that i do want to elaborate on bc it's fun! it's roleplaying. they're so fun in this regard they like to play up certain scenarios (typically a power imbalance dynamic at play in it too) and they rly like it when you dress up for them; again there's also this air of unserious fun to it too like they just don't take themselves too srsly. like my fav memory w my latest sun dom ex was the time when the mid-autumn festival rolled around (he's chinese) and i asked him how he wanted to celebrate since his family was back home so it would just be him & i so he came up w the idea that i dressed like a bunny and delivered him his "mooncake". this is context for those who don't know (how he explained it to me so if this is botched i'm sorry omg): for chinese ppl there is an association b/w rabbits and mooncake during mid-autumn festival; jade rabbits often delivering them. anyways to make a long story short, i ended up picking up a box of mooncake for him and when i showed up to his place he had a whole bunny lingerie ensemble laid out for me so you can put two and two tg and figure out how that went 😂

now with that wrapped up i acc wanted to touch on the last ask you answered: hearing your type now i do not recommend a sun dom man for you actually. sun men def play it cool and i'll be honest they're the type to bully/tease as flirting and i find that the kind of women that best respond to the super cocky, kind of a bully style of flirting from solar dom men are saturn dom women (who dish it right back to them) and lunar dom women (extremely receptive & thrives in passivity). just as claire put it. your type acc sounds more along the lines of a venus dom man (they're simps & tend to worship - they just don't have that external tough guy thing going on imo) combined w smth else. i remember you saying you had a mercury dk do you mind sharing the nak/sign it's in? that could probs help w figuring out whats best for you

oh my last thing do you think solar dom men tend to be drawn to working as commercial pilots? if so why do you think that may be? bc as i was writing this i realized all of my exes were either commercial pilots or up in the corporate ladder. working corporate for them makes sense i feel like i've seen that somewhere but it's the pilot thing i'm curious abt

damn 😳😳😳

Yeah I def can't stand Saturnian men (mainly Anuradhas) and idk any Solar men but while they sound 🥵🥵 they're not for me as you said

I swear my type is a Venusian man who will worship me 🤤😤😩😭 I think I really like the idea of a big serious tough guy that others are intimidated by but who is a complete sweetie with me. Having a partner that is socially respected and taken seriously is vvv important to me (probably bc I have Venus in 10h) I do see the effect of my Mercury DK bc I love to flirt and tease and I love the smooth talking type of guy, I really value emotional & literal intelligence in men but beyond that Mercurial men are horny little rabbits and that kind of puts me off. I want a Venusian man who will be more refined about that sort of thing??? My old friend is with a Bharani Moon guy and honestly I want what they have. He puts the shoes on her feet, carries her bags and feeds her even?? Like that guy loves to give and is a complete simp (idk anything else about their relationship so idk what the downside of all this Venusian affection is)

When you said commercial pilot I stopped breathing 😳😳😭😭 because I only know one person who is a pilot and he's Krittika Sun 😩😩😩 I think Sun dominant people both men and women are drawn to the top of the hierarchy, they need to be the best at what they do, they won't settle for anything less than that and all the Sun dominant people I know are extremely ambitious and hardworking. With flying, they're literally on top of the world and in the air, that's as Sun dominant as it gets. Maybe that's a simplistic take but I think they're drawn to the high life and doing something that only a few get to do. I think all benefic planets kind of create a sense of elitism and exclusivity in its natives (I know Sun isn't widely considered to be a benefic but it's ...The Sun...) our solar system revolves around the Sun, life on earth centres the Sun. The natural most comfortable place for a Solar person is at the top of the ladder, they don't feel like they "belong" anywhere else. The Sun is used to being needed but the Sun doesn't need anybody or anything, if ykwim?? Probably why Sun natives dgaf about anyone or anything lol

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zhongrin · 2 years

Note

Rin~! Zhongli is wishing you a Happy Mid Autumn 😍😍

A couple of days before the full moon, he asks you to wear your qipao or if not he’ll gladly prepare a lovely gown for you to wear the night you two go out complimenting how beautiful you look!!

He loves when you take his arm as he escorts you on a cool evening walk around Liyue Harbor where there are dragon dances and lanterns!! At the little pop-up stalls, he’ll buy your favorite snacks and a hair clip which he’ll ask if he can put into your hair (imagine he gifts you one every year as he loves the tradition).

While you find a quiet place to sit away from the festivities and you watch the moon together, he’ll recite several versions of the fabled story. What Zhongli most wants to do is share a moon cake with you whether it is lotus paste or egg yolk filling. When there is a part of the cake you don’t enjoy as much he’ll gladly eat it for you, then teases you for being a picky eater. Both of you might fall asleep in each other’s arms basking in moonlight 😳

oh, kat!!! this is sososososo beautiful 😭 happy mid autumn festival to you too!! did you eat any mooncakes yet? they have so many interesting flavors these days! i ate a "brown sugar bubble milk tea" flavored one yesterday and they have boba bits in the filling lol

zhongli would gladly accompany you around the food fair, smiling as you excitedly sample all the snacks offered by the vendors and obediently letting you feed him without being shy. seeing you stuff your mouth like a squirrel makes him feel all soft and warm, and he'll gladly wipe the food crumbs on the side of your lips, drinking your embarrassed giggle and blush like the finest dessert.

since rabbits are the mascot of mid autumn festivals, what if in liyue harbor they had a bunny petting station in honor of the festival? you think you should've brought your kamera, for the sight of a smiling zhongli calmly stroking a white rabbit on his lap is the perfect picture of tranquility and adorableness.

he'd gladly visit your family with you too! if they live outside liyue harbor, you can count on him to escort you safely there, no need to hire bodyguards from the adventurer's guild. and what family wouldn't love him? your parents love conversing with him ("now, what stories do you have for us today, son?") and your siblings all treat him like a revered older brother regardless of age ("no offense, [name], but it feels like he's way older than any of us sooo..."). your cousins and distant relatives might be a little intimidated by him but when they see that one little boy who's usually so loud and rambunctious in the family gatherings, sleeping so peacefully on his lap, that's it. "you better keep this one" and "is uncle zhongli coming to visit again on the new year's?", they all tell you.

also, you buy him a teapot with bunny ears as its lid in the fair, and he uses it every time he brew his tea now <3

ps. if you want to be removed/added from the taglist, just send an ask!

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #zhongli #zhongli x reader #rin writes

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seyaryminamoto · 7 months

Text

The Shadows in her Reflection: Sokkla Saturdays 2023

Chapter 2: Spring

Rated M

On FF.net//On AO3

She was restrained, trapped in a dark web of tendrils that weaved through her arms, and legs, and…

She cried. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

Smoke and darkness swallowed her, and the pale glow she released dimmed, and dimmed, and…

Yue's desperate eyes locked onto hers, wordlessly pleading to be saved.

Azula gasped and sat up, chest heaving: again, one of those nightmares. Again, Yue haunted her in dreams in a way she couldn't understand.

"You okay?"

Over the past months, no one had been around to ask that question to her. Truth be told, no one had dared ask it for much longer than that. Her allies, the false Kemurikage, had never bothered asking that question… perhaps because none of them were okay. It might have been redundant to ask at all.

But it wasn't something redundant for him, her sudden, new companion who piloted the hot-air balloon in her stead. He was helpful, at least, in providing her time to rest better than she had in a long time… but she wasn't sure she felt all that comfortable near him, anyways.

"I'm fine. Just… a dream," Azula said, shaking her head. Sokka nodded.

"Well, now that you're up, we can have breakfast," he said. Azula grimaced.

"I'm not going to cook for you," she said. "And you'd better be grateful that I won't. I'd likely make us both sick."

"In all these years, you haven't learned how to cook?" Sokka asked, with a slight smirk. Azula scoffed.

"I may have lost my titles and my position in society, but deep inside, I will always be a Princess," Azula said, stubbornly.

"Which means you've been stuck eating whatever scraps you could find, steal, maybe buy on occasion if you had any money on you?" Sokka concluded. Azula shrugged.

"You know, people happen to drop money in the weirdest of places. Did you know commoners enjoy tossing coins into fountains?"

"You… you fished out coins from fountains and used them for…?" Sokka blinked blankly. Azula smirked.

"It was quite helpful. I for one welcome their generosity. It was like collecting a tax, only, everyone paid it willingly. Strange, wouldn't you say?"

"People usually do that because they're making wishes and they think they'll come true," Sokka said. Azula snorted and laughed.

"Fools that they are. Did they expect spirits to fulfill wishes by paying them actual money? Spirits are a lot more irksome than that. They don't fulfill wishes, they demand that you fulfill theirs, going by my experience... though it's worth noting, too, that Yue actually assisted me at collecting the coins ever since she took to invading my head."

"She assisted you?" Sokka asked, perplex.

"Indeed. She was reflected off every one of those coins, so she took to calling me, guiding me to the next one, and the next… and the next thing I knew, I was eating the best bowl of spicy ramen I'd had in years," Azula snickered. "I suppose that was a rare case where she was surprisingly helpful… even if she kept showing up in the bowl's broth later, too."

"It has to be so surreal… seeing someone that way," Sokka said, frowning. Azula shrugged.

"It's unnerving and stressful. But it makes no matter, my entire life has been exactly that for the past years and I'm still alive and kicking," she said, with a dry grin. "At any rate, enough about my strange experiences. What's this breakfast you're setting up, exactly?"

Azula was surprised to find Sokka had actually packed some food from the Northern Water Tribe upon his venture into the Palace to gather his things. She hummed appreciatively as he offered her what he described as mooncakes, and he handed her a cup of water to down the food, too…

Azula glanced into it with a pang of nervousness: never before had the dreams meant anything deeper. Every time she glanced into her reflection, Yue was there. She always felt the uncertainty of whether she would be or not when she had those unsettling dreams, where Yue appeared to be suffering terrible hardships…

But just as ever, Yue smiled and waved at her when Azula glanced into the water's reflection.

"I didn't poison it, you don't have to look at it like… oh. Oh, wait. Yue?"

Azula raised an eyebrow skeptically at Sokka, as though it was a given that she'd see the Northern Water Tribe Princess in the liquid. It had become such a natural matter to her that she could barely fathom Sokka forgetting about it. He seemed nervous now, swallowing hard and running a hand over his hair.

"You don't need to be so self-aware. She can't see you from that angle," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka scoffed.

"You try feeling less self-aware when the person you loved and lost is… potentially looking at you?" he said. "Also, when they're attached to someone who had nothing to do with them, instead of you…"

"I'd hand her over to you in a heartbeat if I knew how," Azula said. Sokka grimaced.

"I know, I know. But spirit mumbo-jumbo makes no sense," he sighed. Azula nodded.

"Truer words," she said, before downing half her drink.

"Oh, uh… good morning, Azula."

"Oops. Nearly swallowed you there, now, did I?" Azula said, pulling the drink back with a mocking grin. "Did you sleep well too? Any happier now that you're traveling with someone you actually like, for whatever reason you do?"

"Heeeey…"

"Well, I was doing that already. It's… well, interesting traveling with you, Azula."

"Interesting. That's a fine choice of words, Princess Yue," Azula sneered. "Admit it, my lifestyle is utterly nerve-wracking for you. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat constantly, wondering if I'm going to get myself killed one way or another, sooner than later…"

"If she does worry about that, she shouldn't be that scared. Nobody's ever going to catch you, now, are they?" Sokka cut in. Azula smirked at him.

"And if they do, I'll make them regret it," she said. "You're only allowed to exist around us because… well, I'm sure Yue would throw a tantrum perpetually if I dared hurt you. It would be terribly irritating not being able to drink anything or look at myself in any manner of reflective surface without hearing her whine about whatever I did to you… sometimes I'm not even looking and she still so very kindly starts rambling to me anyhow."

"You know, as much as I'd love talking to her… I can't deny it would be a little distressing to see someone everywhere with water or reflective surfaces," Sokka said, with an awkward grin. "Can't imagine how it must be to take a leak and, uh… uh. Ew."

"You really have a worrisome imagination," Azula blinked blankly. "I, uh… shall endeavor to never look at any reflective surfaces whenever I need a bathroom."

"… Well, I don't talk whenever you're in the bathroom because I know you…"

Azula most certainly didn't need to hear whatever Yue would say next: she swallowed her drink fully, and with that, Yue's voice was extinguished. Despite himself, Sokka snorted and raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Was she revealing something, uh…?"

"Something I most likely didn't want to hear? Yes," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka chortled. "She is shockingly naïve in some ways. I suspect she merely wants to be friendly and doesn't understand that doesn't work with someone like me."

"Or maybe that's just the way she is," Sokka said. Azula crooked an eyebrow. "What?"

"You actually think she's not covering up that she hates being stuck with me?" she asked. Sokka frowned. "Don't look at me like that. You're no happier about it than she must be…"

"Wait," Sokka said, raising an eyebrow. "You think Yue… doesn't want to be with you?"

"Why would she be, if she could be with someone she actually cherishes? Like you?" Azula said, simply. Sokka scratched the back of his neck. "I'm under no delusions that anyone would choose to be stuck with me. As far as I know, Zirin couldn't wait to see the back of me by the time she did her mutiny."

"I'm not going to pretend you're talking out of your ass because I know people have been hounding you and chasing you and you haven't had the nicest life…" Sokka said, crooking an eyebrow. "But do you really think nobody would ever willingly choose to be near you?"

"You're not exactly an example to the opposite, are you?" Azula asked, skeptical. "You're here because of her. If Yue weren't around, you'd only want to be near me to shackle me yourself. Much like Zuko would love to."

"I…" Sokka said, frowning.

She wasn't entirely wrong: he had never given a second thought to Azula on a level that didn't relate to how dangerous she was. His first impression of her, back in Omashu, was nothing but confusion over facing a group of girls around their age, in charge of such a delicate operation like trading a child for a king. Then, she had broken out the blue firebending and from that point onwards, she was someone to fear, avoid, or fight should there be no other option. She always seemed wary of him in battlefields, no doubt aware of how dangerous his weapons could be… but ever since the war ended, she had fallen from grace and lost her way. No one had ever regarded her or treated her as anything but a problem to be dealt with since then… and it was clear now that such behavior had taken a real toll on the firebending prodigy.

"Lie to me about this and I will throw you overboard," Azula said, curtly. Sokka sighed, raising his hands.

"I won't lie. I wasn't exactly going to the North Pole with the idea of sitting down for tea and cookies with you," Sokka said. Azula smiled dryly.

"That's progress. A little honesty goes a long way," she said. Sokka snorted.

"Zuko says you always lie, though. Honesty is what you want now?"

"Zuko liked to say that whenever I was telling him truths he didn't want to hear, is more like it," Azula said, giving Sokka pause. "Such as when I told him our father was going to kill him under our grandfather's orders. Funnily enough, now he knows for certain that it was true and he still goes around telling his friends that I always lie. How about that?"

"Well… Zuko's not the sharpest tool in the shed, I'll admit that much," Sokka said. Azula smirked.

"If you're not just saying that to amuse me…"

"I'm not! I've always bickered with him over weird choices he makes, believe it or not," Sokka said. "It's honestly not that hard to see that he could've approached you the wrong way. But you also have to admit, you don't exactly make it easy for people to see who you really are, do you?"

"Why am I expected to do that?" Azula asked, amused. "You're always acting like a fool to mislead other fools into underestimating you. How is it fine when you do that, but when I…?"

"When you act like you would kill people willy-nilly, like you don't care about anything but a throne, when you manipulate your brother into making unhinged decisions with no regard for how that might just bite you in the ass later?" Sokka asked. Azula frowned. "I… I don't want him to reach a point where he stupidly chooses to do something he regrets to you, Azula."

"Why?" Azula asked. "What is it to you if he, I don't know, chooses to execute me alongside my group? Would make your life easier… ah, but I wouldn't be able to communicate with Yue for you. That's right."

"Not like you're doing much of that so far," Sokka said, raising an eyebrow. "You never tell me what she's saying, and when you do, it sounds like you're…"

"Lying? Only once in a while," Azula smirked. Sokka scowled.

"She didn't think I'm not as handsome anymore. You can't convince me of that," he pouted. Azula snickered deviously. "See? You were pulling my hair! Anyone can tell I've actually gotten better with age, Azula! I'm buffer, I've got some facial hair…!"

"What makes you think women like facial hair? Or teenage girls, in her case?" Azula asked. Sokka winced. "Also, heavily muscular men. If Princess Yue liked you lanky and beardless, why would you be any more appealing to her now?"

"You… stop making me second-guess myself!" Sokka squeaked. Azula couldn't hold back another cackle of devious laughter. "Seriously, you…"

She laughed in a rather wicked way… but somehow, it brought a smile to his face too. It was contagious, slightly amusing. She had a mean sense of humor… but even if she was mocking him, Sokka couldn't help but find it slightly funny, too.

"Anyway," he said, trying to stifle his smile. "If you give me reasons beyond Yue to think you're not a hazard to the world…"

"I am one, though. Proudly."

"Then… give me reasons to want to keep you safe so you can continue tormenting your brother?" Sokka asked, with a dry grin. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Why… why would you want me to do that, exactly?" she asked.

"Because I want to prove a point here," Sokka said. Azula scoffed.

"Well, then… I ought to continue tormenting him because it's funny. That's the main reason for it," she said. "Someone with the temper and lack of restraint of my brother simply cannot have an easygoing, calm and quiet life. It would be terribly unfulfilling. He would always know he's lacking something… and that something is being teased mercilessly by his sibling. Simple as that."

"Okay… let me translate that," Sokka said, blinking blankly before rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. Azula eyed him skeptically as he seemed to work harder and harder on processing her words… until he finally delivered his grand epiphany: "Zuko is too much of a stubborn idiot and he's set in his ways, stuck on reading and interpreting you in one set way, and the only way you can be part of his life is to continue acting exactly as he expects you to. Thus, you continue to torment him as you have because you can take advantage of such situations to give him trouble that deters other people from stirring trouble too… you're protecting him in a rather twisted way. With you as the bad guy, the rebel against his righteousness, the Fire Nation indeed grows stronger because they're banding against you, rallied by Zuko. On a more basic level… you're just the annoying little sister because you don't know what else to be. But ultimately… you care about him, don't you?"

"How dare you…?!" Azula gasped, her face a mask of utter affront and outrage…

Her cheeks flushed slightly. Sokka smirked.

"You…! Shut up!" Azula snapped, the weakest possible comeback she could have offered him. Sokka's smile couldn't have been wider. "That's not what…! Ugh, you're impossible! Your mad interpretations about me are entirely out of place! I have a purpose! I have a right to do everything I have! It has nothing to do with Zuko being my brother or…! Just shut up!"

Sokka shrugged, saying nothing else indeed. Azula glared at him until she couldn't look at him anymore…

Five minutes later, she exploded, and Sokka had to hide his amusement behind a hand.

"Whatever mad fantasies older brothers may have, the truth is you're all pains that we have to bear with! You're our burdens, not the other way around!" she lashed out. Sokka shrugged.

"Maybe so."

"Don't just condescendingly say I'm right! Prove me wrong, damn you!"

"Right, right. That's what you do with Zuko, right? Say things to piss him off and…"

"Quit analyzing me! What do you think you are, damn you?!" Azula scoffed.

"Sometimes I'm, uh, Wang Fire, actually. I helped Aang talk through his problems once!" Sokka declared, proudly, though the grin waned before long. "Or, uh, I thought I had. Maybe I'm doing a better job with you, though!"

"A better job at pissing me off. Unreal. You have no business peering into my business," Azula snapped. "Whatever I do, however I handle Zuko, is not your problem. Or anyone else's."

"Thing is… he has the power to fuck up your life if he ever catches up to you. And he got kind of close this time," Sokka said.

"And I ask again: why would that be of any concern to you? Just because of Yue?" Azula asked, arms folded over her chest.

"Well…" Sokka frowned. "Maybe it really isn't just about her after all."

"Right. It's because you're worried about Zuzu…"

"Azula… this is the first time I've actually talked to you."

Azula frowned, glancing at him in confusion. There was no sign of mirth in his face anymore.

"You mean… the first time you've talked to me with no overt aggressiveness on either side?" Azula asked. "We've exchanged plenty of barbs and jabs at each other. I mocked you over your girlfriend in the underground tunnels, remember? What a fun day that was…"

"It sure was," Sokka said, eyebrow twitching… but he was quick to recognize her intent just as she smirked slightly. "You're trying to take back control. Trying to trigger an emotional reaction out of me. If I recognize it, then…"

"Could you stop?! What's the matter with you?" Azula lashed out. Sokka laughed, hands behind his head.

"This… this is actually way more fun than it has any right to be," he said. Azula snarled. "You're a challenge."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Azula said.

"I mean… it's like we're dueling when we talk. You know?" Sokka smiled eagerly. "Like everything you do or say could be a fake-out, and then you'll attack me through another front once I leave an opening for you to exploit. If I recognize the bluff, you back down and look for another angle. It's… interesting."

"Interesting?" Azula said: her heart felt slightly strange upon hearing that word again, this time from Sokka rather than Yue.

"You have to take some pity on me here, can you?" Sokka sighed, looking at her helplessly. "Do you think I ever have complex conversations with Zuko? Conversations with multiple layers that actually challenge me on an intellectual level?"

"Well… no," Azula admitted, with a cruel smirk. Sokka shrugged.

"The best I can get is Toph, basically, because she's always ready to give as good as she gets and she's got a damn good mind for insults. So at least that's kind of funny. But any bigger ideas, anything less material and corporeal and I lose her just as well, she tells me to shove it, and so on. My sister? Well, there's not much point in trying to get any productive results there because no matter if I'm right, in the end I'm somehow wrong, she wins and I lose. Simple as that."

"And your girlfriend?" Azula asked. Sokka froze. "What, no fun banter there for you either?"

"Heh. Not really," Sokka said. Azula frowned.

"That's an opening, you know? And you're doing nothing to cover it up. I'm being nice right now and giving you a chance to cover it up indeed… do it or I'm going for the kill, Sokka," she said, with a dry grin now. Sokka sighed.

"She gets mad at me, is all," he said. Azula's smile waned. "If I push any banter further, she doesn't know how to respond and… just gets mad at me. Conversation sputters and dies just like that."

"Huh," Azula raised an eyebrow. "Sounds… boring."

That Sokka smiled at her remark should have been an alarming sign, but Azula didn't read it as such right away. He shook his head though, looking at her eagerly.

"You, though… I have the feeling you could go for hours. And somehow, that sounds like fun to me," he said.

"You won't say the same things if I indeed go out of my way to bicker you for hours and you end up losing," Azula said.

"Might be worth it even if I do," Sokka smiled, leaning back on his seat and sighing.

"I suppose you didn't bring up the Avatar because arguing with him is akin to kicking a puppy…" Azula said. Sokka chortled and shrugged.

"That's probably a good way to put it. Though, make no mistake, he has a temper of his own. But he's very much an emotional, spiritual guy. He listens to anything I question and gets filled with wonderment over it but that's about it. Can't get much out of it either."

"Sad. You must be terribly lonely," Azula said. Sokka's smile waned.

"Guess… a bit."

She frowned, glancing at him in confusion. His eyes flickered towards hers too, a smidge of guilt in his eyes… did he feel bad for saying that, when she had been acquainted with far worse loneliness for far longer? Or…?

It struck Azula suddenly that he was choosing to travel with her, someone who wasn't a total stranger simply because they had been enemies for too long for that to be the case. As much as he might pry into her business, he had done very little of opening up, himself. Why hadn't his girlfriend joined him on this journey? Why wasn't she part of his investigations? Why hadn't he tried to argue with his friends, reason with them, so that they could be part of this confusing journey over Yue, too?

Was he as lonely as she was?

"Anyway, uh… sorry if I'm too annoying," Sokka said, with a tight-lipped smile. "I'm not trying to piss you off, believe it or not, I just… was having fun. At your expenses, yes."

"Which would certainly justify me pushing you off the balloon if I cared to," Azula said. Sokka chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, it'd be fair. But anyway, uh… we're in this balloon indeed."

"Yes."

"Where are we going?"

Azula frowned: they were evidently floating south, but they hadn't chosen any destinations just yet. She frowned as she raised the cup she had emptied earlier, urging Sokka wordlessly to fill it again: she needed to talk to Yue.

The Moon Spirit was quick to smile brightly once she realized Azula had as good as summoned her anew. The utterly ridiculous situation didn't go lost on Azula, even now. She most likely would never grow used to this, truth be told…

"Where are we going?" Azula asked, bluntly. Yue's smile froze on her face. "You said you want to see the world? Well, tell me what you want to see and we'll figure out how to make it happen. But without any directions we're just going to float aimlessly and burn through our fuel, so… care to make matters clear now, Yue?"

"Right, right. I'm sorry. I didn't really tell you what my idea was, and you're on your way nowhere because of that…"

"I don't need rambling apologies, I just need an answer: where are we going? What exactly do you want to see?"

"Oh. Well. I actually… I've thought about it a little bit, while you weren't around, and I realized there's two things I'd like to do. First… well, I want to see a lot of the world, the cities and nations I never could visit while I was alive. But more than that… I want to see the other seasons. Spring, summer, fall… I've only ever known winter. So… that. That's what I want."

"You want to see… the spring," Azula recited, blinking blankly and glancing at Sokka, who frowned at the words. "That's the directive. What do you think we should do to fulfill it? It's not going to be spring up here for another six months…"

"Not in the northern hemisphere… but it is spring in the southern one right now," Sokka said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Huh. That's true," she said. "Then… somewhere in the southern hemisphere, but not your home. That's basically winter too, isn't it?"

"Yeah, the Southern Water Tribe isn't exactly what she'll want to see," Sokka said, with a weak grin. "A place with more… flowers, I guess. That's probably the main thing she'd like, right?"

"Is it?" Azula said, glancing at the cup. Yue smiled and shrugged.

"In the south… that would be, well, anywhere below Omashu? I remember the maps, I saw many growing up…"

"Good to know you remember your geography. But yes, that's basically it," said Azula. Yue bit her lip.

"Say… there's one person I don't know much about, but I'd like to. And maybe a good place to start would be by seeing her hometown."

"Uh… who are we talking about, exactly? And where is that hometown?" Azula asked, crooking an eyebrow.

"I mean… Suki. Sokka's girlfriend."

"Huh?!" Azula winced. "Are you… are you a masochist? Yue, why would you…?"

"If she's someone Sokka loves, then… I would like to get to know what kind of person she is. He's going to spend his life with her, isn't he? I… I want to be sure she's a good person. Someone kind, someone good, someone worthy of him…"

"I'm not entirely sure he needs or deserves any of that… but I can assure you that, in all my cruelty, I would never inflict that kind of punishment on him," Azula said, with a grimace.

"What's going on now? I can't hear any of it, Azula," Sokka pouted. Azula grimaced, glancing at him with uncertainty. "Why is she a masochist? What is she asking for?"

"She…" Azula said, breathing deeply and shaking her head. "Well, she wants to meet your girlfriend, apparently."

Sokka's wide eyes spoke for themselves. Azula shrugged, gesturing at the cup in her hand.

"I'm simply saying it's absurd, right? She's your ex, that one's your new girlfriend, why would you want to bring them together at all…?"

"W-well, it's not like you'd scream to Suki that Yue is in a mirror or a water pool or…" Sokka said, running a hand over his hair nervously. "But… wait, she really did say that? You're not just pulling my hair and saying something just to find a weakness to exploit, are you?"

"Oh. So that's what you think I'm doing?" Azula asked, with a sardonic grin. Sokka huffed.

"Well, it's not like you haven't lied about whatever she was saying before, or were you always completely truthful?"

"He's right, you did lie about how I thought he was more handsome before…"

"You… quiet down," Azula snapped at Yue, who huffed and pouted. "Whether I lied before or not, I am telling the truth now and you don't believe me. Who does that remind me of…? Right, that person you called an idiot just a while ago! What does that make you, I wonder?"

Sokka winced: indeed, every conversation with Azula was as good as a minefield… and he refused to step on mines. Even if he set them off, he wouldn't lose his way. He breathed deeply and nodded.

"I… guess I did say that. And it's still true. But come on, cut me some slack here," Sokka said, looking at Azula helplessly. "Why would she ever want to meet Suki, of all people? She can't even meet her properly, to begin with…"

"She said something about getting to know the person you're going to spend your life with," Azula said. Sokka's eyes widened. "And frankly, while I can understand not wanting to take me to Kyoshi Island out of fear that they'll come chasing after us and try to kill me, it's rather odd that you would be so apprehensive about visiting your girlfriend, isn't it?"

"It's… w-well… it's just not the best time, I guess," Sokka said. Azula hummed.

"If this isn't the best time, then when will it be better?" she asked. "Yue wants to see the spring, and she wants to see it in Kyoshi Island. Not doing it now means delaying it a whole year, doesn't it? And who knows if you'll have sorted out your problems by then."

"Yeah, I… yeah," Sokka admitted, grimacing.

"So?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows.

"Wait… problems? What does that mean? Azula… is Sokka okay?"

"I have no idea. He's trying to be mysterious, is my guess," Azula answered Yue, who gazed through the water in anguish.

"Is she worried about me?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"I suppose she is, but she's been worried about you for years as it is, as far as I understand. Nothing new under the sun."

Her words gave Sokka pause. Azula frowned upon acknowledging as much, reading in his expression that he was distressed over potentially causing Yue's distress, too…

"I'm sorry. There's no real problem, I just… I wasn't expecting this, Yue," he said, with a weak grin. "We can go. I'm sure… I'm sure Suki will understand. I'll make her understand."

The way he spoke carried over none of the confidence his words would have warranted. Yue, however, didn't seem to pick up on that: she smiled brightly, giddily, at a skeptical Azula. The Fire Nation Princess raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Sokka, wordlessly asking if he truly was fine with this course of action. A new, pained smile suggested he had already made up his mind… and so, the firebender sighed and shrugged.

"Very well, then. We shall set our course for Kyoshi Island."

...

"I don't understand. She should be here by now! We've been in the city for almost a month already!"

"Zuko, maybe they deceived you. Those girls could have done that…" Katara said, with a grimace. Zuko scoffed.

"You're not about to say I should've brought Toph along to interrogate them, are you?"

"Wouldn't have hurt," Katara said, with a shrug.

"She's busy recruiting metalbenders all across the Earth Kingdom, isn't she?"

"Well, I think she's in Ba Sing Se right now? Last thing I knew, at least," Katara said.

"And she was only just returning from Omashu when I told you guys about Azula. And for that matter, you're all busy too! I can't just… pluck you out of your lives for months to no avail, can I?" Zuko groaned, burying his face in his hands.

He sat with Katara, Aang and Bumi in a room within the Northern Water Tribe's Palace. The Avatar played happily with his son, and he shrugged at Zuko's mournful groans.

"I'm having a good time. So is Bumi," Aang grinned.

"Sokka had to go, sure, but he left without a hitch," Katara said, with a sigh. "And with just that weird letter. And he hasn't answered the one I set to him in Republic City yet…"

"See? This is not sustainable! What if Azula is gearing up to attack the Fire Nation while I'm gone?!" Zuko exclaimed.

"You don't have to raise your voice just because you're worried, Zuko," Aang pouted. "Calm down. Katara… do you want to go find Sokka? Would that make you feel better?"

"Would make me feel better to find my sister, too," Zuko growled at him.

"You're not my wife, I'm more worried about her, sorry to say," Aang said, grinning at Zuko. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head and dropping it on his hand as Katara smiled warmly, if with a hint of mischief, at the Avatar.

"I don't know. We could try to go and come back, though? I feel like we can't leave Zuko alone or he's going to lose whatever sanity he's holding onto," Katara pointed out.

"Am I holding onto any?" Zuko asked, shaking his head. "Here I thought it was all gone."

"Huh. That would explain staying here forever, on a single lead with no evidence, across a full month, wouldn't it?" Katara said. "Guess you really did lose your marbles."

"If he did, I could lend him these…" Aang grinned, raising his trick marbles: Bumi squealed happily at the sight of them.

"Da! I want! Da!"

"Here we go! Marble trick, just for you, Bumi!"

Zuko groaned, watching them play, careless about Aang and Katara's playfulness with the child. He couldn't stop thinking about his terrible decision-making… about how Azula never failed to teach him the wrong lessons. He fell into every trap, every pitfall, every…

"Fire Lord Zuko, sir? Fire Lord Zuko!"

Zuko jumped up from the cushion he had been sitting on, as though something had bitten him in the ass. The Fire Nation soldier that barged into the room, pushing past the curtain that hung on its threshold, looked considerably upset about whatever he had to inform him of.

"Did you find something? Did you find her?!"

"My Lord… there are tracks. We just found them, they're most definitely old, but… a hot-air balloon was left outside the city, in a cavern, and then it seems to have been taken away again. It looks like…!"

"Like the one she stole?" Zuko gasped. "The proportions of the tracks you found, they match…?"

"They do, sir. We believe it was her."

"She… she did come here. She came here…!" Zuko exclaimed – Aang and Katara were no longer quite as calm and easygoing as before, rising to their feet too. "And she left again. She… b-but why? What did she…?"

"Wait," Katara frowned. "Wait, Zuko…"

"What is it?" Aang asked her, as the Fire Lord turned towards the waterbender. Katara's eyes shifted from side to side, a hand slipping through her hair.

"A month ago… Sokka left us almost as soon as we arrived, right? And he… he took a bunch of things with him. His luggage, it looked like, but also food, from what the kitchens reported?"

"You think he's chasing after her?" Aang asked.

"Well, it's either that, which I doubt, considering he just wanted to find out what's up with the moon, or…" Katara said. Zuko's eyes widened.

"She… she did not. She could not! She wouldn't…!" Zuko gasped, shivering. The possibility only struck Aang moments later.

"You think… Azula kidnapped Sokka?" Aang gasped.

"She wouldn't have. She couldn't have, though, right?!" Katara asked, with a nervous laugh. "I mean, he picked up his stuff, so… so he had to be leaving deliberately."

"He did leave deliberately, but maybe she intercepted him halfway there," Aang reasoned, frowning. "Which means that Sokka isn't answering your letters because… he's not home. Wherever he is…"

"He's… where she is," Katara said, staring at Aang in horror. "Aang… my brother is Azula's captive? My brother is…!"

"That's… that's it. That's enough!" Zuko snarled, rage swirling inside him. "If this is truly what she's done, she's gone so far out of line that there's no line to speak of anymore! Forget it! We're going to find her, track her down now!"

"Y-yes, Fire Lord! We'll send word…!"

"To every corner of this planet. Every single nation!" Zuko bellowed. "Tell them she's a wanted criminal! Tell them she's traveling with the Avatar's brother-in-law! Send descriptions of them both… and tell them the Fire Nation will pay a massive reward to anyone who retrieves her, dead or alive!"

"D-dead?! Zuko…!" Aang gasped.

"I said… I've had it," Zuko snarled, shaking his head. "I'm done playing her games! I set the rules now! I'm Fire Lord, and she's not getting away with this for another second!"

Katara grimaced – she understood Zuko's anguish and fury… she couldn't, however, imagine ever giving out an order of the sort if her brother went off the rails somehow.

Which he might just have. It looked likely that Sokka's sudden vanishment might be connected to Azula's quick visit to the Northern Water Tribe, somehow… but a wretched, unwanted, guilty thought crossed her mind, and as much as she wanted to swat it away, it didn't go anywhere: what if he hadn't left in duress? What if her reckless, crazy brother had chosen to, somehow, hitch a ride with the Fire Nation Princess…?

There was no way he'd done that. He was busy investigating the moon. He couldn't have been so foolish, no matter if he was angry over how nobody took his problems seriously. He couldn't have joined up with Azula somehow just to get back at everyone for disregarding his concerns over Yue… or could he?

...

A journey on a hot-air balloon sounded far easier said than done. While the vessel was not exactly slow, it wasn't all that fast, either. They ran out of coal eventually, and they spent a fair few days looking for more supplies in the Earth Kingdom – Sokka knew a guy, it seemed he had friends everywhere, even earthbending friends in coal mines in the Earth Kingdom – before setting out anew, aiming to reach Kyoshi Island just as the springtime blossoms bloomed.

Sokka seemed to grow more nervous as they approached, but he held his own as they finally landed by the shore, in a grand cove where, as he explained, they might just witness some gruesome spectacles if the unagi decided to eat an elephant koi or two.

"Fascinating. The fishy princess shall be in the water to witness the carnage, too. Just the way she likes it," Azula mocked Yue as she stepped closer to the shore. Yue pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Maybe the fishy princess can communicate with the fish and tell them not to eat each other," she suggested. Azula snorted.

"Go on, then. I'd like to see how that goes," she said.

"What was that…?" Sokka asked.

"She's biting back when I'm an asshole. Nothing much other than that," Azula said. Sokka chuckled.

"You know, it's weird but the two of you kind of make a fun team," he said. Azula scoffed.

"You take that back."

"I will not," Sokka declared, proudly. "You have about the most pointless things in common and you're completely opposites in just about everything else…"

"Wait. But I'm smart, aren't I? Are you saying Yue is stupid?" Azula smirked: in the water, Yue gasped, and Azula actually cackled at her reaction. Sokka scoffed, bumping her hip with his.

"Jerk. I didn't say that!" he said. "But the obvious points in common between you two is that you're both princesses and…! Uh, that's about it."

"Exactly, and if we're opposites in just about everything else…"

"She's smart too! Just, not in the way you are!" Sokka exclaimed, flustered, as he stalked out of the balloon's basket and approached the shore. "She's kind, and pure, and sweet, and you're mean, rude and… and…!"

"Spicy," Azula decided, smirking. Sokka's cheeks flushed. "What? It's the opposite to sweet, or isn't it? Maybe you wanted to call me salty instead? Acid?"

"You're impossible," Sokka groaned.

"Ah! That means you're possible, Yue! Congratulations!"

To Azula's utter confusion and surprise, though… Yue covered her mouth with a hand and laughed. Azula raised an eyebrow, not suspecting the girl would be amused by her bad joke.

"Well, I… I'm glad that amused you," Azula said. Sokka raised his head, glancing at her in surprise.

"You made her laugh?" he asked. Azula shrugged.

"She has a terrible sense of humor. Like mine, I guess. Or maybe ours. Yours is worse than mine, as far as I understand…" Azula said. Sokka smiled a little, glancing at the water again.

"Well, I'm glad she's happy to be possible. Guess we could go on playing that game later, but… for now, Yue, this is Kyoshi Island. As you can see, there are lots of trees with cherry blossoms this time of the year…"

Azula turned around to look too, just as Sokka was explaining. Yue seemed to struggle to see, but she smiled at every glimpse she got of the flourishing trees at either side of the shore they stood at right now. As much as Azula had expected Kyoshi Island to be nothing noteworthy – and the infrastructure of the towns she had seen as they flew over, towards the southern shore of the island, certainly wasn't –, the natural beauty of the place could not be denied.

"The first time I came here, it was, uh, fall? Maybe late fall," Sokka reasoned, brushing his stubble with a thumb. "And you really couldn't see how pretty it could be just yet. There was a fair bit of snow all over the place too, but most of the trees were pretty dry. I only got to see it like this when I visited later."

"Can you ask him… if he lives here?"

"Yue wants to know if you live in this place," Azula said. Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, no. I'm living in Republic City right now. Suki… well, she is here, or is supposed to be," Sokka said.

"Won't we go say hi?"

"Oh, this is burdensome," Azula rolled her eyes. "She asks if we won't say hi."

"Well, I thought… maybe later?" Sokka grinned awkwardly. "I figured we'd stay out here for a little longer and enjoy the view! I bet the unagi will show up soon and Yue can show you just how strong her control over fish is by then, right?"

"Right…" Azula said, glancing at the water again: Yue grimaced, and Azula smirked. "Or maybe she was just bluffing."

"I'm not! I… I was completely honest. I can… try?"

"Go on ahead, then, I dare you to…"

Azula couldn't finish the sentence when she heard a whistling sound in the distance.

Before she knew it, though, before she could so much as react, Sokka had tackled her to the ground.

She would have raged at him for it – she fell over a few rocks, and her knee had crashed against a particularly sharp one that had ripped her outfit, perhaps even drawn blood… but a glance to her left revealed around eight arrows, firmly sunken on the ground. They would have pierced their bodies if Sokka hadn't jumped when he did.

"What the…?!" Azula gasped: Sokka, atop her, pushed himself away from her while retaining a protective stance before her…

Turning to face a group of armed women in face paint, bearing dark armor upon their green uniforms.

Sokka snarled as Azula pushed herself up awkwardly: Yue, in the water, appeared to panic over the sudden attack, too.

"Are you okay? Azula…!"

"I'm fine. I'm fine…" Azula as good as mouthed at her, disregarding the pain of her knee.

"Brave of you to show your face around here," one of the Kyoshi Warriors said, startling both Azula and Yue: was she talking about her? Did Kyoshi Island issue a warrant for her arrest too? Or was she talking about…?

Sokka sighed, raising his arms defensively: the Kyoshi Warriors didn't lower their weapons.

"Where's Suki?" he asked. Azula raised an eyebrow: she recalled all too well when he had asked the same question to her, years ago… now, though, the tone with which he spoke couldn't have been more distant from what it had been on that day.

The apparent leader of this group of Kyoshi Warriors lowered her bow, though her hostile demeanor didn't shift yet. The others followed her example.

"She sent us to find out what kind of brigand had snuck into the island on a hot-air balloon. Guess we know now," the warrior said.

"Am I actually a criminal around these parts now?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Maybe you should be," the warrior growled.

"What the hell is going on?" Azula asked, pushing herself up. Sokka gritted his teeth, glancing back at her.

"Don't… just keep your head down. If they notice who you are…"

"Why does it look like they're ready to kill us, even though they haven't?" Azula growled.

"Well…" Sokka said, grimacing…

The answer to that question would be granted sooner than later, Azula supposed.

"Keep your hands up. You too," the warrior said. Azula scoffed.

"Please, do it," Sokka said. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I could set the whole lot of them on fire, just saying. I nearly did once."

"You don't need to do it again. Trust me."

"That's a tall order. I have no idea what's happening here, and I'm not sure I even want to know anymore."

Sokka sighed as the Kyoshi Warriors approached them: without further fanfare, they pushed Sokka and Azula to walk into a small road that eventually led to a humble fishing village, as far as Azula could tell… was that truly the backwater, rundown place Suki had been born to? Kyoshi's great home? It was laughable. Clearly, the Earth Kingdom had no idea how to properly honor its heroes…

They were embarrassingly paraded across the town, and as much as Azula did as Sokka had told her by keeping her head down, the unfortunate truth was that more than one person seemed to grow to suspect her identity rather quickly. None would do so faster than Suki herself, though…

Though the same was true, of course, to someone standing right inside the dojo she and Sokka were dragged to, where the older warriors had been instructing a new group of recruits.

"What…? No!" Ty Lee gasped at the sight of her, losing track of her mission at once. Azula cursed inwardly, rolling her eyes.

"Yue's already dead, but I think I'm going to kill her all over again for putting me through this…" Azula hissed. Sokka growled threateningly at her, and she responded by stomping on his foot.

"Ow! I…! Ugh, behave yourself! And… hey, Ty Lee! Nice seeing you again," Sokka said, with an awkward grimace as he inched away from Azula.

"What are you…?" Ty Lee gasped, hands over her hair. "Sokka, what are you doing here? And with Azula? That's even more messed up than just…! Goodness, we have to send word to Zuko at once, we…!"

"No!" both Sokka and Azula shouted at unison, startling the Fire Nation-born warrior.

"Look, I get how this looks, but this really isn't the time to overreact, Ty Lee," Sokka grimaced. "I know you don't understand what's going on, and I could explain if you let me, but…"

He trailed off when a dojo door, probably the one that led to the leader's office, swung open violently. Both Sokka and Azula watched with apprehension… as a shocked, confused, and ultimately furious Suki stepped into view.

"Sokka," she said. He swallowed hard.

"Hey," was his eloquent response.

"You… you showed up with…?" Suki said, glancing at Azula next. Her face shifted from confusion to disdain and disgust. Azula glared at her with no shortage of both things, too. "Well, isn't that rich."

"You certainly aren't, true," Azula said, with a dry grin. "This place could use a makeover or two. Might want to make a better first impression to first-time visitors such as myself…"

"Azula, stop being rude!" Ty Lee said, frowning. Azula responded with an eyeroll, making an ungodly effort not to raise her middle finger in the woman's direction.

"Don't worry… we sure will be rich, after Zuko pays us for capturing you," Suki said.

"Don't," Sokka said: to Azula's surprise, he stepped in front of her, and he breathed heavily as he gazed at Suki pleadingly.

He was… protecting her. Or rather, he was protecting Yue. Yes, that made far more sense… but he was still standing between her and a hostile party. That, in itself, was odd. A rather unusual experience Azula couldn't quite remember having lived through before. Usually, she was the threat others were protecting their allies from…

"Look… I know this is messy and I know you don't like it, but we need to talk. This is a lot more complicated than it sounds like, Suki," Sokka said. Suki offered him an unamused smile.

"I bet it is. As usual," she said, rolling her eyes.

"What would you rather do?" Ty Lee asked her, worriedly.

"I'll hear him out. Why not?" Suki said, with a dismissive smirk. "Might even help me be sure I've made the right choice all along and everything."

"Make any wrong moves and we will have no mercy," the warrior who caught them by the shore said. Azula scoffed, smirking at her.

"I'm all too aware of what Kyoshi Warrior mercilessness looks like… I can't say I'm scared," she smirked.

"You should be," the girl growled, her bravado failing to find its mark.

Sokka grimaced as he entered Suki's office: as much as they had been together for a long time, he hadn't actually visited this place all that often. Suki had been living in the Fire Nation, on the most part… then, she went to Republic City with him. A little over a year ago, she had returned home, permanently. He had merely visited her once since then… and it hadn't turned out quite as well as he would have liked.

So now, he marched into the room feeling the weight of a lost decade dragging him down to take his seat before Suki's desk. The Kyoshi Warrior Azula seemed to defy so much pushed her to take her seat by Sokka's side, and she didn't bother leaving afterwards, either. Azula scowled, glancing back at the door to find it closed… but there were at least seven Kyoshi Warriors inside the office. Most of them were looking at her, no doubt expecting they would need to subdue her… she wondered if Sokka would even try to help her, if it came to that. He might just back off and roll over, trying to make up for whatever he'd done to piss off Suki so much…

But that, in itself, was a whole other matter. Azula had sensed he wasn't being truthful about everything whenever the subject of Suki came up, but she hadn't anticipated anything quite like this. Had he cheated on her? Not that she'd blame him much, if he had. As averse as she was to betrayals, she had no love for the Kyoshi Warrior. Someone who treated her own boyfriend as a criminal probably didn't deserve much pity, anyway.

"Explain yourself," Suki growled, standing on the other side of the desk, refusing to take her seat. Moreover, one of her hands rested on her sword's hilt. Sokka gritted his teeth. "The last I knew, you were her prisoner. A campaign to hunt her down is underway, did you know that?"

"You… what? I was her prisoner?" Sokka frowned, glancing at Azula in confusion. She hummed, reclining carelessly on her chair.

"Let me guess… my dear brother picked up on the fact that I was, indeed, in the Northern Water Tribe. Your departure, by just leaving a suspicious letter, brought him and his friends to assume that I took you against your will," Azula said, with a wild grin. "Funny that he'd be so shortsighted. If I had wanted to take you that way, there would have been no letter to begin with."

"The wanted poster reached us barely yesterday," Suki said, spreading it before their eyes: Azula scowled at the sight of the unpleasant depiction of her facial features, which appeared to emphasize her mental instability with marks under her eyes and disorderly hair.

"Could've given me a smidge of dignity, the bastard," she hissed.

"I'm not entirely sure you deserve any, but frankly? You're not much of my concern right now," Suki said, surprising Azula. "You didn't take him against his will?"

"Nope," Azula said. Suki smiled unpleasantly… and then turned her attention to Sokka.

"Then I have no real qualms with her. If anything, maybe I should thank her," Suki said, dropping the poster and glaring at Sokka intently. "Otherwise, I guess I might have seen you again in, what, a decade? How long before you finally wrapped your head around the embarrassment you left in your wake, Sokka?"

"I…!" Sokka grimaced, covering his face with his hands. "Look, Suki, I'm sorry! I've told you so in every letter I sent you, but…!"

"You could have said it to my face. You should have said it to my face. And yet… even that isn't something you deigned to give me, is it?" Suki said: her voice gave away just how badly hurt she was. Azula blinked blankly, folding her arms over her chest and eyeing her uncomfortable traveling companion.

In doing so, her eyesight traveled a little further: a small mirror hung by the wall, an ornament, perhaps connected to superstition of some sort. Naturally, Yue's face peeked out of it, and she looked as confused and troubled by this sudden upset as Azula was. Sokka breathed out slowly and gazed at Suki with remorse.

"You're right. I fucked up, and I've been doing exactly that, constantly, for months," he said.

"For years, I'd rather say," Suki said. Sokka nodded.

"True. More accurate that way," he said. "But if you want to talk about this, don't you think maybe we ought to…?"

"Sokka, if I'm alone with you I might just end up beating you to a pulp. So no, I don't think so."

"Suki…"

"Let's go back in time for a minute and think about what brought us here, can we?" Suki said, arms folded over her chest. "You urged me to leave my job as Zuko's bodyguard so that I could move with you and live in Republic City. After many years of insisting on it, and by insisting, I mean basically every conversation we had, which weren't actually that many, suggested that we were only growing so distant because we weren't around each other constantly…!"

"Well, that's what I thought then! But…!"

"But what? By the time you finally had me to yourself, you realized you didn't actually want me at all?" Suki asked. Sokka grimaced.

"I got busy! A lot! It's not like being a council member in growing a city is easy, and honestly, I thought you'd want to involve yourself in…!"

"In the political side of things? Why, I didn't. I was ready to retire as a Kyoshi Warrior and start a life with you… and you weren't ready to do the same."

"Well, come on, now! How do you expect we would've gotten by if I had done the same thing? I would've had no job, no income, no way to buy a house or afford basic food…!"

"As if you couldn't have gotten a less demanding job: you don't even like politics!" Suki exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "You were miserable, grumpy, constantly in the shittiest mood and I got sick of it! More so once you started rambling about how the moon was acting up! Oh, the moon, everything's about the moon, we sure have time for the moon but not for the girl you actually were with…!"

"Suki, don't…" Sokka snarled: Azula glanced at Yue, who covered her face in apparent horror.

"And when I left because I was sick of it… you come to Kyoshi Island!" Suki smiled. "Just as I'm getting my life together, you decide you have to try to win me back somehow… and you sure tried, for two weeks you were the best you ever had been with me! You pushed yourself, you forced yourself to be the perfect boyfriend, of course you did! And then… and then, after the biggest festival, in which you even involved yourself, you organized a bunch of things, you helped make it the liveliest the island ever saw, you went down on one knee…!"

Azula's jaw dropped, glancing at Sokka in confusion: he was engaged? He had proposed to Suki? Why had he never…

"And said nothing."

Oh. Then he hadn't proposed after all.

"Suki, I'm…! You have no idea how bad I feel about it, you really don't, but…!"

"Don't give me your bullshit now," Suki said, shaking her head. "It was your chance to prove you wanted to be with me. That the moon wasn't the core and center of your entire existence, that you could love me for who I was and not just use me as some sort of rebound…!"

"How could you be a rebound after ten years of relationship? Suki, I loved you!"

"You did, now, did you? So why didn't you ask me to marry you? Why, Sokka, did you stop short of doing exactly that when you had the chance?"

Azula grimaced: it was hard to believe that Sokka had a problem of this magnitude… and that Suki apparently was completely correct to say that she had nothing to do with it. If the situation had any less importance, she might have joked around and asked for snacks with which to enjoy the argument… but even Azula knew better than to do that right now. Yue's anguish in the mirror actually moved a fiber in Azula's heart… the girl was anguished. She was terrified. When she had lost her way over that comet's appearance, when she had connected with Azula as she had… Sokka had seemingly lost his willingness to spend his life with Suki. Her problems, whatever they were, had caused his…

"Suki… no answer I give you will help," he said. Suki gasped, looking at him in disbelief. "I thought I was ready. I chickened out. And you know why I ran away?"

"Why, probably because the entire island would have hunted you down otherwise?"

"Because I would have done it again!"

Suki froze. Azula grimaced as Sokka rose to his feet, gritting his teeth, fists tight.

"I wasn't ready. I might never be ready. I wanted to be the man you deserved, I tried! But I failed. No man would chicken out at that stage when he's sure of what he wants in life. And I thought I was sure… but I wasn't. I hesitated. You don't deserve to be with someone who hesitates. Someone who doubts they're making the right choice when it should be the best choice they ever made."

"You… you were questioning that you wanted to marry me, then, right as you were on your knees?" Suki asked, with a dry grin. "Well, why didn't you think about that before going down on one knee indeed? Why couldn't you spare me the humiliation, the fury, and just say to my face that you were done with me?!"

"I… I was stupid," Sokka said.

"Understatement of the century," Suki growled.

"I never wanted to break your heart," he said. "But I… I didn't know I could walk away until I did it. I didn't think you'd want me in your life again after that."

"No kidding, I don't. I frankly don't," Suki said. Sokka gritted his teeth. "And you're here now with… the most absurd kind of company, hoping that I'll forgive you, maybe? Whatever you came here to do…"

"That's not why I'm here."

Azula winced: she glanced at him almost pleadingly, trying to get through to him. Sokka ignored her, and Azula shook her head: if he was hellbent on digging deeper once he was in a hole, she sure wasn't going to stop him…

"I… may have learned something about what was going on," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "With… with the moon."

"Ha! Fascinating. And you thought I'd want to know that?" Suki smirked, derisively. "How very nice of you to drop by in person to do that. You could've written a letter to say whatever you found out instead…"

"This is… difficult to explain," Sokka said, gritting his teeth.

"No doubt. Because I can't see how it involves Azula in the least," Suki said, harshly.

"Would you feel better if I explained that part myself…?" Azula offered. Sokka shook his head.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he said.

Azula shrugged: that was about all the generosity she would offer him… no doubt, he expected her to tell the story in such a way as to make matters look worse than they were. She might have done that out of sheer amusement over chaos… but she wasn't quite sure she wanted to stir the pot of Sokka's estranged relationship with Suki any further. Her personal inexperience with relationships made these waters particularly awkward to navigate…

"Something's actually happened to the Moon Spirit. We don't know what," Sokka said, firmly. "But Azula… somehow has become the host of Yue's spirit? To a fault?"

"She… what?" Suki said, glancing down at Azula in confusion. Azula blinked blankly, offering her a dry grin and a small wave.

"That doesn't make any sense," Ty Lee said, stepping closer and staring at Azula intently. Her intervention soured Azula's smile all over again. "That can't be true, Sokka, she only has her usual awful aura, no one else's…!"

"Maybe Yue's aura is as awful as mine and that's why you can't see it," Azula said, with a dry grin.

"Is it, really?"

The reflection of Yue in the mirror might have spoken… but Azula saw her silhouette awkwardly reflected on Ty Lee's dark breastplate, instead. She huffed, shaking her head – of course Ty Lee would decide everything was a lie. Someone as dishonest as her, judging others over dishonesty, was certainly a dark joke...

"It's not as simple as what you think. I don't mean that Yue is like… inside Azula as literally as that," Sokka said. "She sees her in mirrors or reflective surfaces. Like metal, or water, or…"

"She's in your armor right now, actually," Azula said, grinning in a most unpleasant way at Ty Lee, who winced and looked down at her breastplate. Yue swallowed hard and waved, even, but nobody could see it besides Azula, as always.

"You… you're joking," Suki said, looking at Sokka skeptically. "You're not seriously trying to tell me you believe that…!"

"Azula knows things she can't possibly know otherwise," Sokka said, looking at Suki helplessly. "Things I… never told anyone."

"Ah. Of course," Suki said, with a dry grin. "I bet it's got to be real fun, sharing stories about your first love with Azula. No doubt she's very understanding and empathetic and… and everything I never was, apparently, huh?"

"Suki, you didn't exactly make it easy for me to open up to you either, so as much as I'll own up to my shit, please own up to yours," Sokka snapped. Suki scoffed. "I can't get over what happened with Yue just because it'd be more convenient if I did. It's something I'm bound to feel guilty over until the day I die…!"

"Then tell Azula to convey all those concerns to Yue, why don't you?" Suki said, sarcastically. "I'm sure Yue will tell you it's all fine, she forgives you! She has no trouble accepting you again after you spent ten years with me, surely! But me, I'm the jealous fiend who can't even fathom her boyfriend having a first love that wasn't her… because, you know what, maybe that really is what I am! Because you were mine! Because I met you first, and somehow you latched onto her in a way that you never did over me!"

"Suki, if I'd just broken things off with Yue, this wouldn't be the mess it is," Sokka said, fiercely. "I didn't just end a relationship: she died in my arms! How do you expect me to just get over something like that?!"

"I don't know, but clearly, I'm out of line. And I'd like to extend that to being out of your life, next," Suki said. Sokka closed his eyes, shaking his head too. "It's a damn formality to say it at this point… but it's over. I'm done with this. I'm done with you. I'm sick and I'm tired of this nonsense… and I can't stand another second of being second place to a goddamn orb in the sky. I'm done."

"Fine," Sokka said. Suki scowled at him. "It's over. Find someone who can give you everything you want, Suki. You deserve that much."

"I'd say so do you… but you don't know what you want to begin with. You're bound to just take Azula on some ridiculous journey that will break her so she'll end up fully possessed by Yue and then… then you'll get to be with her again! Is that what your plan was, by any chance? Because considering how obsessed you are with her…!"

"Could you stop talking about her, about me, that way?!" Sokka exclaimed. "I'm not a monster, Suki!"

"Hard to tell lately," Suki snapped. Azula winced upon hearing those words. "You've done enough breaking my heart as it is. Might be it was about time I did it right back. Honestly, I'm glad you came. I'm glad I could say all of this to your face. Goodbye, and good riddance."

"That's… that's it?" Sokka asked, with a dry grin. "You're letting us leave, just like that?"

"Ah, right. She's a wanted criminal. I'll let Zuko know she was here, if that's what you…"

"No! That's exactly the opposite of what I… Suki!"

"Why shouldn't I tell him? In fact, why shouldn't I restrain her so Zuko can collect her, and then I could feed you to the unagi? That might actually make me feel better," Suki said, with a dry grin.

"Well, goodness… someone's trying to give me a run for my money," Azula said, staring at Suki with wide eyes. Her words actually gave her pause. "Feeding your boyfriend to the unagi? Or ex-boyfriend, as the case might be… that's something else entirely."

"I'm sure you'd relate if you'd ever had a relationship like this. But that would require finding someone who could stand to be in close proximity to you for longer than five minutes," Suki said. Azula smirked.

"Well, Sokka and I have been on this journey for well over a month now. Sounds like I've had more intimacy with him than you in recent times, huh?"

Suki's glare was fierce… but this time, Sokka didn't step in to stop Azula from saying outrageous things. Instead, he stood in place, brow furrowed, clearly displeased and disappointed.

"We're not here because we want to mock you or ridicule you. In fact, now I realize why it looked like Sokka never wanted to come here in the first place," Azula said, with a dry grin. "We came here… because Yue wanted to see the spring. To see the world she never had a chance to when she was alive. And she can't just pass over from me to someone else, because trust me, I've tried to make it happen and it hasn't. So, if Sokka wants to fulfill Yue's last will, he has to do it with me, like it or not."

"If any of this is true, and I sincerely struggle to believe it could be…" Suki said, glaring at Azula. "Why here? It's spring in a lot of other places in the world. You didn't have to bring her here, if she's even there at all and you're not just conning Sokka somehow…"

"Frankly, if I wanted to con someone, I'd pick someone a lot easier to deceive than this annoyance," Azula said. Sokka grimaced: was that a compliment or an insult? Was it both? "It'd be too much work, don't you think? But at any rate… we're not here because Sokka missed Kyoshi Island's spring: it's because Yue wanted to know what this place was like. She wanted to know… what Sokka's girlfriend was like."

Suki froze in place: she didn't believe any of it… but Azula's words gave her pause, even so.

"One hell of a first impression you've made, I dare say," Azula smirked. "Guess she'll be happy to know there's no more competition over Sokka's heart anymore, if nothing else. And of course, having the unagi eat him means she'll meet him in the Spirit World that much sooner and they'll get away with being together forever while you're…"

"Shut up!" Suki snapped.

"Azula…" Sokka said, eyeing her pleadingly now. She shrugged, raising her hands innocently.

"I'm just saying…"

"What is any of this to you, though?" Ty Lee asked: Azula's mood darkened again as she glared at Ty Lee.

"I could very well ask you the same thing. Doesn't even make sense to me that you're here at all, in Kyoshi Island, but it's even less logical that you'd be in this room right now… nobody called you in, so you can very well leave so neither of us has to bear with being in each other's presence for longer than necessary. That's about as civilized as I'll be with you."

Ty Lee gritted her teeth, tearing her gaze away from Azula. The fallen Princess scowled before turning her attention to the irate Suki again.

The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors let out a cry of frustration, kicking at her desk in irritation as she covered her face in her hands: she had too much information to process, too much anguish to work through. Clearly, she didn't want to do it right now, in front of them.

"I… I'll let you go. Both of you," she said. Sokka's eyes widened. "I don't… don't care how true your damn stories about Yue may be. I don't. I'm done with this, done with you, and you're going to get lost and not return until I finally feel like I can exist anywhere near you again, Sokka. And I will tell Zuko…"

"Suki, please don't. I beg you, as much as you may hate me…!"

"You have one day before I send word," Suki said. Sokka froze. "Nobody… nobody will bother you until then. Get out of this island, go wherever you care to, and stay away from me. That's all you need to do. Am I clear?"

"You… yeah. Loud and clear," Sokka said, frowning: it hardly felt like generosity… but that certainly was as good as he'd ever get from Suki by now. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry it came to this."

"No, you're not."

Azula's chest tightened: she'd heard those same words once before, just after she offered an apology of that nature. It had been false, when she spoke it… it wasn't, in Sokka's case. In neither case, however, it changed that the person they spoke to had refused to believe them by principle alone.

"Get out. And for your sake, leave before I regain my senses and have you chained and locked down for Zuko to take you to face his justice," Suki said, glaring at Azula.

"Very well," Azula said, raising her hands defensively and standing next to Sokka. "Let's walk back-to-back, shall we? I'm not sure I trust them not to try to stuff us full of arrows again. Though, do tell, what exactly would you have told Zuko if your troops had killed me by accident?"

"What makes you think that would have been a problem?" Suki said, raising an eyebrow. "I suppose I'd have to answer to Katara if I killed her brother, but you?"

She handed Azula the wanted poster. Azula's heart pounded with anxiety as she pulled it open, not focusing on the picture this time…

Wanted: dead or alive.

Her eyes widened. A burst of fear, one she had experienced sparsely, bloomed a lot more powerfully than before. Sokka clasped the poster, gasping upon reading its contents.

"Feel free to take it," Suki said, dismissively. "I don't particularly care to collect paintings of Azula. Just get out now, I… I can't look at either of your faces anymore."

Sokka gritted his teeth. He urged Azula to get going, placing a hand on her shoulder and guiding her away. He reached the doorway, knowing all the Kyoshi Warriors were watching him, and he cast a final glance at Suki.

She held his gaze for one moment. Regrets, pain, confusion poured between them… things had soured beyond belief, beyond repair. One day, perhaps, they might be friends again. One day, perhaps, they might build bridges, if just small ones. But as far as their relationship was concerned, there would never be another chance for them. Unlike Zuko and Mai, and their countless breakups and returns to each other, this was it for Suki and Sokka.

"Goodbye," Sokka said, finally.

Suki might have expected something else. Something more vindictive, something more cruel… but that was cruel enough to make her snarl, covering her face with her hands as she wept at the loss of the one man she had truly loved. He walked away without offering her any comfort. Not that she would have taken it, if he had offered any at all. He had a destiny that didn't involve her, Suki had suspected and feared as much for a long time… but now she was entirely certain of it. Their relationship would never recover from a blow as harsh as this one had been… and that would be for the best. She had already known they were over… it was as good as a formality to confirm as much.

But to think he had been with Azula for over a month… to think he could stand to be with someone as dangerous, as unhinged, as wild as her, but not Suki? When he finally had tried, he had wound up running away. Why? What had she done wrong? Why had she lost him? Why…?

She glanced at the mirror Azula had constantly glanced at. Fear reared its head again… as she wondered if, perhaps, Yue had wanted to find out whether Sokka's girlfriend was worthy of him or not. If their twisted story was true at all… then she would likely conclude the opposite, instead. Suki had envied Sokka's bond with Yue, resented it… she had never been able to understand or accept it. She had wanted to be his first love… she had wanted to be his only love. Her failure to accept Yue, to show Sokka that he could trust her, that he could talk to her about the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, that he could open up to her and she'd embrace it… was that why they had failed? Was that why their love had crumbled? Was it her fault? Or was it his?

Was it simply that they just weren't meant to be?

The town wasn't much to look at, Azula thought so again as they marched through it and out into the wilderness anew. It was already growing darker by the time they returned to the same shore where they had nearly been shot full of arrows: Kyoshi Warriors watched them from afar, as though to ensure they would indeed leave, as they were supposed to. Azula glared at them before focusing on Sokka again. He sighed, approaching the water anew… and dropping on his knees in the sand. A heavy frown decorated his face as Azula sat beside him, legs crossed.

"I… didn't quite expect that to turn out so poorly," Azula said. "But I did read from your behavior all along that you didn't really want to come here."

"I didn't. I also didn't think failing to propose to your girlfriend was a capital offense in this island, but what do I know?" Sokka said, dropping heavily on the sand, falling on his back. "I didn't tell you because… well, who wants to admit something that embarrassing in the first place? But I honestly didn't know for sure that it was over, simply because we never made it official that it was…"

"Running away from your lover for about a year sounds a little official to me," Azula said. Sokka sighed.

"It's complicated, okay?" he said. "There's… a lot more baggage here than you think. For one thing, well… the truth is I wasn't ready for a relationship when I got together with Suki. Yes, it started as a rebound, without a doubt, and I thought it'd be good for me. But then you captured her and I kind of took for granted that you'd have killed her, so…"

"You did?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that why you started crying when I told you she wasn't dead?"

"Well… it meant I had failed her. I hadn't tried to save her, had I?" Sokka sighed. "I never even thought about doing it. And then? After Zuko joined us, I… I asked him where important prisoners would be taken. Which is how I wound up at the Boiling Rock."

"Ah, yes. Fun times," Azula said, bitterly.

"I know that place has to be a nightmare to think about, for you," Sokka said. "But on my end, the truth is that I… I didn't go to the Boiling Rock to find Suki, Azula. I was looking for my dad."

Azula froze. She blinked blankly, glancing at Sokka in confusion. He covered his face with his hands, groaning in irritation.

"I wanted… to find him and make up for how I'd failed him. He got captured in the invasion, and I felt so guilty and… and when we got there? I didn't find him, but I found Suki, at first. I rolled with the punches, you know, but… a part of me always wondered if she'd have wanted me back at all, if I ever told her the truth."

"Did you never tell her…?" Azula asked. Sokka shook his head. "Huh. My, my…"

"It sounded like a bad idea at every point in time. Things were never going as well between us as they might have looked like," Sokka said. "At first, because I basically never really needed to be with her, and it was just fun to come across her whenever our paths converged, you know? Like… like your picking coins out of fountains, maybe."

"Pfft. So Suki was a lucky coin lying on the pool before you?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka groaned.

"Sounds like an awful metaphor but most of all because it still… feels true," he sighed, pushing himself back up to a sitting position. "I decided we could do better than that eventually, right? That's why I spent so long trying to convince her to come join me in Republic City. But… things weren't exactly great after she moved in, you know? She had her way of doing things, and I had mine. And the conflicts we got into weren't exactly fun. She always had her way in the end, but always got so upset when we clashed to begin with and… it felt awful. Like I couldn't do anything right. And maybe I couldn't, but maybe I just stopped trying… because I was sick of working for something that never made sense. I constantly found myself thinking… is this what I was looking for? Is this what love is supposed to be like? And… and I guess after she got sick of it and left, I convinced myself that it had to be. That I had to prove I would be there for her. So, I came here, and I tried my damn best. I did everything her way. I never questioned anything again. I agreed with everything she said, and I…"

"You were killing your own spirit just to ensure hers would thrive?" Azula concluded. Sokka gritted his teeth, closing his eyes tightly too.

"And when it came down to it… marrying her meant doing that for the rest of my life," Sokka said, glaring at the horizon. "I thought… it wasn't fair, was it? And on top of that, the moon had started acting up. The real reason why she left Republic City exactly when she did? It's because I was worried about it. Instead of offering to help somehow, or providing comfort, or… anything? She just… got jealous, I guess. I don't know why she never could wrap her head around my relationship with Yue. It might be my fault because I never opened up about it in the first place… but she didn't exactly make it easy either."

"Why?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The first time I nearly kissed her, well… I had told her I lost someone I loved. I meant Yue," Sokka said. "She said she could relate because she liked someone who 'went away'. She was obviously flirting and talking about me and… and it felt like all she wanted was to be with me, which, you know, that's flattering! But she never really stopped to understand why I wasn't ready. It… it didn't seem to matter much that I wasn't. And I forced myself to go for it because… I thought it'd help. I thought that I might learn how to move on if I was with someone else. But I didn't."

"You've been with her for all this time while feeling… like you can't truly be yourself with her, then?" Azula asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Well, that almost makes it sound like I'm far better off staying single as I have been all this time. Beats having to deal with that kind of nonsense. I have enough problems in my life as it is."

"I'd tell you you're missing out, but unless you actually can bond with someone who's ready to go the distance for you, and for whom you'd do the same? Yeah, maybe it's not," Sokka sighed.

"Is… is that what you and Yue were like, then?" Azula asked. She glanced at the water, and she saw Yue's refracted reflection in it. It was hard to judge her reactions from this angle, so close to the water…

"Honestly? I don't know," Sokka admitted, with a sad smile. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I know I was ready to do anything for Yue, far faster than I was for Suki. I didn't need to talk myself into doing it, it came out naturally. But… I don't know if she felt the same way. I don't know if she ever really loved me to the point where she'd do anything for me. Maybe… maybe I wouldn't have loved her as much, if she had."

"Wait, what?" Azula blinked blankly.

"She loved her people, Azula. She loved her city, her hometown, her family… I wasn't the only one who lost Yue when she became the Moon Spirit," Sokka said, gazing at the darkened moon again: it hovered before them, in the twilight sky. "And if she had not made that sacrifice just because she wanted to be with me, well… the world as we know it would have been ravaged by the Ocean Spirit and we'd all be dead, likely. So… she made the right choice. I wasn't the right choice for her… just as I'm not for Suki. I probably never was. She's better off without me."

"Well… I'd rather say you're better off without her," Azula told him. Sokka smiled a little, looking at her in disbelief. "Truly, though… someone who stifles you to that extent should not be your partner. I would never stand for it."

"You're too headstrong for that. I ought to learn a thing or two from you," Sokka chuckled.

"Finally, someone realizes that. You're certainly smarter than most, Sokka. Congratulations," Azula smirked, and he laughed even louder.

That he could laugh at all after a break-up was quite surprising. Perhaps ending that relationship was more akin to loosening a heavy weight upon his shoulders… Azula bit her lip, nudging him lightly with her foot by swaying it to the side, bumping it into his boot.

"Are you alright with this?" she asked. "All of it? It almost feels like… you were ready for the break-up to happen by now. But if you're not feeling up for this weird journey of ours anymore…"

"I thought you'd be more upset to know we're being hunted now. Especially on those terms," Sokka said, glancing at her with unease. Azula scoffed.

"Well, Zuzu has decided to come out and play, I suppose," she said. "Not that I'm all that worried or scared. He's about as threatening as a tadpole. At worst he'll spread some disgusting disease on me, but…"

"You're sure you want to underestimate him to that extent?" Sokka asked. Azula scoffed.

"Underestimate?" she said.

"He has the power of his entire nation behind him," Sokka said. "And he's in good terms with the other nations' leadership too. He has a terrible temper. And I don't know if his patience has really run its course by now."

Azula frowned. She glanced at the wanted poster she was still holding: the art was outrageous, the threat of death was preposterous… but was it that genuine? Did Zuko truly not care whether she was alive or dead anymore?

"Do you really think he… he's reached that point now?" Azula asked. Sokka gritted his teeth upon hearing genuine fear in her voice. "I mean… I could fight him. I know I could. I'm stronger than him, always have been, but… I suppose, if he catches me off guard? Or, of course, if he reaches out to you in secret and convinces you to turn on me…"

"He would fail," Sokka said, simply. Azula huffed.

"So confident and certain, are you?" she said. "Why should I trust that you'll never turn against me?"

"Well… for starters, I don't want to," Sokka said. Azula raised her eyebrows. "Like I said, our conversations are about the best ones I've had in… well, maybe ever. Might be the only thing that rivals this is when me and my dad discuss anything we're both really interested in, but that's different anyway…"

"So, I have to live on for you to talk to me. I could do that from the inside of a jail cell, now, couldn't I?" Azula said, skeptically. Sokka smiled.

"You could. But then you wouldn't be able to take Yue on this crazy trip and we'd all be poorer for it," he said. Azula huffed.

"Of course. Well, I suppose I owe you something after all, fishy princess," Azula said: Yue grinned from the water, as good as clapping enthusiastically, and Azula smiled before shaking her head. "Be as cheerful as you want to be… the truth is you're sorry for how things turned out here, aren't you?"

Yue's enthusiasm reeled back, and she sighed.

"I… I didn't know Sokka was going through something so difficult. I guess neither did you, so… we had no warning. We really didn't. Say… you should scold him for me."

"Scold him?" Azula repeated. Sokka raised his eyebrows as Yue pouted.

"We deserve his honesty. We're all in this together, aren't we? If… if he's troubled, or in pain, or anguished, he should tell us about it. It's only right. If we can help him sort it out, we will. If we can't, well… we'll just sit in silence with him and let him know he's not alone."

"Huh," Azula said. "Well, Sokka, it appears you pissed her off."

"I… what?" Sokka said. Azula chuckled as Yue scrambled to contradict her.

"Fine, it's not quite as bad as that… but she says you need to come clean about complicated, difficult, troubling things," Azula said. Sokka gazed at her in confusion. "She says we'll help you sort it out. Now, I don't know who exactly told her she could make that kind of decision for me, but she appears to be making it anyway…"

"Oh, please! You're sitting with him by the beach, talking out his problems, talking about yours! Even if I hadn't said anything about helping Sokka from now on, you'd already have done it without my prompting you!"

Azula had no answer for that. Yue didn't often lash out, but it was even rarer when she could leave her speechless too. Sokka blinked blankly, recognizing Azula was reacting to something… not realizing what it was, however.

"What happened now?" he asked. Azula grimaced.

"She's, uh, accusing me of being dishonest about that last thing, I suppose," Azula said. "Didn't really notice I was being quite so nice to you. No worries, Sokka, it won't happen again…"

"I wouldn't mind if it did."

"Hence why it won't."

Sokka chuckled, shaking his head and relaxing on his forearms again. Azula glanced at him wistfully, somehow uncertain about their silence now, even if it shouldn't have bothered her.

"I… never realized things between you and Suki weren't all perfection, even though it makes enough sense that they weren't," Azula said. Sokka shrugged.

"Eh… happens at times. Not everyone can be like my sister and Aang, clearly," he said. Azula sighed.

"Clearly," she repeated. "You've had worse luck with these things than I have, feels like."

"Why? Never had a boyfriend who turned into the moon? Or one you dated liberally and weirdly for ten years only to realize you actually made no sense together, leading you to run away right before a marriage proposal?" Sokka asked, with a bright, sarcastic grin. Azula snorted.

"Never had a boyfriend at all, rather," she said. Sokka's eyebrows rose. "I've never really… had anything of the sort. So it's difficult to fathom your point of view, I'd say. It doesn't make a lot of sense for you to be this devoted to Yue after she died, as far as I can tell. You get nothing out of it. You cut things off with Suki and you seem to think it'll be for the best for her, too… I would dare say she's not entirely certain of that, considering her last-minute leniency. Apparently, you're a better catch than you appear to be."

"Why, thank you. That's about the nicest thing you've ever said about me," Sokka said, with a dry grin. Azula bowed her head towards him.

"I do try," she said, mockingly. He laughed, shaking his head. "My point is, though… judging by what you've been through, it feels like it's not worth it. You're putting in efforts that will yield no results… Yue can't come back, can she? Even if you help her experience and see everything she couldn't… there's no true reward for what you're doing, is there?"

"Love isn't about rewards," Sokka said. Azula frowned. "At least, not for me. When I love someone, I want what's best for them. I want them safe, happy, healthy… at peace. If Yue has been anguished over my life, over how I've handled my romantic partners, over how I've been suffering over what's going on with the moon? I'd definitely like to appease her and help cheer her up. I don't know if I can get my life together… but if it'll help her find peace of her own, I'd love to do it."

"You want a decent life… for other people's sake, rather than your own?" Azula asked, skeptical. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Guess you're about to call me an idiot for that, are you?"

Azula grimaced, though she didn't say anything this time. Sokka raised an eyebrow. Her gaze drifted towards the water… then she shook her head abruptly.

"I was told… that what you've described is not love. So perhaps you've deceived yourself all along… or those who said that to me were mistaken, but that seems unlikely."

"What?" Sokka said, pushing himself up fully. "What does that mean?"

"It means… that kind of devotion is something I'm familiar with," Azula said, with a shrug. "You give and you give, you do everything for the other person with absolutely no concern as to whether your efforts are reciprocated or not. And if it kills you, if it destroys you? That's the least of your concerns. It's worth it, you think… and then some smug know-it-all pretending to be a medical expert shows up to tell you that all those things are terribly unhealthy and that that's not love at all, that you are not loved, that you were never loved, and that what you were doing wasn't love either. So… I'm sorry to say that you might be as lost in life as I am. A sad place to be in, isn't it?"

Sokka frowned, sitting upright properly again. He seemed to mull her words over for a moment, and Azula eyed him skeptically as he did.

"You're talking about your father, aren't you?" he asked. Azula winced, tearing her eyes from him again.

"It's not just him," she said. "My… my nation, altogether. I… I did everything I could to fulfill my duty. None of it went against our code, our belief system. But in comes Zuzu, breaking every precept, every doctrine, allied with our long-time enemies, pretending to be the answer, the beacon that the nation should follow… and they do exactly that, without questioning it just because he has a crown on his head. No one… no one fought for me. No one protested my treatment. No one demanded that I, the truly loyal child of the Fire Lord, was given any dignity. I was stuck in a damnable straight jacket, fated to rot in that damn place until Zuko… until he needed me for his own ends. And to hell with what I wanted, what was good for me, what I deserved, what I was owed…! None of it mattered. None if it has ever mattered. I'm just… the annoyance to be rid of. The pest that assails and burdens the poor innocent people with her antics and her madness. Why… why did I do any of what I did during the war? Why did I follow my father's beliefs and constantly fulfilled his expectations when he discarded me just as well? He must be brimming with pride over Zuko right now… the son he made stronger by treating him like a pebble in his shoe, a problem to be rid of. And Zuko came back, over and over again, to prove him wrong. Which is exactly what he wanted, worth noting… he just expected Zuko wouldn't go as far as to betray him, but even so, he must be thrilled that his firstborn would claw for power by any means necessary. Just as he did."

"Any means necessary?" Sokka asked.

"He didn't win our Agni Kai," Azula said, with a dry grin. "He would have, make no mistake… but he became Fire Lord because I got locked up in an asylum, not because he defeated me lawfully. The one time he had a chance to do it, I… I attacked your sister, as I'm sure you know. I knew I was losing, I shouldn't have been. Sozin's Comet was powering me, so… it was infuriating that Zuko would have control while I was losing mine. So, I tried to reclaim control. When your sister, for whatever reason, walked into the battlefield… I knew I could throw him off by attacking her instead. So I did that. He got burned when he jumped between my attack and your sister. The Agni Kai's winner is the one who burns the opponent. That's the basic rule. That's why my father defeated him, and he didn't even fight back that time. And… I burned him too, with lightning. And then your sister defeated me. And even then…"

"By that logic, Katara should be Fire Lord," Sokka concluded. Azula scoffed.

"What?"

"Well, you burned Zuko, she beat you, she wins the Agni Kai in the end. How about that, I'm the brother of the real Fire Lord," Sokka said. Azula's lips curled into a disbelieving smile.

"That's not what I… what?" she said. Sokka snickered.

"We should definitely bring it up to Katara. She'd demand her dues, you know she would. Fire Lord Katara, married to Avatar Aang… and Zuko deposed. Does it sound funny, at least?"

"Funny… and entirely unreasonable," Azula admitted, with a chuckle. Sokka smiled sadly at her.

"I'm sorry," he said, startling her. "No one… no one ever really bothered hearing your side, did they?"

"Well… why would anyone?" Azula asked. "I'm just… a nutcase who needs to be diagnosed, tossed into a cage and left to rot there. I'm a threat, a menace, a problem to be rid of. If given so much as a foothold of power, I will evidently use it to take revenge on everyone who ever wronged me, see? So… you should stop being so nice to me. It'll only backfire on you. You'll wind up regretting it…"

She said the last words with a mocking, sing-song voice that did nothing to hide the gravity of what she was talking about. Sokka grimaced, gazing at her with remorse.

"Guess… guess I'll try to brace myself for it, in case you do decide to do that," he said. Azula frowned, eyeing him skeptically. "But considering you haven't thrown me overboard off the balloon so far, and we've been traveling together for quite a while now…"

"Your terrible cooking sometimes tempts me to do it, just so you know," Azula pointed out. Sokka scoffed.

"Like yours is much better," he said. "Maybe, out of the three of us, Yue is the one who would have cooking skills, wouldn't you say?"

"Her?" Azula smirked, glancing at the water. Yue grimaced, flustered and uncertain. "She begs to differ, looks like. Besides, she and I are royal. You're the commoner. You're the one who should know how to…"

"Look, I can roast whatever I hunt or fish, but that's as far as my culinary talents extend," Sokka said, though a spark of an idea came to mind over Azula's previous words. "Though… just so you know? Back home, I'm kind of like a prince, myself."

Azula scoffed: in the water, Yue's eyes brightened upon hearing words she had first heard from him, so long ago. The Fire Nation Princess glanced at the Water Tribe one, finding her giggling sweetly over what Sokka had said. Azula blinked blankly before turning towards the smug non-bender…

"You're not," she said, curtly. Sokka scoffed.

"Am too! I'm the Chief's son, I'm privileged over everyone else, and that means I didn't need to cook to save my life because someone else was doing it for me for most of my childhood," Sokka grinned, proudly. Azula's jaw dropped. "So, see? For all that matters, I'm as royal as either one of you."

"Fancy that: we're the royal losers," Azula said: Sokka yelped, and Yue gasped. "No, but, really! I'm an actual Princess, and I lost my title, the throne that was granted to me, my nation, and I'm now a hunted criminal, aren't I? You… you're not really a prince and you're pretending to be one over weird motives, but even if you were somehow, you're on the run with me now and you most likely have nowhere better to go or nothing better to do if you're here… and Yue is seemingly a stowaway in my head, stuck in every reflective surface I ever see. Instead of living it up in golden palaces and gilded cages… we're on the weirdest trip I've ever been on, instead, and living like anything but royalty."

"The Royal Exiles…" Sokka said, with a slow smirk. Azula's eyes widened. "I like the sound of that!"

"You don't have to give us a name! Besides, I'm the only exile. You're just… weird. And Yue is, uh, gone," Azula said. "Figure out a better one that properly represents all our experiences or don't do it at all."

"Ugh, I'll have to think it over, but this is tricky, damn! You help me!" Sokka said, poking her ribs with a finger: Azula winced, hands instinctively in a defensive kata, and Sokka only smirked at her reaction. "Oooh… someone's ticklish."

"And someone's got a death wish. Don't you dare do that again, or you're going to pay for it," Azula said: as usual, the infuriating man with her only seemed to take her threats as challenges, going by the proud smile on his face.

"We'll see about that," he smirked, teasingly. Azula huffed.

"The Forsaken Royals," she growled. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"

"That sounds very depressing," he said. "I want something more uplifting than that! Exiles at least sounds like we're on our way to have adventures and…"

"Misadventures, rather. The Royal Misadventurers?" Azula smirked. Sokka scoffed.

"I think we're a work-in-progress. Maybe that's what we ought to call ourselves," he said, with a slight smile. "I don't really know if there's something that binds us all together… but I guess it would be Yue, huh? She's the one who got attached to you, for whatever reason, and I joined this ride because of that."

"And for some reason you still haven't decided you've had enough of me and my malice… you're certainly an odd one, Sokka," Azula decided. "The Odd Royals…"

"Huh. That's a valid name, because we'd need one more member to be the Even Royals, after all…"

"You…!"

She snorted and burst out laughing. Sokka smirked proudly at the sound, watching as she rolled to the side, trying to keep him from seeing how embarrassingly she was laughing at his simple, foolish joke…

"T-that was… not funny. Not at all…" she said, returning to herself, a hand still over her mouth. Sokka smirked, nudging her foot with his this time.

"I think that is one thing we have in common, actually," he said. "All three of us. We laugh at bad jokes, even when we don't want to. Well, you don't want to, I don't mind laughing no matter who made the joke…"

"Because you're unrefined. I have some dignity to preserve," Azula said, smirking.

"Do you, now?" Sokka smirked.

"Well… maybe I'm not doing a great job of it right now, but I do," Azula said, her smile waning as she glanced at him. "You… are feeling better now?"

"Oh…" Sokka blinked blankly, frowning upon hearing the question. "Weirdly enough, yeah. I… heh. It felt pretty awful when it happened, and don't worry, I'm scared enough of Suki's wrath to know we'd better get going soon. But… maybe I should've just called it quits forever ago instead of letting it drag out. Strange, though, that just sitting here with you for a little while was… well, that helpful. Thank you."

"I… well, I won't make a habit of talking you out of your bad funks. So don't expect it to happen again," Azula said. Sokka smiled.

"That you did it now was enough, I think. You don't owe me anything," Sokka said. "If anything, I'm the one indebted to you. All the unresolved feelings and conflicts I had over Yue… you're helping me sort through them even if just by telling me about how she's doing. And you ended up helping me with Suki too, even if you didn't deserve getting dragged into it. I'm sorry that you did."

"Well, I'm not sorry to see the last of her, if I just did," Azula said, with a dry grin. "She'll always hold a grudge on me for defeating her back during the war. Which, yes, I'm sure you resent me for because we were enemies back then, but…"

"You know what?" Sokka said, with a slight smirk. "Since we're sharing terrible truths about how awful we are…"

"You… huh?" Azula blinked blankly. "You're not about to say you're glad I…"

"No, but I will say… one time she made fun of me and the others for losing fights as many times as we did, and I may or may not have shut her down by bringing up that she lost against you," Sokka said, with a guilty grin. Azula gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. "Yeeeeah… not my finest moment, true. Maybe that's when our problems really started, huh? Well, no, never mind, that was after the Boiling Rock after all…"

"You… used me to win an argument against your girlfriend?" Azula asked, with a devious smirk. "Careful, now. You're going to start growing on me, Sokka, and I don't think either of us wants that…"

"Azula, we've been stuck with each other for the better part of a month: we've grown on each other like weeds by now. Too late to worry about that at this point," he said, with a careless shrug.

"And you… don't mind that?" Azula asked. "Do I need to remind you of who I am? The scary criminal Princess who would set the world on fire if her mental state allowed her to…?"

"Honestly?" Sokka said, looking at her earnestly. "I get the feeling I'm only just getting to know who you really are."

Azula frowned. There was no hint of mirth in his voice, or his countenance…

"Those things you said… they're elements of you, but not the full picture," Sokka said, with a shrug. "And I barely even know how genuine any of it is anymore. For someone who apparently is a terribly dangerous criminal with no restraint, you sure have showed plenty for all this time."

"Just because Yue would be all too upset if I did anything that might hurt you," Azula said, rolling her eyes. Sokka smiled.

"Then may she protect me long enough to grow even more on you, to the point where you won't want to hurt me anymore by your own volition," Sokka grinned. Azula winced.

Did he understand what those words meant? She doubted it. He was a normal person, ultimately, regardless of his attempts to establish that he was like her, like Yue…

Azula sighed, shrugging in defeat. Sokka chuckled, reaching out to clap her shoulder gently.

"Come on, then. Let's get out of here before Suki changes her mind and starts hunting us right now," he said. Azula huffed.

"It sure is terribly inconvenient, traveling with a wanted criminal. Wanted for crimes of heartbreak and emotional distress on a Kyoshi Warrior… and somehow that makes you a far more serious menace than someone who's kidnapped children, stolen over half the assets in the Palace's safe chambers, torn the hulls of battleships just before they set out on important missions, among many other ordeals that cost the Fire Nation far more money and expenses than anyone ever could quantify…"

"What can I say? I'm truly that dangerous," Sokka said, lowering his voice menacingly, teasingly. Azula laughed, despite herself, shaking her head.

"What a pair we make. Uh, trio, rather," she said, glancing at the water. Yue, of course, giggled at Sokka's teasing words.

Azula couldn't quite help but smile, even if she feared she shouldn't have reasons to do so. There were more than enough reasons why Yue should have attached herself to anyone but her… but maybe after this conversation, after picking up on the main thing Sokka didn't have in common with them, Azula had started to suspect just why the Princess had chosen her, if she had chosen her at all.

Azula's people, her nation, had forsaken her. In their own way, Yue's had done the same thing. Whether they loved them or hated them, ultimately, they were Princesses who had given their everything to a cause that had destroyed them. They had become sacrifices, pawns in someone else's game, ready to die if that was what it took to keep their campaigns alive, strong, thriving. If Azula's father had asked her to sacrifice herself fully for him, she would have hated herself for hesitating. She would have hated herself for thinking it wasn't fair. She would have forced herself to go through with it… no matter the cost to her person.

Yue had made the sacrifice by herself, for no one else could do it in her place. Just so, the world had moved on without her, just as it had without Azula. Sokka was the strange, single person who hadn't given up on either of them. Maybe he hadn't cared one bit about Azula until this ordeal had begun… but now, there was a sincerity in his words, his attempts to understand her, that Azula simply couldn't overlook.

But could she be right to suspect the true source of that connection between herself and Yue? Could she be right to believe that Sokka should not look to bond any further with her… for neither she nor Yue were fated for anything but loneliness?

Maybe that was why they were stuck with each other. Maybe they were walking in each other's shoes, in a twisted way. Maybe their only chance at humanity, at reclaiming the possibility of a mundane, simple life, was the tall, kind, humorous and thoughtful man who opened the balloon's basket door for her to step on it, first. Azula nodded in acknowledgement, and he followed her aboard before beginning the work to take to the skies anew.

She might never find peace. Yue most likely wouldn't, either, regardless of her attempts to do so through this strange journey. But if this was the closest either of them would ever get to friendship, companionship, to staving away loneliness and experiencing so many of the blissful things they had been deprived from? Azula intended to take it. She wasn't a good enough person to spare Sokka from the anguish and suffering that would most likely follow after trying to help someone like her, to no avail. She would cling to him, make the most of him… and once she was ready, she'd simply have teach herself how to let go, just like everyone had let go of her, so long ago. Just like everyone but Sokka had let go of Yue.

#sokkla saturdays 2023 #sokklasaturdays #sokkla #sokka #azula #I had never quite written a breakup as messy as the one taking place in this chapter I think #at least not for fics? as far as I recall?#I usually go much more subtly with these things #:'D #but the situation required it (?)#Sokka really needed the moral support going into that mess even if he didn't realize it #even if it's moral support from someone(s) who had zero clue of what was going on #also while I'm absolutely writing Zuko being an ass #I can't help but find him funny in this story #it's just weird how I hardly ever can take him seriously even when he's pulling out death threats and such #I dunno maybe it's just me (?)

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janetbrown711 · 1 year

Text

Fine, Great

Pigsy has a sense of impending doom around the Mid-Autumn festival but cannot put a finger as to why, until some very unexpected guests show up at his door.

tw for references to child abuse and homophobia, as well as smoking

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 8.5 Part 9

Ao3 Link

By some weird, twisted turn of fate, an entire week managed to pass without a single incident. Seriously– even when their lawyer contacted him, Gatita was pleased to inform them that there would be no charges, the case had been dropped entirely and that both cops left the force to go be paralegals for her??? Didn’t make a lick of sense, but he’d take that over an investigation anyday, and was sure to thank Gatita immensely.

He had held his breath when Mei’s suspension ended and she went to school with MK but day after day and there weren’t any incidents, other than the office reporting that Mei was talking too much or too loud, but compared to fist fighting, it was basically a non-issue and even the faculty were starting to acknowledge that perhaps that teacher just had issues.

It was good for Pigsy’s sanity to have a functional routine again though. He’d wake up, make sure the kids were up, make breakfast, eat, drop them off, take the subway to the restaurant, and work there til closing, with the kids taking the city bus to get to the restaurant themselves. Pigsy wasn’t the biggest fan of them being on their own, but MK had technically survived this long and it was broad daylight and also one of the most popular routes so it could’ve been worse.

Could’ve been four fucking years old– Seriously, if MK’s parents weren’t already dead, they’d be dead by Pigsy’s own hands.

Tang would also stop by whenever his classes were over for the day, and they’d talk and flirt a little and he’d make him food, and Tang wouldn’t pay and Pigsy would egg him on about that, and overall it was a good time.

Which was weird.

Something was supposed to be wrong here– and something was– Pigsy just couldn’t place it.

Then again, there was something that threw him off, and that was that today was the Mid-Autumn festival. The day had been incredibly busy, despite closing early for the holiday. Catering order after catering order– Pigsy started to wonder why on earth people couldn’t just make their own noodles, but also realized he made quite a bit of profit today, so while exhausting, it wasn’t a waste. Plus, it wasn't like he sold mooncakes– he preordered those from culinary genius Chang’E forever ago.

But still. Something felt… wrong.

Maybe it was because it was the first time in years he wouldn’t be alone, maybe it was because it was weirdly cold, or maybe it was the fact that it was almost the six year anniversary of–

“Something on your mind, Pigsy?” Tang asked while MK and Mei ‘mopped’ together around his stool.

“The usual,” Pigsy flat out lied as he watched Mei and MK ‘cleaning’ happily.

They were accounted for, Tang was accounted for, The restaurant was accounted for, Sandy was–

Just then a particularly cold breeze from the late autumn air blew through the restaurant, getting Pigsy out of his thoughts as the kids and Tang shivered.

“Mr. Piggy, why don’t you have a door if it gets so cold?” Mei raised her hand to ask.

“Bah, it doesn’t get that cold,” Pigsy scoffed. “Though I do have a different type of door I install for the winter since customer’s usually aren’t working right next to the grill– I guess I’m a little biased.”

“I’d say a lot biased,” MK laughed.

Pigsy snorted and rolled his eyes, “Alright, alright– a lot. You two gonna actually clean, or are you gonna keep sword fighting with the mops?”

“...Can we choose sword fighting?” Mei raised her hand again.

Pigsy gave the girl a look, and they understood, quickly going to actually do the task at hand.

“You know, you’d think getting kids to help close a restaurant would be easier,” Tang joked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Pigsy smirked before going back to his dishes. “Your folks coming to visit tonight?”

For some reason, Tang didn’t reply to that. It was probably just the sound of running water drowning him out, so Pigsy stopped it momentarily and repeated his question.

“O-oh– um– no, not really,” Tang didn’t– couldn’t– look him in the eyes.

“Ah– you got siblings?” Pigsy asked, drying his hands.

“No,” Tang started typing intently.

“Do they live out of town? Cuz that’s the deal with my folks– halfway across the damn country when they aren’t ‘touristing’ or whatever,” Pigsy snorted in an attempt to get Tang to laugh, but at most his customer managed a weak smile.

“No, they live on Huayuan Road, along with my grandfather,” Tang said, his typing pausing briefly before continuing.

“That’s just a couple blocks from here– why aren’t they coming over?” Pigsy furrowed his brow.

Tang sighed. “Pigsy, I really appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I’m fine,” his customer tried to assure with a tight smile.

“Tang–”

“Pigsy, when I say I’m fine, I’m fine,” Tang looked away again.

Pigsy knew that was absolute bullshit.

“You know for someone so preachy about opening up, you haven’t told me much have you?” Pigsy pointed out.

“I’m not having this conversation now, Pigsy,” Tang was getting annoyed.

“I just– do they have some kind of excuse, or place they’re visiting or something else that makes this make any bit of sense?” Pigsy couldn’t refrain himself from asking, and Tang shut his laptop.

“Yes, Pigsy. They’re visiting the Temple of the Moon to worship Chang’E properly.” Tang huffed, putting his laptop in his bag.

Pigsy took a step back. “Wait– Tang– I’m sorry– I didn’t–”

“I know, Pigsy. I know,” Tang rubbed his forehead. “I just...”

“I’m sorry– you’re a lot better at the whole helpin’ thing than I am,” Pigsy sighed. “If it helps I really just wanted to know what you’d be up to in case you… want to join us for tonight?”

“I… yeah, I’d like that,” Tang gave a much more genuine, although weak smile before adding– “Just– don’t… bring up my folks. Especially to the kids.”

“Promise,” Pigsy swore and Tang’s shoulders relaxed.

“Good, then it’s a date– wait– nonono, this doesn’t count as a date– Shoot, we need to plan a real date, don’t we?” Tang laughed a little as he ran fingers through his hair.

“Jeez, you’re right– I can’t believe We’ve gone this long without even talking about it,” Pigsy chuckled a bit and started to dry off some glasses with an old rag.

“Soon?” Tang asked.

“Soon,” Pigsy agreed.

.o0o.

The feeling of something being wrong still didn’t go away as Pigsy closed and started making food at their apartment. Even as he set up his new lazy susan and let the kids play with bubble wrap, and he was watching them having fun, things were just– they were off. Even as the kids set the table, even as the crab looked absolutely delicious and Pigsy was half tempted to crack one open right now, it still was odd.

He had thought it was just Tang, because something was very very clearly on his mind, but acknowledging it didn’t make the worry go away. There had to be something else afoot here.

Despite that though, things were still going alright in the kitchen and everything was moving at a fair pace until there was a knock at the door and Tang let himself in.

“Well aren’t you three the busy bees?” Tang commented as he set down a bottle of cassia wine and a box of lotus root.

“It’s a feast alright,” Pigsy wiped sweat from his forehead before examining the bottle. “Peach wine?”

“Y-yeah! I thought something fruity– er–! sweet would be good for all the meats and stuff,” Tang laughed nervously, much to Pigsy’s confusion.

“Yeah, it’ll definitely compliment the spiced bean dumplings I got the kids working on,” Pigsy decided to not bring it up and patted Tang’s shoulder before adding it to his wine cooler (he had a wine cooler– living in this place was so weird).

Tang seemed relieved at that, going back to the front to drop off his coat and shoes.

“So– what can I help with?” Tang clapped and rubbed his hands.

“Mr. Tang,” MK’s hand shot up, “Why do you always wear a scarf?”

“I think it completes my look, don’t you think?” Tang posed against the fridge a little and Pigsy snorted.

Mei smirked and turned to MK. “I bet he can’t take the scarf off cuz if he does, his head’ll fall right off!”

“Ew! That’s so gross Mei,” MK laughed and pushed her away while Tang blushed and adjusted himself.

“It’s not like that,” Tang assured. “Besides, that’s a green ribbon, not a scarf.”

“Wait, so that’s story’s real???” MK’s jaw dropped.

“Ack– just– um–” Tang panicked.

“Get back to prepping– can’t eat the food if it doesn’t get made,” Pigsy decided to swoop in and Tang looked relieved as they giggled and got back to pinching.

“Ah– thanks,” Tang sighed a breath of relief.

“Yeah yeah,” Pigsy smiled a little. “If you could chop the lotus root you brought, that'd be great.”

“Will do,” Tang nodded.

Pigsy handed him a knife before the chef’s phone buzzed to life in his pocket. With a wince, he dug it out, flipped it open where the caller ID read–

Ma.

Pigsy rubbed his eyes.

He should’ve been expecting it, honestly. Every year she called, but most years he wasn’t all that busy– except with staying open later for catering, not making food for his f– the kids under his care, and Tang.

“OoOOOooo, who’s callin’?” Mei asked, finishing her last bean dumpling.

“Ah– no one. I’ll call back later,” Pigsy hung up and set his phone on silent. “You two done?”

“Yes sir Mr. Piggy,” Mei gave a big old grin. MK panicked at that– quickly twisting the last five in front of him and placing them on the tray with a nervous smile and thumbs up.

Pigsy chuckled. “Alright, how’s about you go set the table then?”

“Do we gotta?” Mei flopped her upper body on the kitchen island dramatically.

Pigsy rolled his eyes. “If we finish early and you two’re still up for it, we can get you some dragon’s beard candy, alright?”

Mei shot up and immediately raced MK to get plates down while Tang laughed.

“Ah– be careful with the plates-!” Pigsy called as the two ignored him completely as they ran to the dining table. Pigsy sighed.

“Does that always backfire?” Tang smirked.

Pigsy scoffed. “They’ll be way too tired after dinner to want to go into town– ‘sides we get a good view of the parades from here– it’s fine– I think,” He winced as Mei slammed a plate down– but relaxed when it didn’t sound like it cracked or chipped.

Tang chuckled more as he continued slicing lotus root. “You know, for all the panicking you’ve been doing, I would’ve expected you to be doing a lot worse– but you seem to got this whole ‘parenting’ thing down.”

“Funny,” Pigsy chuckled as he put the dumplings in the oven.

“What? You still don’t trust my word?” Tang teased.

“It’s not that– it’s just–” Pigsy shook his head.

It’s just that I’m not their parent.

“You know you’re slicing that wrong, right?” Pigsy looked down at Tang, almost startled by just how poorly the man was holding the knife.

“Am I?” Tang blinked, only now realizing he was totally crooked and now a whole root was just uneven.

“Here– I’ll show you,” Pigsy took the knife from Tang.

“First you gotta grip the knife tight, so that you’re actually in control of the damn thing,” He teased Tang a little. “Then, as you go you gotta not be scared of slicing your fingers off– otherwise you give yourself too much space and that’s how you get all uneven. You can go slow, I’m not gonna judge you for that either– try it like this,” Pigsy sliced five pieces before offering the knife back to Tang.

“Rrrrright,” Tang nodded, taking the knife and immediately forgetting all of Pigsy’s advice. With a huff, Pigsy wrapped his arms around Tang and forced him to do it properly (which was even difficult for him because of the close contact).

“Got it now?” He asked after five more slices.

“Y-yeah totally,” Tang stuttered, which made Pigsy look at his face and realize just how red he was. Pigsy laughed a little, which made Tang laugh a little, which was good for about five seconds, until Tnag tried to continue slicing while he still had his eyes closed, and cut his finger.

“ACK– Mother f-f’nning great monk alive–” Tang held back curses before grabbing a towel and pressing it against his finger. “Mind telling me where the bathroom is, Pigsy?” He asked through grit teeth.

“Yikes– it’s just down the hall on the right–sorry,” Pigsy pointed.

“Bah– it’s my fault for being a clutz– I’ll be fine,” Tang winced a little with a smile before walking to the bathroom. Pigsy hovered closely behind anxiously when there was a sudden knock at the door.

“You gonna be okay if I answer the door?” Pigsy scratched the back of his neck.

“I told you, I’m fine, Pigsy,” Tang gave a small but still genuine smile that made Pigsy want to kiss his cheek, but he could see Mei and MK watching from around the corner and so just patted his arm and went to the door.

There was a strange, but certainly strong aroma when he went to the door– food? Who on earth would bring him food? Basically everyone in this building had some level of distaste for him, so he was half tempted to just lock the door and never answer. However, that would just make the bad stereotypes true, so he knew he should open up anyways.

With a breath, Pigsy opened the door.

“Ah– there’s my widdle Pigsy-wigsy! My, you’ve gotten so fat– why are you wearing your glamor at home? Also why didn’t you tell your father and I you moved??? Oh I missed you so much,” His mother beamed and kissed him all over his face, and Pigsy realized this was the impending doom he’d been worrying about.

“Ma– Pops– you really shouldn’t’ve come,” Pigsy gritted his teeth and smiled.

“Oh I know, I know– but that’s why I called– you know, I really didn’t expect you to suddenly move into a place like this– is that a genuine Bluthner piano? Oh, you know your nana and I–” his mother rambled on and on as she went to the piano, meanwhile Pigsy’s father stood coldly in the doorway.

“Bajie.” He said, holding a basket of what Pigsy could only assume was food.

“Pops,” Pigsy replied just as short.

His father looked around the apartment a bit before locking eyes on MK and Mei.

“Who’re the humans?”

Fuck. He still hadn’t told them.

“Ah– well– um– it’s complicated, but I’m their– uh– legal guardian now,” Pigsy shrugged and laughed a little as his father officially stepped inside, giving him a side glance with a raised eyebrow.

“Wow– you’re really tall Mr. Pops, sir,” MK stated bluntly.

“I like your tusks! They’re cool!” Mei grinned next to him.

HIs father stared down silently.

“Oh my great sage– Who are these absolute cuties? Are they like your little delivery boy and girl? Oh you know that’s just the sweetest little idea– I’m Zhu Jiayi, and this is my husband Zhu Hangleng– we’re Mr. Pigsy’s Ma and Pa,” The older woman smiled sweetly upon the children as she took her husband's arm.

“Woah! We got grandparents?” MK jumped with excitement.

“Grandparents? That’s–” Pigsy’s mother looked at him, before immediately going to hug him again.

“Oh Pigsy– why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve brought gifts-!” She clapped before suddenly punching his arm. “How long have you kept this from me?! I remember tellin’ you specifically if you ever gave me grandbabies you were supposed to call me immediately,” she pointed at the startled chef.

“Woah– woah– I– it’s not like that– they’re full human– if dragon counts as that–” Pigsy shook his head. “It happened so fast and strangely– I couldn’t explain it if I tried.”

“This is so cool! I’ve never had a granny or grandpa before,” MK grinned.

“Oh please, call me your Nainai, you absolute cuties,” The female demon turned to smile fondly at the children.

“Oh sweet!” MK had stars in his eyes. “I’ve never had a Nainai and Yeye bef–”

“Just call me Mr. Zhu,” Pigsy’s father interrupted and MK’s face fell a little, which made Pigsy shoot him a look.

“Hangleng– don’t be a pain,” Jiayi elbowed her husband, but he remained stoic as ever.

Just then Tang emerged from the bathroom cleaned up and with a fresh white bandage wrapped around his finger– halting the moment he saw the two, much taller and very unfamiliar pig demons.

“Oh Jiejie, who’s this?” His mother turned and smiled at Tang.

Tang looked at Pigsy and they shared an equally panicked look before Pigsy cleared his throat and stood by his side.

“Ah, This is Tang. He’s a frequent customer of mine, and–” He glanced at Tang who shook his head a little. “– and a good friend of mine.”

“Oh well it is such a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tang,” His mother offered her hand and Tang reluctantly shook it, before his mother pulled her in and gave him two kisses on the cheek.

“Ma-!” Pigsy tried to stop it, and she stepped back with a huff.

“What?” She asked, before nodding to herself. “Right, right– I forgot you humans are so touchy about your personal space.”

“Demons are too, if ya bother to ask,” Pigsy muttered under his breath.

“Oh-! That reminds me– your father and I brought some braised duck and taro for you– some of Nana’s old recipes,” His mother patted Pigsy’s arm while his father went and dropped off a basket on the counter.

“Great,” Pigsy tried not to let his eye twitch. “So are you two gonna get going, or..?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it Jiejie! I mean– seriously– the least you could do is let us meet our little grandbabies after turning off your phone and not telling us about ‘em in the first place– not to mention barely answering any of my calls this past year,” His mother scolded.

“Of course,” Pigsy sighed. “MK? Mei? Could you set the table for two more?”

“Ah– actually, maybe just one– I-i should get going–” Tang stepped towards the door.

“What-? You can’t go– you won’t get free food like this anywhere else,” Pigsy tried to joke to mask his overwhelming concern.

“Oh, I just–” Tang looked at Pigsy’s parents, then MK and Mei, and then barely at Pigsy. “I-i can’t intrude on this whole ‘family’ business– ‘Sides I think I might need stitches for this cut so I should head to an urgent care–”

Bullshit.

“Ah, I see. You got folks that can pick you up?” Pigsy’s mother looked at the scholar with a slightly ticked off face.

Tang took another step back. “I– I really should go–”

“Tang, wait–” Pigsy grabbed his arm, but Tang yanked it away.

“Oh, well I supposed I could drive you if you’d like– we can be back here in just a jiffy,” Mrs. Zhu said with such nonchalance that sent Tang jumping backwards.

“A-Actually-! I-I’m fine! Totally fine! I just— I need some… air,” He glanced at Pigsy before speed walking to his room– or more correctly, the balcony.

“Some customer,” Pigsy’s father snorted, opening more foil wrapped packages as Pigsy just stared at the door and wondered if he should go to Tang or not.

“Mr. Piggy, why is Tang acting weird?” MK asked with a frown.

“Ah, well–”

“Seems like the boy doesn’t have any manners,” His mother decided to answer for him. “Seriously– who wants to leave a feast they’re invited to and then declines a ride? And then he just needs ‘air’ – you know, I’m just glad he’s not your boyfriend or somethin’ because he just seems–”

“MK, Mei– why don’t you two go freshen up a bit and I’ll call you when the food is ready, alright?” Pigsy interrupted his mother, causing confusion in both of the children.

“What if I don’t wanna?” Mei pouted.

“D’aww, these kiddos are precious Jiejie,” Jiayi patted Mei’s head and she laughed. “And I know you didn’t teac–”

“Kids. Rooms. Now.” Pigsy ordered, causing both kids to practically jump out of their skin before they scurried off.

“Now what’d you do that for?” His mother crossed her arms again.

Pigsy rubbed his forehead and took a very, very long breath. “Can we sit down to talk about this? Because I can’t do this whole ‘back and forth in the kitchen’ thing.”

His father huffed. “You know, in the factories we stood for fifteen hours a day.”

“So you’ve told me thirty million times,” Pigsy muttered before guiding them to the living room couch, where he sat adjacent to his parents.

“So are you finally gonna tell us about this whole adoption business? And how on earth you managed to get yourself a place like this in a neighborhood like this, or are you just gonna tell us we can’t see our new grandkids,” His mother gave him a look.

Pigsy growled. “You know, you got some nerve finding my address and then showing up completely uninvited.”

“You’ve barely answered my calls in a year, Bajie– you’re always so busy with your restaurant– I get worried about you,” Her gaze softened.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Pigsy rubbed his eyes. “I just– it’s hard to want to when you show up to my place invited, immediately insert yourselves into MK and Mei’s lives, insult my guest and then act like you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that Tang fella–”

“Tang is a very good person, Ma, who’s helped me with this whole adoption thing a lot, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t badmouth him in front of the kids,” Pigsy crossed his arms.

“Well I wouldn’t describe it as ‘bad mouthing’,” His mother sighed.

“Are you going to keep upsetting your mother, or does this have a point?” His father challenged.

Pigsy took a breath again. “Look– I just– I really wasn’t expecting you any time soon, and yeah– silencing my phone was probably a jerk move, but also you called five minutes before arriving, and it wasn’t like I was never going to tell you about MK and Mei– it’s just– they’ve been through a lot and change is weird for them and for me, so for you to just waltz in and say you’re their Nainai is just– a lot– but distancing yourself is weird too,” He looked at his father.

His mother sighed. “Look, I know I get excited about things– but can you blame me? You barely even call anymore, and it just feels like you’re a million miles away. Feels like we haven’t even talked since Nana.”

Pigsy winced. “I– it’s been a long time, I know, but that doesn’t make barging any better. Goodness knows I’m having a hard time adjusting to all this already.”

“I get so worried about you, xiao zhu. I mean– I know it’s hard with us traveling and such, but sometimes I’d just like to know how my ma’s recipes are holding up, you know?” She placed a hand on his knee.

“I know, I know– it’s just– it gets exhausting.”

His father snorted smugly.

“Right, I forgot I was talking to ‘Sargent’ Zhu over here,” Pigsy stared icily.

“Hey now, that’s no way to talk to your father,” His mother chided.

Pigsy looked daggers into his father. "Right. Sorry ‘Sarge’."

"Bajie, if you are looking for someone to blame your life on, you were the one who decided to be a little shit and ignore everything we ever tried teachin’ you," His father glowered.

"You know what? I can't deal with you two. You need to leave. Now." Pigsy stood.

"Oh will you two cut the crap for once?!" Jiayi stood too. “Can’t we just be civil and have a nice meal with our new grandkids?” She smacked Hangleng over the head and looked at Pigsy.

"For crying out loud ma– they aren't your grandkids-! They're barely even just my kids– I–" PIgsy was getting real sick of trying to control himself.

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" His mother tapped her foot.

"I tried telling you– it was a rushed adoption with weird celestial–"

"Celestials?" His father raised an eyebrow.

Pigsy bit his tongue. "Yes. Mei is a descendant of the Dragon Clan, and apparently, her great great x1000 uncle chose me to raise her for some reason."

"Couldn't be because they thought you'd be a good father," His father smirked at his own joke, taking a cigar from his coat pocket and lighting it. "What kind of celestials would ever trust a demon with their own anyways?"

Pigsy held back a shaking fist and lump in his throat. "I don't know. What I do know is that it's only been finalized for like– two weeks so it's all new and strange and just– I really would appreciate it if you could either not be at 100 right now or just leave and come back later."

"What about that Tang fella? What's his problem?" His father asked, emphasizing his sentence with a long puff of smoke.

"Pops, you shouldn’t–" Pigsy was about to scold his smoking, but knew it was a lost cause and dropped it. "Tang is a good friend, but his folks apparently don't wanna see him. I don't know why– he hasn't told me yet, but I care about him so… I invited him over."

His mother clearly thought deeply about that before slowly nodding to herself. "I guess I could’ve overwhelmed ‘im– still was kind of rude though"

"Ma–” Pigsy took a breath. “He just needs some air– like he said.”

His mother sighed. "Well I guess he’s getting it then.”

A beat.

“Maybe you should talk to him though,” She suggested.

Pigsy slowly nodded. "I– yeah, I should, but I still need to–"

"Bah, I can take care of the food, Jiejie– she was my mother first," his mother smiled.

That didn’t mean she was as good as him or his nana though– but he needed to talk to Tang.

“Okay, okay. Just– if the kids leave their rooms, try to act normal please,” He said mostly to his Ma since his father was a lost cause.

“Alright, alright, just go talk to your customer, I got this,” His mother cracked her knuckles and walked back into the kitchen. Meanwhile his father remained smoking on the couch, staring at the TV vacantly.

“If you trigger the sprinklers, I’m not paying for a new pack,” Pigsy informed.

“Yeah, yeah,” His father waved him off and Pigsy rolled his eyes, deciding he had much better things to do.

He walked to the balcony attached to his room, where he found Tang resting his head in hands staring out at the sunset– though not before grabbing his cigarettes and a lighter.

Geez talk about deja vu.

With a breath, Pigsy tapped on the glass lightly before opening it, a rush of cool air managing to send a chill even down his own spine.

“Hey,” He just barely spoke above a whisper, closing the door behind him.

“Hey,” Tang replied just as quietly.

Silence settled as Pigsy didn’t have a clue what to say, and Tang probably still needed that air. Well, frankly, Pigsy needed that air now too, and so fished out a cigarette and started smoking.

“You know those are cancerous, right?” Tang didn’t look at the chef.

Pigsy shrugged and took a puff.

More silence.

Pigsy knew he was going to have to speak first.

What could he say though? He could apologize for pushing him again– though that seemed redundant. He could ask about his parents again– but that’d be pushing and then his previous apology would sound like bullshit and then Tang wouldn’t trust him anymore.

He wanted to leave when his parents showed up, so that’s probably a good place to start.

A breath.

“Look Tang… I’m really sorry about my folks– I swear I didn’t know they were coming, and if I had known I most certainly would’ve told you. I promise I wouldn’t let them sneak up on you on purpose.”

Tang was still quiet for a moment, rubbing the sleeves of his changpao.

“I know,” He eventually said. “I just– With all the talk about my family, I–”

“I know– I really am sorry, Tang,” Pigsy looked at him earnestly.

“Yeah,” Tang closed his eyes for a moment. “I guess I’m not mad– I just– I know it’s not your fault because I didn’t tell you but–”

“Hey,” Pigsy touched Tang’s arm with his free hand. “You don’t have to tell me anything, remember?”

Tang smiled a little sadly. “I know, but like you said, I should.”

Pigsy smiled a little too.

Tang’s eyes went back to the skyline, ignoring the sparklers and city festivities below. “Are your folks always like this?”

Pigsy shrugged and brought his cigarette back to his lips. “I guess so– Ma’s always been gushy and my pops has always been… distant, to say the least.”

“That explains a lot,” The scholar laughed weakly.

“Guess it does, huh?” The chef did the same before taking a drag.

The joking didn’t cut the tension, as Tang still had a far off look in his eyes that made Pigsy wish he could join him in his mind so he wouldn’t be so alone. Eventually, Pigsy summoned enough courage to put his hand close, and Tang instantly placed his own hand atop his, stroking it with his thumb.

“Well my folks… well, they weren't awful– but–” Tang took a breath and Pigsy leaned forward. “But they– um… well my father works as a professor at the Megapolis Academy of Science and Mathematics and my mother takes care of my grandfather– but used to teach there was well– and my grandfather also used to be a professor also at Megapolis Academy of Science and Mathematics– one of the most revered too– so– I– I kinda had a lot of pressure on me, you know? To join the ranks of their greatness and whatnot?” Tang laughed a little more from nerves.

“Had?” Pigsy tried to ask as delicately as possible, but he was also an idiot, so…

Tang nodded. “Well– um– at first, I was pretty good at keeping up with their expectations– I was really good at reading and history and poetry and stuff, and I even won awards and stuff for it. But when it came time for secondary school, I-i started slipping– but thanks to my father’s influence, I was able to at least stay afloat– and I even got into Megapolis Academy for Science and Mathematics– despite the fact that I really hate both science and mathematics,” Tang tried laughing away tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

Pigsy squeezed his hand, to which Tang smiled a little, but his eyes remained forward.

“Once I was there though– it all just fell apart,” Tang sighed. “I completely lost all will to study or focus and it felt like I completely forgot how to act like a normal person. I mean, I had always been a loner, but being a loner at that school was like a whole new level. U-until…”

A shaky breath from Tang.

“Until I met someone– a male someone– a-and I got a… crush. I hadn’t really ever had a crush before– it was all so weird and unusual, it basically consumed all thoughts and so when my parents kept asking why my grades were slipping, I tried coming up with excuses like exhaustion, or loneliness, but they pointed out how I managed just fine in the past, a-and so I felt like I had no other choice, so I… told them– god I was so stupid…”

“Oh, Tang…”

“My grandfather called me a disgrace amongst many choice words– said I was trying to sabotage his career and the family legacy. My mother wept and cursed and said she wished I had been a girl so that way my failures could’ve been expected. A-and my father? He completely cut all ties– even threw my clothes into a bag and tossed it into the street– saying that I was a filthy– you know– and that I shouldn’t bother coming back until I had a son of my own to prove my worth.” Tang’s voice quivered slightly and Pigsy rubbed a hand along his back.

“Tang, I-i–”

“I was kicked out of school after that– and suddenly I had no job, no family, and no place to live. I applied to the city university and was thankfully able to get a basically full scholarship since it was too soon for my ‘disownment’ to be known– but it didn’t cover food costs a-and so for a while I was basically starving and doing weird little jobs and surveys and internships for money and draining any semblance of savings I had on housing until–”

Tang turned to Pigsy.

“Until I met you.”

Pigsy froze.

Tang chuckled a little, a tear escaping. “Being on my own was… hard– especially for three and a half years– but when I found your restaurant– when I met you– I just– I felt like I had a home again– someone I could talk to again. Stars above, you have no idea how lucky I feel to know you think the same. And I know, I know, it was rude of me to try and leave, but when your mother was embracing me it just– my own mother used to hug me like that sometimes– especially when I was a kid if I did something noteworthy… and I was just reminded of what I’ve lost.”

“I’m so sorry, Tang– your parents sound like shitheads,” Pigsy couldn’t think of much else to say as he smothered his cigarette in an ashtray.

“Not compared to yours,” Tang tried to brush it off.

“Tang, they cut you out of their lives,” Pigsy adamantly pointed out.

“W-well, yes, but you’re father– he clearly abused you, and now you feel like you can’t do anything–”

“Tang, you feel like you can’t do anything.”

Tang went quiet.

The pig demon sighed. “Tang, my parents may be… a lot– but at least they didn’t cut ties with me when they sound out I like men too.”

“Ah– right,” Tang’s voice cracked. “Well… anyways, I guess my point here is that your folks– I know they weren’t good to you, but they– they reminded me of what I’ve lost and it snuck up on me.”

Pigsy slowly nodded. “My Ma’s not the worst, she certainly has her moments, so… I get it.”

“Yeah,” Tang chuckled genuinely. “I’m sorry if I offended her.”

“Bah, she’ll get over it, she’s got tough skin,” the demon assured.

Tang looked at Pigsy and hummed a little before returning his gaze forward. “Are you comfortable with them here?”

Pigsy shrugged. “I mean– I love my ma, and my pops… can have a nice moment– or at least a quiet one– so– I mean, as long as they’re under my observation I think I’m okay.” The chef laughed. “I’d love it if they didn’t sneak up on me, but seeing them less frequently helps my sanity. Are you okay with them here though?”

Tang took a breath. “I think so. I mean– I already know all the ways they’ve fucked up, so I know not to get too attached or anything,” he joked. “And even then, I–... I’m not alone anymore,” Tang held Pigsy’s hand and gave it a squeeze of his own, making the demon blush.

“Yeah, you’re not,” Pigsy agreed softly.

“Yeah, I have MK and Mei, and some cute stranger I’ve never actually talked to who keeps yelling at me for not paying for my food– do you think I should ask him out?” Tang smirked.

“Oh, shut up,” Pigsy pushed him away with a laugh before Tang kissed his cheek.

“I’m just teasing,” Tang scrunched his nose.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Pigsy rolled his eyes with a grin.

“Oh– but um– one more thing: let’s… not tell your parents about ‘us’ until after tonight,” Tang suggested.

“Oh absolutely– we would never hear the end of it if we did,” Pigsy completely agreed. “My mother would just blabber on and on with questions, meanwhile poor MK and Mei would probably turn into bored skeletons in the corner.”

“And your father?” Tang asked, chuckling.

Pigsy scratched his chin. “I think he’ll be that special kind of distant that he reserves for family members.”

“Bah, who needs a father’s love anyways?” Tang grinned.

“Agreed,” Pigsy nodded, happy to see Tang happy before deciding to kiss him on the cheek too.

“What was that for?” Tang’s face flushed to one shade away from a tomato.

“For having a shit childhood,” Pigsy playfully shrugged. “And speaking of shitty childhoods– we should probably get back to MK and Mei before they start talking to my ma about embarrassing childhood moments.”

“You know, in different circumstances, I’d love to hear those kinds of stories,” Tang grinned like an idiot.

“Yeah well maybe after a couple of months we can have an ‘official meeting of the parents’ – or whatever and then Ma can tell you all about it,” Pigsy half-joked, but Tang seemed genuinely touched.

“That sounds lovely, Pigsy,” His hand brushed Pigsy’s arm.

“Y-yeah?” Pigsy blinked. “I-i mean– yeah-! If that’s what you want– I’ll have to have a very serious conversation to prep ‘em, but– yeah,” the chef smiled, probably just as stupid as Tang was.

“Anyways,” Tang gave Pigsy a mischievous look, “I don’t know if you know this, but I was promised free food tonight, and I am preeeeetty hungry.”

“Oh, and who promised you that?” Pigsy teased.

“Ah, just some demon I know– but you know, he is kind of a mediocre cook, so maybe I’ll just skip out–”

“Alright, alright, alright– I hear you,” Pigsy flustered and opened the door for Tang, who was just about laughing his ass off now.

“You know I love you,” Tang smirked and wiped a tear from his eye.

“Yeah, I do,” Pigsy chuckled, and the men went back inside.

#lego monkie kid #lmk #freenoodles #pigsy lmk #tang lmk #my fics #i love the gay men #wish they'd kiss in canon #tw smoking #tw child abuse #tw homophobia #we stan tang and pigsy in this house

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