Chapter Eight
Azula walked out into the courtyard, scowling at the bright atmosphere. Her sleep deprived eyes sensetive to the sun.
"Good morning Azula!" Aang chirped from up on Appa.
Sokka sat leaning against the back of Appa's saddle. Aang had told him about Azula and he was surprisingly alright with the situation. If he was keeping his eye on Azula, then he'd be distracted from Zuko.
Speaking of which, the Firelord walked out of the palace, talking with his Uncle and shot a quick glance at Sokka, unaware that he was looking back at him.
The water tribe boy sighed, sliding off of Appa's back and giving the giant fluffy bison a pat. Azula glanced over at him and he raised an eyebrow.
Two Kyoshi warriors walked out to stand near her. Ty Lee and Suki.
"Suki!" Sokka chirped. However, he quickly cut himself off and took a breath. Hopefully things wouldn't be weird between them too.
"Hey Sokka." Suki smiled, holding her arms open for a hug.
A wide grin spread across his face and he eagerly wrapped his arms around the slightly shorter girl. Her embrace was warm and he sighed, why couldn't he just be content with this?
"Are you coming with us?" Sokka asked, pulling away from Suki.
"No, we're staying to guard Iroh." Suki replied.
"That's too bad..." Sokka pouted, glancing at Ty Lee who's eyes never left Azula.
"Is everything ready?" Zuko asked, drawing the attention of Sokka and Suki.
His tone was rather harsh and it came as a surprise to Aang in particular. Sokka had figured that maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning and shrugged it off. Though that didn't stop him from listening in on his answer when Aang asked him about it.
"You alright Zuko?" Aang murmured, leaning over as far as he could without falling off Appa.
"I'm fine, I just want to get going," Zuko replied, still harsh. "Where's Katara?"
His eyes softened a bit at his own mention of Katara. They had a short conversation the night before, she hadn't asked him many questions which was sort of unlike her, but he didn't mind.
"I'm here," Katara called, running out to meet the rest of the gang. "Are we going to go now?"
"First I just want to figure out who has the first watch on Azula." Zuko piped up, looking around at everyone, meeting Sokka's eyes for a fragment of a second.
"I'll do it." Sokka offered, shrugging.
"Ha! You?" Azula grinned, her hands poised on her hips.
"Sokka, maybe you should leave this to the benders..." Katara urged softly, giving him a concerned glance.
"What? There's nothing she could throw at me that my boomerang and I can't handle!" Sokka boasted, holding up said boomerang.
"Filthy peasant. You couldn't do any damage with that toy of yours." Azula sneered, waving him off.
"Oh really?" Sokka frowned, walking over to her. "You underestimate me Azula."
She glanced at him, her expression bored. With a little grin, she sparked a small shot of lightning at the boomerang, causing Sokka to yelp and shake his hand.
"Azula!" Zuko boomed, grabbing Sokka's shoulders and glaring at his sister.
The firebender's hand was encased in ice. She stared at Katara, the cause, with anger.
"Are you ok?" Zuko muttered to Sokka, looking at the hand he was holding.
"A-ah... Mmhmm yes... Fine!" Sokka uttered, his face viciously heating up.
"Good," Zuko breathed, Sokka flinching at the husky undertone of his voice. "Sorry."
He let go of Sokka's shoulders and walked over to Azula, by the looks of it, he was telling her off.
Once everyone had all their things, they piled onto the bison, Zuko giving his uncle one last hug goodbye.
"I hope you find her." Iroh said, patting his nephew's back.
"Thank you uncle, I'll be back soon." Zuko smiled.
"May I also say," Iroh glanced at Sokka who was arguing with Azula about something. "The key to a healthy relationship is communication."
"What...?" Zuko muttered, looking over his shoulder to see what Iroh had looked at.
He met Sokka's eyes, staring into the blue pools of his irises, shining in the mornings sun. How had he never noticed before? He was beautiful.
_
"It's almost like old times," Sokka stated, looking down at the landscapes passing below them. "Team Avatar, travelling the world, helping those in need."
"Except... Instead of Toph, we have..." Katara looked to Azula who was giving her a death stare.
"Tell me... Which one of you imbeciles did she approach first?" Azula demanded lowly, her tired eyes scanning the other passenger's faces.
"What?" Katara uttered.
"None of you had even met me yet. How did she convince you to ruin my life?!" Azula hissed.
"Azula," Zuko touched her shoulder. "That's enough."
"Right..," Aang muttered. "So, Zuko, where are we headed?"
"The village is called Hira'a." Zuko replied, his eyes moving to look at Sokka.
_
Zuko knocked softly on Katara's door, his chest wrenching with anxiety. He heard the faint scuffle of movement behind the door and then it grew louder before the door opened, revealing a tired looking Katara.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" Zuko asked softly.
"No, I was just reading..." Katara looked him up and down, seemingly confused at how he was still donned in his full royal outfit. "Can I help you?"
"I just had a question," Zuko responded, clasping his hands together. "It might sound weird but I'd rather hear the answer from you rather than my advisors."
"Okay...?" Katara arched an eyebrow.
"I was reading over the Fire Nation's laws... And I noticed that homosexual relationships and marriages are illegal," He looked around the hallway quickly before returning his gaze to Katara. "And I was wondering what the laws regarding homosexual relationships were in the water tribe?"
Katara blinked, a little taken aback by the question. She frowned for a split second, understanding why Zuko had asked that. Her gaze returned to his golden eyes.
"Well, in the water tribe, marriage between the same sex isn't illegal, however, we tend to keep to ourselves if we love the same gender." She explained.
"I see," Zuko hummed, looking down. "Thank you."
With that, he bid Katara goodnight and walked back to his room, glancing one last time at the figure on Appa's back through the window.
_
"There's Hira'a," Zuko noted, gesturing to a village. "But we should set up camp. I don't want to enter the town at night like a troupe of bandits."
The sun had started to set, painting the sky a warm yellow orange. It reminded him of Mai in a way. He sighed, how was she?
"Ok!" Aang beamed, directing Appa down towards the woods below them.
"Uh, Aang are you alright?" Katara asked, looking at his expression.
Sokka leaned over to look at the Airbender, Zuko copying the action beside him. His hands poised in the saddle's edge, he held his balance enough to lean over and look at Aang.
The Avatar looked furious. His mouth turned into a harsh scowl and his eyebrows bent down over his wide eyes.
"I'm fine, there's just... Something about this place that makes me want to make this face..." Aang replied.
"Yeah, I think I feel it too." Sokka teased, pushing his own eyebrows down with his hands.
Zuko let out a small chuckle before hiding it and looking back down at the grass. Sokka glanced at him but his attention was stolen by Katara lecturing him about teasing Aang.
"Woah! Did you guys see that?!" Aang exclaimed.
The rest of the passengers looked around trying to see what he was talking about. All they saw were woods.
"There was a giant wolf! I think it's the presence I felt..."
"Did the wolf look like this?" Sokka asked, stretching his cheeks with his fingers and frowning, earning a snowball to the face from Katar
"I don't see anything..." Zuko noted, scanning the trees.
"What was that for?" Sokka glared at Katara, wiping the snow off his face.
"I told you to knock it off!" Katara fumed, bending the water off her brother and into her pouch.
"Azula! Get down from there!" Zuko demanded, drawing everyone else's attention to the figure balanced on the edge of Appa's saddle.
"Well, it's been a pleasure flying with you, but I really must be going as Hira'a is just a hop, skip and a jump away," Azula mused, throwing her arms out. "I'll be sure to give her your regards."
"Azula we're still too high up!" Aang shouted.
But the firebender had already jumped from the saddle, plunging towards the ground.