#azula handsome... yes?

[lazyveran]

constantly having to hit myself over the head to stop the urge to write azula as more gnc simply bc i want to

[dreadsuitsamus]

nsfw, fem!reader, breeding and ozai being ozai

Guarding the former Fire Lord, even with his inability to bend anymore, is daunting. Though a prisoner, Ozai is still intimidating and dangerous, those muscles not simply for display. There aren't many guards willing to take on the task of keeping a watchful eye on him for even a single shift, let alone during all of their working hours. Your bravery and resilience is rewarded with handsome payment, though by now, you'd do it for free! There are certain... benefits that have come with your position.

"Ah, ah— Mm! My Lord, oh, yes...!" You throw your head back onto Ozai's pillows, his time spent as a political advisor to his son having offered him a nicer cell than a typical prisoner would have, thanks to the leverage he still holds over the young man. Ozai has your limber legs spread wide against the mattress, your toes touching the headboard as the man above you plows into you with vigor, his cock reaching places inside of you that you never knew existed before fate brought you directly to him.

Ozai hisses, his grip tightening around your ankles. "That's it... Take it. Take my cock, my power, my all. You'll give me a new heir, one that will be perfect, one that won't fail me like the others! You'll do this for your King, without fail!" He spits out, the excited luster of his ideals getting him off as much as the way your slickened walls grip his shaft and beg to be filled once again, as he has every night for several months now. Whether you're on duty or sneaking into his chamber, you take your Lord's seed and humbly await the night you'll fall pregnant and kick his plans into gear. He cannot bend fire anymore, but his theory rests on your firebending abilities and his genetics to create a child that can bend, and be the very best.

Zuko was a failure from the very beginning, and Azula's demise must surely stem from her mother, a woman never loyal to the Fire Nation and Ozai himself. This heir will be the one to make him proud.

"Breed me, my Lord! It is my duty, my destiny to bear your child! Together, we shall restore your honor, your legacy, with our children."

Ozai's grin is maniacal, his laugh sinister as he lowers himself to speak directly into your ear. "You're getting ahead of yourself, aren't you? You've yet to give me one heir, let alone multiple!"

"The solstice is nearly upon us." You pant, a mewling whimper breaking your concentration as your Lord twists your nipples that will one day feed his child and help him to become strong.

"And...?" Ozai's strong fingers squeeze the sensitive buds harder, grinning at how pleasurable you find his pain to be.

"T-There will be no better time to fall pregnant, my King. Our child will be strong, guided by the stars to take back what is yours!"

"Oh, really? So do you suggest I'm wasting my time now then?" Ozai begins to pull away, only slipping out a mere fraction of his slick-coated dick before your fingers, small and soft and so breakable like the rest of you, are threading into his hair. Amused, Ozai pauses with a raised brow and cocky smirk on his lips. "What's this, hm?"

"My Lord— My love." You breathe out, sneaky legs snaking around his trim waist to summon him back into his fully-seated position. "Please..."

"Please what?" He hisses, those strong arms slipping around your waist tightly in what's nearly a darling embrace, though he still remains only partially inside of your cunt. "Are you simply here tonight as my whore?"

"For you, I am anything." Your chest heaves, beads of sweat prickling you from head to toe. "The mother of your proper heir, the one that sees to your exemplary care... Your courtesan, your lover... Your wife, if you'd have me."

Ozai's large hand, one you'd still not fear even with his power intact, comes to rest at the side of your face. "Provide me a firstborn son that can firebend, and then we'll discuss a permanent relationship."

Your much smaller hand covers his, hopeful tears welling in your eyes. "I won't let you down, Phoenix King Ozai."

"See to it that you don't." Ozai's lips capture yours in a rare kiss, and he again rocks his hips to yours, soon filling you to the brim with seed that takes, settling deep into your womb to create the child that will swell your belly with his pride.

[the-genius-az]

I want omega Zuko mpregged

Azula (Running quickly to Zuko): No, no, no, no.

Zuko: Hey Azula.

Zuko (gets punched in the stomach): Huh! What the fuck?

Azula (While wiping away some tears): You are my brother, and I cannot stand by watching you trhow away life like this.

Azula: You're too young, and you're kind of handsome!

Zuko (moans in pain):What the fuck are you talking about?

Azula: I'm talking about the baby that's growing inside your belly now.

Sokka: Bye!

Zuko: I'm not pregnant!

Azula (Smiling proudly): Well, not after that hit!

Azula (makes a smug pose): I've been taking muay thai classes.

Zuko (Trying to hide his anger): I was never pregnant, Azula.

Azula (She looks over Zuko's stomach): Are you sure?

Zuko (Grabs the collar of his sister's shirt): Yes, I'm fucking sure!

Mai (immediately pushes both siblings aside): I'm sorry, but why the fucking is everybody yelling over here?

Azula: Oh..

Azula (Take a pregnancy test): i found this positive pregnancy and there was-

Zuko (Mai immediately punches Zuko in the stomach): Oh, mother fucking!

[zkbigbang]

ZKBB 2024 Sneak Peek

The Lotus Villa

The gate creaked open and slammed shut. “Lady June…” The newcomer’s voice echoed through the garden. Katara pricked her finger on her needle. A drop of blood landed on the silk, soiling it.

She rose and flew at him. “You raccoon-dog’s ball sack,” she said. “You’ve ruined it.” Now, she had to throw out the silk and start over. The loud bastard owed her ten copper coins.

The newcomer, a handsome young man with a burn scar on his face, stood blinking at her. Katara’s insides twisted into knots. It was him. The boy in the oni mask from the casino ship. Up close, his features were strikingly similar to Lady Ursa and Princess Azula. He could only be…

“Prince Zuko.” Katara bowed her head and knelt at his feet. “Your Highness. Please forgive me for speaking out of turn.” She’d just called a royal, the heir to the Phoenix Throne no less, a raccoon-dog’s ball sack. He had every right to have her whipped.

But Prince Zuko just laughed. “Master Piando’s called me worse.” He looked Katara over. Katara couldn’t meet his eyes. The white veils she’d worn as a disguise last night had done little to hide her identity. “The girl from that casino…” He singled in on the red flower painted on Katara’s forehead, marking her out as a girl from the Lotus Villa. “And you’re…”

The girls from the Lotus Villa were locked up at night. Katara wasn’t the only one who snuck out but with her luck, she’d be the only one punished.

“Yes,” was all Katara could say for herself. Not only had she insulted a royal, she had just been caught breaking the rules. Prince Zuko would send her away from court in disgrace after he had her flogged.

Interested in seeing the full piece? Posting begins on August 29th, and the writers’ identities will be revealed on September 15th!

[azurlily]

Hello, how are you? I hope you're alright (:

Is it possible to request an Azula x gn reader with an arranged marriage trope (both reader and Azula are aged up of course)? Both of them have feelings for eachother, but since Azula doesn't want to accept that they were married against her will and reader values morals like honesty and sincerity very much (those morals are of course humiliated by Azula on a daily basis lol) they need a bit of time to really find together.

I hope you like the request, please have a great day (:

Ooooo I like this!! I'm doing well! Better than before! I'd like to point put that this is the last month I'll do a specific reader type(shy reader, trans reader, mean reader, you get the idea).

ANYWAY I LOVE THIS IDEA THIS SOUNDS SO INTERESTING TO ME!! Sorry if I didn't get it exactly right!

"I haven't done anything wrong! If you didn't want that old man to get hurt- oh- and you're crying...sorry?"

Azula doesn't know what too rough means. She also doesn't know what mean means. She assumes you cry because you're sad or angry, not because...of her. Okay, maybe she knows, she just doesn't want to admit it.

Azula sees your sincerity and honesty, she sees it as weakness at first. Slowly it becomes one of the things she loves about you the most. How lying is wrong, and hoe you want people to be happy. She sees it as something to protect. You don't see this type of thing often.

Azulas feelings blossom when you start bringing her things. It's your way of showing your love and interest in her. You bring her things she likes, or things you've been told she likes. There has been an occasion where she lied about liking something and you learned about it. You chided and scolded her for a few days.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm listening. What we're you saying, uh-"

She finds herself falling in love with you. Wanting to watch you more and more often, seeing all the nice things you do. It's a complete contrast for her, and she knows it. That's why she likes it so much. Azula likes knowing something so different is more than willing to be by her side.

She does mention you and your family to her father. Wether you're an important figurehead or not, she wants to see you higher up. Azula wants a reason to be closer to you; her father acknowledging your family. Well- that's just an amazing reason. She does try and help your status, she wants people know you. Know how amazing and beautiful/handsome you are.

When her father and your parents have a meeting. They talk about Azula and your common interest in eachother. They talk and come to an "obvious" conclusion. The two of you should marry. Your family could help influence, and maybe a lifetime partner will help Azula be a bit more interested in in the things her father wants.

(Not like she isn't already)

They finalize everything before either of you know. They have everything signed and agreed upon, then wait some time. The closer the two of you are, the easier this will be.

Anyway this marriage is definitely not one that anyone else would have seen coming. Azula, on the other hand, knew. That's why she's been pulling away recently. She doesn't want to be married to you forcefully, even if you are cute.

Even though Azula has strong feelings about you, it takes a damn while for her to admit it. When the two of you are hidden in the darkness of her room. Her hands holding your own, her face much too close to yours. The warmth of it all, the love and kindness she'd rarely ever show.

It was all ruined when the marriage was announced. At first you were both dumbfounded. How could this have happened? Right under your noses?

Azula, instead of feeling a sort of happiness, being happy that her relationship with you is secure. Instead she's angry, how dare she be forced to marry you. Marry someone so kind, so truthful, so sweet. It felt like she was drowning in her own angry fire.

She goes from watching you talka bout something you were interested in, to glaring when you even mention love. Azula hates how weak your tears make her, she tries to avoid them. Her being a bitch all the time doesn't help.

Azula, during the wedding planning was nothing short of rude. You tries talking to her, giving her idea on how to make things more her style. She refused to listen. Why would she listen when her father wouldn't care in the slightest!?

"Mhm, yeah. Listen [Name], I understand you're sweet and you want this wedding to be about me, but I dont care."

Over time she's gone from being a bitch, to teasing you. While she doesn't like that she was forced into a relationship, she does like you. So it, in a way, evens out.

About three or four months into the marriage shes back to herself. She's back to pulling you into rooms with a cold glare...only to kiss your lips and walk away. She teases you when you see a hurt animal and run to help it.

Secretly though, she adores seeing you. She adores your truths, she adores how you value the real her. She adores every bit of you, especially when you give her a sweet smile and hold her hand. She makes fun and pushes you around(hopefully you know she doesn't always mean to be rude) but in reality, seeing you just makes her day.

Of course there is the darker side of things.

"Stop crying. I'm not apologizing, you know I'm right. So what if I lied!? I haven't hurt you."

That's what she doesn't understand. Why would you feel empathy for others? She could understand her, yourself, family(barely), even friends. She doesn't get why you'd feel back about someone that doesn't matter. These ideals of her strain your relationship. You fight, and she refuses to admit her wrongdoings. Anymore at least.

She needs time to understand she's done something wrong. You need time to calm down and see things from her eyes. She was forced into a relationship, no matter how close you two were. It was still against her will. Taking away her freedom, taking away her ability to choose you as her forever.

The two of your fight a lot, and you're both hurtful sometimes. That doesn't mean either of you loslve the other any less. It just means you don't agree. She takes time to learn you, see what to and not to tease you about. You take time to see what she sees, to see her fears and anger.

Your relationship does mend, it take a year or two, but it mends. And you two come out stronger than ever. I mean, it's not like either of you have the choice to leave the other.

Sorry if you didn't like it. I tried, but I didn't fully understand what you meant. Also sorry it's short. I have a lot of Azula requests and I didn't realise how much yall like her.

[kigozula]

As Long As We're Together - Sokkla Saturdays 2024

Day 4

FF.net & AO3

“I’m home now. In my room actually. I love you my beautiful princess.”

Azula smiled when she saw Hawky land on her windowsill. She rushed to the window, opened the scroll, and hastily read her lover's letters.

Sokka had left half an hour ago after a long day. As always, he wrote her.

Azula's smile widened when she was done reading his message. She was sitting comfortably on her chair, her sleeping robe on, with a candle on her desk.

"Glad you are. I was almost worried you'd get distracted by handbags or food. I love you, my handsome warrior."

Sokka had his hair down and his sleeping pants on, sprawled out on his bed, needing a quick breather.

He wasn't completely sure if his lover was up to writing since she was tired. Upon hearing Hawky on his balcony he jumped out of the bed with a huge foolish smile.

Like Azula, he went to his desk. Shaking his head, he chuckled at her message.

"Very funny princess. I have something to snack right now though. Did you eat something? Have you already tucked in bed with you fascinating sleeping robe on and ponytail that gives breathtaking view to your pretty neck?"

He loved teasing her, of course mixed with the truth in his words. Imagining her smile and blush while reading his flirty message surely made him satisfied.

Azula indeed blushed. She was tired but Sokka made her forget about that easily.

"You dirty-minded warrior. Indeed, I am exactly like you imagined. Unless deep down you imagined something else? Knowing you, you did. Do you have your hair down and are ... shirtless? I am drinking some chamomile tea."

"Are you sure  the dirty-mined here is me princess? Yes, I am so very shirtless, but your skin is missing on it. Good, the tea will help you sleep comfortably I hope. Wished I could hold you all through the night while stroking your hair."

This time, Azula smiled differently. Her heart clenched.

"Me too. But soon it will happen. I'd rather be in your strong arms right now too. I love you so much Sokka!"

Sokka too, got emotional now.

"I love you indescribably much you know that right? I know, soon I'll never ever let you go. No matter where you go!"

Sipping from her tea, Azula wrote back.

"I like the sound of that. Can't wait to have you around for good. Good night my warrior."

She knew, Sokka would always send the last message, the gentleman he is. Both of them kept some of their letters in their rooms, to read them sometimes, and feel comfort in their memories. Azula kept more of them, since Sokka insisted to write the last one.

"Good night Azula. I kiss and hug you my love."

"Did you actually kiss the letter? Well, I'll give you a good night gift and kiss the letter back now."

"Of course I did! Your fingers touched this letter which makes it precious! I love you Azula, see you tomorrow."

They went to bed with comfort inside their chests. Hoping to meet in sweet dreams until they could see each other again tomorrow.

[wholesomefluffdaddy]

Azula has made no progress since she was sent back to the asylum. Ty Lee believes she can help her, with proper disciple. Tyzula.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

CH24: Loose Morals

Breakfast was tense though everyone pretended otherwise. Zuko explained how a few small sections of the city had been cordoned off so that they could enjoy the festival with some privacy.

"-naturally we'll have a few trusted guards hidden in plain clothes as well. The merchants and performers we'll visit have also been paid handsomely to be discreet about Azula." Zuko said.

"I still think there's a substantial risk but as long as they keep quiet until the end of the festival things should be fine." Mai added.

"Are you alright?" Ursa asked as she noticed Ty Lee wince slightly as she reached across the table to grab a dragon paw fruit.

"What? Oh! I'm fine!" Ty Lee said unconvincingly. Ursa frowned worriedly as she continued to watch her. Azula glared at her mother.

"Right, so-" Zuko cleared his throat loudly.

"What happened to your ear?" Ursa asked, making Ty Lee quickly cover it.

"Nothing!" She said, turning her head away from her.

"As I was saying-!" Zuko said louder as he tried to distract his mom.

"Perhaps I can elucidate." Azula said, getting to her feet. Mai shot her a look and Ty Lee's eyes widened.

"Azula…" Ty Lee whispered anxiously as she tugged on her arm to sit down. Azula turned to Kiyi.

"How old are you?" She asked.

"Uh, ten." Kiyi answered looking confused.

"Cover your ears." Azula said, turning back to the table. Kiyi furrowed her brow but did so. "Ty Lee and I had sexual intercourse." She announced unabashedly. Ikem spat out his tea, Mai's eye twitched, Zuko's mouth fell open, and Ty Lee covered her face with her hands. "Naturally in the heat of the moment I bit and scratched her several times."

"Azula. Shut. Up." Mai hissed from across the table.

"Which normally isn't the case as I'm usually restrained." Azula continued as if she were explaining something no more exciting than the weather. "However, at her request I was allowed to-" But several voices interrupted her at once.

"Azula!" Zuko said, covering his own ears. He didn't want to hear what his sister and Ty Lee did together in bed.

"We don't need an explanation." Mai said glaring at her.

"Why don't Kiyi and I step outside for some fresh air?" Ikem said, grabbing his daughter's hand and pulling her away from the table.

"You what?" Ursa said, covering her mouth in horror.

"It was all consensual." Azula said, raising her hands.

"Yes but you telling everyone certainly isn't!" Ty Lee said, lowering her hands and revealing her bright red face.

"What? I'm simply clearing up any misunderstandings before they occur." Azula said, looking at her mother disdainfully.

"This sounds like something you two should sort out alone." Mai said, getting up. Zuko hesitantly followed.

"Azula…" Ursa said reproachfully. "How could you do this to her?" Azula's eyes hardened.

"It wasn't malicious." She said, earnestly.

"It really wasn't." Ty Lee said, taking Azula's hand and holding it in her own. Ursa looked at Ty Lee pityingly.

"Why?" She asked, turning to look at her daughter with disappointment.

"I wanted to mark her." Azula said somewhat sheepishly as her gaze faltered for a moment. She glanced at Ty Lee for reassurance. "To declare my love openly on every inch of her body." Ty Lee felt her heart flutter.

"Azula, that isn't love." Ursa said, her voice sounding strained. "And I know you're confused but some part of you has to know this is wrong."

"I'll admit I was rougher than I intended-" Azula began but Ursa cut her off.

"Your father claimed to leave the same 'love marks' on me too." She said, clutching her chest as the memories shook her. Her eyes wandered to Ty Lee. "You can leave. Just leave."

"No." Ty Lee said, stubbornly as her grip on Azula's hand tightened. "I love her and I promise it's not what it looks like."

"Then what is it?" Ursa prompted.

"I just explained…" Azula began heatedly.

"I asked her to." Ty Lee said, her brow furrowing.

"I don't believe that." Ursa said, standing up. "Azula, this has gone on long enough." She said, fixing her with a stern look. "I know I wasn't enough of a mother to you back then but I can be now."

"What does that mean?" Azula said, laughing coldly.

"You need to leave this poor girl alone." Ursa demanded with as much authority as she could muster. Azula's eyes flashed dangerously but she withdrew slightly. "And you," Her eyes flicked to Ty Lee, "I can protect you. Go home to your family. I'll make sure she can never go after you."

"She is my family." Ty Lee said, getting up to stand beside Azula.

"You don't have to pretend anymore. I promise she won't be able to hurt you again." Ursa said, stepping around the table towards them. Azula snarled as she gently pushed Ty Lee behind her.

"I love her." Azula hissed at her advancing mother.

"No, you don't, but I know you think you do." Ursa said, shaking her head. "Azula, please." She held her arms open. Azula withdrew further, pushing Ty Lee back. "You think this is love because that's what your father told you was love."

"You think father ever spoke to me about love?" Azula spat.

"Then how he showed it." Ursa argued.

"He beat me. He beat Zuko. Are you really so stupid as to think we saw those beatings as love?" Azula said as a heat born from rage radiated off of her. Ursa lowered her arms and covered her mouth.

"He didn't..." She said almost in disbelief but it made too much sense that Ozai wouldn't spare their daughter from his wrath despite the praise he heaped upon her.

"He did but you weren't there to protect me. You never protected me." Azula said as she narrowed her eyes. "Only precious Zuzu was worthy of that, not me…" Ursa lowered her hands.

"I know, and that was wrong of me." She admitted then refocused. "But you can't take that anger out on her." She gestured to Ty Lee.

"She's not." Ty Lee said as her patience thinned. "Azula, let's leave." She said, squeezing her hand.

"Azula, you will leave her alone." Ursa said, drawing herself up more. Before Azula could respond Ty Lee had pulled her aside and drew her fans. Both Ursa and Azula looked taken aback.

"I'm not some helpless victim in all this." Ty Lee said angrily. "Azula is in my custody, not the other way around." Azula glanced between Ty Lee in her battle stance and her mother. She started to summon a small blue flame in her hand. "No firebending!" Ty Lee snapped and Azula quickly extinguished the flame. "Sit down." She ordered. Azula scrambled back into her seat. Ursa blinked in surprise. Not even Ozai could have gotten that quick of a response out of Azula without question.

"I don't understand." Ursa said, looking confused.

"That's because you refuse to believe that she is capable of change." Ty Lee said, narrowing her eyes.

"No, that's not true. I-" Ursa shook her head.

"Don't lie. I can read your aura." Ty Lee said coldly. Ursa closed her eyes.

"Even if Azula isn't hurting you it still doesn't change things." She said with a pained expression before opening her eyes again.

"What do you mean?" Ty Lee asked.

"This relationship you two have is wrong." Ursa said, frowning.

"What?" Azula demanded. Ursa kept her eyes trained on Ty Lee.

"You are taking advantage of my daughter." She explained. "You know her mental state is fragile and easily manipulated."

"Who are you calling fragile?" Azula said bristling as she got back to her feet.

"I'm not." Ty Lee said scowling.

"You are in a position of power over her, are you not? You just said she was in your custody." Ursa pointed out.

"Yes but as like a patient, not a prisoner." Ty Lee said.

"She is both." Ursa said unwaveringly.

"I'm trying to help her." Ty Lee argued.

"Azula has always worshiped those in power and you have power over her." Ursa said, stepping closer. "That's how you manipulated her into a relationship she would never be in normally."

"What?" Ty Lee asked as her eyes widened.

"Please don't misunderstand but Azula was not raised to be homosexual." Ursa said calmly, though her eyes told a different story.

"That's not how that works." Ty Lee said exasperatedly.

"I understand that you ran away to join the circus when you were younger. No doubt they hold looser morals so I don't blame you-" Ursa began.

"Don't you dare suggest she doesn't have morals!" Azula hissed as she stood up to her mother. Ursa looked down at her pityingly. "She is a Kyoshi Warrior."

"That only adds to it." Ursa said, looking past her daughter. "Everyone knows the rumors about Kyoshi Warriors."

"I've had enough of this." Ty Lee said as rage coursed through her. She stowed her fans and turned on her heel to leave the room. Azula glanced between Ty Lee's retreating figure and her mother. She had a lot to say to her mother but she also didn't want to leave Ty Lee.

"Loose morals." Azula spat. "You're one to talk. You abandoned your family, chose to forget them, and started a new one."

"Azula, I can explain everything if you just let me." Ursa said, reaching out to touch her. Azula huffed out flames towards her hand and stormed off after Ty Lee.

"Ty Lee?" Azula asked as she reentered their room. Ty Lee was sitting on the floor at the end of the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. "Ty Lee?" Azula repeated softly as she sat down beside her.

"Did I manipulate you into this relationship?" She asked as angry tears streamed down her face. Azula shook her head at once.

"I kissed you." She reminded her. "And I asked you to kiss me." She wrapped an arm around her and leaned her head against Ty Lee's.

"Yes but-" Ty Lee closed her eyes. "The thing about power…" Azula frowned.

"My father could have killed me and probably would have at some point. I followed him out of fear and a desire to someday grow stronger than him." She said, staring off into the distance as her eyes became unfocused.

"And do you fear me too?" Ty Lee asked. Azula laughed.

"I could never fear you." She said, shaking her head. "And while I think you are a worthy opponent I always pulled my punches because I know I could easily kill you by accident." Ty Lee frowned. "So no, you don't have that kind of power over me."

"But I do have power over you." Ty Lee said bitterly. Azula furrowed her brow.

"Yes." She admitted.

"Because I have custody of you."

"No."

"No?" Ty Lee asked, looking confused.

"I love you." Azula said, holding her tighter. "You love me."

"I don't understand." Ty Lee said, leaning into her.

"You were right about love being stronger than fear." Azula sighed and looked at her wrists. "Your love has me in the heaviest of chains." Ty Lee looked at her then took one of her hands.

"Are you afraid of losing my love?" She asked. Azula snorted.

"No." She said, somewhat smugly. Ty Lee raised an eyebrow and Azula continued. "You foolishly admitted to being hopelessly in love with me for years. So hopelessly in love in fact that you tried in vain to escape it but to no avail."

"Okay, so then what power do I have over you?" Ty Lee asked. "Not that I want to have power over you." She added quickly. "Like I said before, I want us to be equals in this relationship." Azula chewed her lip as she thought.

"I don't know…" She said slowly. "I just like when you are in control." She shifted restlessly. "It's… liberating?" She looked at her. "I don't have to overthink things, like worrying about what could go wrong. I can just focus on," She cupped Ty Lee's face, "enjoying the moment." She whispered before kissing her.

[princecosmosanon]

i’m just so curious about zuko’s perspective in hotm since we only got to read about sokka so far. what did he think when the fire nation asked sokka’s hand in marriage? what does he do when he doesn’t come back to their room? does he keep tabs on sokka? is he falling in love in his arranged marriage? does he realize that he’s being an ass? does he think sokka’s handsome? and questions and more… i love and miss the fail husbands. though i do wish that sokka would have an affair. or at least secret admirers around the palace so zuko would be jealous 😈

I mean, I never mind giving out spoilers if that’s what you want. Soooo heigh-ho, spoilers below!!

(Anyway, I wouldn’t say I managed to be too spoilery with this lmao but better safe than sorry?)

What did Zuko think when the Fire Nation asked for Sokka’s hand in marriage? He thought it would be difficult but also that he should be able to manage it. He didn’t know it would be Sokka or what effect Sokka would have on him, so we can safely say he did NOT expect to react this way to him though.

What does Zuko do when he doesn’t come back to his and Sokka’s shared rooms? He actually stays in the now office that used to be his old room in Iroh’s area. It was converted into an office when Zuko first started staying in his own rooms about a year ago and he hasn’t attempted to make it back into a bedroom, but sleeping half slumped over a desk isn’t particularly comfortable so he isn’t getting the best sleep right now. (Iroh is aware of Zuko doing this but Azula is not; if she were, they would have Words.)

Does Zuko keep tabs on Sokka? Yes and no. He mostly asks the servants very basic questions but he never asks about what Sokka’s agenda is or pries too deeply. He’s afraid if he gets an idea of Sokka’s daily routines he won’t be able to stay away or relax. (Newsflash for Zuko: he already isn’t relaxed!)

Is Zuko falling in love with his arranged marriage? Hmm, I’d say “falling in love” would be difficult to attain with him pushing himself away. More than anything, he feels a great amount of attraction and lust for Sokka and that’s not really helping his situation currently lol

Does Zuko realize that he’s being an ass? Lol again, yes and no. He knows it’s impolite to be avoiding Sokka but at this point he’s kinda made his bed and has to lie in it. There is a catalyst coming up soon that will force them to be together more so he won’t be able to stay away forever. He just feels like it’s in Sokka’s best interests if he stays away. So ultimately, no, Zuko does not realize how much he’s hurting Sokka by avoiding him.

Does Zuko think Sokka is handsome? Oh, absolutely! Painfully so! It’s actually incredibly distracting when Sokka is in the same room as him, so Zuko does his best to make himself scarce as soon as possible if/when that happens.

If you have more questions I don’t mind answering! Just know they’ll be under a cut so people who want to have everything explained just in the fic won’t be spoiled :3

[jaredstrout]

Fireballs - Knock!

Katara and Zuko lay on the floor, arms slightly stretched out to their sides, unmoving and staring with empty eyes at the ceiling. A similar standing Sokka faced Azula.

"Now prince Sokka, at last I have you in my clutches to have my way with you." Azula said without moving.

"Oh nonono I hate you and I am already with Suki...although I find you strangely attractive." He said with a strangely high, artificially deepened voice.

Azula slid closer to him, after he hovered away from her first.

"Of course you do. Watertribesman are often drawn to power and great talent and I have both...now kiss me!" She said and pushed against Sokka, who was held in place. "Nono yes....no...yeeess...you have such intense...blue fire...ohhh" Sokka gasped.

Behind her suddenly the door slammed open and in a swift motion Azula´s arm swept all the dolls off the table.

"Azula...the Firelord demands your presence immideately." Ty Lee shouted from the door.

"Knock next time! Azula shouted back...then, the dolls hidden in her arms she added. "Did you see anything?"

Ty Lee managed to hide a grin.

"No I did not see you play out your obvious desire for that handsome savage with these dolls you let the Dai Li brainwash that carpenter in Ba Sing Se for."

Azula nodded. "Good."

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAOOO It’s the French air subconsciously affecting you…ok but once you added a bit of description in bfb I was able to put a more accurate face to the name but I’d have to like reset myself each time the name Aoyama popped up HAHAHA I think what I was imagining was much closer to kusakabe I think I imagined an even more npc-ish hair style like just your average bowl..? But not atrociously cut like ego/baby Otoya if ykwim

Yesss ok you definitely hit the mark on that vibe!! Yeah I’m imagining some really exaggerate Disney like scenario when I think of inaccurately represented siblings LMAO

LMFAOOO y/n catching him mid-fit change which ends up having the opposite effect because now instead of wearing something more presentable he’s wearing basically nothing I can def see him doing both LOL or alternatively it’s both and he thinks he should change but y/n rings in too quick and he can’t decide what to wear and just says “nah wtv this is fine”

OOOO yeah manifesting MUCH more Karasu art soon!! Surely there’s bound to be some sort of promo art that’ll work…

Ugh he’s just THE man but OOO yeah I kinda had a feeling LOL the tiktok inspo is so real I mean if you ever want more thoughts I’ll never say no to a Karasu brainstorm but I think your inbox is flooded with my ideas atp LMAOO

LMAOOO I love crack I feel like smaus always have a hint of crack in them at least so I’m so for it….i just scrolled by your post and omg I feel so special hehe <3 Time to go read now!! o7

Also WAITT YOURE SO RIGHT ABOUT NESS?? The way that ik exactly what your talking about omg that poor charmander though but the way it was so loyal to its original trainer and wanted to stay with him so bad it’s fr sm like ness being dumped by Kaiser rn shshsjhshs I feel you thought bc tbh I also don’t really care for ness I definitely felt more for the charmander than him LMFAO

- Karasu anon

HAHAH i feel like he’s just very basic LMAO i bet he was so insecure when tabito grew up to be way way better looking than him…lowkey i can’t even blame him for feeling bad towards the end of the relationship JFDKDJ like imagine you’re kinda plain but a nice guy overall and you’re dating the girl of your dreams and everything is chill 🤩 but then one day you meet the boy she considers her “little brother” and not only is he very obviously in love with, her he’s the star of a famous soccer club’s youth team, he’s super smart/good at school, and as if all of that isn’t enough, he’s very obviously incredibly tall and handsome 😭 if it were me i’d crash out fr

IT’S LITERALLY EITHER DISNEY-ESQUE SIBLINGS OR AZULA AND ZUKO FROM ATLA 😭 yayoi and tabito/seiko and eita putting in the WORK to properly represent sibling dynamics 😩

HAHAHA he has all of his outfits laid out on the bed and he’s like “hmm what should i wear” and he starts trying them on and gets carried away picking the perfect outfit so that by the time y/n gets there he’s still undecided so he’s like “ok boxers it is!!”

placing my trust in the epinagi artist tbh 😓 he’s much more relevant there than the main manga (unless?? he does smth relevant in bm vs pxg perhaps??) so maybe they’ll come out with smth of his in the next chapter that’s header worthy…we can only hope

THEEEE MAN OF ALL TIME FKFHDJS it’s inexplicable rlly…also every time i see a panel of him from epinagi i scream anew because he’s just so so gorgeous AHDHDHSJ i will def lyk if i need some ideas to kickstart my thinking ☝🏻 i am very picky when coming up with plots for longfics though because i refuse to even write them without having a satisfying ending in mind first so it becomes a very annoying process that i don’t want to subject you to 😔 i do think i have a title in mind already though!! which is how yk it’s serious…

AWW you’re my tumblr bestie hehe and YES smaus are always ridiculous but so fun i even read them for characters i’m not super into!! crack in general is just so entertaining…as much as i am an angst lover it’s fun to throw some crack into the mix every now and again

idk why but ness is just someone i’m kinda unaffected by?? maybe because the bllk cast is so so big and i’m reaching my threshold of how many characters i can care abt at once…however i should be careful saying that because next thing you know i’ll be writing a ness fic or smth 😰 but YESSS THE CHARMANDER HAD ME TEARING UP AS A KID pls i was so sad abt it…the whole ash and charmander -> charizard dynamic too was hilarious 😭 so many fond memories of the pokémon anime (me having a crush on brock af…also why is brock lowkey just a barou x otoya love child LMAOAAO)

[seyaryminamoto]

Leap of Faith: Sokkla Saturdays 2022

Day One: Caught off-guard

On FF.net//On AO3

And so, my new Sokkla Saturdays story begins!

I have played somewhat coy about this setting since last year because of reasons but... I sincerely doubt it will be as mysterious for anyone this time as it was last year xD This story is connected to "Happy family", my first entry from last year, but it can be read independently from that one (hence, it's not really a direct sequel to it, just set in the same setting, with the same family). In short... if you're a recurrent reader of mine, up to date with my main story, I hope this particular oneshot is healing and encouraging for you all.

Without further ado, here we go!

Warmth and darkness enveloped her as she nestled underneath the covers. A part of her knew she was supposed to lift her head out of her pillow, to get out of bed now… she was supposed to wake up. The weight in her chest urged her not to, the exhaustion over her eyes almost persuaded her of the same thing…

But there was so much to do today. She had to get out of bed. She had to…

A gentle hand caressed her back smoothly. She groaned in protest against consciousness altogether: his fingers brushed her loose, disorderly hair away from her face, and a gentle kiss fell upon her cheek.

"Hey," his voice, his touch, all of him soothed her. Her eyelids twitched as she turned in bed, burying her face in his strong chest instead. "Azula…"

"It's too early," she said.

"If it were, would I be awake?" he responded. "I'm a much heavier sleeper than you are, love…"

"You're also unpredictable and contradictory," Azula retorted. "Suits you just fine to wake up early and mess with me…"

"Want to stay in bed for a couple more hours, then?"

It was such an innocent question, and if she'd just wanted to, she could have said yes. She really wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to…

She let out a huff, throwing her head back into the pillows of their bed, a grimace of irritation across her face. He sighed audibly, pressing a gentle kiss upon her lips.

"I can call off all your pending work for today if you want… things were really heavy yesterday. I'm not joking, Azula…"

"I wish you were," Azula sighed, forcing herself to open her eyes.

His blue eyes greeted her. The face she wanted to gaze into every day, the handsome features that had charmed her since so long ago…

Yesterday, certainly, had been an unpleasant day. The worst part of it had been barely catching a couple of glimpses of her family before she finally turned in for the night, probably around three in the morning. He, as gallant as ever, had stayed up waiting for her to be finished… he had carried her across his arms back to their room, helped her clean up, even dressed her in her sleeping gown, and she had zero memories of whatever happened after her head hit the pillow. Had she even kissed him good night? Maybe she hadn't… the thought unsettled her at once.

He laid beside her, his body pressed against hers as he supported himself on one arm while watching her from above. Thus, it was easy for Azula's hand to dart out to the back of his neck and reel him in for a kiss.

He responded gladly, winding up atop her as she locked her arms around his neck. He always gave as good as he got, matching her beat by beat… though that didn't mean he was immune to surprises. He laughed softly against her lips as her legs wrapped around him, too: she clung to him fully now, as though refusing to let him go, and also refusing to move an inch from where she lay.

"Well, now… you seem very energetic right now. Not that I'm complaining, but I definitely didn't expect a full body hug just like that," he chuckled, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. "You always know just how to start our mornings."

"You could say that, but… I think I owed you that from last night, actually," Azula said. He raised his eyebrows, and his perplex expression brought the first smile of the day to her face. "Now, then…"

She pulled him in, kissing him with even more enthusiasm now. He chuckled happily in the contact between their lips, hands caressing her flanks, humming gratefully at each gentle motion of her mouth against his, of each kiss chaining together, one after the other, as though they might last them an eternity…

Their chests heaved together once their lips parted again – though they hovered close by, as though ready to join in yet another affectionate kiss. Her fingers trailed across his handsome face, the strong cheekbones, the light stubble… and she offered him another smile as she admired him in the dim pale light that drifted from the window.

"Good morning, Sokka."

His smile widened too upon hearing those words, and he dove in for yet another joyful kiss. Suddenly, the weight dragging Azula down as she woke up in the throes of a stressful day, with barely four hours of rest – if even that – appeared to fade away entirely. He had an uncanny ability to inspire her, to strengthen her, to lift her up even when she barely noticed it. Just having him beside her sufficed to make every day, whether light or heavy, far more bearable.

After a few more minutes of indulging in affection and comfort together, their responsibilities demanded for them to get out of bed, as unwilling as they might be to do so. Sokka's playful teasing made matters smoother, dressing up for the day after showing off his muscular body for his amused wife – she made no attempts to hide how appealing she found him, squeezing one of his exposed buttocks just as he leaned down to pull up his trousers. He pulled the trousers up while grinning wickedly and appreciatively at her devious caress, and she shot him a clever smile over her shoulder as she made for her own closet and furniture, fishing out her morning clothes quickly. A morning training session, then she'd clean up, then off to work… her routine was perfectly agreeable until that point, of course. Oh, she had known her role in the world would be no joking matter, but she certainly had hoped the worst of it would have ended at least half a decade ago…

Sokka's hands fell upon her arms gently. She jumped at the contact, glancing over her shoulder to find him smiling in that silly way he often did.

"Want some help dressing up?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow.

"Heh. Every time you say that, what I hear is that you want to help me undress, instead…"

"I mean… I certainly want to do that too. Am I supposed to be ashamed of that?" he smirked deviously at her: yet again, his teasing, his playfulness, his mischief brought a stronger smile to her face than she had thought she'd be ready to show for hours. The miracles he could weave upon her never ceased to amaze her.

"If so… what are you waiting for?" she asked. Sokka snickered, leaning in to kiss her anew, tilting her body backwards as his hand undid her sash deftly, compelling her to laugh at his quick rising to her playful teasing.

Yet as playful as they were, they didn't have the time to indulge in each other's company as thoroughly as they wished to: within fifteen minutes, the couple had washed their faces, dressed up properly, fixed their hair and marched into the Palace's corridors for their first, and perhaps most important, duty of the day:

"Yuuna's yours today," Azula said. Sokka nodded.

"You'll check on Hotaru too on your way out of Shun's room, right? I know she doesn't usually oversleep, but…"

"Best to stay safe," Azula smiled, squeezing his hand gently before the split up, each standing before a different doorway.

Sokka knocked gently on the door, pushing it open slowly and cautiously – there seemed to be no dangerous traps, no bucket over the door, no worrisome pranks the little girl might have set up overnight, something she certainly was capable of…

"Yuuna…?" he called for his daughter, and to his surprise, the little girl hadn't woken up just yet – out of all the siblings, she was the likeliest one to be up, out and about at these hours. But as the youngest and the most spirited of the kids, reeling her in to prepare her for the day tended to be twice the work as it would be with the other children. "Hey, now. It's time to get up, Yuuna. Come on…"

He entered the room, and once his voice was close enough, it seemed the child finally registered it: she jolted upright suddenly, groggy and yet apparently energized enough to push herself up to a sitting position even before Sokka stopped next to her bed. He smiled fondly at her, raising a hand in a failed attempt to tame her wild hair.

"Daddy…?" Yuuna said, eyeing her father with half-lidded eyes.

"You look as sleepy as your mommy was when she woke up," Sokka smiled, sitting beside her. "But it's morning now, Yuuna: it's time for school!"

Yuuna's lips parted as she processed that information: on some days, the clever little girl would be thrilled to go to school�� on others, it seemed as though the mere concept of receiving any formal education went utterly forgotten for her young mind. She hummed, as if surprised to hear the news, even if she had been attending school for the better part of a year by now.

"Okay… guess I'll have to wake you up on your terms," Sokka smirked, gathering Yuuna in his arms carefully and walking with her to the bathroom. "Okay, Yuuna, it's time to wash your face…! Ah, and what's the cutest water animal you can think of right now?"

"The… koala-otter," Yuuna blurted out. Sokka lowered her, and the little girl climbed her bathroom's stool to wash her face, instinctively relying on her waterbending to do so.

"That's today's choice, is it? Alright, alright… how about if you tell me which is the animal that can fly the highest, next?"

"The dragon!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands out in the air and splattering water all over the room after doing so.

Sokka chuckled: his daughter's much more enthusiastic response suggested she was finally waking up in full. He supposed the little girl, mischievous as she was, had stayed awake stubbornly for as long as she could last night, waiting for story time… which hadn't happened due to Azula's complicated schedule and duties. Sokka would do his best to ensure that wouldn't be the case that night, too, both for his wife's sake as well as that of all their children.

Within a few more minutes, most kids were ready for breakfast: as ever, the older ones were bound to be much quicker about being ready for the day than Yuuna was. Shun had rushed through his morning routine after being woken up by his mother, thrilled to see her again after she had been nowhere in sight last night. Ever eager to please her, he had washed his face and dressed up at once… whereas he usually was quite lazy and slow-going whenever Sokka was the one to wake him. Azula smiled and praised him for his diligence before marching to the third of the rooms in the corridor… from where Hotaru was already emerging, all dressed up and even carrying her schoolbag on her shoulder already.

"Oh, Mom!" Hotaru grinned brightly, rushing up to her mother for a hug. Azula obliged, pressing a kiss to the top of the girl's head. "Are you okay? Dad said you had a lot of stuff to deal with last night, but…"

"I did, but I sorted it out… I think," Azula said, with a sad smile. "We'll see if it lasts…"

"Morning, Hotaru!" Shun grinned. Hotaru released Azula and smiled kindly at her younger brother, patting him on the head.

"Good morning, Shun."

"I suppose it's not a high-enery day for Yuuna," Azula smiled, glancing over at her youngest's room before turning towards the other two instead. "So… I guess we'll go on ahead and they'll catch up with us once they're ready."

Both Hotaru and Shun nodded, walking with their mother to the dining room of their living quarters: the spacious, bright room could have been decorated by extraordinary paintings and works of art by art masters… but they were decorated, instead, by the many art pieces created by the members of their family. Hotaru had certainly improved vastly as an artist recently, creating beautiful landscapes that had warranted her many top-scores in school. Meanwhile, Shun mainly liked to depict gruesome battlefields and firebending heroes, and Yuuna doodled hybrid animals everywhere – including multiple depictions of each family member as whatever hybrid animal struck her fancy each time. Sokka's art had also improved over the years, but he occasionally indulged in not putting much work into matters just so he could create embarrassing artworks his children might find funny – a depiction of Appa, for instance, utterly devoid of anatomical sense was among the ones he always pointed out as his favorites. Azula had very little time to work on art, therefore, only a handful of the decorations in the grand hall were of her making – some of which Sokka had collaborated with her on.

Their meal was ready, awaiting them at the table: the last member of the family sat there, already dressed and focused fully on the large books she had brought with her to the table. Without losing a beat, Shun grinned wildly and rushed up to her, throwing his arms around her without warning:

"Morning, Rei!"

"Ah! Good morning to you too, Shun. I hope you rested well." Startled as she had been, Rei smiled kindly and caressed Shun's hair before glancing at Hotaru next. "And I hope you did as well, Hotaru."

Hotaru grinned and nodded, lunging in for a hug as well. Rei giggled as the two kids took their seats at the table, and Azula stepped closer to place a hand upon her shoulder.

"I'm one to talk, I know… but be careful not to overwork yourself too," she told Rei, who clasped her hand and smiled sympathetically at her. "Bad enough that me, Song and Sokka were up most the night because of that overdrawn trial…"

"It's over now, though, isn't it?" asked Rei. "It should be, I hope. You've been dealing with that case for so long…"

"He's been a slippery one," Azula acknowledged. "But he couldn't weasel his way out of the consequences for his actions forever. Ugh, but it's better to stop thinking about the bastard anyway. He ruined my day yesterday, I won't let him do it today as well. At any rate, good morning, Rei."

"Good morning," Rei grinned, squeezing Azula's hand before she took off to sit at her place, at the head of the table.

Family meals used to translate, in Azula's mind, into protocols and traditions that she had never thought to question… until their family home grew as crowded as it was. She certainly enjoyed eating with everyone, but the mere notion of waiting for every family member to sit down at the table before anyone could take one bite out of their meal had well and truly faded away across the years. Ultimately, she far too busy on most days to observe a tradition of the sort, and she found the leisurely, casual air of their meals much more agreeable than what she used to experience with her parents and her brother back during her childhood.

Thus, nobody was surprised at all when Sokka marched into the dining hall with Yuuna about five minutes after everyone else had started eating. The proud Water Tribesman made quite a lot of noise as he stomped playfully up to the table, and Azula raised an eyebrow, amused by the sight of Sokka carrying Yuuna under one of his arms, as though she were a package of some sort. The little girl, all dressed in her school uniform, waved her arms and legs wildly in just about every direction, trying to roar as a dangerous creature might.

"Morning, everyone! I've just brought a little dragon-shark here, but it's perfectly harmless, no need to worry…" he said, waving a greeting to everyone by the table. Most of them were amused by the apparently feral Yuuna, who couldn't hold back a smile even as she continued to act the way she believed one such hybrid creature would act.

"And you managed to properly comb the hair of this dragon-shark, too. Now that's remarkable," Azula smiled: Yuuna grinned at her, slowing down her wild motions as Sokka slowed down right beside his wife.

"Hi, Mommy," she said. Azula chuckled, raising her hand to caress her daughter's cheek as Sokka set Yuuna down beside her mother.

"Good morning to you too, Yuuna. A dragon-shark, then?" she asked. Yuuna grinned wildly and nodded.

"She thought about it like two minutes ago. I have a good feeling about that one, though, it's got to be her masterpiece," Sokka smirked, kissing the top of Yuuna's head before marching down the table, greeting each of its members in different ways –a one-armed hug for Rei, a full-blown embrace for Hotaru… and a stern stare-down with the aloof Shun. "Well, now. Were you more agreeable with your mother this morning than you were with me yesterday, Shun?"

"Sure was," Shun said, without losing a beat.

"Why, you…!"

The little boy had no choice but to laugh as Sokka wrapped an arm around him playfully, poking his ribs with a finger so Shun would attempt to squirm out of his hold. The silly banter between father and son was as much fun for them as all their much more cordial and agreeable conversations with everyone else.

It wasn't all that troublesome for Sokka to reach the table after everyone else had: typically, he'd eat quickly enough to clear his plate before the rest of the family was even halfway through their own meals. Today was likely to be no different, though he distracted himself with conversation briefly as he took his seat, at the opposite end of the table as Azula, who smiled warmly in his direction.

"Okay, so… woah. Got one hell of a stack of books there, Rei," Sokka said, eyes widening. She slowed down with eating her rice bowl upon noticing he was addressing her, and she smiled amicably in his direction.

"Got a class to prepare on short notice," she explained. "Nothing I can't handle, but it's a subject I haven't worked on for a couple of years, so I'm just brushing up on it again. I would have gotten up a little later otherwise, I don't have class early in the morning this semester…"

"Class starts too early," Yuuna determined firmly, pouting. Azula hummed.

"On any other day, I might have gone on some roundabout explanation of how it's perfectly reasonable for class to start when it does… but maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to change this. A couple more hours of sleep would do us good…"

"Yeah!" Shun and Yuuna exclaimed happily, as most the others at the table chuckled at their enthusiasm. Azula smirked.

"Well, with that kind of response…"

"Do I smell another educational reform coming up now, just because of this?" Sokka asked, eyeing Azula skeptically. His wife smirked right back at him.

"Well, now, do we have a choice? Shun and Yuuna are agreeing on something for once, how could I possibly waste such a momentous occasion…?"

"Well, well, aren't we giving them too much power, if that's how it is?" Sokka asked. "Sounds like those two would take over the world all on their own if they cooperated more often…"

The two kids in question, predictably, didn't enjoy being lumped together as a team in the slightest. Thus, they glared at each other across the table, sticking out their tongues in childish hostility.

"Though, come to think of it, having a family that could do that was one of your lifegoals back in the day, Azula," Sokka said, tapping his chin. "And as making all your dreams come true is our duty in life, we'd best get to it! It's just a matter of teaching them how to get along, putting their heads together, and then the world will be right in the palm of their…!"

"Shun and Yuuna wouldn't do something like that," Hotaru said, simply, and Sokka froze in the middle of his eager rambling.

"Oh? You're sure they wouldn't?" Sokka said, raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose they know better, is what Hotaru is trying to say. Their greedy father, on the other hand…" Azula smirked, taking a bite of a crab cake as Sokka's typical complaint brought the dining hall to ring with even more laughter:

"Heeeeey!"

A lively breakfast always proved to be a good start for any day – though it was no guarantee that everything would remain as stable and blissful hours later. The playful teasing and friendly banter continued as the staff cleared the table and cleaned up after the large family. The next responsibility for Azula and Sokka would be to see the children off to school, something Sokka typically took care of. The carriage waited right outside the Palace: Azula escorted them there, even if she wouldn't join them on the vehicle. Each child hugged her as she encouraged them to do well in class that day, and they boarded the carriage one by one: as always, Sokka was the very last one to climb aboard.

"I'll be back right away, so try not to miss me too much while I'm out for like… five minutes or however long it will be," Sokka smirked knowingly, gathering his wife in his arms: a dramatic sigh left her lips as she hugged him tightly.

"The worst five minutes of any day," she said. "Well, unless we're apart for longer than that at any other points in time, which means the day altogether is a monumental waste…"

"Well, let's make sure today isn't one of those days, alright?" Sokka smiled, cupping her face and kissing her lips softly. "See you in a bit. Try not to overwork yourself before I come back, okay?"

"I might just sort out all my pending work before you do, for all you know…" Azula said, proudly. Sokka laughed and shrugged.

"Knowing you? Yeah, that's a definite possibility," he smiled, pressing his brow to hers.

"Daaad, you're too clingy with Mom!" Shun's voice drifted out of the carriage, and Sokka rolled his eyes as Azula laughed at his reaction.

"If anything, Shun, I'm not clingy enough!" Sokka retorted, reeling Azula in for an even more passionate kiss that resulted in numerous cries of protest from his son.

To think she had woken up dreading what the day would bring, and now she smiled like a fool as she waved at her husband and children… they sped away on the carriage, waving back at her through the windows, just as they did every time they went to school. She watched them wistfully as they crossed the gates, entered the city and faded from view… and that was her cue to return to the real world. A sigh left her lips as she turned around, gaze raking her family's home: the tall spires of each tower seemed to rise high into the sky, glowing beautifully under the morning sun's glare. Where she had once lived in a dark, foreboding Palace meant to daunt and intimidate any who gazed upon it, now her home was a spacious, welcoming building… still grand, but no longer foreboding and oppressive.

Azula marched through the grand halls and corridors of her home, on her way to the other end of the building. Her training pagoda, one of her most frequented buildings in the Palace, awaited her, for she always ensured to exercise once a day before allowing her heavy duties to consume her – she had chosen an open space for training rather than the dojos Zuko had taken to building in his own home, so her firebending would be less prone to set everything on fire. She anticipated she'd be intercepted by someone while she was on her way to the pagoda in question, someone other than the staff that greeted her respectfully and to whom she responded to either with brief words or with quick nods. Everything was as it was supposed to be… so, as expected, her typical morning encounter with Song was bound to proceed as it ever did, no matter how exhausted her friend might be as she spoke to Rei.

"… You're sure you're okay?" Rei asked, eyeing Song worriedly. "It sounds like you were up really late…"

"I was, I was… I'll just nap while Azula works, no need to worry," Song responded, with a leisurely grin that grew slightly more tense upon hearing the footsteps of the approaching Azula, as well as the clearing of her throat. "Uuuuh…"

"I heard that, of course I did," Azula smirked: Song's guilty grin softened Azula's smile quickly. "I'll hope you got more rest than I did, but I know that's not very likely."

"At this rate, I'm going to need a good vacation again," Song said. "You'd allow that, wouldn't you…?"

"And bear with all my workload without you? I've been known to achieve impossible things, but that challenge sounds like the first one that's truly beyond my possibilities…" Azula said, playfully: Song pouted reproachfully, and Rei only giggled at their exchange.

"Well, I have to get going now, but I hope both of you can get proper rest tonight, if nothing else. Nap through the day if you can, too," she suggested, stepping forward to hug Azula and Song at once. "I'll be off now."

"Have a good day," Azula smiled, rubbing Rei's back gently.

The youngest of the three women took off down the hallway, and a deep sigh escaped Song's lips. She glanced at Azula, and both friends smirked at the sight of bags under each other's eyes.

"Didn't even bother with makeup this morning?" Song asked.

"Neither did you, so…" Azula responded. Song chuckled, shaking her head. "Not to worry, not to worry… I'll try to look more presentable after my morning training's done."

"You're sure about that? The training, I mean. You can take a day off, you know, it sounds like you need it…" Song responded.

"Eh, if I didn't train I'd just get started on work sooner yet, so…" Azula said, shrugging. Song carried the writing board she ever kept handy, and there was but one question Azula had to ask her: "What's on the menu for today, then?"

"Well…" Song grimaced, reading the list she had on her hands. "There's a lot of paperwork and procedures to deal with over yesterday's trial, as well as official announcements to write up… trials of high-profile war criminals are the worst, aren't they? Anyway, there's a few messages from family and friends that you could very well postpone answering for a few days, but I know you don't like doing that, so there's that too, and we do have to organize the impending meeting about the latest educational reforms, there's like twenty different proposals and most of them sound like hogwash to me. I only liked two, I think? But the committee meets tomorrow afternoon already, so we can't put this off. And there were a few other things but I've left them for tomorrow to make sure we won't go insane. So… yeah. I'm afraid it's another busy day."

"When is it not?" Azula sighed, shaking her head. "Anyway, I'll handle that once I'm done with training. Leave the list with all the priorities at my study, go take a break yourself."

"Well, now, I can give you a hand anyway…" Song said. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"I know I'm not as young and spry as I once was, but… huh. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I'm so tired. Four hours of sleep, back in the day? Child's play, but now…?"

"Oh, please. We're not that old," Song smiled, bumping her arm lightly with her elbow. Azula chuckled, shaking her head. "And honestly, the fact that you've put up with all these responsibilities without aging thrice as fast as any normal human being speaks very well of your physical, emotional… even of your mental strength, I'd say."

"Flatterer," Azula concluded. Song rolled her eyes but smiled. "Anyway, I'm off to work out for now. Try to relax and don't go crazy trying to supervise everything everywhere today, alright?"

"Right, right. I suppose I'll try…?" Song said, with an innocent smile. Azula squeezed her shoulder gently before marching off to the pagoda that awaited her.

The tall building, located in the gardens, boasted of non-flammable columns built by the Royal Earthbending guild – this Palace had been their most important project to date. The edges of the circular floor had been made of solid wood, reinforced with flameproof lacquer, and the center was a tatami floor instead, to soften any falls taken during training or in practice duels.

After some warm-up exercises, Azula took to cycling through katas, evoking her azure flames smoothly with each step she took. Perhaps Song wasn't wrong to say she wasn't quite that old, for her body still responded smoothly to her every impulse: she didn't pull muscles over excessive movements, and she landed perfectly after a high jump. She meant to ensure to retain her fitness for as long as possible, no matter if some days tempted her quite powerfully to forsake all discipline and surrender to laziness…

She shook off such thoughts and carried on, the power of her fire strengthening further with each passing moment. Adrenaline started coursing through her system as she took to picturing different foes and threats closing in, adapting her attacks and stances to whatever the visualized threat might be…

She had been flowing from stance to stance, defending and attacking non-existent enemies for about half an hour, when a not-so-imaginary shadow streaked across the gardens. Azula frowned, muffling her fire and raising an eyebrow as she glanced in its direction. Yes, her fire's light was prone to casting shadows that shifted noticeably, but that hadn't been…

"Sneak attack!"

The false war cry startled her, even if she recognized it quickly: any confusion she felt receded into amusement when the strong arms she cherished so deeply wrapped around her waist, hoisting her off the ground.

"Sokka!" she huffed, glancing at him from over her shoulder: his superior height meant that their faces were level, even as her legs kicked pointlessly while he held her in the air.

His devious snicker brought even more amusement to his wife as he spun them in a careless circle until he dropped purposefully on the tatami, still holding her tightly.

"Totally caught you off-guard," he grinned brightly. Azula chuckled as she turned in his arms, hoisting herself above him: she didn't fail to notice her handsome lover wasn't wearing his shirt, and she raised her eyebrows with interest.

"Your change of attire did catch me off-guard, for sure. As for announced sneak attacks, they're part of our routine since about, uh… ten years ago?" she asked, smirking down at him.

"Eh, whenever the pagoda was built, I guess," Sokka smiled, shrugging as his wife eyed him with unmasked desire and interest. "And I know you enjoy it when I launch my clever sneak attacks on you, so…"

"You do know me well, but I have to ask… the shadow I saw? It was your shirt, wasn't it?" she smirked. Sokka grinned guiltily.

"Tossed it to the right, then dashed very quietly to the left while you were distracted and… bam! You'd never see it coming," he concluded, beaming. Azula let out a burst of laughter and Sokka shook his head. "Nope, don't tell me you did see it coming, I won't believe you even if you do…"

His goofiness and eagerness to give her something to smile at, something to be amused by, truly sufficed to dismiss all the unpleasantness she could be feeling. But at times it overwhelmed her well beyond what she could articulate in speech, too… resulting in a wordless response, instead: their pagoda had certainly witnessed far too many bold, deep kisses between them, even if they naturally never took matters any further than that – though the guards by the Palace walls likely knew better than to glance much in their direction when they were acting as carelessly as they did right now.

The refreshing moment, the affectionate exchange, came to an end as Azula broke it off, sitting up and bringing Sokka with her: his groggy, happy grin ensured she would offer him a smile of her own.

"Care to work out with me for now, then?" she asked. Sokka's easygoing smile shifted into a dangerous smirk next, amusing his wife once more.

"I was just waiting for you to say so!" he said. "Couple of rounds of hand-to-hand, and then swords?"

"Sure thing," Azula smiled, kissing his cheek and yanking him up to his feet.

She always started her morning training by herself, and if nothing too urgent required her presence or attention, she'd have chances to spar with Sokka after he returned from seeing the kids safely to school – as long as he wasn't caught up at anything in the school, too, which happened whenever the children's teachers wanted a word, typically a positive one, about their children. Today, it seemed, everything had proceeded well enough for Sokka to join her at the right time, and Azula was thrilled to spar without weapons first, delighted by Sokka's nimbleness and strength, much as hers thrilled him.

After the first rounds of warm-up duels at hand-to-hand combat, Sokka took off to bring over their swords: a black blade clashed with a white one as they successfully kept each other at bay, creating openings and taunting one another recklessly as they sought the perfect opportunity to attain victory. Their longest match was the last one, too: it would have continued for longer still, if only Sokka's eyes, seeking faults and missteps from his rival, hadn't found themselves entranced by her moves instead. What often started as a dance of seduction between them would often take a more dangerous edge, for both were known masters of their battlefields… but it would shift back to a dance of seduction often anyway, such as it did this time, when Azula whipped her hair back, her long ponytail coming loose as she cast a barrier of blue flames through the tip of her sword. Her firm body, the droplets of sweat running down her brow, the utter focus of those narrow, golden eyes…

He couldn't do anything but laugh guiltily once she pinned him to the nearest column, her sword's edge right by his throat – a most hollow threat that still ensured the blood would race faster in both their bodies.

"Come now, stop letting me win. You know it's unbefitting of you," she said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka snickered.

"You won fair and square: I got distracted by how beautiful you are. Which might not be fair and square, but it's on you for being too beautiful…"

"You're even more distracting than I am, damn you: training shirtless…" Azula hissed, her free hand daringly caressing his abdomen. Sokka shot her a devious grin.

"Well, I'd say you got used to my shirtlessness because I've been like this the whole time… whereas your hair came loose just when you were turning around, love. Come on, cut me some slack…"

"I may… so long as you give me your word that you shall take our duels more seriously in the future, husband," Azula said, her voice commanding… and no less teasing for it. Sokka smirked.

"I am yours to command…" he said. Her own lips curled into a smile as she withdrew her sword.

"And I am yours to disobey, because we both know you make a sport of going against me," Azula responded. Sokka chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist, reeling her in for another heartfelt kiss as they dropped their swords on the pagoda's floor.

They'd find more privacy indoors, an opportunity they exploited right away: it was well-past time by then for Azula to clean up and get to work as soon as possible. Still, she didn't rush through their shared morning shower, indulging in her husband's affections without a care in the world and offering him plenty of her own before they wound up nestled together in the warm tub. They didn't take relaxing bubble baths too often as of late, and Azula's conscience was likely to rear up with alarms soon about how this, technically, wasn't an opportunity to do so, either… but it was quiet enough for now as she rested with eyes closed, her head on Sokka's shoulder.

"Feeling a little less tired yet?" Sokka asked. Azula hummed, burying her face in the hollow of his shoulder.

"I did for a while, but maybe this is too relaxing. I could just go for a nap right here and now… and I shouldn't," she sighed.

"Got a lot of desk work to do?" Sokka asked, biting his lower lip. "Want my help with it?"

"Your help?" Azula asked, opening an eye inquisitively. "No big diplomatic meetings today for you? No fresh guard recruits to instruct, either?"

"Hui Wen can handle the guards for today," Sokka said, with a reassuring smile. "As for the diplomatic stuff, looks like the coast is clear for me for the next couple of days, so unless they send some urgent, last-minute message, I'll be right here to tease you non-stop. You'll have to send word yourself, begging them to save you from my relentless goofing around…"

"Heh, I'd never and you know it," Azula huffed. Sokka chuckled, hugging her closely and pressing a kiss to her brow. "If you have so little sense as to make yourself available for me all day, there's no way I wouldn't make the most of it. Though I do wish we could spend the day doing something other than work… but it'll still be better if we deal with it together."

"So, you're sure I won't make a mess of it, then?" Sokka asked, smiling weakly. "If that's the case, I'll definitely help you out. Though I don't know what you even have to do, but…"

"Song's made a list, as always… but nothing's beyond your prodigious mind, evidently," Azula said, yawning as she wrapped her arms around Sokka's abdomen. "Lots of paperwork about the trial… lots of educational reform proposals to sort through…"

"Hmm…" Sokka caressed Azula's humid hair gently. She groaned, shaking her head against him. "You're really doing everything you can not to fall asleep again, aren't you?"

"It's like I burned out all my energy for the week yesterday, even if I know that's not really the case…" Azula said.

"Might just be more than yesterday, you know? I mean, last night it was four hours of rest, the night before it was about five instead… you've had too much going on lately, Azula."

"Hmm… I hope you're right. Because the only other times I felt so tired was, well…"

"Well?"

"Hotaru. Shun. Yuuna…"

"What? You're not pregnant again!" Sokka squeaked, face flushing as Azula laughed, relaxing as her eyes closed anew.

"Not unless the damn tea malfunctioned, no," she said. "Admittedly… we're not all that blameless for my lack of rest, are we?"

"Uh… okay, well, we did make the most of your not-so-stressful days from last week because we knew this one was going to be a mess, but still…" Sokka pouted slightly. "I suppose we really should've just been responsible, reasonable adults who sleep soundly through the night in preparation for times like these, huh?"

"Well, you say that, but… you seem perfectly fine yourself. In multiple senses, at that," Azula said, smiling as one of her hands trailed shamelessly over his chiseled chest and abdomen. Sokka smirked, enjoying the touch of her palm and fingers under the water.

"I can't be tired if you're tired, Azula. You've had to deal with too much lately, after all. What good would I be if I couldn't be here to help you out when you need me the most?" he said.

Azula blinked blankly, glancing at him with her drowsy eyes. Sokka's affectionate smile saw him hoisting her gently in the water and setting her upon his lap: she sighed happily, finally processing Sokka's confession for what it was.

"You're an antidote to unhappiness, Sokka. You know that, don't you?" she said, softly. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Now that's a term of endearment for the ages. Got to write that one down as soon as we get out of here," he teased her. Azula smiled.

"We're not going anywhere… not yet. Just a little longer…" Azula said: her body wrapped around his instinctively, with the comfort of countless years of knowing each other as intimately as could be. Sokka's fingers caressed her hair delicately, his lips pressing numerous kisses across her face as she relaxed again, soothed by his gentle affection…

"Just a little longer, then," he whispered, and Azula smiled.

Usually, his heated kisses would have her blood rushing so fast that she would wind up lightheaded… but right now, they were a true balm upon all the stress she was finally shedding thanks to her affectionate husband. Her eyes closed, and everything was gentle warmth, and comfort, and…

… And silken, smooth sheets. A comfortable blanket, too.

Her eyes flew open suddenly, and she found herself in her room once more.

She was dressed in her sleeping gown, her hair was neatly combed and smooth, and the heaviness that had clung to her so far seemed to be gone… but at what cost?

She glanced at the bedroom window in unabashed panic: it certainly wasn't morning anymore. Noon, at best, if not later…

"Oh, fucking hell…!" she growled, kicking the sheets and blanket out of the way.

What an idiot she was: she had relaxed so damn much she had fallen asleep right then and there, in Sokka's arms, hadn't she? She had no memory of anything else, so surely that was what had happened and Sokka… the gallant fool simply couldn't wake her, no, he had to be the perfect husband he ever was, prioritizing her health and wellbeing over duty. Yes, she knew she struggled to balance both things, but forsaking duty just for a nap? A nap of three hours, give or take? Oh, she couldn't believe herself…!

She rushed to prepare herself, dressing up in a whirlwind, barely gathering her hair in a careless ponytail and forsaking all notion of makeup before rushing out the door. She crossed the living quarters of the Palace in a wild sprint, surprising the staff with her nimble running as she progressed at haste towards her study. Song was going to kill her for taking a nap, but curses, she hadn't done it on purpose…

Azula's chest heaved when her hand finally fell on the study's door: she shoved it open hastily, immediately marching through the threshold… and then freezing on the spot at the sight within.

The room before her was the same it ever was, with its rigorous organizing filing system, with numerous bookshelves she relied on for references, maps, any information she might require to fulfill her assignments and duties. The big surprise within it, of course, was that a Water Tribesman sat behind the desk, raising his head for his beautiful blue eyes to meet hers.

"Oh. You're already awake," Sokka blinked blankly: he held an inkbrush perfectly casually, and he returned to work with whatever he was doing an instant afterwards. "I hope you rested well, Azula!"

Azula blinked once, then twice, before her eyes drifted towards the other occupant of the room: standing by Sokka, watching over his progress, Song shrugged in Azula's direction, hands on her hips.

"I got here like ten minutes ago, in case you're wondering. I didn't get him up to this," Song smiled at Azula's flabbergasted expression.

The royal stepped forward, unable to utter a single word as she stopped before the desk, too. Sokka finished writing whatever he had been doing, and he offered Azula a perfectly placid smile after closing the final sentence.

"What… what are you doing?" Azula asked. "You just… dropped me off so I could nap and then… then you came here to finish my work yourself?"

"Uh… well, I can't really finish all of it, lots of things require your specific signature, as you know," Sokka said, with a shrug. "But I did take care of everything that didn't, and I even drafted a few potential responses in the cases where it did? You can just sign those and we can send them if you don't think there's anything wrong with them. Right now, I was just writing up some summaries of the law proposals, not to say that you shouldn't read them in full of course, but this way maybe you'll have a better idea of what you'll find in there, right? As for our personal mail, I thought to answer it too before you were up… but you're back on your feet now so I guess my hopes to surprise you with a perfectly burdenless day have gone up in smoke now, right?"

"W-what are you…?" Azula's voice hitched as she gazed at him in utter astonishment… grateful astonishment. Sokka grinned weakly. "Sokka…"

"I just wanted to do right by you… you've overworked yourself too much lately. You'll still have to go over what I did, I imagine, unless you trust my crazy judgment all that much," Sokka chuckled. "You do know I tend to be a lot more informal than I should be in all this official paperwork… but I hope I didn't mess it up in any significant way. Last thing I want to do is give you more work than you already have on your shoulders, so…"

He shrugged in a perfectly adorable way, and Azula covered her mouth with a hand. Sokka smiled guiltily, sitting somewhat slouched as he waited for her verdict. Song blinked blankly, watching silently between them, arms folded over her chest now – she had left the list of pending work on Azula's desk, just as she had asked her to, before taking off for a nap of her own – after nodding off too many times, she accepted she'd only be functional if she took a short break. She had expected to find Azula overworking herself, as she often did… Sokka certainly offered her his help whenever he had the chance, but he'd never intervened to help Azula this way before.

Azula's reaction remained a mystery, though. Song had wondered if she'd take it well, or if she might be outraged about being allowed to sleep for much longer than she'd meant to, probably much longer than she'd claim she'd needed to…

"Song…" she finally said, and the healer nodded encouragingly in her direction. "Can I… can I ask you to step outside? Probably take a walk? For about… twenty minutes or so?"

She had expected gratitude, relief, perhaps even some of their typical banter… but after Azula said the words she did, Song snorted and shook her head: that was an even more predictable response to Sokka's gesture than any of her other predictions, actually.

"To think you wanted to convince me that you're getting old just a few hours ago, while still being spry and reckless enough to get up to something like this?" she said, rolling her eyes. Azula smiled, gazing at Sokka in utter amazement as he smiled awkwardly. "Don't do your wild desk swipes, though, or all his work will go to waste and I'm absolutely not cleaning up afterwards if you do that…"

"I'm aware, I'm aware. We're not new at this," Azula said, smirking as Sokka chuckled guiltily now.

"Sorry for the awkwardness, Song…" he said, scratching the back of his neck. His friend scoffed in his direction.

"For that matter, you owe me like fifteen years of apologies. Feels like it's a bit late to start now," she smirked, shaking her head. "You two really don't change…"

"And you love us for that," Azula smiled. Song chuckled, shaking her head.

"I suppose I do," she squeezed Azula's shoulder gently on her way out of the study, and Azula cast a glance at her over her shoulder. "But as it seems you have everything under control, I'm off to take my second nap, myself. I assume the two of you can handle whatever's left of work without me in the way…?"

"Well, I'm not sure we're about to be responsible here now, but we'll try?" Sokka said, earning himself a skeptical glare from an amused Song.

"Thank you, Song. Have a nice second nap," Azula said: Song waved in their direction, a knowing grin across her face.

"And you two have a nice… session of tiring yourselves out all over again?" she said, right before closing the door behind herself.

Her roundabout wording brought a laugh out of Azula before she focused on her husband anew. He offered her a toothy grin and a shrug, and she responded to them with an affectionate smile, the kind of heartfelt smiles she had never shown anyone until Sokka had succeeded at coaxing them out of her, without quite meaning to.

She rounded the desk without a word. Sokka pushed himself back, raising his hands to clasp hers at first, then to hold her waist as Azula sat on his lap once more that day, taking his face between her hands: she kissed him warmly, deeply, lips brushing repeatedly against his. Her tongue darted out after a moment, and Sokka welcomed it gladly as their kiss deepened fully. His arms wrapped tightly around her as she wound up straddling him on her own chair – not for the first time, admittedly. Her fingers slid over his ears, towards the short hairs on the back of his head, ensuring that the deep, thorough kiss would last for as long as they could get away with it: they parted breathlessly, brows pressed together, gentle smiles spreading over their faces.

"You're utterly mad. I love you. You're mad," Azula said, between soft laughter. She hugged him tightly, pressing her face to his neck as Sokka chuckled, rubbing her back gently.

"Don't be too grateful, now, maybe I messed everything up and you'll end up being really mad at me for it…" Sokka said, caressing her hair as Azula shook her head. "You really trust me that much?"

"You know I trust you with my very life. How are you still asking me that question?" Azula said, letting out a happy sigh as she propped herself up again, gazing into his kind eyes. "Thank you. I… I don't think you should have done this, we both know you have plenty of work to do of your own on any given day…"

"Well, today wasn't one of those days, so it seemed reasonable that I'd make the most of every chance I get to lighten your load," Sokka smiled, rubbing her arms gently. "I know you'd do the same for me…"

"Oh, would I?" Azula smiled. Sokka huffed.

"Well, then, if you wouldn't, that just means I love you more, and our big debate about that will finally be settled…!"

"Oh, how dare you?" Azula gasped. Sokka snickered proudly. "I didn't say for certain that I wouldn't have…!"

"You should've said so immediately! I would have said it immediately, so see? I win," Sokka grinned deviously. Azula rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she prodded his nose with hers.

"Everything's always a competition here… admittedly, it's how we both like things, but we're idiots for that, aren't we?" she said. Sokka chuckled.

"Now, don't say that so loudly… everyone thinks we're the smartest people around, but our siblings say we're idiots: you don't want to say those two are right, now, do you?"

"They already believe they are, our opinion on the topic isn't going to change that," Azula smiled. "Not like they can hear me while I'm in here with you, anyhow. Goodness, Sokka… I mean, there's the letters, sure, but that's probably the lightest workload altogether, isn't it?"

"That was the plan. All part of my flawless strategy, you see?" Sokka smiled. Azula chuckled, pressing her brow to his.

"Thank you. Damn it, saying you're an antidote to unhappiness really doesn't cut it anymore…"

"Hey, I like it. It cuts it just fine," Sokka laughed. Azula breathed deeply.

"It almost feels surreal, not having lots of things to do for the rest of the day," she said. "But then… I suppose we can finish what's left of today's workload now…"

"And then?" Sokka raised his eyebrows. Azula bit her lip. "Got any funny ideas in mind, Azula?"

"Well… there's one thing I always enjoy doing with you, and I can't believe I'll be able to do it today, but it seems I can now. So…"

"So…?"

His knowing smile brought a delightful grin from her, too. She kissed him willfully, her heart soaring with joy as every lingering frustration faded away, utterly forgotten in the wake of fulfilling one of her greatest aspirations…

The tree's refreshing shade allowed Azula to bask in the smooth breeze that blew through the branches: the elegant building before them was straightforward in its purpose, properly maintained, beautifully decorated… and populated by loud, numerous children who were more than ready to go home after a long day of schooling.

She shouldn't have been quite so excited about being here, it wasn't really the first time she did it… but it almost felt like it. She remembered all too well how Lo and Li would collect her at school, escorting her home afterwards. Her parents, of course, had been much too preoccupied with their own business – be it with Zuko's homeschooling or his swordsmanship lessons in Ursa's case, or enduring and fulfillin Azulon's expectations in Ozai's case, or the many clashes and conflicts between both of Azula's parents – to ever do this themselves. Not every child was picked up by their parents even back in those days, though Azula had certainly felt a pang of envy in her heart at the sight of those who did… she had wondered what it would be like to have parents as doting and utterly embarrassing as those of some of her classmates more often than she had ever admitted aloud.

And now, so many years later, it was her turn to be the doting and embarrassing parent: her heart jolted at the very thought of it.

"It's really cute of you to be so excited about this," Sokka smirked, arms folded across his chest as he watched Azula with amusement.

"Well, do excuse me for enjoying something I barely ever get to do," Azula huffed, shooting him a reproachful glare that he chuckled at. "This is your daily routine, pretty much, whereas I…"

"I know, I know. Still cute, though, whether you like it or not," Sokka grinned proudly. Azula smiled, shaking her head.

"You're just looking for excuses to say I'm cute, as ever. Which, I'll add, makes you far cuter than I am…"

"That trick's not going to work on me and you know it," Sokka remarked, bumping her hip with his and Azula chuckled quietly as she focused on the school's doors again: they'd open very soon, she knew… to think she anticipated the moment quite as much nowadays as she did when she was a child, kept behind similar doors…

"Most people waiting for the children are staff members of their households, aren't they?" Azula asked, glancing about herself. "It's not really surprising, I admit, it's the way it was when I was a child, but…"

"Yeah, well, some parents do show up from time to time," Sokka said, with a shrug. "But in general, that's how it is. Some kids don't even get picked up and just walk home on their own, too. I keep wondering if Hotaru will grow self-aware one day and ask me to stop showing up here because I'll make her look uncool…"

"Heh, not likely. Not only does she adore you, but no child in that school has a more impressive parental unit than our kids," Azula smirked proudly. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head at her boast. "As far as coolness is concerned, I have no doubts she'll be better off if you show up here to pick her up every day…"

"Well, then, if you're so sure, I'll stop worrying," Sokka smiled, loosening his arms and clasping Azula's hand gently.

They weren't as bold and careless in public as they could have been, but gone were the days when they would hide their relationship zealously: they stood together under the shade of one of the trees near the school and numerous people stood nearby, too – including the security detail that ensured there were no hazards nearby that could endanger either Azula or Sokka. It didn't matter if they could be judged, found careless and vulgar in their affectionate gestures, for they had built their place in the world together. Anyone who tried to challenge that fact would be certain to find themselves staring down the blades and fire of two of the most dangerous fighters their world had ever seen.

The bell signaling the end of the school day rang loudly at last, and on cue, a cheerful roar by the youngest children echoed across the building. Shortly afterwards, the front door opened and the preschool teachers saw to sending each child to their respective guardian. Yuuna, ever so forward, was the third to step out of the building's threshold: she looked towards the tree right away, evidently knowing exactly where to find her father on any given day… and her jaw dropped when she noticed he wasn't alone today.

"And there she is! Our little champion, our growing wonder, our waterbending prodigy…!" Sokka exclaimed, hyping up the child as she took off on a full, clumsy and adorable sprint in their direction: Azula had no trouble guessing he always did that to entertain and amuse their daughter.

But where Yuuna typically would respond to Sokka's theatrics, today seemed to be a day that would break the norm in more ways than anticipated:

"Mommy?! Mommy!"

Sokka froze on the spot: he had stepped forward to welcome Yuuna only for the child to run past him and cling to Azula's legs instead. She could only laugh as she leaned down, picking up her utterly confused daughter while her husband stood, paralyzed, right where he'd been when Yuuna raced past him.

"Well, hello there, Yuuna," Azula smiled, brushing her daughter's disorderly hair with her fingers. "Looks like your hairdo didn't last long today, either."

"Mommy, you're here today!" Yuuna exclaimed, gaping at her mother with wonderment. "You came with Daddy!"

"I know this doesn't happen often, but I could come by today. It's all thanks to your father, though…"

"Daddy?" Yuuna blinked blankly, smiling as she glanced back at the still frozen Sokka. Azula gasped dramatically.

"Looks like you may have frozen him by accident! Care to thaw him, Yuuna?" she asked the child, who giggled and shook her head.

"I didn't do that!"

"You didn't? But look! He won't move!" Azula's eyes widened as she approached Sokka, still carrying the amused six-year-old in her arms. She leaned before Sokka, watching as his eyebrow twitched slightly. "Hello? Sokka? Are you still there?"

"Daddy!" Yuuna laughed, stretching her arms towards him as though to be carried by him too.

By then, Sokka's resolve to mess with his daughter by staying petrified on the spot crumbled. He smiled, shaking his head as he collected the little girl in his arms, hoisting her happily in the air: she laughed carelessly, and that was all he could have wanted as he reeled her in for a gentle hug.

"She thawed me with cuteness. No one could possibly hope to stay frozen when she's so powerful," Sokka said, dramatically. Azula chuckled, stepping up to press a kiss to her daughter's brow.

"Your father went out of his way to help me with work today, dear, all so I could be here now," she said. "I know it's a crazy surprise, but we owe it all to him. Just as we owe him about a million things, I'd say…"

"You owe me nothing, silly," Sokka smiled: he wrapped one of his arms around Azula, handing Yuuna over to her again all be it so he could embrace them both at once. Yuuna giggled for it, happily kicking her legs as her parents basked in yet another bright moment for their blissful family.

Preschool's children would be free to go home earlier than the older students in the academy: Shun, in primary school, would be finished in about twenty minutes. In that time, Azula and Sokka took their seats with Yuuna under the shade of Sokka's chosen tree, talking with their youngest daughter about what she'd learned in school that day.

"Ah, you learned new animals today?" Azula asked, surprised. Yuuna giggled and nodded. "And which might they be?"

"Hmmm… guess!" Yuuna giggled. Azula huffed.

"Bees?" she asked. Yuuna shook her head. "Armadillo-bears?"

"No!" Yuuna laughed happily. Azula bit her lip, glancing over at Sokka, who smiled at her.

"Come on. Help me here, she hasn't given me a single hint!" she said, allegedly exasperated. "We need to put our superior intellects together to unravel this mystery, Sokka."

"Still, she should give us some hints," Sokka said, smiling and offering his hand to Yuuna. "Come on, now. You learned to write their names, is it? Try to write them on our hands and we'll guess them, okay?"

"Huh, that will help us confirm her calligraphy is correct, actually. A sound choice. I knew I could count on you," Azula said, smirking proudly. Sokka raised his head in a haughty display that brought actual laughter out of his wife's lips.

Yuuna giggled, taking Sokka's hand in hers: she trailed her index finger over his gloved hand, bringing a smile to Azula's face at the sight of the scar upon her husband's palm. Yuuna didn't pay any attention to the scar, however, simply focused on repeating the symbol she had learned earlier that day.

"Hmmm?" Sokka frowned. Yuuna grinned as she continued trailing lines upon lines over her father's hand. "Gee, that's one animal only?"

"Yes!" Yuuna exclaimed. "It has three ideograms, Daddy."

"Oh, really? Wow. That's complicated," Sokka bit his lip, focusing again. "Let's see… hmm… oh wait, that's fish! So… aha! Tuna!"

"It's tuna? Really?" Azula blinked blankly. Yuuna grinned and nodded at her mother. "Goodness, they actually taught you how to write tuna in preschool? That's… a lot more impressive than I anticipated, actually."

Yuuna grinned wildly and took Azula's hand next: her mother smiled fondly as the excitable child trailed her finger over her mother's palm now. Sokka watched attentively, but it was much easier to interpret words when they were being written on his skin.

"Okay…? Two ideograms this time?" Azula asked, as Yuuna finished writing them the first time. The girl grinned and nodded before starting over. Azula closed her eyes, humming softly as she made sense of each element, little by little… "Goat!"

"Yes!" Yuuna cheered, jumping to her feet and throwing her hands up in the air. Her parents laughed at the sight of her celebration, resisting the urge to embrace their adorably clever daughter. "Tuna-goat!"

Though, of course, the strange directions in which Yuuna's mind steered her could still surprise her parents more often than not.

"Tuna-goat?" Sokka repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Your teacher said that's a real hybrid animal?"

"I don't know," Yuuna chuckled, with a shrug. Azula huffed.

"Well, if it does exist, I can only imagine Yuuna will be the one to discover it," Azula said, caressing her daughter's hair gently, attempting to tame it, though knowing already that she'd fail at it.

"Oh, now, there's no question about that," Sokka smiled as Yuuna grinned happily over her parents' approving words.

She seemed ready to write more animals on their palms when the bell for primary school rang next: both Azula and Sokka glanced towards the door anew, and out came the older students, including two twins who waved shyly in their direction before rushing off to their waiting father.

"Does he always do that? Standing off so far away from you…?" Azula asked. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head.

"We wait together sometimes, but I suppose he figured he wouldn't interrupt our time together for today. You know what he's like," Sokka explained. Azula smiled before glancing at the door again, just in time for Shun to emerge from it.

Much like it had been in Yuuna's case, Shun gasped happily, running towards Azula without even bothering to say goodbye to his friends. Azula smiled, welcoming Shun into her embrace as he leapt happily into her arms.

"Mom! You're here!" he exclaimed.

"You have your father to thank for that," Azula smiled. Shun didn't thank Sokka just yet, though, raising his head happily to look at his mother, as though expecting her to be a mirage of some sort. "Had a good day today?"

"Uh… well, I mean, um…" Shun mumbled shyly, and Azula frowned at once.

"Did something bad happen?" she asked. Shun grimaced, pushing back and scratching the back of his head, cheeks aflame with embarrassment.

"I, uh, well… got called to the blackboard today," he said. Azula blinked blankly. "I thought I had understood the exercise, b-but, well, I really didn't so… I kind of messed up in front of everyone and some of them… some laughed a bit? I guess…"

"They laughed…?" Azula growled in a dangerous tone that set off Sokka's alarms at once.

"Woah, woah, woah…" Sokka smiled reaching out to rub Azula's tense shoulders. "Stay calm, now. No need to defund the school…"

"Defund it? No… reform it, rather. No more blackboard nonsense that humiliates children…" Azula grumbled: her son's eyes lit up as he heard that, and Sokka sighed before glancing at Shun with an awkward smile.

"Hey. You don't have to feel like you're lesser or greater just because of a mistake like that one, okay, kid?" he said, his voice slightly more serious than the one he often used with his son. Shun glanced at him in surprise. "Your classmates are dunderheads, and they would be just as likely to mess up with anything on that blackboard. I bet they'd cry ten rivers if anyone made fun of them for it…"

"Perhaps they should go on the blackboard, then," Azula said, tapping her chin. "I can pull some strings, be the teacher for one day, give Shun's class some lessons on ancient history…"

"Yeah!" Shun grinned wildly as Sokka eyed Azula skeptically.

"And then I'll just humiliate all the wrongdoers by calling them to answer impossible questions," Azula said, with a careless smile. Sokka actually burst out laughing by then. "Hey! It's a perfectly sound plan. I will protect my son's childhood this way, you'll see."

"Your son's childhood is fine, damn it," Sokka chuckled, and even Shun laughed by then, amused by his mother's protectiveness of him. "You've seen to that for years! A mistake isn't the end of the world, okay? Though, Shun, if those kids mess too much with you…"

"I'll just scorch them lightly…" Shun said, with a slight pout. Sokka's eyebrow twitched again as Azula huffed.

"Lightly? Unthinkable: I hereby authorize you to…"

"Azula!"

"What?"

Both Shun and Yuuna reeled with laughter at their parents' argument – one that they were having for their benefit, above all else. They might have a more thorough conversation with Shun about what had happened later, for she suspected Shun had inherited her unhealthy tendency of demanding perfection from herself at all costs. It had taken a long time for her to let go of that dangerous mindset, but she would do her best to ensure Shun wouldn't fall prey to the same pressures she had experienced until her early adulthood.

Their playful banter, however, wouldn't last much longer than it had: another group of primary school children had crossed the school's threshold by then. They were around four years older than Shun, and they approached their tree with reverent admiration and poorly contained excitement: Hotaru smiled awkwardly as she spearheaded the cluster of young girls, all of whom gaped in awe at the perfectly placid family with glowing eyes.

"M-Mom came today, too, huh…?" Hotaru asked, with a small voice. Azula smiled and nodded.

"Well, now, Hotaru! Greet your mother properly or she will think you're not happy to see her," Sokka huffed. The girl blushed, though she smiled at Azula anyway.

"Hi…?" she said: one of the girls behind her let out a squeal of excitement, and Hotaru's exasperated expression brought Azula to conclude that the ones her daughter was embarrassed by weren't, in fact, her doting parents…

"Well, then…" Azula said, pushing herself up to her feet: just the sound of her voice caused many of the eleven-year-olds with Hotaru to gasp happily again, gazing up at the fully-grown woman who smiled upon them. "I hope you had a good day in school, Hotaru."

"It was okay," Hotaru bit her lip, glancing back at one of her friends with a grimace. "Can you calm down…? She's just my mom."

"She's not just your mom, she's…! She's…!" gasped the girl, utterly starstruck as she was.

"I do have to wonder… do you have the same effect on them?" Azula blinked blankly, glancing at Sokka. He huffed, shrugging.

"I suppose I did the first few times they noticed me, but you're the novelty here today, love…"

His very uttering of that last word sent the entire cluster of girls squealing wildly, causing Yuuna to pout as she covered her ears with her little hands while Shun grimaced with distaste at the overly excited girls. Hotaru, standing before them, blushed crimson as she covered her face with a hand.

"And they still wonder why I never invite them home…" Hotaru sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Mom, Dad, they're just…"

"It's okay, don't feel bad," Sokka chuckled, patting Hotaru's shoulder gently. "I'm not going to say we're used to it, but it's not the first time this sort of thing happens to your mother and I…"

"W-we are…! We are very honored to be your daughter's classmates!" exclaimed one girl, perhaps more outspoken than the others, perhaps more nervous, too: she bowed down by bending her entire torso forward in Azula's direction, and all the others followed. "She is an example for all of us to follow, a-and…! And…! W-well…!"

"We would love your autograph!" exclaimed another one, just for the whole cluster of girls to erupt into an argument, with one side in favor of requesting autographs and the other completely adamant about how unacceptable and inappropriate a request it was.

Of course, Azula merely stood in place, an eyebrow raised: she certainly didn't have much time to mingle with anyone as of late… but it felt like a long time since anyone had reacted so excitedly upon meeting her. She shared a quick smile with Sokka, just before the more shameless girls requested the autographs anew.

Hotaru continued to bury her face in her hands, beyond embarrassed by her friends and their behavior as Azula signed a few school notebooks. After a moment, Shun tugged at his older sister's long sleeve: her brother urged her to lean closer to her, intending to speak in her ear. The older child bit her lip before giving in, only for her brother to say:

"Your friends are so weird that even Yuuna thinks they're crazy."

"Wha-…? Shun!" Hotaru, cheeks still flushed, glared reproachfully at her brother, who giggled deviously at her bashful reaction over his taunt.

Hotaru's embarrassment didn't diminish even after the family finally succeeded at shaking off the crowd of excitable girls who couldn't seem to stop fawning over her parents. The young firebender sat in the carriage right by her father, grimacing with hopelessness while her younger siblings sat across them, flanking a perfectly placid Azula, who held their hands in her own.

"You don't have to keep making those faces, Hotaru," Sokka smiled reassuringly, patting her shoulder gently. "We're already on our way home, alright? They won't embarrass you anymore."

"To think you were worried about us being the embarrassing ones…" Azula smirked, and Sokka chuckled as Hotaru sighed.

"Well… you can be embarrassing sometimes too, but they definitely outdid you today," Hotaru said. Sokka clasped his chest, affronted by her words, and Hotaru shot him a meaningful stare. "Dad, you always go out of your way to embarrass yourself just to make everyone laugh, it's not like I'm saying something you don't know…"

"I… do know that. But still! It just feels different when you say it that way," Sokka huffed, pouting and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm sorry I didn't show it, but I'm really glad that you could come today, Mom," Hotaru said, offering Azula a weak smile. "I just wish my friends hadn't been so crazy… it would have been nice to introduce you to them properly."

"Well, if by any miracle I can do this more often, perhaps one day they'll get over their initial excitement," Azula smiled. "I have to make the most of it for as long as the three of you aren't old enough to think your parents are lame, of course…"

"I don't know if we'll ever think that," Hotaru said, smiling weakly, as Shun hugged Azula's arm.

"You should come every day! Dad can do your work and you can pick us up instead…!"

"Well, isn't that nice, you little rascal," Sokka huffed. Azula hummed, shaking her head as she smiled at Shun.

"You know, my parents never picked me up at school. And by never, I very much mean 'never'. It was always Lo and Li instead," she explained. All the kids gaped at her in surprise. "I wasn't the only one who went through that, of course… I think Mai and Ty Lee weren't much better off, picked up by servants rather than by their parents."

"Most the other kids in school are like that, too," Hotaru said, nodding.

"But Daddy always takes us to school and picks us up later!" Yuuna grinned wildly at her father. Sokka smiled and shrugged as Azula nodded sagely.

"He does indeed. And today? Oh, today he went out of his way to do as much of my work as he could for me, all so I could be here to see you all. See how thoughtful he is?"

Shun's face flushed now as he grasped what his mother was going for. While he certainly cherished his father in his own ways, it seemed his favorite ways to exteriorize it were by talking to him about history or warfare, or by making fun of him – which inevitably resulted in Sokka biting back similarly, and so, a back-and-forth would often ensue between them. He eyed Sokka begrudgingly after hearing Azula's question, and Sokka smirked proudly as though waiting for Shun to praise and thank him…

"He's… a goofball," Shun decided, pouting. Sokka's jaw dropped as the girls laughed at Shun's conclusion.

"Well… I can be a thoughtful goofball, mind you," he retorted, stubbornly.

"Well, that's certainly not a questionable statement," Azula chuckled, smiling fondly at her husband. "A thoughtful goofball, but also the smartest man in any room he's in…"

"You're the smartest woman, yourself. Which, of course, just means we're perfectly matched," Sokka beamed brightly, and Azula chuckled at his interjection.

"Doesn't hurt that he's ridiculously handsome, either…"

"Ugh, Mom!" Shun groaned, shaking his head. Sokka snickered deviously.

"The most beautiful woman in the world saying that about me is a true compliment, but well, we all know you're way prettier than me…" he said, shaking his head.

"And he's also such a legendary fight-… wait, I'm prettier than you, you say?"

"You are. And a most legendary fighter yourself, of course…"

"Now, now, don't change the subject: I'm back to talking about your good looks. And also about discussing the fact that you're terribly biased in my favor, so…"

"Biased? Me? As if! Hotaru, tell your mom she's the most beautiful woman in the world!"

"For that matter, Yuuna, tell your dad he's the most handsome man there ever was."

"I'm going to puke," Shun concluded, dropping heavily on his seat as Yuuna took to repeating Azula's words happily and enthusiastically.

"Hey, Hotaru! Come on, you can't let them win!" Sokka whimpered, turning towards his daughter with utmost despair: by now, it seemed that Hotaru's previous embarrassment had finally transferred over from her friends to her parents, and quite rightfully so, even if she chuckled at their ridiculous disagreement.

"Why would you argue about which one of you is prettier?" she asked, amused. "It makes no sense…"

"It makes perfect sense: your mother doesn't have a clue of how great she is, I keep telling her and she never listens to me," Sokka pouted. Hotaru sighed, glancing at Azula with a slight smile: Yuuna's cheerful chanting seemed to be delightful for their mother.

"Daddy is the prettiest man! Daddy is the prettiest!" she declared, and Azula nodded proudly.

"See? How could you possibly deny it if Yuuna says so?" Azula smirked. Sokka huffed.

"Well, then, if Hotaru won't help… Shun! Join me here!"

"No, thank you," Shun retorted immediately, and everyone laughed as Sokka yelped in despair.

"B-but that's… no! This is unacceptable! This is no victory for you, Azula! I won't stand for it! You're prettier, damn it, anyone can tell…!"

"Keep this up and you'll end up dueling each other to settle this fight…" Hotaru said, with a dismissive shake of her head…

The sudden silence that settled in the carriage alarmed the girl a moment later. Yes, perhaps peaceful silence could be nice… but it was the calm that heralded a storm, she knew, and she turned her wide eyes towards her parents to find them eyeing each other in a dangerous way.

"W-wait! I was just…! I didn't mean that! I…!" Hotaru gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as Sokka squinted, leaning forward as Azula smirked in his direction.

"That… is a brilliant solution, actually. Oh, yes, it is," he said, a wild grin spreading over his face.

"I agree. An odd occurrence, us agreeing on something…"

"We agree on things once in a while, don't be silly…"

"Either way… I suppose this is the duel of our lifetimes," Azula said, raising her head haughtily. "For victory has never had a steeper cost than it does today. I challenge you, Sokka…"

"And I challenge you right back, Azula," he smirked. "Let's see who's the prettiest indeed!"

Azula couldn't hold back her laughter as Shun outright joined in with Yuuna's cheers – no one enjoyed watching duels between his parents as much as their son did. Hotaru, of course, gaped at them in astonishment… and shortly afterwards, in surrender. As unnecessary as this new impasse between her parents appeared to be, she couldn't quite deny that they were quite lively whenever their biggest problems were as meaningless as determining which of her parents was the better-looking one…

They returned to the Palace in good spirits: the two parents ensured their children finished their schoolwork first before offering them the wild entertainment of watching an all-out battle between them in their training pagoda. They wouldn't visit it twice on any given day, but they changed into training clothes once more, bringing both their swords with them as they returned to the gardens, their three children in tow.

"Make sure not to do anything too reckless…" Hotaru chimed in. Sokka patted her shoulder gently.

"I won't cut across the columns of the pagoda this time, I promise…"

"We'll fight at the center to avoid that. And I won't set anything on fire either, so you won't have to worry about that either," Azula said, with a careless shrug. "I'd put it out quickly even if I did, and you three could probably take care of any sparks that spill out of the pagoda, if any did, so…"

"Can I fight too?" Yuuna asked happily. Shun huffed.

"I'm older! If someone can join in, it should be me!" he said.

"None one of you is joining in, kiddos," Sokka smirked, eyeing Azula deviously. "This is a battle between husband and wife. We're taking no prisoners here: all-out war for the sake of beauty!"

"Isn't there a chance that you might just hurt each other and, uh, make them not so beautiful anymore?" Hotaru asked, clinging to any potential loophole she could find to make her parents desist on their completely reckless crusade. Both Azula and Sokka, however, laughed off her concerns.

"Oh, please. He's put up with me for years, Hotaru, and he only gets more handsome with time…"

"Same goes for her, aging so damn finely…"

"Fight and don't be mushy! Gross!" Shun huffed, hands on his hips. Both Azula and Sokka rolled their eyes at their son's typical responses, but they prepared to climb the steps up to the pagoda all the same.

"Stay outside the fighting area at all times, okay?" Azula warned the children: her voice, so easygoing, had switched to the stern tone that always ensured the children would know she meant business. Thus, all three of them nodded at her command. "If you want to convey something important to us, you'll tell Hotaru what it is and if she deems it a serious enough matter to interrupt our duel, she can tell us what it is, alright?"

"Yes, Mom," Shun nodded promptly. Yuuna grinned happily and nodded too. Hotaru sighed.

"And what if Hotaru thinks this is silly and you should just accept you're both pretty?" Hotaru asked. Azula couldn't contain a smile.

"I'm afraid you have too much good sense in that head of yours, dear. What fools you've been cursed with as your parents," Azula said, shaking her head as she caressed her daughter's hair gently before entering the pagoda.

"You're not fools, you're just… unconventional?" Hotaru decided, scratching the back of her neck as her golden eyes followed her parents.

They had unsheathed their swords by then and they rounded each other as lion-vultures might. Sokka's training, sleeveless changshan happened to outline his torso's muscles terribly well, and Azula bit her lip as she eyed his exposed arms greedily. He offered her a flirty grin of his own, taking in the light shirt she wore, its neck's fastenings undone and exposing her collarbone. Her hair was up in a casual ponytail: Sokka couldn't seem to stop admiring her, much as she failed to do the same with him.

"Well, then: are you ready for our legendary showdown?" Sokka asked, raising his sword in a defensive position. Azula let out a soft chuckle as she finally slowed to a halt.

"I'm always ready for you, husband," she teased. His grin widened further. "I suppose I won't have to remind you not to go easy on me this time?"

"And I won't have to do it with you either," he said. "Because the stakes of this challenge are much too important to be taken lightly, right?"

"Absolutely," Azula said, deepening her voice in a way that sent shivers down Sokka's spine. "Shall we?"

"Oh, yes, we shall," Sokka agreed, heart racing with anticipation.

Even so, it took a moment before one of them made the first move. One more moment of preparation, of anticipation, of prolonging the inevitable…

Azula stepped forward, her white sword gleaming as her blue flames came to life: Sokka smirked before their blades clashed and their latest sparring duel began.

The afternoon was starting to take on a darker hue when Rei finally made her way back to the Palace. The carriage that transported her dropped her off by the gates – she had no way of knowing at what time she would be returning, therefore, she would take a royal carriage to university and return on a carriage she'd hire upon leaving campus. It had been tricky to juggle all her responsibilities as a substitute teacher and investigator today, but she hadn't made any major mistakes, and that was enough for her on most days…

She smiled immediately upon slowing down by the Palace gates, which swung open for her at once. The guard behind them, clad in his proper uniform, greeted her with a curt bow of his head.

"Welcome back. I hope you had a fruitful day, Rei," he said. Rei grinned and nodded in his direction.

"It went as well as it could have, I'd say," Rei responded. "I hope all was well here too, Gen-…"

A flash of blue from behind the guard startled Rei into leaving her sentence unfinished: she raised an eyebrow, glancing in its direction, a knowing smile spreading over her face.

"Are they… training again?" she asked. The guard sighed, hands on his hips.

"Knowing them? This is probably something far more ridiculous than training," he responded. "Training is usually for mornings after all… but it seems they finished most their work early today."

"Then they're bound to be entertaining the kids now," Rei chuckled, biting her lip. "Guess I should go check if everything's okay, anyhow. Hopefully Hotaru, Shun and Yuuna have finished their homework already…"

"You're far too responsible compared to those two," the guard sighed. "I think I'll join you. Perhaps I can talk sense into them, but I wouldn't be surprised if I failed at it."

"Eh, well… it's not very likely that you'll succeed," Rei admitted, with a shy laugh. The guard shook his head.

"Don't I know it."

After ensuring the other guards would shut the gates safely and keep watch, the guard joined Rei as they marched through the Palace's terrains. The pagoda stood in the gardens deeper inside the Palace: the flashes of blue that bloomed from Azula's attacks grew more intense as they approached, until they finally caught full sight of the battle waged between the two spouses. As predictably as ever, Yuuna cheered for her father while Shun cheered for his mother… and Hotaru stood between them, tense, flinching every time either Azula or Sokka made a dangerous move.

"Sooo… what happened this time?" Rei asked, startling the children once she stopped behind them, offering them a fond smile.

"Rei!" both Yuuna and Shun exclaimed, jumping in to hug her. The woman chuckled, caressing their hair gently as Hotaru gazed at her with a bright smile.

"Ah, you're home?" Azula's voice drifted out of the pagoda – as focused as she was on her sparring bout with Sokka, dodging a stab and responding to it with a fistful of flames that caused her husband to jump back and give her further space, she had still overheard her children's shouts. "Hope you had a good day, Rei!"

"Uh… I did," Rei smiled awkwardly. "I guess you didn't?"

"Oh, mine's been amazing!" Azula laughed: she leapt, spinning in the air and packing a potent firebending kick.

Sokka grimaced: he leaned back, almost enough to lose his footing, and the fire failed to reach him. He let himself fall on the tatami once he knew regaining his footing would be too difficult in that position, bouncing on the soft flooring and taking advantage of that momentum to push himself back by somersaulting away from Azula. She, of course, whistled with delight at her husband's shameless display of physical ability and fitness.

"Well, now…!" she said as Sokka landed safely again, legs spread to support his weight better, body bent slightly forward for balance's sake. "You're basically proving my point here, Sokka, it's so very appealing of you to do that…"

"Oh, no: I've proved nothing. You haven't defeated me yet, not in combat, not in any other regards!" Sokka retorted, dashing in quickly, sword at the ready: Azula laughed carelessly as their blades met in the middle again, though she packed one more fire blast quickly with her free hand to ensure Sokka wouldn't get the upper hand on her.

"Huh… proving a point? They're settling an argument with a duel again?" Rei asked, with an awkward smile.

"Yeah… about who's prettier," Hotaru said, with a deadpan smile. Rei snorted, letting out a careless laugh at the utter ridiculousness of that concept. "I mean… I'm learning a lot from watching them, it's true. So many interesting firebending forms, and ways to respond to sword attacks… but it's so silly."

"I'm afraid that's your parents' specialty, Hotaru," the guard said, bluntly. Hotaru smiled awkwardly in his direction. "Have you at least finished your homework?"

"Yes!" the younger children exclaimed, and Rei smiled proudly.

"Good work, all of you," she said.

"I can only hope Ji-seon and Soo-min did theirs as well… though I have no doubts they'll come here as soon as they notice this ridiculous spectacle," the guard said, shaking his head. "One would think that after a day like yesterday, these two would be entirely out of energy still…"

"I'm afraid they don't know how to stay still and have a simple, casual, boring day," Rei determined, watching the battle fondly.

"Well… let's see if I can try to put a stop to their nonsense anyway," the guard said, breathing deeply. "Not that I've ever succeeded in the past, but still…"

"Good luck," Hotaru sighed.

"Mommy says no one can go up…!" Yuuna exclaimed, grabbing Hotaru and Rei's hands as she eyed the guard warily: he had stepped forward, climbing up to the pagoda.

"Well, he's a grown-up. Way stronger than any of us, too," Shun reasoned, with a shrug. "Guess he's allowed?"

"I wouldn't know if 'allowed' is the right word?" Rei smiled. "But… he's special."

The Princess was the one on the tatami floor now, after having taken a poor stance to parry a dangerous attack: Sokka had exploited the opening immediately, but his wife hadn't simply surrendered. Instead, she attacked him from the floor, taking deep breaths while shooting a spree of flames at him from the soles of her feet. Sokka had no choice but to back down, unable to threaten his wife into a surrender…

"A little firefly has told me you're having a rather childish battle to determine which of you is… prettier?"

The deep voice of their most trusted guard caused both Azula and Sokka to lose focus but briefly: the firebender powered up a fire wheel with her feet just before pushing herself up with a quick jump, displaying flexibility to the extent where her husband almost stood there gawking at her impressive moves rather than jumping out of the way of her latest attack.

"That's correct!" Azula exclaimed, and Sokka huffed, laughing in disbelief.

"And she's hellbent on proving it's her, as you can see," Sokka responded, shaking his head.

"Oh, absolutely not," Azula huffed, flipping her hair away from her face: some of her ponytail had loosened up, much as Sokka's own wolf's tail was no longer as tall as before, causing some strands to fall gracefully, framing his handsome face.

"I must say I do not follow," the guard interrupted them, unconcerned with cutting across their strange flirting. "Does it mean that whoever wins the fight is declared the prettiest?"

His question gave them pause – he couldn't help but smirk as the two finally bothered glancing at him in confusion.

"Say what?" Sokka blinked blankly.

"You should be fighting for yourselves, it's only natural. Therefore, it stands to reason that, if you attain victory, it means you're not only victorious on the battlefield but also in a battle of, uh, ideas? In this case… a battle of beauty, allegedly, if that's truly what guides you."

Sokka glanced at Azula, and she returned the stare: it wasn't difficult for the two of them to infer what their friend was trying to achieve, no matter if he brought up a reasonable question…

But the truth was that answering the question wasn't all that difficult.

"It is a battle of ideas: my idea is that he's prettier, his idea is that I am," Azula responded, with a smirk. "And that means, simply, that my victory will confirm the truth that he's the prettiest. So no, you're not going to confuse us or stop us from seeing this battle through, try as though you might."

"He's always been like this, hasn't he? Always trying to rain on our parade," Sokka huffed, shaking his head before raising his sword again: "But no matter, because here I come!"

"Always ready for you," Azula smirked, summoning fire that she condensed in order to defend against Sokka's newest stab.

The guard sighed: it had been a long shot, but one he had hoped might at least interrupt the bout for longer than half a minute. He turned back towards the onlookers to find the youngest ones were simply cheering on the continued fight while the older two simply smiled sympathetically in his direction. Defeated by the utter recklessness and drive of his employers, he marched back towards the group, head bent.

"I did what I could. As ever, they're beyond reason," he said, shaking his head. Rei and Hotaru laughed, and the latter bowed her head respectfully towards him just as well, offering him a compassionate, understanding smile.

"Thanks for trying anyway, Uncle Rui Shi."

His interruption hadn't cost the sparring partners much of their focus: their blades shone in the afternoon light as they clashed again and again, reflecting the color of Azula's flames whenever she evoked them. It had been years since Sokka had bothered asking her not to firebend during their sparring bouts, instead thrilled by the challenge of defending against the onslaught of her fire… a challenge he could overcome on occasion if Azula slipped up at all, as she did when she landed too close to a column after a firebending attack she launched through her feet once more: her near loss of footing at the wooden area of the floor rather than the tatami made it easy for Sokka to strike her sword out of her hand with one quick blow – Azula was only regaining her center when she found herself staring down the dangerous pointy edge of a black blade.

Sokka smirked wildly. Azula's eyes rose from the tip of the sword to his own blue eyes, chest heaving as the children reacted to their mother's apparent defeat. She breathed deeply, unable and unwilling to mask how utterly appealing she found it to be bested by a warrior as strong and talented as her husband was… and yet her answer to his apparent success wasn't quite what anyone but Sokka would have anticipated:

"Best out of three?"

He snorted. She smirked. Their public gazed at them in utmost confusion… and Sokka stepped back, leaning down to pick up Azula's sword. She smiled as he handed it to her carefully, and she even dared offer him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking up another fighting stance in preparation for a second bout. Sokka did the same, his determination unchanged – she was bound to ask him for more rounds even if he won the next one, so he'd ensure to continue triumphing so she would have no grounds whatsoever to claim she was the one with the right answer for their complicated impasse.

Their public grew in size even beyond Rui Shi and Rei: two young girls started watching from a nearby window, too shy at first to join the others, but encouraged to do so once Shun noticed them and urged them to come to the garden. Ji-Seon and Soo-Min stood by Rui Shi, their father, who had wound up staying to watch the duels, skeptical and entertained by them all the same – the little girls even joined in by cheering either Azula or Sokka, switching between them at random, entirely swept up by the excitement of the battles before them.

The lively atmosphere by the pagoda continued until dusk fell: even under the lanterns that decorated the Palace's gardens, it was far too late for the sparring pair to continue with their countless duels. Dinner would be served soon, and as was tradition, the two families that dwelled in the Palace would enjoy the last meal of the day in a large dining room once everyone was ready – naturally, Azula and Sokka had no choice but to take quick showers before the meal, both enjoying the soreness after indulging in more exercise than they usually subjected their bodies to, these days.

"So… we're eating ten minutes later because you two were up to no good, as usual?" Song asked once they finally arrived at the dining room where the staff was still setting down their meals.

"Why, I wouldn't put it that way. Our spectators seem to have enjoyed the show," Azula said, smiling at the chatty members of both families.

"Yeah, Ji-Seon and Soo-Min had fun too, right?" Sokka grinned at the twin girls, who offered him a shy smile too and a shrug as they stood near Song. "Hey, now: you two were so lively when you were cheering us on like half an hour ago! You can tell your mom you had a great time, can't you?"

"It was… okay," Ji-Seon said, softly. Sokka huffed in disappointment as the two soft-spoken girls giggled at his reaction.

"I bet they don't dare say what they really think because you spook them into silence, Song," Sokka declared, stubbornly. He received a light flick of his shoulder for his remark, and as much as it stung, Sokka snickered deviously afterwards all the same.

"Why do you love picking fights you know you can't win?" Rui Shi asked, shaking his head as his wife smirked proudly at his words. "Leave Song alone, you're beyond outmatched, Sokka."

"I'm aware, I'm aware…" Sokka chuckled, marching to an empty seat in the dining room once the staff was finished setting up the meal.

There were no set, chosen seats in the dining room, for there was no need for strict behavior or protocol when it came to their family dinners and the moments they shared behind closed doors. The children would sometimes sit with their respective parents, though Shun certainly was thrilled to sit with Rui Shi often, ever asking him questions about firebending that the guard answered without fail. Hotaru would choose different seats on occasion, typically choosing to sit with Rei or with Song at times, but most often she would stay near her parents, and she did as much today as they prepared to enjoy a dinner Azula would find very fulfilling, especially after all her exercise from hours before the sun had set.

"So… according to multiple sources, you were sparring to determine which one of you is prettier?" Song blinked blankly, eyeing both Azula and Sokka with skepticism that was answered with guilty laughter. "I mean, as far as silly reasons to argue, that one's not even the weirdest one you've come up with, I'm sure… but can I ask who won?"

"Uh… technically?" Sokka scratched the back of his neck.

"Neither of us did," Azula smiled sadly as she glanced at Song, sitting beside her. "You see, Sokka won the first round. I asked for an amendment of the conditions of our duel, so that it would be the best out of three, right?"

"And she beat me twice in a row after that," Sokka said, with a sad smile.

"Which resulted in him asking for a 'best out of five', instead…"

"And then the same thing happened over and over and over again?" Song guessed. Their broad grins answered the question, and she had nothing left to do but laugh at their ridiculousness: she elbowed Azula gently now, shaking her head as she returned to her meal. "And you seriously wanted to convince me that you're too old… you two are as wild, energetic, reckless and ridiculous as you ever were, say what you will."

"Yes, sure, I'm not that old just yet… still, Sokka and I a lost cause, always have been," Azula shrugged, smiling at her husband again.

"Heh, I mean, that's true… but that has nothing to do with age," Sokka smirked.

"Certainly not, and I don't think anyone's going to deny as much," Azula smiled at Sokka, sitting across her as he was. He grinned brightly, raising his glass in her direction as a toast before downing his nighttime drink.

Their dinner was lively and enjoyable, as the children took to recounting Sokka and Azula's duels – though Shun also made sure to share the leadup of the entire contest between his parents, especially amused by bringing up that Hotaru's friends were weird. The cheerful atmosphere in the room couldn't have been more distant from the somber feeling clinging to the place on the previous day, when many of the grown-ups had been absent due to highly demanding duties they couldn't neglect. Today, it seemed, they were making up for those failings by far, and the children were perfectly happy as they parted ways with Song and Rui Shi's family that night – their quarters were nearby, though distant enough to provide them and their daughters with the same privacy the other family shared in their own wing.

The process at night wasn't all that different from the mornings: the kids cleaned up, and then their parents ensured to help them change for bed, if need be. Yet Shun and Yuuna seemed determined not to tuck in just yet, and neither of their parents had much trouble guessing why, especially once the two kids dashed out of their rooms to find further strength in numbers before their next demand.

"Oh, boy," Sokka smiled a little, as he and Azula converged again in the corridor. "I'm afraid we both know what's coming, don't we?"

"Here I thought we'd put on quite the silly show this afternoon already," Azula smiled, catching his hand in hers. "I'm afraid we spoil our children rotten, Sokka."

"Well, now, they live a way humbler life than you used to, so I have no idea what you mean by that…" Sokka said, looking away from his wife in a guilty manner. Azula chuckled, shaking her head.

"Humbler in some ways, maybe… but the spoiling they get is precisely the kind I didn't get when I was their age."

"And is that a bad thing?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula shook her head again.

"Instinctively, I'd think not. As long as they know they're loved…" she said, softly. Sokka smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and reeling her in for a quick embrace, and a kiss on the top of her head.

"As long as you know you are, too, our family will thrive for sure," Sokka declared. Azula sighed, dropping her head on his shoulder with a gentle smile… just in time to hear Shun groaning at the sight of them in such a tender embrace. "Well, unless Shun decides to protest all happiness ever, that is…"

"It's story time!" Yuuna exclaimed: she dragged both Hotaru and Rei by the hand towards where her parents stood, and Shun followed, though still as reluctant to be near his parents as ever if they were being too cheesy together.

"I suppose I do owe you at least one story after last night, huh?" Azula said, with a deep sigh. "Well, then… which room?"

"Your room!" Yuuna exclaimed: she let go of Hotaru and Rei, racing towards the larger and grander doorway in the corridor and shoving it open happily.

Both her parents watched her with amusement, unsurprised by her choice: the child loved to hear her parents' most extraordinary and ridiculous stories while sitting with all her siblings at the foot of their bed – meanwhile, both Azula and Sokka would enact their stories together theatrically, playing their roles as well as they could, ever aiming towards amusing the younger members of their family.

Shun cheered and rushed after Yuuna, while Hotaru followed with a gentle smile. She clasped Sokka's hand, guiding him to the room as Rei marched next to Azula, quietly inquiring about which story she intended to share that day, and if perhaps she and Sokka might need a third actor for their performance.

Hours later, the impromptu play reached its end: the children's energetic disposition was well and truly spent and, if just for the time being, all of them rested on their parents' bed. It was far from the first time this had happened, hence, both Azula and Sokka had blankets at their disposal to cover all four of them before sitting together by the small balcony of their suite, enjoying their first quiet moment together since the early afternoon. The night sky offered them a blissful spectacle of stars that blinked brightly, shining upon them as their hectic day came to a close.

"It's bound to be midnight soon… we really should just carry them to their rooms and go to bed, too," Azula sighed, relaxing on Sokka's lap. "I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow… though, unless something's urgent, I do have to answer all that mail. Totally forgot to…"

"No one's going to be upset about not getting instant responses from you, love," Sokka said, kissing her cheek gently. She groaned. "Hey: you can't be unpunctual with letters if no one knows when to expect the answer."

"Says you…"

"Says common sense," he declared, haughtily. Azula snorted, amused.

"Not likely, considering you don't have any," she said. Sokka yelped in horror and his wife laughed at his reaction, hugging him tighter still. "Admittedly, it's one of your fun qualities, so don't try to prove me wrong about that…"

"That's unfair. I have to accept having no common sense now because you find that appealing about me? What vicious pitfalls you set up for me, dear wife…" he smirked, rubbing her back gently with a hand. "Say… want something to drink? I know it wasn't that messed-up a day, but I guess you may have needed some lychee wine after yesterday…"

"It wasn't a messed-up day at all," Azula said, closing her eyes and caressing his chest. "Not that I'll reject the offer anyway, but it was a great day. It outdid all my expectations by far."

"Hmm? Good to know," Sokka grinned deviously, kissing her lips quickly before making to stand up.

He fetched the lychee wine bottle as well as two cups, going about it as quickly and furtively as possible, ensuring not to alert the others of what he was up to. He poured the liquor for Azula first, then his own, and they toasted quietly while smiling at each other.

"To honor a good performance," he said. "Both just now, of course, and earlier with our duels. You keep on getting stronger every day, you know?"

"As do you, hence why neither of us could outdo the other properly today," Azula said, smiling as she sipped the drink slowly. She sighed happily, throwing her head back on the lounge's backrest as she relaxed once more. "Honestly… what you did today defied all my expectations."

"Well, I goofed about a lot, and sure, I did what I could to help you with work, but…" Sokka smiled, shaking his head. "It's hardly like I've never ever done those things before, now, have I?"

"You may have, but you always find ways to surprise me," Azula smiled. "Even with declared sneak attacks that, henceforth, are not sneak attacks whatsoever…"

"That's the way you like them, though. You can't convince me otherwise," Sokka smiled, and his wife chuckled softly.

"It's the way I like you. My silly husband, making every possible choice he can to ensure every single one of us has a reason to smile," Azula said, gazing at him affectionately. "Always keeping me sane… always following up my worst days with the best ones. Doesn't matter how many times you do it… it's like you're always doing everything you can to ensure I'm caught off-guard by overwhelming happiness."

"Ah… she's onto me. Damn it. How do I deflect her accusations now without looking uncool…?" Sokka said, a hand on his chin as he smirked playfully. Azula chuckled, shaking her head as she leaned over towards him.

"If failing to hide that makes you uncool, then fine, we can be uncool fools together," Azula said. "We're well past the point where coolness should be a priority for us, anyhow."

"Heh, true. Besides, going by what Hotaru's friends reacted like, we're probably the coolest parents in the world without even knowing it, huh?" Sokka smiled. Azula chuckled, shaking her head.

"Well, whether we are or aren't… I hope you know I'll return the favor eventually," Azula said. Sokka hummed, puzzled. "You know, what I said earlier…"

"About being caught off-guard by overwhelming happiness?" Sokka smiled. "Heh, sorry to say you can't do that to me, Azula."

"Really, now?" Azula raised her eyebrows. Her husband chuckled, cupping her face and kissing her lips.

"Every single day I get to spend with you is already a day of overwhelming happiness, see?" he said. "Maybe we'll do crazy things, crazier than sparring, if you want us to… but even if we don't, even if we just sit together for hours on end in an empty room, I'd already be so damn happy to be with you that whatever we're up to wouldn't really matter. So… overwhelming happiness is the norm for me with you, love. See?"

"Heh. You're as corny as ever," Azula smiled, pressing her brow to his.

"And you're as bashful about it as ever," Sokka retaliated, with a snicker. "But… I bet you think what I said is some sort of challenge."

"Your claim that I can't catch you off-guard? Oh, yes, it is…"

"It wasn't meant as one… but after I said it, I kind of heard it again in my head and I knew you'd take it that way," Sokka chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

"Therefore, that didn't catch you off-guard, either?" Azula asked, smirking. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head. "Damn you. I'll turn the tables on you eventually when you least expect it."

"So… you're going to scheme to make me happy? That's what you're saying?" Sokka laughed quietly.

"Look who's talking: that's what you did with me all day, Sokka," Azula chuckled, prodding his nose with hers. "Waking me up as you did, being the wonderful father you are, sparring with me, giving me every chance to rest I didn't even want to admit I needed… it was an ordinary day, by all standards, and yet you managed to make it extraordinary just by being who you are."

Sokka smiled, raising an eyebrow with mild amusement: if he meant to respond at all, he failed to do so as Azula pressed her lips to his. His arm tightened around her waist as they lost their way in that maze of kisses they shared until they almost spilled the drinks they had been holding. The realization brought them to laugh together again, brows pressed to each other as they smiled brightly.

"Thank you," Azula said, earnestly. "For calming my restless heart every single time I need it… for being my harbor in every storm. For being the greatest partner anyone could have hoped to find, too…"

"It's almost as though you haven't noticed you do the same for me," Sokka smiled. "But that's okay. I can spend the rest of our days trying to get you to accept that… just as I have to try to get you to accept you're the more beautiful one, of course."

"Is there any chance that I might convince you to accept today's result and not try to compete with each other anymore, beauty-wise?" Azula smiled. Sokka snorted, shaking his head promptly.

"Absurd. Preposterous. Unthinkable," he said, raising his head haughtily and draining the rest of his drink. Azula chuckled, following his example and setting the cup aside on the small tea table before them. "We may be equals in as many regards as you please, but I refuse to accept it in that one. Not a chance."

"Well… if I just focus on the positives, I suppose I'll just be grateful that my husband still finds me so desirable after all this time," Azula laughed. Sokka smiled, pressing another kiss to her lips.

"And he always will," he whispered. "My whole world has become so much bigger ever since I started seeing it by your side… but you know what? I like it as simple and small as it was today, too. If I can continue to live, day by day, doing everything in my power to make sure our family is as happy as can be… then I think my life's true purpose will have been fulfilled."

"That was the purpose, then? Not, I don't know, ending the war, saving the world…?"

"Nah. Building this family is the bigger achievement," Sokka said, grinning deviously. Azula laughed, shaking her head.

"And you still expected to convince me that you have common sense," she said.

"You did say you liked that about me, though…" Sokka chuckled, and Azula nodded.

"Gives me plenty of room to poke fun at you… so of course I do," she said. Sokka chuckled as she pressed her lips to his brow. "I said it already, I'll say it a thousand times: thank you for today, and for every single day you brighten up for me. Which, well, is every single day I get to wake up beside you, and to go to bed with you, so…"

"Which we should get to soon, admittedly," Sokka chuckled, glancing over at their slumbering family. "Though I can't help but dread they'll wake up while we carry them off…"

"They might," Azula smiled, glancing at them as well. "Though you did say once, many years ago, that my bed was so big a whole family would fit in it…"

"Oh? Is that what we're doing tonight?" Sokka smirked. Azula winked at him.

"See? Caught you off-guard with that idea. Told you I could do it," she said, with a soft chuckle. Sokka laughed too, reeling her into his arms one more time for a tender, affectionate kiss…

The mattress certainly was large enough for all six of them to fit in it comfortably, especially as Yuuna and Shun were still quite small. Rei woke up briefly, and she was perplexed to find herself in what appeared to be an impromptu slumber party… but she wound up laughing off the surprising situation as she held Yuuna closely, by the foot of the bed, while Hotaru and Shun nestled closer to the middle, near their parents. They wouldn't be likely to do this often, Azula suspected, no matter if the kids were bound to beg for it to happen again once they woke up, but a lighthearted night of simply enjoying the company of their kids seemed to be the perfect way to wrap up the most unexpected day… a day in which their blissful, tight family had been delightfully caught off-guard numerous times by the brightest happiness.

[xreaderxo]

My Moon

Zuko x reader

Soulmate AU

genre: angst but with a good ending 

warning: death, sickness

summary: Every Fire Nation citizen gets a tattoo on their wrist when they turn sixteen. This tattoo shows the first words your soulmate will say to you. Some people find this person immediately, and spend the rest of their lives together. Some people never get the chance.

_

"Why do you keep that ribbon on your wrist?"

Zuko clenched his fists by his sides, exhaling a breath of fire in frustration. Sozin's Comet was in three days, and this was the fourth time Aang has stopped training to ask a question that had nothing to do with firebending.

"Aang," Zuko said impatiently, "Stop avoiding training."

"But I want to know!" Aang clasped his hands together. "That's where your soulmate's first words are, right? Why are they covered?"

Zuko groaned. "Because I don't have time for a soulmate. I was too focused on finding you, and now I need to focus on defeating my father."

"So you've never looked at it!?" Aang's eyes widened before he lunged forward. "Let me see! Let me see!"

"Wha- Aang!" Zuko yelled, trying to pry the airbender off of him as he stretched his right arm out of his reach. "Get off!"

"I want to know what your words are!"

"Why are you interested in my love life!?"

"Because I would kill to have what you have and you don't appreciate it!"

"Don't appreciate what?" Sokka asked, popping a grape into his mouth as he walked up to the hill where the two were sparring.

"Sokka!" Aang shouted. "Take Zuko's ribbon off!"

"Ooh, I love annoying Zuko!" Sokka said gleefully, grabbing Zuko's wrist and ripping the black fabric off. "Uh, why am I annoying Zuko?"

"Because Zuko's never looked at his soulmate tattoo!" Aang snatched a frozen Zuko's wrist and read it. "I want the last thing I see to be the moon," he read.

"Poetic." Sokka nodded approvingly. "I like them already, they like staring at my first girlfriend!"

Zuko blinked. "Wait, hold on- your first girlfriend actually turned into the moon? Like literally?"

That was a year ago. Zuko was Fire Lord now. Currently, he was headed to a secluded cliff he had found the day before to meditate. There was a sickness going around, and although it wasn't contagious, Iroh hadn't wanted him to be in a populated area. So, he was going to be alone away from other people.

Or so he thought.

He halted as he entered the clearing to the cliff. There was a person- you -lying down in the grass, staring at the moon. Remembering his tattoo, a spark of hope lit in his chest. He was Fire Lord. The war was over. It would be safe to fall in love. Maybe this was his soul mate.

His hope quickly turned to dread as he got closer. They had the sickness. Judging from their skin and frailty, they probably didn't even have an hour left.

Still, even if they aren't his soulmate, Zuko wasn't about to let anybody die alone.

"Uh, it's pretty cold out," he said as he got closer, and visibly winced. It wasn't cold. It was the middle of summer in the Fire Nation.

You shrugged, not having the strength to sit up to see who your soulmate was.. "I want the last thing I see to be the moon."

Zuko's breath hitched. "No," he whispered.

You chuckled bitterly. "We finally meet, and I'll be dead by morning. Sounds about right." you paused. "You can go, if you want. I don't want you to have to see this."

"I'm not letting my soulmate die alone," Zuko said determinedly, his legs shaking, and laid down beside you. You looked at him, and raised your eyebrows in shock as you recognized him.

"Well, look at that! If I hadn't gotten this cough, I would've been the queen!" you joked. "Nice to meet you, Fire Lord. I'm Y/N."

Y/N. It was the most beautiful word Zuko had ever heard.

"Just call me Zuko," he replied, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. You two laid there for a few minutes, drinking in each other's appearances. You knew he was handsome, as you'd seen his face plastered all over the Fire Nation for years. First listed as a traitor and most recently, Fire Lord. He was even more handsome up close. His amber eyes had flecks of fire orange in them. And his scar? You thought that it was the most handsome part of all. It showed he'd been through something terrible, and overcame it.

Zuko couldn't believe someone so beautiful could exist. You were gorgeous. Stunning. Even in your frail state, your complexion blemished from the sickness, your cheekbones jutting out sharply, Zuko had never seen anything so divine.

"Y/N?" he whispered, his eyes locked with yours.

"Yes, Zuko?"

He gulped, bringing his other hand to cup your cheek and resting his forehead on yours. "Tell me everything about you."

And so you did.

You told him your childhood. You told him about the first time you broke a bone. You told him how you felt when your father died. You told him that your favorite food is Roast Duck. You told him that you always planned on naming your daughter Izumi. You told him how you donated everything you owned to the Ursa Medical Center that Zuko had recently set up. You told him how excited you were whenever you heard that the Avatar had returned, because finally there would be peace.

"I was so happy that it was you who became Fire Lord and not somebody else." You had your head on his chest at this point, his legs tangled with yours.

"Why?" Zuko's fingers were running through your sweat-soaked hair, the wetness not registering.

"Because," you hummed, "You betrayed the Fire Nation to help the Avatar. You were willing to leave everything you'd ever known to bring peace." you paused, tilting your chin so you could look at him. "Plus, you're pretty cute, too."

Zuko blushed as the corners of his mouth turned upwards. "You think I'm cute? Have you seen yourself?"

You chuckled weakly. "Yeah, I'm a real dime piece right now." Zuko's hand stilled. He leaned up on one elbow so he could look down on you.

"Y/N," he said seriously, "You are incandescently beautiful. You are oh so pulchritudinous. You are the most stunning of all of God's creations."

You smiled at him. If your body could produce enough water for it, tears would be running down your face. "Thank you," you whispered. As Zuko laid back down, you spoke again. "Now, tell me everything about you."

So he did. He told you about his mother. He told you about being banished. He told you how it was trying to capture the Avatar. He told you about his time in Ba Sing Se. He told you about his uncle. He told you about being friends with the Avatar, and joining their group. He told you what it was like to face Azula. He told you about how Aang and Sokka had ripped off the ribbon, which you both shared a laugh at.

He sighed. "I wish we had more time," he choked out. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know I just met you, but I can't imagine living without you."

"Well, that's the thing about soulmates," you replied, running your hand through his hair and bringing his head down to yours until your lips were centimetres apart. "We'll never truly be apart."

And then Zuko was kissing you. He was kissing your lips and your nose and your cheeks and your forehead and your eyebrows and back to your lips. He was kissing you as though he thought that if he kissed you enough, he could save you. He was kissing you as if it would be the last kiss you would ever share, which was likely.

You were the one to break the kiss, as you were losing breath. You could feel it coming, and Zuko could, too. "I- I don't know what to do," he whimpered, holding you closer. "We've only known each other for an hour. We should be able to have a life together, to grow old together. It isn't fair!"

"Shh, Zuko," you hummed into the hollow of his neck. "We'll see each other again, my love. And whenever you miss me, just look at the moon. This," you pulled back and gestured to the moon above, "Is our moon. Forever." You laid your head back on his chest, and your voice was barely above a whisper when you next spoke. "Can you sing me to sleep?"

Zuko's heart was breaking, but he couldn't say no. "Of course," he hiccuped, choking back a sob, before he began singing a song his mother used to sing him.

“Deep in the meadow, under the willow A bed of grass, a soft green pillow Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes And when again they open, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, here it's warm Here the daisies guard you from every harm Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray, Forget your woes and let your troubles lay And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

Here it's safe, here it's warm Here the daisies guard you from every harm Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you.”

As he finished the song, his heart stopped. You weren't breathing. Agony, the worst pain he’d ever felt, ripped through his chest. An inhuman scream erupted from his throat as he pulled your body into him, his tears falling. He'd just met you, and yet you had become his world. And you were gone.

He stayed there the entire night until Iroh found him the next morning, still clutching your ice-cold corpse. Iroh's heart snapped, immediately knowing what must have happened. It took hours to pry Zuko away from you. He spent the next week crying into Iroh's shoulder. "I don't think she heard me tell her I love her, Uncle," he sputtered before another sob wracked his shoulders.

"She knew," Iroh assured him. "I promise. She knew."

He arranged a funeral for you that was fit for a Fire Queen, and had you buried on the cliff where you had met.

_

Fire Lord Zuko's reign lasted sixty-seven years. After much pressure from his advisors about an heir, he did end up taking a wife. Her name was Mikoto, from a noble Fire Nation family. Her soulmate had died as well, so it was a perfect fit. They both knew they could never love another, but they were best friends.

They had a daughter, who Zuko named Izumi. He was still alive whenever she took over as Fire Lord, and he'd never been more proud of anything or anyone.

And yet, he still missed you. He thought about you every day, and every night he would sit and stare at the moon. Sometimes he would cry, thinking about what could have been. Other times he would be happy, telling you about Izumi's accomplishments. He would always sleep with the window open, so that the last thing he saw before he went to sleep was your moon.

He died at the age of one hundred in his sleep, his face still turned towards the moon.

_

Zuko's eyes opened to find himself in the Spirit World face to face with Iroh himself.

"Uncle!" he cried, wrapping him into a hug.

"Hello, Zuko!" Iroh said with a smile. "It's nice to see you again!"

"Hey Sifu Hotman, you better give me a hug, too!" Zuko whirled around to see Aang, and his smile widened as he jumped into the Avatar's arms. Stepping back, Zuko noticed that Aang was a lot older than he was.

"Why am I seventeen again?" he asked.

"For the same reason that I am twenty-five," Iroh explained, "The age I was when my son was born. Here, you remain the age you were when you were at your happiest."

"I was happiest when I was twenty-one, when Katara and I got married," Aang explained. "You're seventeen because that's how old you were when you met them."

Zuko froze as he heard footsteps behind him, before whirling around.

"Hello, My Love," you said. You were healthy and in a beautiful red gown. Zuko's breath hitched, his eyes filling with tears. He ran forward to envelop you in a hug.

"I've missed you, too," you chuckled as he peppered your face with kisses. The two of you stared at one another, soaking in each other's appearances yet again. He rested his forehead against yours.

"We can finally spend forever together," he said in what was meant to be a whisper, but he was so elated that it came out as a yell.

"I can't wait," you replied in the same tone.

"I love you." The words Zuko had been wanting to tell you finally left his lips.

"I know," you answered, cupping his cheeks with your hands. "I love you, too."

As the two of you shared another kiss, the full moon above seemed to shine a little brighter.

[angelthebedsheet]

Can you do a zuko x male reader or gender neutral. It could be about the reader witnessing the agni Kai and watching zuko get banished. The reader tries to go with zuko but zuko doesn’t want the reader to get hurt. Years later they meet at the boiling rock. You can take it from there. I love your writings and I’ll keep supporting you 💕

a/n: oooooh! thank you anonnie!! i appreciate your requests!!!

lets get it!

okay so you and zuko were TURTLEDUCK BUDDIES

attached to the hip basically

azula HATED how close you two were bc hello she’s right here???

i mean you and zuko trained together

fed ducks together

best buds

you knew you liked zuko alot but you didn’t understand?

like you started to get flustered around him

same with zuko

and azula was PLOTTING NOW

she doing a think rn with one of her BRILLIANT ideas 😐

“oh n/n! zuzu! come play a game with us!”

zuko’s flight or fight reflexes are triggered and he’s ready to DIP

but you r unfortunately intrigued

“oh okay ‘zula! cmon zu!”

cue azula’s smug lil grin

she puts an apple on your head and makes you stand in front of the fountain

you’re like ???? is this the game?

azula’s like it is n/n it’ll be fine

it was NOT fine

she damn near burnt you to a crisp if it wasnt for zuko tackling you into the fountain

now azula, ty lee and mai are LAUGHIN

but we all know mai lwk a lil jelly

you and zuko are embarrassed as fuck

you both are soaked and he’s hovering over you

mr zuzu looking real pretty

he just turns red and pulls you up before running away

zuko is like ???? boys are cute especially this one???

you two still remained close after this incident

two lil gays boys who are trying to not crush on e/o

(im sorry the only thing i can think about when i think of zuko is his gay ass lil scream in the prototype pilot episode)

(nigga said wwAHHH)

anyways

azula teased you about zuko speaking out against a general and their dad is angry and you’re like oh shit

suddenly you arent allowed to visit zuko anymore

and you’re like wtf no no let me in

the guards said no

you’re so paranoid too

is he okay?

what fully happened?

soon the agni kai is announced to happen

and you are seated next to iroh and azula

you’re clutching onto your pants as you watch zuko walk into the arena

you really dont want him to get hurt

your eyes widened as you watched zuko’s father walk into the arena and your heart drops

zuko is clearly surprised and frightened

tears are rolling down your cheeks bc you are so so so scared for him

iroh covers your eyes as he looks away when zuko got burned and you could feel your heart break as you listened to his cries of pain

you cried out as iroh pulled you into a hug

you and iroh immediately rushed to the infirmary to get to zuko

you push past those guards and nurses bc you are on a MISSION

aint nobody getting in your way like this bc you will STOMP they asses out

you are not leaving his side

“z-zu are you okay? can you hear me?”

“m-m/n? where are you? i cant see”

zuko is starting to panic due to the fact his left eye is patched close

you hold his hand “i’m right here zu. shh im here”

he’s so overwhelmed too poor baby

“u-uncle? w-where is he?”

“right here zuko.”

you help him sit up and he grabs a mirror immediately

he frowns at his reflection

“you’re still handsome zuko.” you said

iroh pretended to not see that blush that sat on zuko’s cheeks

“i-i’ve been banished, m/n.”

“what?”

“i’m banished from here. the only way i can come back is if i capture the avatar.”

“but he’s been gone for years zuko! let me come with you”

“no! it’ll be too dangerous”

“how? we trained together! grew up together? how is it too dangerous?”

“no m/n! i dont want to lose you!”

“you wont lose me zuko.”

“you dont know that. you arent coming with me.”

you and him went back and forth

after he shaved his hair and was about to board his boat you pulled him away

then you confessed right then and there

i mean you didnt know when you’ll see him again

“i like you zuko. more than a friend”

“what?”

“i like you.”

“are you for real? this isnt a joke right? like azula didn’t put you up to this?”

“no she didnt.”

“oh thank the spirits. i like you too.”

and yall have this lil awkward ass kiss

just a short lil peck?

i mean yall are 12/13 and two boys you think they gonna go all out tonguing niggas? lmao

you two hug before iroh calls him over

“i’ll wait for you zuko”

“i’ll try my best.”

and he’s gone

over the years zuko was gone he was so sad

“if i capture the avatar i can come back to the fire nation and m/n”

but clearly the whole LeMmE cAtCh tHe AvAtAr thing was dropped when he got that glow up

(neya said 🦋🦋🦋🦋 whenever they look at zuko cmon NOW.)

now they’re otw to boiling rock

“my first girlfriend turned into the moon.”

“that’s rough buddy.”

and sokka’s like you ever dated someone before?

zuko’s like..... two people?

“that knife throwing girl?”

“her and m/n. though we never got to date bc at the time i was literally banished. i miss him alot though.”

bi king ✨

“what if he’s at the boiling rock?”

“then i’ll find him.”

sokka’s like yes my man get your MANS

“okay so we look for my dad, suki and your husband”

“he’s not my husband sokka.”

“..... my dad, suki and your husband”

“omfg shut your trap.”

these pair of himbos finally get inside and are on a MISSION

sokka’s like heheheeh suki time

KAJDJAJDJJSKDJF

zuko’s hopeful that you’re here or at least alive

after sokka and suki have their lil reunion zuko wanders off and asks around

“do you have a prisoner by the name of m/n?”

“why do you ask, newbie?”

“uhhh the warden sent me to him.”

“oh. there.” pointing to a door

zuko has to CONTAIN the excitement and nods before speed walking off

he throws open that door so quickly

you on the other hand is ready to rumble “i TOLD YOU I DONT FUCKING HAVE IT”

zuko just closes the door behind him and takes off his helmet

you’re like hol up wait wait zuko????

and he nods with a big ol grin on his face

you just hug him so fucking tight

maybe there were some tears shed

you pick him up and twirl him around

zuko’s like holy SHIT

and you pull back to just look at him

“you’re still as handsome as i remember you, zu.”

“so are you, n/n...”

he’s just so awestruck

the person he has been looking forward to seeing for 3/4 years is right infront of him

yall just kiss

sokka now gotta pull a zuko and bang on that door

“yALL DOING THINGS IN THERE??? HURRY UP”

“shut UP sokka”

zuko puts his helmet back on and grabs your hand

yall finally dip and are otw tf outta there

“oh shit zuko he’s cute”

“back off”

“im happy with suki relax sir”

zuko is clingy and was hugging you the whole time

not that you minded bc you missed him dearly

when yall got back and he introduces you

the group minus toph is like “ZUKO’S GAY????”

toph is like “I FUCKING CALLED IT”

alls well

except for the fact zuko wouldnt let you go anywhere by yourself

[ajstyyling]

For the ATLA ships, could you do Sokkla with "I could never get bored of you"?

Thanks for the ask @disgruntled-welshgirl! I love sokkla a lot, but this is actually the first time I've written something for them! Hope you enjoy!

Send me an ATLA ship and a prompt!

If anyone asked, Sokka couldn’t tell them when it started.

Maybe it was the day Azula first joined Zuko’s council, showing up to the meeting wearing that flowy skirt and midriff baring halter top. He didn’t remember a single topic from that meeting, but he did remember the way beads of sweat ran slowly down Azula’s neck, beneath her top, and across her toned core.

Maybe it was all the arguments they had—both during council meetings, and long after they had ended.

Maybe it was when Azula asked him to spar with her—to prove that he could do more than just run his mouth.

Maybe it was when they drunkenly danced at Zuko’s wedding, both refusing to make eye contact.

Maybe it was when Azula shoved him against the wall outside of the meeting chamber and frantically pressed her lips against his.

Maybe it was when she broke their kiss and demanded that he take her back to his room—a request he granted with a delirious joy.

Maybe it was when she stopped leaving his room before the morning—citing how much better she slept after being thoroughly exhausted by Sokka.

Maybe it was when she let him hold her while she had nightmares.

He looked down at the small princess sleeping soundly beside him. He smiled, his eyes tracing the pattern of his teeth marks against her ivory skin. He knew his own skin looked very similar with scratches, bites, and bruises that marked him as Azula’s.

She stirred beneath his gaze, rolling on her side and letting her long hair splay on the pillow behind her.

Sokka couldn’t help himself when he leaned forward, running a hand softly through her hair and lightly kissing her forehead.

“What time is it, you big oaf?” Azula asked, her voice raspy with sleep.

“Still the middle of the night,” Sokka said quietly. “And I think you meant ridiculously handsome and charming oaf.”

Azula sighed, snuggling in closer to him. Her breath tickled against his chest as she spoke. “Yes, yes. My big, ridiculously handsome, charming oaf.”

“Sorry for waking you, Princess,” Sokka whispered against her hair.

“What’s keeping you up?” she asked, concern apparent in her voice.

“I just like looking at you.”

She didn’t respond with words— she rarely did. Instead, she responded by lightly kissing his chest and she followed her kisses with bites that made heat from her body course through his body and coil below his stomach, despite the warmth, he couldn’t suppress a shiver.

Azula pulled back, replacing her mouth with her hand which lightly traced patterns against his skin, starting with his chest and dropping down until the hand rested against his toned core.

“One day,” she said with a resigned sigh, “you’re going to get bored of looking at me.”

The words almost shattered Sokka’s heart. How could anyone grow bored of looking at her?

“I could never get bored of you,” he said fiercely.

He felt her tense between his arms. This was somewhat unprecedented for them—semi-openly talking about feelings. He brought one of his hands to cup her chin, tilting her head until her eyes met his.

“My mother got so sick of looking at me she ran away and started a new family.”

He leaned forward placing the softest kiss against her lips. Pulling back, he said, “Your mother made a mistake. You are beautiful and strong. Anyone who would get bored of you is an idiot.”

“Maybe you’re the idiot for lo—liking me.”

“Then I’ll be your idiot, princess.”

Azula blinked rapidly, tears tugging at the corners of her eyes. Sokka took her face between his hands, gently wiping the tears before he gave her another kiss.

“Promise me,” Azula said.

“Promise you what?”

“Promise me you’ll be my idiot and won’t grow bored of me?”

“I’ll be your idiot for as long as you’ll have me. And I won’t get bored of you. I promise.”

Sokka punctuated each word with a light kiss and by the time he was done, Azula was giggling beneath his lips.

They were silent for a few moments before Azula spoke. “I want to do so many unspeakable things to you right now, but you woke me from my beauty sleep. So, my handsome, charming idiot, you’ll have to wait until the morning.”

“I would wait for years to let you do unspeakable things to me,” Sokka said with a smirk, before he settled in against her once more.

The last thought Sokka had, before they fell asleep cuddling beneath the full moon, was that he didn’t know when it happened, but he was in love with Azula. And he would wait as long as she needed to tell her so.

[theavatarneedstochill]

Avatar characters ranked by whether or not I’d want them as a best friend.

Aang: pretty clingy, but that’s because he woke up from a good nap and everyone was dead. Best boy. Not the kinda friend I could rant to cause he’d say something about forgiveness. I don’t WANT to forgive just let me be PETTY. 8/10.

Zuko: dramatic af. Edgelord even after his redemption. Would take a bolt of lightning for you but you literally wouldn’t know he liked you before that cause he keeps everything bottled up. Great character but can’t take a joke to save his life. Couldn’t rant to him either cause he’d probably suggest murder or something. Good for warm hugs though. 6/10

Katara: she’s kind, brave, open hearted, and a badass. Overbearing and motherly but I can be too so I won’t hold that against her. Finally someone I can rant to cause she’d let me be petty without taking it to far. 9/10

Sokka: Smart, funny, handsome, sarcastic, focused? I would and still will risk it all for this man. Perfect in every conceivable way. 10/10

Azula: So this is kinda funny cause she’s the character I relate to the most but we don’t have time to unpack all of that. Do we have a lot in common? Yes. Would we get along? Honestly she’d probably try to kill me on sight so no. 2/10

Toph Beifong: 1000/10

Ty Lee: Smarter than she seems. Loyal to Mai. The most emotionally intelligent out of all the fire nation kids for sure. 5/10

Iroh: I want him to be my uncle not my friend. Iroh wouldn’t go scamming with me but he would make me tea after the fact and talk me into giving the money back. 4/10 friend but 10/10 mentor.

Appa: giant fluffy monster YES! Would get tired of all the hair and slobber after a while. 7/10

Momo: he is a bastard little monkey and I would throw hands. 2/10

Mai: emotionally distant best friend would make me very upset. But she would try to kill me on sight so 3/10

Suki: Could kick my ass and I’d probably thank her. Want to learn how to fight from her. A warrior AND a girl thank you very much. 7/10

[leossmoonn]

chemistry part thirteen

part twelve | part fourteen | masterlist

zuko x fem!reader

avatar: the last airbender

includes - you, zuko, suki, katara, toph, sokka, and aang

special appearances by - iroh, azula, and appa

warnings - mild language , makeout scene

you put your phone in your purse, getting up to go to the bathroom. you washed your hands and looked at your makeup and outfit for the 100th time.

your makeup was pretty minimal. well, it looked minimal. you did a very natural look with winged eyeliner and a red lip. since it was cold and zuko had told you to dress warm, you had wrapped up in warm, but cute clothes.

you had put on solid black jeans, a black belt, a red turtleneck sweater, a red scarf, and a coat. you had paired the outfit with black, one-inch heeled boots and curled hair. you were wearing a gold necklace that katara had given you a long time ago, and the charm bracelet that zuko had given you yesterday.

you hoped he liked your outfit. you’d never been on a real date before that didn’t consist of friends being with you. you were nervous, to say the least.

a knock sounded at the door, making your heart race and palms sweat.

“time to shine,” you muttered to yourself as you walked to the door.

you swung the door open, smiling once you met zuko’s smiling face. you took a look over his own outfit.

he was wearing jeans, a dark-blue sweater, a black coat, and black boots. you noticed silver rings on every other finger on his hands, and a silver chain around his neck. they made him ten times more attractive. his hair was fluffy and looked soft, going down past his eyes, covering up most of his scar.

“you look beautiful,” were the first words he spoke to you.

a light blush arised on the tip of your ears and cheekbones. you put your head down, smiling shyly. “thank you. you look really handsome.”

zuko smiled brightly at you, thinking how cute you were when you got shy. “thank you. are you ready to go?” he asked, holding out his hand for you to take.

you looked up at him, a big smile sitting in your red lip. “yep,” you said and took his hand.

goosebumps ran up your arm at the skin contact. you felt all warm and tingly. a feeling you only felt when you were with him.

you closed the door, locking it and heading out to his car. you got in the passenger’s seat, sighing happily as you and zuko made eye contact once again. you couldn’t help but get lost in his ember eyes, they were so pretty.

“so, where are you going?” you asked.

“um, somewhere not warm,” zuko answered, starting the car.

“hm, gonna keep it a secret from me? this isn’t a good way to start a relationship,” you joked.

zuko chuckled, “i think you’ll like it.”

“me, too,” you smiled.

as he drove, you two talked about the rest of your plans for christmas break. you were planning on heading back up to see your parents for the rest of the break, and he was planning on having a new year’s party with his family. he had invited you, to which you had happily accepted.

“you sure it won’t interfere with your family plans?” zuko asked.

“nope. i usually come back here a day before new year’s eve because the girls and i also plan a party,” you reassured him.

“ah, i see. well, good. are you girls still planning a party?” zuko asked.

“hm, probably not. and if they do, they’ll just have to have to without me because i’ll be at a much cooler party,” you chuckled.

“yes, you will,” zuko smiled.

you hummed, your hand making its way to his subconsciously. his hand was on the gear shift, per usual. you set your hand on his, liking the warmth that he provided.

zuko smiled at your gesture, happy that you two have grown close and were comfortable enough with each other to do those types of things. he loved feeling your skin on his. whether it was with hand-holding, cuddling, or kissing - which you two hadn’t done yet, but he had thought about it many times.

he drove for another 10 minutes, finally arriving at the date place.

“you brought me to a dark parking lot?” you chuckled.

zuko sighed, “yeah, i know i look sketchy right now, but i promise you’re safe.”

you smiled, “i know, don’t worry. i feel most safe with you, anyways.”

those words made zuko’s heart flutter. every guy liked hearing that they made a girl feel safe, especially when it was a girl who the guy had been crushing on hard for almost 3 months, which was you for him.

“i’m glad,” zuko said and got out of the car. you followed in his suit, seeing him go to the trunk of his car. he pulled out a small picnic basket.

“a picnic in december?” you asked.

zuko shrugged sheepishly, “aang said this was a cute idea. plus, we aren’t staying here.”

“alright. well, lead the way,” you smiled.

he nodded and slid his hand into yours, intertwining your fingers. you walked close to him, puting your head on his shoulder. you were grateful he radiated heat, otherwise you would be freezing.

you two stopped in front of a bunch of trees. zuko turned to you.

“close your eyes for me, okay?” he asked.

you nodded shutting your eyes tight. zuko put his arms around you, your body stiffening from his touch, but almost immediately relaxing. zuko walked you forward slowly. you were nervous, but extremely excited. you couldn’t wait for what zuko had planned.

“alright, open your eyes,” zuko said softly.

you opened your eyes slowly, the cold air hitting them immediately. your jaw fell as you saw a beautiful scene in front of you.

zuko had taken you to a light show. it was in a part of the city where they would put up all types of christmas lights in the shape of a tree, abominable snowman, snow, stars, snowmen, children ice skating, etc. you remembered your parents would take you here when you were a little girl and drive around so you could see the lights. it was one of the most fondest memories you had of your childhood, and now, you were spending it with the greatest guy on earth.

“do you like it?” zuko asked.

you looked at him, smiling. “i love it. how did you know about this place?”

“aang told me you loved this place as a kid, and that you hadn’t been to it in a while. i thought it would be nice to take you here for our first date,” zuko said.

“i love it, thank you. this is such a cute date idea. you are perfect,” you said.

“thank you. let’s sit at the gazebo,” zuko said, pointing to the building across from you. you nodded excitedly, taking his hand in yours and running to it.

once you got to the gazebo, zuko set out the picnic blanket that he folded into the basket. he got the food he prepared, too. he had made noodles, egg tarts, jasmine tea, moon cakes, and roasted turtleduck.

“hm, smells so good. you made all this?” you asked, sitting down.

“yep,” zuko smiled proudly.

“wow, he’s romantic and cooks. what more can a girl want?” you teased

“i know,” zuko chuckled. “my mom and grandpa taught me how to cook.”

“that’s really cool. i can’t cook for shit. i swear, i always end up burning everything,” you laughed, cutting yourself a peice of the duck.

“i can teach you,” zuko suggested.

your mind immediately went to a cute, very romantic date where he would teach you two how to cook, then after when you got to desert, you two would go back into your bedroom.

“that sounds very fun,” you smiled.

“i think so, too,” zuko smiled, taking a sip of tea.

you two talked while eating. after you finished, zuko and you had decded to lay down and admire the lights.

you had cuddled into zuko’s side, his arm around you, holding you close. your head was on his chest, tucked under his chin. your legs were intertwined with his, too. you sighed contently, you couldn’t remember a time where you had felt this happy.

zuko looked down at you with a love-filled look. he pulled you to him impossibly closer. he couldn’t believe you were with him in this moment. after mai, he wasn’t sure he would really like or trust anyone else. but you made it easy. you were kind, funny, so sweet and smart. you didn’t try to act tough like mai, and you definitely were not afraid of showing your feelings. you also had good intentions. you were the perfect girl for him.

“thank you for taking me out tonight. i’ve had lots of fun,” you said, sitting up and looking into his eyes.

“me, too. i’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while,” zuko said.

“well, i’m glad it happened when it did,” you smiled.

“me, too,” zuko said.

you looked at his face, not being able to stop yourself from staring down at his lips. he noticed this and put his hand up to your cheek, running his thumb slowly along your skin. his rings felt cold, but good against your face. his eyes traveled down to your lips as well, going back up to your eyes for permission. you looked back up to his eyes, leaning forward.

you weren’t sure what was happening. well, you did, but your heart was racing a mile a minute. the way his thumb was rubbing against your skin had your stomach knot up. the fact that there was barely any space between you and him made your mind a little foggy, and made you figet with your thighs.

“i’ve never kissed anyone before,” you said breathlessly.

“just go with your instinct,” zuko said, his other hand finding your waist, squeezing reassuringly.

you nodded, leaning in more. before you knew it, you two were kissing. you two took it slow, savoring the feeling. his lips were soft and very good at kissing. the way they moved with your’s, the fact that his lips fit perfectly with your’s, put butterflies in your stomach. you couldn’t think of another perfect moment.

for someone who hadn’t kissed anyone before, zuko thought you were amazing. your lips moved with his expertly, making him imagine fireworks shooting off in his brain. his hand on your waist pulled you impossibly closer, wanting to feel you right against him. you took the hint and swung your leg around his waist, climbing on top of him without breaking the kiss. your hands wrapped themsleves in his hair, pulling slightly.

zuko ran his tongue on your bottom lip. you opened your mouth almost immediately, taking in a shallow breath of air. your tongues clashed, you quietly moaning in response. zuko’s grip on your waist got tighter as you two fought for dominance while kissing.

it wasn’t too long before you had to pull away for hair. once you two did, big smiles rested on your faces. zuko admired the way you looked in the dim light. you hair was slightly messy from laying down and running your fingers through it. your cheeks were flushed and lips wet and a little swollen from kissing him. your lipstick was also smudged slightly.

“that was um... amazing,” you panted.

zuko took a deep breath, his going up to your hands. he intertwined each of your fingers together.

“wanna do it again?” he asked.

you giggled and leaned down, “definitely.”

————

note - hope you guys read and enjoy this as new parts are added! if you wanna be on the taglist, message me and/or reply to this post :))

taglist - @sorrythatspussynal @theblueslytherin @charlenasaxen @akiris @the-paintedlady @thatarthistorynerd @freckled-and-daydreaming @fi-chanwrites