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seyaryminamoto · 2 years ago

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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.

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