Gradual Changes

Living Arrangements

Living Arrangements

Sokka's eyes opened to bleary darkness. Rolling over in his bed he caught sight of the digital clock resting on Suki's nightstand. It was barely six in the morning. Double checking to make sure Suki was sound asleep, he crept out of bed and grabbed the pair of jeans he had left on the floor the night before.

"I need a shower," he whispered into the darkness.

Doing his absolute best not to make a sound, Sokka clumsily made his way out of the room and silently closed the door behind him. The trip down the hall was no more graceful as he bumped into one of Suki's decorative stands and nearly knocked the photo resting on it to the floor. When he finally reached the bathroom door, he barely even noticed the light that was shining from beneath it. The first thing he noticed upon opening the door was long, raven dark hair before the young woman turned to face him. There Azula stood with nothing but a small bath towel wrapped around her soft pale skin. She raised an eyebrow to him as his jaw fell open and he quickly threw a hand over his own eyes.

"You know, Sokka, if you'd just learn to knock you could save yourself these embarrassing moments," she said calmly. "I'm done if you need the shower."

Without another word, Azula walked past him into the hallway with just the bath towel to cover her. Sokka stood completely dumbfounded by what had just happened. What was Azula doing in his house? Why was she using his shower? Why was she naked? The answers to his questions slowly came to mind.

One Week Earlier

Sokka sat in his chair in class waiting for his professor to come and get things started. The man was usually running late, but had a sharp mind so it did not bother Sokka too much to have to wait. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a wooden boomerang and began to flip it over and over in his hands. As the other students began filing into the classroom and find seats, Sokka watched Azula enter and offered her the seat next to him. When she gave him that strange look (like she always did) and walked to the back of the classroom (also like she always did) he simply shrugged it off.

"Okay, everyone, take your seats," the professor said as he entered. Sokka could not help but notice the smell of smoke on him as he took his place at the head of the class. He had probably gotten caught up in another experiment. "I would like to announce that we are going to be beginning our semester project today. Each of you will be responsible for producing an invention or improvement by the end of the semester for the bulk of your final grade in this course. There are no exclusions on what you may work on with the exception of the fact that it has to be legal. I will not be having a repeat of what happened last year."

The professor raised his hand to the class and pulled off his three prosthetic fingers for effect. Sokka knew that he had done that himself a number of years ago with some strange gadget of his, but the other students shuddered when they saw it.

"You may also work with partners if you wish. No more than groups of three please. That's all I have for you today."

With that, the professor left. Sokka immediately jumped up from his seat and placed a hand over his eyes as he searched the classroom. Once he spotted Azula in the far back corner lifting her bag he pointed straight at her with his boomerang uttering an odd sound, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Azula gave him that familiar strange look before leaving the class. Sokka chased after her as quickly as his legs would carry him. He finally caught up with her just as she was leaving the building.

"Azula, wait up!" he called.

"Why?" she asked, her pace not changing.

"Wanna be my partner?"