The Forgotten Princess (SokkaxOC)

ii. IX

A weird slapping noise filled the air, and Azami looked over in mild disgust to see Sokka smacking his lips together. "We're drinking your bending water? You used this on the swamp guy!"

"It does taste pretty swampy," Toph admitted.

Katara seemed more downcast than before as she tucked the small pouch away again. "I'm sorry, but it's all we have."

"Not anymore!" Sokka happily exclaimed as he raced off. Azami followed his movements, her eyes widening as she saw- oh no. Spirits, no. She couldn't handle this. Not now.

Sokka was drinking cactus juice.

The firebender raced over as fast as she could and slapped the cactus out of his hands, but it was far too late - he'd already drunk some of it, and so had Momo. "Sokka, you idiot!" Azami cried. "We don't have time for this! Stay awake, keep your eyes focused on me-"

"What are you talking about?" he wondered. "It's... very, thirst-quenching..." Sadly, Azami had to watch in horror as his pupils dilated massively, his movements and words instantly becoming more slurred. "Drink cactus juice. It'll quench ya. Nothing's quenchier, it's the quenchiest!"

Yep. They were officially dead.

"Alright mister," Azami grumbled as she yanked him away from the remaining cactus plant. "I think you've had enough of that for this year."

Katara looked like she wanted to ask what was happening, but Azami sent out her best 'don't ask' look, and the waterbender seemed to get the message, quickly dumping the remaining cactus juice into the sand.

"Hey, princess," Sokka muttered, his words slurring even more. "Why'd you light Toph on fire?"

Azami groaned, grabbing one of Sokka's wrists firmly as she started dragging him after Katara. "Toph's not on fire, dummy."

Much to her dismay, since Momo had drunk some cactus juice as well, the lemur started flying in circles above their heads at an increasing rate until he faceplanted into the sand.

"Can I have some of that cactus?" Toph wondered.

Before Azami could explain how terrible an idea that was, she yelped in surprise as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind, followed by someone's chin resting on top of her head. "You're so warm, princess," Sokka breathed out. "And snuggly."

"Let go of me!" she protested, shoving his arms off of her. He pouted, and she just rolled his eyes at his antics - this was going to be a very long day. Shaking her head slightly, she reluctantly grabbed Sokka by the wrist and dragged him after Katara and Toph, who had already set out again.

Unfortunately, though, just because they were moving didn't mean that Sokka was back to normal - or, at least, whatever the hell he usually was, since it certainly wasn't normal. "Did you fall from the sky?" he muttered, staring at Azami as they walked. "Cause you look like an angel."

Very, very, long day.

Katara P.o.V.

Leading the others through the desert had been hard enough before, but the past hour had served to prove that things could always get worse. Whereas before she and Azami had to deal with Sokka and Toph's bickering, now the earthbender was often wandering slightly since she couldn't see where she was going, and Azami was having to put up with the wonderous results of mixing Sokka and cactus juice. Plus, the firebender was also clearly suffering from having turned down any water, but she didn't force the issue.

There were a lot of experiences on this trip that Katara would do again in a heartbeat - this certainly wasn't one of them.

Out of nowhere, she heard a distant boom sound, and turned just in time to be hit with a blast of sand in the face. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of a massive cloud of sand rising in the distance. "What is that?"