The Forgotten Princess (SokkaxOC)

ii. XI

A/N; Okay almost had to rewrite this entire chapter from the ground up, thank GOD I managed to save most of the original and reuse it (this is another 7k word chapter I legit would've cried if I had to start over) - hence the longer wait.

But, like I've been saying for a while now - finally in Ba Sing Se, and I'm so hyped for the rest of book two :P

Azami P.o.V.

Well, that was... gross.

Even after Katara had given them all a thorough bath (with clothes on, mind), followed by Aang blowdrying them with his bending, Azami could still feel little bits of wall sludge stuck in her hair. Lesson learned - just because your friends jump in a slurry pipe doesn't mean you should follow them. Looking back on it, she'd take a fight with Mai and Ty Lee any day of the week.

But, thankfully, the drill had been destroyed - Aang, Katara and Toph had largely seen to that. In truth, she and Sokka didn't really do much - she melted the base of a few beams, but that was about it.

Now, they all stood atop the wall, thoroughly disgusted and proud at the same time that they were already saving Ba Sing Se a few mere hours after arriving.

"I just wanna say..." Sokka began, breaking the silence. "Good effort out there today, Team Avatar!"

His sister just deadpanned at him, as though her disappointment were truly immeasurable. "Enough with the Team Avatar stuff," she insisted. "No matter how many times you say it, it's not gonna catch on."

"How about... the boomeraang squad!" he exclaimed happily, whipping out his weapon of choice to emphasize the point. "See, it's good 'cause it's got Aang in it. Boomer-aang!"

Aang smiled nervously as Sokka looked to him for support. "I... kinda like that one?"

"Let's just talk about this on our way into the city," Katara offered, not sparing either one a glance before heading off to join General Sung down the wall.

Sokka eagerly followed, ideas still spewing from his mouth. "Ooh! The Aang Gang?" he offered, only to be met with more disappointment. "Okay... how about the fearsome fivesome?"

Azami cringed slightly - that just sounded wrong. "Uh, I think we'll pass on that one, ponytail," she informed him, and (unsurprisingly) was met with his groan of disappointment. "Look, how about just 'the gaang'? Personally, that's what I've always called our group."

"Huh, I actually kinda like it," Katara smirked as she looked back. "Certainly better than being a fivesome."

Toph laughed as she joined the waterbender. "You said it, sugar queen."

"Well, at least that's settled," the firebender grinned as she glanced over at Sokka, who was now pouting at having not been picked. "Oh, relax, Sokka. I'm sure someday you'll get to name something worthwhile. Now come on, we've got a city to see!"

After spending the night in one of General Sung's barracks, they got up early the next day and headed towards the train station buried within the wall. The entire way, the general just kept thanking them over and over - and by the time they got on the train, Azami had absolutely no regrets about leaving him behind. She, Sokka and Toph sat down on one side, with Aang and Katara on the other, the train being surprisingly empty for the morning.

As the train started to pull out, they soon left the wall behind them as they were revealed to be on a massively elevated bridge overlooking farm fields and wilderness below. Beside her, Toph was still basically asleep, her head leaned back against the bench while her mouth hung open, a faint trail of drool coming out.