A/N; Gods, this took so much longer than it had any right to - but yay, I finally got it done! Sorry this took so long to finish, I ended up having to make individual sections and just string them all together (which, believe me, is not fun.) Anyways, it's here now finally, so I can actually get back to writing the rest of book 2 :D
Just a little fyi, the chapter is starting off with a repeat of the last one's ending, only from Azami's PoV - I thought it would be fun to see both.
Azami P.o.V.
Well, that day was certainly something.
She definitely hadn't expected to spend the day with Iroh, but it was funny, the way that turned out to be exactly what she needed. She'd actually come to terms with her past now, and in full - whatever family she had in the Fire Nation before now resided solely in Iroh and her own memories. Her new family, with Aang, Sokka and the two girls - that was her family now.
Finally, after months and months, it felt like a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. Unfortunately, after testing it again her fire was still blue, but that was about the only thing dampening her spirits - so much so that she couldn't help the slight skip in her step as she headed home for the evening.
When she finally got back and opened the front door, she was a little surprised to only see Sokka there, his back turned as he was just standing in the main entryway for some reason - but it didn't matter. She was still happy to see him. "Hey Sokka," she announced cheerfully as she walked in.
He proceeded to do the strangest thing she'd seen from him in nearly seven months of traveling together - he leaped like two feet in the air, then spinned around as fast as possible and started stuttering random words out. "Uh-um-mhm-I uh- h-hi there!"
"Um... hi?" she asked nervously, taking a step forward and tilting her head slightly as she checked him from head to toe, looking for any signs about his weirdness. For some reason, his face was turning beet red? What was that about? "Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah - totally - I mean, yes," Sokka mumbled, rubbing the back of his head as though he was nervous to see her for some reason. Oh, spirits, what did he do now, she couldn't help wondering. "I, uh, I was actually looking to ask you something."
Azami couldn't help raising an eyebrow skeptically - something very weird was going on. "Okay?" she pressed, hoping he'd just cough up whatever it was he was trying to say.
"Do you... um..." Sokka's voice trailed off for a moment before he straightened his back, clearing his throat rather loudly - as if he were trying to make himself more presentable for some reason. "Do you want to go out for dinner tomorrow night?"
Instantly, Azami's face brightened - this day really couldn't get any better. If there was anymore proof that things had gotten a lot better for her since the North Pole, she couldn't find it - back then, she was ignored and shunned, and now they were straight up asking if she wanted to join them. Hell. Yes.
It didn't bother her at all that only Sokka was here - if he was speaking for them, that was good enough. And honestly, it sounded perfect - just the kind of morale boost she and the team needed to continue their thus-far uneventful search for Appa. "Sure!" she happily accepted. "Sounds great - it's been a while since the five of us actually did something like that together-"
"Uh, that's not what I meant," Sokka interrupted, and her spirits started to sink rapidly. Did I do something wrong? Am I being left out again? Why wouldn't they- "I meant, like, just the two of us."
Azami frowned - that didn't make any sense. Why would they go out alone without the gaang? Wasn't that rude to them? "Just the two of us?" she questioned, trying to understand his meaning. "But why would..."
Her voice trailed off as it hit her in the face - his blushing and stuttering, just the two of them, going out for dinner... he was asking her...
Azami couldn't help the same beet red color from spreading across her own cheeks in realization. "Oh, you mean... oh."
A date.
"Yeah, I do," Sokka agreed, both of their faces bright red - but now he seemed more confident, and she was left wondering... did she really want to? In all fairness, she and Sokka had a connection before Bato - he even basically confessed to liking her in that sense, before he kinda botched it - so it wasn't necessarily the biggest shock to her, but still...
Really? With Sokka?
At first, her mind kind of rejected the idea. Most of the times, he was irritating, goofy - a funny friend, for sure, but not exactly significant other material. Slowly, though, she started to think about their other moments together - underneath that exterior, they'd shared a lot of heart-to-heart conversations and moments with each other. He'd taken care of her when she was injured; he'd been a shoulder for her to cry on, quite literally; he'd comforted and trusted in her, just as much as she had for him...
As these thoughts raced through her mind, she really started to appreciate him more - underneath his exterior was a genuinely nice and caring person, who for all his faults, actually cared about her. Trusted her, despite her mistakes. Realistically, where would she ever find that again? And in a person she'd been through so much with, nonetheless?
Finally, her train of thought arrived back in the desert - even when he was high on cactus juice, she remembered what it was like to fall asleep in his arms. It just felt so right, and even while sleeping on sand it was the best night she'd had in months. Smiling to herself, she realized that she already knew the answer to his question.
"Okay."
Returning her attention to the boy in question, he too seemed lost in his own head to have even heard her response. No doubt, her own delay had caused him to doubt himself, so it wasn't a surprise to her when he blinked multiple times and his eyes shifted to lock on hers. "Um..." Sokka started, seeming incredibly doubtful. "Sorry, what did you say?"
Despite herself, Azami had to admit - now that she'd started considering him in that light, there was actually something strangely cute about his nervousness. Blushing slightly, she smiled at him and nodded again, as if to assure herself that this was what she wanted. "I said okay," she repeated softly. "Let's do it."
"Wait, you're not... you're being serious?" Sokka breathed in awe, and Azami couldn't help the laugh that left her at his antics. Shaking her head, she decided that she'd tease him a little bit and just leave it there for the evening.
He just stood there, flabbergasted as she walked past him, heading for her room. Right before she opened the door to it, she turned back with a cheeky grin to see Sokka just staring at her, his mouth still hanging open. Not saying a word, she just winked at him before heading in to retire for the evening.
Smirking, she got ready for bed, knowing that he'd probably still stay standing there for like the next hour to figure out what she meant by it. Can't make it too easy for him, after all, she thought to herself as she climbed into her bed for the night.
Sokka P.o.V.
What... what just happened?
She said yes. The girl he'd liked for months, the one he thought he'd pushed so far away she'd never be interested... just agreed to go on a date with him.
I'm sorry, WHAT?
"She... said yes," he breathed in awe, still trying to process it all. As the realization set in, a goofy grin split his features - she said yes! Months of agonizingly making up for his stupid mistakes had finally paid off - and he couldn't help doing a little happy dance around the room, not caring if anyone saw.
He'd spent so long coming up with ideas in his head about how this would go, and finally - after months - he actually had a shot. Fortunately, he was if nothing else a guy with a plan - and he'd already come up with a perfect one.
After a little searching (basically spending a few days 'looking for Appa' actually asking around), he'd found what he was sure was the nicest restaurant in the entire city. He'd actually eaten there by himself earlier to see if the food was good (and to him, it was), and it had a great view of the city, and it was nice, and fancy - what more could he ask for?
Sokka was in such a good mood, in fact, that when the others finally came back he couldn't help but eagerly tell them the news. Aang was happy for him, while Katara and Toph... well, to put it bluntly, the earthbender just told him congrats in the most deadpan voice yet from her before shrugging and heading off to bed without another word.
He didn't care, though. Even if the other two girls weren't particularly invested in it either way, it still wouldn't dampen his mood. Nothing possibly could at this point.
Katara P.o.V.
"I'm kinda curious," Toph wondered aloud as she, Katara and Aang were just relaxing in the living room area of the house. "How do you think it'll go for them?"
Katara looked over in surprise at the blind earthbender. "You actually care?"
"Eh, not really," she admitted. Silence again filled the room as they all just stared up at the ceiling (or at least, Katara and Aang did), everyone bored out of their minds.
Sokka and Azami had both left for their date a few minutes ago, Katara admittedly having to fix his outfit a bit (aka choosing a new one entirely), and the others were now simply killing time while they waited for them to return. No doubt it would probably be a few hours at least, but still - what else was there to do? For such a large place, Ba Sing Se was surprisingly dull.
In the time since they'd arrived, Katara had officially spent her days - searching for Appa, wandering around, searching for Appa, going to a spa with Toph, followed by more searching for Appa and wandering around.
Not exactly thrilling.
Surprisingly, she found herself missing their time on the road, constantly traveling. After experiencing new places and people on the daily, staying in one spot was actually driving her insane - to the point where a small part of her was actually wondering if she wanted to just go home and live out her life in the south pole once this was over. Would she really want to go back to fishing, sewing and chores after all this happened?
"I've got an idea," Toph suddenly announced, bringing Katara's attention back to the present.
Aang slowly pulled himself up off the couch, stretching out his arms almost as if he'd just woken up. "W-what is it?" he yawned.
"Well, sitting around here is super boring already, and it's been like five minutes," the earthbender explained. "Soooo... since we're gonna hear about it later anyways, why don't we go see what the two lovebirds are up to?"
Katara raised an eyebrow at the younger girl. "You mean spy on them?"
"No, no, that's silly!" Aang weakly protested. "Surely Toph didn't mean-"
"Yeah, actually, I did," Toph confessed, and Aang seemed to deflate at an alarming rate. "I mean, let's face it - it's probably the best entertainment we'll get in this lame city, and I for one could use something interesting to do. Besides, I've got a pretty strong feeling that Sokka's going to find a way to screw this up, and I want to watch when it happens."
Azami P.o.V.
"So, what's the plan?"
Sokka smiled softly, already looking rather nervous. "Who said I have one?"
Azami just glared at him playfully - they both already knew the answer to that. "Sokka, aside from the fact that you always come up with a plan for stuff, I think we'd both be disappointed if you actually didn't have any ideas for what we're going to do tonight."
"Yeah... hehe, about that..." his voice trailed off as he rubbed his head nervously. "Would you, uh... would you be surprised if I told you I kinda spent over a week trying to find the best place in the city?"
"Not in the slightest," she smirked at him.
For the next few minutes they just kept having a nice time until their destination came into view - and Azami had to admit, Sokka had really outdone himself with this. The building was built at the top of a hill, with an outdoor dining space overlooking the rest of the city - and even though it was still fairly early in the evening, she could already tell it would have a gorgeous view of the sunset for them.
No doubt about it, he'd spent a long time planning this.
As they approached the doors, Sokka stepped ahead, opening it for her with an overly dramatized bow. "Right this way, 'milady."
Azami couldn't help laughing slightly - even if he was being an idiot, it was nice to know he wasn't taking this too seriously. "You do know I can open a door for myself, right?"
"You? Open a door?" he scoffed, standing straight up again with a smile. "I couldn't possibly allow that, being the gentleman that I am."
"Uh huh," she deadpanned before rolling her eyes as she walked in.
It didn't take them long to be seated, and conveniently enough they were placed directly on the edge of the back patio, with no other tables between them and the view of the city. From here, Azami could not only see most of the upper ring, but she could also just barely make out the middle ring in the distance over one of the many great walls.
The date went about as she expected - lighthearted conversation, mostly, along with a fantastic dinner, but honestly after a while she felt like they weren't really breaking as much new ground as she was hoping for. Like sure, it was nice spending time with Sokka, but it almost didn't feel any different - it felt like they were just hanging out the way they normally would.
Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, she just wanted a little more.
So, as soon as she got the chance, she decided to start trying to learn a little more about him - and, in particular, to learn about one particular story she recalled from a few months ago.
"You know, I'm kinda curious," she started. "There's something I've wanted to know about for a while now, something you mentioned before the Northern Water Tribe."
Forcing himself to swallow slightly, Sokka almost choked as he raced to answer. "About what?"
"If I recall correctly," she smirked. "You said something about getting two fishhooks stuck in one thumb." As soon as her words registered in his brain, he instantly started to turn beet red, elevating her curiosity even more. "Care to tell me more about that?"
"Oh, uh..." Cutting himself off, Sokka reached over for his glass and took a drink of his water before answering. "You know, it's funny, I don't really remember- you should really hear about this other time when Katara and I-"
Oh, no you don't, Azami grinned. "Yeah, nice try, but you aren't dodging this one. C'mon Sokka, spill it."
"Ugh, do I have to?" he whined, and when her smile just widened, he groaned slightly. "Fine... but it's really embarrassing."
Azami leaned forward eagerly, resting her chin on her hand. "Yeah, that's what I'm counting on."
Sokka sent her a soft glare, as though he'd resigned himself to it but wasn't happy about it. "On one condition. You have to tell me an embarrassing story of yours afterwards."
"Deal," she replied instantly, not even considering the implications at the moment. Right now, she was letting her curiosity take over, ignoring any sensible part of her brain telling her that it wasn't the best idea.
Oh well.
Sokka P.o.V.
"Okay, so let me see if I've got this straight," Azami asked rather bluntly, her plate having remained untouched the whole time he told her the story. "When you were thirteen-"
Sokka's pride immediately kicked in. "Twelve," he corrected. No way would he have made this mistake at thirteen years old, he was far too mature and knowledgeable by then. "I was twelve at the time."
"Alright, when you were twelve, then," she acquiesced, giving him a soft glare as if daring him to interrupt again. "You and Katara both started to go out fishing right before your dad left, and on your... second trip?" She paused for a moment, looking to him for confirmation - and when he nodded, she continued. "The very first fish you managed to catch and reel in decided that it wanted to jump back into the water, even with your hook buried in its mouth."
He nodded again. "Yep."
"So then your brilliant idea was - and correct me if I'm wrong here," Azami muttered, almost as if she was hoping she would be wrong. "Instead of - oh, I don't know, reeling it in again - your idea was to jump in after the fish, abandoning your then eleven-year-old sister and your fishing rod on the boat in the process, so you could try and wrestle the fish into submission. While underwater, where a fish can conveniently breathe and you cannot."
Sokka felt his face starting to heat up slightly at how stupid it all sounded - but alas, it was the truth. And hey - an embarrassing story for an embarrassing story, that was what they agreed to after all.
"And you were then surprised," she continued in disbelief. "When it bit your thumb as you put it too close to the fish's mouth. Which caused you to flail about and somehow rip the fishing hook out of the fish's mouth and embed it... in the same thumb."
The look she gave him was that all-too-familiar look he saw when someone was hoping beyond hope that he was lying to them, and was coming to the unfortunate realization that he was not. A fragile, tiny hope being consumed by a sea of disappointment and despair.
"Spirits, here I was thinking Aang was the senseless one," Azami sighed, accepting the unfortunate truth about his younger self.
Wincing slightly, Sokka forced himself to say the next few words. "And... that wasn't the whole story."
The firebender's eyes widened in horror, her jaw dropping. "There's more?"
"Well, I mean, yeah," he admitted. "You did ask how I got two fishhooks in one thumb, not just the first." Azami then muttered some choice words that would likely have Katara freeze her mouth shut for a month, but it didn't really faze him. "See, once I realized the fish was gone - and, you know, I needed to breathe again - I swam back to the surface and Katara helped pull me back onto our canoe."
Azami's eyebrow raised slightly as he paused. "I'm guessing this is where you then used the second fishhook to try and remove the first?"
"Actually, no," Sokka confessed. "That came after this bit. See, at this point, I was less focused on getting the thing out than I was on warming up. The freezing temperature of the water was actually serving to numb the pain for a bit, so I didn't really pay as much attention to it as I did to the many parts of my body that felt like they would fall off from the cold. And, obviously, there was only one real source of heat anywhere nearby."
Burying her face in her hands, the girl across from just let out a soft groan of pain as his meaning hit her. "Oh, don't tell me-"
"I basically tackled Katara in a hug while trying to warm up, and in doing so we both fell over the side of the canoe and back into the water."
Following his statement, he was met with several long, silent seconds before he heard what was probably the heaviest and loudest sigh he'd ever heard in his life as Azami dragged her hands down her face in exhaustion. "I... how," she mumbled out, her voice barely audible. "How do you manage to do this..."
Reluctantly, he could tell, she eventually looked up again at him, their eyes meeting. "I'm guessing that after you guys both got back in again, was when you finally-"
"-Tried to pull out the other fishhook, with another fishhook," he finished. "Yeah, it was. And then I had to row us back while Katara was absolutely freezing and throwing snowballs at me because she was upset."
Shaking her head, Azami rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands for a bit before dropping them in defeat. "You really are something else, Sokka."
He smiled softly, rubbing the back of his head. "I try," he replied nervously, earning a laugh from her. "But - I didn't just tell you this so that you could laugh at me," he reminded her, smirking slightly. "Your turn."
Closing her eyes, she lifted her head towards the ceiling and Sokka could've sworn he heard her mutter something along the lines of 'spirits, help me'.
Yeah, good luck with that, he grinned to himself.
"Fine," she relented. "I'm guessing you want to know the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me, then?"
He didn't even have to respond - he just nodded with a satisfied smile, and she sighed. This was going to be fun.
"Alright... but just so you know, this is actually pretty recent," she admitted, and Sokka felt more than a little confused. They had been around each other basically since she came out of that iceberg months ago, and he couldn't really recall anything embarrassing that happened to her in particular - did he miss something?
"Before I tell you, I just have to ask something," Azami warned him. "How much do you remember about our trip through the desert?"
Sokka frowned slightly - that was a bit of an odd question, but if it was important - hey, who was he to judge? "Well, I remember we arrived at the oasis," he started. "We met that professor, went out on Appa... found the library, lost Appa, and then..." His voice trailed off as he realized - there was actually something wrong with his memory.
He vividly remembered everything up to him drinking from a cactus, his thirst disappearing... and then suddenly he was running from a bunch of giant wasp-like things and the sun was rising on a new morning.
"Wow, I didn't even realize," he breathed in awe. "The last thing I remember is drinking cactus juice - and the next, I was running away from some giant... thing. That's weird."
Azami nodded, as if he'd confirmed her suspicions. "Yeah... the thing is, Sokka, that cactus juice was a hallucinogenic."
"I'm sorry, a what now?" He'd heard a lot of things, but that word was certainly new to him.
The firebender struggled with herself for a moment, as if deciding best to explain. "How do I put this... I don't really understand how it works, but from what I do know it basically causes your brain to absolutely lose it. You started acting really weird, you were seeing things that weren't real - it was almost like you spent the whole day sleepwalking while having crazy dreams, blurting whatever you felt like saying."
"Huh..." Sokka was still feeling a little confused. Not by her explanation, that made sense enough. But why... "Why would that make you embarrassed though?"
Her face flamed red almost instantly, and his curiosity was instantly piqued. "You, um... well, let's just say you weren't as, uh, respectful of boundaries as you normally are," she confessed, looking extremely uncomfortable all of a sudden.
Instantly, Sokka's entire mood soured as his mind raced to the worst possibilities of what she meant. If he actually... "Wait, what did I do?" he quickly asked, worried that he had already screwed things up again weeks ago. "Did I hurt you?"
Azami's eyes widened in panic slightly, as if realizing how her words had come across. "Oh, no, I didn't mean- it wasn't anything like that, Sokka," she assured him. "You didn't do anything wrong, you were just very, uh... spirits, how do I put this..."
"Why don't you just tell me?" he pressed, causing her face to turn even more beet red, if that was possible.
"Well... you, um, you kept trying to hug me - like, a lot," she started, and Sokka immediately started to feel a strange mixture of his own embarrassment mixed with humor at how awkward the firebender was being all of a sudden. "Honestly, it was almost like you were, uh, hitting on me, and you wouldn't stop. For some reason, you kept calling me 'princess' instead of just, you know, using my name-"
"Wait, that embarrasses you?" Sokka wondered aloud. "I mean... I've called you that on occasion before then, and you seemed fine with it."
The firebender shrugged slightly, still appearing embarrassed. "I mean... yeah, I guess it does. Is that a bad thing?"
"Oh, not in general, no... but for you..." his voice trailed off as a smirk grew on his face again. "If it embarrasses you, I could call you that more-"
Azami cut him off with a glare. "Don't you dare," she warned him, but it was too late - he was already coming up with so many ideas and saving them... oh, she really shouldn't have told him that, and it seemed she realized that too.
"Whatever do you mean, princess?" he grinned.
She just buried her head in her hands as she sighed in defeat. "Dammit, I really should've seen that coming..."
"Yep, you really should've," he replied, fighting the urge to start laughing. This really was not her night. "But do go on, princess, I get the feeling there's more than just that."
He couldn't help laughing slightly as she looked back up at him, and he couldn't tell if she wanted to either crawl into a hole for the rest of her life, or throttle him - and right now, he had to admit, he was having the time of his life.
Katara P.o.V.
Well, this was certainly a much more interesting way to spend the evening.
At first, it wasn't all that exciting. The two spent a lot of time talking, laughing, that sort of thing - normal date stuff, sure, but not exactly anything all that special.
In the last few minutes or so, however, things had drastically changed. First, Sokka had turned a brighter red than Katara had ever seen while Azami looked like she was in actual pain, and now the firebender looked like she was about to die of embarrasment while her brother was very clearly trying not to laugh his head off.
Whatever was going on, it was a lot more fun than sitting around the house, that was sure.
"What's going on over there?" Katara whispered, leaning down to get closer to Toph.
The earthbender shrugged. "How should I know?" she asked, lying on her back as her toes played with the grass between them. "I'm not a bat, Katara - just because I can feel the vibrations in the earth doesn't mean I can hear people's words almost a hundred feet away." She paused, smirking a little before she continued. "I can say, though, that sparky's heart rate is just a little faster than normal."
"Oh really?" the waterbender grinned slyly. "Just a little?"
"Yep," Toph nodded. "Actually, it's almost like twinkle toes whenever he's around-"
"Okay, guys, I think that's enough," Aang suddenly cut in, and for some reason now he was blushing too. "We're obviously not going to be able to understand anything they say, so why don't we... uh, I don't know, go get something to eat ourselves?"
Grinning, Toph pulled herself up. "Whatever you say, twinkle toes," she laughed, starting to walk off. His head bowed, the young Avatar followed after her, and Katara couldn't help wondering - who was Toph talking about? Did Aang have a crush on someone too?
Katara wasn't really sure how she felt about that - for some reason, there was almost a part of her that felt angry about the prospect. That was weird.
Azami P.o.V.
Never again.
Absolutely, no way, was she ever going to do something like that again. Why did she ever let herself agree to that stupid deal? That was the single, most horrible, humiliating evening of her entire life, and there was zero chance she would ever-
"Well, that was fun, wasn't it, princess?" Sokka grinned beside her, and she groaned, bowing her head at the now-expected rush of heat to her cheeks. Weakly, she gave a quick shake of her head in protest, causing him to pout slightly. "Oh, come on, it's all in good fun," he insisted, nudging her gently with his elbow. "You do know that, right?"
Azami just sighed, forcing herself to accept the fact that this would haunt her forever. "Yeah, I do," she muttered, before reaching up to yank him down slightly by the ear. "But so help me, Sokka, if you tell anyone about this-"
"Okay, I get it, I get it!" he cried out, and she released him as he rubbed his head slightly. "Geez, you know you can just use words next time, right?" She glared up at him, and he gulped slightly. "Alright, point taken," he mumbled.
Relaxing, she allowed a smile to cross her face as their temporary house came back into view. "You know... aside from that fiasco, I am glad that we did this," she admitted.
Sokka's eyes lit up almost instantly. "So... you'd want to do it again sometime? Uh... preferably sooner rather than later?"
"Hm... maybe," she replied with a smirk. Deep down, she already knew she would say yes if he asked again, but where was the fun in telling him that?
The boy beside her just sighed. "You're not making this easy, you know that?"
Azami actually laughed this time, shaking her head. "I am never, ever, going to make things easy for you, Ponytail. Get used to it." Leaning up on her toes slightly, placing a soft kiss on the side of his cheek before quickly pulling back.
Sokka just stared at her in wonder, holding a hand on the side of his cheek as she walked up and into the house, giving him a small wave before closing the door behind her. As soon as she did, she couldn't help smiling to herself - she'd actually just done that. She'd actually gone on a date with Sokka and kissed him - and even if it was a small peck, it still counted, right? That was what mattered-
Azami instantly froze as she left the front entranceway, only to be greeted with two familiar faces, both wearing a sadistic grin.
Oh no.
No one had to say anything - the two just immediately grabbed Azami's arms and dragged her to the nearest chair, which they sat her down in without warning while they remained standing in front of her.
"Spill," Katara commanded, and the firebender gulped. This was going to be a long night.
A/N; Thank GODS that's finally done. Honestly, I probably could've done a better job with this, but I am just so done with this chapter and am finally okay with where it's at. Sorry if it isn't my best, I just could not for the life of me get it to come out the way I wanted, and this is about as close as I'm gonna get for now.
I do have some ideas for a few other cute scenes in Ba Sing Se, but none of them are nearly long enough to justify a whole chapter, so I'll probably make some kind of bonus chapter at the end of either book 2 or the whole fic itself including those. (Although, if you guys would prefer I do something else with them, feel free to mention any ideas)
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next update :)
(Obviously I won't actually see any of you, but, uh, you know what I mean. I hope.)