Archive of Our Own ^beta

It still feels weird to Azula that she spends time around Zuko’s friends. It’s not that she wants to . Not really. But they visit Fire Nation fairly often, and Zuko always insists that they should stay at the palace.

So it’s more of an obligation that she spends time with them. She doesn’t really have a choice. They’re everywhere in the palace. Dining at the table, strolling around the gardens, feeling the turtleducks…

And even though she would deny it if asked, she is starting to get used to their company. Even starts looking forward to their visits, when life at the palace gets boring.

It is strange to have the Avatar roaming the halls, and she still resents the waterbender for beating her. But the blind girl is actually alright. And so is Sokka. He might be the one she likes the most.

They’re both similar, if she thinks about it. They’re both intelligent, both skilled fighters, both perfectionists. Azula has to admit that some of the jokes Sokka makes actually make her laugh.

And he is… well, definitely bad looking. Azula would never outwardly praise a peasant's looks, but she still does have eyes. And Sokka really doesn’t look half bad.

They’ve never talked a lot, she usually doesn’t talk much, but just listening to him talking with his friends and cracking jokes while she sits at the side makes her feel included somehow.

She notices her heart starting to beat faster whenever she thinks about him. His smug grin, the gleam in his blue eyes, the way his hair falls onto his forehead whenever he lets it loose…

This feeling is unfamiliar. She doesn’t even understand what it is. Has never felt like this before. Her stomach swoops whenever he looks her way, and after he leaves, waiting for his next visit makes her feel both nervous and excited.

It takes her a while to put two and two together. She’s heard Ty Lee talk about the boys she liked numerous times. And every once in a while, even the quiet and reserved Mai opened up about how Zuko makes butterflies dance in her stomach. 

But this can’t be what she’s feeling, can it? She can’t possibly be crushing on Sokka. He is the enemy! Well… was the enemy, she corrects herself. But still. She shouldn’t be feeling this way. 

Her father would be so disappointed.

Good.

Maybe there’s nothing wrong with it, after all. Maybe she should just ask him out, and see how that goes.

The problem is, she has not the faintest idea how. She can’t ask her friends, too proud to do that. No, she can manage on her own. She’s aware that the last time she asked someone out, she came off as a bit too… intense. If she keeps it simple, she is sure everything will go just fine.

…

The next time Sokka comes to visit, he’s with his sister, and some girl Azula has seen around before. One of those Kyoshi Warriors. She doesn’t pay much attention to her. Suspects the girl might still be holding a grudge about what happened. Though Azula isn’t even sure she is one of those girls she stole the uniforms of. They all look the same to her. 

When she catches Sokka alone, he’s sitting under a tree in the garden, spinning his boomerang between his fingers. Zuko has left to join a meeting, and the waterbender and the Kyoshi Warrior seem to have decided to go on a ‘girls only shopping day’. They haven’t invited her.

She doesn’t mind. Instead, she sits next to Sokka on the grass. He startles for a moment, but then gives her an easy smile.

“Hi,” she says, a little forced.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing out here?”

Sokka shrugs. “Just killing time. Waiting for the girls to come back.”

Azula nods, not knowing what else to do. Oh, she has no idea how to do small talk. That’s why she thinks it best to jump straight to the point.

“I was thinking. We should go out sometime. You and me.”

“Go… out sometime?” Sokka repeats, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“We can go out into the town. Or wherever. To get to know each other. Just the two of us,” Azula tries to clarify, realizes with horror that her face feels warm. She is not the type to blush!

Sokka must’ve noticed too, because there’s a flicker of realization in his eyes. Then he sits up straighter, scoots away. “Are you… asking me out?”

“Obviously.” She tries sounding more confident than she feels. “I like you.”

“Azula… I have a girlfriend. You know that, right?”

She freezes, almost stops breathing. “Girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Suki. The girl I came here with.”

The Kyoshi Warrior. Oh. The humiliation makes her face burn hotter. Her eyes are also burning. Suddenly she’s up on her feet.

“Azula, wait–”

She doesn’t wait. Just runs to the palace in a way that’s unbecoming of a princess. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have opened her heart like that? 

Tears fall freely as she finally reaches her room. She doesn’t know who she hates more. Probably herself, for showing vulnerability. For entertaining the thought that someone could love her. But all she got in return was rejection and heartbreak.

Maybe her walls were there for a reason after all.