#sokka’s like ‘i wish i could hit them so bad when they say stupid shit’ and zukos like ‘mmmrmmrmr but the paperwork…’

[theolddivorcedzukka]

true love is holding back from hurting people that you and your boyfriend both hate so he doesn’t have to do paperwork afterwards

[atlabeth]

hold onto me (im a little unsteady) - sokka x reader

i was listening to the song when i came up w this so feel free to listen to that if you want

summary: a late night with sokka reminds you that even on the worst days, you always have someone in your corner.

a/n: lmao this is 100% self indulgent i have no excuses. my parents are getting divorced and almost every time they're together they argue and so this is just a comfort fic after it happened again tonight bc GD i wish i had a sokka. this one goes out to all my divorce babies or people with parents that never stop arguing. you are very loved<3

wc: 1.7k, this got away from me lol

warning(s): mentions of parents arguing n shit, like the tiniest mentions of implying sex and problems with consent (in general, not with them), but this is all fluff

hey. i know you’re probably asleep right now but could you come over?

It was far too late at night when you sent the text. A question asked on a whim, an offer that would most likely go ignored due to the boy on the other end being asleep.

But goddammit, you really didn’t care. Even if he didn’t respond, just hitting ‘send’ made you feel slightly better. You had already taken refuge in one of the sweatshirts he had left at your house (read: one that you had stolen and refused to give back) and as your eyes fell on the glow of the digital clock on your bedside table, you were once again reminded of how stupid this was.

But you heard the telltale buzz of a notification and all but lunged for your phone, an uncontrollable smile tugging on your lips. You didn’t know why you ever doubted him.

sokka💙: you know i never sleep babe

sokka💙: a curse of my genius

sokka💙: im omw

you’re the best thank you love<3

A pair of fuzzy socks and a refilled water bottle later, you heard the sound of something hitting your window. Though you tensed up at first, a roll of your eyes was all it took before you remembered just who you had invited over. Another smile took over as you pushed yourself off of your bed, pushing the curtains aside in time to see another pebble hit the pane.

A physical effort took place to stifle the laugh as you pushed your window up, and you leaned against the sill on your elbows to get a better look at your ridiculous boyfriend.

“Throwing rocks at my window? I think I’m stuck in a bad romcom.”

He grinned and let the remaining pebbles fall to the ground. “It’s what’s to be expected from your Prince Charming, right? Besides, I’m assuming that your parents wouldn’t just let me walk through the front door at this hour.”

You felt the heat rise to your cheeks. Just the sight of Sokka was always enough to make you feel better, and tonight was no exception. The vice on your heart was already starting to loosen. “Right as usual. Think you’ll catch me if I jump?”

He laughed and made a show of looking up and down the distance and then at his arms. “I’d like to say so, but I think we’d have better luck if I climb up.”

“You sure you can do that, big guy?” you asked with a teasing grin. He rolled his eyes with the same sentiment.

“Of course I can. I just thank nature that there’s a tree so close to your window. It’s saved me from a lot of embarrassing falls.”

You chuckled and backed away from the window, the slight chill from the night air beginning to get to you. “I’ll leave you to it while I get things ready.”

Truth be told, your room was a total mess at the moment. You knew Sokka wouldn’t care, especially not now, but it put you slightly more at ease to have something in your life that you could control. You were in the middle of shoving some previously strewn-about clothes into your closet when you heard the click of your window closing. When you turned around, you were met with your boyfriend’s smiling face.

“You’re so pretty,” you murmured as you walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around your waist as you kissed him lightly on the lips, unable to stop the blossoming smile nor the warmth that the action gave you. “Thank you for being here.”

“Of course.” The softness of his words were in stark contrast to the joking bravado from only minutes earlier, and as you stepped away from his embrace and pushed yourself onto your bed, he joined you on the other side. “And not that I’m not happy to be here, but I just wanna know. What’s going on?”

You sighed, letting one leg hang off the bed as you tucked the other in. It was a testament to Sokka’s power how quickly he had gotten you to forget about the new mess of the night. “The usual showing of fuckall and fuckup. I’m more impressed by how they never run out of things to scream at each other about.”

Your bad joke didn’t get a laugh out of him, which you were secretly glad for. Instead, he snaked an arm around your back and tugged you closer, a contented sigh falling from your lips as you nestled your head into the space between his shoulder and his head. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “You know it’s not your fault, right?”

The phrase had gone in one ear and out the other more times than you could count from your parents, but each time Sokka said it, the words held a different weight. You knew it wasn’t your fault in the first place, but guilt didn’t care all that much for logic. You knew he meant it though, and once more the vice loosened.

“I know. But it still helps to hear it.” You glanced up at him, reaching a hand up to twist a loose strand of his hair around your finger. “You should wear your hair down more often,” you mused. “It makes you look like a prince.”

He chuckled, amusement glinting through his ocean eyes. “I did say I was your Prince Charming, didn’t I?”

You smiled, slowly uncurling his hair from your finger. “Yeah.”

“That means I’ll always be there for you. Especially to save my royal from their evil stepparents.”

Another laugh bubbled in your chest at that, and you leaned closer into him. “Thank you. The more I visit your place, the more I want your family to be mine. Hakoda is like, the nicest man I’ve ever met, and your mom? She actually makes me want to cry with how sweet she is. I think I know where you get it from.”

He grinned and bumped your leg with his own. “You know you’re welcome over there any time. But maybe you shouldn’t — I think my mom might actually adopt you with how much she loves you. That… that would be really weird.”

His joy was infectious as you planted another kiss on his cheek, something that earned you a, as you liked to call it, dazzling Signature Sokka Smile. “I’ll make sure she holds off on the adoption papers for now.”

“I’d like that.”

And though the happiness you felt at the moment was almost overwhelming, that was just what caused that tiny sliver of doubt to come in. When people invited their partners over at three in the morning, it usually wasn’t to sit on the bed and talk about their problems. It was… it was for more, and you didn’t want that right now. And because you were an expert at it, you decided to put your foot in your mouth and start talking.

“I— I’m sorry that I called you over here so late, for no reason. I know you probably expected something else than me ranting, but…” you sighed, drawing your knees closer to your chest as you brought your other hand to Sokka’s resting on your shoulder. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.”

He sighed at that, but you knew it wasn’t one of disappointment. “You know I’m here for you. I don’t care if you just want to sit in silence for the next five hours while we stare at the wall, or if you want to watch sappy rom coms until your eyes bleed. I’m more than okay with staying like this. I didn’t come over here because I expected anything from you — I came over here because you needed me, and so I’m here.” Sokka smiled, an image you didn’t think would ever stop making you melt, and intertwined your hand with his. “This is perfect. You’re perfect.”

You were so stunned at the brazen declaration that your voice got stuck in your throat for a moment, holding back tears. (Happy tears. They were never anything other than happy tears with Sokka.) It hit you then that you didn’t really know what it was like having someone get close to you without an ulterior motive.

“Thank you,” you murmured after a moment of comfortable silence. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You knew he was smiling, even without having to look up at him. You could hear it in his voice, feel it in the kiss he pressed to your hairline.

A comfortable silence hung in the air for a long time until you broke it. “You know… my dad kinda ran off to a motel for the night after this whole thing, and my mom leaves early in the morning. If you were serious about those rom coms…” You allowed the unsaid question of staying the night to fester so Sokka knew he could say no if he wanted to, but he didn’t even hesitate.

“Of course I was serious. I mean, I’ve gotta get the ideas for our future wedding from somewhere.”

You laughed, a sentiment that had occurred more times in the ten minutes he had been here than the past week, and picked the remote for your little box TV off of your bedside table. You clicked through various movies until you found one Sokka liked, and then you cuddled deeper into his side to prepare for the ride you had ahead of you.

Thirty minutes into 27 Dresses, he had fallen asleep, arm still around you and one of his legs slightly intertwined with one of your own. But it’s not like you minded — the familiar weight of Sokka in your bed had caused all your worries to melt away, if only for the night.

You didn’t expect him to last past the first movie, but you were sure you would at least get through until Katherine Heigl got the man. But there was an overwhelming feeling of safety permeating the air with Sokka’s arms around you, and you ended up knocked out before she could even get through all twenty seven dresses.

It wasn’t lost on you how fortunate you were — he didn’t expect anything like that from you, he just wanted you to be safe. He was there for you. You would never understand how you had gotten so lucky with your boyfriend, but you would never stop being grateful for him.

-

this is the most self indulgent thing ive ever written and i am NOT sorry

perm tags: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77

atla tags: @marianne1806 @brown-eyed-thang @akiris

[mycomfortblanket]

Let's Channel All Our Sadness Into THis

Continuation of a Tumblr Prompt, "I don't want to feel this anymore. I want to be numb." Heart has recently been torn to shreds so might as well make something out of it, right?

'I remember it hurt, watching her hurt,' is a line from some movie that continues to run through Aang's head as he watches Toph pretend to listen to the conversation that is going on around them. They're sitting in the living room of Sokka's apartment listening to his latest encounter with Zuko's sister.

She must feel him staring at her cause one second her eyes are trained towards the ground, unfocused and empty, and the next she looking in his direction. They stare at each other for a few seconds before she drops her gaze to her lap and picks at the hole in her jeans. It's been a week or two since the breakup with Kanto and she has slowly been withdrawing into herself. Katara had to actually show up to Toph's place and physically drag her to Sokka's. Normally, they see each other every other day or so since they live so close to each other, but none of them had seen her in days. She hasn't said anything since she greeted them all when she got here.

When she had announced their relationship several months ago, it was a shock to the group, but Kanto had quickly found his place among them, and became close with them all. So, when Toph had mumbled one night they broke up when she was asked where he was, it was a bigger shock to everyone.

"...What do you think, Toph?" Aang's attention is pulled from staring at her to Sokka. He isn't sure what the question was and he's sure Toph doesn't know either. She glances up at the group and senses that they're all waiting for her reply and the clear attempt to pull her into the conversation and include her somehow.

"What?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I said that we should go see a movie, we were thinking about either Old or Free Guy."

"Oh, uh. I don't know," she says, standing up slowly, " Listen, I'm going to head home. I've got some stuff to work on," she trails off and grabbing her coat, she heads towards the door. The rest of the group look around at each other, and Aang quickly stands up, beating Toph to the door.

"Yeah, I'm going to head home, too. I have work in the morning, so I'll walk with you, T.." She doesn't say anything in acknowledgement but waits at the door as he quickly says bye to everyone and grabs his coat.

Once they're out on the sidewalk, the only sound is their feet on the pavement and Toph's sniffling every few moments. Aang stuffs his hands deep in his pockets to protect them from the cold and racks his brain to try and think of something that could possibly bring her out of her head a little bit.

Right when he opens his mouth to say something, she cuts him off, "You didn't have to come along and babysit me."

"I'm not babysitting you," he says but his tone makes it sound like a question.

"I know you all think I'm a fucking wreck. It's evident in the way you guys talk to me," she keeps her face pointed down and clicks her cane against the pavement. He didn't realize they had been talking to her any differently, but now that she mentions it, he can see it. How they carefully pick topics that steer clear of relationships or something that might have involved Kanto. "I just need time to deal with it," she says, her voice low and sounding so dejected and tired.

"Yeah, I'll go check on her," Aang says into the phone before hanging up with Katara. That night they left Sokka's apartment, she had gone downhill quickly. He knew the breakup between Toph and Kanto had been bad, but he didn't think it would ever get this bad. She had began to refuse to see anyone or answer any calls or texts. Needless to say, everyone is worried.

As he waits for the elevator to open onto her floor, he starts to think about how he is going to go about talk to her. She isn't the easiest person to read or get to open up about her feelings so it will definitely take some care and consideration.

He knocks at her door a few times, but when he doesn't receive an answer, he tries the knob and finds it unlocked. Carefully, he opens the door and is immediately hit with the smell of alcohol and the sight of Toph sitting on the couch with her head in her hands, a bottle of alcohol of something sitting on the floor next to her foot. She doesn't even acknowledge the fact that he has just walked into her apartment.

Taking a deep sigh, he shrugs off his jacket and hangs it on the hook by the door and walks over to the couch to sit beside her.

"You don't need to come check up on me, Aang."

He casts a quick glance around the living room and adjacent kitchen and sees the empty bottles, take out boxes, and clothes strewn about the counters and floors. "Yeah, obviously I don't. You seem to be handling the break up well," he answers.

Toph lifts her head and shoots him a glare, her eyes bloodshot and she has fresh tear tracks on her cheeks, "Fuck you, Aang. I don't need your fucking charity check ups or conversation. I told you that the other night," she snatches up the bottle from the floor and starts to pace around the living room, taking a swig as she goes, "Just let me deal with it in my own way."

He watches her face and notices how she doesn't even grimace when the liquid goes down her throat. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and stands by the window like she is looking out and shakes her head slightly.

"It just hurts, you know?" she whispers. "I never knew something could hurt so fucking bad." She abruptly turns away from the window, a look of anger on her face now. "I mean, he says all this fucking bullshit to me and how I'm the best thing that ever happened to him and the next fucking week, it's like, 'Oh, I found someone else to stick myself in'," she takes another swig. "I don't mean anything anymore and obviously just something he can throw away after he's done! 'I never liked you like that, Toph. I never thought you were funny or smart or pretty, I just needed something to do'!" she yells and throws the bottle at the wall, shattering it.

Aang tenses when the bottle makes contact with the wall and when he looks back at Toph, he sees that she has her head in her hands and her shoulders are shaking with her sobs. He stands up and goes to her, wrapping her in his arms.

"I don't want to feel like this anymore, Aang. I just want to be numb," she says so quietly, he almost doesn't hear it. "I should have known better than to give myself completely over to someone. I mean, I fucking watched you get your heart shattered by Onji and I swore I would never let someone hurt me like that."

Aang tenses when she mentions Onji. Although it had been a few years since they had broken up, the subject was still a little sore for him. His first love had broken his heart and then gotten with the guy who had tormented him in high school.

"Does it ever go away, this feeling?" she asks, burying her face in his chest.

Taking a deep breath, he considers her question. Although it had been years, every now and then, the plaguing question of 'Why wasn't I good enough' or 'What did he have that I didn't' haunts him at night when he is lying alone in bed at night.

It takes him a moment to answer, to steady his voice, "I think it does. It just takes time, Toph," he whispers to her. He leans down and kisses the top of her head. He can feel the way her tears are starting to seep into his shirt, making the material stick to his skin, but he doesn't mind. He'll stand here for hours with her if it means she won't be alone with her thoughts.

He ends up staying the night with her, and when she finally passes out, he starts to clean up her place, throwing bottles in a trash bag he had gotten from under the sink. He cleans up the mess she made from throwing the bottle at the wall, and discovers that she had done this at least 3 more times, which explains why her apartment smelled so bad.

Around 2 am, he finally collapses on her couch and places an arm over his eyes. The reminder of Onji that Toph had given him earlier that day was sticking with him. He remembers how raw that pain was, how it stole the breath from him every few hours and brought him down to his knees. He wouldn't wish that pain on anyone so knowing that his best friend is hurting that way is hurting him.

He wakes up around 10 am to the sound of Toph rummaging quite loudly through the fridge. Rubbing a hand over his face, trying to wake himself up, Aang sits up on the couch and looks over towards the kitchen. Toph is in a bralette and shorts, something she normally wears around the house. At first, the rest of the group were kind of scandalized when they discovered this, but after a while, it became normal to see her dressed like that.

"What are you looking for?" he asks.

"There was a bottle of vodka in here yesterday," she mumbles.

Taking a deep breath and stealing himself for this argument, "I threw it out." Toph stops looking for the bottle and slowly stands up, turning her face over to him.

"You did what?" her voice is low and deadly. Aang visibly swallows but lifts his chin and chest in fake confidence, which he realizes is kind of stupid since she can't see him no matter what he does.

"You're drinking yourself to death, Toph. It's not health-"

"How I choose to handle this fucking breakup is none of your goddamn business, Aang," she yells, walking from the kitchen into the living room, pointing a finger at him. "You weren't any better, so I don't want to fucking hear it."

Aang stands up from the couch and moves towards her, "It is my business if you're self-destructing, Toph. I'm not watching you go down the hole I went down, it's not safe."

"Safe?" she screams. "Are you fucking kidding me? What's not safe is you throwing out my shit."

He takes a deep breath and places his hands on her shoulders, aiming for a calm demeanor, "Go get dressed. I'm taking you to breakfast."

"I don't want to go anywhere with you right now."

"Do it, before I fucking make you do it," his voice is low and steady. She knows that when he puts that tone in his voice he isn't screwing around. Toph crosses her arms over her chest and chews on her lower lip for a moment. After a moment of pouting, she huffs loudly and stalks towards her bedroom.

The tension drains from Aang's shoulders. He really has no desire to go out in public right now, especially with the mood that she is in, but his duty to her as her best friend out weighs his personal needs.

They're both sitting in a booth at one of the local diners and he can feel the anger still radiating off of Toph. The waitress picks up on it too because she cuts herself off halfway through the specials, and just scurries off to get their drinks.

"Go on, say it," he says.

"Fuck you for making me come out like this," she says, her arms crossing over her chest. "I was doing just fine, you know. I was handling it."

"Drinking yourself into oblivion everyday so you don't feel it doesn't count as handling it, Toph"

She just snorts and turns her head away, her lips pursed. Their waitress comes and drops off their drinks and quickly takes their food order and scurries off again. Aang thinks they're going to spend their meal in tense silence, but when he glances up at her, he sees the fight going out of her and tears swelling up in her eyes.

"Why are you even doing this, Aang?" she whispers.

He doesn't even realize he is doing it until he is out of his seat and sliding in next to her. His arm comes around her shoulders and he pulls her to him, letting her rest his head against his shoulder.

"Because, I remember this pain. I remember how bad it hurt, how it felt like someone had shot a hole right through my chest and left me to bleed out. Because, I can see how hard you're trying to be angry about the situation, but I know you're sad and dying inside." Toph turns and buries her face into his shoulder, hiding her tears from the rest of the world. He rubs his hand up and down her arm, trying to soothe her.

The waitress comes back with their food and sees the way Aang has his arm around Toph and gives him a sympathetic smile and quietly sets their food on the table before walking off.

"Come on, eat something. I doubt you've had a proper meal in days," he mumbles to her.

[evilcharming18]

Azula Week 2018 #7

Okay I know this one is also a day late but it’s so long and I just didn’t want to cut it off, I wanted to make sure the ending was good. Plus it’s just over 4000 words. I don’t even know how to describe the AU, its like the war never happened, there’s no bending and Sokka is a con artist so :^)

Sokka usually didn’t feel bad about his jobs. He needed the money and he usually only conned horrible rich people, they type of people who didn’t deserve all the money they had. But this time it was different. He thought conning the spoiled rich Fire Nation brat would be easy. He take her out a few times, get to know her little bit and then once he had a way into the palace he take all of her jewelry and money, anything that looked expensive and he’d be on his way.

That was almost two years ago.

He hadn’t expected to fall in love with the princess. He hadn’t expected the princess to be as complex as she was. On the surface, Azula seemed as spoiled at they come, bratty, rude, inconsiderate, selfish and materialistic. All of that wrapped up neatly in one breathtaking woman. She wanted the finest clothing, best jewelry and she deserved nothing less than that. And while she showed those traits off to the public, she hid the ones that would have people move mountains for her. Like the fact that she was super smart, and that she was kind, that’s she cared about others.. most of the time. The fact that she only acts the way she does to keep people from getting close to her. The facts that while she likes being alone, she wished she had true friends sometimes but it was too hard to drop her persona permanently. Especially after her mother left her.

Sokka had never thought that Azula would mean something to him. At least not when the con started. And he knew now that he couldn’t go through with it. That he couldn’t break her heart, not now. Not after learning about how troubled she was, not after learning her fears and wants in life. He could never hurt her that way. But he had to go home and figure out what to do, his family was counting on the money he was supposed to be bringing home. His sister would be having a baby soon and he wanted to make sure she would be taken care of. Of course, her husband Aang would be there but it never hurt to be prepared.

He thought about telling Azula about his troubles, not the con of course, but about his money troubles. That way, maybe, he’d be able to keep Azula and help his family as well. Maybe she would understand and he could just go con someone else. And sometimes he thought about coming clean to her, telling her everything and having faith that she would understand. Sure, she would be pissed at first but she would eventually forgive him  and learn to trust him again. But that wasn’t a risk he wanted to to take.

He sighed as he finished his letter and sealed it in an envelope. This was the main way he kept his family updated on his progress, or lack there of in this situation. He signed the letter off and prepared to take it to the post when Azula came into the room.

“Babe.” She says as she approached him, kissing his lips softly.

“Hey baby, how was the meeting with your father?” He asked and she rolled her eyes.

“Terribly boring. I thought of you the whole time.” She smiled at him and he grinned.

“Dirty thoughts I hope.” He jokes and and she slaps his chest.

“Is that all you think about?” Azula asks with a raised eyebrow and he shrugs.

“Maybe but they’re always are about you.” He grins and she kisses his lips.

“They better be.” Came her reply.

They spent the rest of the morning relaxing with each other. The couple had a special dynamic that no one had ever expected from a common boy and a rich princess. It had always been interesting for people to see them out in public and around the palace. When Azula was pulled away for another meeting, Sokka decided that it was the right one to go mail off his letter. He had told his father that the job the was way more complicated than he could have expected aka he fell in love with her and didn’t know what to do. He just hoped to god that Azula never found out his initial true intentions in their relationship.

Azula returned to their room later, in search of her favorite necklace. She had important event she had to do to later and the necklace pulls her outfit together. It was missing from her jewelry boxes and her closet. She checked the floor and under the bed and came up with nothing. She went over to Sokka’s drawers to check just in case and was met by a bunch of letters. She knew his family had been struggling and she had planned to surprised him with a trip back home. She cared about him a lot and wanted to make sure that he was okay in life. She had also hoped to meet his family eventually. This was the first boyfriend she had ever been serious about and she didn’t want to mess this face up, she wanted to go about it properly. She simply picked up a letter and decided to read it. She hoped he wouldn’t be too angry with her.

The letter went as follows:

Sokka,

I hope you’re doing well. We miss you dearly and can’t wait to see you again. How is the job going? I hope you aren’t suffering too much with princess Rich Bitch. I know you said she wasn’t that bad last letter but I don’t believe you. I hope you’re getting close to the end. How much do you think you’ll get from her? Enough to never con again? I hope so, I hate sending you away for this, it’s a huge risk. But she won’t miss the money and she’ll probably won’t even notice you’re gone before she’s on to the next guy. I hope to hear from you soon and hopefully you’ll be on your way home to us.

With much love and luck, your father.

Azula’s crushes the paper, ripping holes in it with her fingernails. Her nails pierced her skin through the paper almost drawing blood and her tears filled her eyes. She had trusted him, she had told him so much about herself and he was playing her. All he wanted was money from her. Like everyone else. He was damn good at his fucking job because she believed every second of it. She looked further in his drawers frantically to find a small bag of her jewelry. She inspected the bag to find the necklace she was looking for and even more precious jewelry she loved. In addition to that, there were more letters from his family, his father and sister. They were all consistent, speaking about a con that he was supposed to pull off. Her body was practically trembling at this point, her heart in shambles. She wanted to kill him, she could kill him but that would break her heart more than what was happening now.

It was nearly perfect timing as Sokka reentered the room with a grin on his face. He was happy to spend the rest of the day with his girlfriend. So was surprised to see her standing over his drawers.

“Zules, what’s wrong?” He asked as he approached her and he was met by a slap and a distraught Azula, tears streaming down her face.

“You fucking piece of shit! How could you?” She hits his chest as she cried and Sokka was in too much shock to stop her. When his brain finally put two and two together, he sighed as he backed away from her.

“Azula, I-“ He started but the look on her face told him to shut up.

“I trusted you, I told you everything and you were only using me! For something as stupid as money! Something I could have easily given you. Why did you stay for so long? Why didn’t you just take what you wanted and ran?” She screams at him and he tries to touch her but she slaps his hand away.

“I fell in love with you.” He answers softly, his eyes filled with regret and anguish. She scoffed and glared at him.

“You expect me to believe that shit!” Azula laughs and it was nothing like that beautiful laugh he was used to hearing. This was something sad, something he had never heard before.

“It’s the truth! I’ll tell you everything right now.” He practically pleaded. He had hoping this would never happen because he never wanted her to doubt his love for her. Despite his true intentions he loved her more than anything.

“What! What’s the truth? That you’ve using me from day we’ve met. That you probably stalked me to meet me. That you’ve been stealing things from me while you laid in my bed.” He can see the emotion start to leave her, her wall being quickly built back up in place. Her voice was cold as he had ever heard it.

“Azula I’m begging you to listen to me.”

“I want you out!” She said and Sokka froze.

“No, Zules, please. I’ll do anything, anything at all to prove it. To prove that I love you.” Sokka is on his knees at this point and Azula turned around, snatching her jewelry out of his drawer before walking to the door. She swiftly opened it and refused to look at him before saying, “I don’t ever want to see you again. I’ll have your stuff outside the door by tonight.” Sokka looked up at her, just hoping to get through to her but she held strong. He sighed before standing and walking over towards the door. He had planted one last kiss on her cheek, revelling in the fact that she didn’t push him away before he walked out of the door.

Sokka returned later, when it was dark out to collect his things. He had spent the day beating himself up about what he had done. He was stupid for not throwing away all of those letters away. For thinking he could just hold the jewelry in his drawer like that. The con artist in him was disappointed in how he forget essentials of the job that quickly. He didn’t even want to get started on how angry he was at home self for doing that to Azula. He loved her and once he had made that clear he should have told his father. He should have stopped then and found a different way to get the money. There were so many things he should have done to prevent this from happening. During the day, he decided to write a final letter to Azula, hoping to at least get her to understand and hopefully she would at least get some closure.

Sokka approached the door, all of his things placed in bags outside of the door. He sighed as he began to gather his things, he had already found an inn to stay in for the night. Once he had everything, he had slipped the letter under her door, hoping that she wouldn’t instantly disregard it. That she would take the time to read it. He quickly left and made his way back to the inn, hoping not to run into anyone.

Azula heard someone approach her door as she was getting ready. As much as she wanted to stay in bed and cry, she had to make her event and put on a brave face. She heard the bags moving and rustling and knew that it had to be Sokka. She sucked in a breath, wishing she could go out there and see him. She listened as he grabbed everything and felt the stab in her heart. It seemed like no matter what she did no one was there to stay. As she was putting on her necklace, she heard something enter the room and noticed a envelope at the foot of her door. She immediately noticed Sokka’s handwriting and threw down on her desk. She refused to let him ruin her night.

That was something that seemed inevitable because as she talked to people during the event, her mind went back to that letter. She eventually left early to go back home. She could help but to want to read what he said. When she finally got home, she went straight to the letter, immediately ripping it open.

Zules,

I don’t know how to start this but I want you to know that I do love you. No matter my initial intentions were, I fell in love with you. I want to explain why I did what I did and hope that one day you could forgive me for hurting you. I simply wanted to help my family. I won’t lie to you, I’ve done this to others but it quickest way to get the money we needed. I thought I would just get the money and go. I didn’t intend hurt you like this. And I know that doesn’t make it any better but I want tug to know that I am terribly sorry that I did this to you. You didn’t deserve this at all and is do anything to make up for, to gain you’re forgiveness. And I don’t expect you to ever take me back but I’ll never stop loving you. Loving everything about you. I hope that one day you could forgive me, and that you don’t write everyone off because of my stupid mistake. You deserve happiness. And while I want to be that person, I get that you can’t trust me and that’s all my fault. But I’ll always be there.

Sokka.

She was in tears by the end of it. Drops staining the paper as she read through his words over and over. She hated the fact that she believed him. That she still believes him after what she learned. But she wouldn’t go after him, she couldn’t let herself. She refused to do that, she deserved better than someone who only wanted to use her.

And she kept her word for months. She meant what said and didn’t reach out to him. And while she did that, her cold, unbreakable persona took over again. She was then again the resident bitch and she took on that character with stride. She hadn’t seen Sokka in months and was glad. She didn’t want to because she fall back into him and she didn’t want to. She couldn’t trust herself. So she thought she was seeing things when she saw a dirty, sad looking Sokka outside of an inn on her way to a party.

“Sokka?” She quickly walked over and was met by the same blue eyes that trapped her the first time.

“Zules.” He practically jumped on her as he hugged her tightly. Azula sighed as she almost fell into him and his strong comforting arms. “I never thought I’d see you again, not like this.” He tells her and she frowns at the sight of him.

“I thought you went home.” She says, her voiced cold, almost completely void of emotion.

“Yeah...I wanted to but I couldn’t really and-“

“Why didn’t you come back?” She asked and he shrugged.

“I….I didn’t deserve your help. I didn’t deserve anything else from you.” He admits and she sighs.

“Come with me.” Azula sighed and Sokka’s eyes widen in shock.

“No, I’m fine. It won’t be too long before I-“

“Come. With. Me.” Her voice was firm and he nodded, throwing his bag on his back and walking quietly behind her as she looked to be taking him back to the palace.

“Where are your bodyguards?” Sokka asked as they approached the doors.

“I snuck away from them. I needed to free my mind.” She tells him and he frowns.

“I’m s-“

“Don’t even start.” The princess cut him off and he instantly shut his mouth. The pair made their way to her room and she laid out a towel.

“Go take a shower, you’re filthy.” She tells him and he nods, taking the towel and going to the bathroom to do as she said.

“What the hell am I doing?” Azula thought as she paced around her room. “He’s no good for me. He’s no good for anyone. He’s nothing but a liar. A liar and a thief, a con artist. He doesn’t deserve anything from me.” The words swam around her brain as she paced and she frowned.

“Thank you.” She was brought out of her reverie by Sokka’s voice and she frowned.

“Mhmm.” She mumbles before walking toward her closet. She pulled out a shirt and trousers before throwing it at him.

“You still had some of my clothes?” He asked and she rolled her eyes.

“I should have burned them.” Was her reply.

“I’ll be out of your hair.” He told her as he picked up his dirty bag and she grabbed his arm.

“Why?” She asked and he stopped.

“Why?” He responded and she rolled her eyes.

“Why everything you good for nothing savage!” She practically growls, her repressed anger taking over and he sighs.

“Did you read my letter?” He asked and she nods.

“Yes.” She almost spat out. The more angry she seemed to get as she looked at him. His hair was longer and he clearly needed a haircut, his beard also grew out and she could tell he was beyond tired. And despite all of the anger she had in her about what he did, she was angry with herself that she still loved him.

“I- I wish I hadn’t done it. I’ll never could never make up for it but I want you to know that.” He tells her and she shakes her head.

“That didn’t answer my question.” She took him and she sighed.

“My family had always been in trouble with money. And when my mother died, it had just gotten worse. And I happened to be good a tricking people so it was just something I did to bring in extra money. And it was working and we were fine then we weren’t. You were supposed to be the last one.” He told her and she scoffs.

“Of course I was.”  She says.

“I was going to tell you. I was trying to find the right time.”

“And what did you think was going to happen if you told me. That’s I’d say everything was okay and we’d just continue on?” Azula says angrily and he shakes his head.

“No of course not but-“

“You lied to me for two year, you betrayed my trust. You stole from me but because you love me I’m just supposed to accept that?” She shouts and he takes it. He takes all of her anger because it’s what he deserves.

“Of course not. I’d never ask you to do that but I didn’t want to lose you. Everyday with you was amazing, even in the beginning when all you could call was a snow savage.” He tells her and a small chuckle leave her mouth. It wasn’t angry but it wasn’t happy either.

“I hate you, you know that.” She tells him and he can hear the seriousness in her tone.

“I know.” Sokka tells her, rubbing the back of his neck.

They sat in that room silently for a while as she tried to figure out how she felt about this. About what he had to say. She looked at him and she still felt her heart yearn for him. She let out a ragged sigh as she began to pace again. It went on like that for a few minutes before Sokka stood up and stopped her. She glared at him as he gripped her arms, his soft eyes practically begging her to stop. A small breath left her mouth and before she knew what was happening she kissed his lips softly. Sokka kissed her back, moving his hands from her arms to her hips as he pulled her closer. They broke apart when they both could barely breath and backed away.

“No…” Azula whispered as she shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I’ll...I” Sokka began stuttering and Azula stopped him.

“What did you do to me?” Azula asked, more to herself than to Sokka but he heard her anyways.

“I-“

“No. No matter how angry I am with you, I still want you here. What the hell did you do to me? I would have never cared. I’ve had people banished for less and I can’t seem to shake you. Did you know I was gonna take you home? Right before I found those letters, I had a whole surprise trip planned for you. I would’ve taken you home and helped your family because I wanted to. That’s the only reason I read those stupid letters.” She spat out at him. She was avoiding looking him because she knew she’d fall back into his trap. His face dropped at the thought, his girlfriend preparing to do something life changing for him just did her to find out he was using her at some point in their relationship.

He felt as if there was nothing else he could say that could make her feel better, the only thing he could have ever wanted to do. He had to something to get her back, to earn her trust again. He do anything for it.

“Give me one chance!” He said loudly and her head snapped up to loom at him.

“What?”

“Please, give me one last chance to prove my love for you. To prove that everything I told you, I meant it. That I’d do anything for you.” Sokka tells her. He was met by silence for a few moments while she started pacing again. It was a long three minutes before she stopped in front of him.

“I...I’ll….you can take me on one date Sokka. One date to prove to me wrong. That’s all I’m giving you. You’re lucky you’re not in a dungeon somewhere.” She tells him and he smiled at her, a sign that told her she might regret this in the long run. That smile was able to make her do anything. But as she stared at him, she couldn’t fight a small turn of her lips.

“I swear to you. I won’t let you down.” He tells her and he moves closer hoping to kiss her once more but she shakes her head.

“Nope. I’m not doing that again. Not now.” Azula tells him and he nods, respecting her space.

“Of course, so I’ll see you tomorrow night then.” Sokka tells her as he prepares to leave her room and her eyebrow furrows.

“Where are you going?” The princess asks him and he shrugs.

“I...uh… maybe back to the inn, who knows.” Was his answer and she sighs.

“I’ll let you stay in a guest room. Any date of mine won’t be homeless.” She tells him.

“Any?” He asks and she nods.

“I could have any guy I wanted whenever I wanted.” Azula answers truthfully as they leave her room and head towards the nearest guest room. “I just unfortunately want you.” She whispered softly but Sokka would never let her know that he heard her. The pair finally made it to the room and she let him and allowed him to get comfortable.

“Thank you,” He tells her as she walks to the door.

“Mhmm.” She replies as she walks out.

That night they both laid awake in separate beds hoping that tomorrow night would be a good one. Hoping that everything would work out fine, but that the spirits would work in their favor. Neither of them knew what they were would have done if they hadn’t found their way back to each other. Back to the person they loved the most.