p a i n t -CHAPTER 5-

Aang,

I know I haven't gotten a letter from you from last time yet, but this is kind of important.  Sort of, I guess.  I'll try to keep this short because I have somewhere I need to be really soon.

I'm still in Makung, that town not far from Ba Sing Se, just so you know, and I've found someone I didn't think I'd ever see again.  Brace yourself for this one, Aang.

I found Azula living in Makung, making a humble living as an artist.  (And I must say, she's really, really good at it.)  I don't think she's up to anything sinister.  She seems to want to keep to herself most of the time.  But don't tell Katara about it.  Or Zuko for that matter.  Burn this letter as soon as you're done reading it or something.  I don't know how they'd react to it.  I don't think it'd be the best thing if they were needlessly harassing her.  I'll keep an eye on her to make sure she's not up to anything horrible and I'll keep you posted.  But she's not the whole reason I'm writing this.

The reason I'm writing this is because Makung seems to have a little spirit world action going on.  Every few nights or so a mysterious, glowing blue light floats through the nearby forest.  Last night I actually witnessed it.  It disappears and reappears without a trace, moves strangely and is pretty much just a strange occurrence I guess.  I thought it kind of looked like blue fire but the only person that could be connected to would be Azula.  And she hasn't used herfirebending once since I've seen her.  The light doesn't seem to want to hurt anyone or anything and it isn't causing any trouble except for freaking out the locals a little.  But do you think you could come check it out and possibly put the mystery to rest?  You don't have to make it a top priority, I know you're busy with Avatar stuff.

Well, I need to get going.  Don't tell Katara about Azula!

Sokka

(You should burn this letter now.)

---

Aang smiled as he read his newest letter from Sokka.  It was so nice to see Sokka's sense of humor was back, for the most part at least.  The young Avatar had to re-read the letter before he fully comprehended what Sokka was saying, though.  He found Azula.  And she seemingly wasn't up to anything.  Aang found this to be surprising.  Extremely so.  But Aang was also glad to hear that she was doing well.  He had been reluctant about Zuko allowing her to be released in the Earth Kingdom but Aang was a firm believer in giving people second chances.

He recalled all of the things that were currently on his Avatar agenda.  He didn't have anything planned anywhere near Ba Sing Se at the moment, but it never hurt to just visit.  The young Avatar figured he could fit a stop inMakung in his schedule.  Eventually.  Since it wasn't an urgent thing, Aang stuck it on the bottom of his to-do list.  He estimated he'd get that far in about...a month or so.  Maybe more, maybe less.

He started writing a reply to Sokka's letter telling Sokka when he could expect a visit from the Avatar.  Aang also warned Sokka about Azula, telling him to be careful and to not get himself into more than he could handle.  Once he was done writing, he promptly burned the letter Sokka sent before he forgot to, just like his Water Tribe friend had instructed.  Even if Katara wasn't around, it was better to carry out the request while it was still fresh in his mind, lest he forget later and have Katara find out somewhere down the road.

Once the response was dry, Aang rolled it up and sent it off with a messenger hawk.

"You take that to Sokka in Makung extra speedy, alright?"  Aang encouraged the bird, feeding it a small snack and stroking its feathered back.  It nuzzled Aang's hand before it turned and spread its wings, promptly flying away.


p a i n t


"I really think I could have done better on this," Sokka sighed, setting his bamboo brush back down on the table.  He crossed his arms and leaned back to get a better look at his painting of Azula.  She sat before him, her legs crossed.  She rolled her eyes.

"Stop being so hard on yourself.  Its annoying," Azula told him, uncrossing her legs and standing up.  She straightened her dress and flipped a few stray hairs from her face.  She dug out a few ofSokka's paintings, all of them of her.  Sokka painted a picture of Azula every week in the same exact pose.  It was mostly to show how much Sokka had improved and to help point out what he still needed to work on.

She laid them out on the table, side by side and in chronological order of when they had been painted.  She pointed at the very first one he had done, the one that looked like a blob barely resembling a human being.

"This is what you were capable of four weeks ago," She said.  She moved her hand to today's painting, "This is what you're capable of now.  I think even you can see the improvement you've made in a month."  A smile slowly appeared on Sokka's lips as his eyes jumped between each of his paintings.

"Yeah, I guess you're right.  I have improved a lot.  These paintings are starting to actually look like you," Sokka said, his smile nearly ear to ear.

"My head isn't shaped like a cabbage."

"Hey, I didn't say they look exactly like you.  I said they're starting to look like you.  There's a difference."

"Not a big one," Azula snorted with a small smirk.  Sokka childishly stuck his tongue out at her.  Azula rolled her eyes again.  Sokka yawned and stood up, stretching.  He had been working on that painting for a long time, he was feeling a little stiff.

"Well, I think I'm going to go into town for some lunch.  You want to come?" Sokka asked her.  Since he wasn't helping Azula with things around the house constantly anymore, Sokka now had the time to find odd jobs around town and make some money for himself.

"No.  I have something I need to work on," She replied.  Sokka shrugged.

"Suit yourself," He said before leaving.

Sokka ended up sitting down for lunch at a tiny little place.  He heard they had pretty good food there.  He ordered the lo mein.  While it was pretty tasty, he was slightly disappointed.  It wasn't quite as good as Azula's.

Wait, what?

That was right, Sokka actually had a preference for Azula's cooking.  As strange...weird and totally nonsensical as it was.

After lunch he decided to do a little shopping.  Shopping always put the warrior in a great mood.  He didn't find anything he particularly needed or wanted, but it was still a good way to kill a little time before he went back up by Azula's.  He was supposed to go down to the river and help her with laundry today.

Before too long though, Sokka started heading back towards her place.  Azula would know that he was procrastinating if he stayed away for much longer.  And over the last month Sokka had learned that procrastinating was not a very good thing to do around Azula.  It usually irritated her.  And an irritated Azula was never fun to deal with.

Not even bothering to knock, Sokka went inside the house.  He saw Azula sitting at the table, entranced in her latest painting.  He also...heard her.

She was...singing.

"An extraordinary beauty from the North, the most beautiful being in the world..."

Sokka recognized the melody.  That was the song she was always humming.

"From her first glance, the city bows before her, from her second the empire falls to ruins..."

He watched her intently, listening to the words even if her voice was very quiet.  He took a few small steps farther into the room.

"And there isn't a city or empire we can admire more than her..."

Sokka swallowed hard, not knowing what to do at that point.  He took another step forward.  The floorboard creaked.  That immediately got Azula's attention.  Her head snapped up from her painting and her eyes narrowed into a glare.  Aimed at Sokka, of course.

"How long have you been standing there?" She demanded.  Sokka fidgeted a little, searching his brain for a proper response.

"Uh...long enough to know you were singing about yourself?"  He had a feeling that was not one.  Her glare strengthened.  Now it was one of the 'sending daggers through your skull with my eyes' variety.  Those were never good.

"That's ridiculous," Azula insisted, setting her brush in the vial of water and crossing her arms.  She raised an eyebrow, awaiting his inevitable bad comeback.

"Come on!  It was totally obvious!  You used to crush empires!  And you... you, uhm..."

"I'm beautiful?" Azula smirked.  She could already tell this was going to be hilarious.

"I never said that!" Sokka protested.

"So I'm not beautiful?"

"...I never said that either!  I just said I thought you were singing about yourself because that song was uh...fitting," Sokka explained.  Azula gave a small chuckle.  He just made it way too easy.

"Its a traditional Fire Nation lullaby.  A folk song.  Written centuries before I was even born," Azula explained, rolling her eyes.  She picked her brush back up and went back to painting.  Sokka sighed and crossed the rest of the room and hovered over her, watching her paint.  It was a landscape.  From what Sokka could tell so far, it kind of looked like the Fire Nation.  With the palm trees, the dark sand and the bright teal colored water.

"So, where is that?" He asked, pointing at her painting.

"Nowhere, but I'm basing it off what I can remember of Ember Island," Azula explained.

"Why Ember Island?"

"Client asked for tropical landscape.  Do you see a tropical landscape anywhere near Makung?"

"No, not really."

"My point exactly."

"Well, its very pretty," Sokka complimented it with a smile.  Azula looked at him over her shoulder, eyebrow raised.

"You say that about all my paintings," She stated, turning back to her landscape.

"Well, what else am I supposed to say?  That they're horrible abominations and deserve to be burned?" Sokka questioned sarcastically.

"You could find a word other than 'pretty'," Azula suggested.

"Alright.  Your paintings are very pulchritudinous," Sokka said, grinning ear to ear.  Azula rolled her eyes and groaned.  Sokka was just proud of himself for coming up with such a big and appropriate word so quickly.  Her lack of response lead him to believe he had just won that little...whatever you wanted to call it.

"Don't you have something better to be doing?" Azula asked quietly, most of her attention focused on her painting.  Sokka ignored her inquiry.

"You know.  I'd like to see you paint the lights," He said nonchalantly.

"...What?"

"Back home, at the South Pole.  They're kind of hard to explain, actually.  They kind of look like a fire in the sky, but one that moves in slow motion and according to Water Tribe legend, they are a fire.  I guess our ancestors light them every year to guide us home...Something like that.  Not that I believe any of that or anything.  I'm too smart.  But it doesn't change the fact that they're really beautiful.  And I think it'd be interesting to see your rendition of them," Sokka explained.

"That's absolutely fascinating," Azula said dryly.

"You weren't paying attention to a word I just said, were you?"

"Why bother?  You said it."

"That's not very nice," Sokka pouted.

"...And?" Azula asked.  Sokka just sighed, brushing it off.  Not many knew this but, Azula did, in fact, have a sense of humor.  He continued to stand behind her, watching her paint.  He loved to watch her.  It was usually a great learning experience.  Painting just came so...naturally to her.  Like she didn't even have to think about it.  Watching her was also just another way Sokka loved to mildly irritate her.  It was always interesting to see how long she'd put up with it before she'd shoo him away.

Out of the blue, she started mumbling to herself.  Azula abruptly set the brush she was holding back down on the table.  Her hands clenched into fists.  For the most part, Sokka couldn't understand her.

"Azula?" He called her name, hoping to get her attention.  It didn't work.  Her nonsensical ramblings just grew a little louder.  Sokka could pick out a few words, but he still couldn't make sense of anything she was saying, "Azula?" He called again.  She stood up, rubbing her temples.

"...There is no...in...no..." Azula said rather clearly.  She grunted, holding her head and shaking it a few times before she froze where she stood.  And then collapsed.  Reacting immediately, Sokka caught her, his arms wrapping around her middle.  She felt so small in his arms, Sokka thought.  Sometimes it was just so easy to forget that Azula was, in fact, a woman.  He pulled her back up to her feet but she didn't stand up.  She mostly leaned on him.

Sokka suddenly felt extremely nervous; he could hear his heart pounding.  There was no doubt in his mind that if she snapped out of it, she'd rip him to shreds in seconds for even daring to touch her.  He swallowed, hard, moving his hands up to her shoulders and shaking her a little.

"Azula?  Come on, talk to me," Sokka said, shaking her again.  She grumbled again, her face twisting into a pained expression.  She opened her eyes for a split second, looking up at him.  She didn't even seem to notice that he was currently holding her up.

"...My...head," She managed to say.

"Your head hurts?" Sokka questioned for clarification.  She nodded.  Sokka bit his lip for a second, unsure of what he should do next.  He didn't want to do anything to make her angry but at the moment?  She didn't really seem like she was in the kind of position to be getting angry at anyone.  Sokka sighed, quickly moving an arm behind her and dipping down to scoop her up in his arms.  Sokka would have never thought her to be as light as she was.  Not that it was a bad thing.  He knew that despite her smallish stature, Azula was a force to be reckoned with, even without herfirebending.

As quickly as he could manage, Sokka carried her through the house and into her bedroom.  He set her down on the bed softly.  She adjusted herself a little, finding a more comfortable position.  Sokka placed his hand over her forehead, checking her temperature.  It didn't feel like she had a fever so that was good, at least.  It was just a bad headache.  He sat beside her on the beside her on the bed.

He noticed that Azula's hair was braided.  Sokka remembered that whenever Katara would have a headache she'd undo her braid and let her hair down.  Sokka had most definitely been pushing his limits in the last five minutes but she didn't seem to notice, let alone care.  Maybe if he undid her braid for her that would help ease the pain...

Deciding to take the chance, Sokka scooted a little closer to her and reached behind her head, grabbing her braid.  She didn't move.  Sokka pulled the small tie off the end and tossed it aside.  She still didn't move, aside from her breathing.  Must have been some headache.  He started taking the braid out of her hair, slowly, being extra careful not to pull on her hair at all.  When he was done her dark hair had a gentle wave and had more than a little poof to it.  Her hair surrounded her, making her look almost double in size.  He smiled.  Hopefully that would make it a little more comfortable for her.

Sokka stood up, figuring he should leave her alone now.  She needed to rest.  As he headed towards the door though, she made a soft sigh.  It gotSokka's attention.  He turned around, freezing in his tracks, instantly forgetting why he had even turned around in the first place.

That was the first time Sokka looked at Azula and thought she was beautiful.

Sure, he had always thought she was pretty.  Even when they were teenagers and she had been...well, evil.  You'd have to be crazy not to realize she was a rather attractive female.  But now she just looked...beautiful.  There was no other way Sokka could put it.  Maybe it was the way the light was shining in through the window and landing on her.  Maybe it was the way her hair looked, spread out all around her.  Maybe it was the way her lips were slightly parted...but whatever it was...she looked beautiful.

After a few moments, Sokka made a decision.  He was going to prove that he could paint her better than he did that morning.

He swiftly gathered all the things he'd need, including a small table.  He set up everything in Azula's room, right in front of her, being as quiet as he possibly could.  In no time at all he was ready to begin.  He sat down at the table, taking a piece of lead in his hand to start sketching her out.  He didn't want to take too long with that because he felt like he was being timed.  She could wake up at any given moment and how awkward would that be?  Probably not as awkward as things had been between them at first, but still pretty high up there on the awkward scale.  And it was probably a little on the dangerous side.

She stirred a little, but not enough to force Sokka to completely redo his sketch of her.  As he started to work on her face he idly wondered why he hadn't realized she was beautiful sooner.  He had been living with her for about a month now...  Of course, Sokka had never really thought of her as anything but 'enemy' until he had found her here in this town...And that causedSokka's mind to trail off on another thought.

What did he think of Azula as now?  She definitely wasn't his enemy anymore, that was for sure.  Sokka wasn't sure if he could consider her a friend or not.  Sokka wanted to, though.  He thought they had some sort of twisted friendship thing going on.  But it didn't seem like Azula really considered anyone as a friend.  Not anymore, at least.  That didn't mean he couldn't call her a friend.

Even in his mind that just didn't sound right.  Azula?  Friend?  Yeah, that was right.  It had to be.  He didn't know what else he could call her so friend would just have to do.  He wondered what she really thought of him as well.  There had to be a reason she had actually put up with him this long.  Maybe she did think of him as a friend.

...Not that Sokka really cared or anything.

And as he slowly started to paint over his sketch, Sokka could hear Suki's voice in the back of his mind.

"Of course you care!  You wouldn't be thinking this hard about it if you didn't," She chided.  Sokka could just see the smug look on her face too.  That was frustrating.  He grumbled, annoyed that his subconscious would play such cruel games with him.

"And you can stop pretending you can't hear me right now, Sokka!" She added.  That brought a smile to his face.  That was just like her...

Had it really been a year since she and the baby had passed away?  It didn't seem like it had been that long... Sokka was starting to realize that time just seemed to fly by faster and faster the older he got.  Just thinking about it brought a little heartache to his chest.  But it was a dull heartache.  It was still painful, but it wasn't the kind of pain that made you double over and writhe anymore.  This was the kind of pain that could be overcome.  And Sokka really thought finding Azula had helped him with that, at least a little bit.  He was grateful, even if he knew he'd never say anything about it to her.

Looking at what he had accomplished so far with this painting, Sokka was proud of himself.  Maybe it had just been some sort of freak accident, but the colors were flowing together almost like one of Azula's paintings.  And Azula's head wasn't cabbage shaped.  In fact, he thought it looked almost exactly like the sleeping woman.

Sokka knew he needed to take it one step further and move on with his life completely, but he still wasn't sure if he could.   

"Are you happy right now?" Suki's voice came back again.  Sokka sighed.  Well, he certainly wasn't unhappy.  He sighed.  This thought topic wasn't exactly pleasant.  So he just stopped it right there.  He needed to focus all of his attention on his painting right now anyway.  He was just so far along now that it would have really, really sucked if he messed it up now because his mind was wandering elsewhere.  He'd pick up that thought topic later.

Biting his lips together, Sokka put some finishing touches on his painting.  He wanted it to be perfect.  Or as perfect as he could possibly make it, anyway.  After a while, Sokka just stopped himself.  He knew that if he kept fiddling with it he'd end up ruining it.  Or at least that's what Azula would always say.

He carefully carried it into the main room and set it down on the table next to the painting he had done that morning.  Yeah.  He definitely proved he could do a lot better than that.  Sokka smiled smugly before he went off to clean up the mess he had made.  He had to make sure he left everything cleaner than it had been before.  Otherwise Azula would have a fit.  Sokka knew the rules of the house.  Number one was "Clean up after yourself or die."

He hadn't realized just how long he had been working on that thing.  It was almost dark out by the time he sat down to eat something.  And for barely doing anything aside from painting all day, Sokka was exhausted.  He yawned, wondering when Azula would be feeling better.  Sokka went into her bedroom to check on her again.  He thought it was awfully strange how she had just randomly gotten a headache.  And how she had spaced out and started mumbling again.  He was really starting to think there was something going on with her that she wasn't telling him.  Sokka hoped she woke up soon, though.  Partly because he was a little worried...

...But mostly because he just really, really wanted to show her what he had been working on all day.