Chapter 0 - Sparring

So, instead of my original stuff, I wrote fanfic! I didn't plan on it, but my other stories aren't really cooperating, and this idea popped into my head. AtLA is one of my favorite cartoons, and even though there was never any hint of this pairing, I've always thought it would be hot :)

I've got some backstory in my head for this, but it's not really relevant to this scene. Just assume that things diverged from canon somewhere during "The Chase" in Season 2.

Sokka was shuffling through a pile of proposals for the Council, considering whether he should get up from his comfy couch and move into his office -- he had an office now, and wouldn't he have been amazed with that if you'd told him that a few years ago -- when the door swung open and Azula stalked inside. She didn't say anything but dropped onto the couch next to him. He looked aside at her, sitting stiffly upright with her hands in her lap and a closed expression on her face.

He hesitated for a moment, dropped the papers onto the table and pushed them aside, then scooted sideways until his shoulder was just touching Azula. He felt her relax fractionally.

"So, what brings you here this early?" he asked, keeping his tone light.

He wouldn't have noticed the way her eyes flicked aside to look in his direction for a moment if he hadn't been expecting it.

"The Kyoshi Warriors were at the new Council hall," she said, and only long practice allowed him to hear how upset she was in her carefully-neutral tone as she went on, "Ty Lee was with them."

"Ah," he said, extracting his arm from between them and draping it over her shoulder. She slipped sideways, just barely leaning into him. "Did she say anything?"

Azula let out a breath that might have been a laugh. "No. She didn't look at me, like always."

"Hmm," he hummed, neutrally. He'd known her for several years now, and he knew she didn't like long conversations when she got like this. He squeezed her shoulder and pulled her further against himself. From the corner of his eye, he could see her expression relax slightly as she molded herself against him, though she kept staring straight ahead. She looked vulnerable, a look he saw on her only rarely, and never in public.

***

He gathered his strength and dragged himself out of the water, flopping down on the uneven rocky surface. In the sickly green light from a few scattered crystals in the ceiling and walls, he could just barely make out the unmoving form of the lightning girl, lying on her side only halfway out of the rushing water. After a few moments and a cursory self-examination -- nothing seemed to be broken, though he was bruised all over and there was a cut on his arm -- he struggled upright and crawled over to her.

"Great idea, Sokka," he mumbled to himself. "'No, Aang, you can't be the distraction! You're the one they're looking for! I'll lead the crazy Fire Nation girls away!' Hah!"

He hadn't really formed any firm idea as to what he was going to do about her when he reached her. He was still a little dazed, and at first he just looked at her. The layered, armored clothing she wore had been ripped and torn in several places, and it was soaked clear through. The flame hairpiece was still in her hair, but it had been bent and scraped along the rocks until it was barely recognizable.

His hand drifted to his machete, until he realized he must have lost it while he was being dragged along by the floodwater. A quick search revealed that he still had his boomerang, though it was a little battered. He turned the girl onto her back. That was probably a mistake, he realized. Outside, while she'd been chasing him and when she'd been shooting fire and lightning at him after she'd caught up with him in the abandoned town, she'd looked vicious and cruel. Now, unconscious, with a cut across her forehead and with her wet hair plastered over her face, she just looked young, and vulnerable.

She couldn't be much older than Katara.

***

They sat quietly for a few minutes, neither of them speaking. Eventually, Azula spoke again, in a faraway voice, "She just looked at me, and then she turned away."

Sokka could figure out what she meant.

"Well, there's still some bad blood. I don't think you can expect her to talk to you before she's ready. If she's ever going to."

Azula shifted, a hand on Sokka's arm pulling it down further so that he was holding her tightly. She turned her head to face him.

"I kept thinking she was going to stab me in the back," she said.

Sokka moved his other arm and squeezed her hand.

"I don't think she will. There's peace now, right? There's no longer a reason for people to be fighting."

She bent down and lay her head on his chest. "When I see her, my thoughts get confused again," she mumbled. "Like... Before."

Sokka nodded. They rarely spoke about her breakdown, the one he'd had a front-row seat to from his cell by the palace. Just oblique references; 'Before,' 'After the Boiling Rock,' 'The last days of the war.'

"It's not like that anymore," he said, helplessly. "I'm here for you, alright?"

"Hmm," she mumbled against his chest. Normally, she looked bigger than she was, but she looked small like this.

After a couple of minutes, she shook herself, stood up and gripped Sokka's upper arm. Her fingernails dug into his skin as she pulled him upright. The moment of vulnerability seemed to be over.

"Let's spar," she said, looking at him with too-bright eyes.

Sokka glanced at the open expanse of dirt behind the house. He had sometimes thought about building a garden or something, but he never seemed to have enough time. Anyway, it was nice to have a place for exercise that would not get damaged from a bit of firebending. They sometimes sparred together here, but Azula was not usually as abrupt about it as she was now.

Still, it might be good to distract her from her thoughts for a bit.

"Alright," he said.

He took a moment to take off his coat and fold it neatly before placing it on the table. It was new, and even with the increasing numbers of people moving into the city from all over it was still hard to find blue clothes here.

Azula stalked to the center of the yard and stood waiting impatiently until he joined her. He looked her over once more. She was still jittery, but she seemed to settle a little as she took a stance. He mirrored her, then bowed. "Ready when you are," he said.

As he expected, she launched herself forward immediately, throwing a series of punches at him which he dodged and blocked easily. He noted with satisfaction that she was pulling her punches and keeping it light. Sometimes their sparring got a little more intense than that. Not that they actually tried to hurt each other, but they sometimes ended up with big bruises.

He fell back, giving ground and dodging a couple of kicks while he warmed up and looked for patterns. Then he fell into a crouch, letting her fist pass just overhead and aiming a sweep at her legs. She jumped, turning in the air and landing beside him, a knee already moving in his direction. He dodged that, too, and grabbed for it, managing to nearly trip her up before she got loose.

His breathing quickened as he got up to speed. A smile formed on his face, and he saw the expression on hers turn more relaxed as well as they continued to kick and dodge. He could never have imagined that first time he saw her -- when she had shot lightning at him and his friends! -- that fighting her would become something he enjoyed.

Sidestep, then nearly dodge a shove that almost sent him sprawling. Turn it into a roll, and kick at her legs as he jumped back up. "Good one!" he called out, and saw her mouth curl up at the corner.

He could tell she was still out of sorts. Her moves were still near-perfect technically, but they came just a little too slow, the follow-up a little hesitant. He managed to get a couple of hits in on her arms and even got a grip on her wrist for a moment, allowing him to throw her to the ground before she managed to slip free.

Normally he never managed that this early in her bout. He usually had to rely on his endurance and his ability to take a couple of hits, letting them both get a little more tired before he could get any hits of his own in. The thought struck him, as it did periodically, that it really was ironic that the guy who had been convinced that only men could be warriors would find himself surrounded by women who could kick his ass.

The moment of reminiscence cost him, and he found himself sprawled on the packed dirt. He tried to roll aside, but a quick hand caught his elbow and tried to pin him in place. Azula's face came in close. There was a sparkle in her eye now as her... spiky hair things? He really needed to ask if there was a name for those... As they hovered in front of his face.

"Surrender!" she laughed. Well, maybe it was more of a cackle, but she got self-conscious when he called it that.

"Never!" he replied, and with a jerk of his legs he managed to throw her off. He struggled to his feet as she rolled aside. She flung out a hand and caught the bottom of his pants, but he managed to jerk free of her grip, though there was a sound of tearing cloth.

"Hey! I like these pants!"

"And you look good in them!" she replied, and Sokka had to dodge quickly to avoid her as she sprang back in his direction. He kicked after her but missed.

They sparred for a while, neither of them really getting the upper hands as they kicked an grabbed, both of them dodging almost every blow until Sokka's heart was thumping in his chest.

Eventually there was a lull and they found themselves staring at each other from across the yard, chests heaving with exertion. Sokka could see a gleam in her eyes and a smirk on her face. It looked like she was feeling better, at least.

He took the opportunity to take a deep breath, and then he saw her leg tense and they were off again. As she rushed toward him, he had a fraction of a second to notice the blue glow of flame erupt from her hand, and a moment to wonder if she had lost control. Then she was past him, jumping nimbly over his outstretched leg and the left side of his shirt fell apart, a neat line of scorched cloth parting as he moved.

The realization what she was doing flashed through his head. He felt his lips curl into a smile as he sped after her, managing a quick grab at her own shirt as she rolled aside. There was a ripping sound and then he was holding a torn scrap of cloth while the remains of her shirt fluttered to the ground. The scorched remains of his own shirt were lying a few feet behind him.

They both whirled to face each other again, and Sokka saw that his own smile was answered by a fierce grin on Azula's face. The contact didn't last long before they rushed toward each other again. The atmosphere between them had changed, however, and this time when the reached each other there were no punches or kicks. Azula tried to move close to him, trying to grab his arm and pull him into a grapple. Sokka responded with a leg sweep, which succeeded this time as Azula overextended herself.

She went down, though she managed to pull Sokka along, making him land awkwardly on his side next to her, then roll back as a hand wreathed in blue flame flashed past. There was a brief moment of uncertainly as he wondered whether she had lost control, but as the fire whooshed past his arm he could tell that it had not been aimed to actually hit him. There was a brief sensation of heat by his waist and then of coolness as the afternoon air hit suddenly-exposed skin.

He reversed directions quickly, rolling out of the burn remains of his pants as het lashed out and caught Azula's arm before she could get her guard up again. He tried to pin it to the sandy ground, but at the last moment she pulled free with a triumphant snarl and scampered away. She looked back as she did so, losing just enough momentum for Sokka to catch the waistband of her pants with the tips of his fingers. He held on, his fingers complaining at the sudden forceful yank, and just before his grip gave way he heard tearing sound as the seam of her pants gave way.

Azula whirled around, sweeping at his arm with her foot, making one leg of her pants tear away entirely as she ended in a crouch. Her hair was coming undo from its usual neat hairdo, now framing the intent expression on her face in untidy strands. Sokka took the opportunity to struggle to his feet while Azula stripped off the torn remains of her pants, leaving her in only the Fire Nation-style bra and panties that had surprised him so much the first time he had seen them. Sokka was now clad only in his familiar Water Tribe loincloth.

Their gazes met again, heat -- metaphorical this time, you needed to specify when Firebenders were involved -- flashing between them.

"Ready to give up yet," Azula called, her voice steadier now and taking on a taunting tone that Sokka recognized as friendly banter only because of long practice.

"You're gonna have to work harder for that, Princess," her replied. He judged that she could take the reference to her title as the teasing it was meant as.

He seemed to be right, because she smiled again -- to the untrained eye, it looked like a smirk, but he knew her -- and approached him, carefully dodging from side to side to make him guess at her intent. He knew her style by now, though, and she wasn't quite fighting at her best yet. He evaded her as she grabbed for him, spun around as she passed, grabbed at her, and send her careening to the side. She stumbled to avoid crashing into the wall of the house.

She turned, chest heaving, and Sokka held up the remains of her bra, his gaze fixed pointedly on the reddish indentations on her skin where the straps had peen ripped away and on her firm breasts, quivering with the effort of breathing. He allowed his smile to turn into a smirk as his gaze met her golden eyes.

"Looking good," he taunted.

With a wordless shout, Azula rushed forward again, springing into the air a few feet away and passing over him as he fell backwards to avoid her. Her face passed inches from his, and then a fraction of a second later those dusky-nippled perfect breast rushed past as well, distracting him for half a second until Azula landed right behind him and swept out his legs from underneath him.

He flung out both arms clumsily during his fall and felt a brief moment of triumph as there was a ripping sound. He landed on his back with an 'oomph!' and had half a moment to appreciate the torn scrap he was holding before he noticed a feeling of fresh air around his own waist.

He looked up to see Azula standing over him, holding his unwrapped loincloth, her smirk turning into a scowl as she noticed the torn panties falling from his hand. Sokka didn't act for a moment as he appreciated the sight before him, Azula now completely nude, legs slightly spread in a half-crouch as she stood over his head. He was pretty sure that he could see her excitement shining between her legs on her -- shaved bare! That had been unexpected, the first time -- lips.

Then he noticed that she wasn't attacking again either, and he realized that her eyes were fixed at where his excited state was also clearly visible, pointing up at the sky.

He was about to call an end to the fight and suggest something other fun activity when Azula's eyes narrowed again. Sokka reacted just in time to avoid having his arm pinned by her leg as she dropped down, letting his loincloth fall from her hand as she grabbed for him.

Their arms met, hands grappling for dominance as Azula tried to pin him in place while he tried to turn the tables on her. They rolled over and over along the training ground, kicking up dust as they grappled and each tried to pin their opponent.

Despite her smaller size, Azula usually won when they sparred like this -- when they sparred in any way, to be honest -- but Sokka could tell she still wasn't fighting at her full skill. When they bumped into the low wall where he was going to plant some flower beds any day now, he was on top, and he could tell by the surprised look in her eyes that she had lost track of her surroundings.

He pinned one of her hands against the dirt above her head, avoided a swipe of her nails, and managed to get his legs over hers, trapping her in place. A moment later, he caught her last free limb -- at the price of a scratch to his shoulder -- and pinned that wrist against the wall.

For a moment, neither of them moved, both of them panting as the looked into each others' eyes. Azula looked outraged at her predicament, though Sokka, by long familiarity with the subtleties of her expressions, could tell by the set of her mouth that she was not entirely displeased. Not that she would ever admit that out loud.

"Surrender, Princess?" he asked, though he knew what the answer would be.

"Never!" she panted, struggling to escape from his hold, her body rubbing against his. Her hard nipples poked against his chest.

"Then I'll have to convince you."

His erection was rock hard and she was dripping wet by now, so it took only two attempts before, with a twist of his hips, he managed to spear her pussy, thrusting halfway inside in a single movement. Her eyes went wide her next taunt turning into a grunt as her breath left her body in surprise.

She wriggled against him for a moment, accepting another inch of his length, before she caught herself. Then she pushed at him again and resumed her struggle.

"You'll have to do better than that! she snarled, though a blush of excitement was forming on her cheeks.

Sokka didn't reply, but simply bent down and sucked hard on the junction of her neck and shoulder, making her shiver. Then, taking care to keep her legs pinned with his, he pulled halfway out of her again and thrust back in hard, burying as much of his cock inside her as he could in this awkward position.

There was another grunt of expelled breath by his ear.

"You-" Azula began again, trailing off into a sigh as he pushed himself up, pressing her wrists against the ground.

Sokka pounded into her again, feeling her silky heat clench around his length and making her moan again.

"Is this doing better?" he whispered into her ear before catching the lobe between his teeth.

Azula tried to throw him off again, though the way she canted her hips and the way her growl sounder more like a groan made it clear she wasn't trying too hard. Sokka smiled to himself and tugged lightly on her ear, pressing his chest against hers as he pulled out again and began thrusting into her pussy in hard, long strokes.

"Hngh! Harder!" Azula breathed. She finally got a leg free, but simply curled it around him, encouraging him to fuck her harder and faster.

Soon all thoughts of sparring were forgotten, both Azula's legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust into her as hard as he could, their heated bodies pressed together while their mouths explored every inch of skin they could reach. Only Azula's wrists were still pinned, and now she dug her nails into his hands with each thrust. Sokka felt Azula's breath on his ear as she moaned and pressed herself against him as hard as she could.

In only a few minutes, Azula was trembling under him and moaning loudly in his ear. Her legs urged him to fuck her ever deeper, and her inner walls tightened around his cock. Sokka tried to concentrate, to last longer, and held out until Azula's climax passed and her legs slackened around his hips.

Sokka slowed deliberately, sliding his cock in and out of her pussy in long, deep strokes as he tried to make the pleasure last. When Azula's breathing slowed again, he couldn't resist murmuring in her ear, "Had enough now, Princess?"

At her sudden hiss, he pushed himself up on his arms, letting go of her wrists to look at her. Her expression was the mix of outrage and hidden fondness that she only showed to him and that he always loved to see in those golden eyes.

He smirked as she raised a hand to push at his shoulder, hard but not hard enough to actually push him off.

"I don't think you can give me 'enough,' *peasant,*" she spat, with a glint in her eye.

Well, he kind of deserved that.

"It's Councilor, actually, these days," he shot back, taking her hand in his, then moving it quickly aside and diving in to nip at a hard nipple with his teeth.

That got a hiss, and then she bucked her hips, hard, making his cock slip out of her and rolling him off her into the dirt. The pleasure still tingling through him made him slow, and before he could get his bearings Azula was sitting astride his stomach, her pussy pressed wetly against him and holding him down while her hands flashed down and pinned his wrists against the ground.

She looked down at him from a few inches away, a pleased smirk on her face while her dark hair brushed his forehead. "I see no difference," she purred.

"There isn't really one," he admitted, bucking his hips again. It didn't throw her off, but the friction of his skin against her pussy was enough to make her gasp. "I can give it to you as hard as you like, Princess."

He leaned up and placed a kiss on her chin.

"Show me," she commanded, her voice as imperious as she could make it.

"With pleasure."

His wrist slipped out of her hands and took her by the shoulders, then he pushed her aside, gently but insistently, until he could roll out from under her. She watched him through lidded eyes, a tiny smile on her face as she waited to see what he would do.

He stood, and before she could scramble to her feet as well he stepped behind her and pushed her down, not hard but insistently. He watched as her shoulders went down, following the curve of her back with his eyes while her ass rose in the air. A moment later she got her hands under herself and looked back at him over her shoulder, a few strands of hair clinging to her sweat-damp back. She wriggled her ass and raised a questioning eyebrow as Sokka dropped to his knees behind her, his hands playing over her hips and ass.

"You wanted it hard?" he asked, letting go with one hand and positioning his throbbing cock at the entrance to her dripping cunt.

"Yesss!"

The word trailed off into a hiss as he thrust forward, impaling her in one hard thrust until his hips slapped against her ass. This wasn't a position they usually used. They both preferred a more face-to-face approach, but if she wanted to be fucked hard he would give her that.

Not, he thought as Azula let her head drop down with a moan while he pulled out and pounded into her again, that he minded this view. He held onto her had, his fingers making dimples in her skin as he got up to speed, fucking into her with his full length as fast and as hard as he could. His gaze followed the lines of her back, the shapes of her muscles  and the shapely curve of her rear.

He panted as he pistoned in and out of her, the new stimulation quickly causing his pleasure to build again as his cock slid in and out of her furnace-hot channel.

"Like... it... hard?" he panted, as the sound of flesh on flesh echoed around the walls of the garden.

"Yes! Fuck... hard!" she commanded, her own breathing as loud and harsh as it ever got during her most intense training.

Sokka smiled at her uncharacteristic crudeness, but couldn't find the concentration to reply further as her held onto her hips and continued fucking her. As he went on, Azula's arms slowly relaxed until her chest and head were pressed into the ground and she was pushed back and forth with every thrust.

Eventually, one of her hands moved again. Sokka could feel it brush against his balls, making him falter for a second in his movements, before she moved it to where their bodies joined and began rapidly but unsteadily rubbing it over her clit. Sokka could feel that she was approaching her climax again; her pussy began gripping his cock tighter as if reluctant to let it go. He shivered at the feeling, and in his enthusiasm let go with one of his hands and lightly slapped her ass-cheek, making Azula yelp.

When he slapped it again, the yelp turned into a moan. A third slap made her shudder and groan loudly into the dirt, and speed up her furious rubbing of her clit for a few seconds before her pussy clenched him and there was a sudden spurt of extra wetness.

Sokka did his best to continue, feeling his own orgasm get closer and closer as Azula twitched and moaned in front of him. His own thrust grew erratic as he reached the cusp of his climax while Azula subsided until she collapsed completely limp against the ground.

As her breathing slowed as much as it could while he was fucking her, he gave one last spank, enough to leave a quickly-fading red mark on her ass. The resulting yelp and accompanying surprised tensing of Azula's muscles was enough to push him over the edge.

His legs trembled as he felt his balls contract and his cock pulse, shooting his seed into the depths of Azula's pussy. Before the second spurt, he pulled out, and it arced into the air and splattered onto her pale skin. He managed to stay upright while he continued to cum, covering the Princess' ass, back and some of her hair in his white cum. Then, as the last of his cum dribbled out of his cock, he let himself fall forward, landing next to Azula. He slung an arm over her shoulders and held her close as she turned her head to face him.

***

They lay together for some time, eyes locked together, gold to blue, and their breathing slowly returning to normal. As Azula regained control of her body, her expression turned to the fond smile Sokka saw so rarely and that was only ever directed at him.

The tingling pleasure slowly faded, replaced by pleasant soreness. When Sokka felt he could move again, he bent his head forward a fraction and kissed his girlfriend, their mouths meeting gently and moving against each other while they slowly regained their senses.

Eventually, Azula moved onto her side and pressed against him closer, slinging a leg over his hips and tangling her fingers with his. Sokka mused that, if he had ever talked with anyone what it was like to be with Azula, they might have expected the earlier fierceness to be the norm. In fact, their lovemaking was usually surprisingly gentle, more like the sweet snuggling they were doing now than the rough pounding of earlier. It was one of his favorite discoveries about her, something that only he knew.

"Getting cold," Azula complained, breaking the kiss and pressing her head against his shoulder.

Sokka, though he had lived in relatively warmer places for several years now -- here in Republic City it hardly ever snowed, even! -- was still used to the temperatures of the South Pole. Still, lying naked and sweaty on the ground outside like this, he could admit that it was getting a little chilly.

"Let's go inside, then," he murmured into her hair.

"Hmmm. Don't want to move."

Sokka smiled and kissed the top op her head. Then he carefully untangled himself from her and stumbled to his feet. His body was aching slightly all over, from his earlier exertions and the sparring before, as he bent down and scooped Azula up into his arms. She clung to him, warm against his chest, as he looked around, decided that their clothes could wait, and walked into the house.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes," Azula replied, with a contented sigh. "Calm again, now that I'm back where I should be." He liked seeing her like this, not the intense face she showed to the world but the relaxed-but-imperious look, like an eagle-cat at rest.

As he approached the couch, Azula turned her head, then held onto his neck. "No!" she said. "Not on the couch. You've made me all filthy!"

Sokka chuckled. "I think you'll find that was both of us. But you're right. Bath?"

Azula nodded against his shoulder. "Yes. A hot one."

"Well then, your Fireyness, you'll have to heat it up," he said, walking toward the stairs, "because I didn't get the fire started before you dragged me outside."

