Azula - Sokka - Avatar: The Last Airbender

A/N: This story assumes Sozin's Comet never came and the battle against the Fire Nation spans years. The main group is split up, commanding resistance forces all over the world. All characters are 18 years of age or older.

Sokka had gotten himself separated from his squad. Two days earlier, he had received a report from a spy in the Fire Nation that their enemy had developed a new weapon. They didn't know what it was, but the spy seemed to believe that it was capable of ending the war. Sokka had picked four of his best warriors for a daring mission to steal or destroy the weapon.

But things had gone sideways. They'd walked into a trap; Fire Nation soldiers were everywhere. Sokka had barely escaped with his life and was bleeding from a gash in his left arm. If not for his swordsmanship training, years of combat experience, and a bit of dumb luck, he'd have been killed for sure.

He hid in a tree several yards above the ground as a few Fire Nation soldiers ran by, shouting. His warriors could be dead or captured but he had no way of knowing. He decided if they were dead there was nothing he could do for them and if they were captured, he needed to avoid capture to help them.

He waited for what felt like hours for the activity level to die down and climbed down from his hiding place. He froze halfway down the tree when he heard a familiar voice, cold and arrogant as always.

"Well, well, well. I thought I smelled a monkey-rat."

It was Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. She was a worst-case scenario for Sokka. Virtually unbeatable, even for a master bender. Sokka was caught off guard, injured, and alone. At least she seemed to be all alone, that was a small blessing, he supposed. Maybe he could get her to lower her guard. People always assumed Sokka was just a buffoon; he could use that.

"Azula! Surrender!" He pointed to her excitedly and nearly fell from the tree. He had to flail a bit to latch onto a branch to avoid falling. "I have the high ground!" he said, all four limbs wrapped around the thick branch. He slowly fell over sideways and under the branch to hang from it like a sloth. Then he fell from the tree onto his back with a loud grunt.

She laughed mockingly and drew a small object from her belt. Probably a knife. "Oh dear. Remind me to punish my captains for taking so long to eradicate you Water Tribe peasants. You could have at least made it fun for me. Oh well, I'm sure we're going to have lots of fun toge—!"

Sokka had thrown his boomerang as he fell, launching it in a long high arc. It returned and struck the gloating Azula squarely in the back, clanging against a metal plate she wore there. She wasn't usually so inattentive but Sokka wasn't going to complain. She grunted and threw herself into a roll to avoid being knocked over, but the impact had sent flying whatever she'd pulled from her belt.

Sokka dove for it instinctively, believing it to be a weapon. It wasn't. It looked like some kind of grenade. He'd seen similar devices in workshops before, but not exactly like this one.

Whatever. He was ****. Without anything to light it with he hurled it at Azula as she came out of her roll. Maybe he could catch her off guard, stun her with it, and manage to get her with his sword with a **** lunge. It was probably doomed to failure but he'd seen crazier things work.

Azula sprang to her feet and sent a blast of fire at the projectile. It exploded into a thick green mist that enveloped Azula completely, hiding her from view for a moment before it dissipated.

Sokka drew his sword and lunged, but Azula wasn't moving. He managed to halt his lunge just in time, the point of his sword an inch from her throat. Azula just stood there, staring blankly ahead as if in a daze.