For a moment, Sokka was quiet, slightly stunned at the small, personal deluge of Azula’s thoughts.
“Well,” He finally spoke after a few minutes. “What worked for me was making an ass of myself, and/or getting said ass kicked. “ A grin tugged at the corner of his lips, his tone light and overly jovial in an attempt to cheer her up.
A lot of time had passed their last interaction during the War; enough time clearly, that had gotten Azula to thinking. Sokka had no doubt that had he found her immediately after her escape, things would have ended up ugly; maybe he would have lightning in his chest, maybe she would have been dragged away again, wailing.
But something had changed in her since being on the run, noticeable enough that even when his guard was high and his dislike of her higher, he felt compelled to act on it. Noticeable enough that he, in her words, tolerated her; that he, in his own exasperated words, liked her.
“Okay, maybe no dates for a while," He patted her shoulder again before crouching slightly in front of her so they were eye to eye, a small smile on his face. “But hey, at least you’re not..Well, you’re a lot different now. Less uh. Shocky.” He furrowed his brows; Katara was always better at pep talks than he was. “What I mean is, you’re clearly trying to turn things around. Anyone could see that; I can see that. And..I think you’re doing a good job.”
“The whole uh, ‘you being wanted thing’ will be..difficult to sort out, but hey, you’re stuck with me.” He grinned, pretending to roll his eyes in annoyance. “And I guess you haven’t been completely awful to be around.”
Azula hadn’t ever expected- would have never expected- that Sokka would be someone she’d one day find herself confiding in. If asked to choose between her brother’s friends, she would have said he or the earthbender were her favourites, if only because they were sometimes amusing to her.
But Sokka was smart, smarter than she’d expected him to be. The more time she spent with him, the more she found she genuinely did like him. It had come as a surprise to her, but then again, Sokka was a surprise more often than he wasn’t. And now that they were no longer in war, a good surprise.
She lifted a brow at him when he began to talk about how she wasn’t as ‘shocky’ now, but the smirk on her face betrayed her amusement. “I’m glad you think I’m doing such a good job,” she said. “Do you think I’ll be ready to be released back into society again soon?”
Clearly, she was teasing him, especially considering she felt as though she had essentially just spilled her guts to him. Whatever he thought about how far she had come, she decided to skip over it. It was a nice sentiment, yes, but not one she was ready to dive into just yet.
“Or am I on parole and you’re keeping an eye on me?” That had crossed her mind, of course, but she wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it. So, she simply shrugged. “Oh well, I suppose there’s worse people who could be stuck with me. Because... you are. Stuck with me now. And I’m not apologising.”
Well spoken, Azula, she berated herself silently. Is his outfit sharp too? She swallowed and tried to push the thoughts from her mind.