The ground steadily dropped away from the small, but plushly appointed airship, leaving the Fire Lord behind, watching them disappear into the clouds with a disapproving look on his face.

Azula resisted the urge to shoot her brother an obscene gesture through the carriage window, and instead stole a glance at the man patiently guiding the airship into the low cloud cover. Just looking at him made little shots of pleasure run through her from head to toe. She bit the inside of her lip, and watched him work the tiller, his dusky face a mask of concentration in the late afternoon sunlight.

She crossed her legs and leaned back on the bench, one arm thrown over the back of the seat. Her legs were, much to her chagrin, still wobbly from both the night before, and this morning's sexual adventures. There was an acute ache between her legs, not unpleasant, but certainly not easy to ignore.

Sokka had fucked her like no one else ever had before. He'd brought her to heights of ecstasy she had never even thought possible before, but oh, how she had fantasized about it. About him. It had been everything she had imagined and more.

Sokka was busy with the operation of the airship, and if he noticed the heat of her lustful gaze on him, he didn't say anything. Azula chewed on her nail, her heart hammering hard in her chest as the palace disappeared and the clouds embraced them.

This man... Her head and her heart were full of him. Her body ached. It hadn't even been a day since he had followed her out of Zuko's stuffy party, where she had baited him so completely...so in lust and in love with him that she couldn't stop herself. She hadn't quite realized just how deeply she'd felt for him until last night. She certainly had never suspected that he might feel the same way.

But he did. He had said he that was in love with her. Sokka was in love with her.

This was huge. She had never been in love before, and she was certain that no one had ever been in love with her, either. She had never been in a relationship either. She had been sure she never would be.

And yet here she was, head over heels for him. On her way to a stop a gang war just to be by his side. Things were happening pretty quickly. Maybe too quickly, if she were being honest. Uprooting her whole life just to be with a man had never been in her plans, after all. And yet...

The alternative had been to let him go, while she stayed behind in the Fire Nation, growing increasingly more restless and chafing under the expectations that she play nice and not rock the boat. So far redemption had been a total snoozefest.

A gang war would spice things up at least, and Zuko had made her his agent to the United Republic before they'd left, so anything she did was sanctioned. But it wasn't the situation they were flying into that was playing on her mind.

It was Sokka. It was always Sokka. Even before last night, he had never beeen far from her thoughts. She had wanted him for so long, afraid though she'd been to admit. Now he was hers. He loved her. He was taking her with him...and that meant...

She had no idea. They had not had a chance to discuss any of this. She'd had an hour to pack her things, and now here they were, alone on an airship together...with everything in the world to discuss...and all she could do was stare at him and wonder what he was thinking.

She hoped he wasn't regretting asking her to come. What if he was regretting all of it? Sleeping with her, telling her he loved her? What if it had just been the sex talking?

Azula's hand clenched her knee, nails digging in as her nerves exploded at the very thought.

"Okay, I think this is a good altitude...and if I'm not off on my bearings, this course should get us to the city by morning," Sokka said, checking a compass, and then locking the tiller into place. "I'll have to keep course correcting though. We have some crosswinds from the north."

"You know what you're doing," she said, easing her nails out of her knee and trying to relax as Sokka turned those beautiful fire blue eyes on her. His lips curled up at the corners as he sat back in the seat across from her.

"I have many skills," he said in a cocky voice that might have annoyed her once upon a time, mostly because she found it sexy. She had a feeling he knew it.

"Don't I know it," she said, and the little smile on his lips grew, showing those dimples in his cheeks that drove her wild. Sokka stared at her, and heat of his eyes was like a fire burning her up from the inside out. It made her chest tight, and the nervous, panicky doubts she'd been having seemed completely ridiculous all of a sudden.

The way he looked at her...there was no doubt in her mind that Sokka had meant every word he'd said. There wasn't an ounce of regret in his eyes when he looked at her. No, there was only love, lust, and awe there, mingled with affection. No one had ever looked at her like that.

Until him.

"So, trapped in this airship alone together until tomorrow morning? Whatever shall we do to pass the time?" Azula purred, as Sokka's eyebrow raised, eyes flicking along her body, then back to her face.

"I don't know about you, but I really want to eat," Sokka said and laughed when she made an interested noise in her throat.

"Oh?"

"Some food, little troublemaker," Sokka said, his voice a velvety rumble flavored with amusement. "I was too busy packing to eat, and I'm starving."

Azula had only had a few bites herself, and now that the frenzy of her mad dash to pack was wearing off, her stomach was starting to feel pretty hollow. They had had quite a night, and a very vigorous morning, after all.

"I suppose my meddling brother remembered to pack provisions into this floating deathtrap?" She certainly hadn't. She had been too busy trying to wrap her head around everything else.

"I did," Sokka said, pulling a very large basket out from beneath the bench. Inside was a selection of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, cured meats, hard-boiled eggs, bread still warm from the palace ovens, jams, tiny cakes, deep-fried dough balls coated in powdered sugar, several bottles of wine, two glasses and a large skin of water. More than enough for a feast, with leftovers tomorrow morning. Most of it would easily keep overnight in the cool interior of the airship carriage.

The palace kitchen had included plates and utensils. Azula really didn't give them enough credit. Even on such short notice they had not forgotten anything.

Sokka spread a blanket from his pack out on the floor, while she popped the cork on the red wine, pouring out two glasses. Sokka laid out the food, then checked their heading and made a small correction with the tiller, then stoked the furnace to keep their altitude up.

They were both famished, and tucked into the food, sitting cross-legged across from one another on the blanket like kids at a picnic. It was peaceful, the only sound that of the wind, and the crackle of the furnace. The clouds skimmed by like puffs of smoke, the sinking sun staining them orange and pink.

She took a long drink of her wine, and met his gaze over the rim of the glass, watching as he pulled a deep red cherry between his teeth and pulled off the stem. He rolled the cherry around on his tongue, watching her with an appreciative expression on his face.

When she lowered the glass, she felt heat flush her face, and not just from the alcohol.

"What?" she said, watching as Sokka swallowed and pulled a grin, sinking onto his side, his head propped up on his hand.

"I just can't believe this is real. Last night...and now you're here... Coming with me to Republic City. I don't know how I got so lucky," Sokka said, taking up his own glass and sipping at the wine. He pulled a wry smile "If we weren't on our way to a crisis I'd say my life has never felt more perfect."

"Perfect?" Azula mused, taking off her boots and setting them aside before stretching her aching legs out before her. "Well, I suppose being with me is as close to perfection as a mere mortal such as yourself can get."

Sokka's eyes gleamed. "Moon spirits and fire goddesses... I certainly have a type."

"Fire goddess? I like that," she said with a flashing smile that seemed to bring color to his cheeks. He laughed softly, and grabbed both of their wine glasses, moving them off of the blanket.

"I'll bet you do," he said softly. She shot him a look, and then started repacking the remainder of the food. She could feel his eyes on her, hot and wanting. It made her pulse race. She crawled across the blanket, reaching for the basket behind him, and she felt his hand alight on her ass, rubbing lightly.

She ignored it, even though his touch was like a firebrand against her skin. She sat back and carefully placed the remainder of the food in the basket, then leaned over him again to put it on the seat.

The moment she put it down, his arms were around her waist, tugging her down onto the blanket beside him. Sokka rolled with her until he was sprawled across her, his big muscular body covering hers like a big, rock hard blanket.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Azula gasped as Sokka's thigh parted her legs with ease. He pressed against her core, right at the flesh between her thighs that still ached and throbbed for him. The breath stuttered out of her as Sokka's warm breath whispered against her lips.

"I'm still hungry," he rumbled, and then slid a blistering kiss across her lips. He tasted like cherries and wine. Azula moaned and arched into him instantly, matching his hunger with her own, all of her doubts dissipating like clouds in the sun.

There was only Sokka.