Chapter 4: Autumn

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Sokka grinned at the groggy firebender snuggled up to him under the covers.

"What the – " Azula removed her arm from around his torso and jumped to the other side of the bed. "What happened last night?"

"You had a little too much to drink – "

"Obviously," she groaned, rubbing her temples. "But why…? Why are we in bed together?"

"You were feeling anxious about being too drunk and asked me to stay with you, in case you got sick or something…"

"I wasn't sick, was I?"

"No, no, no. You just fell asleep. Instantly. Although..." He smirked. "You did seem to catch something of a bug last night…"

She glowered at him.

"… the snuggle bug!"

"Ugh." She threw her head back on the pillow.

"I had no idea you were such a cuddler! Who'd have thought – "

"I'm not," she insisted. "I've never cuddled a day in my life. I-I was probably just cold, okay? If you haven't noticed, it's not summer anymore."

"Sure. Whatever you say…"

"And I hate the fall," she continued, a little too defensively. "The days are getting shorter, the temperature is dropping, I can feel my firebending weakening."

"Well you'd better get it together," he teased, handing her a glass of water. "The tournament isn't too far away."

"Yeah, yeah." She sat up and chugged half the glass. "Thank you… Sokka," she grumbled, setting the glass down on her nightstand. "For taking care of me."

"No problem," he smiled. "What are partners for?"

She smiled back at him but then averted her gaze, looking a little bashful. "So… nothing between us happened last night, right?"

"No. Well…"

She flashed him a threatening stare.

"I…" He sighed, unsure if he should tell her about what happened in the sauna or not. "I kinda wanted to kiss you last night. And I think you wanted me to kiss you too. But we were both drunk, so – "

"So now that you're sober, you realize alcohol makes you stupid and you don't want to kiss me anymore," she finished.

"Actually…" He felt his cheeks grow hot. "I… still do."

She looked into his eyes with disbelief. "Really?"

"Really."

"…Why?" she asked, blushing.

"I don't know," he laughed, shrugging. "You're really pretty, beautiful actually – "

"Obviously."

" – you're smart, you make me laugh, and I think we get along pretty well for the most part, when you're not being mean to me. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I… kinda sorta like you – " Before he could fully get the sentence fully out, Azula cut him off with a soft, deliberate kiss on the lips. His heart fluttering, he tilted his head to the side, deepening the kiss, running his fingers gently through her silky hair.

Smiling coyly, she broke the kiss.

"I… I thought you said you were never going to kiss another boy again," he chuckled.

"I suppose I've had a change of heart." She smirked. "Are you disappointed?"

"Not one bit," he grinned before leaning in to kiss her again, this time much more heatedly. Their heads crashed to the pillow as he pulled her close up against him. Kissing Azula completely took his breath away. Despite being mildly hungover, being with her felt unbelievable, like he was in a dream. He never thought he'd be having these feelings again so soon after his break up with Suki, and yet here he was, kissing a beautiful girl who made his pulse rush and his head spin.

With one hand on his cheek and the other on his lower back, she pulled him on top of her, shifting her body to accommodate his weight.

Maybe it was their chemistry, or maybe it was a firebender thing, but she embodied passion like he'd never known. Letting himself get carried away with the moment, he began moving his lips down her neck, feeling her breath hitch with every soft kiss he placed on her delicate skin. The little gasps she was emitting were so alluring, so sexy, they were driving him wild. Maybe a little too wild. For how far he was willing to go with her during their first embrace, he realized he was getting way too excited for his own good.

"Azula," he breathed, gazing into her yellow eyes, "Maybe we should… cool down a bit." He smiled awkwardly.

"Fine," she sighed, laughing under her breath. "I suppose we should be taking our leave anyway."

"But… we can do some more of this later, right?" He gave her a devilish grin.

"I hope so," she purred. "In case it wasn't jarringly obvious, I… I kinda sorta like you too."

His heart leaping out of his chest, he leaned down and gently kissed her lips.

"Let's not get distracted now," she snickered.

"Right." He rolled off of her. "Hey, so, I was thinking… maybe we could revise our travel plans a bit."

"Let me guess. You'd like to stop for more 'fun'?"

"Don't tell me you're not having a good time with me, princess," he said flirtatiously.

"I suppose I am…"

He chuckled. "So, the island east of Roku's Island is having their annual ostrich horse races, and the island east of that just turned their underground gambling ring into a fancy casino, and well, I've always wanted to go to Ember Island – "

"What about training?!" she laughed.

"I think we've got this whole teamwork thing down, don't you think?" he asked suggestively.

"Sokka…"

"Come on! You planned a whole extra week in case of a disaster, and so far it's been smooth sailing!"

"So far."

"Besides. You know you could singlehandedly destroy our opposition."

"You make a compelling argument," she smirked. "Okay, fine. Let's go with your plan."

"Yes!" He kissed her again. "And… maybe tonight we can pick things up where we left off?"

"I – " She blushed. "I'd like that."

He offered her his hand. "Shall we?"

Hand in hand, the two set out to carry on with their quest.

Author's Note: To be continued?

Thank you so much for reading my Sokkla Week 2018 story! If you liked it, please favorite and/or leave a review :D