"Sokka, she's insane and can't be trusted. Not to mention she was my father's right hand for nearly a decade."

"She never had a choice! She doesn't deserve to spend her life in an asylum because of that. She's only fifteen!" Sokka was rather animated in his response.

"She shot me in the chest with lightning, and shot my uncle in the chest with fire. Do you really think I'd even be alive if she was firelord?" Zuko asked

Sokka cringed but still managed a comeback "From what Katara said she already cracked at that point, and she shot your uncle as a distraction, the avatar and one of the world's best waterbenders were there I'm doubting she thought he would die from that."

Zuko rolled his eyes "Yes, she used her uncle as collateral to escape. Lovely."

"Temporary lapse in judgment?" He said with a smile while twiddling his fingers

"She brought a drill to bring down Ba sing se's wall, fully intending to let fire nation troops in to sack the city."

"Hey she was just good at her job. She probably didn't even come up with the drill or the plan."

"Sokka."

"Yes?"

"You're an idiot." Zuko said in a deadpan voice. Although Sokka could tell he was joking given the massive amount of time they spent together for the past year.

"Come on, she may be crazy but she's still your sister. She deserves a chance. Plus any political rivals you have would likely bow to you if Azula was on your side. We both know some still regard Ozai as the true fire lord."

Zuko folded his arms and thought for a few seconds before his reply. "If by some miracle she regains her mind, and I know for sure she won't kill me or make a ridiculous play for the throne I will let her out."

"Alright. Hey I'm going to go grab dinner. You know me. Always hungry." Sokka had a massive grin while exiting the room.

Zuko let out a sigh. Sokka was about as subtle as a boulder rolling through a china shop. In truth Zuko guessed what Sokka was at but knew Azula would never meet all of those requirements. Even if she got out he gave it a day before she tried to turn him into a funeral pyre and ended up back in a cell.

Visit 1

Sokka took a palanquin to the asylum. He wanted most people to work under the assumption that Zuko was going to see his sister and leave him alone. He had become rather popular in the fire nation since Zuko made him his official advisor. The unique noble robe Zuko had made for him didn't help. It was similar to his but with a mix of a water tribe and fire nation insignia to signify that he is a bridge between their nations, and it had sections of blue. It was surprisingly comfortable given how large it was.

By the time he was finished with his thoughts he was already at the asylum. He didn't really know what he expected when he saw her, he really did this on a whim since a dream reminded him of her. He didn't really question it since he did spend the most exciting and formative time of his life being chased by her. That little seed did plant it in his head to ask about her, which lead to his conversation with Zuko in which Sokka laid out how messed up it was to leave her there.

After a few deep breaths he stepped off the palanquin and entered the asylum. Azula was apparently on a deeper more high security but "comfortable" floor due to how dangerous and powerful she was. Walking through he heard a lot of haunting screams. A lot of the patients were yelling, at some points he shivered. Not because he was scared, but because of the thought that these people had to stay here. Every time he peered into a cell it seemed rather dark besides oil lamps high above them. The rooms on the higher floors still had windows even if the cells themselves were rather depressing.

The deeper floors had no such "luxuries". Most of the patients were silent or speaking nonsense to themselves. Soon he was upon her floor. A guard laid down the rules as they walked to her cell.

"If she attacks you, immediately call for help, if she attempts escape immediately call for help, if she becomes hysterical you may have to leave, do not sneak in any sharp objects..."

Sokka kind of zoned out as he droned on until they were at her cell...it seemed quiet. He watched as the guard unlocked the cell.

"I will leave you be adviser Sokka." After a bow the guard walked back down the hall.

Sokka was nervous, the last time he saw her was at the Boiling Rock during the escape. He was practically trying to behead her and she was trying to incinerate him. Would she hate him? Would he send her into a rage? This was likely a terrible decision but he was already here. He let out a deep breath before entering the room.

Azula looked at him for a split second before gazing at the wall and rocking back and forth while mumbling to herself "You're not real. You're not real. You're not real."

He didn't know what he expected but not….that. She looked to be a shell of her former self. Her hair still somehow managed to be mostly straight but it was frazzled and clearly not kept up to her former standard. She was restrained by a straitjacket, likely to prevent any bending attempts from starting. The worst part was her eyes. They looked wild, scared, and sad. They were afraid of her? He took a seat on her bed.

"I am real Azula." he leaned a bit so she wouldn't have to turn to see him.

"That's what you all say."

It saddened him deeply to see her debased in such a way. No one deserved this. Most further attempts at conversation were ignored. He decided it best he try another day.

"I'll be back Azula."

"The visions always come back." She said as she began rocking again.

Sokka closed the cell door and called for the guard. As he relocked it Sokka asked to speak to Azula's mind healer, his tone made it clear it wasn't a request though. Another one of the skills he learned in fire nation politics, implied threats.

Sokka stepped into Azula's mind healer's office with stern face.

"Hello, my name is Ming..."

He raised a hand to force a pause "I am not here for pleasantries."

The woman bowed "What are you here for sir?"

"I am restraining my temper. Why is the princess being treated in such a manner? She looks like a severely wounded turtleduck."

"Ah." she said with a slight hint of panic

Sokka nodded slowly while he spoke to mock her "Yes, ah."

"Adviser Sokka you must understand, she is highly dangerous even in her current state. When she first came a year ago she attempted several escapes. Even restrained she is still an extremely skilled martial artist and firebender. We mean no harm to her but we must protect ourselves." Ming said

"You must protect yourselves, but your job is also to heal her mind. How is she worse than when she got here? She barely even speaks."

Ming kept her eyes trained on the ground as she spoke, as if she felt guilty "Some do not respond well to the environment. Especially when they are not visited by those that care about them."

Sokka froze, from what he gathered of Ozai he only cared about himself and he had no chance of seeing her. Zuko was also out. He was right in that in her state of mind right now she could attack him even if she doesn't think he is real. Sokka had no idea how the line of succession to the throne would go if something happened to him. She had no friends, no family, no one that loved her.

He wanted to maintain a strong presence so he turned away before speaking. "I will be checking in on the princess every few days."

Sokka was pretty depressed when he got back to the palace. He wasn't expecting her to be instantly healed but he was not expecting that. He couldn't get her out of his mind. He had to help her.

Zuko soon walked by as it was late and he had nothing more to do. Or rather he didn't want to do anything else that day. As fire lord there was always more to do. When Sokka didn't even acknowledge him as they passed each other he knew something was up.

"Are you alright?"

Sokka fumbled around until his gaze found Zuko "Oh, yea. I'm fine. Something I was trying to do just didn't work out like I hoped it would. It actually went worse than I could have possibly imagined."

"Well, the Sokka I know doesn't give up after one failed attempt. You improvise. You improvised at the prison, and you improvised on the day of Sozin's comet. Whatever it is I think you can handle it. Don't think of it as a failure, think of it as an opportunity to improvise."

"Thanks Zuko." He then stepped towards him and gave him a brotherly hug. ""You're right. Time to change it up."

Zuko had a knowing smirk behind Sokka's face.

Visit two

Sokka managed to give Zuko the slip again two days later and went to visit Azula. He was hoping his idea worked so they could at least engage in a conversation this time. Her mind was certainly not going to be healed talking to herself in a dark cell. He doubted she spoke to any of the mind healers either.

The trip to her cell held as somber a mood as it did the last time he came. No wonder she isn't getting any better if this was all she experienced. She needed something she never received before, compassion. Soon he was upon her cell and once again walked in.

Azula was still rocking in the same spot as last time. He wondered if she actually slept in that spot or if she simply knew where to go each day on instinct. When he walked in her eyes widened and he saw her grow fearful before once again chanting her mantra to herself.

"You're not real, you're not real, you're not real."

Sokka sat on her bed once more "Hey princess did you miss me?"

She looked as if for a split second she wanted to answer, but she resumed her chant after the pause.

"How do you know I'm not real?"

"You are a southern water tribesman in robes nearly equal to a royal. It makes no logical sense. I'm imagining it. I have to fight it and then you will go away." She spoke towards the ground, not even gracing him with eye contact. It was a start at least

"Why would you be hallucinating about me? I don't even think you remember my name. Wait how did you know where I was from?"

Azula huffed out a slight chuckle "You know, you're a part of my mind. I did research of Sokka when I was tracking the avatar. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, group tactician. Son of chief Hakoda. High class warrior. Although not close to top tiers he shows swift improvement. His most dangerous weapon is his mind. He is exceedingly dangerous with his unpredictable and destructive strategies. Holds no love for fire nation as his mother was killed by fire nation troops. High priority target. Not to be underestimated under any circumstances."

"Alright, that was a little creepy." She recited it like it was a rap sheet. Although given hindsight it likely was. The information was basically correct. He really did stand no chance against her one on one and he doubted he would without training for a few more years. He felt a slight pang of guilt that he likely seemed like a harbinger of death for fire nation troops. He killed hundreds at the northern air temple alone.

"How can I prove I'm real?" He said softly.

"You can't." She then began rocking again.

Sokka could tell he was losing her "If you sit on the bed I can prove I'm real. What do you have to lose?"

Azula looked at him for a split second with her rather sad eyes, then looked back at the ground. Surprisingly she actually got off the ground and sat on the bed, she was facing away from him in silence but he expected that. Her eyes widened in surprise when she felt something tugging at her hair.

"You're real..." Tears began forming in her eyes

Sokka continued brushing her hair "I know things haven't been easy for you, and I know that no one ever cared about you. I'm sorry for that. I really am, but you don't deserve this. You are still a human being."

"But I'm no princess….I'm nothing. I'm beneath a commoner now."

"You're my princess. Don't you want to look the part?"

"…..yes."

"Then allow me." For the next few minutes Sokka brushed her hair until it at least somewhat resembled the Azula he remembered.

Azula was still a little scared but progressively got more comfortable. "If you're real why are you doing this? I've done nothing good for your life."

"No one was ever there for you. I want to be that person in your life. I will not leave your side, and when I do I will always come back. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sokka. I understand." She felt confused, which was not helped by her current state of mind

"You don't have to share anything you don't want to, and you don't have to obey me if you don't want to. I won't hurt you. I just want your mind to be healed. I want my princess."

"Thank you…. You will soon see your princess again." Her face regained it's former scary but beautiful glory for a few seconds.

Sokka smirked as he continued brushing her hair. At this point it was perfectly straight but he enjoyed running his fingers through it and she didn't seem to mind. He ventured a guess she even enjoyed someone fawning over her for the first time in a year.

Sokka had a big stupid grin on his face when he got back to the palace. She was basically done talking after she told him he would see his princess again but he knew he reached her. His plan was a success! Although he was kind of disgusted by how simple the plan was. Treat her with basic human decency and remind her of who she was. For some reason making her his princess officially even if she was no one elses princess made his heart flutter. He didn't put much thought into it.

He was stopped by a servant saying the firelord needed him in his office for advisement. Fun. As usual when he entered the office it was a mountain of paperwork with Zuko in the middle. They both looked at each other for a second and sighed. People don't really put much thought into this aspect of being a royal and it sucked monumentally. No matter how much paperwork they completed there was always more.

While sifting through his stack Sokka had a thought "Zuko, have you ever thought about making someone else do some of the work? You are the fire lord and what you say goes so it would be pretty easy."

"That's what you're here for." Zuko said while looking at another form

"I meant like have different departments. You know. One for agriculture problems, one for economic problems, or whatever. Then have those people talk to you about the major problems they can't fix. Or you could lay down directions you want them to go in terms of policy."

"That's actually not a terrible idea, but traditionally the firelord..."

"Commits genocide? Ignores the demands of his people in favor of his own?"

Zuko rolled his eyes "I was going to say does these things themselves."

"The previous firelords did it themselves since they wanted to control the people in every menial way possible. We both know you aren't like that. You just want them to be happy."

Zuko sat for a few seconds thinking about the simple brilliance of Sokka's idea "Sometimes it's frightening how intelligent and thoughtful you are when you aren't being a fool."

"You know I wouldn't use this mind against you lord hotman."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

"We both know that's not going to happen." Sokka said with a devilish smirk.

"You seem to be in a better mood today. I'm guessing your improvisation skills helped out your situation. What exactly is your situation anyway?" Zuko said, keeping whatever slight chuckle he had hidden behind paperwork

"Oh, yea. I made someone happier than they've been for over a year. I'm trying to help them find themselves again. They had a few traumatic events happen to them." Sokka figured it was close enough to the truth to be ok. It wasn't an outright lie.

"And you're just helping them out of the goodness of your heart? What's in it for you?"

"Their smiling face when they are healthy again, and the reaction of their family when they see her."

Zuko continued to play dumb "Oh it's a her. Are you doing it because you have feelings for them? We both know you've been a little lonely since your breakup with Suki a few months ago, even if it was on amicable terms."

Sokka paused for a second in thought "I don't know if I have feelings for them. I have dreamed of them at times but I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of her in her current state. When she finds herself I'm doubting she will think I'm good enough for her."

"You not good enough for her even with your elevated position?"

"No matter what I do I'm still not highborn. She will probably just see me as a peasant." Sokka put down his papers. "Actually, I need some time to think. You usually stop around this time anyway. We can discuss planning the department thing tomorrow or something." Sokka walked out the room, seemingly with a lot of new things on his mind.

Zuko put down his documents as soon as the door shut. Sokka dreaming of his sister didn't surprise him much. She did almost kill him several times, she was also there for a lot of their major adventures. He would be more surprised if she never entered his dreams.

As for Sokka liking her? It's not that strange. His last girlfriend was a warrior after all, and his first one was a princess. If Azula accepted his help at all even in her current mental state he was doubting she would see him as the insignificant speck of dust he thought she would, however if his sister was one thing it was unpredictable.

I got really excited about this idea and spent the last two days planning and writing a lot of the fic out.

For those curious, I do have the next chapter of blue fire outlined and I'm over a thousand words into that. I am also halfway through writing the next chapter of hidden affections but I want to make sure they are quality before I upload them. They should be up in the next few days.

If you enjoy my work and wish to support me check out pat r e on dot c om / Crow Jones I'm trying my hand at writing my own novel and I try to upload at least previews of fanfics there a day or more in advance.