A/N: So yeah, I decided to take part in the Sokkla100 thing over at livejournal in an attempt to rid myself of my writer's block. For everyone who's been reading my Naruto fic, don't worry, I have not abandoned it. I'm just having a hard time getting the next chapter out. So hopefully, this will satisfy some of your appetites for a story.
I've decided to put notes after the prompt titles to help straighten things out. If any of the stories have any connections I'll make sure to point that out.
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001. Roses (AU where Ozai isn't a total dick.)
Sokka had been allowed to accompany his father to the Earth Kingdom for the annual peace hearings between the four nations. His father felt that it'd be a good learning experience for the future chief of the Southern Water Tribe. For the next week, the young water tribesman would learn how peace was maintained through the nations.
Nevertheless, the actual meetings were extremely boring. One day, after having heard enough of the meetings, Sokka decided to wander around the palace garden.
As the young water tribesman made his way through the multitudes of flowers, he couldn't help but admire the beauty of them all. Living in the South Pole pretty much ruined any chances of plant life existing, so it was a bit of a treat to see such vibrantly colored flowers.
As Sokka made his way towards another part of the garden he saw her. She stood before the large section of roses. She wore an elegant Fire Nation dress. Her hair was tied in a large bun, with a gold hair piece keeping it in place. The young water tribesman made a note that her eyes were a dark amber.
She leaned forward and picked a rose from the bush. As she held it to her nose to take in its scent, Sokka found that he had all his attention focused on her luscious lips. Those lips, whose color was deeper red than the roses, were in a word; perfect. Sokka was so focused that he didn't even realize that he'd been spotted.
"Can I help you?" she asked in a bored tone.
"I was just, uh, walking... the flowers... and um... I'm Sokka!" the boy answered, stumbling on his words.
"I see..." the girl replied with a smirk. Her eyes trailing his form. She turned to leave when Sokka called out to her. "Wait, aren't you going to tell me your name?"
The Fire Nation girl turned her head, her smirk still in place. "Perhaps."
She then continued on her way into the meeting hall. As she left, Sokka noted the alluring sway of her hips, and he couldn't help but smirk himself.
"Maybe these peace meetings won't be so bad after all..." he thought to himself. Suddenly, the rest of the week was looking to be quite the experience.
--xXx--
002. December (AU where Ozai isn't a dick to everyone.)
Azula was freezing. Even underneath the layers of polar leopard furs, the former princess was absolutely chilled to the bone. It was to be expected, however. After all, December in the Southern Water Tribe was completely frigid.
The amber-eyed girl let out a sigh, a small burst of flames accompanying her released breath, in an attempt to warm up. Finding that it didn't help much, Azula decided to curl up into a ball and hope to conserve what heat she did have.
She felt a sudden weight press against her back. Looking behind her, she found her large polar bear dog laying next to her. The large animals body heat warming the girl up.
She smiled as she remembered when Sokka had first given Ozai to her. It was during her first year with the Southern Water Tribe four years ago and she had complained about the cold weather ("Big surprise," Sokka had muttered). After pestering her fiancée enough times, the soon-to-be tribal chief decided to get her a Polar Bear Dog.
"Here," he said as he held the small (at the time) puppy. "His name is Ozai; he's a polar bear dog. Their fur is good for insulating heat, so whenever you get cold, all you have to do is snuggle next to him and you should be good."
The former princess had taken the puppy into her hands and immediately felt the warmth the creature possesed. He was a cute little animal, she would admit. When Azula asked Sokka about why he named their dog after her father, Sokka had replied, "Well, no offense, but your dad does kinda look like the little guy..."
They shared a laugh when Azula realized that, yes, the polar bear dog did indeed look slightly like her father. He had longer hair than most most of the other dogs, and had patches of black hair that looked similar to her father's hair and goatee.
Azula let out another sigh as her mind came back into the present. Sokka always made sure to take good care of her. The amber eyed girl made a mental not to pay her (now) husband back when he returned from the tribe's scheduled hunt. "I'm sure he'll be more than welcome to a back rub when he returns," she thought to herself as she snuggled further into the warmth of her faithful polar bear dog.
--xXx--
003. Desert (Thirteen years after the end of the series.)
Once again, Sokka found himself wandering the desert of the Earth Kingdom. The young man was on his way to a nearby village. There were rumors that the small town had recently discovered some ancient artifacts. And Sokka, being the ever adventurous scholar (as he liked to call himself) decided to take a little detour on his globetrotting, and investigate.
The traveling water-tribesman let out a sigh as he walked into the village. It was small. It looked barely livable. There were probably around one hundred people living in the place, maybe less. The buildings looked like they were ready to collapse.
Feeling a bit thirsty, Sokka decided to venture into the local bar. As he walked to the counter to take his seat, Sokka observed the current inhabitants; mostly men. Large, burly, and loud; the very image of Earth Kingdom common-men. He couldn't help but laugh as he remembered Toph, in all her tomboyish glory. Last he remembered, she'd gone back home to Gaoling and reopened the Earth Rumble Tournaments as the General Manager, as well as current champion.
As he brought his attention back to the present, Sokka made a note to go and see a fight or two in the near future. He turned to the bartender and asked for a glass of water (alcohol wasn't very good for wandering about in the desert). After the barkeep returned with his drink there was a large clash at the entrance.
Turning slightly to see what the disturbance was about, Sokka was greeted with the sight of a rather attractive young woman, sans the slight bags under her eyes. She had long black hair, sharp eyes, and ruby red lips. She was garbed in a slightly raggy earth kingdom dress. He also couldn't help but feel like he'd seen her somewhere before.
"Lei Lien!" Sokka heard the rooms inhabitants shout with amusement. It appeared that the woman was quite well known in the village. Lei Lien approached the bar an took a seat, rather clumsily, next to Sokka. "Gimme some rice wine, Zhen!" the woman ordered. The water-tribesman noticed that the woman was slightly drunk already.
Lei Lien looked over at Sokka. Her vision began to focus on the man sitting next to her and when she could get a good look at him, her eyes went wide. "Hey, I know you!" she slurred. "You were that water tribe boy who use to travel with the avatar, what was your name again..."
She leaned forward with her eyes squinting a bit. "Sorra...? Salla...? Sozin... oh wait-... that was my great grandfather... uhm.. SOKKA! That's it..." The man in question raised an eyebrow at the woman. If Sozin, the Fire Lord who started the war, was her great grandfather, then that meant-"Azula, what are-" he whispered in shock.
Lei Lien quickly shook her head. "Nope," she corrected as she took the saucer of rice wine from the bartender. "Not anymore anyway." At that statement, Sokka raised an eyebrow in curiosity. There was a brief pause after that statement.
The woman took a shot of her wine before continuing. "After the war, I had my firebending removed by the avatar, like my father. After that, Zuzu decided I needed some therapy or something like that... said I was mentally unstable. After few years of staying at some mental asylum, the doctors deemed me mentally stable enough for society."
Lei Lien took another shot of her wine before she continued. "When I was released, I realized that I didn't want to stay in the Fire Nation... not while Zuko was ruling anyway... it'd be a cold day in Hell before I bowed to him... anyway... I just wanted to be left relatively alone for the rest of my life... in a place no one would really know me, or care enough to do anything. So I wound up here," she said as she swept her arm in the air. She downed the last of her rice wine and placed a gold piece on the bar.
"Firebending was my life... Azula died when the avatar stripped me of that... nowadays I'm called Lei Lien..." she gave Sokka a depressing smirk. "Well it was fun catching up Mr. Water tribe... maybe we could do it again some day..." with that, Lei Lien got up from her seat and left the bar.
Sokka watched as she walked out the door. He noted the way she walked; slightly slouched, staggering, completely uncoordinated. She was nothing like the perfect warrior he had fought all those years ago.
"The years haven't been kind to her," Zhen stated. "When she first appeared here six years ago, it's been nothing but an uphill battle for her. She didn't have any money, no place to stay, and wasn't very good with the locals... but after a few months she began to, slowly, warm up to everyone, and they in return. She's managed to make a barely adequate living out of nothing."
"If you want to speak her again, she lives in a small hut on the border of the forest and desert," the barkeep finished. Sokka looked at the bartender and then to the door, and frowned. "Maybe this warrants more investigation than the rumored artifacts..." the water tribesman muttered to himself. With that, Sokka paid the bartender and left, a new goal in place. He would figure out what happened to Azula, he wasn't sure why... but he would.
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A/N: So yeah, that brings a close to the first three prompts. This was a bit fun for me. I especially enjoyed writting Desert. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll try to update my other fic as soon as possible.
READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!