Azara walked through the crowded Upper Ring train station, a calm demeanor about her as she shuffled back towards her temporary residence. Humming to herself, Azara opened the door to the house, her eyebrows widening in surprise as she spotted only Sokka in the common room. "Where's everyone else?" Azara asked, walking over to Sokka, who jumped to his feet.

"They all went out for dinner," Sokka explained, causing Azara to nod. Glancing around the room, Azara turned back to Sokka after a moment.

"You didn't want to go with them?" she questioned, her golden irises meeting his clear blue ones as Sokka stiffened at her question. Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, Sokka cleared his throat before speaking.

"Actually, I wanted to wait for you to get back to see if you were, uh, ready to talk," Sokka replied, causing Azara's eyes to widen in realization, her thoughts drifting back to the debacle at the Serpent's Pass and her promise to Sokka.

"Oh, yeah," she nodded, playing with her fingers nervously. Sensing her unease at the topic, Sokka decided to speak again.

"But only if you're ready. I know you said you had a lot on your mind and everything," he added as Azara shook her head, turning to smile up at him.

"No, it's alright. I'm ready," Azara spoke, straightening up. "But, uh, why don't we do it over a meal? I'm famished."

"Yeah, of course," Sokka smiled, causing Azara to nod and lead the way out of the house. "Katara mentioned this noodle place towards the center of the village," Sokka noted as he held the door open for her, his longer strides easily catching up with her shorter ones.

"Noodles sound good," Azara agreed as they walked side by side through the streets of the Upper Ring. "So, what did you do today?" she inquired after a few moments of silence, glancing over at him before returning her gaze to the pavers below her feet.

"Not much," Sokka shrugged, subconsciously patting the small bag in his pocket with his hand, before turning back to Azara. "Just some sightseeing. What about you?"

"I went down to the Lower Ring," Azara answered as they walked over a small bridge. She raised an eyebrow as the center of the bridge had a massive hole in it, before shaking her head and refocusing. "I, uh, I was trying to get some closure."

"Closure?" Sokka asked, looking confused for a moment before Azara elaborated.

"My cousin, my uncle's son, he died here a few years ago," Azara explained, causing Sokka to nod solemnly, her outburst on the Outer Wall making more sense to him now. "I haven't thought about him in a while, but coming here to the city . . . I guess the memories just popped up on their own." From her tone, Sokka guessed that the memories were at least happy ones, which he knew was rare when it came to her family.

"Did you find the closure you needed?" Sokka questioned, causing Azara to pause for a moment before smiling and nodding.

"I think I did," she spoke, deciding not to tell Sokka about the hidden alcove of Fire Nation refugees she had stumbled across. Not when the Dai Li were likely following their every move.

"I'm glad." The two shared a small smile before Sokka led the way over to the noodle restaurant. Walking up to the hostess, Sokka held up two fingers. "Table for two, please."

"Right this way," the hostess nodded, before leading the two of them to an empty table in the corner. Sokka and Azara quietly thanked the woman before taking their seats. Sokka looked at Azara expectantly to start the conversation, but Azara hid her face with the menu, trying to calm her nerves. As Sokka turned back to his own menu, Azara lowered hers.

It wasn't long before they were both nibbling at their noodles, Azara sighing to herself as she prepared to start the inevitable conversation between the two of them. "I'm sorry for yelling at you back at Serpent's Pass again, by the way," Azara mumbled, running her chop sticks through the noodle broth in a circle. "I didn't mean to react that way."

"I don't care about the yelling," Sokka replied, glancing at her for a moment before returning his gaze to his noodles, "but I do want to know what angered you to the point where you felt like you had to yell at me."

Azara nodded at Sokka's question, closing her eyes for a moment as she thought over her next words carefully. "I think the easiest explanation is that . . . I was jealous," Azara choked out, causing Sokka to snap up straight, confusion clear in his eyes.

"Jealous? Of what?"

Azara looked up at him as if he should already know the answer to that question, her eyebrows furrowed. "You and Suki," she replied as if the answer was as clear as day, waving her hand in the air as Sokka stared at her weirdly.

"Me and Suki?" Sokka repeated, the look of confusion on his face still present.

"Yeah. I saw the two of you kissing the night before," Azara shrugged before shoving some noodles into her mouth as Sokka fumbled with his own across the table.

"But we didn't kiss," Sokka insisted, causing Azara to look over at him with a confused expression of her own. Setting down her noodle bowl, Azara thought back to that night.

"I saw the two of you on the ridge, in front of the moon. You were leaning in," Azara recounted, her voice dropping off at the end of her sentence when she remembered that she had turned and sprinted away from the scene.

"Suki and I never kissed," Sokka revealed causing Azara's eyes to widen in shock at his statement. Dropping her chop sticks onto the table, Azara leaned in closer to him.

"You guys never kissed? Never ever?" she gasped out as Sokka shook his head again at her question.

"No. Unless you count the kiss on the cheek, she gave me back on Kyoshi Island," Sokka replied honestly as Azara nodded, staring down at her noodles as her cheeks burned with embarrassment. With the new information, her outburst looked all the more ridiculous.

"I'm sorry then, I completely overreacted. Actually, I don't think overreacted is a strong enough word," Azara scoffed at herself, but Sokka waved her off, assuring her again that it was alright. A moment of silence passed between them before Sokka turned to Azara again.

"Can I ask why were you so worried about me and Suki? Maybe I wasn't clear before, but I do really care about you, Azara," Sokka spoke genuinely as Azara glanced up at him before turning her gaze towards the Upper Ring wall in the distance. Sighing, Azara set down her bowl and turned to face Sokka, her back straightened.

"Suki is from the Earth Kingdom," Azara started, causing Sokka to look at her weirdly.

"I was aware," he replied as Azara decided to continue, seeing that Sokka wasn't catching onto her thread.

"She's a nonbender," she tried to hint again, leaning in closer, but Sokka still looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

"Yeah . . ."

Her hands starting to shake with anxiety as Azara glanced away for a moment. "It doesn't bother you at all that I'm from the . . . you know?" Azara trailed off at the end, lowering her voice as she decided against shouting 'Fire Nation' in a packed Ba Sing Se restaurant.

"You think that I care that you're from the . . . other nation?" Sokka asked, finishing his question awkwardly as he realized the need to not announce Azara's heritage at the present moment. Azara nodded quietly at Sokka's question before deciding to elaborate further on her point.

"It's not just that I'm from there, but . . . Sokka I was the princess of there. My family—" Azara started to ramble when Sokka cut her off, raising his hand in the air.

"—I don't care about who your family is, Azara," Sokka stated firmly, staring deeply into her eyes. "Or what they did." After a few moments of silence, Sokka reached across the table and grabbed Azara's hand. "The only part of your family I'm concerned about, Azara, is you. And as far as I'm concerned, you're nothing like your family."

"Well, being quick to anger might be a familial trait," Azara joked, but she smiled genuinely at Sokka for his words.

They ate in comfortable silence for a moment before Sokka picked up his head again. "You really thought I couldn't care about you because of all that?"

"To be fair, it's quite large baggage. Especially because everyone I introduce you to just ends up chasing us for the next few weeks," Azara chuckled softly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "And I didn't necessarily think it, but . . . you know, sometimes it just pops into my mind here or there. And here, with all the refugees . . . it's all just a big reminder."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that with me," Sokka insisted, his tone softening Azara's nerves. "But I understand where you're coming from."

"Where I'm coming from?" Azara asked, her golden eyes meeting his blue ones, searching them for any indication of what he was talking about.

"With things . . . insecurities . . . that just pop into your head," Sokka replied, setting aside his empty bowl of noodles. Azara thought over Sokka's words for a moment before her eye's widened in realization.

"This doesn't have anything to do with what that stupid guy said back in the palace, does it?" she questioned quietly as Sokka shrugged, twiddling with his thumbs.

"No, no," Sokka shook his head before staring down at his hands. "It's just . . . you know you're you and I'm, well, I'm just a guy with a boomerang from the Southern Water Tribe. I don't have any fancy bending powers or some big palace back home." Sokka moved his hands around dramatically as Azara smiled softly over at him.

"Sokka, if I wanted the company of some stupid noble buffoon who cared more about his bending than me, I would have just stayed home in the . . . other place," Azara joked sarcastically, before smiling softly over at the Water Tribe boy. "Besides, some of the best fighters in the world are nonbenders. And you come up with all of our plans. We wouldn't function without you."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Azara chuckled, glancing down at her bowl before turning her gaze back up to the Water Tribe boy. "Besides, I like you because you're Sokka, not because you're some prince or prodigal bender. You're Sokka and that's more than enough for me."

Sokka blushed lightly as the two teenagers locked eyes again. His heart started to flutter in his chest as Azara smiled up at him, his stomach already in a knot. "Azara, I—"

"—Would you like anything else this evening?" the waiter asked, popping over with a smile plastered across his face. Sokka glared up at him as Azara turned to the waiter with a tight smile.

"Just the check, please," she replied calmly as Sokka watched the waiter retreat. Squeezing his hand, which finally pried his narrowed eyes from the waiter's back, Azara smiled softly.

"Why don't we talk in a less crowded spot?" she offered as the waiter returned with the check.

"Agreed," Sokka nodded, tossing the coins onto the table before he and Azara got up to leave. They walked away from the restaurant and the more crowded center of the Upper Ring towards the quieter side streets that fanned out around the center. After walking for a few minutes, Azara spotted a more secluded location.

"What about over there?" Azara suggested, pointing towards a small pavilion with a fountain in the center and no one around it. Sokka nodded as Azara grabbed his hand and led him over, a calm smile on his face. Taking a seat on the edge of the fountain, Azara pulled Sokka down to sit with her. Glancing around, Azara smiled as she failed to spot another soul out and about. "I think we're alone. So, you were saying?"

Sokka was about to speak when he suddenly remembered the weight in his pocket. "Oh, before I forget, I, uh, I got you something," Sokka stammered, pulling a small bag out of his pocket.

Azara's eyes widened in surprise as she accepted the bag, tugging at the edges of the top with her fingers to open it. "You didn't have to get me anything," she stated, turning to look at him as Sokka rubbed the back of his neck, a light blush decorating his cheeks. Slipping one of her fingers into the bag, Azara fished out a small golden bracelet, her eyes widening in shock as she recognized it. "You got me this?" Azara gasped out, turning to Sokka with shock clear on her face.

"You seemed really sentimental when you were looking at them. I went to the stand this morning. But, uh, you never mentioned that there was a specific charm to each bracelet. And I didn't know which one you had when you were younger," Sokka rambled as Azara held the bracelet in her hand, her finger sliding over the small cactus charm hanging from the clasp of the bracelet. "So, I, uh, I just picked the cactus one because, well, you know, our adventures in the desert and everything. If you don't like it, I can—"

"—No, I love it!" Azara interjected, slipping the bracelet on as she turned to look at Sokka with adoration in her eyes. "I can't believe you remembered," she whispered out as Sokka smiled at her.

"It's not a big deal. I'm glad you like it, though," Sokka responded, looking down at the bracelet on her wrist.

"No, it is a big deal. I only mentioned it once and you bought it for me. And I love the cactus charm," Azara chuckled, staring down at the bracelet for a moment before turning to look back up at Sokka.

For a second, the two barely breathed, their eyes locked. Then Azara leaned up suddenly, connecting their lips, her eyes fluttering closed. She pulled back after a moment, a dark blush on her cheeks. As she lowered her chin, disconnecting their lips for a moment, Sokka cupped her face with his hands. The action caused Azara to open her eyes slightly, her gold eyes locking with Sokka's blue ones once more before he pulled her back to himself and reconnected their lips.

As he lowered one hand to wrap around her waist, Azara leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, one hand rising into his hair. Pulling away for a moment, both of their chests heaving, Azara blushed heavily as she placed her forehead against Sokka's. "Well, I think that was the best 'thank you' I've ever received," Sokka joked, causing Azara to chuckle lightly.

Tilting their heads to the side, the two leaned in again when Azara's eyes opened, and she placed a hand on his chest. "Wait," she stated, causing Sokka to groan and bury his face into her shoulder.

"Do you know how many times I've wanted to kiss you only to be interrupted?" Sokka muttered, causing Azara to chuckle before holding his face in her hands.

"Just one question first," she replied as Sokka wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her closer to himself.

"Anything," he breathed out as he grabbed one of her hands with his own.

"What are we? Because I don't usually just kiss my friends," Azara teased, playing lightly with the collar of Sokka's shirt.

"I hope not," Sokka replied jokingly as Azara shot him a playful glare. "But, in all seriousness, will you be my girlfriend, Azara?" Azara smiled and leaned down, connecting their lips for a moment before pulling away.

"I'd love to," Azara replied sincerely before reconnecting their lips. And for a peaceful moment, the two held each other close, their lips connected as if glued together, with only the moon as their witness. Azara gasped out as Sokka broke away, pressing a few kisses to her neck. Gripping his shoulders tightly, Azara ran one hand up to tug on Sokka's hair. The action pulled him away from her neck, but Azara quickly connected their lips again.

As Sokka ran a hand up Azara's spine, a voice called out to them. "Hey! Stop doing that!" an Earth Kingdom officer yelled out as he glared at Azara and Sokka. "This is improper public displays of affection!" As he stomped over, Azara scrambled off Sokka and grabbed his hand, tugging him along. "Hey! Get back here!" the guard shouted, chasing after them.

Azara and Sokka laughed as they ran through the side streets, the guard still following after them. Spotting a narrow alley, Azara tugged Sokka inside before turning to look for any sign of the Earth Kingdom guard. Playfully shushing Sokka as he peered over her shoulder, Azara covered her own mouth as a giggle threatened to give their position away.

The guard stumbled along, not having seen Azara and Sokka duck into the alley, before running out of sight. With him gone, Azara and Sokka locked eyes again, laughs tumbling out of their lips. "I can't believe we got reprimanded for that," Azara chuckled, glancing back out at the street. "I hate Ba Sing Se."

Turning back to Sokka, Azara blushed as she realized how close together that they were standing in the alley. Sokka stared down at Azara, taking in her beauty, which was illuminated by the moonlight, before leaning down and pressing his lips back to hers. Azara wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer to herself.

As they pulled back for air, Azara glanced over his form and realized how uncomfortable the angle he was standing at looked. While Sokka pressed a kiss to her jaw, Azara turned to lock eyes with him. "Are you comfort—" Azara gasped out as Sokka wrapped his arms around her waist and easily picked her off the ground. She subconsciously wrapped her legs around his waist as her weight rested against the wall of the building behind her.

"—I'm with you, aren't I?" Sokka asked coyly, before reconnecting their lips and pressing Azara further against the wall with his own weight. While the alley was remarkably cramped, Azara and Sokka didn't seem to care as they enjoyed their first night as a couple together.

When they were finally able to pry themselves away from each other, Azara and Sokka walked back towards their temporary residence, their linked hands swinging back and forth, the moonlight catching the golden band on Azara's wrist. They quietly opened the door to the house, surprised to see that no one was hanging out in the common room.

Turning to Sokka, Azara smiled softly up at her boyfriend. "Good night, Sokka," Azara whispered out, squeezing his hand with her own. Before she could move to leave, Sokka lightly nudged her chin and reconnected their lips for a brief kiss.

"Good night, Azara," he replied, pulling away and straightening up, before they finally dropped their linked hands.

Azara slipped into the girls' room quietly once she noticed the lights were out, hoping not to disturb Katara and Toph. However, when the light was suddenly turned on, Azara jumped and clutched her chest in fear. Realizing it was only Katara and Toph, Azara glared over