The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

Chapter 68 [~|~] Burn

The sun started to set behind them as Azara lifted a flame over her head to illuminate the path in front of her, which was becoming harder to see with each passing minute. "We should make camp soon," she announced, stepping over a crack in the ground.

"There! We'll make camp for the night," Aang pointed out, finding a clearing in the path with enough space for everyone to set up for the night. Everyone dispersed into their own jobs and took a moment to collect themselves from their long day of walking.

After setting up a second fire for everyone, Azara moved to roll out her blanket on the flattest part of the clearing. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sokka approaching Suki, who was also laying out her sleeping bag for the night. "Suki, you shouldn't sleep there. Who knows how stable this ledge is, it could give way at any moment!" Sokka stated, pulling Suki's sleeping bag to the side, and placing it closer to the rest of the group.

"Sokka, I'm fine, stop worrying!" Suki demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"You're right, you're right, you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself!" Sokka conceded as Suki walked forwards to grab her sleeping bag. However, before she could, Sokka jumped back, pulling her with him. "Wait! Oh, never mind, I thought I saw a spider, but you're fine," Sokka smiled, causing Suki and Azara to send him a look. Without another word, Azara stood up and walked down the path a bit to clear her head.

Finding a dip in the rock, Azara climbed up and laid with her back against the wall, staring up at the moon as she processed the day. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a softer patch of ground to sleep on. Pulling her hair out of the braid she usually kept it in, she allowed her long dark hair to pool around her face, her golden irises catching the reflection of the moonlight.

Turning so that she was staring fully at the moon, Azara sighed, resting her cheek against the cool rock as she tried to sort out her thoughts. She couldn't help but first think about Zuko and Iroh, wondering where they were at that moment. With their newfound knowledge about the Solstice, and if everything went according to plan, then the Fire Nation would hopefully be defeated by the end of summer.

She knew how much Zuko wanted to return home and for everything to just go back to normal, but she also knew that that future was not possible. She was clearly a traitor, and apparently, he and Iroh had been labeled the same after the defeat of the Fire Nation at the North Pole. Regardless of what Zuko dreamed of, she knew that their father would not forgive or forget their betrayals.

Glancing out at another passing Fire Navy ship, Azara narrowed her eyes at the sight. Based on what Suki had informed her of earlier, the Fire Nation appeared to be preparing for something big. And she didn't like the proximity of all the Fire Nation ships to Ba Sing Se. Rolling onto her back, Azara sighed. Wherever there was a Fire Nation mess, it seemed that her family was not far behind it, which meant one thing—Azula. Groaning, Azara rolled back over so that she was facing the moon. She couldn't think about her family right now. She was too tired to sort out that mess.

She was, regardless of her willingness to deal with it, too caught up in the current mess that was playing out at their campsite. Rubbing her face tiredly, she sighed again. After her kiss with Sokka in the canyon, she assumed that she and Sokka were well . . . more than friends. They hadn't talked about labels or anything, but she had presumed that their kiss meant that the two of them were something other than strictly platonic friends.

But then the way he acted around Suki just confused her more. Obviously the two had been close when they had originally visited Kyoshi Island. And Sokka had mentioned Suki before, even before they had returned to Kyoshi Island, so it wasn't like she was completely blindsided by their friendship, or relationship, or whatever they wanted to call it. It still hurt though, despite the fact that she wasn't even sure if she had a right to be upset about it.