#maaaaaybe

Used to Earth's landscape, to its gravity and atmosphere, the change of scenery from that blue planet to its notoriously red neighbor didn't agree entirely with the fifteen-year-old girl… those blue sunsets instead of red or orange felt out of place still, but in all fairness, growing used to Mars after a mere week since her arrival might have been too much to hope for. Inevitably, Azula pondered how different other human settlements might be, such as the booming moon in Jupiter's orbit, Europa. A lot of people had traveled to Mars from Europa and many other solar system locations, in fact, to witness today's memorable event… Azula herself had come here with her family from Earth. Ursa was rather stoked to witness and support Zuko's participation in the military parade… Ozai, on the other hand, seemed far more pleased over his own successful efforts at gaining a foothold in the Stellar Council Chairman's Inner Circle.

Azula watched the relentless crowd through the windows of the grand hotel right by the plaza, where all the high-profile guests resided while awaiting the arrival of the very last of them… the guest around whom this entire event had been planned. Azula's parents had told her to be as polite and proper as possible, a feat she normally wouldn't struggle with, but it had been much harder to do so across that week. Spending time around so many people with far too much power and far too little intelligence would grind anyone's gears… the height of the Stellar Council's power was, perhaps, the biggest collection of power-hungry idiots Azula had ever come across.

But the time for the celebration to begin approached: the aforementioned group of power-hungry idiots were finally ready to take up their privileged positions at the dais around the plaza.

Ozai wore his finest suit, with its tall collar and sober colors that contrasted spectacularly with the ostentatious, shameless shades worn by his brand-new friend: the Stellar Council's Chairman, Liu Lijun, had arrived only the previous day and boasted of a rather unsavory reputation, just as he had a grand following of sycophants who hoped to accrue his favor… much as they hoped to claim, through him, the closest thing to eternal life humanity had ever experienced. Azula knew, of course, that her father only endured the unpleasant Chairman and humored his every whim for that reason alone. A man as lacking in patience, as curt and blunt as Ozai, would not share so many drinks, or join so many social outings with Liu if he had nothing to gain from it.

Azula and Ursa walked through the inner passageways of the hotel as they marched towards the brand new footbridge, recently crafted to link the hotel with the plaza. They remained several strides behind Ozai, Liu Lijun, and all the other bootlickers that crowded around the stout, blond man.

"Say… does Father intend to take the Chairman's seat for himself?" Azula asked her mother carelessly, as she focused on her surroundings: her neural chip, implanted in the back of her neck, supplied instant information upon recognizing the people surrounding her father.

Neural chips enhanced the human experience on every level: information would appear before their eyes pertaining to any given subject, just as any music or game could be played within someone's mind at the drop of a hat. Neural chips also allowed what, in other age, might have been deemed telepathy, where people could communicate through their minds alone, if they sought privacy. Azula, however, didn't bother hiding her rather treasonous words this time…

"Curses, Azula… don't say anything like that out loud," Ursa hissed. Azula smirked slightly. "Do you want to get your father in trouble?"

"Is security truly that tight here in Mars that I can't just indulge in a little harmless treason?" Azula asked, glancing about herself – two, three cameras in this hallway alone. She snorted. "I thought this was paradise compared to Earth. Crime is nearly non-existent, people are so very friendly and kind…!"

"I doubt security is like this all the time," Ursa admitted. "It's just because Chairman Liu is here, and… well, because of all the important people who will be here too, of course."

"And it's not because of the Clones, of course. Not at all," Azula said, casually. Ursa stiffened. "Seems like a terribly foolish event to stage when your greatest political threat is supposedly oh so scary…"

"Liu Lijun means to prove he's not scared, in fact."

Azula stiffened at once: perhaps her mother had a point regarding her casual conversation about such delicate subjects.

Even so, the tension deflated quickly when a tall, bulky man approached them from down the hall with a gentle smile. His dark uniform, highlighted with the blue hues and golden arrows signaling his rank of Battle Master of the Stellar Fleet, featured several medals upon his left lapel as well: he was Ren Jiahao, the most popular member of the Fleet, the gold standard by which members of the Council's military branch were ever measured, and a friend of Ozai's since a few years back.

"Oh, Ren," Ursa laughed. Ren hushed her playfully with a finger over his mouth. "Azula didn't mean to… she's a teenager. Speaks her mind when she shouldn't…!"

"Ah, well. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Someone has to say what we're all thinking," Ren smiled down at Azula: the teenager in question was ever daunted by the man's considerable height, as he was well over six feet tall and boasting of a strong, sturdy muscular build. "Your brother would likely join the battle, should the clones attack… but rest assured, we're ready to defend Mars from any threats we may face, be it today or whenever. Your family will be safe."

"Are you sure?" Ursa asked, biting her lip.

"Absolutely. I wouldn't have brought my own family here if I thought otherwise," Ren smiled, glancing back over his shoulder: his wife Xiaoyan rushed towards him, carrying their six-year-old boy in her arms. "I know it's hard to relax when we're at war with the clones, but… rest assured, Mrs. Homura. The Stellar Fleet will undo any threat to humanity's expansion across the galaxy."

Azula frowned: she had heard of the brewing conflict between humanity and the clones all her life… it had started long before her birth. The idea that anything could threaten humanity's expansion and space exploration seemed so utterly absurd, for no intelligent life had been found anywhere in over a hundred exoplanets they'd explored so far…

It made perfect sense, of course, that the worst threat humanity would face would happen to be the one they had developed and mismanaged themselves. Her father had been the first to tell her as much, back when he had been critical and harsh towards the establishment he now shacked up to… it sickened Azula to see him reduced to yet another of Liu's sycophants, even if Ozai believed that was necessary for their family's long-term survival.

"Now, then… are you ready for the ceremony?" Ren asked, with an eager smile. They all resumed the walk, with Ren keeping an arm around his wife as Azula and Ursa marched at his other side. "It's going to be her biggest public sighting in… heh. I don't know. Probably ever?"

"And we're sure she's going to be there?" Ursa asked, her voice betraying her excitement. "Most people have only heard about her in school, or on the news on occasion… it's hard to believe we'll meet Captain Takei in person."

"Most people haven't, sure," Ren said, with a smug smile. His wife elbowed him lightly. "Hey! Why do you always get so worked up about her? There's never been anything going on between her and me, Xiaoyan! It's just empty rumors."

"I don't like the way you talk about her," Xiaoyan responded, stubbornly. Ren sighed and rolled his eyes. Ursa chuckled at the marriage's argument, offering Ren a sympathetic smile.

"I've met her like… thrice, and she thinks we're having an affair. As if that were even possible," Ren said, eyes wide. "I doubt she's in anyone's league, to begin with… her entire life is about biocatalyzing planets: nothing more, nothing less."

Azula couldn't help but perk up after hearing that: humanity had achieved extraordinary feats across the past thousands of years, as technology advanced enough to enable stellarflights, trips across the galaxy at lightspeed. But where many, such as Liu Lijun, relied on such technology merely to extend their lifespans by jumping across the galaxy, the Stellar Fleet's Cosmic Forces would utilize the technology for far more crucial duties that revolved around one of the greatest miracles humanity had crafted: the Lifeseed.

Lifeseeds were bombs of organic matter that would be launched into a planet's nucleus. The impact triggered a massive terraforming shift across the celestial body, enhancing the existing atmosphere and providing it with the necessary elements for humanity to survive within the planet's premises. Along with that, the bomb would jumpstart the creation of a biosphere through accelerated evolution of plants and animals suited to the environment… it would, in short, condition a planet for humanity to exist on it without needing special suits or masks to breathe. The process was officially called Stellar Body Biocatalysis, and at this point, it had been performed successfully in over a hundred celestial bodies, be it within Earth's Solar System or beyond it, through stellarflights.

Mars's current condition as an inhabitable planet was the product of the second-ever successfully planted Lifeseed, almost three thousand years ago – the first had been done on the Moon, the first attempt failed but the second one had done the trick. Human society had expanded and boomed in the planet across that time, just as the same had happened in the moons of Europa, by Jupiter, in Enceladus, of Saturn, and many other moons that suited all parameters for human survival.

Every child grew up dreaming of becoming a Stellar Fleet pilot, and the boldest of them wished to be core pod pilots, the heroes who would plant a miraculous Lifeseed and succeed at biocatalyzing a planet. Only a handful of them succeeded at graduating from the Stellar Fleet's Academy, and even less of them would become core pod pilots. And even then, with as much training as they received, success wasn't guaranteed: if a pilot failed to fly out of the carved tunnel to the nucleus on time, the subsequent explosion of the Lifeseed would quite likely kill the pilot, a tragedy that had already occurred several times across three thousand years of thorough space exploration.

Anyone who survived a biocatalysis mission would become a hero of humanity: someone who had done it fifty times across her career in the Stellar Fleet was more akin to a living myth, instead.

That was the person Ren spoke of, the one his wife seemed so apprehensive over… the same one that the massive crowd waited to see once she finally landed on Mars for the very first time in her career: the legendary core pod pilot, Captain-…

"Ren! Ah, there you were! Having too much fun with the missus last night and overslept, did you?"

Liu Lijun's laughter boomed through the halls when he turned around to spot Ren alongside Azula and Ursa.

Ren tensed up and smiled awkwardly, letting go of his wife and speeding up to greet the ridiculous man with bleached blond hair, dressed in a purple crop-top with partitioned sleeves, with a red undershirt and a massive gold belt, furnished with a buckle bearing the emblem of the Stellar Council. Covered in trite jewelry and dressed in what he would surely deem casual wear, Liu Lijun's two-day stubble, empty and genetically modified green eyes, and perpetual smile, had unnerved Azula all her life, even back when he had only been a distant figure she would see in her school documents about meaningful historical figures, or in media news reels.

"I didn't oversleep, no… I'm sorry if I made you wait too long, Liu," Ren said, bowing his head and raising his left fist to his chest: he extended his middle and index fingers, pressing against his right pectoral, the respectful greeting for a superior authority figure.

"Oh, pssht, don't be so dramatic!" Liu Lijun laughed, looking over at the others who arrived with Ren. "Ah… this is your woman, Ozai?"

"Yes, this is… my wife, Ursa," Ozai said, categorically. Azula couldn't help but notice the twitch of his fist, as he suppressed the natural reactions he felt towards Liu Lijun… to think he put up with all of it, all be it for the chance of clutching power someday, or for the sake of prolonging his lifespan unnaturally.

"Huh," Liu Lijun said, his voice dismissive… then, his eyes fell upon Azula, instead.

The snakes that crawled inside her stomach warned her to keep her distance from the man, to refuse any attempt at friendliness he might offer… not that she truly expected any. But she would not play the sycophant, no matter if her father glared at her threateningly, urging her to contain her revulsion…

"And this your kid?" Liu Lijun said: he eyed her up and down, repeatedly. "Hmm. Well. Give it a few years, give or take…"

Bile rose in Azula's throat upon hearing those words: wasn't her father going to do something? Wasn't her mother…? Ursa moved, hand rising to clasp her wrist. She seemed to want to step in front of her, protectively…

Then, Liu Lijun snorted and cackled.

"Nah, never mind. She's not my type!"

His laughter boomed across the hallway, and the other men and women surrounding him, besides Ozai, laughed with him. Ozai breathed deeply, offended, outraged… Azula stared at him in chagrin, only for her father to tighten his lips in a line and turn towards Liu Lijun once more.

"Now, now, no sour faces, Ozai! Just joking, just joking…!" he said, patting Ozai's back. Ozai cast a remorseful glance at the two women of his family…

But even so, he marched ahead with Liu Lijun, whose interest in Ren and his company had waned as quickly as it had arrived. They started crossing the temporary footbridge that connected the hotel and the plaza, a commodity that had been added in a hurry to the location, by Liu Lijun's demand. From there, him and his group would enter the rows of best seats without so much as needing to approach the general crowd.

The only one among Liu Lijun's favorites who didn't follow him right away was Ren, who turned towards Azula with an apologetic grimace.

"Don't… don't take it too seriously," Ren said, softly. Azula scowled at him. "He's like a child. Doesn't measure anything he says or does…"

"And clearly, nobody's going to measure it for him," Azula hissed. Ren sighed, then frowned.

"What do you say if, well, I help you stay away from him?" he suggested. Ursa glanced at him in surprise. "The Task Master of the Terrestrial Forces of Mars will have his family here too. Xiaoyan and Tai will sit near them… you could join them, if you'd like. No need to be anywhere near Liu Lijun that way."

"That… that would be for the best," Ursa said, breathing deeply and hugging Azula. "Fuck… fuck, I'm sorry."

"At least you are," Azula said, bitterly: her father had been her hero long ago… but Liu Lijun's attention had turned him into everything he had always claimed to be above of. Her heart burned with rage, her throat thick with tears of frustration…

How could a man be so utterly bereft of shame and decency, so deeply disconnected from any sign of self-awareness…? Had power turned him into this sickening wretch? Was it the lightspeed travels he resorted to, to extend his lifespan for as long as he might, or had Liu Lijun been like this all along?

Whatever the case, Azula despised the Chairman profoundly. She had found him unnerving before… by now, her resentment had been bolstered all the more upon confirming that her initial judgment of the man had been accurate all along.

They crossed the footbridge too, and Ursa accompanied Azula to the seat Ren had offered her: the plaza, lined with rows upon rows of cheering spectators, seemed to acclaim Liu Lijun once he stepped out into view, waving at the audience and blowing kisses in their direction. Azula would have gladly ignored anything he did, but unfortunately, screens lining the entire place ensured that the Chairman's presence could not be overlooked… at least, not through natural means. Azula instructed her neural chip to supply a replacement feed of information and audio to block out the Chairman: an old childhood TV show started playing across those screens instead, if just for Azula's private enjoyment.

"Here?" Ursa asked Ren, who nodded as they reached the seats he had suggested. "Okay… okay. Stay here, Azula. I'll go sit with your father, and…"

"Can you kick him in the shin for me?" Azula asked, with a slight smile.

"Later, surely. We don't want to make a scene now," Ursa said, with a sigh. Azula rolled her eyes. "You'll be safe over here, dear. I promise."

"Whatever," Azula said, stepping towards the half-empty bench that Xiaoyan was already sitting at with her son. Azula made certain to sit as far as possible from the ornate balcony that Liu Lijun, Ren and her parents would be sitting at.

She dropped in place, scowling heavily at the masses below: fools like these gave power to undeserving buffoons, following their every whim, feeling whatever emotions they were expected to while in the presence of a man as despicable as the Chairman. And she was supposed to be one of them, to play her part as another cog in the Stellar Council's pointless machine, much like her brother already was part of the Stellar Fleet…

She couldn't even see him among the military rows displayed at either side of the long walkway in the plaza, even though she knew he was one of the recruits standing in position to welcome the grand hero of the Stellar Fleet on that day. Her eyes scanned the area, finding that the Cosmic Forces and Mars's Terrestrial Forces were mixed among each other, with the latter's burgundy uniform highlighted among the dark grey of the former.

"Uh… hi. Sorry, but… you're in my seat?"

Azula turned her scowl towards the newest arrival: a young man, at most two years older than herself, with dark hair and a tan skin color… he carried an armful of snacks, and he was dressed in Mars's celebratory paraphernalia pertaining the appointment of their brand-new Premier.

"Oh… uh, you know what? I can just… sit here. Sure," the young man winced over the killer glare Azula shot in his direction. "Katara? You want to sit next to this friendly Earthling here, or…?"

"Are all Martians so cowardly, or is it just you?" Azula blurted out: the words hit the boy's pride quite effectively, and he turned towards her with outrage plain across his features. "Well?"

"I'm… not cowardly. You are sneaky and taking people's seats when they left for ten minutes to get snacks!" the guy exclaimed, pouting. Azula couldn't help but smirk at his reaction.

"Too bad. I was told by Battle Master Ren Jiahao to sit here, though, so… tough luck," Azula said, stretching back: it was disgusting, she knew, to reap the advantage of having powerful friends, much as her father did… but she was in a bad enough mood to wave Ren around as a threat. His name might just allow her to do as she pleased to no consequences.

"Well, I was told by my father, Task Master Hakoda Harkin, to sit here, so… tough luck to you," the guy retorted, dropping on the seat beside her unceremoniously.

The young woman who followed him was carrying just as many sweets and candy as he was carrying spicy and salty snacks: she seemed younger than him, and going by their familiarity, it was easy enough for Azula to conclude they were siblings, more so when the girl kicked the guy's rear.

"Scooch over, Sokka!" she exclaimed.

"There's no more room!" he squeaked. "You go find another seat…!"

"Oh, sure, so you can hit on that girl without me being there to ruin it for you? Not a chance," the girl said, pushing her way into the bench: Azula gasped as she wound up pressed against the balcony's railing, with the boy nearly atop her. "There!"

"Katara, stop that!"

"Quit being so whiny, Sokka. Or I'll keep all the Terra Bars for myself!"

"Hey, you can't eat all of them, we bought so many…! Come on, Katara!"

Azula huffed and shoved back: the two siblings nearly dropped their snacks again, and this time it seemed they'd ally against her rather than bickering with each other.

"Well, that's a feisty one," Katara huffed.

"An asshole, rather," Sokka remarked, pouting. "I'd have offered you some salted nuts, Earthling, but if you're gonna be that way…!"

"Why would you offer me salted nuts when you don't even know me?" Azula hissed, looking at him skeptically.

It was quite annoying, Azula realized, to find that the irritating young man was easy on the eyes… but that wouldn't change her animosity one bit, nor would it keep her from defying him with her golden glare. Sokka grunted, Azula's eyes narrowed…

But a deafening noise interrupted the promising beginning of a lifelong feud: the speakers across the plaza lit up, as did the screens, with images of a lean, smooth stellarship breaching Mars's atmosphere… Azula stopped her replacement feed right away, catching a glimpse of what riled up the crowd so much

"Oh, shit… she's almost here!" Katara exclaimed, squealing as she grabbed her brother's arm. Sokka bit his lip but smiled, too.

"Good. The sooner it's over, the sooner we can all go home," Azula huffed.

"Why're you here if you don't want to be, anyway?" Sokka growled. "This is a big day for Mars, alright? If you don't care for it, you could've skipped the trip."

"I would have, if my parents hadn't dragged me here and sent me to sit where I am now because…" Azula started, but then stopped: she had no idea if this foolish boy was also some kind of Liu Lijun enthusiast… in her experience, most people pretended to be, if just for the sake of basking in the man's fame and fortune, if the opportunity arose. "Oh, whatever. I'll be out of here as soon as it's over."

"Heh… then at least try to enjoy it until it is, right?" Sokka said, with a slight smile. "I wasn't any nicer to you just now, sorry for that, but… you look like you're in a bad mood and you shouldn't be. This is a happy day, unless… wait, is it you wanted her to be Earth's Premier, instead?!"

"Hmm. Can't say I'd mind if that were the case. Anything's better than what we've got right now," Azula said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh? You don't like Liu Lijun?" Katara asked, as she snacked on a chocolate bar happily. "He seems like a very cheerful guy…"

"Oh, sure. He's very cheerful, and he hasn't had a singular intelligent thought in… what, four hundred years? How long has that loser been around at this point?" Sokka said: Azula perked up upon hearing that.

"You… think he's a moron?" Azula asked. Sokka snorted.

"Everyone does. I'm just the only one who'll say it outright, apparently," he said.

He froze on the spot, however, upon finding the dangerous-looking, angry girl was smiling at him.

"U-uh… am I in trouble? Or is that your sincere smile…?" he asked, his voice small.

To his relief, Azula laughed and sighed, closing her eyes as she rejoiced in knowing that, if nothing else, there was one more person close to her age who could see through Liu Lijun as easily as that.

"It's nothing. Just… thank you. I feel a little less alone in the universe all of a sudden," she said.

Sokka perked up at that. He raised his eyebrows, eyed Katara, and his sister scowled meaningfully at him.

"Sokka, don't be such a…"

Sokka cleared his throat, then, and offered a bag of chips to Azula.

"Well, if that's how it is, uh… maybe not nuts. But maybe you can have some of my chips? If, uh, if you want any, of course," he said, attempting nonchalance and failing at it utterly as his cheeks flushed.

Azula stared at him pointedly, her amusement freezing. He grimaced, immediately wary of her sudden silence…

Azula reached for the bag, opened it, and started to gobble down chips.

Sokka smiled brightly and turned towards Katara, making a celebratory gesture. Katara rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"Weren't you ready to pick a fight with her like thirty seconds ago?"

"Sure, but that was thirty seconds ago!"

Despite herself, Azula actually smiled upon hearing the siblings' bickering. She hadn't come to Mars with the intent to meet anyone new… but she seemed to have been lucky enough to wind up sitting by amusing people, despite their rocky beginnings.

Azula was halfway through her bag of chips, and Sokka and Katara were in the middle of arguing over their personal tier lists of the best Martian snacks, when the crowd stirred once more. Azula tensed up, raising her gaze towards the sky: sure enough, among the reddened clouds, the pointy hull of the stellarship they'd seen on the screens earlier finally made its appearance. It was sleek and large, a far more advanced model than the stellarship Azula had boarded to come to Mars earlier that week. Power poured from the thrusters until the ship landed smoothly in its assigned landing platform, at the very end of the plaza…

The crowd was utterly beyond hope at this point. The loud celebratory music, the cheers, the screams, the holographic signs, the laser beams of all colors: Azula hadn't seen a reaction so visceral and enthusiastic over anything ever before.

"Woah, boy. You ready, Katara?" Sokka nearly had to shout for his sister to hear him. Katara smiled.

"It could be our only sighting, but… it won't be, right?" Katara reasoned. "She's going to be our Premier now. Meaning… she's going to stick around for quite a bit, right?"

"Probably… hopefully," Sokka said, with a shrug. "I mean, as long as she's good at the job…"

"You're talking about Atsuko Takei, Sokka. She's good at everything!"

It was the name every child grew up hearing, for it was heralded and lauded as the name of the most extraordinary pilot humanity had ever seen. Of course, if any human was trained in the arts of piloting and granted a ship of such remarkable quality and build, they, too, might seem extraordinary, Azula reasoned… she sighed as she stared at the landed ship, guessing it wouldn't be long before the legendary pilot stepped into view. As she waited, she pulled up information on the famous pilot in her neural chip, hoping to glean more about who she was beyond her fame and legend… her available biography wasn't particularly thorough, however.

"No birth date?" Azula whispered to herself, scrolling through the documents that appeared in her mind. Most information was far too recent for someone of such renown and importance in human culture at large. Had someone scrubbed the available information about Atsuko Takei, for some reason?

By then, Liu Lijun, Ren, even her father and a few other chosen members of Liu's group, had climbed down from their seats: they now stood at the ceremonial stage instead… and along with them stood Arun Yooyen, a man of pale complexion in his mid-sixties, who bore the ceremonial scepter of Mars in his hands: he was the current Premier, set to be replaced on that very day by the new arrival. Going by what the screens showed, the man appeared perfectly relaxed, perhaps ready to abandon power… though there was a sadness to his gaze that Azula couldn't help but notice after she dismissed her brief investigation into Takei.

"Was he a good Premier?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"I mean, sure. Mars's a lot better off than Earth, as everyone knows…" he said, with a smug smirk. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I'm not picking a fight. I'm just asking… did he do a decent job?" she said. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. He was alright, but… I guess, if Katara's hero is better, we'll all forget about Old Arun pretty quickly."

Perhaps only the annals of history would remember Arun's name indeed, for no achievement he had to his name could possibly measure up to being the predecessor of the legendary Atsuko Takei's tenure as Premier of Mars… as proven by the even louder ruckus once the aforementioned pilot stepped out of her stellarship, at last.

All cameras focused on her. Every single pair of eyes was glued to the Stellar Fleet's captain… a built, tall woman of around forty years of age, dressed in her regular service uniform rather than the formal one that all present military forces wore on that day. Along with that, Azula couldn't help but notice that the woman's long, black hair was disheveled, careless, as though she hadn't bothered styling it for years – considering how often Atsuko Takei traveled at lightspeed between exoplanets, perhaps it would be accurate to say she hadn't brushed it for over a decade indeed.

Her skin was pale, and the bags under her eyes matched the rest of her unkempt, informal appearance. But something about the Captain's energy, something about the way she carried herself, held an effortless charisma that turned her into the center of attention in any room she set foot in.

Perhaps the most striking of her features, though, would be her dark eyes: the cameras that zoomed in on her face showed a woman who, far from being flattered or delighted by this reception, appeared confused and annoyed by it, instead.

"Woah… looks like someone crapped on your hero's cereals this morning, Katara," Sokka said, grimacing.

"What the…? Shut up!" Katara hissed, smacking her brother's leg lightly. "It's Atsuko Takei you're talking about! Show some respect!"

"I'm just saying…" Sokka said, raising his hands defensively.

The Captain glared at her surroundings in silence: everything about her body language screamed tension, and that didn't change as she marched with long strides towards the ceremonial dais where Liu Lijun and his posse awaited her.

"One would think she'd be happier to get the job of a lifetime, right?" Sokka continued, after munching on his snacks some more.

"Wrong," Azula stated. Sokka froze, looking at her in surprise. "Core pilots have the job of many lifetimes. If I were her? Becoming a Premier, being stuck governing a planet until death or demotion, would feel like a downgrade instead."

"W-well…! C'mon, who wants to keep jumping across space for thousands and thousands of years anyway," Sokka said, blushing. "And she could do a lot worse than Mars! This is a great place to be a Premier of, I don't see why she'd have a problem with it…"

Sokka continued to mumble in protest as the loud music dwindled clumsily: Atsuko's long strides had brought her to the dais far faster than expected. Liu Lijun cleared his throat as the microphone-drone hovering over him amplified his voice…

"Welcome, everyone, and of course, welcome, our dear Captain Takei! Us representatives from the Stellar Council, we're…!"

"What the hell is this?"

Atsuko's harsh voice almost sounded like it hadn't been used in several weeks, but its strength was beyond question, amplified too by the microphone-drone: something was definitely wrong, and the Stellar Fleet's captain clearly would not stand for it.

Azula frowned, though, processing the woman's question, as well as its disrespectful tone… she didn't speak to the Chairman as though he were an authority she was obligated to answer to.

"Why… I'm sure Battle Master Jiahao explained when he summoned you," said Liu Lijun, with a nervous chuckle. "Or didn't he?"

"He didn't tell me shit," Atsuko rebuffed: she turned a meaningful glare on the tall man, as though his military rank weren't higher than her own. "Nothing other than that some Chairman wanted to see me. Guess that's you?"

"I… yes. I've been Chairman for the past three hundred years," Liu Lijun pointed out, with an awkward smile: his patience wasn't extensive, and it was already running out after receiving no manner of respect from the woman for whom he had staged this grand event. "You must have heard of me: I'm Liu Lijun. Ring any bells, Captain?"

Liu Lijun chuckled, glancing about his sycophants as though expecting them to support him. They laughed with him, naturally… but their nervousness could not be more apparent, more so as Atsuko crooked an unamused eyebrow. Liu Lijun's false smile faltered immediately.

"Can't say it does," Atsuko said, bluntly.

A few chuckles echoed, scattered, across the large plaza. None left Azula's lips… but she leaned forward, staring intently… for the biggest drag of her life had become the most entertaining spectacle instead in a matter of moments.

Liu Lijun's displeasure showed in spades, but as he stood in a public venue, filled to the brim with witnesses, he attempted to contain his childish reaction… to a fault. He let out a disbelieving, forced laugh as he stared at Atsuko with blistering frustration.

"Well, if you truly don't remember, it was me who called you back into active service after your stunt in…!"

He stopped talking when Ren dropped a hand on his shoulder: was it a warning? A threat? Whatever the case, for once it seemed that Liu Lijun would hold his tongue instead of jumping at the chance to humiliate someone. Atsuko didn't react in any visible manner to his tirade, nor to Ren's intervention… but Azula frowned upon hearing those words: the lack of information about Takei returned to mind. Was she right to suspect much of it had been scrapped? Why? Who had done it… and who benefited from such a thing?

"Let's… let's start over, shall we? I summoned you here so that I might reward you for your great services to the Stellar Council and the Cosmic Forces of the Stellar Fleet across your career," Liu Lijun said, his voice harsh at first, but gradually smoother and kinder, as his false smile returned. "It's not every day that a pilot successfully biocatalyzes no less than fifty planets, am I right? Am I right?!"

His words, his gestures, resulted in a cheer from the audience… and a deeper frown from Atsuko.

"As a result… on this day, I shall officially promote you to Task Master," Liu Lijun said, embracing his showmanship fully once more. "Doesn't that sound good, everyone? Give it up… for Task Master Atsuko Takei!"

Still no response from the woman receiving the acclaim and accolades. If anything, the glare she fixed on Liu Lijun seemed sharper than a burning laser at this point.

"It's like she wants to blow up his head," Sokka said, swallowing hard.

"Can't say I'd mind it if she did," Azula remarked, with a smirk: Sokka winced at her reaction.

"But it'd splatter everywhere, you know? It'd be so gross…"

"Could you guys just… be normal? For two seconds?" Katara huffed: Xiaoyan, at Katara's other side, shushed them and shook her head in disapproval at their chatter.

"And?"

Atsuko's next word echoed through the plaza anew. Liu Lijun winced, uncomfortable yet again as the celebratory cheers died down.

"What, I'm supposed to believe you made this fuss over a mere promotion? You got a big party like this when you got promoted, Ren?" Atsuko barked at the man, who gritted his teeth before looking at her meaningfully. "What the hell is this?"

"Look, just have some patience, alright?" Ren said: Atsuko actually seemed far more willing to listen to him than to Liu Lijun. "The truth is, you were called here because…"

"Because your greatest honor and reward for your career's achievements will be the position of Premier of Mars!" Liu Lijun blurted out, unwilling to allow Ren to be at the center of attention for a moment longer.

Now Atsuko reacted… with wide eyes, and parting lips. She even took a step back, as though Liu Lijun had pushed her violently with his sudden statement.

She hadn't known.

The Chairman had ambushed the grand cosmic hero with a job she hadn't agreed to or wanted…

"On this day, the current Premier of Mars, Arun Yooyen, is delighted to pass on the responsibility of governing this planet to you," Liu Lijun said, his smile sardonic and wicked. "Isn't that right, Arun?"

"Y-yes, yes, I… it has been an honor to govern Mars until today. I'm sure you'll do a… a fine job of it, Task Master Takei," said Arun, bowing his head towards her.

Atsuko's eyes shifted between the people on that stage, with her. While shooting the worst of the glares at Liu Lijun and Ren, she soon turned fully towards Arun, stepping in his direction: he instinctively raised the Premier's Scepter, offering it to her…

Liu Lijun took it first, smirking before pointing it at Atsuko.

"A great honor, he says, so… I advise you accept the job, Task Master Takei. As commander-in-chief of the Stellar Fleet, by virtue of being Chairman… you are in no position to refuse any appointment I give you. It's, in fact, your duty to accept it… as any active, respected member of the Stellar Fleet would."

Atsuko scowled. She glanced at Arun again…

Then, she raised a hand and clasped the scepter, taking it from Liu with a violent swipe.

The gesture represented acceptance of the role: even if she taken it so dismissively, ignoring all protocols that ought have been followed… whoever took possession of that scepter was, indeed, Premier of Mars.

The crowd launched in joyful celebration… though the sounds were far more restrained than upon Atsuko's earlier arrival. Clearly, the crowd was not immune to the tension and discomfort shown by their hero. Azula watched the reaction with a crooked eyebrow as Sokka, beside her, crossed his arms over his chest.

"And here I thought she'd actually appreciate it a bit," Sokka said.

"I already told you… she's a core pod pilot. This is… like throwing her in prison, or so," Azula stated. "Why would she abandon a career where she could keep piloting for the rest of her days just for your planet? For any planet?"

"I mean, her job is about fixing planets?" Sokka said, with a dry grin. "If she cares enough about them to plant Lifeseeds throughout hundreds of years, she probably ought to…"

The crowd quieted down after a sudden, new and unintelligible phrase in Atsuko's voice echoed across the plaza. Whatever she had said, it was addressed at Arun: the man cleared his throat.

"E-excuse me, what was that, i-if I may…?"

"How long were you Premier of this planet?"

"Oh, uh… six years, give or take," Arun said.

"Were you any good at it?" Atsuko asked. Arun froze. "Well, never mind. Shouldn't ask you: was he any good at governing your planet?!"

Atsuko turned around, addressing her words to the crowd: that she would finally acknowledge them resulted in a much wilder reaction than anticipated. It was hard to gauge whether the excitement was a positive or negative reaction to her question, for if anything, it seemed people were merely pleased that she had spoken to them at all. She sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

"I'm going to ask you one last time!" she roared: her voice, stern and firm, sufficed to quiet the audience again. "If Arun Yooyen was any good as your Premier… cheer now!"

The initial reaction was quite meek… slowly, though, the shouts and cheers climbed in intensity and strength. Soon, the entire crowd appeared to be clapping or cheering: even Sokka, with a slight smile, started clapping too.

"Hey, the guy deserves his dues. He wasn't that bad," he said, as Katara stared at him with amusement.

"Well, I suppose that's true," she said, clapping politely as well. "Just seems odd of you to show appreciation like this…"

"Well, why would it be?! What's that supposed to mean, huh?!"

The loud cheers quieted down once Atsuko turned to face Arun again: the man's eyes were full of tears, and a grateful smile spread over his lips.

"T-thank you. I… thank you for that, Premier. I…"

"You still liked this job?" Atsuko asked him. Arun let out a soft, nervous laugh. "Just answer the question."

"I… I did, yes. I… I thought it was my calling to serve the people of Mars, but I can serve in many ways, of course I can. So…"

"Sure you can. How does Interim Premier sound to you?"

Silence. Utter, unfathomable silence spread across the stage, the crowd, everywhere after those words echoed through the magnified voice system.

"W-wait. Wait, you can't just appoint an interim without having served a single day as…!" Liu Lijun exclaimed: Atsuko shot a glare at him, her abrasive demeanor returning with a vengeance when she regarded him.

"Watch me."

She didn't even hesitate to flip the scepter: it twirled until it fell, yet again, in Arun's hands.

"I'll come back for that… someday," Atsuko said, with a dry grin. "Appoint a successor whenever you're sick of the job, or when you're about to die, if you happen to hold office until then. Good luck running your planet, Interim Premier Yooyen… and farewell."

She turned on her heels and marched down the long stretch of the plaza, right back to where she had landed her stellarship.

"D-did she just…?!" Katara gasped, eyes wide with horror.

"She rejected the… she rejected the job?" Sokka said: easygoing and calm as he had been so far, his face was suddenly a mask of seriousness… of displeasure.

"She accepted it… on her terms," Azula reasoned, watching Atsuko marching off, head held high, hair riding freely in the wind. "I mean, she had no warning she was getting this role, and that bastard wanted her to accept it because it suited his purposes, whatever they might be. She… she did the right thing, she…"

She had stood up to Liu Lijun.

More than that… she had humiliated the man before the largest audience to ever crowd around him.

The strange, inexplicable charisma that graced Atsuko Takei only seemed bolstered further as she abandoned the stage and crossed the plaza without so much as acknowledging anyone else: Azula noticed her father's utter shock, the uncertainty of what to do in this scenario… but her eyes shifted towards Atsuko anew, watching the woman leave as unexpected admiration blossomed in her chest: Azula had never heard of anyone from the Stellar Council with the guts to rise against Liu Lijun, unafraid of the consequences.

And why should she be afraid? A woman with fifty biocatalyzed planets to her name, who had risen through the Fleet's ranks through nothing but hard work and devotion to the Stellar Council's cause, could see Liu Lijun for the empty shell he was… and the Chairman certainly didn't take well to that.

"Hey! Hey!" he shrieked, forgetting his audience completely by now as he called for Atsuko, foregoing any manner of dignity. "I'm the Chairman! Get back here! We're not done, you…! Take another step and I'll strip away your titles! I'll decommission your ship if you keep walking, I…!"

Atsuko turned around.

The fear in Liu Lijun's face was palpable, immediate. He fell silent as the legendary pilot raised her fisted left hand to her chest, extending her index and middle fingers in the respectful salute, intended for a figure of authority…

Then, she raised the same hand and lowered her index finger, aiming a historic obscene gesture directly at Liu Lijun.

The gasp of horror and astonishment that ran through the crowd was unlike anything Azula had heard before… but she didn't join it.

No, Azula burst with surprisingly loud laughter, instead.

Sokka and Katara looked at her in chagrin as she shrank in her seat, unable to withhold the laughter: whether Atsuko happened to hear her or not, she'd never know… the woman continued to walk, turning around, still showing her middle finger at Liu Lijun until she reached her stellarship.

Within two minutes, Atsuko Takei had flown out of Mars's atmosphere, and no one left behind in the chaotic fiasco of her Premier appointment ceremony knew if they'd see her again in their lifetimes.

"What a bitch," Sokka said, blinking blankly. Azula, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, looked at him in disbelief.

"Why, because she gave that self-important blister the reality check he deserves?" Azula asked. "That was amazing…"

"Oh, please! She can make a Lifeseed off his ass, for all I care," Sokka huffed. "But… Mars is a pretty damn cool planet! She didn't just tell him to fuck off, she also told all of us she's too good for us!"

"Come on, that's not what she did," Azula said. Sokka scoffed.

"You saw it as well as I did!"

"This is so sad…" Katara groaned, pouting as she watched the pandemonium arising by the stage, and in the general audience. "I didn't think she'd just… leave! It's not fair…"

"It sounded like they were trying to corral her anyway," Azula said. "She had no idea what she had come here for… and she didn't let them make her choices for her. She… she didn't give a damn about their designs and made her own decisions."

The smile gracing her features only seemed stronger by the minute: Azula had never imagined this strange trip, her first one outside of Earth's atmosphere, would wind up becoming an eye-opening experience… but after witnessing such a shocking turn of events, a wildfire of purpose and determination had taken root in her heart.

Unbeknownst to her, the same was true for Sokka: inverse resolve arose within them as the pandemonium continued, as the uncontested control that Liu Lijun held across the Stellar Council threatened to quake and crumble in a way it never had before.

"He's beside himself," Ozai said an hour later, as he guided Ursa and Azula back to their suite in the hotel. "No one has ever slighted him in this way, I…"

"Was about time someone did," Azula said, curtly: that Ozai didn't respond to her blunt statement proved his awareness of his own hypocrisy… of his failings as a father upon allowing Liu Lijun to speak to Azula as he had, earlier.

"Is this going to be any trouble for you?" Ursa asked Ozai. He shook his head.

"No, if anything I'll make the most of this opportunity. We need to keep things contained and quiet. All records and accounts of what happened today will be deleted," he said. "Though… she is, legally, the Premier still. We will merely pretend the ceremony happened in a private affair, and the public announcement will be that she surrendered the job to Yooyen due to her sense of duty to humanity."

"Isn't that what she did?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "She thinks her destiny is somewhere among the stars, not stuck in this meek planet… who thought a pilot would be any good as a politician, anyway?"

"Liu Lijun, I suppose," Ursa sighed.

"He doesn't care about that," Ozai hissed. "He… he wanted her out of the way. Fifty planets… we've barely biocatalyzed a hundred and twelve at this point, and almost half of them were her doing. Some… voices complain about wanting a chance to partake on missions like hers, so that resources are devoted to other pilots, not only to her. They looked forward to breaking her records once she retired, too, but…"

"Is that really what's important? Records? I wouldn't think that's why humanity is expanding across the galaxy, or is it?" Ursa sighed, as they entered the room and closed the door behind themselves. "At any rate, we'll go home tomorrow and leave all this madness behind. And… Liu Lijun won't get any closer to Azula. Understood?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Ozai said, sighing and looking at his daughter remorsefully. "This being said… I need you to control your temper, Azula. I understand your distaste, you know I share it, but…"

"I don't know that you do," Azula scoffed. "You used to mock people doing what you're doing now. I know Uncle's… situation caused you to rethink some things in life, but…"

"You'll understand when you're old enough," Ozai said, curtly. Azula frowned. "For now… just remember you're in no position to do what Takei did. So don't even consider mocking him or doing anything that could jeopardize our family's position. Understood?"

The vitriol in his voice almost amused Azula. She stared at him skeptically for it, folding her arms over her chest.

"So… in short, I'm not getting away with ever speaking my mind to the Chairman or standing up for myself around him because I'm not Atsuko Takei. That's what you're saying?" Azula repeated. Ozai scowled.

"Exactly. Understood?"

"Perfectly," Azula said, biting her lip and smiling. "Oh… by the way? I've had about, uh, an hour to rethink my plans for the future. You know, about my career and such?"

"Azula…" Ursa eyed her meaningfully…

But Azula smirked proudly as she looked at her parents, who knew, before she spoke, that whatever she was about to say would only complicate their lives further. Azula had made up her mind by now, and the stubborn teenager would not change it, no matter what:

"Once we get back home, I'll enroll in the Academy and join the Stellar Fleet."

The Academy sent a congratulatory note to Ozai and Ursa when Azula passed the entrance exam with full marks, the best new recruit on Earth to join the Stellar Fleet. An honor Zuko hadn't boasted of, and one that he was noticeably uncomfortable with once he came across his sister in the recruits' barracks, two days after her class settled in the grand, silver building in the Asian branch headquarters of the Fleet, in Shenzhen, China.

"You never wanted to join the Fleet, though. What changed?" Zuko asked her, by the door of the female quarters. Azula shrugged, as several girls giggled upon walking past her, eyeing Zuko without any attempt to be discreet about their swooning. He failed to notice them, focused on his sister as he was.

"I'd say… that day in Mars. You were there, too… somewhere in the sea of cadets, standing in the sun, waiting to finally greet the hero that stuck around for five minutes and left, just like that," Azula said, with a happy sigh. "Good times, wasn't it?"

"It was a disaster. It's been months and people are still… oh, who cares," Zuko sighed, shaking his head. "Why did that make you want to join, though? I don't see how…"

"You don't have to. Point is I'd rather be here, get myself proper training to become… someone who won't be disrespected by any fools our father knocks elbows with," Azula said, bitterly. Zuko frowned.

"Did something happen…?"

"No. But I'm not about to sit tight and wait until something does," Azula said. "He's losing it, Zuzu. All because of Uncle…"

"Because of Lu Ten," Zuko said, his voice charged with sadness. "He inspired me to do this, to join the Fleet, and… well. I just hope your own choice to join the Fleet is cemented on something stronger than mine."

"What? You've been in the Academy for three years now," Azula said, staring at her brother in confusion. "You're doubting yourself? Zuko…"

"I'm not… not anymore," Zuko said, with a small smile. "I was, but… I got help. I know I'm doing the right thing now, and I will… in Lu Ten and Uncle Iroh's honor. I promise."

Azula raised an eyebrow, perplexed by Zuko's strange solemnity: she had no chance to ask any further questions, though, for someone was quick to intrude upon their conversation.

"Ah, Zuko! There you are," a young woman approached him, beaming. Her auburn hair and violet eyes made for a striking combination, though her smile waned when her gaze fell upon Azula. "Oh, uh… wait. Is this your sister?"

"Yeah," Zuko smiled, immediately perked up in this girl's presence. "This is Azula. Azula, this is… my piloting partner, Suki."

Azula raised her eyebrows upon hearing that. Suki grinned, bowing her head respectfully towards Azula, who offered her the same courtesy.

"You have a partner?" Azula asked, perplexed. "Really?"

"It's a mandatory practice. Most people can't go it alone out there, in space," Suki said, with a shrug. "Stellarflights are long… pilot madness is absolutely a risk, and the Stellar Council has started taking it far more seriously these days."

"And they expect to resolve that by sending people in pairs?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Team-ups are selected based on skill compatibility," Zuko said. "Emotional and personality compatibility as well, of course. Suki and I… we were a pretty good match. So…"

"You seem like one. You sound more put-together today than across our entire childhood, if nothing else," Azula said, with a smirk. Suki giggled and Zuko pouted.

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" he sighed, shaking his head. "Anyway, as much as I doubt you'll like having a partner, you'd better get ready. By your third year here, one will be assigned to you."

"That partner could come from anywhere in the solar system, mind you," Suki pointed out. "My family has been based in Enceladus for about sixty years… but when the results came in, it was clear that Zuko and I matched better than I did with anyone in my local academy. So… I relocated."

"Why didn't Zuko do it instead?" Azula asked, smirking. "Not very polite of you, Zuzu…"

"Don't…!" Zuko squealed: Suki gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. "No. No, don't…! Don't call me that! Not you! Damn it, Azula!"

"Y-you call him Zuzu?!" Suki gasped, breathless. Azula laughed, and Zuko groaned as he smacked his head against the wall, desperate to erase that last exchange, all be it to prevent his long-term partner from using that teasing nickname for him.

The first two years of Azula's training in the Academy were smoother than she anticipated: she took to following orders without issue, to studying strategy, tactics and science beyond what the academy was already teaching her. She had been in good physical shape already, and it improved further through the training drills, all intended to ensure she would be ready to face the strain, not only of life without gravity, but of the severe consequences of lightspeed traveling. Naturally, her favorite classes were related to piloting: at this point, she understood the theory perfectly and had successfully flown several simulations of stellarship flights, even a first flight in a core pod: her heart raced at the thought of doing as much for a living, of getting used to the thrills of crossing space, or diving throughout the entrails of a planet before triggering a miracle of life within its depths… she knew she could do it. Her dream seemed to be closer to her reach than ever.

Many other recruits dropped out, but Azula remained at the top of her class, with the highest possible marks, all the way to her third year. By then, Zuko and Suki took off on their first test stellarflight, the routinary trip to the closest exoplanet. They'd graduate officially upon their return, provided everything went smoothly.

Azula had been summoned by the Academy's Quarter Master to his office on the first day of her third year: the man spoke with great pride of her academic record, stating they had seldom seen any students as brilliant as her.

"So, with that in mind… it was obvious that finding you the right partner would not be easy."

Azula's proud smile waned upon hearing that. Her heart sank, and soared, all at once.

"Perhaps… I can do it by myself?" she said, voicing her vain hope to not need to rely on any other recruit. The Quarter Master grunted in such a way as to make it apparent that she would not be quite so lucky. "I know it's not ideal, but… Atsuko Takei doesn't have a partner, does she?"

"Biocatalyze fifty planets and maybe you'll be able to convince the Council that you can fly alone," said the Quarter Master, dismissively. Azula grimaced. "I'm afraid you need to be a very special case to become an exception to our rules. And she is… well, as good as a magical creature, at this point. Rules don't apply to her, but they apply to the rest of us. So… you're getting a partner, Recruit Homura. Not much to be done about that."

"But if nobody's suitable…"

"I didn't say nobody was suitable. Just… that this wouldn't be easy," the Quarter Master sighed. "Look, there's a considerable gap between you and any other recruit across the solar system with one exception. And that exception is… well, someone who has been granted some special privileges."

"Oh? Is that person a magical creature as well?" Azula asked, sardonically. The Quarter Master shook his head. "Huh. Well, then… what kinds of privileges?"

"He, uh… isn't expected to come to Earth for training. In fact, when the idea was floated by him, he refused to do so."

"He… refused?" Azula repeated, with a scowl. "So… what, I have to go to wherever he is instead because he's a spoiled brat?"

"Well… he is Task Master Harkin's son," the Quarter Master said: Azula's eyes narrowed. "And apparently the Interim Premier of Mars thinks too highly of that family to apply any pressure on them. There's some story about Harkin having left the system recently on a favor to Interim Premier Yooyen, too? Anyway…"

"Wait. Wait a moment, you're telling me that my perfect, fated partner is…?" Azula said, closing her eyes as she evoked that name again… the sister's voice returned to her mind, and with it, those two syllables… "Sokka. Sokka Harkin?"

The Quarter Master smiled. The corners of Azula's lips turned downwards, instead.

The holo-sign with Azula's name wasn't hard to track among the groups of people expecting new arrivals at Mars's land-based Spaceport: in the three years since she first met him, Sokka Harkin had grown taller, and more handsome, to her mild chagrin – but she could certainly ignore that and remain professional. He looked wary, nervous, and even though he tried to offer her a friendly smile, the tension didn't decrease, not entirely.

"There you are, heh… hi," Sokka said, swallowing hard as he lowered the sign. Azula stepped up to him, her considerable luggage following her closely on a hovering platform. "Had a nice flight?"

"You have some nerve," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka sighed. "Forcing me to come here by opposing, categorically, to move to Earth… and you ask if I had a nice flight?"

"Well… I could've not asked. That'd be worse, right?" Sokka said. Azula rolled her eyes and stepped past him.

"It was a fine flight. Better than any you're bound to pilot, judging by how experienced you seem to be at traversing space. Scared of a little time in the void, are you? Is that why you refused to relocate to Earth?" she asked, sardonically.

"Think they'd have assigned me as your partner, if that were the case?" Sokka asked, firing back in all cylinders as he kept pace with her, the luggage platform hovering behind them. Azula scowled, and he finally returned a dry grin in her direction. "They told me you're the only person who matched my level of skill. Beats me if it's true, but…"

"I don't believe it is. It's more like… I outdo your skills, and you're the next best thing," Azula said, simply. Sokka scoffed. "The only reason why I agreed to this nonsense is because I, allegedly, can't hope to be particularly compatible with anyone but you… not in this galaxy or solar system, anyway. I'll just cross my fingers and hope that someone better than you exists somewhere in the exoplanets we've already colonized."

"Tough luck finding someone who suits your particular demands," Sokka scoffed. "But… sure. I can agree to being your partner until we get to Proxima Centauri b…"

"It's still going to be two more years of work before we're ready to get there, though, and they'll only allow it if you and I somehow manage to convince them that we can work together to some degree of effectiveness," Azula hissed. Sokka pouted. "There's a whole protocol that needs to be followed, and… I just don't understand why you're even in the Cosmic Forces, to begin with. Shouldn't you be in the Terrestrial ones like your father? More so if you won't even considering living on Earth…"

"What, you think I don't want to be there because of pride?" Sokka asked. Azula eyed him skeptically.

"Am I supposed to think anything else?"

Sokka sighed, staring forward with a frown: Azula eyed him, picking up on his reaction's meaning all too quickly.

"You have… some kind of reason to stay?" she asked, before snorting. "What, found a girlfriend and you can't bear the thought of leaving her behind? Mind you, you're better off forsaking anything of that nature if…"

"That's not what's bothering me, and not the reason why I didn't want to leave Mars. But… come on, you're making such a fuss about it. This place is way better than Earth, you'll realize that in no time," Sokka said, proudly. Azula glared at him coldly. "Or… not. Look, what you did was a big sacrifice, I get that, and… I'm sorry I made you make it without explaining my problems, okay? But, if we're not going to be a team in the long run, do I even need to explain at all?"

"Heh. Good point. I'm not even sure why I thought I cared," Azula said, raising her eyebrows dismissively. Sokka huffed.

"Great. Well… I'll show you to the barracks," he said. "You'll find someone else to tour you around the academy once you get there, right?"

"Oh, so you're not sticking around?" Azula asked, perplexed. "I thought it'd be the least you could do, considering you were so courteous as to force me to move here against my will…"

"I'll work with you whenever we need to. You'll do the same with me. No need to make any bigger promises than that," Sokka said, looking at Azula pointedly. "I don't live in the barracks, myself. That's why it's probably better if someone more local shows you the place, see?"

"Wait, you don't even…?" Azula snorted, staring at him in disbelief. Sokka froze. "How on Earth are you such a special case, exactly? Is it because of your father?"

"Well, aren't you a special case because of yours, too?" Sokka growled. "Overseer of Energy, isn't he? Isn't that why you were at the failed ceremony that time, to begin with?"

"I didn't get as far as I have in the academy merely on my father's reputation and connections," Azula hissed. Sokka snorted.

"And yet you assume I did, so…"

"I never got away with not living in the barracks, and I was expressly told to come here for your sake!" Azula retorted. "Clearly, one of us is getting the short end of the stick here, and if you so much as dare pretend it's you…!"

"You're not getting the short end of anything by living in Mars instead of Earth, I can tell you that much…"

"Oh, you're unreal," Azula huffed, as Sokka called for a hover-vehicle, by the spaceport's exit gates. "You know what? Just get me to the barracks. Galaxies help me, having to put up with a partner like you…"

"You can complain all you like right now, but… we'll do fine," Sokka said, matter-of-factly. "Enough to succeed at your goal of swapping partners in due time anyway."

"How reassuring," Azula hissed. Sokka smiled, shaking his head as the hovervehicle stopped before them.

"You know, you're in the middle of an adventure right now, in your own way," Sokka said. "Least you can do is enjoy the ride."

Azula scowled at him but said nothing as she climbed on the hovervehicle's passenger seat. Sokka took the hint quickly, seating at the front next to the driver, who sped away quickly, through the aerial route that his car's OS, connected to the driver's neural chip, determined for their destination.

Azula kept her silence across the trip, glaring pointedly and quietly through the window: she hadn't wanted to return here… but more than anything, she hadn't wanted to acquiesce to anyone else's terms when it came to her career in the Stellar Fleet. The dream of independence, of freedom, of not needing anyone's say-so, of walking away from Liu Lijun while flipping him out with a nonchalant middle finger… all of it seemed a million light years away, and it was hard to understand how, exactly, Atsuko Takei had achieved any of it, more so when information on the woman's past seemed to be entirely redacted. Had she gotten rid of her assigned partner, maybe? Had her legend grown so much she could dismiss whoever she was assigned in the academy once the time was right, or had she gone about it in far darker ways…?

Sokka at least managed to look somewhat guilty after pawning Azula off to the local academy's Quarter Master: Azula shot him a glare before focusing anew on her new circumstances, intent on disregarding all thoughts of the young man as she made the best she could of living in Mars's Stellar Fleet barracks…

Not that it was too different, truth be told, from Earth's own branch of the Fleet, where Azula had been forced to bunk up with several other recruits, many of whom snored very loudly through the night, while others got up to rather private affairs without any discretion. It came as no surprise that Sokka would have slipped out of having to live among strangers who might lock themselves in the bathroom for hours just to be alone, unconcerned about who else might need it, who took other people's belongings whether by mistake or intentionally, and who seemed utterly bereft of the ability to relate to anyone else, reacting harshly whenever someone confronted them for their bad behavior. So much as calling for a superior officer to resolve disputes would turn someone into a pariah, too… so the Academy was, as on Earth, a boiling pot of chaos waiting to burst, and Azula didn't intend to be involved in said explosion.

Thus, Azula activated her neural chip's functions to ensure she would get proper sleep, waking up on time with the alarm of her chip's OS, and she did her best to keep her belongings safe and sound at all times. You could never be too careful around a whole new set of recruits, most of whom had no idea who she was. She had earned enough respect on Earth after some time, to the point where they would know better than to pick any kind of fight with her… she'd have to take her time to do the same here, she feared.

Her first class was, to her delight, a piloting simulation: while many other subjects appealed to her, that one never failed to get her gears running. Only… there was a catch in the assignment, this time.

"In order to foster your bond with your assigned partner, you will each hold control of half the piloting panel. There are multiple courses you'll need to complete in this manner, alternating sides until you can pull it off as seamlessly as possible," the instructor explained. Azula's eyes widened: she cast a glance over the heads of the other recruits until she spotted Sokka, at the other end of the room. He grimaced at her, sighing heavily. "So… team up and get ready!"

The simulation pods mimicked the seats of either the core pods or the stellarships: on this particular occasion, their assignment was for the flight of stellarships. Rare as the sight was, there were two seats instead of one before the control panel, which stood at arm's length before a large screen: it appeared wider than usual for the sake of this particular exercise. Levers sat on either side of the console, meant for manual piloting in case of any emergency, and pedals remained at the base for the sake of acceleration and slowing down. Stellarships were easier to navigate in many regards than core pods, which pilots often drove based on instinct, observation and immediate interpretation of the information feed transmitted through the screen and to each pilot's neural chip. While the core pod flights were practiced frequently through simulations, all pilots needed to be ready to improvise and adapt to the challenges along the way.

But as they were working with a stellarship instead, this would be, thus, a simulated jump towards another exoplanet. A simple enough mission, Azula hoped, as she approached her simulation pod with a reluctant Sokka.

"You prefer left or right?" Sokka asked: Azula moved towards the left without saying a word. He sighed and slipped towards the right seat, himself.

"This doesn't feel right," Azula said, frowning: the acceleration buttons were on Sokka's side… the brakes on hers. Half the keyboard was in either domain. If the levers were moved in an incoherent way, the ship would fail to interpret the task given, which could result in the ship stopping in midair or, at worst, being severely damaged and requiring extensive repairs.

"It's just an exercise. Nobody's ever going to fly this way," Sokka said, frowning as he changed the positioning of his seat for comfort's sake. "Okay, well…. We'll start when you're ready."

"I am," Azula said. Sokka gritted his teeth.

"Alright, then…" he said, breathing deeply.

So much as selecting the course was a chore, with Sokka handling the pointer while Azula had to confirm any choices: after about two minutes, they were ready to start the first course.

"We're supposed to be very compatible, so… let's just try it our own way. You know, no adjustments, see how it works out?" Sokka said. Azula grimaced.

"I suspect that's not going to go well… but suit yourself," she said: she nudged him, and Sokka accelerated their ship.

What would have been an easy flight simulation under any other circumstances became a rather twisted one, instead: the ship angled wrong, steered in such a way that they went down rather than towards the asteroid field they were meant to navigate.

"Hey! Up, up, get it up!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula huffed, pulling the manual lever and reaching for her joystick to swerve differently.

"You do yours! I can't fix it alone!" Azula snapped.

"Wait, too much, too much…!"

An explosion blasted through the screen: Sokka whimpered as Azula stared, in chagrin, at the report on their failed mission, the first she had seen in a very long time… she scowled at Sokka, who grimaced and shook his head.

"Slower, this time?"

They tried, multiple times, over and over, switching between manual and automatic controls, relying on programming more than their own instincts just to make matters work: the exercise, however, would disable automatic flight intentionally after a certain checkpoint, forcing the recruits to fly freely, properly, following their instincts instead of allowing the machine to take the wheel. And every attempt, thus, ended in failure.

Azula groaned after the fifteenth try: nothing seemed to pay off. Sokka tried mapping the asteroids, she proposed giving out commands for proper communication depending on what they'd do… but the simulation also featured enough chaos within its programming to ensure that the rocks would, if just on occasion, drift in unexpected ways, causing more than one crash due to their unpredictable locations.

"This is impossible," Sokka said, shaking his head.

"You know what? I'm going to do the whole course myself," Azula said. Sokka scoffed.

"That's not fair, not the assignment, and… woah!" Sokka squeaked, as Azula pushed him off his chair with her rear and hips.

"You'll watch! And then you'll imitate what I do!"

Now, with full control, the star pilot of Earth's Academy rushed through the asteroid field at full speed, dodging and flying past every possible hurdle with no greater struggle than ensuring her hands and feet could reach the right pedals at any given moment.

She finished the course in less than four minutes. Sokka gaped at her in disbelief as the instructor rushed in, intent on congratulating them… only to find Sokka standing by, instead of seating in the simulated pod.

"What…? Hey! You're not supposed to do it by yourself!" the man exclaimed.

"This was a test run," Azula said, with a dry grin. "I'm making sure it can be done by a singular pilot… and showing him how I'd go about it. Now that he knows, he can follow my lead."

"I can't…! Half of what you did looked like pure instinct! I've never done tricks like those," Sokka said. Azula huffed, scooting over to her original seat.

"Then best get to learning them or we'll never get through this," Azula said. "We'll be done soon. He just needs to wrap his head around the challenge."

"You'd better not do another race without following the instructions. I'll report it, if you do," the instructor said. Azula scowled as the man walked away.

"As if there was anything wrong with doing things this way. Almost like they don't want us to find a solution," Azula said, shaking her head as Sokka sat down again. "Well?"

"I'll try, alright, but… this is not going to be easy," he said.

"Nobody joins the Stellar Fleet hoping it'll be easy. But with enough self-discipline and ambition you can make it far," Azula said, firmly.

"Do you just spend all day, every day, running through simulations?" Sokka asked.

"And why wouldn't I?" Azula asked, with a crooked smile. "That's my purpose. Be it stellarflights or core runs, I intend to run as many simulations as I can until I'm ready. You'd best do the same thing if you're taking this seriously."

"Well, I am, but… I have other things to do, at times," he said. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Whatever that means," she hissed. "Get going. We don't have all day."

Sokka sighed but nodded: again, they tried, and this time they made it a greater distance than before… only to falter, again. Moments later, another team, not far behind them, rejoiced in their success.

Azula flinched as she glanced past her tall seat: two men, maybe a couple years older than her, were laughing and clapping each other in the back. The instructor appeared pleased.

"Magnificent job. Now… course two!"

The rejoicing men groaned in protest, but they were forced to sit at the simulation pod once more, despite it all. Azula huffed, shaking her head.

"This exercise makes no sense, and… and it's been ages since I wasn't the first to finish an exercise in a group. Fantastic," she said, dryly.

"Is that so important?" Sokka asked: Azula glanced at him to find him snacking on a candy bar. "What? Want one?"

"No! Just… focus on our work here?"

"I'm getting hungry. I pilot worse when I'm hungry," Sokka explained, mashing the remaining bar inside his mouth before taking position. "Okay, okay…"

Azula rolled her eyes as Sokka swallowed heavily: the simulation began, and yet again, they failed it.

Her first proper day in Mars's Academy was, thus, miserable. Even after the session at the simulation room ended, Azula couldn't get it out of her mind as she attended the next class, pertaining map reading, as well as exercises on distance calculations and the level of fuel reserves required for each jump. Pilot simulation shouldn't be that hard… two other groups had succeeded at the first level before the class ended. She and Sokka had to be able to do it too… or else all her hopes for her career would be dashed and destroyed for good. How on Earth had Zuko succeeded at it with Suki? It baffled her…

She meant to return to the simulation room that night to get in more practice, to route a proper method to reach the next stage so she could hammer it into Sokka's head by the next session… but upon arriving, she realized she hadn't been the only one with that idea. And the other person, clearly, hadn't been subtle about his scheme, either…

"You can't simply sneak into the simulation room after hours, Harkin. You know that," the instructor scolded him: Sokka sighed as he stepped outside, head hung.

"It's too difficult, and… she's too good, okay?" Sokka said: Azula's heart leapt upon hearing him acknowledge that. "I don't think I can keep up."

"That's the issue: no one can," the instructor said, firmly. "Out of the entire solar system, you're the only one who, with enough effort, might just succeed where everyone else won't cut it. But you have to try, Harkin…"

"And what if I do and it's not enough?" Sokka asked. "What if my very best is only her most mediocre? I… I'm a liability for her. I already caused her so much trouble… the Academy should make an exception for her. I'm serious, I… I can't be the reason someone's career goes to shit. Please…"

"I get your concerns, but… I can't do much more than this, Harkin," the instructor said, shaking his head. "Practice in your own time. And take your damn time, too. Getting it right immediately isn't the only way to succeed at a mission. You can do it."

The instructor closed the door, and Sokka sighed as he watched him leave down the hallway. He turned around in the opposite direction, though… and stopped, abruptly, upon finding Azula standing there, staring at him with unreadable eyes.

"Uh… shit. It's you," Sokka said.

"Seems like I keep surprising you in a bad way," Azula said, watching him carefully.

"You overheard all that?" Sokka asked, gritting his teeth. "You know, it's considered rude to…"

"Then I was rude. Yes, I overheard, and…" she said, before breathing in and shaking her head. "I think we need to talk."

"I don't have the power to change our circumstances," Sokka groaned. "What do you need to talk with me about?"

"I guess about you, outright," Azula said, jerking her head towards the exit. "C'mon. Just… take me someplace decent for dinner. My treat."

"Wait, really?"

Sokka perked up at that suggestion. Azula raised her eyebrows meaningfully, and he smiled brightly at the sight of it.

Within moments, the pair wound up at the bench of a public park, with bags of snacks along with fast food that Sokka had insisted was the best of all the planet. Azula remained skeptical, but she gave the burger a shot, regardless.

"It's going to be weird once we stop eating as much," Sokka said, after finishing his first burger. He reached for the second quickly, to Azula's utter disbelief. "What?"

"I'm not entirely sure you'll be equipped to handle nutrition shots instead of… ten tons of food on a daily basis," Azula said. Sokka pouted. "Most active members of the Fleet only take the shots and eat no real food, you know…"

"I'm aware. So I'll eat and eat until I'm spent, or beyond that point, so that I can cherish food properly before that day comes," Sokka sighed dramatically. "Anyway… you wanted to talk?"

"I… heard you telling the instructor to make me an exception," Azula said, glancing at him warily. "You're not trying to hold me back, are you?"

"Of course not," Sokka said, frowning.

"No, of course not," Azula repeated, closing her eyes. "But you don't know that you can reach my level just out of practicing and training non-stop, is it?"

"As far as I can tell, you're some kind of prodigy," Sokka said, with a heavy sigh. "And pairing me up with you is a ton of pressure. Made worse by the fact that I, yeah, pulled you away from your family and forced you to move here, and…"

"You didn't pull me away from them," Azula said, matter-of-factly. "I simply enjoy Earth better, sure, but… my family's out of reach for me anyway."

"Wait… huh?" Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"My parents, now that they're in great terms with Liu Lijun, took off on a trip to Ross 128 b with him, not long ago," Azula said, scowling. "It'll be twenty-two years before they come back to Earth, at best. And they'd have brought me along, too, it seems… if I hadn't enrolled in the academy and chosen a life as a pilot. My brother is on his way to Proxima Centauri b himself right now, so… it's just me."

"Well… shit," Sokka grimaced. "I'm sorry. You must miss them…"

"Not as much as you might assume. They're family, but… they're cumbersome in their own ways," Azula said, with a frown. "My father has become Liu's favorite sycophant, my mother tags along because she has no choice… and I've never been too close with my brother. If we spend too much time together, the likelihood is we'll end up trying to strangle each other, so…"

"Heh. Understandable," Sokka smiled. "I have a sister too, remember?"

"I remember," Azula smiled a little, too. "In any case, I merely disliked that you'd force me to move without so much as consulting first, no compromise made, just… forcing it because, unless I agreed to it, my career would be over. I don't like this system of pairs and teams and whatnot… it's a pain. Clearly, some pilots out there are doing just great without partners."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Sokka said. Azula glanced at him. "Rumors abound, you know? About her. Task Master Takei?"

"What about her?" Azula said, trying not to feel particularly defensive of someone who, truthfully, she knew nothing about.

"Some people are convinced she was stung by space madness," Sokka said. Azula snorted and shook her head. "You know how hard it is to find any information about her, right? Not the same with the other bigshots of the Fleet. Why's she such a mystery?"

"Someone who caught space madness would be confined to the asylum planet, TRAPPIST-1 d, and would stay there for as long as they live," Azula said, with a dry grin. "If she's still flying, it means she's been cleared to do so by the Fleet's authorities."

"I know, but… you have to admit it's strange," Sokka said. "Some people think that's the real reason why she gave up all Premier duties immediately…"

"That's just Martian coping," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka glared at her sideways. "What? You guys are terribly sensitive about any slights against your planet. Not her fault that's the case…"

"You know, one of the reasons why I chose the Stellar Fleet rather than the Terrestrial Forces was so I could one day cross paths with her again and give her a piece of my mind," Sokka said. Azula smiled. "What? Think it's funny?"

"Yeah. Not only am I sure she won't care… but she's the reason why I decided to do this, too," Azula said, breathing deeply. "Answering to no one, like her… doing what you please, alone, without having to drag any dead weights along? Sounds like a dream come true."

"Heh. Am I a dead weight?" Sokka asked. Azula tensed up. "That's, ultimately, why I didn't want to be your partner anymore if I can help it. I… I don't want to inconvenience you. And I get it, alright? I'm not exactly perfection incarnate… I'm not as good a pilot as you. But… there's more to it than that. I… I do have a family here. My sister, and my mom. My dad's currently on his way to Proxima Centauri b…"

"Same as my brother," Azula pointed out. Sokka nodded.

"He's going there to find a balancing dose that works on my mom."

The words stopped Azula cold, as she was reaching for fries in the food bag. Sokka had stopped eating too, and he drew in a deep breath.

"It's autoimmune. The current tech in our solar system can't fix that… her body doesn't respond well to the balancing doses we have on Mars, or anywhere within the solar system," Sokka explained. "The Premier gave my father an authorization to travel and find the dose my mom needs… only, we don't know if it'll be ready, or if it'll work. Situation's fucked up all across the board, and… well, that's why I didn't want to leave Mars. Also why I live at home, not the barracks, because… I want to keep an eye on her. Make sure she's okay, as best I can."

"That's…" Azula's eyes widened. Sokka bit his lip and glanced at her with uncertainty. "I never imagined… shit. I… I'm sorry. I thought you were just spoiled, but…"

"We all have our stories," Sokka said, with an awkward smile. "But… yeah. If things got complicated with mom, I… I can't even promise I'll be able to fly out of the solar system at all. I need to be there for her, for my sister too… at least, until dad comes home. But that's its own set of problems, of course… he's coming back to find mom is eight years older than how she was when he left."

Sokka smiled again, this time sardonically. The pain across his face was so apparent…

Azula surprised even herself when she reached for his hand, squeezing it slightly. Sokka froze on the spot.

"I'm… sorry," she said: she didn't break the contact until after saying the words. "That's a messed-up situation, no matter how you look at it."

"Eh, I'll live. I just… hope everyone else does, too," he said, with a sigh. "On the bright side, your family is traveling through space at lightspeed so you won't have to worry about their wellbeing for a bit, right?"

"Well, sure, but… if you want to compare family tragedies, I have one of my own," Azula said. Sokka grimaced. "My cousin, Lu Ten… he was training to be a core pod pilot. Allegedly, he was a good one. But… he died on his mission to biocatalyze Titan, in Saturn. Not exactly uncommon, of course, but… his father didn't take it well. Maybe you've heard of it? Iroh Homura…?"

"Iroh…? Wait, shit. I… I didn't think you'd be family," Sokka's eyes widened. Azula smiled dryly. "He's the Paladin who flew into a moon, on a suicidal mission to biocatalyze it…?"

"To honor his son… to die in the same place that stole him away," Azula finished. Sokka gritted his teeth. "It was a mess. My father didn't take it particularly well… he had a crisis over how ephemeral our lives would be, how easily we'd just… die. The average crisis upon becoming too aware of his own mortality, I guess."

"So… what Liu's been having across four-hundred years or so," Sokka concluded. Azula hummed and nodded. "He wants to be Chairman forever, from the feel of it. Just jumping from exoplanet to exoplanet, extending his lifespan as much as he can…"

"While everyone else does the heavy work and he just basks in luxuries and his undeserved title, yes," Azula said, scowling. "Beats me how he got it in the first place. Bet it's yet another redacted thing that got erased from the annals of history."

"Right," Sokka said, with a small smile. "Do you think that happens often? Erased history?"

"From the looks of it, yeah," Azula shrugged. "Who knows what kinds of important stuff the Stellar Council wants to keep under wraps and away from public awareness? Control is a very useful method to retain power."

"Doesn't sound right to me," Sokka said.

"Do you expect them to be hiding something important?" Azula asked. Sokka shrugged.

"I guess… it's weird," Sokka sighed. "But I'm a bit weird, all around, so…"

"Sure you are, but in what sense do you mean?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka smiled.

"Just… I sometimes get the feeling that some things have happened before, I guess. Even if it makes no sense. But I don't get that feeling with you," Sokka said, looking at her intently. "Didn't get it at the Premier ceremony, either. But a few other things, like my mom's disease… my dad leaving? I can't help but feel like I know exactly how those things are going to turn out."

"What are you expecting?" Azula asked, no longer smiling. "Do you think he'll fail?"

"No… he'll succeed. She will be saved, or at least, the sickness will be kept at bay, but… the reality of those eight years apart is going to take a toll on them," Sokka reasoned, frowning. "I'm a bit worried, too, about joining the Fleet because of that. Leaving it all behind… what will it look like, when I come back?"

"I guess… maybe that's the real reason why people get partnered up in missions," Azula concluded. "Even if all else fails… that one person will still be there. And maybe for some people, that's enough."

"Maybe," Sokka said, meeting her gaze with a gentle smile.

The breeze blew between them, causing Azula's fringe to dance in the wind, same as Sokka's fastened bun above his undercut. It should have been cold, for Mars was inherently colder than Earth regardless of the Lifeseed's effect, rejuvenating and conditioning the planet for humanity's survival… but warmth suddenly surged in Azula's chest as they met each other's gazes. As she pondered if having someone at her side might indeed be the one way to avoid being consumed by loneliness in the depths of space.

"Anyway… uh, this is what you wanted to talk about?" Sokka asked, nervous. Azula cleared her throat and nodded, aware of the sudden reddening of her cheeks.

"I just… figured getting to understand each other better might help us succeed at this damnable task," she said. "We're basically strangers still… this is the third day we've been around each other, you realize?"

"True," Sokka smiled a little. "You feel like that will give us an edge? Getting to know each other, rather than practicing non-stop?"

"Hopefully," Azula said, biting her lip. "Maybe… we should swap seats next time."

"Huh? Isn't that just going to be more confusing?" Sokka asked, amused.

"Maybe. But we'll walk in each other's shoes that way, to a fault," Azula smiled. "And when we see how the other flies… maybe we'll figure out what to adjust in our own flying techniques to match each other. How about it?"

Sokka raised his eyebrows… then, he smiled. Azula smirked right back at him as he raised a fist towards her.

"Don't know if this is going to work out, let alone long-term, but… might as well give it a shot, huh?" he said. Azula raised her own fist, touching knuckles with him lightly. "Alright. Let's try what you suggested… and try to be decent partners, at least until we graduate, right?"

"Right," Azula smiled. Sokka grinned right back.

The next day saw them returning to the simulation room with a wholly different disposition: they followed Azula's suggestion, swapping seats and experiencing the other half of the flight. But after five more tumbles, and another seat swap…

"Left! Now slow!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Boost to the right in three, two, one…"

"On it!"

"Incoming, from the top! Swerve…!"

"Right!"

That final choice to dodge a massive asteroid saw them bursting out of the field, at its other side, at long last: the pair gasped happily, then Sokka cheered and reached over to hug Azula… who, naturally, flinched and smacked his arm so he'd let her go. The instructor smirked, stepping up towards them to verify the result.

"A legitimate run this time. Great! Now…"

"Stage two?" Azula told him, with a knowing smirk. Sokka beamed, and they exchanged a proud smile. "Ready?"

"You bet!"

The instructor froze, astounded to find such determination where there had only been dejection merely one day ago. He smiled and shrugged, patting the back of their seats before returning to the other recruits. The two most prodigious pilots in the Academy had finally found their footing… and if that was the case, there'd be no stopping them until it was time for their graduation flight.

The change in the atmosphere between Azula and Sokka was palpable after their night out: the pair would now sit together at every class, work each assignment as a team, and while they would occasionally argue and bicker over the measliest nonsense, the smiles on their faces spoke for themselves pertaining the potential of their alliance. By the end of the day's classes, Azula was ready to say goodbye… but Sokka, it seemed, had another idea.

"Look… it might be crazy. I should ask my mom, in the first place, but…" he said, biting his lip. "How do you feel about taking up one of the empty rooms in my house?"

Azula's eyes widened. Sokka grinned reassuringly at her.

"I know you say you can be alone, but… you're not exactly alone in the barracks anyway," he said. Azula snorted.

"As far from alone as you can imagine. I have my neural chip hypnotize me to sleep every night to survive the chaos," Azula said. Sokka grinned.

"Then… what do you say?" he said. "I'll talk to the Quarter Master, tell him my family can handle it… and that way, we'll get to bolster our teamwork even in the most mundane of things!"

"You know, you might just grow sick of having me around all the time," Azula pointed out. Sokka laughed.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said: the earnest tone of his voice caused Azula's heart to jump in her chest again. "You can stay in the barracks if you want, of course, but… I still figured I'd offer. That way… we both get special treatment, and not just me. See?"

He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, and Azula chuckled as she shook her head. Unfortunately, the young man before her had been charming all along, even when they had met many years prior… she couldn't help but acknowledge she was far from immune to his appeal. Now, as he extended a helping hand, offering a possibility to further bolster their bond, it seemed her dream to reach the stars was closer than ever.

"Well… I can't think of any reason to refuse. So… need me to join you in pleading with the Quarter Master?" Azula asked. Sokka snickered.

"If you'd like! Let's go!"