A.N. So, I'm back from the dead! Thank you so much to everyone who's read/commented/voted on this story. I honestly can't believe how much attention this story has gotten and I have to thank you guys for getting it to this point. 

This chapter is essentially a prologue to Book 2, which will start to come out in pieces hopefully soon. I was super overwhelmed the past few months with real life shit, but I can't wait to get back to writing this story. Hopefully, everything should settle down in a week or so and I can get back to this. Thank you to everyone who's still here and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Azara rolled over in her hammock, her eyes clenched as another nightmare plagued her. She gripped the fabric of the hammock tightly before suddenly sitting up and gasping. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she grabbed at her chest, feeling for the wound that Zhao had repeatedly inflicted onto her during her nightmare.

Glancing down, Azara stared at her chest and sighed when she saw no sign of the wound. Swinging out of the hammock with her blanket in hand, Azara placed her feet firmly on the floor and made her way out of the hold, too caught up in her own thoughts to notice that Sokka was also tossing and turning in his sleep.

Sokka found himself standing in the Northern Water Tribe Spirit Oasis, rooted to the ground as Azara appeared in front of him, a soft smile on her face as the moonlight trickled into the scene. Her long, dark hair moved with the breeze, giving her an ethereal appearance. "Azara," Sokka called out, moving to walk towards her, but he felt his feet glued to the ground.

"Sokka," Azara whispered out, her hand reaching out for him. She nearly floated forwards, her arm reaching out for his hand. "Sokka," she spoke, her voice louder and with a tinge of fear.

"It's going to be alright, Azara. Just grab my hand," Sokka grunted, leaning forwards as far as he could, but still failing to reach her outstretched hand. Azara's face screwed up in concentration as she reached out for him again.

"Sokka! I can't reach you," Azara cried out, her voice strained.

"Just hold on!" Sokka promised, both stretching to reach the other. As their fingertips brushed against each other's, Azara cried out as she was yanked back by Zhao. "Azara! Let her go!" Sokka demanded, his feet still stuck in place as he struggled and thrashed in place.

"You can't save her!" Zhao hissed as Azara reached out for Sokka again.

"Sokka! Help me!"

"Azara!" Sokka shouted out, reaching forwards again as Azara cried out. Zhao disappeared as Azara crumpled to her knees, clutching her chest in pain. "Azara!" Sokka cried out, rushing forwards, his feet no longer glued to the floor.

"How could you?" Azara asked, tears dripping down her face as she picked her head up to look Sokka in the eyes. Sokka could only blink as he noted the blood trickling through her hands.

"Azara, you're going to be okay. I'll get help," Sokka replied shakily, but Azara smacked his hand away, her face screwed up into a snarl.

"You couldn't save me," Azara cried out, glaring at Sokka as he desperately reached out for her.

"Azara, I'm so sorry. I'll—"

"—You couldn't save me!" Azara screamed loudly before collapsing to the ground.

Sokka shot up, gasping for air as his hammock shook. Rubbing his eyes with his palms, Sokka tried to calm his breathing and erratic heart rate. "That didn't happen, Sokka. Azara's fine," Sokka told himself, glancing over where Azara should have been sleeping. His heart leapt into his throat at the sight of an empty hammock. "Azara?" Sokka whispered out, sliding out of his hammock. He looked around the room but found no sign of her.

Throwing his tunic over his head, Sokka hurried up the stairs of the ship. Looking around the deck, Sokka sprinting around the corner. As his eyes landed on Azara calmly staring up at the moon, her dark locks blowing in the breeze, his shoulders relaxed. "Sokka?" Azara called, her voice soft and still lidded with the heaviness of sleep. "What's wrong?" Her golden eyes reflected the moonlight as she stared at him with a mix of confusion and concern.

"Nothing. I, uh . . . don't worry about it," Sokka assured her but Azara did not look convinced.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sokka nodded but Azara shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed lightly.

"You're not fine, Sokka. Come on, sit down," Azara spoke softly, patting the wood next to her. Sokka hesitated for a minute before walking over, sitting down quietly next to Azara. She shifted her position, placing some of the blanket in his lap and over his longer legs. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, both staring at the moon. "Did you have a nightmare?" Azara questioned, turning to look at Sokka, a comforting expression on her face.

"I should be asking you that question, Azara. You're the one who almost . . ." Sokka trailed off, not having the stomach to finish the sentence. He pulled his knees to his chest as Azara placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a small reassuring squeeze.

"I doubt it was easy to watch," Azara replied as Sokka continued to stare at the moon. Biting her lip, Azara glanced up at the moon before turning back to Sokka. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do you?" Sokka asked softly, turning to stare into Azara's golden orbs.

"If you think it would help," Azara replied calmly, her warm tone causing Sokka to relax further. "You know I'm always here for you, right?" Azara asked as Sokka smiled at her.

"And I'm always here for you too," he replied softly, squeezing her hand back. "Which is why I think it's best if we don't talk about my nightmare."

"Sokka, really, it's fine."

"It's not fine. You almost . . . you were gone," Sokka stopped himself from saying that one word, afraid of Azara's and his own reaction to its usage. Azara grabbed his shoulders lightly, forcing him to face her. Tilting his chin up so that their eyes were locked, Azara sighed before opening her mouth to speak.

"Sokka, I made the decision to jump in front of Zhao. If I . . . died there, that would have been my fault," Azara stated firmly, her eyebrows furrowed. "But that doesn't matter because I didn't. I'm here. I'm right here, Sokka," Azara assured him, grabbing one of his hands and bringing it up to her cheek. "I'm right here," she repeated softly.

Sokka rubbed his thumb slowly over her warm and soft cheek, the edges of Azara's lips curling upwards as he did so. "See? Right here," Azara nearly whispered as they stared at each other, the noise of the sea even sounding distant at the moment. Then, a cold breeze blew over them.

Azara instinctively shivered, curling into Sokka's side as he latched onto the blanket and pulled it back towards them. Covering both of them with the blanket once more, Sokka stared down at Azara, who continued to shiver. "Are you cold? Do you want to go back inside?"

"I'm fine," Azara replied, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face. Taking a deep breath, Azara released some heat from her nose, instantly warming the two of them. "Firebender, remember?" she winked, before snuggling back under the blanket.

"I don't know. I swear you were a bit of an icicle in the North Pole," Sokka teased as Azara rolled her eyes playfully.

"It's not my fault, it was ridiculously cold there," Azara replied, elbowing Sokka in the ribs lightly as the two laughed quietly with each other. Settling down, Azara stared up at the moon, which was still relatively full, in the night sky.

"You do that a lot, you know," Sokka commented, leaning back onto the side of the ship.

"Do what?" Azara asked, looking back over at him.

"Stare at the moon."

"I didn't realize that I did," she shrugged, before turning back to the moon. "Maybe it's from the stories my mom would tell us as kids." Sokka glanced over at her, surprised that she was talking about her childhood freely.

"They had stories about the moon in the Fire Nation?"

"I don't think they were necessarily Fire Nation stories," Azara chuckled, smiling over at Sokka before turning back to stare up at the moon. "There was always one story about the moon that stuck with me, though. It was some play, I think, about a princess."

"She snuck out one night from the palace and met a man, whom she befriended. Every night she would sneak out to see him again. They fell in love," Azara recounted, recalling the few nights her mother would tell stories to her and her siblings. "But, when the princess's father found out that she was sneaking out to see the man, a commoner, he grew angry. The tyrant king had the man taken far away and locked the princess in the palace. The princess was distraught and missed the man dearly," Azara continued, glancing at the waves before staring back up at the moon.

"Then, one night, the Moon Spirit went to the princess and told her that they knew where the man was. The princess asked the Moon Spirit to bring a message to the man and they obliged. So, the princess and the man were able to communicate back and forth through the moon, no matter where the tyrant king imprisoned them. And, through the help of the Moon, they were eventually reunited."

Sokka was silent for a moment, so Azara continued. "I don't know why, but my mom always said to think of that story when you're missing someone, because we all look up at the same moon at night. Because, in a kind of cheesy way, even if you're far away from someone you love, they're really not that far away."

"I'll have to remember that one then," Sokka smiled as Azara suddenly yawned. Sitting up and stretching, Sokka turned to Azara as she leaned back. "We should probably go back down."

Azara shook her head, looking back up at the night sky. "I wish I was better with the stars," she stated, trying to change the subject to avoid Sokka pulling her back downstairs. She wasn't ready to attempt to fall asleep again and possibly relive her nightmares.

"You don't use the stars to navigate on your boats in the Fire Nation?"

"I never had to learn," Azara shrugged, as Sokka straightened up.

"Well, I'll just have to change that," Sokka spoke confidently, glancing up at the sky before turning back to Azara. "My dad taught me a lot of the stars when I was younger." Azara smiled softly as Sokka started to point out constellations in the sky, sometimes giving a backstory to the constellation if he knew it or providing his own history with the stars.

Azara's eyelids felt heavy as she leaned against Sokka more, her breathing evening out. Her head dipped as she fell asleep, her head resting lightly on Sokka's shoulder. The Water Tribe boy stopped his explanations, turning to see Azara passed out and curled into his side. Smiling softly, Sokka lowered his arm and slowed his movements to not disturb Azara.

Pulling off the blanket and gently wrapping it around her, Sokka held her against his chest with one arm and slid his other arm under her knees. Lifting her quietly into his arms, Sokka headed back below deck to their hammocks. As he walked down the stairs, Azara moved in her sleep, causing him to pause. He waited until she returned to sleeping soundly before continuing down the stairs.

Walking into the room, Sokka kneeled down to place Azara back into her hammock. As he gently rolled her into the hammock, Azara curled into the curve of the hammock, pulling the blanket over her shoulder, and wrapping herself in it. "Sleep tight, Azara," Sokka whispered out, a smile on his face.

Glancing around to see if anyone else was up, Sokka leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her head. As he walked away, he missed the soft smile that formed on Azara's face.

A.N. I hope this got everyone excited for Book 2! Just a few clarifying things before moving forwards that I noticed in the comments and such

1. Sokka and Azara are not together (yet!) and have not kissed (yet!) 

2. This story includes mentions/brief recaps of child abuse but there is absolutely NO sexual abuse in this story and any illusions to it are completely unintentional. That shit is dark, even for me, and frankly I couldn't write it even if I wanted to. So, if you're worried about that, I repeat: there is ABSOLUTELY NO SEXUAL ABUSE in this story. 

3. Yes, Yue is alive, but that doesn't mean the iconic Zuko line will not pop up later (with modifications, of course) 

4. In terms of Azula and Azara, I always imagined Azara as the younger twin, but it's really essential to the story and I welcome different interpretations. You'll get to see more of their dynamic soon!

These are just some common questions I saw, so hopefully that helps everyone confused or concerned! 

Thank you again for reading/commenting/voting! I hope you guys find Book 2 as good and maybe even better than Book 1!