Azami P.o.V.

"Uh, when I said I'd be honored to learn, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"Oh would you relax, for the last time, it's a uniform! Why do you think we wear them, even in combat?"

Azami grumbled, her hands fiddling with the dress she'd been forced to wear. She'd been thrilled at the prospect of learning to fight, but Suki had failed to mention at the time that she'd have to follow all of Kyoshi's traditions, including the facepaint and the uniform that, no matter how much Suki insisted against it, was a dress.

"I feel like I can barely move in this thing," Azami complained. "Not to mention that I look like a doll. Can't I just wear a shirt and pants?"

Suki shook her head. "You want to learn with us, you have to do it our way."

Azami just sighed before nodding her head in response. As much as she hated dresses for how restrictive they were, she still wanted to take Suki up on her offer.

"Alright, let's begin with some basic forms. You'll be using our fans, too, as they can be both helpful in offense and defense depending on how you use them. Kyoshi actually used them to improve her bending as well, so there may be some room for you to use your firebending with them."

Azami's eyes lit up at the prospect, but Suki immediately shut her down, "Which, may I add, you will NOT be doing anywhere near our wood buildings, am I clear?"

"Aww," she complained.

Sokka P.o.V.

It had been several hours since Sokka had made a fool of himself in front of the female warriors, and he was still filled with embarrassment over how he'd acted, and how easily he had been taken down. After he decided to finish sulking in the room he was given, he finally managed to unbend what little bit of his pride still remained and he headed towards the large building at the top of the village.

Peeking inside, he saw the girls moving through various poses, each move carefully controlled and executed. Earlier, he would've mocked them for dancing, but now he recognized that these were real warriors and how they trained, unlike him, who only pretended to fight. Taking a deep breath, he headed in.

"Uh, hey, Suki," he muttered.

She paused, and all the girls got up from their positions. "Hoping for another dance lesson?"

Sokka cast his eyes to the ground, his face burning in shame. "No... I... well, let me explain."

"Spit it out," she insisted. "What do you want?"

He stood there a moment, before realizing why he had come here. He knelt down, both hands on his knees as he bowed towards her. "I would be honored if you would teach me."

Suki crossed her arms, clearly unimpressed. "Even if I'm a girl?"

Sokka closed his eyes. "I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier. I was wrong."

He heard a light scoff in response, followed by a familiar voice. "Wow, he can apologize? You should take it and run while you can, Suki."

Suki smirked at the girl standing next to her, as Sokka's eyes shot up and focused on the same girl, only now noticing her amber eyes. He opened his mouth to offer some kind of witty remark, but he bit his tongue and glanced down - Azami was just trying to bait him, and he had to prove that he had truly been humbled and was looking to learn.

"Well... we've already taught one outsider today, but asking us to teach a boy is quite a stretch, Sokka," Suki commented.

Sokka bowed even lower, his head nearly touching the floor. "Please make an exception. I won't let you down."

Suki seemed to contemplate his offer for a moment, before a mischievous glint shone in her eye. "All right, but just like Azami you will have to follow all our traditions." At this, Azami started to giggle slightly, hiding her face behind a fan.

Sokka looked up, a little confused. "Of course."

"And I mean, ALL of them."

Azami P.o.V.

Sokka had been taken into the back for a little while now to get "prepared" for his training with Suki, and all Azami could think about was how badly she wanted to go get a painter for the moment when Sokka came out in a dress. She was so distracted, in fact, that she had been blocking out pretty much everything around her until she felt a fan jab into her arm. "Ow!" she whined. "What gives?"

Suki rolled her eyes at the princess. "Well, I've been trying to talk to you for the past minute, but clearly you seem more interested in whatever's going on in that little head of yours."

"Hey! I- whatdoyoumeanlittle?" she spluttered.

Suki just laughed in response. "As I was saying, I want you to be Sokka's sparring partner when he comes out."

Azami frowned. "Why me? Aren't you the teacher?"

"That's why I'm pairing you up with him, you're both still learning," she explained. "Besides, even I can tell it would do you both some good to let off a little steam."

Azami sighed, recognizing the truth in her words. "I guess you're right, I mean... I've managed to get along fine with Katara, and Aang and I were already friends before all of this, but for some reason I just can't get along with Sokka. It's like he hates me for something I didn't even do." She crossed her arms, hugging herself.

Suki's eyes softened a little. "I'm sure he'll come around."

What the two girls didn't realize was that he had actually been able to overhear their entire conversation.

Sokka P.o.V.

While he listened to the girls talking outside, he'd been frustrated at first with the idea of working with Azami, but by the time they finished he had started to feel a pool of guilt growing in him. Azami had a point - she'd done nothing to him, and had in fact saved his village when he couldn't, so why did he still resent her?

He couldn't get the line out of his head that he'd repeated for years. Firebenders are the enemy. It's your job to protect your family from them. While he had been contemplating his thoughts, he didn't notice that the girl in front of him had finished with his face paint. "There, all done!" she squealed.

She pulled Sokka in front of a mirror, and he was a little horrified by his appearance to say the least. Never once in his entire life had he ever envisioned himself wearing makeup and a dress. "It's, uhh..." he said nervously. "It's good, thanks." The girl smiled at him, before pulling him out into the main training area.

"Suki! He's readyyyyyy!" the girl called out in a sing-song voice. Sokka looked over as he saw Azami and Suki turn to face him. For a moment he thought he saw a hint of sadness on Azami's face, but it was quickly replaced by her laughing so hard that she nearly fell over. Meanwhile, Sokka simply stood there, looking at the ground as his face burned so red he was sure it shone through the makeup.

"Do I really have to wear this?" he complained to Suki. "It feels a little... girlie."

Suki just smirked at him. "You know, Azami said something similar. It's a warrior's uniform, Sokka, you should be proud to wear one. The silk thread symbolizes the brave blood that flows through our veins, and the gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart."

Putting his hands on his hips, Sokka puffed his chest out in pride, just as he heard Aang's voice from the doorway. "Hey Sokka! Nice dress." At this, Sokka's face drooped back down, and Azami completely lost it, she was laughing so hard.

Azami P.o.V.

It took Azami about five minutes to finally stop laughing, by which point Sokka had turned brighter than a tomato and was now actively trying to practice the first few movements without blushing any further. Suki seemed to have shared in the amusement at first, but now she was starting to get a little grumpy.

"Azami, are you done? I told you, I want you to be Sokka's training partner," she snapped. Azami coughed a little, before she finally got up with a smile. "Of course, sorry about that."

Suki just rolled her eyes in response. "Finally, now would you come help Sokka with these early moves? You got them down in a matter of minutes, so teaching someone should be easy for you."

Azami and Sokka spent the next few minutes going through the movements while Suki corrected them from the sidelines. "You guys aren't gonna master it in one day," she commented. "Even I'm not that good. I know you've been making good progress Azami, but even you still have room to improve."

"I think I'm starting to get it," Sokka said excitedly, before he immediately proceeded to fling his fan out the door and into a tree. Azami facepalmed, while Suki just smiled softly at the boy. "It's not about strength, Sokka," she sighed. "Azami, if you would?"

Azami nodded in response, before taking a position in front of Sokka. "The technique is about using your opponent's force against them," she explained. "Loosen up, and think of the fan as an extension of your arm." She started to advance on him, fan in hand. "Wait for an opening, and then-"

Without warning, Sokka had forced her to drop the fan and pushed her backwards, making her fall over. She blinked up at him in surprise, and he crossed his arms, seeming proud of himself. "Nicely done, Sokka," Suki commented.

Azami felt heat rise to her cheeks, and she quickly got up, her arms crossed in annoyance. "I fell on purpose to make you feel better," she muttered.

A teasing look quickly took over Sokka's features, and he jabbed a finger towards Azami. "I got you! Admit I got you-"

Before he could continue, she reached out and grabbed his hand, pinching his finger backwards as Sokka quickly crumpled under her grasp. "You got a lucky shot," she growled, before releasing his hand.

He quickly grabbed his hand in pain, looking to Suki for support, but she again had that glint in her eye that meant nothing good for him. "Let's see if you can do it again," she ordered them. The two got back into their fighting stances, waiting for each other to make the first move.

About an hour later, Sokka lay groaning on the floor while Azami just stared down at him, unimpressed. "Tapping out already?" she mocked. Sokka just groaned in response, rubbing his shoulders.

"I think that's enough training for today," Suki commented. "You probably gave him enough bruises to last a month, Azami." She smirked in response to Suki's comment, feeling proud. Despite having lost to Sokka in their first face off, she'd proceeded to beat him every time after that. "Well, in that case-"

Before she could finish, Azami heard a voice yelling at them from the doorway. "Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls, come quickly!"

Suki immediately followed him, but as Azami went to leave she heard Sokka complaining from the back. "Hey, I'm not a...! Ah, whatever." She let out a quick laugh as the two raced down to the village. When they got there, they saw Suki getting hit out of the air as she tried to attack Zuko on his mount. As he went to blast the girl, Sokka jumped in front and deflected the blast with his fans.

Having followed Sokka, Azami leaped at Zuko, her body twisting as she willed her fire to follow the path of her fans. She slashed in front of her with the fan, causing a burst of white flame to knock Zuko off his mount and onto his back. "You," he snarled.

"Me," Azami agreed, before she ran at him, her fans held behind her. He fired a quick blast at her, which she was easily able to roll underneath, before she came up shooting a massive blast of fire from the tips of both her sealed fans, blasting Zuko backwards. Unfortunately, the flame also hit the house Zuko had fallen into, lighting the door, and the window frame on fire, and she heard a child scream.

Azami's eyes widened as she realized her mistake, and she quickly ran past Zuko (who was still on the ground, his armor smoking) into the house, seeing a family huddled together and staring at her in terror. Her eyes filled with tears as she saw that their young daughter's hand had been burnt, likely from her own fire.

"I-I'm so sorry," she cried. She looked at the girls father, who's eyes shone with anger and betrayal. "It was an accident, I swear-"

"You burned our daughter!" the woman screeched at her. The man simply spat on the floor in front of her before he proceeded to drag his family out the back of the house, their daughter's sobs echoing in Azami's ears. She simply knelt down, her hands covering her face as she cried, wishing she could undo her mistake.

Before long, she heard Zuko's voice echoing from outside - something about little girls saving Aang - and she realized that she was still needed. Wiping her eyes (her face paint somehow hadn't been affected too badly), she ran back out of the house, not caring as she felt her arms crisp slightly from the fire still lining the doorway.

As she came outside, she saw Zuko kick away Aang's staff as they fought, before the Avatar quickly picked up a pair of fallen fans and blasted the prince into a house with airbending. He reached down to pick up his staff, and the two looked around at the village in sorrow as it slowly burned around them. 

Seeing Katara help a family get safely into one of the houses that wasn't burning, the two walked up miserably towards her. "Look what I brought to this place," Aang muttered.

"It's not your fault," Katara insisted.

He looked up sadly at her. "Yes, it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me."

"Then let's get out of here," Katara offered. "Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way."

Aang bowed his head in defeat. "I'll call Appa."

Sokka P.o.V.

Suki and Sokka were hiding behind a house while the other Kyoshi warriors were fighting off the last of the firebenders. "There's no time to say goodbye," Suki insisted.

"How about I'm sorry?" Sokka offered.

She looked confused. "For what?"

"I treated you like a girl, when I should have treated you like a warrior," Sokka stated bluntly. 

She shook her head. "Who says I can't be both? Now get out of here, we'll- are you guys ok?" she quickly asked, seeing a family of three running up behind the houses.

The man looked desperately over towards Suki. "No, we're not. Some girl in one of your uniforms burned our daughter, and we're trying to get her some help immediately."

Sokka's eyes widened in shock, and Suki's gaze hardened, realizing who they were talking about. "Come with me, she needs to get her hands in water immediately. Sokka, we'll hold off the firebenders, you and your friends have to go." Pulling him close for a second, she whispered in his ear. "Make her pay."

Sokka only nodded in response, before setting off to find Aang and his sister. Why? he thought. Why would she burn an innocent little girl? And to think I was going to forgive her, he scoffed.

He quickly ran, spotting Appa nearby with the other three already riding on his back and waiting for him. He climbed up Appa's tail as fast as he could, and they took off without another word. Sokka couldn't help but glare over at Azami, who was sitting with her knees up, her arms wrapped around them as she hid her head behind them, her body shaking slightly.

Katara didn't seem to notice, as she looked over Appa's side, staring sadly at the burning village beneath them. As they flew away, Katara went up to Appa's front to talk to Aang while Sokka kept his attention on the princess, who hadn't moved an inch. "So," he started, his voice cold. "Care to explain why you burned-"

Before he could continue, Azami's head snapped up, her eyes puffy with tears streaming down her face, but the glare she sent Sokka was unmistakable. "I know I messed up and I get that I'm a horrible person, okay? I already understand all that already so would you please just leave me alone?" she snapped, fresh tears streaming down her face, the facepaint of Kyoshi starting to run down her cheeks.

Sokka didn't even have the chance to reply - not that he even knew what to say - before the girl had curled up into a fetal position on her side, her back facing him. He hadn't even noticed that Aang had jumped off Appa in that time - all he cared about was that he had been proven right. Every firebender was dangerous, and he would now have to protect his family from Azami.

Edit; quick A/N; sorry for the double ping if you get it lol I forgot to include this A/N. But anyways so yea sorry this one took a little while longer to get out, ideally I want to stick to a once a week schedule but ngl i kinda lost motivation for a little bit (definitely NOT for the whole story tho, it's just that I'm not too fond of these early episodes so writing them is a bit draining). Anyways, I've already got drafts made for future chapters like Jet, so can't wait to get to those.

Hope you enjoyed :D (wow that totally doesn't sound sadistic or anything after a child is burned)

Also if you're curious the young girl is one of Aang's admirers, so like 7 years old at most.