"What's your favorite childhood memory?" Sokka asked as he sat outside of her cell.

He had learned not to ask many personal questions about the princess' life. It hadn't ended well when he asked about how she had become friends with Mai and Ty Lee. If he were being honest, him visiting her had always been awkward. She was Azula, she seemed to be the definition of cruel and mean, pure evil and while he wasn't the exact opposite, he was certainly not like her.

It took him visiting her to learn that she wasn't nearly as cruel as he and the others thought, she was more hurt than anything. He thought that perhaps if he asked about a happier memory, she would have an easier day, anything to make sitting in an empty cell better.

"Why would you ask that?" Azula always had her defensive walls up, prepared to fight someone off if they tried to take advantage. And despite her growing fondness and trust for him, she was still wary about telling him personal stories. She never knew if he was going back to talk to Zuko or to laugh about how pathetic she was with his friends.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, I just...I thought maybe…" He grew flustered as she stared at him intensely, narrowed eyes and tight lips. Despite her not being as mean and cruel as he thought, she would always be intimidating.

"I don't think I have one…" She said quietly after a few moments of silence. Sokka frowned at the thought, of not having anything happy to remember as a child.

"There has to be something, at least one happy moment." He pressed and she sighed, looking up at him. She didn't know what it was but she could tell that he genuinely wanted to know, that he wasn't only asking to report back to Zuko. So she decided to tell him.

"I...the only thing I can think of is the one time Lu Ten took care of me for a day," Azula says and Sokka is intrigued. He had heard the name before, Lu Ten was Iroh's son, but he never expected him to be close to Azula.

"Were you two close?" Sokka asked and Azula sighed.

"Well he always managed to get me out of trouble with my mother so I guess you could say that. Anyways, my father had gone somewhere with grandfather and my mother seemed to have forgotten me and took Zuko out leaving the palace empty besides me and Lu Ten. I didn't get scared often-" she heard Sokka chuckle and she paused, glaring at him and instantly shutting him up.

"I'm sorry, I just don't think you and scared should ever be in the same sentence." He tells her and she rolls her eyes.

"I'm quite aware." She tells him, "Now would you like to hear the rest of the story or not." She snaps and he shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, I won't interrupt again, talk away." He tells her and she rolls her eyes again.

"As I was saying, I didn't get scared often but I remember being so scared that day when I woke up. I was only 4 or 5 at the time. I had looked around the whole palace and couldn't find any of my family.

Well, until I went out into the gardens and found Lu Ten. I had snuck up behind him and I was in perfect stance, prepared to scare him when he had quickly turned around scaring me more than anything. He nearly toppled over laughing at my face and I remember being so mad that he managed to scare me. I sat with a glare on my face for who knows how long until he offered to get me food and before I could deny it out of spite my stomach growled." This time Sokka softly laughed. He could only imagine a little Azula, pouting angrily when she didn't get her way.

"He had carried me on his back, acting as a dragon as we went to the to the kitchen. And to my surprise, he cooked for us. And later, Lu Ten let me train with him. He had told me stories about the war and about our ancestors as we walked around the palace and I just remember being so fascinated with him. I wanted to be him...to some degree of course. He was strong and confident, talented. And he was probably the only family member that didn't look at me like some cruel monster, that's didn't use me for my bending. That cared…" Her sentence trailed off and Sokka frowned. "Anyways, that's my favorite childhood memory, probably the only good I have that hasn't been ruined." Azula's voice quickly changed from the soft tender to the voice that would have struck fear on him nearly two years ago.

"Well if it means anything," Sokka started, he gained her full attention, her golden eyes staring back at him with what seemed to be curious about what he was going to say. "I don't think you're a monster or evil. I think….I think you just had a sucky family, no one to look out for you." Sokka told her softly and her eyes widened at the statement.

No one had ever spoken to her that way, no one had ever treated simply as a person. Though she had never really allowed many people to treat her as such though she would have appreciated the effort. She stared at Sokka for a moment, reading his face and features. The only thing she saw was pure sympathy and concern, proof that he meant what he said.

"Thank you." Was the only thing she could say.

"You know, one day you're gonna get you out of here," Sokka tells her and she scoffs.

"Yeah sure, it not like anyone would care." She rolls her eyes and Sokka shakes his head.

"I would."