Her Choice
Summary: And in that moment, Ty Lee knew that Azula must not be allowed to kill Mai. She wouldn't let that happen. In that moment, Ty Lee made her choice.
Pairings: Maiko.
Warnings: None.
A/N: A look into the mind of our favorite bubbly 'circus freak,' examining her thoughts and motivations in the instant that it took for her to betray Azula. Because Ty Lee is an awesome, though seriously underappreciated, character.
Ty Lee had never been a thinker. That was Azula's job, not hers. Never hers. Azula had made that very clear to her when they were younger, and it was a lesson Ty Lee didn't need to relearn.
Mai was also a thinker. Even though she didn't say much, Ty Lee knew that behind her blank mask, there were thoughts and ideas whirling around. Of course, Mai hardly ever voiced her opinions unless Azula asked her. That was just the way she was.
Ty Lee was the one who got things done. If Azula needed to get into a building, she performed a few gravity-defying flips, slowly swinging and twisting her way up the outside. Once they were inside, it was up to her to paralyze the guards with a few well-placed jabs before they thought to cry out. That was her job. In the past, she had often wondered if there was a name for what she was, and she had come to the conclusion that she was a doer.
She was a doer, not a thinker, and she was okay with that. She knew her place in the universe, and her standing with Azula.
She didn't mind how Azula treated her, demanding and harsh, sometimes using cruel words with barely hidden contempt. Azula was a princess, she was supposed to treat people like that. She wasn't only a princess because of her lineage, it was more than that. It was her beauty and intelligence and power. Mai was the same. She didn't possess a commanding and frightening aura like Azula, and she wasn't royalty, but she was beautiful and powerful and very smart.
Ty Lee was content in the knowledge that people so deadly relied on her. Azula would never admit to it, but they did. They relied on her, Ty Lee, not any of her sisters. She, like Mai, had been chosen for her unique talents. She was satisfied knowing that she was among the elite, part of their team.
That's what they were: a team. They always had been, even when they were young. It seemed like they had always been there.
Mai and Azula were an important part of her life. She had never in a million years thought that she would have to choose between them. She had never imagined the possibility that Mai would do anything like that because she was Mai. She never let her emotions control her. In fact, sometimes Ty Lee wasn't certain that Mai even had emotions.
But she couldn't ignore what had happened right in front of her. Mai had turned on the prison guards. She had betrayed them. And they all knew the punishment for betrayal.
Time seemed to slow. There were precious few seconds before Azula attacked Mai.
Ty Lee might not be a thinker, but she knew things. She knew what Azula was capable of when she was angry. And right now, Azula was very angry.
She knew that Mai, as good as she was with throwing knives, wouldn't stand a chance against the Firebending prodigy.
And she knew that Azula really would kill Mai, that she would prolong it, and that when death finally did come to Mai, it would be a mercy. A traitor's death. That was what traitors deserved.
But Ty Lee didn't want Mai to die, even though she was a traitor, because her betrayal was for Zuko, for true love. Azula didn't understand love. Neither did Ty Lee, not really, because even though many boys had liked her and she had kissed some, dated a few, she had never loved any of them. Mai knew what love felt like.
Although she didn't know about loving a boy like Mai did, she knew about sisterly love. If one of her sisters died, she would be sad, but if Mai died, she knew that she would be devastated.
And for all that Mai said that everything was boring, that she didn't care, what she had just done for Zuko proved that she did care.
Before, Ty Lee had been uncertain. She had thought that Mai cared for her, that she wanted to talk with her, wanted to spend time with her, but she hadn't ever been sure. There had been times when she doubted Mai cared about anything. But now, she knew.
Mai cared for her and Azula didn't.
Azula never would.
And up until then, Ty Lee had told herself it was okay that Azula didn't truly care about her, but now, she saw the truth.
It wasn't okay.
And in that moment, Ty Lee knew that Azula must not be allowed to kill Mai. She wouldn't let that happen. In that moment, Ty Lee made her choice.
A/N: So what do you think about her characterization? Are her reasons for siding with Mai plausible? Any other thoughts, opinions, or comments? Review and let me know. Constructive criticism is appreciated.