Tomorrow's Memories

Summary: A collection of oneshots focusing on the Dangerous Ladies before they were ladies, but were still quite dangerous. In other words: Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee during childhood.

Pairings: Though this is gen with a focus on the developing friendships between Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, Zuko will make a few appearances, bringing with him the foundations of Maiko.

Warnings: References to child abuse and less-than-stellar parenting in general.

A/N: This will be a collection of oneshots (approximately between 100 and 1,000 words) that centre around childhood and friendship. Everything is pre-series and not necessarily in chronological order. There won't be an update schedule for this; new content will be added whenever I feel like writing something.

Beta'd by Fire Lord Azula.

For this chapter specifically...

Pairings: None.

Warnings: Hints of child abuse.

1: Maturity

"So, Mai, what's been bugging ya?"

Typical Ty Lee, asking questions without any tact. Although Azula was curious too. Mai had been in a bad mood the whole morning. It had gotten to the point where they had sneaked out of the palace so that she wouldn't snap at everyone.

During her explorations, Ty Lee had found a secluded location near the palace walls. There was a stream with trees that would block them from view. Perfect for hiding away for an hour or two. The palace guards were under the impression that Azula was with her tutors, so that bought them a bit of time.

Some people would get in a lot of trouble if they were discovered missing, but that wasn't Azula's problem. If they were incompetent enough to lose them in the first place, then they deserved it. She could always make up some excuse later, though if her father was very mad… She shivered – it was cold – and turned her thoughts elsewhere.

"It's nothing." Hm, Mai was usually a better liar than that.

Even Ty Lee picked up on it. "It's so not nothing. Your colors are all mopey, more than usual, I mean. Spill already."

Mai huffed. "My mom said that I'm a young lady now, and I should act accordingly." Clearly, whatever behavior Mai's mother considered 'acting accordingly' was boring and stuffy. Now, Mai had always been a bit reserved, but never boring. Azula strongly suspected that Mai would be offended at any implication that she was boring.

"Well, my mom said that good little girls shouldn't set their playroom on fire." Azula rolled her eyes to demonstrate what she thought of that. Both Mai and Ty Lee probably remembered that incident. Six servants had desperately scurried around with buckets before a Firebender had arrived and put out the fire. One servant girl, barely a teenager, had sustained second-degree burns.

Azula had been delighted; that girl had put on airs, though her blood was as common as any peasant. She had also been deliberately cruel to Ty Lee, thinking herself secure in the fact that Ty Lee wouldn't report her or even get back at her. Azula, on the other hand, had no such compunctions about revenge, and what a sweet revenge it was. Mother hadn't seen it that way, and had given her a stern lecture. It was worth it though.

She realized that she had gotten carried away in her thoughts, creating a silence that her friends seemed reluctant to break. Back to the topic at hand: her dear mother.

"She also said something to the effect of 'I'll always be there for you,' but…" Azula trailed off with a delicate shrug. "Granted, she was talking to Zuko at the time, but still. The point stands." Both of her friends were staring at her, probably wondering what to say in response. No one talked about Mother anymore, not even Zuko.

Okay, that wasn't quite true. Sometimes, Zuko mentioned her, though not where Dad could hear him. Zuko went through these…phases of dumbness, where he would forget the unspoken agreement to pretend like Princess Ursa hadn't even existed. Usually, that was around the time Mother had disappeared. Zuzu was sentimental like that.

"Anyway," she said, clapping her hands together in a sudden mood change, making Mai and Ty Lee jump. She did so love throwing them off-balance. "Just don't listen to her. There's no rule that says you have to listen to your mother anyway. What did your father say about it?"

"He's of the opinion that I should be allowed to be a child for a bit longer."

"Well, there you have it." Azula leaned back, satisfied. A Dad's word was law.

"Mom would still want me to act all 'lady like' and mature when I'm around her."

"Then do that," Ty Lee leaned forward, "Think of it like a spy mission or something, pretending to be something you're not. It'll be good practice for court life when we're older."

Mai flopped back on the ground. "Fine, whatever. I've always had to be perfectly behaved. It shouldn't be much different."

"Totally! And then you can act as childish as you want with us. We won't tattle," Ty Lee assured her.

"'As childish as I want,' huh?" Mai murmured. Snake-quick, her hands shot into the stream and reemerged with water cupped in them. She deftly flicked the water at Ty Lee, drenching her.

"Mai!" Ty Lee shrieked, wringing out her braids. Mai grinned wickedly and quirked her fingers in an obvious challenge.

"Ohhh, you're so going to get it!" Ty Lee lunged. "C'mere you!"

They were both standing in the stream now, splashing and kicking. Azula dodged water and took advantage of their preoccupation to strike at both of them simultaneously. As one, they stopped their fighting and turned to her. She made a hasty retreat, shooting fire at the water's surface to create steam.

"No fair!" Ty Lee yelled. "Azula, you cheater!"

Azula didn't offer any defense of her actions; both of her friends knew very well that she would take any tactical advantage offered. Fighting honorably was an unnecessary handicap.

A small water war was then waged. Azula won, naturally, though Mai and Ty Lee didn't seem that upset about losing.

After, they collapsed in the grass, stretched out side-by-side. All three of them were dripping wet, and lying on the ground would get them muddy, though none of them cared. A breeze blew through and Azula shivered, goose bumps popping up on her body.

Ty Lee pillowed her head in her hands. "That was so fun," she said in contentment. "I wish things could stay like this. Wouldn't it be great to be kids forever?"

Mai shrugged noncommittally, looking to Azula for her answer.

"Why would I want that? No matter how influential we are, the adults still just see us as children. All the real power will come when we're older." For some reason, Azula wasn't able to inject her words with much bite. Mai hummed, not really agreeing or disagreeing.

The cicadas buzzed as the wind whistled through the trees. Azula felt the heat of the sun drying her clothes. Her hair was probably ruined and her clothes were undoubtedly wrinkled, but she couldn't find the will to move.

They spent time in silence, just lying in the grass and staring up at the blue sky. It was true that power was important…

"But yes," Azula conceded finally, "it would be nice to feel like this forever."