BLOSSOM
A TYZULA ONE SHOT.
Ty Lee sat crying, clutching onto Azula in the Princess' room. Azula merely wore a blank expression, used to Ty Lee's overbearing sensitivity.
"Don't listen to those stupid girls," Azula said as fat tears rolled down Ty Lee's face. "Everyone knows that the prettiest flowers bloom the latest."
A couple of girls who were the Fire Nation's warriors' boyfriends had made a remark about how Ty Lee had not developed one bit. Ty Lee overheard this while walking alongside Azula who was overseeing the monthly "come-see-your-partner" day at the Fire Palace.
After the event, Ty Lee couldn't stop thinking about what they had said, and let her tears flow freely in the princess' room. Azula could never handle the ability to coo or help someone, even if the person was the one who she cared most for. But Azula tried her hardest, and eventually found herself hugging the acrobat back with just as much force.
She is so warm, Azula thought, seeing her cry like this will surely freeze the soul over time.
"Thank you," Ty Lee croaked. "Thank you for helping me, this is a miracle!"
"Huh? A miracle? What is?"
"You helping me, silly! I know how hard it is for you to do these things…" Ty Lee said, looking grim, not at was making her cry earlier, but at the fact she was stating about Azula. The acrobat had now sat straight up, and was facing Azula directly and looking into her amber eyes.
Her eyes are so pretty… Ty Lee lost herself in thought.
"Hmph!" Azula said, crossing her arms defensively. "And look at you! You can't even bare a fact about you, even if it is rude. What those girls said about you was true! You're too childish to develop properly…" Azula said, sounding her usual tone of harsh.
It was amazing how Azula could go from (attempted) comforting friend to the insult-making, cruel, harsh and mean person everybody knew her for.
"WH-why do you do these things to me?!" Ty Lee shrieked. "It's like I'm a yo-yo, and you're the person playing with me! I'm always under your control, no matter what. You make me feel low, with your constant cruel remarks and insults, and then the next thing is that you're making me feel as if I could fly away to some magical place where I could have all the pets and candy and chocolate in the entire world!
"When you do these things to me, I always think that you're trying to test me, to see if I will be the loyal puppy-dog I am and snap back to my cheery self, following your every move again! I always convince myself that you're doing this out of kindness, to make me strong, but now I just realise that you're a mean, selfish, cruel, cold-hearted, rude and arrogant person manipulating me for your own good!"
Azula was not just surprised, shocked and speechless, she was amazed. Astounded. She never knew that Ty Lee was always feeling this way. And to be brutally honest, she was very confused as well. Azula wondered why Ty Lee had snapped like this, when the acrobat surely could've done it when the Fire Princess had said something much worse. Maybe Ty Lee just had enough, and bottled all of her emotions up, and finally she couldn't take it anymore. So she snapped.
Ty Lee and Azula were now both standing, staring at each other, as Ty Lee had stood fiercely when having her outburst and Azula needed to stand to not feel as if she was being looked down upon. She was the Fire Princess after all, and Ty Lee had no place to feel superior.
But none of those thoughts were whirling through Azula's head right now. She was… just… hurt. Deeply. Hurt so bad that the girl who had a cold exterior and blank, expressionless face who never spoke or expressed her emotions started to cry.
She couldn't even feel the warm tear gently stroll down her face, leaving a wet tail of sadness and hurt. Neither Azula nor Ty Lee made any attempt to move. Ty Lee eventually hunched over, and started to cry as well. You would think that Ty Lee, being the helpful and caring girl she was, would run right up to Azula and hold her in her arms, just like what Azula was trying to (and successfully) do to the acrobat minutes earlier.
But both girls were too hurt to do anything. So Ty Lee simply walked out of the Princess' room, leaving a sobbing Azula behind her. Mai had overheard sobs, shrieks and shouting coming from Azula's room, and decided only to inspect when there was silence once more.
Mai saw Ty Lee leave the Fire Nation Princess' room with tears flowing freely down her face once again. She entered crying, and now she was leaving crying. Mai wondered what Azula had done this time to make the acrobat feel so down.
Mai entered Azula's room carefully, hoping that Azula would not be able to slash out on her. But what Mai saw was extremely shocking, it was the stone-cold, forever expressionless Fire Princess hunched up, back facing the door where Mai stood, and sobbing uncontrollably. Mai immediately tried to help and comfort the princess, and even though Mai was not treated the best by Azula, Azula needed the help nonetheless. Mai was surprised when Azula made no attempt to push the stiletto-wielding assassin away, and allowed her to take a hold of her and comfort the princess.
Mai knew that no one but the girl Azula loved dearly (even though Azula never said it, it was that obvious) would cause such a reaction in The Fire Princess. Ty Lee and Azula had both struck a chord with one another.
Ty Lee and Azula's love was too strong, and Agni-knows-what they would cause for each other later on, for their love was still blossoming and blooming like a Fire Lily in Summer.
Mai didn't even know that blossoming and blooming was the soul cause of the girls' reactions.