I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters.

Set in Boiling Rock Pt.2 (Azula and Ty Lee against Zuko, Sokka and Suki)

"Ty Lee, take out the Kyoshi girl, I'll deal with the other two."

"Sure, she'll be out cold in no time!" an assured Ty Lee chirped. She was confident her chi-blocking abilities could neutralise the girl in question, after all, she had fared just fine during their last encounter with the Kyoshi Group.

"No, I meant take. Her. Out. Push her into the lake if you must. Her fangirls are enough of a nuisance to the Fire Nation without their leader. We must crush this threat once and for all."

Such authority and resolve. Ty Lee couldn't tell whether she was jealous of her power and assertive nature or scared stiff at the prospect of having to take a life.

After a second's deliberation she decided it was the latter. Killing was something she had never done before and never planned on doing either, in fact, she chose to pioneer and develop her fighting style based solely on the fact that it caused no pain, and unless she chose so, her jabs would only ever neutralise her opponents as opposed to straight out taking their lives. The indirect pain she would cause through her ability however escaped to the corners of her mind to be ignored and skimmed over during her deliberations of life and death.

Azula however, would never understand her plight, her being the cunning and ruthless leader she was, in sharp contrast to the kind and rather misunderstood mind of Ty Lee. She would stop at nothing to achieve her goals; her bending was evidence of that. Her flame had always been blue, and whether it was due to her decisive and violent nature or her prestigious bloodline was anybody's guess. Ty Lee knew however. It showed in her aura. The almost tangible shift from the murky blood red reminiscent of a wound not yet healed to a vivid angry mix of red and black when she bent. It was her insatiable drive to destroy and create carnage in her world which manifested itself in the form of her flame.

Sighing within, Ty Lee gave a timid nod as she ran across the wire stretching across from the prison to the outer rim of the volcano in a display of true acrobatic prowess and in turn received an expressive glare from Azula, as if she were saying 'You better .. or else'. Her mind flailed at the thought of having to take a life, especially upon seeing the effect the person in question's presence had on her peers, in particular on that water tribe boy. She gave the smallest of giggles at thought of his aura turning a soft pink in her presence. Pushing these thoughts out of her mind, she steeled her mind for combat. Pooling all her chi into her leg, she jumped into a powerful leap, landing gracefully on the gondola and sliding her other foot and bending her legs to counteract the force gravity would have taken on her body.

Standing up, she stared at the face of her opponent, while Azula made a successful landing in front of Zuko and the water tribe warrior in the behind them. She cringed inwardly at the sight of the chi pooling out from her adversary's body. It was a regal gold mixed with a calm shade of blue, however it was quickly being overtaken by a bright scarlet, which began pooling out and expressing itself over the other colours.

'She hates me, and I'm not so sure I blame her.' The thought stuck in her head as she looked at the Kyoshi Warrior with a look almost resembling that of remorse and sorrow.

Upon seeing her shift in her battle stance however, she sprang into action. Her opponent was surprisingly strong and fast, being able to change stances and adjust for her movements quite quickly as well as aim sharp, fast and precise blows in retaliation. Ty Lee however, having a more frail physique relied heavily on her flexibility and agility to dodge her blows only to strike when she saw an opening. These openings were often short lived and quickly covered up however, leaving her with an even smaller chance of contact. After several exchanges, her opponents strong blocks and deflects were taking a toll on Ty Lee's arms, which began to fatigue and throbbed with pain. Being backed onto one edged of the gondola, Ty Lee hazardously decided to jump off, grabbing the rim of the gondola and using the momentum to swing through the window on one side and catapult back onto the gondola's roof on the other. Her opponent not expecting this manoeuvre was now left open as she quickly aimed 2 paralysing blows on her body, one to her right armpit and the other behind her right knee, paralysing the entire right side of her opponent's body. Before she could disable the rest of her body however, her opponent swung around with lightning fast speed and using her arm as a battering ram, hitting Ty Lee's hastily raised arms in defence, the power of the blow causing her to yelp in surprise and pain. Nevertheless however, her opponent was now partially paralysed, giving her a statistical advantage which would eventually show as after two more bouts of fighting, she managed to disable the rest of her body, leaving her slumped on the gondola's roof.

"Ty Lee!" The words jolted her out of her momentary stance of triumph as she remembered the directive she had been given regarding the Kyoshi. She looked over at Azula who was at a stalemate with her opponents who had used a combination of defensive firebending and offensive swordplay to keep her at bay. She then looked at her fallen victim, hesitance lining her face as she contemplated the consequences of the actions she would take.

"Do it now!" The statement had become more of a threat than an order, but despite this, Ty Lee stood still, her hands unmoving from her sides. All she had to do was block off the dominant chi path in her neck, but no matter how much she resolved to do it, her body remained in a state of inertia. 'It's her or me.' The words resounded in her head until it was unbearable. She had to do it, there was no other choice. It was like she told herself, 'It's her or me'.

As if making her choice for her, the gondola violently swung forward, throwing the Kyoshi Warriors body with it, as a ball of fire hit its fragile frame. Recovering from a momentary state of shock, Ty Lee looked back to see the firebenders in the prison desperately firing at the gondola in panic upon seeing how close it was to unloading the escapees on the outer rim of the volcano.

Looking back she saw her opponent was now sliding uncontrollably off the edge of the gondola with Azula's face behind her in a wicked smirk, and in the background heard the voice of the water tribe boy as he screamed "No!"

It was as if Agni had taken the question she had deliberated so long on and flipped it around. No one deserved to die in a boiling lake, with no means to retrieve her body, it was the cruellest of deaths. 'Should I save her or not?' She would only have a second or so of thought before gravity would choose the latter option and she was nowhere near making a decision. She cringed once again as she saw the aura of her opponent change from a pure scarlet to a fearful grey tinged with blue.

She closed her eyes. She could not reach a decision. And so her body did for her.

Suki closed her eyes in resignation. She had almost won what she now realised to be her final encounter. She could feel the toll blocking each blow thrown at her was taking on her more delicate opponent and was confident she could outlast her. In her confidence however, she had grossly underestimated the acrobatic abilities of her opponent and was now paying the price.

Her gradual slide off the gondola and into the boiling lake below was abruptly halted however as she felt a fair of soft, dainty hands grab her own. She opened her eyes and saw the face of the opponent she had fought not moments ago. Her large chocolate brown eyes now filled with fear, confusion and what she finally recognised as remorse. Upon finally hoisting her up, she breathed a sigh of relief which was followed by a stifled yell from her pink clad rescuer.

"Ty Lee! What is this treachery? Going against your nation? Going against ME!? You're more foolish than I thought!"

"Please, she was falling, I couldn't let her die like that!" Ty Lee pleaded. Her plea had fallen on deaf words however as the air around her grew increasingly still.

"Fool! Your time has come and you will pay the price for your betrayal!"

Ty Lee looked up in resignation at the imposing figure of Azula. She had propelled herself above the fray on the gondola and the look of rage and anger in her eyes was unbearable. Despite the fatal consequences her actions held however, she couldn't bring herself to regret her decision. Azula's wrath was tangible and soon it would race around her body, singing and destroying many of her vital organs before diffusing into the gondola.

Falling into a kneeling position, her palms on the ground before her, she dropped her head dejectedly. Azula's aura began turning an intense jet black and she knew what was coming. The lightning began to gather on Azula's fingertips as she performed the deadly kata. The light the deadly energy emitted was unbearable, as much as the pain of knowing she was going to die. She closed her eyes and thought back to her family, her friends, she still felt like she hadn't had enough time to know them yet, or say goodbye. Her eyes fluttered open as Azula performed the final thrust. The fear and anguish was all too much as she let go of her consciousness, her energy leaving her abruptly and her mind descending into darkness.

Ok, this is my first fanfic, ever and admittedly I do pretty terribly in English at school. That means I have no idea whether anyone will enjoy my writing or not. It also means I need you guys to review this for me and tell me whether I should continue writing this or not. Constructive criticism is always welcome (tell me what you like/don't like and want/don't want and I'll see what I can do). No flaming please, let's keep this civil. Thanks in advance!

And yes, if you guys want to see more and give me the go ahead, there probably will be more in store, although I don't really have a full storyline planned out. Also I do go to school, and so gaps in time between uploads may be pretty long. I may change small details in this chapter (and any later ones if I do do them) to suit the plotline I may come up with.

I'm putting timestamps on every chapter I upload for convenience, as a reminder for how long I haven't uploaded for and also because I have no idea where the timestamps for individual chapters in a story are in the layout.

Also I'm not sure who I would be pairing Ty Lee with (in the event I continue, and yes a pairing for her will occur), probably an OC to be honest, but I'll see.

18/05/13

Minor Edits - 20/05/13 (leapt into a leap T_T *smacks self)