'I'll be out of here before you can blink.' said the girl as she stared at the guard through the bars. Her cold voice seemed to drive an ice chip into his heart while her glare only served to drive it in deeper. He sneered at her face so as to not seem weak but quickly backed away from her holding cell.

'Wimp.' the girl sneered back. Then she turned around to observe the sparse surroundings of her cell. It was a simple, small room with one miserable candle flickering in the back. There were two plank beds, no mattresses or pillows in sight, and a chamber pot shoved under the lone, leaking sink. There was going to be hell to pay once Mai got out of here. As she was contemplating just how to stick her knives into the guards who had so rudely man-handled her, she noticed her companion was sitting on the cold stone floor, hugging her knees to herself and rocking back and forth. Her lips seemed to be moving in some kind of endless prayer.

'Ty Lee?' She slowly approached her pig-tailed friend. 'What's wrong?' No response. 'Ty Lee.' Mai reached out and shook the shoulder of said girl. Her quietness was beginning to frighten the steely one. The gymnast finally reacted, turning her big doe eyes to stare emptily at her friend. 'What's wrong with you?'

'I was too late.' If Mai had not seen her lips move she would not have even known that the girl had spoken. 'What?' 'Too late.' 'Too late for what?'

Ty Lee turned away again. 'Look at me!' Mai firmly pulled the girl so that she had no choice but to face her golden stare. 'What happened, Ty Lee? Are you hurt? Did Azula manage to hit you?'

At the name of the princess, Ty Lee finally seemed to wake up from her daze. She grasped onto the long sleeves of her friend and pulled her closer. 'I tried Mai! I really did! But I was too late. I couldn't save her.' she seemed to be pleading with her friend for her to understand something.

'What are you talking about?' said Mai, highly confused and slightly shocked. The despair on the gymnast's face was so alien. It was an expression that she had never seen her friend exhibit.

'I'm talking about what I did to Azula! I betrayed her!' she was shaking Mai's arms now. The concern that Mai felt for Ty Lee faded into a dull throb of hate for the Fire princess. 'Did you see her face after what I... I had done? How could I? I-I-' Ty Lee started stammering and released her grip on the sleeves only to return to her aimlessly rocking.

'You did what you had to do.' was all Mai could say. She dearly wished to slap her friend awake for even pitying the witch but she knew that it would not help.

'But why?' moaned the gymnast. 'I was her friend! I wanted to help her! After her Mother vanished, she looked so alone! And then she became... she became evil, Mai! You saw it too! I thought I could save her! That's what friends are for!'

'She has no friends. She does not deserve them.' the golden eyed girl said in an icy voice.

'Oh, Mai.' the pig-tailed one turned to stare reproachfully at her friend. 'I thought you of all people would understand.'

'Understand what?' Ty Lee blinked suddenly, as though she had snapped back to her senses, and immediately turned her head away to stare at the moss covered wall. This made Mai growl in frustration and roughly grasped her friend by her shoulders, forcing brown eyes to meet her own golden ones.

'Understand what, Ty Lee! Stop hiding from me! What should I understand? Why is that only I can understand?' her voice was harsh but she was tired of Ty Lee's secrecy. Enough was enough.

'Because... because... oh, I can't say it! You'll be disgusted with me!' whimpered Ty Lee. She slumped away from Mai's gaze.

'Ty Lee, there were so many other times where you annoyed me so much that I should have hurt you, but I never did. Why?' Mai sighed gently. Watching her vibrant friend fade like this only made her hate for Azula burn hotter and her heart sink deeper.

'...'

'Tell me.' said Mai firmly and calmly. There was a long pause where the only audible sound was the breathing of the two girls.

'Because you fell for the prince.' Ty Lee murmured. Her words were just barely a whisper. As it was, Mai had to lean in to discern her words.

'I don't quite get what you mean.'

'You'll think I am crazy.'

'Try me.'

'You fell for the prince. So you must understand. How attractive they can be. They are not siblings for nothing.' her voice was robotic, hollow, as though she was trying to hide from herself.

'Ty Lee.' Mai's grip tightened on her friend's shoulders as she finally began to understand. The desire to scream ran through her mind but she was unable to open her mouth.

'I've fallen, Mai.' Ty Lee could only stare miserably at her friend's shocked face. 'I've fallen for Azula.'

Ty Zula, my crack-OTP! :D I had a bit too much fun making Ty Lee emo-ish this time round but it's not totally OoC right? She did go all nutsy in 'The Beach' anyway. So yea, this is what I reckoned happened after Azula went ballistic and sent her 'friends' to jail. Inspired by the awesome DS-Hina's Tegaki E comic found here -- www. unowen. net/ tegaki/ dblog. php? u(equal sign here) 1120&e(equal sign here) 102677 (check her out for awesome Maiko pics!) Review thanks!

love, dawnnoondusk