The first time Ty Lee met Azula, it was not like being struck by lightning.
It wasn't a sudden, huge revelation that changed her that second. She didn't instantly know that this was the girl she was going to be in love with, that this was the person she would compare every kiss to for the rest of forever.
She just saw her on the swings, standing on them with her hair caught swaying in the dry breeze, clutching the chains with white knuckles and red palms, as Mai impassively and gently pushed her.
There were no more swings left, but Ty Lee knew that it was the princess, and not to bother asking, and so she walked away, with no regrets. It irritated her that she didn't have a swing to go on, but other than that, she didn't think very much about Princess Azula, outside of the fact that she existed.
And she never thought about it, or considered it to be a very important memory. Except much later when she tried counting how many extra seconds she might have had if she went over and introduced herself that day, but her head hurt and she wasn't sure how to do that kind of math.
It just happened.
They were there, at the same time, existing, and that was it.
.
The night before the coup to overthrow Ba Sing Se, Azula was pacing and chewing at her lower lip. Every last calculated move would have to go right, else there would be a multitude of dreadful issues. She could die, or lose, or be humiliated or captured.
Or she could fell the Earth Kingdom.
"Azula," Ty Lee said, daring to approach even though Mai told her not to at least ten times. "Do you need anything?"
"No. I will tell you if I need anything," Azula said curtly before returning to her pacing. She lost a few of her vital thoughts and silently cursed the very distracting acrobat for it.
Their strange relationship was distracting, and it felt odd to the princess, and she didn't know if it had a negative or positive influence on her and her actions. But clearly Ty Lee wasn't leaving, and there was this sensation of sparks or flame between them that compelled Azula to stop her pacing.
"I just wanna say that... I'm glad I left the circus for you." Ty Lee popped one of her knuckles and Azula looked up, certain she would not be able to focus now. "And this is what you're born to do. Like, defeat the Earth Kingdom in two weeks when other people can't do it in a hundred years. I'm not a pep talk person or an any talk other than small talk person, that's you, and your beautiful, pretty, smart words and stuff, but I'm..."
"This is the riskiest endeavor I've ever attempted? Yes," Azula examined her own hands. "Any last words you would like me to remember you by?"
"You f-first. Yours will be way better," Ty Lee said before smiling.
"Time is finite, and it's always running out. I can feel it running out every moment, and that is what compels me to act. I don't like to waste any of my time."
"That's for sure." Ty Lee then stopped and looked a little dizzy. Azula narrowed her eyes. "I hope we don't die tomorrow."
Azula nodded. "Those are your last words? I hope we don't die? Well, they're not exactly original."
Ty Lee scowled in thought. "Okay, okay, no, I need way better last words. How about I hope you don't die tomorrow."
"Well, we all can agree with that," Azula said honestly and Ty Lee just gave a faint smile. The princess lightly bit the tip of her tongue and realized something. "This is an attempt at romantic closure before our potential death or capture."
Ty Lee nodded, blushing. "Yep."
"Right." Azula was uncertain of the protocol for one of these.
"I just hope we don't get impaled on any sharp rocks because I'd like better romantic closure than this someday," Ty Lee said and it was surprisingly eloquent.
"I won't get impaled. But if there are dangerous sharp rocks flying at you, I would appreciate it if you evaded them," Azula replied and her lips twitched with a smile that made Ty Lee simper. "You would be a considerable loss to my morale."
Ty Lee started to laugh, but then sucked in a breath and straightened her posture. "I will evade any sharp rocks, princess."
She bowed, attempting to feel a little more like a soldier.
.
The last time Ty Lee saw Azula was before the war was over. After that it didn't count; that person was not her and Ty Lee refused to accept it as a reality.
It was before the Invasion, and it felt like a much more enthralling and exciting version of before Ba Sing Se. Once Azula found out Zuko was gone, there was no stopping the loss of herself and Ty Lee's loss of her, and so Ty Lee focuses on that night as the last night.
"Distract me," Azula said and Ty Lee very gladly obeyed.
After Ember Island they rebuilt. Or maybe built for the first time. Or maybe they only had drawn sketches for things they planned on building someday, but it was good enough. Ty Lee took Azula outside, into the cold, arid night.
"The grass isn't wet or anything? Wanna lie down?" Ty Lee asked, and she did before waiting patiently.
Azula just crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes and asked, "Why?"
Ty Lee just basked in the starlight, trying to ignore that she felt afraid. Her make-up was flaking and she was faking her smiles but Azula needed to sleep for the first time in. . . ever, possibly so she didn't drown in lava. . . or burn in lava, whichever came first. Ty Lee's fears didn't matter.
"Looking at the stars is kinda calming because nothing is happening in the sky. It slows me down and you're way, way, way smarter and stuff but it's worth trying, right?" Ty Lee batted her eyelashes and Azula checked the grass with her bare foot.
It was dry enough, and was well groomed.
"They're stars. There's enough time to be wasted down here. Wasting time up there just adds another level of wasted time."
"But you said to waste your time tonight to distract you to keep your head clear," Ty Lee says gleefully, as if their multitude of dysfunctions in what is trying to pass for romance are funny. "And stargazing is romantic and cheers people up too."
"How truly magical," Azula said sardonically with her arms crossed.
"All of us are in the gutter, Azula. But some of us are looking at the stars," Ty Lee recited.
"How poignant. What book did you steal that from?" Azula purrs, hesitantly sitting down on the dewy grass beside Ty Lee. She touches one manicured nail to Ty Lee's neck, lingering on her pulse, determining if she is real.
"My mom used to say it," Ty Lee says and Azula wonders why she thought her girlfriend would ever pick up a book. "Usually when I was really upset. And so I decided to be one of the people looking at the stars."
"Hm. The origin story for your optimism," Azula purrs, slowly lying down beside her. Her fingertips still brush against skin and it makes Ty Lee tingle with a warmth that somehow cools her in the hot night. "There aren't many stars in big cities in the Fire Nation."
"Maybe we should take a vacation to the countryside!" Ty Lee's eyes light up as if they just caught fire. Azula feels a slight soaring sensation in her stomach that she quickly stifles. There is no way father would allow her to go on a vacation, especially with her circus freak.
"We will," Azula lies and Ty Lee knows she is lying. "The sky is. . ." Azula had very little follow-up, since she had no grand, intelligent observation. She just had dry, cracked lips and numbered plans in her head.
"Looking at the sky," Ty Lee said, "it's so weird how they're the same stars but they're different kinda everywhere. Like in the Earth Kingdom, in your Earth Kingdom, or here." She squinted as if her eyes could discern the minute and probably nonexistent differences in the night sky.
"They're unimportant unless I'm navigating a ship." Azula licked her dry lips again and Ty Lee gazed at them for too long.
"Things can be helpful even when they're not. . . uhmmmm, helpful," Ty Lee said, scratching her face. Azula caught her looking, Ty Lee thought. "Sometimes things can be just for fun, right?"
"This attempt at romantic closure is truly no better than Ba Sing Se."
"Practice makes perfect."
"Supposedly."
"What do you mean, supposedly? You are perfect and I think you're perfect."
"You are not good at all at distracting me," Azula said. "You're afraid yourself for some reason, aren't you? The Invasion is nothing to fear. It is a handful of ill equipped and misguided failures who think they can win. Pitiful, really."
Ty Lee squirmed and looked away from her precious stars for a moment. "I'm scared because of. . . you."
"That's reasonable. You should fear me." She said it with vindication and Ty Lee furrowed her brow in worry over that.
"I just want a. . ." They could talk about the future tomorrow.
Ty Lee was going to follow her orders tonight, and so she very carefully edged herself closer to Azula, and pressed herself against her. Their lips met passionately, and Ty Lee was on top of her once she was certain it would not be a rejected advance.
.
"Did you like that more than stargazing?" Ty Lee giggled.
"Yes. Much more. All of us are in the gutter, but some of us get to look at my incredibly stunning body," Azula said and Ty Lee laughed. "What? You are privileged."
Ty Lee shook her head, and Azula smirked.
The sun was rising, and as they laughed, Ty Lee wondered if she should say goodbye.