(Spring)

It is a pretty spring day and Ty Lee has just shoved her way off of a packed passenger ship going to Caldera. She makes it to the palace as quickly as her muscular legs can carry her, moving frantically.

Azula is home, Azula is home and no one thought to tell Ty Lee until Suki mentioned in passing that Sokka had just been at some kind of trial for her. And no one thought to tell her. Azula didn't even bother making it known and Ty Lee just... ugh...

Her ugly suitcases hit against the backs of her knees as she finally makes it to the gates around the palace.

Zuko greets her with a hug and Ty Lee just swallows.

"It's been like three years," Zuko says, stunned and Ty Lee shakes her head.

"What trial? What trial, Zuko?" Ty Lee demands and his lips open and close soundlessly at first.

"She's staying here. She just has to be watched by guards and me and ─" but Ty Lee brushes past him before he can stop her.

Ty Lee bounds down the hall and is greeted by heavily armed guards. They look tough, but Ty Lee is not the kind of person who even they would like to mess with.

"I need to see her," Ty Lee demands as she hears Zuko's frantic footsteps behind her.

"She can hurt you," the guard says and Ty Lee clenches her fists.

Well, I can heal her, Ty Lee almost responds before changing her mind.

(Summer)

As Ty Lee sits in the palace in a daze, having just left Azula's room after being screamed at for trying to help, Mai taps Ty Lee's shoulder and she jumps in surprise.

"I brought you your tea," Mai sighs without a care. Ty Lee accepts it wordlessly and gazes into it. "Thank you, Mai, you're the best." And then Mai groans. "You want to talk about your feelings, don't you?"

"Mphm," is the grunt Ty Lee responds with.

"She's a wreck and you probably should just go home. She's... she'll make you... hurt." Mai feels like her words are useless and pointless, but Ty Lee's lips move slightly before she returns to staring at her tea.

Ba Sing Se, a few summers ago. Azula runs her fingers along Ty Lee's body, leaving small traces of fire that burn, almost as much as the fever where the princess places her kisses. Or the sear where she bites and straddles Ty Lee, whom is lying there blissfully.

Azula is, right now, the sole ruler of the universe. And Ty Lee has never seen something so sexy.

The princess removes her shirt, slowly, pulling it over her head and Ty Lee bites her lower lip slightly. Her body is as perfect as the persona she wears and Ty Lee cannot help but look for too long at her pale breasts.

More fire, more need, and hot, wet, throbbing...

Azula licks her lips and descends, sharp nails raking down the insides of Ty Lee's thighs, making her scream before she moves so gently over the red, painful marks and penetrates her.

Her fingers are forceful and Ty Lee moans as Azula's lips are near Ty Lee's ear.

"I will make you hurt," the princess whispers and Ty Lee just moans again as her legs twist and her toes curl.

Ty Lee leaves her memory feeling uncomfortably aroused. And even more painfully reminded of the fact that she visits Azula every day, as she has from the rainiest season to the driest in the middle of summer, and she has little to no progress.

But she cannot go home now. There is no turning back because Ty Lee does not give up.

Even when it hurts.

(Fall)

The leaves change colors and wither and die, and Ty Lee is finally walking with Azula through the courtyard. They are holding hands, at Ty Lee's demand. Things have progressed slightly, as Ty Lee finally managed to force her way into Azula's misery.

Sometimes it is hard to know where she ends and her illness begins, but Ty Lee loves her all the same. She loves her passionately, restlessly and eternally.

"It's actually really nice out," Ty Lee says brightly after an uncomfortable silence in their conversation. Their very one-sided conversation.

"It's cold and cloudy," is Azula's displeased response and Ty Lee squeezes her hand for a moment.

"Do you want to do something today?" Ty Lee asks hopefully, her eyes gleaming and wide.

Azula smirks, the same, wicked, evil little smile that did not fade like she did. Evergreen; that smile, that girl deep inside of the hollow shell is evergreen, even if the rest of her fades like the autumn leaves.

"I can think of something we can do," Azula whispers into Ty Lee's ear, and Ty Lee finds her back presses against a cherry blossom tree, the rosy petals falling onto her shoulders as it shakes with the force of Azula.

Azula's lips are dried and chapped as they rub against Ty Lee's skin, and her hands take Ty Lee's and force them onto her body. The princess brings herself to orgasm with Ty Lee and they are in the cold, pale morning, naked, naked.

And Ty Lee wonders why this hurts.

(Winter)

Ty Lee finds Azula sleepwalking, having just been roused from their bed, and she takes Azula into her arms as gently as she can, trying not to be jarring. There is a brief moment when Azula wakes up and she wonders where she is.

She sees the sweet, doe eyes of her lover and Azula swallows.

"Why do you stay?" Azula asks quietly and Ty Lee stares at her feet.

"Because I like you." And then Ty Lee wrestles with her tongue. "Because I love you."

"I'll make you hurt," Azula says quietly, gently breaking free of Ty Lee's grasp.

Ty Lee has never seen her so... vulnerable. It is terrifying, more terrifying than seeing her in the dregs of madness. And Ty Lee reaches for her as gently as she can, touching her arm and trying to reclaim her. Azula averts her glimmering golden eyes and Ty Lee is unsure what to say.

She wakes up screaming and Ty Lee calms her. Struggles through nightmares and break downs and can barely handle herself most of the time.

"I like the way you hurt," Ty Lee says quietly, touching her lips to Azula's and their thighs together.

No, this should not turn into sex in a perfect, loving world. But it is not a perfect, loving world and Azula's back scrapes and bruises against the rough wall as Ty Lee holds her there and wraps her thighs around her hips and kisses her fiercely.

"I will make you better," Ty Lee whispers in her ear, and Azula is unnerved by not being in control, but not being the dominant one in the sexual situation.

And then, slowly, Azula surrenders to the sensation of vulnerability.