Azula never was good at compassion.
She did not feel it, and even if she did, she would not act on it. Yet, compassion or not, she was holding her wife's hair as she threw up. It might have been better if this was one drunken night, even if Azula did not drink and would be forced to remember it.
Azula wanted her baby, but she did not want to feel so much like she was the one carrying it, and at the moment, she was more connected than anyone should ever be.
She used to get episodes of suffocation and overwhelming emotions and puke. It was another one of her shameful secrets, but Ty Lee knew. Ty Lee would hold her hair and kept her talking until the episode passed.
Ty Lee gave unconditional love. Their child would be fortunate to have at least one parent who could do that. To Azula, love came with multiple definitions and many strings attached. But right now, she was giving it freely and regretting it.
"Do you feel any better?" Azula asked as Ty Lee stood up. The baby bump was impossible not to notice.
"Yes. Do you?" Ty Lee tried to smile but came up short.
"You were the one throwing up," Azula replied.
"Well, life is full of doing stuff you don't want to do to get what you want. I guess you're included, and you're becoming a mom too." Ty Lee hugged her. "I still remember what you told me about feeling our baby—"
"It was a hallucination upon waking in the middle of the night and I should be locked back up in an asylum," said Azula, hastily interrupting to save face.
"It's a natural reaction, I think. Even guys get it sometimes. And you're a girl so that makes it even more intense. Probably," Ty Lee replied. She seemed to think that this was somehow joyous.
Azula refused to enter this discussion again.
"So, do you want to try the tea my uncle suggested?"
"You're so sweet," said Ty Lee, and Azula took a step back. "You have him but you offer—"
"You are making it," Azula stated.
"You're still romantic, no matter what!" Ty Lee tried to kiss her, but she ducked with the expertise of a firebender.
Azula watched Ty Lee leave and ignored the fact that this would definitely happen again tomorrow.