Letters
An Avatar: the Last Airbender Fanfiction
Jenn Supp 2010©

INTRO

The one thing Ty Lee was allowed to do whilst imprisoned in the Boiling Rock was the one thing that she should definitely not have been allowed to do: write letters.

CHAPTER ONE

The first day she was in the cell she sat unmoving in the corner, crying as she came to terms with what she had done. The second day, she let herself drink, if only to replenish the water she had been losing through her eyes.

She ate on the third day. More correctly, she was told that if she didn't eat, then the cook wouldn't bother giving her food anymore. (She wondered if it was proper to call the person who made such horrible food a cook, but she said nothing.)

Once she had regained her strength and composure later that day, she returned to her acrobatics routines to give herself something familiar to focus on. The next day, she began talking—or at least asking questions. What was she allowed to do? What wasn't she allowed to do? Had there been any word left for her? What time was it? Eventually, after a full two hours of Ty Lee's harmless, though seemingly relentless questions, she was assigned a new guard who refused to even look into her cell. She eventually fell asleep.

On the fifth day she awoke to a bang, and she flew up from her mat on the ground to find a large book lying on the floor of her cell. The door shut then, and she looked up, but didn't see who it was. She walked over to the book and carried it back to her mat. Sitting down cross-legged, she put it in her lap before reading the title.

"Rules, Regulations and Allowances: Boiling Rock Prison. Under new management by the order of the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation." She read softly out loud.

Azula fired Mai's uncle. Of course. Ty Lee though to herself. It was something she should have figured on. The Princess couldn't have such a good warden as Mai's uncle being tempted to give Mai and herself preferential treatment. It could potentially ruin him, and it would undermine Azula's authority. She probably had him transferred to the other side of the nation. She almost laughed thinking about the face he probably made when told about the transfer…almost.

She leaned back against the wall, propped the book on her knees, and started to read. As a prisoner born in the Fire Nation, she had special privileges not given to prisoners born in the other nations. Since she was not a firebender, she was allowed one candle a week, but since her imprisonment was direct from the Royal Family, she was not allowed to share a room. After the introduction part, there was a list of infractions and their respective punishments. Ty Lee skipped those pages, which she guessed numbered at least thirty-five.

She also took the liberty of skipping past the part about who was in the prison, and the not-so-edible food. She stopped when she came to the second to last page, a list of additional freedoms. Many of them did not apply to her, since she was neither over seventeen, nor a bender, nor a boy, but there were a few allowances that particularly interested her. She could request her 'accessories' back: her shoes, hair ribbons, and jewelry.

The last freedom printed made her gasp out loud — as a prisoner born in the Fire Nation who had never committed an infraction in the prison, she was allowed to post up to six letters per week, although they could only be mailed within the Fire Nation and its colonies. She smiled as she pushed the book carelessly off of her lap and cartwheeled over to the door.

"I'd like to request a candle, my accessories, and to write a letter, please." She asked hopefully through the door.

"Request acknowledged." A gruff male voice replied to her almost immediately.

"Okay. Thanks!" She chirped, grinning, and went back to practicing with just a bit more enthusiasm than before.