Why does Ty Lee smile all the time? Why?
One Touch
Lightning arced through the nighttime skies. The air, normally dry, was heavy with the promise of rain. No amount of rain, it seemed, could flood away the hard stone of this city, though. Every structure was the very image of delicate solidity - hard substance, yielding form.
Normally, the streets echoed with conversation and milling crowds. Now, these cramped causeways held the muted footsteps of the girl, and the gathering of shadows chasing her.
Ty Lee was the kind of girl who always smiled. Always. And was friendly. Always. Nobody knew where that sense of cheer came from, but it seemed that no one in their right mind could find anger for her. Even the rudest queens of the Academy would cease for that smile, that simple gesture of trust and affection.
The reason for her smile was simple, really. Her outlook on life was such that any difficulty was a game. She could smile in the quiet times when everything was all right with the world. And when the times for testing came? They were merely games, with rules and twists and turns. Life would have been boring, monotonous any other way.
So Ty Lee could tell herself that this night was just another game. Like tag, even. The only change in the rule was that "it" was the one to be tagged. The adrenaline thrill tingling in her limbs wasn't fear, it was excitement. The leaping rolls weren't meant to dodge throwing knives, it was just a contest. Just showing off. And so, even in this moment, she could smile it off.
She didn't even know who the other players of her game were. She didn't know where they'd came from, only that they didn't want her alive. There were scratches, bloody near-misses to attest to it. She'd always heard talk from the nobles at the Academy, idle threats of assassination. Of course, Azula had never spoken that way, but she'd never need to make a secret of it. But... no, not her! It couldn't be! It was all just a game. It was all just a game, just a game, just a-
And then she was out of room to run. This game was growing less amusing by the minute.
She stared at the dead-end wall - too high to run up, and she heard her shadows coming. Sure, she could leap from side to side, but sooner or later a knife would find her. Then it would be too late. There was one other choice, though, she realized. She could fight. She was a martial artist, after all. She knew the flow of energy in the body, where to touch and press and disrupt. And kill. Yes, she could do that too, knew the techniques to do it with. It was so easy - a Tiger's Claw strike to the heart, a Serpent Hand to the throat. Amazing what she could do with one touch.
But there were so many. Would she be able to win this game, this time? The smile slid from her face as her uncertainty met with the certainty that if she didn't win, she stood to lose much more than money or face.
There was no warning, no defiant scream, no sign of intention. She stood, then ran, then leapt. Arms reached out for her. One caught her foot, and she swung down, striking the points on the legs. Her assailant collapsed, and his throat was crushed beneath her heel.
The next few moments were reaching hands, seeking blades, arcs of light and crashes in the dark. Ty Lee couldn't tell how long she kept going, how long they kept fighting, when the pain started in her fingers from crashes against hard muscle, in her arms from blocking and deflecting.
It was just... suddenly over. Ty Lee stood over a mass of black-covered bodies, and she was positively drenched. Fire raced along her arms and legs, complementing the dull aches of her bruises. The game had been no fun, but she had won. She had won.
She smiled, and lifted her head to stormy skies. And then, she began to laugh.
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Just because a person's smiling all the time, it doesn't follow that they're smiling for the reasons you think they are.