AN: I miss summer.
Well summer slipped us
Underneath her tongue
Our days and nights are
Perfumed with obsession
"The Louvre" - Lorde
"It is true that you are not simply a soldier or a companion in war. I would call us friends," said Azula, waving her hand to dismiss Ty Lee's question as unimportant.
"What if I want to be more than friends?" Ty Lee whispered, eyes squeezed shut from fear. This was the sole most terrifying moment in her life, and she fought in a war up until a week ago.
She stood on Ember Island with Princess Azula, in the middle of a languid summer day. The promised end of the war approached like a slow, steady asteroid hurtling at the Earth.
"I would be open to that," said Azula, quite awkwardly. She was as scared as Ty Lee, but displayed it differently, with overconfidence and bravado and icy words and aggression. Ty Lee became meek from fear; Azula became monstrous. "If you don't push the envelope or get any ideas about what we are to each other."
"A summer romance?" Ty Lee asked, wringing her hands.
"I have been curious about those, I will admit, seeing as you have proven yourself to be an adequate confidant." Azula cleared her throat and Ty Lee cringed slightly. "My father did say to act more like a normal teenager. It was one of his stipulations when he sent my brother and I on this forced vacation."
"Nor-normal teenagers do, they do, they do stuff like this." Ty Lee smiled. She pretended to be relieved but she certainly was not. All of this was beginning to feel like a mistake.
"Right." Azula nodded a little too sharply. "I should go practice firebending. I will take you on… a summer date to the boardwalk later. Be prepared for it."
Ty Lee doubted Azula would ever shake off the demeanor of a superior officer, even if they dated for ten years, even if they got married and ruled the world together. Oh, thought Ty Lee, ruling the world at Azula's side would be very lovely.
Azula would never in her life admit it, but she felt the exact same way.
The sun began to set as Azula strode over to Ty Lee. They both stood on the stone path, covered with a dusting of light sand. Ty Lee spent an eternity trying to make herself look perfect, braiding red ribbons into her hair, picking out the sexy skimpy outfit she was saving for if she found a cute boy.
Azula stared at the mirror for ages until she became frustrated, punched a flaming hole into Lo and Li's wall and then decided to go on the date as she was. Ty Lee knew what she was getting into and Azula refused to apologize for that.
"You look nice," chirped Ty Lee, batting her eyelashes. She hoped that would not be too much.
"Nice? You might as well call me hideous."
"Uhm…" Ty Lee began to panic, her heart racing.
Azula scowled viciously with a look that could topple an empire. "I look far better than nice."
Ty Lee gushed superfluously, "You look extraordinarily stunning, princess."
"Better." Azula's stomach did a backflip. Was she doing this all wrong? She did in fact screw up her flirting two nights ago. Maybe Ty Lee set her up to fail because she was jealous. Obviously Ty Lee turned out to be madly in love with her. "You also look very lovely tonight. I like your… hair."
"Thank you." Ty Lee laughed prettily. Prettily, but uncomfortably at the same time somehow. She managed to make an awkward first date with her first true love somehow attractive. Azula despised her for it.
"Good."
"I love the boardwalk," Ty Lee announced happily, beaming as she looked around at the attractions.
The salty summer air stung their noses as they breathed in. Ty Lee reached to hold hands with Azula but the princess did not notice she was making a move.
"Have you come here often?" Azula asked, trying desperately not to make eye contact with any of the filthy peasant freaks trying to make a quick coin off of the tourists.
"Yeah. I mean, before I joined the army and then the circus and stuff, my family came here a lot. Ooo! Remember the summer we came here together? It was so much fun!" Ty Lee giggled and waved at two kids running by clutching stuffed animals and cinnamon candy floss.
"Do not wave at the peasant brats," Azula hissed, grabbing Ty Lee by the arm.
Ty Lee blushed at the contact, her heart transforming into a set of hummingbird wings. Azula realized that her cheeks heated up hotter than blue flame and released Ty Lee too quickly.
Oh Agni, had she made a fool of herself? This was a nightmare already. Maybe they were making a terrible mistake.
Ty Lee smiled at Azula.
Azula allowed her lips to curl slightly in response.
Princess Azula could remember the first time she realized why it was called a crush. She looked at Ty Lee one day, after such a long while apart, and she couldn't breathe. A crush. That was why it was called a crush. Because it smashed your insides and knocked the winds out of you.
Ty Lee smiled and giggled as she played the boardwalk game with Azula. She appeared wildly confident and cheery and it made Azula's stomach roil from envy. How could Ty Lee be so comfortable in complex social situations such as these? Such as a first date?
Azula conquers the game and screams from the thrill of victory. This certainly was the best part of the night, especially with the stunned peasant in charge of the booth.
Princess Azula took the stuffed tiger-monkey and handed it to Ty Lee.
"It is customary, I have heard, to give all prizes to your date. Your romantic date," said Azula, wringing her hands.
Ty Lee beamed.
"Thank you, princess. I'm, like, really honored." She smiled even brighter, her words truly sincere.
Azula smirked victoriously as Ty Lee cuddled her new stuffed animal.
An hour after Azula won the stuffed animal, Ty Lee laughed as she ate her cotton candy. Azula had her own set, spun with beautiful, tasty crimson cinnamon. When Ty Lee looked over at her date, she saw an opportunity.
And Ty Lee, scared as she may be, decided to take it.
"You have some cotton candy right there, princess," said Ty Lee.
"Fix it," coolly ordered Azula, glancing over her shoulder. None of these peasants better be judging her.
Ty Lee took a huge breath. It was the most daring thing she ever did in her life. She felt more intimidated than doing a backflip on a tightrope. She touched her lips to Azula's cheek and softly licked the cotton candy away. Gently, Ty Lee touched Azula's face to dry the damp spot.
She smiled from pure relief when Azula just kept walking without saying a word.
At the end of their date, out on the beach beneath the pallid moonlight, Ty Lee walked out towards the tides and touched her toe to the placid ocean. "Can I swim, princess?"
Azula smoothly purred, "I will allow it."
Ty Lee decided to push her lock. This might be her only chance to do it.
"Would you swim with me? Nobody ever swims with me."
Azula licked her lips. Her first impulse was to say no; she was not the swimming type. Azula loathed water. But then she saw Ty Lee slowly slipping off her shirt and she nodded.
"I will swim with you," Azula croaked, voice cracking like someone far weaker than herself. She knew this was a bad idea. She knew this was a bad idea.
Azula took off her clothes, trying to look as outwardly confident as possible. In their bandeaus and underwear, all a lovely well-kept faded red, they waded out into the water.
Ty Lee goes deeper than Azula, plunging out of sight for a moment and then resurfacing for air. She smiles and swims towards Azula. The princess remains where her feet stay firmly planted on the sand. She refuses to risk dying in the worst way a firebender can die: by drowning.
Azula saw Ty Lee glowing in the moonlight. She looked beautiful, stunning.
Ty Lee saw the same in her gorgeous royal date.
"Ty Lee, the night of the bonfire, after I fell asleep…" began Azula, terrified. She was terrified but practiced enough not to show it.
"Yeah?" Ty Lee batted her eyelashes and feigned ignorance.
"I know you kissed me while I was… while I was asleep."
"What do you mean?"
"I know you are unintelligent and useless, but this should be simple to understand. You kissed me. I know that you kissed me and you might as well confess."
"I'm sorry, princess. Please forgive me."
"I… forgive you." The words were unfamiliar to Princess Azula. She could not remember ever saying them before, and certainly not with such sincerity. "I would… like to kiss you again."
Ty Lee's heart fluttered.
Their night together, as imperfect as it may have been, ended with a perfect kiss as the waves lapped relentlessly against their silky skin.