"One of these days, Ty Lee," Azula sighed, "we're going to run out of room for all these kittens you keep bringing home!" One was too many in her opinion, and she'd only said yes to the first one because her girlfriend knew she couldn't resist the Pout Of Doom. Now they were up to six of them.
Azula stepped carefully around a sleeping kitten and found Ty Lee in the bedroom, lying flat on her back with two more curled up on her torso.
"I'm serious," she said. "And you let them run amok at all hours, aren't you the least bit worried they might destroy something?"
"They haven't so far, though!" Ty Lee said, stroking a kitten's back. "And if I lock them up they meow really loudly and it makes me feel bad. They're not hurting anyone!"
"Except my brother, and that's fine with me," Azula said. At least it was somewhat entertaining to watch Zuko grumble and spit out cat hair and nurse his scratches. "But sooner or later they'll get bored with annoying him and discover a million ways to drive us insane. And as heir to the Fire Nation's throne I can't afford to be bested by six squeaking furballs!"
"Then I'll make sure they don't give you a hard time!" Ty Lee said. Azula sighed.
"You don't get it, Ty Lee. First it was just one, now we have six, but I know you," she said. "Every time you see a kitten without a home you scoop it up and bring it back here, and I can't help the sinking feeling that within a few more weeks we'll have a dozen squeaking furballs running around!"
"But Azula, they look so sad!" Ty Lee protested. "It'd be mean to just leave them, they could be killed!"
"I'm sure there are a few kindhearted suckers out there who would take them," Azula said. "But I mean it, Ty Lee, this is the last one!"
Ty Lee looked down and for a moment Azula feared the Pout Of Doom. Then, to her relief, the acrobat looked up and nodded her head.
"All right, I guess I can see your point," she said. "But I can't make any promises!"
"We'll talk." Azula tentatively reached out to pet one of the tiny furballs. They were actually kind of cute when they slept, or at least not as annoying.