A Pink One
Lightning flashed, and thunder rolled, but Ty Lee didn't scream in terror. Zuko, having fallen into the rhythm of her strange reactions to the storm, took a glance down at the young acrobat. Even wrapped up in a blanket, the girl still shivered violently, and even with the prince holding her tightly, she still appeared obviously frightened by the weather. At last, though, his sister's usually bubbly friend was somewhat asleep.
...O...
Every once in a while (actually, very often), Prince Zuko found it necessary to escape the palace walls and clear his mind. He found it best to do this at night, the guards were half asleep, and the entire palace wasn't paying attention. Zuko would usually climb up to the mountains over-looking the ocean, take a long walk, and breathe the fresh, out-door air as though it were a lifeline. Without it, he'd probably go insane.
One night, after fighting with Mai and dealing with a particularly moody sister for twelve hours, Zuko looked to the sky. Dark clouds were rolling in, but they were barely visible from a palace balcony and he chanced his bad luck by disappearing to the mountains anyway. From the top of a higher hill, the firebender watched the darkness stumble toward him, lightning filling the space between water and sky.
Drops of rain began to fall from above before he heard the thunder. As a light drizzle turned to pouring buckets, Zuko stood and put up the hood on his coat, beginning to head back. Almost halfway down the steep slope, a wicked bolt of lightning struck the mountains parallel to him, and a horrified scream drowned out the sickening sound of the thunder.
No scream could cross that much ground in a storm that bad, and Zuko concluded the terrorized person wasn't too far away. He followed the noise, for it repeated every time lightning would strike, and found himself almost all the way back up the incline. He was starting to regret having cared about some random person, when he got a good look at what he's gotten himself into.
A soaking wet Ty Lee was caught, her puffy sleeve tangled immensely well in a tree branch. Something was wrong, though, her sleeve was partly red where it should've been all pink…ten feet from her, Zuko realized that Ty Lee's arm was cut deep in at least one place. He sprinted the last ten feet and placed his hands on her shoulders, just as lightning filled the sky once more.
The girl screamed once more, not realizing someone was there. "Ty Lee," Zuko said barely above the raging storm, "Calm down, I'm right here."
The was more lightning, but Ty Lee did not scream, this time she burst into tears, uselessly wiping them away with her free hand.
"I'll get you out of here," he offered, taking the arm caught in the branch very carefully. Sure enough, she was deeply scratched in a few places along her forearm, and the soft threads of the cloth had ripped and tangled nicely in the dead, leafless tree. With nothing but occasional flashes of lightning to give him a good light, Zuko gently but quickly tried to work Ty Lee's sleeve free, only getting it more twisted. After a few minutes, he decided all hope was lost in the idea and pulled the branch away, keeping her arm still as possible as to not hurt her more. A terrible ripping sound of the cloth signaled Ty Lee's freedom. When the last thread pulled, though, she did not move.
Ty Lee continued to cry and Zuko didn't know what to do from there. The storm was too bad to walk down to the palace now, and Ty Lee needed help. The prince placed an arm around her shoulders and looked around. Everything was either dead, stone, or worse, mud. There was no shelter he could see, but a strike of blue lightning lit up their surroundings enough for a split second. The acrobat was frightened and she hugged Zuko; he merely responded by returning the hug but not looking down at her. A ledge, just a short distance away, caught his eye; the stone poked out from the hillside just enough for shelter…at least for a little while.
"Ty Lee," he spoke just loud enough to get over the storm, trying to be comforting, "Can I pick you up for a second?"
Ty Lee, sobbing into his shoulder, nodded slightly and he softly scooped the surprisingly light girl up off the muddy ground. Holding her tightly as to not drop her, Zuko picked his way blindly through dead brush and mud. Reaching the only dry patch in the entire area, under the ledge, he carefully set Ty Lee against the back of their shelter and glanced around for something to burn as a fire. Everything seemed dripping wet, but he managed to find a couple dry twigs and damp leaves that would at least light, protected from the winds beginning to pick up.
Next, Zuko looked to Ty Lee, the cuts on her arm in particular, and took off his coat, kneeling down next to her. Her deep, tear-filled eyes glanced up at him; her face gave away the pain she felt and he smiled sympathetically. "I've got it."
Tearing a good three inches off the bottom of the dark, wet coat, Zuko wrapped the silky cloth around her wounds, knowing it would stop the bleeding and nothing else. After her forearm was wrapped up tightly, he draped the coat around her shaking shoulders. Lightning clashed yet again and Ty Lee screamed. Zuko held the tiny, helpless, soaking girl close to him. "It's okay," he was able to whisper with her so close, "It's just a storm."
And for the first time since Zuko had found the acrobat, she spoke in a soft, shaky voice, "Zuko, I'm scared."
"That's okay, but please, I'm right here," he added, "Save my hearing."
For the remainder of the storm, he embraced Ty Lee, letting her react to every bolt of lightning, every clash of thunder, calming her every last time. Without ever realizing it, Zuko fell into the rhythm of the storm as though it were a song. He became tired, only to be alerted by Ty Lee's sudden scares.
...O...
Lightning flashed, thunder rolled, but Ty Lee did not react. Zuko took a glance down at the young girl, waking from the thunder rather than an ear-splitting scream. Even wrapped up in his coat, she still shivered violently; and even with the prince holding her tightly, she still appeared obviously frightened by the storm. At long last, though, his sister's usually bubby friend was half asleep.
Zuko looked to their fire, which had gone out some time ago; then he watched out to the sky. The rain had lightened up quite a bit and the storm was over: it was early morning. He gently brushed Ty Lee's shoulder, knowing she needed some real medical help rather than his common sense, and it was calm and quiet enough to walk her back. "Ty Lee," he said tiredly when she moved to look up at him, "We should head back before everyone gets too worried."
She simply nodded in agreement, dark circles lining her eyes that were red from crying. It pained him to see such a happy person so scared, and possibly alone, he couldn't help but offer his hand to pull her up and his arm for her to hold as they walked down the slope.
Upon approaching the palace, Azula met them at the wall. She'd been leaning against the metal, having a guard hold her umbrella. The princess stepped forward, guard close behind, as the two rag-tag survivors took the last paces to home.
"What happened?" she asked, genuinely concerned.
"We got caught in the storm," Zuko explained.
"And how exactly did you manage that?" The prince noticed his sister couldn't hold back a surprised smile.
"I was taking a walk," he added, "I'd had a long day."
"And you, Ty Lee?"
A question Zuko hadn't asked, but certainly the most important one, finally came to voice. Maybe he hadn't asked because he was more concerned with her injuries or her terror, or maybe it just didn't come to mind. Watching Azula rather than Ty Lee, he listened carefully as she answered in a whisper, "I needed to take a break."
The answers appeared to satisfy the princess and she ordered the guards to let them in. Though, as she left the two in the infirmary, Zuko noticed that Azula hadn't taken verbal notice of her best friend clinging to her brother's side.
A/N: I'm working on a Manly Colour, I just haven't finished it yet.
2A/N: I don't own any of these characters what so ever, though I really wish I did.
3A/N: The title doesn't really have anything to do with the story, but again, my friend was text messaging me and was talking about manly colored toothpicks; pink being one of them. I suppose you could tie it in with Ty Lee's pink sleeves, but maybe not.