"You agreed to babysit Izumi?" Azula asks, displeased.
"It's a practice child for us," Ty Lee replies, thrilled. "Won't it be exciting?"
Azula does not have a response to that. She just stands and glares and wistfully recalls when everyone did exactly as she said without a single protest. Or, perhaps, fondly remembering when Ty Lee was terrified of her.
"I think you forget that she is the worst behaved child I have ever met in my life," Azula says firmly. Ty Lee smiles brightly, baffling Azula. The response makes little sense.
"I think our kid would be too," Ty Lee says, trying to take Azula's hand. The princess steps away and refuses it.
"Do not touch me when I am mad at you," Azula hisses. Ty Lee knows she can change Azula's mind as soon as they are in possession of Izumi. "However, I will babysit my niece. I am perfectly competent at it."
Ty Lee nods. "I think you'd be the best mother ever! Which is why we should also practice just in case, like you practice firebending even though you're the best firebender ever in the history of the entire world."
Azula cannot argue with that logic.
Izumi runs in circles and jumps on the priceless furniture of Azula's chambers, screaming, "The floor is lava!"
Azula sits silently as Ty Lee smiles and wonders if she should play along.
"I will make the floor literal lava if you do not calm that wailing beast," Azula snarls at her girlfriend. Ty Lee takes a deep breath in through her mouth.
"We probably shouldn't have given her fire gummies for lunch, but I mean she asked so cutely," Ty Lee says, attempting to justify her own insanity in Azula's opinion. This was a terrible idea and the princess knew it.
"Izumi," Azula says, seeing that Ty Lee will be incapable of accomplishing this task, "Izumi, why don't we play something less dangerous and less loud."
The small princess stops and turns to face her aunt. She narrows her eyes and openly weighs her options, although Azula assumes she is just messing with the adults.
"Noooooo," Izumi replies, smiling. She begins to jump again, yelping every time she almost falls, shredding Azula's eardrums.
"Fine. You can die. See if I care. It only means I'm closer to the throne," Azula says, standing up and walking away. Ty Lee watches, feeling almost defeated.
Izumi jumps a few more times and then freezes. She watches Azula walk away and stand on the other side of the room, thumbing through scrolls and a few books. It makes her pout. Ty Lee then realizes that the tiny princess just wants the less-tiny princess to pay attention to her.
Ty Lee gets up to direct Izumi to a better activity before the child takes a very intentional nose-dive.
Azula spins around when she hears Izumi scream from pain this time. She rushes to her and picks her up, leaving Ty Lee agape and stunned.
"Are you alright?" Azula demands fiercely and regally, like a general ordering answers from a soldier. The brusqueness makes Izumi cry as Azula begins to examine her for injuries. "Her knee is scraped. Ty Lee, her knee is scraped, what do we do? What do we do?"
Ty Lee replies, "Stop being so freaked out please, princess. I grew up with a lotta kids in my house and we scraped our knees like all the time. Just let her cry it out and distract her and it'll be all better."
"Zuko and Mai will know," Azula says and Ty Lee wonders if she cares about their opinions. "I could be arrested. I could be locked up for the rest of my life for attempted murder!"
And, no, Ty Lee really should not be surprised that Azula is only concerned about saving her own skin and not healing the scratched skin of her niece.
"I don't think Zuko is going to ask for a replacement kid if we give Izumi back with a scraped knee," says Ty Lee, but Azula still does not release the small princess.
"What do you know about children?" Azula orders.
Ty Lee really thinks this might be their future as parents.
Izumi clings to Azula and milks this for all it is worth. Azula obsesses over keeping herself out of prison, as crazy as that assumption is.
Ty Lee watches and wonders why she thought this would go well.