Hey. So, sorry if this isn't the best thing in the world. It's my first attempt at an Avatar: The Last Airbender fic, and I was just feeling like writing a weird sort of Tyzula thing. I dunno. Does this count as Tyzula? Let's say that it does, okay? Okay, cool.
I don't own series or any of the characters. If I did, Azula would totally have destroyed Zuko and Katara just because that'd be something I'd want to do.
Ty Lee wasn't stupid, and the worst part was that you knew that. Ty Lee hated it when you demeaned her, and you knew that. But you did it anyways. Because you knew that Ty Lee would leave if she thought she was wonderful. Of course, you knew that it was Ty Lee that boys drooled over because Ty Lee was beautiful.
Ty Lee was rather smart. She was beautiful, and even though it was Ty Lee telling you that you were perfect, you knew that it should be the other way around. Ty Lee was caring. Ty Lee managed to get people to like her for her, not because she was a noble.
People feared you, but they respected Ty Lee. To them, you weren't worthy of their respect.
"Why are you here?" The malice that was in your voice when you spoke to guards wasn't there. No one understood why. No one except you, Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee. Because of you four, you all knew that you had a soft spot for Ty Lee. It wasn't a secret though. You never tried burning apples off of Ty Lee's head. You never pushed Ty Lee into the pond with the turtle-ducks. Sure, you made fun of Ty Lee and mocked her a lot, but often times you would "apologize" to Ty Lee when no one else was around.
"I brought a game."
"Joy. Just what I wanted to spend my time doing, playing a silly game." Ty Lee smiled at you, still having what she would call a pink aura. At least, you assume that he aura was still pink, not that you believe in such stupid things. Auras were obviously not real. You were simply humoring Ty Lee. "What is that you brought?"
"Pai Sho." The mere thought of that game made you sick. It reminded you or your tea-brained uncle and how he always preferred Zuko over you, just like your mother. It was disgusting, Pai Sho was. It was worth nothing. Uncle took the time to teach that half-witted idiot you have for a brother how to play Pai Sho. You were simply expected to know how to play.
You were beyond good, but you had quit because Zuko was too easy to beat. This was all Zuko's fault. For once, he had been lucky, and you were now lucky to be alive.
"'Zula, if you don't want to play, we don't have to. We could just talk." Talk. That suggestion was ridiculous. If only she would use that brain of hers sometimes. The act could get under your skin quite a bit if Ty Lee took it too far.
"There's nothing to be said," you snarled, simply because you could. There was no one stopping you, and she would come back eventually, just like she always did, because she was Ty Lee. And Ty Lee was always there for you, despite your cruel antics towards her friends. Besides, you both knew that there was nothing for her to do other than come back.
"I'll set up the game then." And she did so, much to your dismay. However, there was one good thing about the game.
It was the proof that Ty Lee was smart. Your father, brother, uncle, mother, and even Mai thought you kept her around just because of her loyalty. That wasn't it. A brainless pawn wouldn't be of any use. You kept Ty Lee around because of her physical capabilities and mental skill. Ty Lee (dare you even think it) was cleverer than your own father, maybe even you. She chose to hide it though, and it never made sense to you. However, you don't mention this now.
If you did, she would purposely do something stupid in the game instead of challenging you like she was supposed to.
The game carried on longer than you accepted, and a guard carelessly threw your dinner at you then politely handed Ty Lee a meal of far greater caliber. You, despite your upbringings, were used to such behavior now. They all hated you, and Zuko was probably trying to get them to kill you with poorly prepared food.
Like you, Ty Lee did not care so much for the "unfair treatment" you were being given, but unlike you, she was very vocal about her dislike. It didn't matter to you anymore. Granted, you were a princess, and princesses were not meant to be prisoners to their own nation. It just didn't matter because you weren't going to get out. It was a fact, and everyone knew it.
You refused to accept any of her meal. Did she pity you or did she actually care? The latter was obviously the correct answer as she came to see you as often as possible. She cared because she was Ty Lee. And somehow, through your life, it became her job to care for you. Perhaps it was because no one else cared, not even your father, the man you worked to become perfect for. After all, anything less than perfection from you was a failure and made you like Zuko.
There was no way that you would allow yourself to be like Zuko.
"It's late," you finally say to her, figuring that she wouldn't leave unless you told her to. "You should leave."
"I don't want to."
"I don't care. Leave anyways Ty Lee." There was no point in her arguing with you. You would win. You always won against her because she was Ty Lee. And it was painfully obvious that she would die to save you, notwithstanding the time she helped Mai instead of you. That miserable memory haunted you whatever cell you were in, whatever you did, and whoever you screamed at. Because she was Ty Lee, and it didn't matter how hard she was trying to be there for you now.
She wasn't there for you that one day. She chose Mai over you. They say you lost your mind because of the intense training you endured from your father, the extreme conditions you worked through as a young girl. Losing your mother. Your father brainwashed you into being his pawn, they've said to you. They were wrong.
You lost your mind because she betrayed you, and it didn't matter what she did now, because she left you on that day. That was the real reason, and you had known that from the first time she walked in and sat across from you on the floor. You couldn't forgive her for what she did.
Because she was Ty Lee.