Incidents in the Lives of Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee
Litt
----/Dec 14, 06
--
There are bad days when her threats burn more than the suggested actions might—and there are days when she doesn't warn you at all.
---
The water is cold, but Azula tells them it is to condition them. Ty Lee does not complain but Mai makes it very clear that if she didn't resent the upper society so much, she would complain about bathing in a lake, loudly. "At least they had heated water," she mutters. Ty Lee barely has time to jump onto the shore before she hears her friend grumble out another half-apology.
---
Before dawn, if she can, she stretches. There isn't enough time once Azula wakes up to meditate, once Mai checks her blades, because they are invariably ready to leave within an hour. Ty Lee has hundreds of muscles that need to be woken, seven chakras that need to be cleansed, and a meal to cook; all of her routine is out of survival. All she has is her body. It is still growing; her friends will never be any more powerful than they are now.
---
"Your uncle is a kind man," Ty Lee breaks the silence, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
Azula had not gotten jade bracelets or onyx-handled blades for her seventh birthday, so she says nothing.
Mai inspects her friend's gift with a seriousness that brings the formality of the occasion back into play; she does not have to tell her friend they were courtesy presents, given by a gracious prince to his niece's best friends, and should not be followed with hugs or squeals to said prince; she does not have the heart to tell her that her bracelet, though obviously priceless, was chosen with enough care to make sure it was inferior to whatever he gave to Azula. Ty Lee waits with baited breath to hear the verdict: "He is."
---
Mai cares…
She cares about her duties as much as she can afford not to and her rights as a lady with as much enthusiasm as can be expected. She cares when Ty Lee's smile flares to hide what should not be behind it, or when her lip bleeds because she cannot. She cares when Azula smiles that smile and when her eyes narrow when it doesn't solve anything. She cares about her health and clothes because no one else could, though they try, and she cares because she can.
Because no one stops her.
---
"But...I thought you liked roast turkey-goose."
Mai sighs in a long-suffering manner; pinching her bleeding nose does nothing to help maintain the authoritative demeanor she's trying to uphold. "Where did you get the money to buy it?"
Ty Lee doesn't answer straight away but later on that night, after Azula eats her share--always a fair amount as her training leaves her ravenous--and retires to the tent, she apologizes.
It is then that she notices her friend's ankle lacks their friendship anklet.
---
A plan is hatched. As always, it revolves around Mai: she'd been moping around the palace for the past week, not answering questions, not attending any court dances any longer than was polite, so of course it was time to do something about it. Ty Lee agrees to wear the mask before she realized Azula had brought one of her own. This is all her idea. It is not a very elaborate one, but it will work. As always, Azula is right. The boy swats at them with heavily-ringed hands and robes with too much musk and Azula makes a show of it before letting herself fall; she makes a show of crying as well. Courtiers and ladies and, finally, the boy's betrothed, Mai, come to investigate. A day later, he is sent from court, all ties to nobiltiy broken. As always, Mai doesn't ask.
---
"I'm fine."
Mai sighs and throws a wet rag the girl's way. "Sure you are."
---
"I've watched you burn villages and spark lightning, but this is the coldest hug I've ever felt."
Azula frowns and sit back into her throne. Mai is on a thin edge and she doesn't seem to care. Azula had taken them both into confidence, asked rare advice, dropped her armor and made an effort to initiate an atmosphere similar to what they'd had as children. She must have forgotten that this is how it has always been; it was forced, but Mai's rebuff was not fake.
"Don't worry Princess," Ty Lee pipes in. "I'll teach you."
---
It's a test of loyalty as much as it is of endurance.
One of them is smiling through sweat, the other through tears.
---
"He gave his life for me." Ty Lee's voice calls from the pit of her guilt.
May takes a bite out of her apple. "She took it."
The girl looks down at her lap: the clothes are dark green, light brown, frayed, rough against her skin. They are easy to move in, now that they are broken. "It was still for me."
---
It is not easy, living with a princess. Her back hurts.
---
"If you do, I'll do it, too."
"Somehow I doubt he'll appreciate that."
"Nonsense. I'm his sister. Why would he not accept a kiss from me?"
---
"I win." Azula flares, standing in raw rage, pure passion. Her hair is out and her knuckles are white; Ty Lee is not sure why she is noticing these things when her princess is naked and her voice is so loud, so challenging. But she is. Anything to avoid looking at the other person in the room, crumpled on the floor.
"You win." The confession echoes.
---
"What is it?" Azula asks, disgust rippling under her skin.
"It's a frog."
"Why?"
Someone's placing a cool cloth on her forehead and she forgets to get angry. Mm.
"Please." A gravelly voice that makes her tired enough to agree.
"Say 'ahh',"
---
It still scares her when the dark comes, even though this is supposed to mean that Azula shouldn't be able to hurt her (much). Even (and especially) after fifteen years, because, in all actuality, night time is the worst for her; the girl loves a challenge, loves being inventive, and, though the flames are marginally weaker, they illuminate the scars, the bruises, and her malicious smile. Ty Lee would rather fight her at dawn, or noon, when it was fire instead of nails, tongues, and hisses.
---
It's night already and none of them can sleep just yet. "Well?"
Her face remains stoic though there are hints that it might have been a horrific mask of something else just moments before she left the room. "It was a waste. She was a waste."
"Better safe than sorry," Azula's voice floats from the door, the faintest of smirks still resting on her lips as she eyes her friend. "It's better if we know everything we can about he enemy."
Mai tries to appear as unfazed as she can while arguing her point. "I told you--"
"Who was she?" Ty Lee cuts in.
Both girls cease their feud and say a name that seems to matter to them for different reasons: "Jin."
---
Half-truths, it saves them all. There are the parts they show each other with most of them buried to make it seem worth it. There are the other parts of them that they deny.
She follows instinct, her strongest.
She wants but never gets.
She tries and tries and tries….
--
AN: Started this a while ago, after I lost the initial draft. There's no replacing drabbles. I tried. I wish I had prompts for them at the time. After this, I wondered if I was focusing too much on one of the girls and if I even described their dynamic; I want to do each of them apart.
