"What do you expect from him?" Ty Lee snaps with her arms crossed. "To be cuddled and hugged and told you're his Princess of the Universe?"

Azula does not need this. She is simply trying to have her tea and stare at trees and fire fountains. Her father's presence is disturbing, because he must want something. He is not the type of person to go out of his way in order to check up on Azula.

"I expect him to pretend he would do that," Azula whispers.

Ty Lee sits down across from her at the lonely stone table. The Pai Sho markings have been rubbed away, but Azula can still faintly see them.

"Did he ever?" Ty Lee inquires. Her voice is so sweet. Azula loathes her.

"Yes. When I was little and cute and he still needed me," Azula says quietly. She then sighs. "He used to tell me that the world would belong to me one day and I would reign over it. That I would be the best empress anyone had ever known. I think he has changed his mind."

"I still believe you can," Ty Lee chimes.

Azula rolls her eyes and looks away. When she looks back up, the girl who was livid moments ago is still looking sweetly at her like there is nothing so beautiful on this Earth as Fire Lord Azula.

Ty Lee would not look at her like that if she were really here.

The last thing Ty Lee said to her was, "You're not Azula. I love Azula, not Fire Lord Azula."

It was not pleasant to hear.


In the morning, Azula can feel her. She looks and feels human – not like a memory. But she is a memory. Azula knows that. Azula knows that. The Fire Lord does not believe in ghosts, but if this were a ghost, she would be seeking revenge. That would be what the real Ty Lee would want. Azula simply imagines her as sexy and adoring.

Maybe Ty Lee is seeking revenge. Maybe the warm lips on her ivory skin that never seem to fade away are supposed to prevent her from forgetting her crimes. Not crimes; she was justified in her actions. Ty Lee brought it on herself.

An imagination can produce the… sensations, can't it? It is not uncommon for a dream to heat someone's thighs.

"I love you. Tell me you love me," whispers a voice beside Azula in her sun-drenched bedroom. This is how she wakes; this is how she falls asleep. It does not matter how many other girls Azula digs her claws into and drags into her bed – she will always be haunted by one she never even slept with in reality.

Azula slept alone tonight. She was dreaming of the sex.

That is what logic tells her.

All the same, 'No,' she mouths. She does not want to be aloud to a hallucination, but she needs to say it.

"You're awful," Ty Lee says before giggling. Giggling. "But I know you love me. That's the only reason I'm here. If you stop loving me, I'll stop bothering you. It's that simple."

Azula has realized over time that this is a slow, torturous murder by kindness. And Ty Lee seems to be succeeding at it.

Fire Lord Azula has a headache, she notes as she leaves her bed, the apparition still between her red silk sheets. It seems she always is in pain somewhere in her body. She dresses and is not disturbed by her daydream. She walks outside and runs into one of the handmaidens she does not bother knowing.

The girl bows. "Good morning, your highness."

Azula might have slept with her once.

She doesn't remember.

The only woman in her life is dead.


That afternoon, Azula presides over a war meeting with her faher.

"You're good at war," Ozai says as the others leave them in the throne room.

"Thank you, father." She hesitates about the comment that comes to mind. It could possibly offend him. But, then again, she thinks she does not care anymore. "It's all I know."

He does not react one way or another to her honesty.

"I have a gift for you," he says and she is certain it comes with countless strings attached. "No… it's more of a reward. I will give you what you already claimed. I will give you Ba Sing Se."

Azula does not know how to react, but she does manage to ask, "If I do what?"

He smirks.

"You're so paranoid. I intend to transform it from city to fortress. The enemy is too close to it. They attach trade routes only miles away from the outer wall," he explains.

"There's a very strong resistance in there," Azula says.

"Are you frightened of angry peasants?" Ozai growls.

"I'm frightened of some angry soldiers and their organized militia. I've been tossing countless soldiers at your city for a long time, only to lose them." She sees no change in his demeanor. Maybe he does not care if she lives or dies. "I'm your only heir. Do you want me dead?"

He straightens his posture, making her feel very small. "I want you to prove you're worthy of being my heir. I could have another, and you know that. But you are my daughter, and I will not abandon you."

"Well, that's nice to hear. I assume you want Caldera in exchange?" Azula shrinks even further, because she knows she will surrender her city by nightfall.

And in her ear, breath against her skin, "You aren't going to fight for your people and your country? You want your dad to be happy at the price of your honor and reign?"

Azula steels herself. A hand is on her arm and she is certain she is flushed in front of the expectant Phoenix King.

"May I consider your request, father, or is it an order," Azula chokes out.

He laughs. Ty Lee laughs. She was serious.

"Yes, you can think about it," he says. Azula reads between the lines and can tell that she does not have much of a choice.


After her meeting with her father, Azula is questioned and pestered by a ghost.

"Why don't you wanna go? I wanna go. I'd love to see Ba Sing Se again," Ty Lee says sweetly. She sits on the throne as if that is allowed. Azula sits on a war room table and looks up at someone beneath her.

"I don't want to go because I'll get killed."

"You're stronger than this. Really. You're really hard to kill and I bet you could even make people there like you. You're easier to like than Ozai because you're way prettier than him," Ty Lee gushes.

Azula stares at her for a moment and again realizes she is talking to herself.

"Yes. I obviously know that. But I like Caldera and I like ruling it," Azula says.

"You used to want the whole world. He's offering it to you and you should take it," Ty Lee says. She kicks her legs back and forth like a child sitting on the throne.

Azula did that once as a child. A long time ago. Before she realized politics were more complicated than the concept of birthright and killing all who oppose you.

"I have no choice."

"Yes, you do. You're Fire Lord. You achieved all your dreams and now you can achieve more."

"Achieving my dreams has never been pleasant," Azula says softly. "I'm going to see Zuko. He's easier to talk at than you."

"Of course, because I'm not real," Ty Lee says teasingly. She even smiles that cute, mischievous smile.

"Stop saying that."

"Stop thinking that and I'll stop saying it."

"I hate you."

"I love you too, princess!"

Azula freezes. "I'm not a princess anymore."

"I forgot. I guess it was the groveling to your father you just did." Ty Lee shrugs and grins. "If you talked to him like a force to be reckoned with and not his pretty, pretty princess, he'd take you more seriously."

"I hate you," Azula mutters.

She lights the flames of the throne and the apparition vanishes.