.

002 Ice Sculpture

The three rookies are brilliant, in various ways that painfully reminds Ty Lee of a friendship long gone. Ty Lee thinks that she is right in taking them in and vouching for them. The three outsiders with unknown past, who stole a trading scroll that would have given them access to supplies in another town. It was a well executed grand theft auto, the almost perfect crime that they would have gotten away with but the Kyoushi Warriors she personally trained are the best at what they do. They were just a little better.

But Zuko is worried. Understandably. Only a few knows that the nation is in a brink of a civil war, collapsing in its own. In a few years, her old friend has aged twenty. "Are you certain they could be trusted?" he warily inquired during her briefing about new recruits.

"Of course I am not." She shrugs. "But worry not Zuko, I am watching them."

"Hm." Zuko looks unconvinced, his good eye squinting in apparent skepticism. She thanks whatever providence that existed for her for the first time that Mai is nowhere near, her bestfriend being the devil's advocate in their relationship. "Are you sure they are not working for someone? You know how it is…"

"I'll take care of them, Zuko. I promise." Ty Lee's tone is dismissive, not wanting to hear about her leader's paranoia of an organized group attempting to overtake him again. She shifts from one foot to another, makes sure she gives him her best smile. "They are getting pretty good in training too, you know. Those three will definitely make great bodyguards."

"I guess you are really pushing for them to get… indoctrinated."

"They have minds of their own. They are very smart. I am sure they would see the best in being in the side of good even without me forcing them."

"Just make sure…"

"Yeah." Ty Lee smiles in reassurance, salutes. "I will make sure they won't cause trouble."

…

.

"Are you sure this is your first time riding a mongoose dragon?"

There is something familiar, something nostalgic about the way that Kazumi reined the majestic beast. So regal. So poised. Off somewhere around the field, even the normally calm and composed Sakura is struggling. The nice and energetic Riko is faring better but the apparent leader's expertise is quite undeniable.

She bends over to rub the animal's head, absently stroking as she frowned. "Hn." She muttered, like the rather taciturn girl always did. She pulls the reins without answering. Slap. And runs another lap around the ranch.

"So Kazumi… by any chance, she is not a Firebender, isn't she?"

She has the posture, the smooth moves that is like prerequisite for every one that could employ the pyrokinetic fighting style Ty Lee has come to know so well. It makes her heart beat fast. It makes her remember unwanted memories, of a chance she lost, of the one regret that she can never seem to correct. Female firebenders are among the rarest.

"If she is, she never told us." Riko is good with blades. Not in the same caliber as Mai but decent enough. The pleasant girl whistles as she goes through each sharp weapon, her appreciation undisguised. "She is a pretty good fighter without it anyway."

"How long have you known her?"

"Quite a while. Four years, I guess?"

"Have you always been like you know, been robbing merchants?"

"We've been bandits for the longest time." Ty Lee is surprised at how openly she divulged that information. "I am sure you know about us already." Riko reasons easily and goes back to her work.

Sakura is a humourless martial artist who does not accept defeat well. "I can give you chi-blocking lessons." Ty Lee suggests, offering her hand to her fallen sparring partner. It was a great match, she can give her that. "It's pretty useful, particularly against people with bending."

"I survived well with my own style." She states coldly, distrustful and menacing. She looks at the proffered hand disdainfully and Ty Lee contemplates on leaving her there, for punishment. Her eyes are gold, slightly darker than Azula—Zuko's are. Ty Lee wonders if she is some nobleman's bastard child. There never is a shortage for those.

Kazumi, on the other hand is just exceptional at everything.

"A genius of unprecedented significance." One of the older soldiers gushes, watching as Kazumi leaped, tumbled and wielded dual swords in a dance so graceful it makes Ty Lee green with envy. It is not the first time she hears those words. It is not the first time she is dismissed by such genius with self-entitled conceit. The significance is not unprecedented. Why does anyone keep on pretending like Azula-?

Stop.

Don't go there.

Ty Lee…

-never existed?

The trio treats her and their fellow soldiers with varying degrees of coldness. Even Riko's smile is too fake, too uncomfortable. The Ice Sculptures, they are called. Beautiful in the eyes but too cold that it burns to the touch. Riko with her biracial looks, the kind of beauty that made Ty Lee and her many sisters irresistible. Sakura is the one with the aristocratic face. While Kazumi, plain with her brown hair and brown, intimidating eyes as she is, is enshrouded with an air of mystery and intrigue that Ty Lee for some reason cannot help but be drawn to.

"Once the effects wear off, you would feel the most flexible than you have ever been in your life."

"How do you know about this?" Sakura is still sprawled on the dojo floor as Kazumi sits calmly before her.

"I just do." She says. Ty Lee can detect uncertainty from her normally high and mighty tone.

…

.

"I saw her."

"Who?"

Zuko hesitates. "The one named Kazumi. Brown hair. Ponytail. Scary eyes."

"And?"

"I just have this feeling…"

"I know."

Zuko's good eye widens. "Really?"

Silence.

"But that is impossible, Zuko."

Kazumi could not be spy, isn't she?

Zuko does not say anything. He looks at her with sad eyes, lips tight. Ty Lee does not understand and he does not explain.

He does not really say much these past couple of days.

…

.

"Sakura and Riko…" They are alone, the dojo vacated. These are the first words uttered in the flurry of punches, blocks and kicks. Kazumi is very careful, too careful of Ty Lee's jabs. And she effectively dodges every single one of them. Orthodox, she thinks. As if she went through rigorous training with masters. Very much unlike the frenzied, untrained style Sakura uses. But Kazumi seems to work with instinct. "… they are a couple aren't they?"

That one punch is too strong for the almost-friendly sparring match.

Ty Lee lands on her behind, protests. "Hey!" She groans as she sits up, rubbing her backside. "What is that for?"

"If you are as good as you keep bragging you are, you would have seen it coming." Kazumi's tone is never kind with her, with anyone except her friends. But she is particularly hostile now, her brown eyes burning with intensity. Ty Lee thinks that had she been a lesser woman when princesses ordered her around and she could do nothing but timidly follow, the way she was all those years ago, she would have faltered.

"What makes you so upset anyway?" Ty Lee makes a show of stretching her limbs, pouts. "So what if your two good friends are a couple? They're happy, aren't they?"

"That's none of your business."

"Unless, you are in love with one of them, that is."

No answer. A telltale lead ball drops.

Ty Lee makes a gasping, horrified sound. "Are you?"

"So what if I am?"

The aggressive confession leaves a bitter taste on Ty Lee's mouth for some reason. Kazumi's eyes are fixed on her, waiting for an answer. Ty Lee's breath is taken away and her facial muscles feel numb. she has not felt tongue tied like this... ever since… ever since…

This is nothing.

This… does not mean anything.

"I just—"

"It's none of your business." She repeats. And then Kazumi walks away.

…

.

Ty Lee thinks, as she watches the three eat together for lunch that she would like to melt the ice someday.

The fire of betrayal burned her first friendship. Azula is long gone. And Mai is probably never coming back.

But this one, this three that is the personification of what theirs could have been, Ty Lee would like to keep.

But Ice Sculptures only last one season. And the ice, the burning cold only melts once it has passed.

Ty Lee does not think of this just yet.

…

.

(TBC)