But only because I'm falling for you.
No. No, Princess Azula does not fall for anyone or anything. She is independent of these frivolous feelings, or so her father instructs her, and so they must be true. The beating in her chest is a typical reaction of a person her age. Royal blood does not permit her to be smitten with such foolish—
"Azula! Did you hear that?" Ty Lee exclaimed with a gasp in the middle of the trail.
Azula cocked a brow. "What are you—"
"Ssh! Listen!"
Azula sighed, hearing nothing out of the ordinary. Rustling leaves, creaking tree branches, cawing ravens, and given the darkening sky, she wondered when the bell would toll for curfew back at the Academy. With Ty Lee stopping and gasping and babbling about every stupid leaf she found, Azula began to wonder if she would ever get back to studying at all.
And then, she heard it: a soft, nearby mewling. She watched as Ty Lee bolted into the bushes, shuffled around, squealed, and emerged with three tiny kittens bundled up in her arms. Her twinkling, bulging eyes said it all.
"Absolutely not," Azula declared.
"But… But they're out here all alone! They're so scared! They don't have a mommy or daddy to protect them from the wolf-bats!" Ty Lee cried, snuggling them even closer to her chest. "Please, Azula? I promise I'll take care of them!"
"Where? You know the Academy doesn't allow pets."
"Yeah, but that's why they'll stay in your room!"
Azula's frown hardened. "Excuse me?"
"You're the Princess, you can do whatever you want! They can't say no to you. Please? And, and, and, I'll be there all the time to take care of them. I'll feed them and bathe them and play with them, and you can help me name them!"
"We're not keeping them."
Regardless, Ty Lee shoved an all-black kitten with bright gold eyes into Azula's arms. Startled, Azula grabbed it and held it out at arm's length by the back of the neck.
"You've gotta help me carry them back! I can only carry two," Ty Lee explained. She unbuttoned her vest and shoved a kitten into each side, and buttoned up again, creating the illusion of a young woman with large breasts. "See? Now put that one in your chest!"
"I'm not going to—"
Suddenly, Ty Lee grabbed the kitten in her hands and was stuffing it down her shirt. Azula cringed as the kitten's claws poked into her skin, Ty Lee's apricot perfume washing over her, and she stumbled backwards instead of incinerating her into ashes.
"I don't care what you say, Azula, they're coming home with us," Ty Lee pouted with defiance, jutting her fists on her hips. For a moment, her serious look was almost convincing, when one of the kitten's white-tipped tails poked out of her collar.
Azula sighed. As much as she hated to think about it, she was going to have to rely on Mai as back-up for this one.
