CHAPTER TWO
Once Katara and Ty Lee wake in the refugee camp, they head back to the infirmary for Katara to finish up her work and gather her things so that they can report to Iroh and begin their mission. The latter girl stands in front of her new friend in the dank cove stone corridor before entering the wide, half-rotted door. The sounds of suffering resonate from the infirmary and this hallway gives reprieve from watching that endless agony. Ty Lee appreciates that distance, at least.
"How do you handle all those hurt people?" Ty Lee asks quietly, frowning faintly. The expression feels achy and wrong on her ordinarily cheery face.
Katara pauses for a moment to contemplate the question. "I remind myself that I'm doing all I can to help them, I guess. I was given the gift of waterbending. I'm not going to not use it just because it's hard to see other people in pain."
"Yeah. I guess I'd just find it really, really hard to be around such hurt people and be stuck with, uh, y'know, no way to help," says Ty Lee as she and Katara walk into the infirmary. Katara squeezes Ty Lee's hand as friendly comfort as they walked into the small alcove used as an office for the resident healers.
Katara starts shuffling through this and that.
"I've been thinking about what you said last night, about the flag," she comments while filling a small bag with strange crystals and other odds and ends.
"Oh." Ty Lee shrinks. She wishes she had never admitted her apathy to someone as kind and perfect as Katara.
"You're so empathetic, so friendly. You're so sweet you make sugar taste like salt. So… why are you so complacent about the Fire Nation Empire? They're cruel and hateful and you don't care. They hurt people."
"I'm not responsible for those people," Ty Lee insists, trying desperately to justify herself. Her mouth feels dry. "They killed one of my best friends, killed a lot of people I loved, the minute I met them. They stole the love of my life. But no government is… friendly. I live where I live. I live how I live."
Katara huffs and shakes her head. "Obsessed with whatever girl captures your fancy? Willing to obey a corrupt nation just because they don't hurt you as bad as they hurt other people?"
"Yeah." Ty Lee decides not to argue.
It doesn't feel worth it when deep down in her core she knows Katara is right.
[X]
Iroh and a boy Ty Lee assumes is the third companion in this intense and important mission wait in the briefing room, surrounding the stone table. Ty Lee gazes down at a different map than she has ever seen. A whole world, islands, continents, places they never taught her about in school. At worst she only learned Ember Island; at best she saw glimpses of the Fire Nation Homeland.
"My name is Jet," says the newcomer gruffly, over-the-top intensity in his eyes. Katara and Ty Lee exchange a glance.
"I'm Ty Lee," says the only person in the room wearing a smile. She steps forward and shakes his hand. While Ty Lee may be strong, this boy's grip almost crushes her bones.
"Katara," says the waterbender, licking her lips as she closely studies the new addition to their team.
If Jet notices he has not won the hearts and minds of the ladies, he does not show it.
Iroh begins the meeting by saying, "Let the spirits help us as we move forward in this plan. You three will free Suki and inform her of the mission. You will not do anything else to capture the attention of the Fire Nation. This mission will require patience, and a long time working for those you despise. You may even need to do things that sicken you, but it will bring you no shame, nor will it tarnish your honor, because after this mission ends, you will have killed the Fire Lord and brought down a corrupt empire."
Ty Lee turns her attention to the floor; Katara hangs her head somberly. While they try to remain grave and mournful of what they must do, Jet straightens his back with a fist lightly clenched.
"Your tattoos have all been changed and Suki's will be changed by Ty Lee and Katara. After joining the military, I will use what few contacts I have to work with you to receive a coveted deployment in Caldera. From there, it will be up to you to strike and bring down the Fire Nation," says Iroh. "All of you are dead to the Fire Nation, all of you are talented at combat, all of you are trusted, and all of you are capable of figuring out how to accomplish this task."
Katara and Ty Lee look at each other again, this time with their brows furrowed.
Here's to hoping.
[X]
They arrive at the city after a seemingly endless walk through the mud.
Ty Lee stumbles to a stop when she sees her destroyed hometown, the place where she grew up, the place where she built her Kingdom by the Sea with Azula. She squeezes her eyes shut and exhales a soft sigh of pain and agony; she wants to scream but cannot make a sound.
The people of the town set up tents inside of the ruined homes, the canvas billowing in the sea breeze. Scruffy citizens shuffle around, grim and broken by the realities of the occupation. The number of soldiers patrolling the streets doubled and not one of them wears a friendly expression.
A boy spits in the face of a soldier and Ty Lee cringes. The soldier wastes no time knocking the boy to the ground and kicking him so hard in the face that blood splatters on the dirty ground.
Katara grabs Ty Lee's hand and squeezes it. Ty Lee finds little comfort, but knows at least she has friends on her side. Jet rushes ahead, almost leaving the girls behind. They stride behind him towards the Detention Center in the old Justice Building. It used to host parties and festivals; now it houses prisoners being held indefinitely, tortured and mutilated. It also houses the soldier's barracks, the target for Katara, Ty Lee and Jet.
As they reach the iron gates of the Detention Center, Ty Lee takes a huge breath and steadies her emotions before stepping inside and waving at the receptionist.
A man sits bored at that front desk. Ty Lee straightens her shoulders and locks eyes with him, drawing his attention away from the worn Pai Sho tiles with which he plays.
"I'm Akiko and am a hand to hand fighter," says Ty Lee to the recruiter. "Put me in the ring and I'll show you what I'm worth. My friend Anda is better with ranged weapons."
Katara cocks an eyebrow. Ty Lee hopes she has been trained in them because the lie slipped from her lips before she could think about it. It is not as if they can be honest about her waterbending. Lee's tattoo renovation turned her into a mixed-race nonbender. Enough Fire Nation Empire blood in her to avoid questions about her Water Tribe heritage.
"Get the half breed girl a bow and some arrows and send the cute one into the boxing ring."
Katara's eyes flash. Her hands tense up, giving the illusion of claws.
"Half breed? That's an extremely racist word," Katara growls, fawn cheeks reddening, and the superior shoots her a glare. She catches her breath and tries to loosen her posture in response. "That's an extremely racist word, sir. I prefer my Fire Nation Empire heritage."
Of course, Katara has no Fire Nation Empire heritage. Her parents were both from the Water Tribe. Still, she does not stand for such hate speech.
Lazily, the man drawls, "You're mixed. I can call you a half breed. The word makes sense, dumb bitch."
Snippily, Katara says, "Well, it's an epithet, and I am not a dumb bitch."
"Anda!" snaps Ty Lee. "Just drop it. Soldiers cuss."
Toothily, the man smiles at Katara and she takes a deep breath to keep from punching him.
"The display room is back through that hallway," drawls the man, still looking proud of himself. Ty Lee wants to paralyze him with a few punches but she seems to be the only level headed person in this room and knows they all need to keep their cover. "Pansa will judge you and assign you to your military group."
Ty Lee grabs Katara by the wrist, and, with her other hand, takes Jet by the bicep. They stride down the shadowy, dank hallway and enter a room used for soldier training. Several soldiers practice with a wide variety of weapons, some that Ty Lee never before has seen.
"I'm Pansa. What weapons do you want?"
Katara thinks quickly, back to how her father used to hunt. Sometimes she went with him, especially when the tribe needed more food to survive.
"I'll take a bow," she requests, a little nervously.
"I need broadswords," requests Jet.
"I've got my own two hands." Ty Lee holds up her fists and smiles.
Pansa gives no expression.
Grabbing the bow and quiver from a scrawny boy who hastily approaches, Katara nods at her new companion. She knows it only wastes time to argue about Fire Nation Empire assholes being racist.
Katara grabs the bow and shows off what she learned from her hunter father, Jet defeats his sparring partner after a rigorous battle, while Ty Lee disables her sparring partner in three punches to the proper pressure points.
A man walks into the room and nods in approval.
Hopefully that means something good.
[X]
After being enlisted and vowing loyalty to the Fire Nation Empire, Ty Lee toys with the curtain on her bunk. It has the grainy feel of sand and sea salt like everything else on the island, but the rough fabric is a deep shade of red very few things on Ember Island mimic. She tries not to think about the paintings in her grandmother's house, to think about the relics of the Old Fire Nation she once saw as decorations, not risks to her safety, the destruction of her culture.
Katara clambers up the ladder to lie down on the bunk above Ty Lee's.
"Basic training is not fun," Katara comments, groaning and rubbing her bruised limbs. "I try to stay positive, trust me, but this was the fourth worst day of my life. And not being allowed to bend only makes it worse. I'm sick of running laps and sparring Fire Nation dirtbags. My legs hurt. What did we get ourselves into?"
Ty Lee giggles. "Nothing really. I'm going to sneak out and see Suki tonight. I know I can find her with my new uniform and clearance. You can lie in bed and complain to our squadmates about all your aches and pains, or you can come help me change Suki's tattoo and get her out of that jail."
"Sounds like a plan." Katara smiles to herself and crawls out of her bunk. She winces when she steps onto the floor, but then she fills her water canteen as Ty Lee opens her leather bag and slides the tattooing supplies into her uniform boot. She rises, bids Katara goodbye, and begins to sneak through the makeshift military base. She passes empty posts and only one guard catches sight of her. He does not ask any questions; he must be one of the inexperienced newbies.
She walks to the front desk of the Detention Center and finds that post abandoned. The Fire Nation Empire always seemed menacing to Ty Lee, but they seem silly and weak tonight. She thumbs through the ledgers until she finds Suki's name listed beside a cell number.
Ty Lee takes a deep, excited breath, and steals the keys to unlock the gate leading into the halls of the Detention Center. She strides through the dungeons and does not have to delve deep to hear bloodcurdling screams and mutters of pleas for mercy. Ty Lee holds down vomit as she tries to find the proper number.
At last, she sees the digits scratched into a door and she unlocks the door to barge inside.
Inside, she sees her best friend pacing, lacking shoes, speckled with ash and dirt. Wounds cover her skin and a black eye colors her swollen face. When Ty Lee shuts the door, Suki looks up. Her eyes widen.
Suki's eyes widen and her lips part in awe. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to rescue you," Ty Lee sweetly says, winking, walking in and reaching into her boot. "Now I need you to sit down and be really quiet until this is done. Then I'm gonna leave but they're gonna let you out of here in a couple days."
Katara prepares the water; Ty Lee prepares the tattooing supplies.
"I don't know if you can promise that," whispers Suki, she touches her wounds and whimpers. Ty Lee's gut twists and her eyes well with tears.
"I can," Ty Lee says. Suki subtly shakes her head, but she sits down as Ty Lee asked. Ty Lee kneels beside her and sterilizes the needle like Li taught her. "I'm gonna change your tattoo, and while I do, I need you to tell me how you got arrested. It's really important."
Suki reluctantly holds out her wrist. Ty Lee begins to work.
"I went to track people down and I helped a couple guys I knew with bombing one of the barracks. Two of them got caught and gave away names. They showed up at the house I was hiding in and took me in the middle of the night," explains Suki.
Ty Lee kisses her cheek. "I can work with that. Where were you hiding?"
Suki murmurs weakly, "Your friend's old place; the one everybody said was haunted. There are a couple of people hiding out there since the Fire Nation Empire soldiers are as superstitious as schoolchildren."
"But they went in to get you?"
"They found me outside on the beach." Pause. "I was looking for the fish."
"Were they there?"
"No."
"Maybe you just needed me to find them. I'll take you back there as soon as you're out."
"You better." Suki's eyes glitter, and Ty Lee smiles.
[X]
Ty Lee stays awake all night, lying stiffly in her bunk. She rises before sunrise and hurries back to the Detention Center. A severe-looking woman sits at the desk and Ty Lee races to stand in front of her.
"Sir," says Ty Lee, "on my rounds last night I came across a girl I recognized. She was listed under the name of Suki, but she's my friend Gimi. I can't imagine why Gimi would be imprisoned."
The woman narrows her eyes and opens the ledger that Ty Lee thumbed through last night.
"Talk to me about this Gimi girl…"
Ty Lee weaves beautiful and impeccable lies.
[X]
That morning, Suki sits in her tiny cell, slumped against the damp wall. She closes her eyes and tries to focus her energy on a means of escape. Her wrist still throbs from Ty Lee's handiwork.
A man walks in and Suki's eyes snap up to focus on him.
"I apologize for the Fire Nation Empire's mistake, Miss Half Water Tribe," he states, bowing deeply and reaching forward to pull her to her feet. "We thought you were someone else."
Suki lies, "About time you figured it out," keeping her tone as huffy and haughty as possible.
The man weakly smiles at her.
"We need to get you processed. Go on and get up. Bureaucracy must be served, Miss Half Water Tribe," smoothly says the man, winking at her.
Reluctantly, Suki—now named Half Water Tribe to the world—pushes herself to her feet and dares to follow him to processing.
Ty Lee did it.
Damn, Ty Lee actually did it.
Suki should have believed in her far more.
[X]
When they release her from the menacing iron gates, Suki runs to the friend who rescued her, tightly hugs Ty Lee and then steps back, slightly embarrassed. Ty Lee smiles dreamily at her, lost in her fierce eyes. It is a reunion for the ages.
"I think I love you," Suki boldly says, sensing the sparks between them.
"I love you too," Ty Lee says without hesitation.
Suki frowns, regretting her confession already. "You love Azula more. You scream for her in your sleep, Ty Lee… I shouldn't have said what I did. You'd choose her in a heartbeat."
Ty Lee breathes deeply before she speaks, "She's someone I would die for, but you're someone I would live for. There's a big difference."
Accepting that answer, Suki throws caution to the wind and passionately kisses her savior.
Ty Lee closes her eyes and leans into the momentary bliss.
"We need to get you enlisted in the arms," brightly says Ty Lee. "But first we're gonna sneak out and have Katara heal your injuries."
"Okay," whispers Suki, nuzzling her face into Ty Lee's neck.
They sneak away to the ocean and Katara spends an hour healing Suki back to her normal, healthy self.
Princess Azula stands in a strange temple in a place with a paper white sky. She holds a crystal in her fist, and screams Ty Lee's name. The only thought in her mind is RAISE THE SUN, RAISE THE MOON. They have ceased to rise and she must somehow fix that.
As she runs through the winding, dark halls of the temple, she at last comes across Ty Lee standing in a strange room with thousands of stained glass windows.
"You're dead. You cannot help me," Azula breathes, trying to step back from her lost love but finding herself immobile.
"Love is stronger than death," Ty Lee whispers as she extends a hand and takes the crystal.
Azula walks towards her and…
She wakes in her gorgeous bed in the beautiful, luxurious city of Caldera. No temples, no dark skies, no ghost of a girlfriend. Her nightmare leaves her trembling. She sits up and decides to dress herself without the assistance of slaves.
When she walks to go practice firebending in the garden, she comes across her father. He turns to her and his expression shifts.
"What is wrong, little princess?" he inquires in the dialect of the Fire Nation Empire.
The words of her native language no longer feel clumsy on her tongue. She speaks as fluidly as a royal, as she should.
"I had a nightmare. The moon and sun stopped moving." Azula leaves out Ty Lee. She learned she must leave Ember Island behind her if she wants to rule the world.
"I am sure it meant nothing, little princess," says her father.
"Of course." Azula bows her head again. She cannot disappoint him after he gave her all she ever dreamt of having.
"They might go away if you stop thinking about that horrible island you thought was your home. Your uncle lied to you about so many things, and nothing is worth spending time missing that hovel. Blood is thicker than seawater," coldly says Ozai, an icy fire in his gilded eyes.
Azula wrings her hands and then finally gathers the courage to inquire, "May I ask why you see a connection between Ember Island and my nightmare?"
"It preoccupies you day and night. I am no fool. Now train and join me in the throne room for the afternoon audiences," says Ozai. Azula bows her head and murmurs a word of agreement. "And then we can find you a suitable girl who isn't dead."
"Alright, father," she says. It slips out in Common Tongue.
He frowns and her heart skips a beat.
Maybe Azula misses her Kingdom by the Sea more than she would care to admit.
Two days later, many miles away from Caldera, on an unseasonably cold night on Ember Island, Ty Lee kisses Suki softly on the lips. They lie in her bunk behind a ragged red curtain in the barracks, half naked and intertwined together. The girls glow from the incredible night they shared, one of the best moments of Ty Lee's entire life. She smiles a lot, but right now she simply cannot stop grinning, even when she tries.
"I love you," breathes Ty Lee in utter earnest, kissing Suki on the cheek as she speaks, her words muffled by warm skin. "Even if the moon and sun stopped rising I would still love you."
Suki sits up, head bent to avoid the bottom of the upper bunk. She tilts her head to the side, curiosity piqued. "That's an interesting way to say you love me forever."
"It's an interesting way to say I love you thick or thin. And I really do." Ty Lee sits up and kisses Suki on the collarbone. "I - well I have a lotta nightmares about that sometimes. About the moon and the sun just… stopping."
Suki scrunches up her face in thought. "That'd kill everyone, wouldn't it?"
"I don't know. Maybe…" Ty Lee stops and screws up her face in thought. She does not want to sound crazy, but just because something appears insane does not mean it is not true. "Maybe the spirits exist. They always talk about the moon spirit and the sun spirit in scripture. If they were killed…"
"If spirits are real, I think they'd have to be immortal." Suki lies down again and Ty Lee does the same. "Are you worried about your nightmare coming true, or something?"
Suki laughs, but looks uncomfortable. Ty Lee averts her eyes, but Suki touches her chin and turns her back to face her.
"No," says Ty Lee, uncertain if she means her words or not. "But a lot of my worst nightmares did. Look around."
Suki gives a half smile that Ty Lee does not quite understand. Suki has a way of doing that; she smiles and it gives only the message that people do not understand Suki and never will.
"You're so weird in just the best way." Suki laughs quietly. "Even after all you've seen and suffered, you're the girl who sang to the fish and believes in spirits and tries to cheer everybody up and stays bubbly no matter what. I'm cold and hard. That's why I need somebody like you."
It feels very forced when Ty Lee quietly, disingenuously says, "And I need you to keep me grounded."
Ty Lee squeezes Suki's hand and tries her best to wipe Azula away from her mind.
Katara bangs on the bunk. "Are you two having too much fun to join me on patrol?"
Suki and Ty Lee laugh and exchange a glance.
"No," says Suki, fishing around for her clothes. "Just let us get dressed."
Ty Lee smiles and soon joins her girlfriend.
[X]
During patrol, wearing a stiff uniform, Ty Lee walks through the slums with Suki at her side and Katara about ten feet ahead. They keep an eye out for any disruption or danger, but uneasy thoughts preoccupy both Ty Lee and Suki today.
"You still love her. That's okay," says Suki, wringing her hands. She pries them apart and sets one on her sword to try to stop herself from looking so weak. "I just don't want to be with you if you're in love with someone else. So be honest."
"If I wanted another person, it would've happened a long, long time ago," insists Ty Lee, smiling brightly and batting her eyelashes. She forces herself to add a little bit of bounce in her step. "I love you. I'd shout it to the whole world!"
Suki tries to fight her blush and fails. "Oh?"
"Yeah." Ty Lee stops in her tracks. She cups her hands around her mouth and screams into the slum streets, "My name is Ty Lee and I love Suki! I love Suki with my whole heart!"
Ty Lee giggles and bounces a little bit and Suki shakes her head, lips parted.
She cries out again. "I LOVE SUKI!"
Suki averts her eyes and tries not to laugh, but the corners of her lips twitch.
Finally, Suki cups her hands to her mouth and shouts out, "My name is Suki and I love Ty Lee. I LOVE TY LEE!"
They both laugh together. Katara is half annoyed, half happy for them.
"Do you believe me now?" whispers Ty Lee, taking Suki's hand in hers.
"You talk about her in her sleep," says Suki. "And I'm too strong to let myself be the other woman. I can do better than that."
"She's in my nightmares, not sex dreams," says Ty Lee, no longer smiling, now looking vicious and harsh. "I dream about her at a temple and the sky is so dark. Everything is so dark in my dreams and she burns up everything around us."
Suki sighs and shakes her head.
"I should stop asking. I'm - I'm coming off as jealous and underconfident. That isn't what I want. I just don't want to be used either," says Suki, but when she examines Ty Lee, she sees someone who does not appear to capable of using someone if she tried.
"You're so cute when you're jealous, though," Ty Lee chimes. She runs to catch up with Suki and tackles her to the ground. Ty Lee presses her lips against her girlfriend's as fiercely as she can, trying to remind both of them that they face this insurmountable obstacle together. Ty Lee gently sets her leg against the inside of Suki's thigh.
Suki strokes Ty Lee's hair and whispers, "This won't make me forget, but you don't have anything to worry about."
Katara clears her throat and shouts at them, "We have a job to do!"
The girls separate and rise and start walking again.
It takes them mere minutes to become distracted from their work again. They come across a busy street, a marketplace consisting mostly of beggars and peddled stolen goods. The best outlook on the issue would be looted items from dead bodies after rebellion battles; the worst outlook would be that the impoverished rob each other, worsening everything.
Ty Lee drifts away from the group, drawn by shopping like a moth to flame.
She examines the wares of a man who speaks swiftly in Fire Nation language. Ty Lee does not understand him in the slightest so she smiles and nods as often as she can. It strikes her as strange that half of the people here speak in a tongue she does not comprehend. Ember Island used to be so very homogeneous.
Slowly, Ty Lee picks up a red rose carved from glowing crystal. Her lips part, stunned speechless by the most beautiful thing imaginable, rivaled only by Azula's gilded eyes. Beautiful red, warm, glowing stone forms a rose, cupped inside of bright, sheer green crystal in the shape of a leaf.
"What is this?" asks Ty Lee and the man just furrows his brow, squinting at her. He gestures at his mouth and then shakes his head to show he is confused.
Suki, of all people, gently nudges Ty Lee aside and stammers out a fragmented sentence in Fire Nation language. They hold a stilted and awkward conversation with a good deal of miming while Ty Lee and Katara stand bewildered.
At last, the merchant stops speaking and Suki turns to Ty Lee.
"It's a courtship flame," says Suki. "They're hand carved on the mainland, and given to the one you want to marry."
"Why would someone be selling it?" tenderly inquires Ty Lee, frowning at the thought of a lost love. She knows how much it hurts and it breaks her heart to see something so special and sentimental for sale.
Ty Lee rummages in her pocket and withdraws several gold coins. This takes up almost her entire paycheck, but she wants to own this beauty, to hold it close to her. She hands the hard-earned military money to the merchant, nods and smiles and bows a little, and then takes the gem.
Ty Lee shoves the courtship flame into her pocket with a huge faux smile.
"I'll surprise you with it sometime," she chirps, winking at Suki. It makes the warrior blush.
But is it a lie?
It may be.
Ty Lee does not even remember how to tell the truth.
[X]
At lunch, back in the fort at the former Justice Building, Katara sits down across from Ty Lee in the dining hall. Ty Lee hates to be alone, and so her expression brightens now that someone joined her.
"Hi!" Ty Lee chimes, waving. Katara gives a small smile. "Where's Suki?"
"I was up with her while she cried. She's a mess. You're distracting her from the mission."
Ty Lee blanches and her stomach does a backflip. "I didn't even… I didn't even know she could cry."
"Everyone can, no matter how strong they are." Katara then explains in a matter-of-fact tone as she peels her orange with a combat blade, "Suki is strong and secure in herself. She doesn't need a man or woman or whatever she wants. I'm sure she's uncomfortable with someone treating her as second best. She knows she deserves better than that. If you don't want to lose her, you have to make your mind up, okay?"
"She's no my second best, I swear," Ty Lee insists, surprised at her own vehemence. She has become sick and tired of explaining this to people. "Azula is probably dead. Nobody has heard from her in years."
"Love is stronger than that, stronger than death, stronger than any length of absence," says Katara, popping a piece of orange into her mouth. She chews and swallows. "If you think about Azula ever and love her still, your heart isn't with Suki all the way."
Ty Lee pulls out the gem from her pocket and sets this on the table.
"I want to give this to her," says Ty Lee and Katara purses her lips. Her protuberant cobalt eyes water. "I want to give this to Suki. I really do."
"You don't. You really don't," says Katara. Ty Lee hates that the waterbender is right. "Where was the last place you were with Azula?"
Ty Lee thinks for a few moments. Her heart aches when she realizes how much she struggles to remember. But then she remembers that last afternoon, evening and night sitting on the black rocks on the deserted beach, beside the obsidian throne she painstakingly built for her Queen. It was the last place she saw Azula before the Fire Nation attacked.
"Our Kingdom by the Sea," whispers Ty Lee, closing her eyes and clinging to the memory for a few more blissful moments. She tries to remember what Azula smells like but cannot manage, which feels like a stab in the chest. Ty Lee opens her eyes and suppresses tears.
Katara nods and says, "Take me there tonight after curfew, and bring the crystal."
Ty Lee hesitantly agrees, afraid to argue, and finishes her food.
[X]
That night, Ty Lee and Katara sneak out of their bunk, both dressed in dark street clothes. They creep through the deserted city, maneuvering around any other soldiers keeping watch. Finally, after Ty Lee guides Katara past endless rows of burnt houses, they reach the secret hideaway. Ty Lee grins when she sees that the Obsidian Throne remained entirely intact after all of this time.
Ty Lee gazes at it and begins to suffocate. The thousand emotions she never let herself feel surge through her body and make her stagger and bend over, shaking with sobs from the sheer force. Katara lunges towards her, concerned.
"I feel the power," croaks Ty Lee. "I feel it…" She sobs and sobs as Katara tries to comfort her. "It was more than a teenage crush. It was."
"You love her," whispers Katara, wiping Ty Lee's tears with her sleeve.
"I love Suki," Ty Lee insists fiercely, clenching her fists.
"You can love more than one person," Katara explains softly. "But Azula is different. She's like the moon to you and Suki is only a star."
"Azula was the sun. My sun!" Ty Lee screams hopelessly at the stars above.
Katara helps Ty Lee dry her tears and hugs her tightly until she ceases to cry. Still, the swelling sensation in Ty Lee's chest does not fade, regardless of what she thinks or feels.
"Leave the gem here, and then walk away," Katara says, trying to untether herself from the powerful emotions surrounding this small place. She cannot afford to be as overcome as Ty Lee. "It's all you can do until we go to Caldera and I save my mother and you save her. But stop toying with my friend's heart and move on."
Ty Lee holds the gem up and watches how it gleams in the moonlight. Not quite the same as the marvelous shine from sunlight, but beautiful nonetheless. She sets it down on the throne and kneels before it. The tears start up again.
Between sobs, Ty Lee chokes out, "Why do I never stop missing her? Why can't I forget her like most people forget their first? Why?"
"Nobody forgets their first," says Katara. "But I think… I think maybe your path is still tied to hers, so fate won't let you abandon her soul and her memory. Not until your destiny is complete."
Ty Lee gazes up at the twinkling stars, speckles of light above the sea, for a long while.
At last, she whispers, "And what's my destiny supposed to be?"
"I don't know. If people knew their destinies, they would go insane." Katara helps Ty Lee to her feet and brushes the ink black sand off of the trembling, lovesick girl.
Katara draws Ty Lee into another embrace, breathing in her unusual scent. Ty Lee squeezes her eyes shut and the tears fall, leaving damp spots on the waterbender's back.
"Thank you for this," says Ty Lee, forcing a smile like she does every day of her life. She has to be the happy one. They all expect her to be the cheery airhead and she hates to disappoint. "You're a good friend."
"You are too," says Katara, before she pats Ty Lee's back and breaks away from the hug.
In utter silence, they walk side by side back to the fort, the gem, and all memory of Azula, left behind.