AN: Chapter Two! Thanks for the comments so far, guys- nothing but helpful, constructive ones so far. ^_^

One word about the suggestions, though. If it's okay, can I just have character names? It gets harder to write if I'm constrained by a pre-made plot, and it's just generally less fun that way. Not that your suggestions don't sound interesting- write them up, and I'll be sure to give them a read.

Otherwise, though, thanks for the support, guys. Seventeen days to go! In the meantime, a word from Ty Lee.

She came down from the backflip only to find herself falling.

"Owch! That was completely not fun," Ty Lee groaned, landing hard on the ground. She sat up, blinking wide gray eyes, while the arm she had landed on throbbed in protest. It wasn't badly hurt, but…

The warrior to her left laughed. "You're being too twirly," she called. "This isn't like acrobatics- it's a little more stable and direct. Watch my footing." She crouched down, a fierce look flashing through her eyes. When she flipped, she kicked violently behind her, feet landing solidly in the dart, arms immediately coming up in preparation to strike or defend. "That's how you do a flip, Kyoshi-style!"

Ty Lee wrinkled up her nose. "I don't know, Sang-hee. Usually your aura is such a pretty shade of blue. But when you do that…" She shuddered as she stood. Such an unpleasant color.

Sang-hee sighed. "What do I care what color my aura is, as long as I get stronger?"

And that, Ty Lee realized, was the problem. Everyone on this island was crazy, obsessed with getting stronger, quicker, more dangerous. Ty Lee herself was already growing more like that, full of scratches, scrapes, bruises and callouses. She couldn't remember the last time she hadn't been covered in mud or sweat. The other girls seemed to love it, but she couldn't understand any of that, couldn't comprehend what would make someone so obsessive with power, like some kind of… something like…

Like Azula. Was that it?

She chewed her lip, watching the girls around her going through their drills, relentless, desperate for achievement. Yes, Azula might have fit in here very well. Before Azula, Ty Lee had never been much of a fighter. Even her chi blocking- she had learned that as a hobby, something fun to experiment with. She had never turned it on other people like that before, used it for violence and manipulation.

Azula had manipulated absolutely everything around her, though, taking and turning everything to her advantage. Changing them from their original purposes, to something that suited her better. Was that what she was afraid of? Afraid of becoming? Someone like Azula?

Her aura was getting dingier and dingier with every passing moment. She sighed and opened her fan, looking down at the intricate details etched onto it. It was a ceremonial one- not one of the plainer ones used for training or fighting. Maybe it was more precious, and they didn't want it to break, but she still wished that she could use it more often. Everything about the Kyoshi Warriors that there was to be proud of was on it- all the symbols of what they stood for, and their history. Why wouldn't they want to show something like this off, all the time? Just because it was pretty…

…Were all pretty things so easy to ignore and throw away? Just because maybe they weren't as strong or as practical as other things…

Her shoulders slumped. Maybe coming here had been a mistake. She couldn't be like that, couldn't have that mindset, no matter how hard she tried. If that was the case…

"Ty Lee! Your shoulder!"

"Hah?" She tore her eyes away from the fan, looking towards it. "Oh yeah. I'm sorry- it looks like I tore my uniform again, doing the… the… What was it called again?"

Ae-cha, the girl on her other side, shook her head impatiently. "The White Crane pattern. But that's not important. No one cares about your uniform, Ty Lee!"

She looked away, tearing up. "I'm sorry. I just… I'm not good at…"

"Does it hurt?" The girl reached forward, seizing Ty Lee's wrist, and pushed her sleeve up higher. She hissed softly, looking at the angry red skin beneath the tear, where it had been cut earlier. "We should get this cleaned. That would be one nasty infection."

Ty Lee blinked at it. "It's bleeding? I hadn't even noticed…" Maybe she had gotten a little tougher than she thought, these past few weeks.

Sang-Hee came up on her other side, smiling. "Don't cry, Ty Lee. It's okay- we'll get Oyaji to look at it."

"Yeah, it'll be fine," Ae-cha assured her. She laughed, smirking slightly. "And after that, we definitely have to work on the way you hold your fan. No wonder you're getting yourself so cut up, if that's your grip on your weapons." She reached forward, moving Ty Lee's hand, spreading the fan and holding it at an angle. "You use too many fingers when you do it, see? This way is much more efficient. And it also shows off the fan better."

Ty Lee looked down at it, admiring the way the sun glinted off of the symbols. "Hunh. It really does."

Feeling the two girls' hands on her shoulders, she realized that it didn't feel the same way it had with Azula. Sure, they wanted her to get stronger, but that was to help her as much as them. And there was no anger when she stumbled. This was different, this was… what was the word? There was a way to describe this, she knew there was. It was…

"Ty Lee? Man, you're even spacier than usual today."

"Come on," Sang-hee said, laughing and punching her lightly on the arm, making sure to miss the injury. "Let's get you to Oyaji. Maybe we should have him look at your head while he's at it, huh?"

…They actually cared about her. That was it. That was… she couldn't remember the last time she had known people like that. Not her parents, and most definitely not Azula. This was…

She couldn't even begin to think up the words explaining how she felt.

She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "Umm… No, it's okay. I want to train a little more. My shoulder will be fine." She smiled at them. "Why don't you show me that backflip again, huh? I think I can get it this time."

Ae-chan patted her on the shoulder, stepping away. "That's my tough girl. Now watch carefully this time, okay?"

Her aura pinkened instantly, turning brighter than ever before.