The students called her nurse, but really she was a doctor. A retired surgeon. The other teachers called her Kana so Azula did, too.
The old woman took one look at Azula and the girl with the bloody nose and immediately leapt into action. Kana thanked the gym teacher and shooed the other woman away as she swept past Azula and laid the other girl down in a hospital bed. The doctor put Azula in a chair, gave her some towels and told her to wait a while.
Azula wanted to tell her that princesses shouldn't have to wait, but Kana had already moved over to the bed and was leaning over the bloodied girl. The red had mixed with snot so it clung to the girl's face even as the doctor wiped it away. "Not so bad, dear..." Azula heard Kana mutter, although she didn't think the other girl was paying much attention, "Just a little bit of blood. Maybe a slight concussion, but nothing too bad. You'll be better in a moment."
There was a groan in response and Kana frowned. For a while the old surgeon just sat there quietly wiping away the blood. Finally she turned to look at Azula, "Dear. I need to get some extra medicine for you and your friend. Just wipe off your arms for now and make sure she," The doctor pointed firmly at the bedridden girl, "does NOT get up or fall asleep. Can you do that for me, sweetie?"
Again, disobedience crossed Azula's mind, but she decided against it. "Okay, Kana."
"That's a good girl." And then Kana hurried out of the room leaving Azula alone with the girl who was faster than her.
Quietly, Azula got up and went to the seat next to the bed. Her arms still bled a little, so she had to keep wiping at it. The scrape was starting to hurt, but it wasn't very much so she ignored it.
The other girl had been mostly cleaned up and her nose wasn't pouring blood anymore. Her eyes were partially open and occasionally they would glance at Azula, but then they'd lose focus and move onto something else. The girl wasn't as pretty she was, Azula decided, her face was too round and her nose a little too big. She did have nice eyes, even half-open Azula could tell that they were big and brown.
Nothing Azula saw told her why this girl would be able to run faster than her. She wasn't much bigger or taller than Azula. Her legs looked to be just as strong as Azula's. Worst of all, she wasn't the highest breed of nobility, her brown eyes made that clear. She couldn't have been a commoner - their kind wasn't allowed in the Royal Academy - so she must have been part of some minor house.
Azula stared at the girl, frowning. The girl was breathing softer now, her eyes closed. She almost looked like she was sleeping.
The princess blinked. "Hey!" She shouted and pushed the girl, "Wake up!"
"Huh?" The girl stirred and looked up at Azula. "Oh... Hi."
"Dumb-dumb," Azula said firmly, "You're not supposed to fall asleep."
"Oh." The girl pushed her lips together and pouted, but even that seemed strained. "Why not?"
"How am I supposed to know? I'm not a doctor."
"Then I'll just," The girl yawned, "rest a little."
"Hey!" Azula shouted again. If Kana came back and found the girl sleeping with Azula just sitting there, she'd get in trouble for sure. "Hey! Tell me your name!"
Brown eyes flicked open to meet Azula's and this time they seemed a little more alive. "My name's Ty Lee." The girl said, "What's yours?"
How could anyone not know who she was? But Azula answered without scolding the girl, "I am Princess Azula."
"Princess is a weird name."
"Dumb-dumb!" Azula snapped, "That's not my name, that's what I am!"
"Oh." Ty Lee lay there for a moment, puckered her lips, closed her eyes and let out a long "hmmm". The sound stretched on till it seemed like the girl was trying to become some sort monk. Then the "hm" stopped and she just lay there with her eyes closed.
It took a moment for Azula to realize why. "Wake up!" She cried out and pushed Ty Lee awake again. "Stop falling asleep!"
"Sorrysorry" The girl mumbled.
This was the girl that nearly beat her? It didn't make any sense, how could someone so... so... relaxed be faster than her? If someone had told her that this Ty Lee was the fastest girl in school, Azula would have told that person they didn't know anything.
But there was no mistaking it. The girl had outrun Azula not once, but twice and the princess was not so stupid as to forget that.
"Hey Ty Lee," Azula said, putting as much force behind her seven year old voice as she could, "Why are you so fast?"
There was a pause. Ty Lee's face scrunched up as she worked to get her brain moving. And then finally, "I don't know. I don't think I'm that fast."
Azula didn't know what she would have done if Kana hadn't walk into the room right then.
"Thanks for watching over her, Azula. Here's another towel, I'll give you some disinfectant in just a second." Kana smiled and then moved over to Ty Lee. She cupped the back of the girl's head in one head and brought up a little bottle to her lips, "Okay, dear, just drink this and you'll feel a lot better."
The princess moved over to the other side of the room as the doctor did her job. The scrapes on her arms had begun to ache, but Azula wasn't thinking of that. Her thoughts were on Ty Lee. OF COURSE YOU WERE FAST, YOU STUPID GIRL, YOU NEARLY BEAT ME. I'M NOT SLOW, I KNOW I'M NOT. YOU HAVE TO BE FAST. She had never wanted someone dead as much as she did then.
Ty Lee downed the whole bottle and Kana said it was alright if the girl fell asleep now. The doctor moved over to Azula now and took out another bottle. "Give me your arms, dear."
The blood had stopped, it was only red raw marks that the medicine was spread on. It hurt more than actually falling on the ground did, but Azula couldn't bring herself to care. She was still glaring at the other girl.
Kana said some other worthless things and wrapped bandages around Azula's arms. Then the old woman declared with a cheerful tone, "Okay, you're all better now Azula. You can go back to class if you like."
"I'll do that." Azula said flatly and moved to the door.
It was a small, sleepy voice that stopped the young princess. "Azula..."
She turned around and looked at Ty Lee. The little brown-haired girl was smiling even as her eyelids worked their way down.
"Thanks for talking with me. And... making sure I didn't..." There was a tiny yawn, "fallasleep." And then the girl was snoring softly.
For the first time, Azula literally could not think of anything - much less what to say in response. Five seconds of the princess's life simply vanished, it was like her mind had been shocked into oblivion.
She stood there until the worried voice of Kana called out to her. Azula didn't know what the old woman said, but she nodded anyways and walked away.
Maybe she could live with not being the best at everything. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But then Azula shook her head of that insane thought and walked on.
AN: This was a hard chapter to write.
Also, next chapter, Azula gets scared.
