Chapter 3: The Problem

"I'm telling you, there's something wrong with her!" Ty Lee exclaimed, but Zuko was having none of it.

"Yeah. That's why she's in there in the first place," Zuko responded as-a-matter-of-factly as he sat at his desk, looking over paperwork and sipping his tea quietly. Ty Lee didn't even know why he drank tea; it's not as if he actually liked it. Maybe it was just something that he was doing to show how refined or mature he'd become.

Whatever the reason, there wasn't much she wanted to do more at that moment than knock that cup out of his hands and force him to listen to her.

"I meant more than normal," Ty Lee explained, trying to keep her exasperation to a minimum. "It's that place. They're doing something to her, I just know it."

"I hope they are, otherwise all that grant money we've poured into there will be for nothing," Zuko said wryly, taking another long sip of tea.

"I meant bad things! Awful, terrible things!" Ty Lee exclaimed, slamming both her hands into her desk. "I don't know what, exactly, but it's not good for her! Whoever I saw in there…whatever I saw in there…it wasn't Azula. She wasn't acting like herself. And it was like she was trying to tell me something but she couldn't because…well, I don't know why but something is wrong about this! Very, very wrong!"

"Ty Lee," Zuko said as calmly as he could. He removed Ty Lee's hands from covering his stacks of paperwork, then looked up at her. "I know seeing her like that isn't easy for you. And it must have come as such a shock after all this time. But…you haven't been here for the past two years. You haven't seen her since she snapped. You don't know what she's been like."

Ty Lee clenched her jaw and lowered her head, staring angrily at the floor. He was right, after all; she was absent these past two years, having willingly removed herself from the picture for reasons of her own. She couldn't help but feel guilty…perhaps if she had remained, if she had visited once in a while, things would have turned out differently…

"I know I haven't been here…haven't been there for her…but I still think you're wrong," Ty Lee said adamantly, looking Zuko square in the eyes. "Deep down, under all that crazy, she's still Azula, and…and I just know that something terrible is happening in there. I can just feel it!" Ty Lee continued, gesturing wildly with her hands. She gasped suddenly, eyes widening as if smacked in the face with realization. "It could be ghosts! Do you think it's ghosts?"

Zuko exhaled sharply, trying his best not to rest his forehead in his palm. "Ty Lee, please. You've just had a long trip, it's been an eventful day, and you're upset."

"Of course I'm upset! There could be ghosts in there, Zuko, ghosts!" Ty Lee exclaimed, pointing to nowhere in particular. She paused, listening to herself for a moment. "Okay, maybe not ghosts but something is happening in there and I'm going to get to the bottom of it!"

"Ty Lee," Zuko said sternly. Ty Lee noticed the slight twitch of his scarred eye, a familiar sign that meant his temper was flaring. "I didn't ask you to come here because I wanted you to play detective."

"Then why did you ask me to come, huh?"

Zuko sighed, looking down at his paperwork. So much of it, all unfinished. He looked back up at the smaller girl, still awaiting his answer eagerly.

"I told you that I asked Suki to send a Kyoshi Warrior because I needed protection," Zuko continued. "With Father's trial coming up, and all the unrest in the Capital lately, Mai thought it would be best if I had some help around here…aside from the Earth Kingdom soldiers King Kuei was so…kind…to lend us," Zuko said with a little difficulty, warily eyeing the Earth Kingdom soldiers standing outside the window. "But there's more to it than that. I asked specifically for you for a reason."

"I asked you to come here…to talk to my sister," Zuko said at last. "To convince her to testify at Father's trial. You've always been able to get through to her when no one else could."

Ty Lee looked at the ground, that odd sinking feeling in her stomach returning.

"But seeing how she reacted to you, I see now that that may not have been the wisest choice."

Her stomach sank even further.

"And there's something else, too," Zuko continued. "You might want to take a seat for this next part."

Ty Lee exhaled sharply as she closed the door behind her. It really had been a long day, and it wasn't until she stopped to catch her breath that she realized it.

After doing a thorough security sweep of the grounds with the handful of remaining Palace Guards, Ty Lee had divvied up shift duties with Mai and was just now returning to her room. She was glad to see the servants had brought up her bags in her absence, though it wasn't much. Ty Lee had never been one for worldly possessions, as she was accustomed to the austere life of a travelling circus performer. Despite her upbringing as a Fire Nation noble, she wanted nothing to do with her family or their wealth. She had made that perfectly clear the day she ran away from home.

Azula had been there that day.

"Azula! What—um…w-what are you doing here?" Ty Lee stammered, hastily shoving her satchel of clothing under her bed with her foot. She did not know what good it would do; Azula had the eyes of a hawk and the brain of a…really smart human.

"Is not a princess allowed to go wherever she pleases?" Azula asked casually, her hands clasped behind her back as her eyes slowly scanned the room. Ty Lee's heart rate doubled.

"Oh! Um, ah, I didn't mean—I mean, well, yes, of c-course…my mistake, Princess," Ty Lee mumbled, inclining her head deferentially.

"Relax. I'm just joking," Azula said lightly, but Ty Lee wasn't sure how much she really believed her. "I was looking for you. Everyone is. They're waiting for you to cut the cake, but apparently none of them had the proper sense to check your room."

"I'm surprised they even remembered I exist," Ty Lee muttered bitterly.

Ty Lee had six sisters, all identical to her, but not all the same age. In order to make things easier for her family, they would all celebrate their birthdays on the same day with a gigantic party, and every year it was on a different day. Last year they had all celebrated on Ky Lee's birthday, and the year before that, My Lee's. This year, it was supposed to be Ty Lee's turn.

They had forgotten, and were celebrating on Sun Lee's birthday instead.

"The invitations have already gone out."

"We'll celebrate yours next year."

That was the final straw. She'd already endured a lifetime as "one of the Lee sisters", as well as a wardrobe consisting almost entirely of hand-me-downs, her parents calling her the wrong name, her sisters "borrowing" but never returning anything she owned that they didn't already have, her sisters stealing her meals, both random strangers and her close friends mistaking her for her sisters in school, in the city, in her own home…

There were only two things in the world that made Ty Lee feel special. Her prodigious acrobatic skill, and her friendship with the Princess of the Fire Nation, neither of which any of her sisters possessed.

Even though she was in the same class as My Lee and Ky Lee, and all her sisters attended the same school, it was Ty Lee whom Azula had chosen to be friends with. Why that was, Ty Lee didn't know, and she wasn't sure if she ever would.

Being friends with the Princess of the Fire Nation came with a multitude of benefits, Ty Lee had realized early on. It meant Ty Lee was often invited to play with Azula at the Royal Palace, which was at least ten times larger than the Lee family's entire estate and ten times as nice. It meant Ty Lee's family would subsequently ask her for every detail of the Royal grounds, which most normal citizens had never laid eyes upon, and Ty Lee would relish the attention she received as she recounted each and every detail painstakingly. It meant that as long as Ty Lee refrained from making Azula cross, something which she was far better at than most people, she could count on Azula to show up to her parties, which was a source of great pride for the Lee family as well as something her father often flaunted over the other nobles.

Ever since Azula had chosen Ty Lee to be her friend, her entire family's social standing had risen considerably. But apparently not even that was enough to get her parents to remember their youngest daughter's birthday.

And so, here she was, her bag packed and ready to go, with only one last obstacle in the way.

"Going somewhere?" Azula asked, ignoring Ty Lee's statement and pointedly eyeing at the bag the braided girl had been trying to hide behind her foot.

And what an obstacle she was.

"N-no…" Ty Lee stammered, rubbing the back of her neck. "I…I was just…"

"Don't lie, Ty Lee," Azula said sternly. "It doesn't suit you."

Ty Lee sighed. There were certain things that not even Azula was good at, but detecting lies was not one of them.

"I'm running away," Ty Lee said firmly, with as much bravado as she could muster.

"Well, obviously," Azula deadpanned, using two of her fingers to pick up a pair of stray pajama pants hanging out of a half-opened drawer. She unceremoniously dropped them back in, then rubbed her fingers together as if there had been dirt on them. "I asked where you were going, not what you were doing."

"Oh. Um…I…I don't know for sure," Ty Lee answered truthfully. There was no point in trying to hide the truth from Azula. "Anywhere. Just…away from here."

"What's so bad about here?" Azula asked both innocently and probingly, catching Ty Lee's gaze. It felt as if she were holding it hostage, which was how it often felt to make eye contact with the fiery Princess. Ty Lee could feel her pulse quicken.

"Everything," Ty Lee answered.

Azula raised a single, perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Oh?"

"W-Well…not everything. Not you, of course! But…everything else."

That wasn't entirely truthful, but she prayed Azula did not notice.

"I see," Azula said lightly, looking at her nails. Ty Lee was glad to have a break from the intense eye contact, but it didn't last. "So everything here is terrible and you're running away from home…and you don't even have a plan?"

"I'll manage," Ty Lee said with a nod. She wasn't sure exactly who she was trying to convince. "…I was thinking about joining the circus."

"The circus?" Azula asked with mild surprise. "If I'd known you'd still wanted to join the circus I'd have asked you to accompany Zu-Zu on his wild goose chase. Or bought some platypus-bears for the Imperial Garden."

Ty Lee blinked.

"I was joking," Azula explained.

Ty Lee laughed. "I guess your brother is a bit of a clown."

Azula laughed a real laugh, not one of her fake laughs or cruel laughs, and it was among the best sounds Ty Lee had ever heard.

"Mm…I suppose the circus makes sense given your talents and disposition," Azula said with a light sigh. "You could do a lot worse."

Ty Lee's naturally large eyes widened.

"Y-you mean…you're not going to stop me?"

"Why would I? It's not really my place to interfere with your decisions…no matter how ill-advised they are," Azula drawled, examining her perfectly manicured nails once more. "Besides, I'll be too busy helping father with the war effort to bother with you and Mai."

It sounded harsh, but Ty Lee knew it was just Azula being Azula. Ty Lee grinned widely and threw her arms around the girl, pulling her into a tight embrace. The black-haired Princess stiffened at first, then relaxed and returned the hug lightly.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you Azula!" Ty Lee cried, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "I'm…I'm really going to miss you, you know."

"Yes, yes, whatever," Azula said hurriedly, breaking off the hug with a dismissive wave of her hand. "If you don't get out of here soon they're going to catch you. Even a blind lemur manages to find a lychee nut every once in a while."

"Thank you, Princess Azula," Ty Lee said, bowing deeply to her superior. "I owe you one."

"Consider it an early birthday present," Azula replied nonchalantly. Ty Lee smiled. She would have been surprised that Azula had remembered that her birthday was not for another month, but Azula never forgot anything. "Now, go. I hear your father coming."

Ty Lee grabbed her satchel and quickly made her way out the window, just in time to hear the door open. She knew it was unwise, but she couldn't help herself from listening in on the exchange between Azula and her father.

"P-Princess Azula! I did not expect—my deepest apologies, your Highness! I did not wish for you to witness such a terrible mess as this…I had no idea my daughter kept her room in such a state—"

"Speaking of your youngest daughter, have you found her yet? I grow weary of waiting."

"N-not yet, your Grace. But I assure you, we will. Perhaps we may proceed to cutting the cake without her…"

"Without her? Tell me, what kind of a cake is it, Mr. Lee?"

"What? I-I don't understand…"

"It's a simple question. What kind of a cake will we be cutting?"

"A-a birthday cake, your Majesty."

"And remind me, whose birthday cake is it?"

"My daughters', your Majesty."

"And is not Ty Lee one of your daughters?"

"Y-yes, your Majesty."

"And is she not as important as the rest of your daughters, Mr. Lee?"

"She is, your Majesty."

"That's where you're wrong, Mr. Lee. She is more important than the rest of your daughters. You see, were it not for Ty Lee's invitation, I would not have found it in my good grace to attend your little party. And since she is nowhere to be found, nor deemed important enough to be waited for, then I shall no longer be in attendance."

"B-but your Majesty—!"

"Are my ears not working, or did you just disagree with me?"

"N-no, of course not, your Majesty…"

"So my ears must not be working then?"

"N-no, of course not…"

"Well, it must be one or the other. Which one is it?"

"…I-I did not mean to disagree with you, your Grace. I only mean to urge you to stay for the remainder of the festivities."

"That's what I thought. Your plea is earnest but unfortunately, I have more important things to do than to watch uncut cakes and search for absentee birthday girls. That's a negligent father's job, wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-yes, of course, your Highness. I understand completely."

"I hope for your sake that you do. Oh, and in the future…do try to keep a better eye on your youngest daughter, will you? I would hate to miss out on all your illustrious parties should she not be in attendance…as I'm sure your family will hate to miss out on having all the benefits of my presence."

"Of course, your Highness. I will do better to keep an eye on her from now on."

"Yes, see that you do. Now see me to my carriage; I do hope what skill you lack in parenting you can at least make up for in hospitality."

"Yes, of course, your Highness. Right this way!"

Ty Lee did her best to suppress her laughter as she overheard the entire conversation. She felt a little guilty for setting Azula on her hapless father like that, but she felt even guiltier that she had enjoyed it so thoroughly.

With all the commotion caused by the Princess's abrupt departure (consequently inciting several other noble families to leave), Ty Lee escaped her family's grounds without detection. She thought about leaving a note behind in order to explain why she was doing what she was, but she hadn't had the time due to Azula's sudden but not entirely unexpected arrival. If it weren't for Azula, it might have taken her family weeks to even notice she was missing, but they would certainly notice her absence now. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Either way, she was free, and she had Azula to thank in part for that.

It felt like a lifetime ago, that night Ty Lee had run away from home to join the circus. She had only managed to stay with the circus for six months before Azula showed up to take it all away, just as easily as she had given it. Ty Lee had been foolish to think that she had escaped her past life completely, for as long as Azula existed, she knew there was no escaping her.

Even now, with Azula trapped behind locks and stone walls like a caged dragon, Ty Lee was willingly going to her.

She had already decided, in spite of what Zuko had said. She was going to visit Azula tomorrow, and she was going to talk to her, and there weren't going to be any ghosts, and everything was going to be fine and—

Ty Lee's head dropped face-first into her vanity. What was wrong with her?

Why did she even care about this awful girl who had, on numerous occasions, put the lives of both Ty Lee and her friends in serious mortal danger? Why was she still concerned about this horrible girl with perfect hair and perfect eyes who manipulated, used, and abused people as if they were nothing but little straw dolls piled in a box for her amusement? Why couldn't she stop thinking about this wretched girl with the perfect face and perfect body and perfect brain, except for all the scary, crazy parts, who seemingly killed the Avatar without a single hint of remorse, who would have killed Mai if it weren't for Ty Lee's intervention, and who would have been perfectly happy leaving Ty Lee to rot in jail for the rest of her life had she not lost the war?

Ty Lee hit her forehead against the smooth surface of the mahogany vanity over and over again.

It was madness, and Ty Lee knew it. She wasn't stupid, no matter what she had often led people to believe. Maybe she did belong in the asylum, but then she might have to be roommates with Azula, and boy would that be awkward.

Ty Lee let out a long groan and lifted her face up, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She grabbed a cloth and began to angrily wipe away her Kyoshi make-up. She knew she shouldn't have worn it to see Azula, but it was part of the uniform and she was technically on duty at the time. She knew she had been just asking for Azula's specific brand of emotional cruelty by going to visit her dressed like this. But she had tried to convince herself that she didn't care what Azula thought or what she would say.

She was wrong.

Azula's words hurt. They hurt a lot. She knew that by admitting that to herself, by recognizing that Azula had gotten to her, she was letting the other girl win, just as she had so many times before. Azula had never been a gracious loser, but she was also incredibly skilled, and the few games Ty Lee could beat her at, she almost never did because victory was never worth the price of inciting the Princess's wrath.

But she wasn't going to let Azula win any more. Not if she ever wanted to be free of whatever inexplicable hold the other girl seemed to have on her.

Ty Lee always thought that confronting one's problems head-on was foolish, and there were better, sneakier ways to deal with them, such as ignoring they exist and avoiding them altogether or running away from them. But she was tired of running, tired of trying to push everything deep, deep down, tired of pretending the problems didn't exist, tired of restless nights and prolonged daydreams, tired, tired, and tired, and if it meant getting a good night's rest for the first time in who knows how many years, then it was time to turn around, dig in her heels, and face the obstacle she had been avoiding for so long.

But what an obstacle she was.

Ty Lee looked at herself in the mirror and saw her bare face looking back. She looked tired, and knew she should try to get some rest before tomorrow. She would hate to have an outbreak of acne overnight, because if she did, Azula would probably be relentless about it.

But she couldn't sleep just yet. The most important question of all still remained.

What the heck was she going to wear tomorrow?

A/N: Not much going on in this chapter except for a glimpse into Ty Lee's inner turmoil and a little blast to the past. I really enjoy writing Ty Lee, because it means stream-of-consciousness run-on sentences, a lot of rebelliousness, and a dash of silliness. I had a bit too much fun writing the part where Azula takes Mr. Lee down to Frowntown. More plot/character development coming up in the next chapter, wherein Ty Lee searches for ghosts at the mental institution. Just kidding. But not really.