Snapshots. This was supposed to be part of another set but got longer than expected. Oh well. Takes place in a Modern AU too. Oh joy.

Cheating AU

…

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You know what started an affair. The smallest touch, that one glance. It made you think of the many possibilities, made you not think of the equally many risks. In Ty Lee's case, It has started right from the beginning, in a sweet romance she cherished more than anything. She was just unaware, oh how oblivious, that it never ended. She does not know when it ever would.

Room 306. Haido Hotel.

Many times, she has received something like this. Many times, it forced her to think twice, stop, mull over the good man that waits for her at home. But the temptation of this bliss beckons far too strongly to be pocketed into the realms of past sin. She buries the grim prospect of the future in the name of the present she refuses to become her past. Her fingers move over the screen, types up the letters that performs a familiar dance.

I'll be there.

She goes through the revolving doors two steps at a time, in sync with a heart that does not slow down. She is sure that the receptionist smiled, as many did in the many hotels they have gone. "What can I-?" But Ty Lee's eyes are fixed forward as she makes her way to the elevator. Room 306. Third floor. The door should be unlocked. I'll be waiting. It is Ty Lee's first time in this hotel but she has done this many times before.

It is hypocritical to say that she paused just outside hotel room door and for a single moment, stared at the number. Guilt is a common misconception. At least, not when she got this far, with the object of her treacherous thoughts a wall beyond. She goes straight inside, opens the door soundlessly and beholds the sight of an already undressed Azula.

Ty Lee would hate herself later. She would crumple the once pristine sheets they have stained, would avoid the steady golden gaze her one sin gives her. The shower would not wash it off. The perfume she brought for this occasions would never mask the scent of her betrayal. But for now, she lets Azula pin her against the wall as they share a deep, passionate, longing kiss. Because this secret life, she does not want to lose. This secret life is just as good as the marriage the whole world thinks is perfect.

…

.

He is watching the evening news when she arrives. Home. This is where the all-consuming feeling of guilt comes in. Her chest feels constricted and the pause and hesitation that should have frozen her on the spot before she could do it again, inflicts her in this very second. Zuko beams at the sight of her and offers Ty Lee a seat beside him. She declines because she is sure she still smells like his sister. She declines because she does not deserve such kindness.

It is not love, she knows and has long since accepted it. Theirs is marriage of convenience, of accident, of the slim chance their one night together would result to life. They are each other's rebound. They are each other's consolation. When Ty Lee miscarried the reason Zuko had decided to propose to her in the first place, he still did not back out. "We can still have more." He said. Two boys and one girl, he said. She will be a good mother, he said.

But how can she be one when she is not even a good wife?

It is not love, she knows. That one with Azula though, she knows it is. Love that is hopeless. Love that is painful. If love really means fooling around with your husband's sister who delights to get even with the man she hates so much, Ty Lee is not sure if she is willing to trade Zuko's kindness with Azula's empty promises of romance. Azula whispers lies in her ear and yet she, like the fool that she is, graciously listens to each one.

She does not stop.

And that is how Azula likes it.

You are mine.

It is the cold, dark truth.

"I'm going upstairs." She tells Zuko and he only nods and wishes her good night because that is the kind of man he just is.

…

.

This would not end well.

The gold eyes and dark hair is an overpowering reminder of someone else and Ty Lee, as Zuko thrusts inside her, tries her best not to cry out the wrong name. She tries not to remember the kisses, the touch, the fall of long, ebony hair caressing her naked breasts. She tries to focus on her husband, in his latest attempt for a child as he grunts and groans and follows each step the doctor told him he should. She prays that this would end like every sex after their marriage did. She prays this would not end up like the first time she made the mistake.

She wishes for Mai's presence.

She wishes for the one friend that now hates her.

She wishes for the one friend that always knows what to do.

She wishes she never married Zuko.

She wishes she never saw that look in Mai's face.

She wishes she never caught Azula's attention.

She wishes she never fell in love with the wrong sibling.

…

.

They have met in her wedding reception. Because Azula never expected that her brother would be able "to seduce someone like her." She made it sound as though Ty Lee is special, complimented her with a wine glass in hand and her red exquisitely-tailored dress hugging her curves. Ty Lee never saw a creature as beautiful. Ty Lee never had met anyone so perfect.

She shakes Azula's warm hands. "Mai is one thing. You certainly are another." She practically purred this. Perhaps, the overwhelming infatuation started there. Perhaps, Azula started it there. She wonders if this is all a plan, a construction. She wonders if Azula despises her brother enough to fuck his wife.

Two years later, they are in room 405. Somewhere in the city. Zuko is in some business trip. Ty Lee's toes are curled as Azula's head bobs in between her legs. Her hands pressed on her hips, her tongue doing marvels. Ty Lee is just every bit as captivated as she was with her manipulative lover. Does Zuko make you scream like this? Does Zuko make you feel good like this? Does Zuko drive you insane like this?

Does Zuko love you like this?

She gasps "no" each time, overcome by blinding pleasure because she likes seeing the proud, triumphant smirk that crosses Azula's face as she reaches her undoing. She would hate herself afterwards. She would feel guilty afterwards. But for now she is the woman Azula says she loves, not the sister-in-law she chooses never to associate with.

"This would not end well." She murmurs when she wakes from the much needed nap. Azula sits at the edge of the bed, a lit cigarette in between her fingers.

"You always say that." She dismisses this like she avoided everything else. She swats the smoke away, puts out the cigarette and Ty Lee could not help but think that perhaps she is just as disposable as this, as everything seems to her.

….

.

"I invited Azula to dinner."

It takes Ty Lee every sense of composure not to drop the knife.

"She has been working nonstop." Her husband sighs. Long suffering. "I suggested we wind up. Have a family dinner for once." Their relationship is not the best but Zuko is trying, she can tell. Zuko is trying to piece together his bond with the only remaining relative he still has. "Blood is thicker than water." He likes to say. To which Azula had once countered that she knew he does not and never did believe that. "Because the true quote is: the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."

"What did she say?" Ty Lee finally manages as she resumes her chore. The scent of onions wafts in her sense. She blinks, rubs her watery eyes.

"She refused of course." Zuko shrugs because they both know this is not the first time. "But she invited me to her place next week."

"Am I…?" She trails off, her shoulders sagged, knowing the answer.

"No." Zuko shakes his head. "She specifically instructed me not to bring you."

…

.

Two lines.

This one she almost, really, drops.

But she feels arms wrap around her.

Zuko twirls her around after he peered from behind her. Ty Lee holds the test kit, frozen and stunned for an entirely different reason than her husband imagines.

…

.

One hour before midnight a week later, Zuko calls from Azula's. "You have to come here." His tone is urgent. "Just take the taxi."

"What?"

There is a brief silence in the line before Zuko comes in again after heaving a heavy sigh. She thinks she heard Azula groan in the background. She is not sure. "Bring a first-aid kit. She requested for you to come."

….

..

"I broke the glass when he told me you are pregnant." Azula does not even wince as Ty Lee wraps the plaster around her bloodied hand. Zuko is in the other room, sulky after his suggestion of dropping his sister by the clinic is harshly rejected. "How did that even happen?"

"It failed." Ty Lee replies quietly. She gently places Azula's injured hand on her lap, avoiding her eyes. "It failed."

"One could never trust birth control."

"We couldn't."

"So you are having a child? A daughter, hopefully. I have always wanted a niece. You always wanted a child too."

"I want to raise mine with you."

Azula chuckles but Ty Lee is not to be fooled with that act. Azula is not as unaffected with this development as she tries so hard to seem. The bandaged hand is evidence enough.

Azula leans closer, kisses her.

Ty Lee breathes out. "He's coming."

True enough, footsteps click, the heavy crescendo of the moment of truth. But Ty Lee is too numb to move and she lets Azula's good hand stay on her cheeks.

"This would not end well." She says. She clasps Azula's hand, runs her lips into each fingers. She wants it out now. She wants the truth. She wants Zuko to know. "This would not end well, Azula." She could give Zuko what he always wanted, the child he wished for. Then she could have Azula. Then she could finally stop hiding.

But Azula withdraws her arm.

"Who says it has to end?" she scoffs and leans back as though nothing happened.

….

.

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