Title: ab igne ignem capere
Chapter Title: it takes only a few seconds to die
Author: honestly_sangi / Sangi
Prompt: 31_days ; june 29th: it takes only a few seconds to die
Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA or anything contained within or related to it.
Word Count: 8838
Rating: T
Characters: Ty Lee and her family, Mai, Azula, Iroh, Zuko, Ursa
Author's Notes: This is my idea of an alternate universe in which Azula was born first, is generally unloved, and turns out to be a kind-of hero.
Interlude on Ty Lee. There is a bit of a different tone and style in this chapter because it's Ty Lee's point of view.
Writing this was interesting, primarily because when I started writing Avatar, which was quite a long time ago now, Ty Lee was truly my favorite character. It made me excited to write her again, albeit from a different perspective, and I feel like I can portray her much more thoroughly now.
Ab igne ignem capere -
To light a fire with fire
- Cicero
You spend half of your life trying to fall behind
It was so easy, the words so sweet
- Regina Spektor, Eet
0.
Ty Lee is the youngest of seven girls.
They are all exactly alike and she wants to be different.
1.
When Ty Lee is born, her parents despair.
"Another girl?" They groan. "Couldn't we at least have one boy?" But it was not destined to be, and they have another little girl with brown hair and big brown eyes and a smile that never leaves her face.
Her parents are high-born nobles but they are rather eccentric. They were drawn to each other by some kind of aural magnets, or maybe because they are the only two people so different from everyone else.
Her father has a large moustache on his face that bristles when he talks. It fascinates Ty Lee when she is a child, and she often reaches out to touch it – but she can never reach it. He is a general and he acts stoic when they have people over for dinner, but when they don't he is a jolly man that smiles and laughs; he is a general and will do anything necessary – the ends justify the means. He is a general and can be mean.
Her mother is gentle and kind (most of the time; but she can be hard and cruel) and she likes to paint stories from the Water Tribe legends. Truthfully, that's enough to make her strange. But she's also a great-niece of Fire Lady Ilah and evaluates everything for the possible social value - including her daughters.
Their mother begins to arrange their marriages as soon as they are born. "It doesn't really matter," she says, "what the girls want. They will be happier this way. I only want what is best for them."
But Ty Lee comes to hate it when her parents call her the wrong name.
She can't blame them, she guesses, because they all look like and act alike. Each one is born only a year or so after the last one, so their ages aren't very spaced out.
Ty Lee is two when they first mistake her for her older sister.
The air is hot and sticky and she is outside with Sissy Baozhai, the second oldest. Ty Lee is endearingly chewing on a piece of grass as she stares aimlessly up at the sky. Next to her, Baozhai is telling her a story that she learned in her lessons today. Ty Lee is too young to really understand, so she gurgles and smiles when the time is appropriate. The sky is blue and filled with dark, formidable clouds and it quite looks like it's going to rain.
Ty Lee loves the rain.
"So you see," Baozhai is saying, "we all originally learned the art of firebending from the dragons. And not everyone can firebend, you know. I can't and neither can any of us. But the Royal Family can all bend. And there aren't any dragons anymore because Prince Iroh slayed them all."
"Mingzhu!" a voice calls out from behind them. Baozhai stops in her story and turns to look; it is their mother, dressed comfortably in home clothing and with a frenzied look on her face. "Oh, Mingzhu, where have you gone?" Her eyes land on Ty Lee and they light up.
Her small feet scurry over to where her two daughters are sitting. "Mingzhu! How did you wander off so quickly? I only looked away for a second…" She picks up Ty Lee and hugs her to her chest, stroking her hair.
Baozhai smiles a little, but shakes her head sadly. "Mother," she says formally.
The woman looks up, startled, and says, "Oh, hello… daughter. Did you need something?"
"Mother," Baozhai explains, "that is Ty Lee, not Mingzhu." Her eyes are a muddy brown, like all the other sisters, but they hold a sort of intelligence that makes their mother look back down at the girl in her arms. Oh. It is Ty Lee.
She sighs and sets the girl back down again. "I'm sorry, Ty Lee. You girls just all look so alike," she mutters, frustrated, and walks back to the house.
Oblivious to previous events, young Ty Lee shrugs and leans back against the grass. Baozhai frowns. She might not understand now, but she will one day. And it will be cruel, like it was for all of them, but there really isn't anything they can do. They are all the same and that is the way it is.
When Ty Lee gets older, she will be so different that they will never again mistake her for one of her sisters. But she doesn't know that yet.
Ty Lee sucks on her thumb and yawns egregiously.
Baozhai grins crookedly and begins another story. "Last week mother told me a story about the Avatar Kuruk and the woman he loved… and Koh the face stealer…"
2.
Dinner at Ty Lee's house is always fun. There are nine of them at the table, at the very least. All seven daughters and their parents. Sometimes they have guests over for dinner, and that's even more fun. Usually. Sometimes it isn't, when the guests are boring old men or yawning and unimpressed cousins.
Their parents spend a lot of time at the palace eating dinner during the summer and winter, so when all of them eat together it is something of an event. Cook makes those delicious raspberry pastries and there are fire flakes – oh, Ty Lee loves fire flakes – and roast duck and chicken and sausage and it's a lot more fun than when the sisters have to eat by themselves.
Ty Lee looks around at the smiling and giggling faces around her. Sometimes it is even difficult for her to tell her sisters apart as they grow older and more and more similar. Her oldest sister is twelve now and she is growing more mature with every day. This will be her last year at the academy; her and most of her other sisters go to the Academy and this year Mingzhu will leave and Ty Lee will be left all alone.
Well, her parents will be here but they don't really count.
Ty Lee's mother and father sit at the head of table, next to each other. Ty Lee watches as they share a look – a quick, covert glance – and make a decision.
"Attention," her father says. Most of his daughters turn to look at him. Ty Lee rests her head on her hand, elbow bent and resting on the table. "Attention," he says a bit louder.
The wood muffles the youthful sound of giggling. It doesn't echo; it dies swiftly.
Everyone's aura is red and pink and bright; each one is tinged with grey at the edges.
"We wanted to talk," her mother says. Her voice is sweet and low and indescribably beautiful. There is something about her that makes her so hard to dislike, even when there's so little to like. "Now that you are old enough," she smiles evenly, "we wanted to have a discussion about your futures."
Ty Lee doesn't really understand what there is to talk about. She is under the impression that everything is already decided.
"What brought this on," her father continues, and the words are too practiced, too smooth. It is all an act, Ty Lee decides, just like the actors on the stage at festivals. All an act. "Is that Huian's marriage to the second son of General Hu has been set for three years from now."
Everyone turns to look at Huian. She blinks her eyes twice before nodding. Everything is already decided.
Like a pendulum, all of their heads swing back to look at their parents. They are wary and a bit afraid, but this is the way things are.
Her mother and father share a smile. Acceptance was the expected outcome and their shoulders droop as their bodies relax. "The rest of you are all aware that your marriages are arranged and within the next few years will be set."
Her father's moustache bristles slightly. "Do you all understand?"
"Yes, father," they all chorus. All seven daughters except Ty Lee. Her brown eyes watch her parents and they look almost grey in the light of the room. Her mother raises her brows expectantly.
"Ty Lee?" she asks after a few silent moments. "Do you have something you want to say?"
The young girl shifts uncomfortably in her chair. She pulls her elbow off the table and sits up straighter. "Yes," she says determinedly. "I don't want to get married."
"Not right now," her mother says patronizingly. All of her sisters are looking at her, somewhat alarmed, but they turn away. They don't want to be involved in this. "But you will want to be married when you get older. You will understand when you're older."
Everyone always tells her that. They always tell her that she is too young and that she doesn't understand. But she does. "I don't want to get married," she says stubbornly.
Her father snorts. "What would you do, then? What else can a noble woman do?"
"I want…" she begins, searching. "Oh, I want to be an acrobat!" and suddenly her face is lit with excitement and happiness and wonder. "Like the ones at the circus!"
"You want… to join the circus?" her mother asks. Her mouth is hanging open and her eyes have widened with horror.
Ty Lee smiles. "Exactly."
She wants to be different.
3.
Ty Lee's parents are indulgent. They don't cancel the marriage arrangements, but they do get her a tutor so that she can learn acrobatics. She is the only daughter left at home and she spends most of her days with her tutor.
"Maybe," her father says, "she will change her mind."
"Perhaps," her mother echoes.
It is autumn and there is a slight chill in the air, but Ty Lee barely notices as she perfectly executes a cartwheel. Her outfit is bright and pink and very dissimilar to the muted greens and blues worn by her sisters, but she likes it and every morning when she puts on her clothes she smiles brightly. She loves her tutor, Mistress Ami, who appears every morning at nine and teaches her to be an acrobat. Mistress Ami doesn't frown very much, and Ty Lee likes that too.
She straightens as her feet land on the ground, at exact lengths from each other. "How was that?" she asks breathlessly.
Mistress Ami smiles gently. "Very good, Ty Lee. Now that you have mastered this, we will move on."
"Oh!" Ty Lee exclaims, bouncing on her heels. "What next? What will you teach me next, Mistress Ami?"
Her tutor cocks her head to the side and appears to consider for a moment, but there is a humorous glint in her eye and Ty Lee is so excited she can barely contain it. "I think," the woman says ponderously, "that we will begin on back flips today."
"Oh, really?" Ty Lee wonders. "Wow! This is going to be so much fun!"
Her eyes are wide and excited and she smiles widely, so widely that she feels as if her face might split with the force. Mistress Ami is kind and she laughs softly.
Their reverie is interrupted. "Ty Lee!" a voice yells from the house behind them. Curiously, Ty Lee turns and looks. It is her mother, waving a piece of paper in her hands. "You got a letter from Baozhai!"
Beseechingly, her eyes turn to Mistress Ami. The woman nods and Ty Lee is running, running off to her mother. She grabs the letter out of her hands and rushes off to her room. "Thank you!" she yells behind her. As soon as her door closes behind her, she greedily tears open the letter.
It is short and, at first, she is disappointed. But then she reads it.
Ty Lee,
We are all going to come home next week. I know that Mother and Father haven't told you, but General Hu has moved up the wedding because his son is leaving next month for the Earth Kingdom. Huian will be married in a week.
I'm sorry.
Sissy Baozhai
Her fingers tremble. Married? What does that even mean? The letter drops out of her hands and floats to the floor. She is only five and Huian isn't even thirteen and she's going to get married to a man she's never met?
This really isn't fair, Ty Lee decides. It isn't fair at all.
When her mother comes to find her, hours later, she is sitting on her bed staring out of the window. "Is it true?" she whispers.
"Is what true, Ty Lee?" her mother asks peacefully, but she knows. Ty Lee is sure that she knows.
"Is it true," her voice shakes, "that Huian is getting married next week?"
"Oh," her mother says, as if it was nothing, as if the fate of her daughter is nothing but idle conversation. "Yes. All of your sisters will be attending the wedding. You will also."
"Why?" Ty Lee asks.
Her mother purposely misunderstands. "Would you really miss your sister's wedding?" She asks archly and leaves.
Freedom is fleeting.
One week later, Ty Lee sits in formal red robes and watches as Huian closes her eyes. "I'm sorry," she says.
Huian smiles at her tremulously. "Yeah," she agrees. "Me too."
4.
Sometimes Ty Lee's parents take her to the palace, on days when she doesn't have lessons. The winter is nice and she could always practice her flips and aura reading but her parents don't really trust her to leave the house intact. They dress her up and braid her hair and she's stuck in a room in the castle with other nobles' children – children who wipe their runny noses on their sleeves and incessantly cry.
So she sneaks out when the servants aren't watching and wanders the palace. Her brown eyes glance furtively from side to side when she slips through the doorway, but no one is looking.
It really is a beautiful palace, she muses, running her hands along the edges of an intricate tapestry with intertwining dragons.
Quietly she slides open the ornate doors to another room, one filled with small trees – what do you call them? She can't remember – and blue and green vases. In the background Ty Lee can hear the babbling of soft water and she supposes that somewhere in the room is a small waterfall. She smiles at that. She likes the tinkling, chime-like sound. It's rather calming.
"Hello, young one," says a kind voice from behind her. She freezes and finally turns when the voice says nothing else.
Gold eyes meet wide brown eyes. It is a man, one a little older than her father's age. His hair is brown with some gray sprinkled at the roots and his eyes are kind. And there is a smile lingering on his face and he has a beard, but no moustache. His robes are silk and they look awful expensive.
Ty Lee bows, hands pressed together. She does not rise immediately. "I am sorry, my Lord," she says quietly, preserving the peace.
A soft chuckle echoes dully in the room. "No, no – it is fine. Come join me." He is sitting at a low table with a teapot and several teacups, one with curling smoke rising from it, in front of him. Ty Lee sniffs delicately. It doesn't smell bad. It actually smells rather good.
Gracefully, she unbends from her bow and beams. "Sure," she says brightly and skips over to the table, folding her legs underneath each other. "What kind of tea is it?" she asks curiously as her pours her a cup.
"Oh, just the regular Fire Nation spice tea."
"Mmm," Ty Lee murmurs as she takes a sip. "This is good."
The older man smiles. "Yes," he says, "I agree."
The acrobat smiles in return and sets her cup down on the table. "I didn't introduce myself, did I?" she asks. Ty Lee leans forward a bit. "I'm Ty Lee."
"It is very nice to meet you, Ty Lee. I am Iroh." He eyes her for a moment. "You look familiar. May I ask if you are one of the seven sisters?"
Ty Lee leans back and her smile fades. She droops a bit, head bowing slightly. "The youngest," she concedes in a muted tone.
"Hmm," he replies, "the youngest? I think I've heard of you," he continues - and Ty Lee perks up a bit at that. "Were you the one that cart wheeled on the Sato's dining table?"
Something pulls at the side of her mouth in the soft beginnings of a smile. "Maybe," she admits. He laughs heartily. Her eyes move to his. "Who are you?
"My name is Iroh."
"It's nice to meet you, Iroh," she says in return. "Tell me about you," she demands, shifting so that her hands are pressing against the table in eagerness. Ty Lee's eyes shine with something like happiness and maybe even glee.
The Dragon of the West regards her for a moment before taking a slow sip of his tea. "Why don't you start," he suggests with a twinkle in his eye, "and then I'll tell you about me."
Her eyes grow distant before refocusing on his face. "My name is Ty Lee and I have six sisters and we're all the same – but that's okay," she reassures, "and I like reading auras and I want to be an acrobat and join the circus."
"You want to join the circus?" And he isn't horrified, but amused and possibly intrigued at the prospect. There is a welcoming smile on Iroh's face and Ty Lee answers excitedly.
"Uh-huh," she confirms. "And I'm going to be the best acrobat ever. I bet you'll even hear about me."
The smile lingers on his face. "I'm sure I will."
She shifts eagerly, moving her weight from side to side. "Now tell me about you!" she demands.
The older man leans back in his cushion and sets his cup of tea, now empty, down on the table. The taste of spice remains on his tongue. "My name is Iroh," he says very seriously, "and I have one brother and one son, and I like to play pai-sho and I –" Iroh pauses for a moment. "I want to see my son grow old."
"I think you will," Ty Lee says. "I'm almost always right," she adds, "except for when I'm wrong."
They sit in silence. Their bodies relax and the young girl closes her eyes and simply breathes. The soft noise of water running over stone is omnipresent; it was pleasant at first, Ty Lee thinks, but after a while it grows old. Everything grows old after a while, she notices.
"You know," Iroh says after some time, "some call me the Dragon of the West." His calloused hands re-heat the teapot and steam comes curling in swirls and twists out of the spout.
With those words, Ty Lee's attention is riveted on him again. "Really?" she asks breathlessly.
His answer is a secretive smile.
5.
The night is dark and dangerous and it shrouds them in secrecy. Stars twinkle softly in the sky and the moon is a beaming beacon of light; rays come through the soft paper of the window and illumine the room from darkness to shadows.
"The situation has come too far," he says. He is lying on the bed, back propped against the carved, wooden headboard. In the obscurity she can see the hardened glint of his eyes.
She stops applying a cream to her face. Her fingers tremble as she wipes them off on a hand towel on her vanity. In the reflection of the mirror she can see her face. A tear cuts a streak through the cream; it falls off of her cheek, onto the table. "We did not know," she whispers. "How were we to know?"
Her husband snorts and crosses his ankles. "How were we to know what? That our daughter is apparently infertile?" His eyes are distant. "I can hardly believe it myself. But General Hu assures that it has been confirmed by no less than three healers."
"I cannot accept it," she says. "It is impossible. Nothing was wrong with her, we had her checked –"
He cuts her off. "But not for this," he reminds her. "She was never checked for fertility. We… assumed."
"We won't do that again," she adds with a crooked, cynical smile. "We have to get all the girls checked."
"No," he says definitively. "We cannot. If word got out that one of our girls is infertile, would anyone want to marry any of our children?"
She frowns. "But they cannot call be infertile! It is not possible!"
The man shakes his head. "Does it matter? They will say it runs in the family, that children of the fertile ones will be infertile. We cannot let word of this escape our household, and General Hu must be appeased."
"How?"
Her husband appears to think for a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Cancel Mingzhu's and Ty Lee's marriage agreements."
Her face pales even more. "Why them? Why?"
His face is serious. "You know that their contracts have not been formally affirmed. New arrangements may be made; the families involved in their marriages are not as important as General Hu's clan."
She is not happy with this, but it is the way it must be. Although her family is related to the Fire Lady, the connection is not firmly established nor acknowledged. Her husband's position as a General is imperative to the survival of her family and her daughters. And this is the way it must be. Her eyes are a light brown – hazel almost – and she can see them harden in resolve as she watches her reflection in the mirror. "So Mingzhu will marry General Hu's son when she is old enough, and Huian's arrangement will be dissolved. What will become of Huian?"
"She must come live with us again; she certainly can never marry, not in our world. Perhaps she could become a governess for an eccentric noble or merchant family. There is hope for her yet," he assures softly.
"And what of Ty Lee? Why must her engagement end?"
He looks away and she cannot see his eyes. She misses the comfort they gave her. "General Hu believes we have dishonored him, and even with another marriage he will hold a grudge. His power is too great and we cannot risk that he or someone else will have leverage over our family." He takes in a deep breath, letting it slip through his mouth slowly. "Ty Lee must marry well – very well – to give our family more power. She must marry to give us the leverage against him and other families."
The woman closes her eyes. Ty Lee is her youngest. She loves all her daughters, and she wants what is best for them, even if at times she seems cruel. She only wants what is best for her family. "Who must she marry?"
His eyes swing to meet hers. His are a dark gold and they smolder as clouds pass in front of the moon and the room darkens. "You should make an arrangement to meet with the Lady Ilah. It may benefit us if you were to get to know your great-aunt better."
"You don't mean – " her eyes are awed and frightened all at once.
"If," he says, "Ty Lee were to marry a relative of the Royal Family, of Azulon, or a member of his family, it would increase our status exponentially." The side of his mouth quirks and then settles down again. "The youngest prince has no such arrangement – you know they wait until they are older before making plans."
She nods slowly. "That is customary for them."
"If we were to get closer to your relations, it is possible that we may be able to make a marriage that would benefit us and all the families affiliated with ours – including General Hu's. And we would become powerful, much more powerful than now."
"Yes," she whispers brokenly. "We would."
He motions for her to come to the bed. She wipes her hands, now sweaty, and makes her way to her side of the elevated mattress. The woman climbs on clumsily and settles shakily beneath the sheets. Her eyes are wide and they stare at the canopy, red and swirls in the night, but she sees nothing.
"We will make Ty Lee our heiress, rather than Huian," he adds, when her breathing is calmer and more even. "That way marriage to her will mean inheritance of our fortune and good-standing."
His wife does not answer. She turns so that her back is to him. He waits. "What do you think?" he asks when the silence becomes unbearable.
"It is a good idea," she says mechanically.
He smirks a bit. "Yes," he agrees. He closes his eyes; the moon comes through the window again and illuminates his mouth. It lays limp and he is calm – too calm.
Ty Lee's mother cries silently. She loves her daughters, all of them, and she only wants what is best for them. But is this for their well-being… or for her and her husband's benefit? She does not know, and she does not want to know. This is the way it must be.
"She is so young," she sighs. "so young..."
6.
Ty Lee sits in the practice courts of the palace and watches as a young boy shows off his firebending exercises to several noble boys.
He is good, she muses, but she's seen better.
The tips of the grass are yellow and brown with the decaying remnants of winter; the roots are green and full of life as spring pushes on inexorably. Wisps of clouds are present in the sky but it is a stunning blue and there is little breeze. It is a sunny and bright day.
At this moment it is very likely that her pink, loose pants are being ruined by grass stains. But Ty Lee doesn't really care. She's bored in the palace and there isn't any other entertainment since the old man Iroh left with his son to go to war. Almost every day now she ends up here, watching the boy and his little friends.
He has gold eyes and he is always so angry-looking. When his friends mess up in their routine, he laughs cruelly. They just dust off their pants and let him take over. She imagines that it is easier that way.
When he fails at a back-flip none of his friends say anything, but Ty Lee giggles. She tries to be quiet but the sound carries through air and across stone to reach the young boy's ears. He turns around, irritated, and when he sees her sitting on the ground he stalks toward her. His posse follows.
Ty Lee stands up and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, nonchalant. "Hello," she greets when he is closer.
"Who are you?" he demands. "Who are you to laugh at me?"
"My name is Ty Lee," she says simply. "I'm going to be an acrobat."
His friends laugh loudly but the boy only frowns harder. "An acrobat? You?" He scoffs. "Prove it."
The girl shrugs. "Watch," she instructs and back-flips three times, ending in a perfect split. She slides up from the split into the scorpion position, resting the bottom of her feet on the crown of her head. She pulls one elbow off the ground and waves. "See?" she asks before straightening up. "I'm going to be an acrobat. Do you want me to teach you how to back-flip?" she asks with a smile on her face.
His friends are uncertain now as to his reaction. His face is an angry, dark red and she can practically see steam pouring from his ears. "No!" he exclaims. He steps forward and pushes her onto the ground. She lands hard on her bottom. "I don't need you to teach me anything. I don't need you," he says with a sneer and then stomps away. His friends follow with nervous looks back at her.
Her eyes sting with tears at the pain and indignity. She opens her mouth to tell him off, but he is already halfway to the palace now, laughing loudly. It is a cruel and harsh laugh and Ty Lee doesn't like it. She doesn't like it, not at all.
"Here," a soft and low voice says from behind, and gentle hands scoop her up so she is standing again. A woman emerges to her right, one about her mother's age. There are light lines on her face, but she is still fiercely beautiful. She has gold eyes that stare dully after the unkind little boy.
After a moment her attention returns to Ty Lee and she smiles, although Ty Lee can tell that it is strained. It is the smile her mother has when something has gone horribly wrong but she doesn't want anyone to know. Ty Lee smiles back, though, because this woman seems a lot better than that mean boy.
"I am the Lady Ursa," the woman says. "I apologize for my son's actions. He can be… rash." She inclines her head shallowly and Ty Lee returns the gesture.
Then the acrobat shrugs. "It's okay," she says. "It happens."
A loud thump from far away calls their attention and they both turn their heads to see the boy sparring with his friends in the grass. They watch together as he wins and pushes his friend on the ground.
"Your son isn't very nice," Ty Lee observes.
Ursa sends her a quick glance, but smiles bitterly. She hates the taste of defeat. "I know."
7.
It is a cool spring day; the flowers are in bloom and the plants are slowly turning green again. The weather is very nice and Ty Lee loves the brisk breezes that ruffle her hair – carefully arranged for an excursion – and everything smells so clean. Scattered clouds hang low in the sky, dark and promising rain. Ty Lee loves the feel of rain on her skin – cool and soft and all liquid and afterwards her maids always make her take a bath but she stands in the rain anyways. She likes the rain.
Thunder cracks threateningly in the air above their heads, and Ty Lee's brown eyes look upwards. She smiles lightly and stumbles as her mother tugs on her hand.
Her mother is giving her a tour of the palace – it is very important, her mother had told her, that you get to know the palace very well. Everyone worth knowing can be found in the palace. They have already made their way through the front hall and the dining halls, although they give the throne room a wide berth. As they walked past the door, Ty Lee could hear the crackling of fire; an uncontrollable shudder travelled through her body.
She doesn't tell her mother that she's already seen the majority of the palace on her own.
Now they are wandering through the many gardens and courtyards dotted throughout and around the palace – her mother tells her that many of the nobles and even members of the Royal Family spend their extra time relaxing in the gardens.
Even though she is wearing raised sandals, Ty Lee can feel the grass brush against her feet. The grass is clammy and waxy with the latent water in the air and it makes her feet itch. Her nose involuntarily scrunches. "Mother, where are we going?" she asks.
Her mother doesn't turn around as she answers. "We are going to one of the covered sitting areas, Ty Lee. We will wait out the rain – for a while, at least."
The little girl's shoulders shrug and so she follows her mother to an area paved with uneven stones, covered by a low roof. There are several weather-worn cushions, clean and serviceable, and they settle into two of them. The cushions are black, dusted with grey from the ground, with embroidering in gold.
"Oh," her mother says in a low, disappointed tone and Ty Lee turns to look as her brows furrow. "Your hair is ruined… the wind blew it everywhere." She doesn't really care, but a frustrated hiss escapes her mother's mouth and she moves closer to Ty Lee to rearrange it. Her elegant fingers take out the flower comb and pins and her dark brown hair falls down her back, all the way to her waist.
Rain starts to fall. It begins with small drops until it is a small downpour. The drops make a ping-ping, thump-thump sound against the stone of the walkways. Against the grass it is a mere shuffle-shuffle.
Covered walkways wind through the garden, lighted paths of save haven. In one of them not far away from Ty Lee and her mother, a small figure, not much taller than her, she supposes, leans against the railing and watches the rain fall. There is a distant and diluted look on her small face. Her eyes glow in the gloomy day.
Ty Lee is ever-curious. "Who is that, mother?" she asks quietly, nodding her head minutely toward the other small girl.
She can feel soft shuffling as her mother readjusts her body so that she can see what her daughter is talking about. As soon as she sees the girl, though, her body freezes slightly. "Oh," she says nonchalantly, "that is the Princess Azula. Do not talk to her, Ty Lee," her mother warns.
"Why?" Ty Lee wants to know.
The acrobat can feel the force of her mother's frown. "You must not talk to her because she is not part of our world, Ty Lee. You must not be kind to her. She is not approved by the Royal Family."
Her legs shift uncomfortably. She hates sitting for long period of time. "What's wrong with her? Isn't she a princess?"
"Yes, but that means nothing in this world, Ty Lee. She is a princess but her parents do not love her. It is said that she cannot even firebend."
"Why don't her parents love her?" Ty Lee is confused. Don't all parents love their children?
Her mother's hands still in her hair. "Some say," she whispers confidentially, "that it is because she is a stupid girl. But I do not believe them. I think it has more to do with the fact that she is intelligent and a firstborn. Everyone knows how Ozai feels about his brother, and with a daughter so similar to him… well," she shrugs and her hands pull brown hair into a convoluted twist.
"Oh."
Ty Lee watches the girl, observing how she is still even though the cold winds pull at her clothes and hair. Her arms are crossed and they push against the railing even as her head is raised toward the sky, now, and her eyes are closed. Lightning flashes and thunder follow closely, the sound reverberating through the courtyard. The ground trembles under them.
The Princess Azula's eyes open; they are gold and bright. Her aura is a soft gold also, tinged with red at the edges and interspersed with streaks of bright blue. She is a burning candle in the night and Ty Lee is attracted to her like a moth to flame.
She is different and Ty Lee likes different.
8.
One day near the end of the summer, Ty Lee's parents ask to speak to her alone. Her sisters have been back for almost two months now and she has somewhat greatly enjoyed the time that she has spent with them; they all seem so old, now, compared to her. She is the child of the family and they laugh and giggle when she doesn't get a joke or when she says something silly. She feels somewhat left out.
But it's all okay because Mistress Ami is still teaching her acrobatics and she can walk across a tightrope and flip all she wants. When her parents and sisters watch they have slightly disturbed and disgusted looks on their faces; Mistress Ami watches with proud admiration. Ty Lee likes Mistress Ami. She is teaching her to block chi and control a person's bending. It is a dangerous and powerful art, she is warned. You must not use it without cause.
I won't, she promises. I'll only use it when it is necessary.
She slips out of her shoes at the door leading into the house. Her socks make a soft noise against the wood of the floor as she walks through the hallways of her house – she reaches her father's study and, furtively looking around, presses her ear to the door before entering.
"Are you sure that now is the right time to tell her?" she can hear her mother asking.
"There is no better time," her father answers ambiguously.
Ty Lee pulls back from the door and frowns. Tell her what? Quietly she slides the door open, bowing shallowly as she enters and seats herself with her legs folded beneath her. "Mother," she greets. "Father." The wood floor is dark and carefully polished.
Her parents do not incline their heads or directly respond. Her father's dark eyes, brown with tints of hard gold, stare at her. There is sweat on her mother's brow. The girl uncomfortably shifts her legs. "You… wanted to speak to me?" she asks in a small voice.
They share a glance. Her mother's fingers clench in her lap and her lips purse but she says nothing. Instead, her father speaks. "We must speak with you about something very important, Ty Lee."
Again she shifts. "Oh?" What is it?
Her mother's voice is gentle and soothing. "We have cancelled your marriage arrangements to the eldest son of the Ito family."
"Really?" Ty Lee asks and her eyes are bright and there is a small, telling tilt to her lips. "So you really believe that I can be an acrobat? Wow!"
Now it is her parent's turn to shift uncomfortably. The room is warm and a drop of sweat runs down her mother's face, but she does not wipe it away. It smears her face paint and it almost looks like a tear. Ty Lee watches as a long silence endures. She retreats back into herself. It is obvious they do not think she can become a noteworthy acrobat. Her lower lip juts out a bit and she is disappointed.
Finally her father speaks. "No, Ty Lee. That is not why we have cancelled your engagement."
Obviously. It isn't fair, she thinks. It really isn't fair.
"We believe," her mother says, "that you have the capability to marry someone of much higher station."
Her eyes widen. "What do you mean?" she asks. Her voice trembles slightly.
Her father smiles and it is cold. "Ty Lee, it has become important that you marry very well. You and your marriage would bring great honor to our family. You would bring honor that is necessary in order for us to gain more influence at court."
Brows shift downward. "But aren't you a general? Aren't you influential enough?" Her father isn't like this. He is kind and gentle and he laughs and is jolly. Her mother isn't like this. She is sometimes rough but overall she is nice and loving and she holds her when she has bad dreams. This isn't her father; this isn't her mother.
"Certain events have recently caused us to lose power," her mother replies quietly. "You are the only one whose marriage was not formally in place."
"What about Mingzhu? Her engagement is still open to break!" Ty Lee pleads. Tears blur her eyes. Does this mean she will have to stop learning acrobatics?
The man across from her shakes his head solemnly. "Mingzhu's marriage was also cancelled, Ty Lee. It has been rearranged to General Hu's son."
A lone tear overflows and runs down her cheek. "But isn't Huian married to General Hu's son?"
Her mother's face is shadowed. "It was found that Mingzhu is incapable of bearing children. General Hu is very angry with us, and so it was made to be that Mingzhu would become his wife when she is old enough."
She sniffles. "What will happen to Huian?"
"She will come home and live with us," her father answers. "She will train to be a governess or tutor."
Ty Lee turns her face away so they will not see her cry. She hates when she cries because her entire face turns pink and her nose runs. Her aura turns into a gloomy grey and she hates when she cries. "Who do you want me to marry?" Her entire body quivers with sobs, and her words are breathy.
"Someone related to the Royal Family, on Azulon's side," her mother says. "That would give us a direct connection to the throne. Being related to the Lady Ilah does not count," she precludes Ty Lee's budding question, "because she married into the Royal Family."
"The best possible outcome would be that you marry the young prince."
Her head snaps back so that she can see her parent's faces. They are calm, although there are some lines of worry on her mother's. "What?" she asks incredulously. "But he is a year or two younger than me!"
"That does not matter," her father says.
"There is no way," Ty Lee says angrily, "that our family is noble enough to hope to marry a prince."
Her mother blinks slowly and her father smirks. "Prince Ozai's wife is the Lady Ursa, who is related to Avatar Roku. Although her family is noble, Avatar Roku is disgraced, as Fire Lord Sozin told everyone about his lies and wrath." Ty Lee knows about Avatar Roku; Fire Lord Sozin had warned of his greed and how his death had been his own doing. "And look… she married a prince. If she can, so can you."
"I don't want to."
Her mother's eyes wrinkle and the young girl can see her blinking back tears. "You are our only hope, Ty Lee."
"I can't."
"You must." Her father's voice is made of iron. She cannot help but bend.
Her head hangs low in acceptance and she hates it. She hates them. She hates Prince Zuko and his mother and the Fire Lord and General Hu and she just wanted to be an acrobat. That's all. She didn't ever ask for anything else.
A paper appears in front of her, and she looks up slightly as a servant that had previously been kneeling in the corner backs away. The servant is deaf and he usually present in meetings such as this. Ty Lee secretly thinks that he can read lips, but she doesn't tell her parents.
She looks at the paper. There are names carefully written in blank ink on the page, all names of girls. "What is this?" she asks.
"Those are names of girls who you must befriend. Their families are, at times, influential. Either that or they are related to Azulon and have brothers."
She frowns. "Who is Jin?" There are so many names…
Her mother answers. She has been silent for a while, too busy holding back her tears. "A girl of merchant birth; her father has been a councilor to Prince Ozai before, however, and if you are friends with her it may give you a connection to the Royal Family."
Ty Lee hates this. She hates it all. But she bows respectfully, low, and leaves the room without being dismissed. As she walks down the hallway she can hear her sisters giggling and she hates them too because everything doesn't depend on them. Everything depends on her.
Once she is back in her room, she looks down at the paper in her hand. She hates the paper. She clenches her fist around the paper and it becomes little more than trash. Angrily, she throws it underneath the bed before flopping down and crying into her pillow.
She can't do it. She just can't do it.
9.
The Academy isn't what she expected. It is light and airy with white walls, and she had expected red on gold and black. There is no rank in the Academy, but there is rank in the Academy. The teachers treat them all the same but the girls treat each other differently. The merchant girls are lower than the noble girls, and they know it. When Ty Lee waits in line to get her lunch, they let her cut them with small bows. It is flattering but it doesn't really make a difference.
Ty Lee doesn't want to be friends with them anyways.
But even though they let her cut in line, they don't want to be her friend either. Apparently everyone knows how she is different.
The first night she eats in the main dining hall. She looks around for her sisters, but when her eyes land on them and they turn around. A pang goes through her heart. She is not welcome there. None of the other tables look very welcoming either. Well, she doesn't want to be friends with them. Not at all.
So she inconspicuously makes her way to an empty spot at a table with only one other girl. A comfortable silence follows as she eats her duck and drinks her tea. The light shining through the windows begins to fade and the torches are then lit, casting the room into shades of orange and yellow. Ty Lee hears a loud commotion from a nearby table and looks over.
A girl with long, black hair is giggling politely, one hand covering her mouth. The other girls are giggling, too, and their glances are pointed in the direction of a girl eating alone on the fringes of the dining hall. Her hair half-pulled up and her back is facing Ty Lee. She moves and the acrobat can see the side of her face. With a jolt of surprise she recognizes the girl. Is that - ?
"You're better off without them," a voice from next to her advises.
Ty Lee looks over and it is the other girl at her table. She has slanted gold eyes and short black hair in messy pigtails. Her plate is still mostly full but she doesn't seem to be eating very much.
"What do you mean?" Ty Lee asks.
The other girl pushes her food around her plate with her chopsticks. "Those girls are shallow and full of themselves. All they do is make fun of the other girls."
The girl with the long black hair at the nearby table laughs even louder and they both turn to look at her again. "Who is that?"
"Her name is Jin," her new acquaintance says. "She's just a merchant's daughter but she acts like she is a princess. And everyone lets her get away with it."
Ty Lee watches as the girl says something that looks suitably nasty. "She doesn't seem very nice," she observes.
"She isn't."
The girl with pigtails is looking at her when she turns around. When she speaks, her voice is the high voice of a little girl but she sounds so bored. She seems so weary. "How do you know about her?"
Pigtail girl shrugs. "I got here a week early."
"Oh," she says. "Well, my name is Ty Lee."
"My name is Mai," Mai says. There is a glint of something in her eyes that Ty Lee can't identify and she's not sure that she likes it. But she smiles and holds out her hand anyways. Mai catches it and squeezes it lightly.
Ty Lee's smile grows. "Do you think we could be friends?" she asks. Mai smiles back, a razor of a smile, and shrugs.
"Maybe."
Ty Lee giggles. Mai isn't on her parent's list of 'important girls', but she becomes friends with her anyways.
10.
A week has passed since Ty Lee helped the Princess Azula escape from Jin. Ty Lee hates Jin and she writes her parents that they are the best of friends, but it is all a lie. But she likes it better this way. Mai is a good friend and they spend a lot of time reading and talking in the library – not many of the girls spend time in the library. It is a quiet and nice meeting place.
But Ty Lee hasn't seen Azula very much. A smile in the hallway, passing notes in class, that embarrassing lunch incident involving tea and the front of Jin's dress – Ty Lee giggles at the memory – but except for glimpses and lunch (where most of the time Azula is almost silent), she hasn't gotten to talk to her at all. And Ty Lee wants to be friends with Azula because Azula is different like her and Mai. Differents should stick together, she reasons mentally.
"I'm going to go and find Azula," she announces on their free day. Mai looks up from where she is taking down notes from her scroll, on her bed, and quirks a brow. Ty Lee is in the middle of a handstand.
"Okay. See you later," Mai says. She continues to write.
Ty Lee smiles. Mai is so funny. She pushes her feet forward and gracefully lands. Her body unbends and she stands upright. "Bye!" she says, walking toward the door. She stops in the doorway and angles her head back at the knife-user. "You sure you don't want to come?" she asks.
"Yeah," Mai says.
Ty Lee shrugs. "See you at dinner."
She marches down the hallway, ducking around giggling girls and spontaneously performing a double front flip. Several of the girls give her dirty looks, but she just grins back at them. Her sister Baozhai, here for her final year of schooling before she marries, shakes her head but gives her a small smile anyways.
Azula isn't in her room when she gets there and there aren't any classes today, so Ty Lee heads to the practice courts. She is there, moving her hands in swirls as blue fire pours out, heating the air around her. She looks rather warm although it is chilly outside.
"Hey, Azula!" Ty Lee says loudly, jumping up and down and waving her arms.
The princess turns around and her face looks amused when she sees Ty Lee. She waves her arm and the acrobat walks onto the courts – no one else is there but them. She flips so that she lands in front of her new friend. "Hi Azula!" she says happily. "What were you doing? Firebending?"
"Yes," says Azula. "I was practicing a routine. What were you doing?"
She smiles. "Oh, Mai and I were studying in her room but I wanted to come find you. Mai didn't want to come because she likes to study. I wonder what's wrong with her," she muses.
Azula laughs, and it is a small laugh – but it is a start. When she stops, her eyes twinkle a bit. "You can't firebend, can you?" she asks with interest.
Ty Lee shakes her head. "No, and neither can Mai. But I'm going to be an acrobat and Mai will throw knives and we're going to join the circus. Hey, you want to come too?"
The princess looks bemused. "I'll think about it," she promises dazedly.
Ty Lee claps her hands together in elation. That's good enough for her. She tilts her head to the side with a curious look on her face. "Do you want me to teach you to back-flip?" she asks carefully.
Azula looks somewhat nervous. "I don't know," she answers. "Is it hard?"
"Sometimes," Ty Lee says. "But once you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun."
"Okay," Azula says anxiously. "What do I do?"
Ty Lee stands so there is plenty of room behind her and puts her hands above her head. Her knees bend. "Watch," she instructs, and pushes up with her knees and lands perfectly on her hands; she pushes again and she is on her feet. "You have to push enough to move your body weight," she explains. "Now, get into this position." She demonstrates.
The other girl moves into the position, her hands in the air. "Now push!" Ty Lee says loudly.
Azula pushes and ends up confused and on her backside. Her eyes blink as Ty Lee watches, wide and open and obviously baffled. She giggles but it isn't cruel.
"Yeah," she says. "That's pretty much how my first time went too. Want to try again?"
She holds her hand out to the princess. You must not talk to her, her mother had said. You must not be kind to her.
Azula looks warily from her hand to her face.
"Come on," Ty Lee urges.
Azula grabs her hand and pulls herself off the ground. Ty Lee beams.
Freedom is fleeting.
She will take what she can get.