Chapter Seven
Azula cannot accept the idea that Ty Lee does not want her anymore.
Ty Lee always wanted Azula; Azula always wanted Ty Lee.
Before Azula ran away to Republic City, they had a tumultuous romantic relationship. When it was good it was fantastic; when it was bad it was horrible. They could live only in extremes for years, and Azula never cared enough to try to change it.
Now she wishes she had realized what she had before it was gone.
Recently, maybe even on the ship to Caldera, Azula discovered that her feelings for Ty Lee were genuine. She chased the girl and thought she won her, but she supposes she was wrong. And Azula is rarely ever wrong.
She stops pacing in her temporary jail cell and trying to wrap her head around Ty Lee walking out on her when Zuko enters. He sweats and looks uncomfortable, and she supposes he believes her about as much as Ty Lee does.
"I'm here to release you. Or, at least, take you back to the palace," Zuko says. "As long as you follow the conditions I've set up you can return to house arrest. You have a second chance, and I'd advise you not to waste it."
"Oh, I don't intend to," Azula purrs as she openly holds out her wrists. She should win an award for not insulting his pretend-mature tone.
Her strange behavior – her compliance most of all – unnerves him. He wonders if her desire for Ty Lee and a family is really enough for her to turn herself in so easily. He wonders if she even desires Ty Lee and a family in the first place. Elaborate ruses and disappearing acts are her specialties.
"Good," he belatedly responds.
Azula smirks and walks between her guards.
"So, where is she?" Azula inquires.
Zuko looks her up and down; maybe it is love that makes his sister behave crazier than ever.
He does not know what that observation means.
[X]
"I see my lodgings have not improved," Azula complains as she looks at her expansive and well-kept living quarters. Zuko rubs his face and sighs. "I will set aside my comfort and dignity and accept this offer of returning to my ancestral home. Oh, I'm sorry, ancestral prison. It is in fact slightly better than that cell."
Zuko grunts. "I'm glad you think so."
"Where is she?" Azula asks for the fourth time in the past hour.
"For the last time, I don't know. She's been living here without drawing attention to herself somehow, but I did give her a healer to go see. I hope he can help her," Zuko states as Azula studies him with scrutiny.
"I need to find her," Azula says.
But, as it turns out, Ty Lee finds her.
They sit in Azula's small living room in uncomfortable silence. On the ship it felt like Azula had never left and they were still together. Obviously, that has changed.
"I don't know if I want to involve you in any of this. I don't even know if I want to try to get cured," Ty Lee says and Azula's eyes flash.
"Of course you are going to get cured. Go with me to this healer Zuko talks about," Azula orders, straightening her back with a ferocious gleam in her eyes.
Maybe once upon a time it would have been enough for Ty Lee to try, but now she does not know anymore. It could be an opportunity to see if Azula's intentions are as pure as the princess makes them out to be.
"You left me, and running after me is romantic, yeah, but I know you're going to break my heart again," Ty Lee softly says, wringing her hands. Her heart is screaming to give Azula another chance, but her head is screaming that Azula has had enough chances.
"Let me try to make it up to you," Azula insists, a vehement glint in her gilded eyes.
"You always say stuff like that. You say it because it's what I want to hear and you want me," Ty Lee whispers and Azula tenses. "And you only are here, you only chased me because I'm dying."
Azula does not know if that is true or not, but she will not waste what time she has left with the one that got away.
[X]
Ty Lee allows Azula to accompany her to the famous healer a few miles away from Caldera. They have to bring what feels like a platoon of soldiers in order to follow the law, and it stresses Ty Lee out more than the appointment.
He supposedly can help her, but he will probably give her an estimate on how long she has to live.
Azula knows she can force her way back into Ty Lee's heart, she realizes as she sits in a waiting room filled with candles and mini waterfalls. Princess Azula thinks about her legacy as she tries not to think about Ty Lee dying. She was so obsessed with being important after she died that she did not notice the important things about being alive. Azula has made her mark on history; she will never be forgotten.
Now she just needs to try to live, to live and have a family and a happily ever after.
She wishes she had figured that out earlier.
Ty Lee walks out of the room with a grim expression. Azula's heart skips a beat.
"He says he can ease the symptoms until it's over," Ty Lee bluntly says to the princess. Azula does not want to hear that.
"No cure?" Azula snarls.
"There's experimental treatment in Republic City, but I don't want that," Ty Lee says, moving to leave.
"You should do it. Why wouldn't you do it?" Azula demands, sitting up and following Ty Lee. "You should try to live, shouldn't you? I'm sure I can get that treatment for—"
"I don't want it, Azula," Ty Lee whispers. Her quietness makes Azula very uncomfortable; she does not know where the girl she loved went.
But Azula keeps quiet, despite the betrayal.
Outside of the healer's office, "You used to love me. I thought I used to love you but I think – I know – that I still do. I would destroy the world for you," Azula says in the most grandiose way possible. Ty Lee often cannot believe her. "I would burn the sky down or..."
Ty Lee sets one finger on Azula's lips. "I know. I would die for you… but I won't live for you. And I certainly won't go through experiments so you can have me for a little longer."
Ty Lee starts to walk away.
Azula resorts to desperation. Weakness is the only thing that will get her what she wants most, and she would do anything to get what she wants most. "Please! Please don't leave again!"
Ty Lee turns around with an eyebrow cocked. "Is Princess Azula the Conqueror begging?"
"Yes," Azula spits. It makes her sick, but this venture is worth it. "I told you I would kill for you and I would certainly beg on my knees for you."
"Well, that is the most romantic thing you have ever said to me." Ty Lee glows and Azula knows she has a chance now.
"I won't force you to try to cure yourself, but how do you want to spend your last days alive?" Azula whispers.
Ty Lee gazes at her feet. "You really won't give up, will you?"
Coldly, Azula replies, "Never. I refuse to be defeated."
Ty Lee smiles softly to herself. She blushes that light pink shade that Azula sees when Ty Lee loves her the most. That smile, that flush and that gentle trembling, mean that Ty Lee loves her.
"Meet me at midnight in the Western Courtyard. I promise I'll be there. Do you promise me that? Because you have a history of vanishing without saying goodbye."
"I promise." Azula is not lying this time. She hopes Ty Lee can see that.
[X]
"I have seven hours before I need to meet Ty Lee," Azula explains to Zuko within minutes of arriving at the palace. He cannot believe it when he sets aside his work to attend to the matter of Azula and Ty Lee. "I have to get a ring before then. Seeing as I cannot leave this palace without proper accompaniment, you must come with me."
Zuko sighs. "She's not going to say yes," he has to say. He has to be honest about this.
"She's absolutely going to say yes, and you are going to help me pick out a ring."
"I know nothing about rings."
"You're Fire Lord. My Triad powers have significantly weakened since my flight from Republic City."
He decides that he can perhaps talk her out of it with more time, so he agrees to help her with the intimidation of shopkeepers. Zuko cannot let her do this. There is no way on Earth that Ty Lee would ever agree to marry Azula.
However, Zuko knows that Azula has to make her own mistakes to learn from them, just like has in his life. If she asks for his help, he will give it the best he can.
And so they head off to the most famous blacksmith in the Fire Nation. Azula talks about rings and Zuko looks at royal seals that are meant to go on them.
He cannot help but realize that she is serious.
Zuko never thought Azula could fall in love. He doubts she ever thought so either. But maybe it is one of those inevitable parts of human nature.
He thought helping her was just lip service, but by the time the ring is white hot, he thinks he wants her to succeed with Ty Lee.
[X]
"The fire is still there, but it's gotten cold over the years," is the first thing Ty Lee says when she meets up with Azula.
Azula had been waiting on a stone bench, gazing at the pale moon and the dull stars. The sky becomes less impressive as she ages, but despite how powerful she is, it always has a way of making her feel small.
The courtyard has changed, she has changed, Ty Lee has changed.
"Let me heat it up again," Azula purrs so smoothly that Ty Lee almost slips.
The more Ty Lee tries to escape, the more Azula's allure increases. But Ty Lee believes in her own strength and her wisdom. Yes, she feels those flutter bats, but she needs to ignore them and use her head so that Azula never plays her again.
Yet, Ty Lee does have that lingering doubt that perhaps Azula is not lying this time. What happens then? What happens if Ty Lee does not even try?
"I'll see how tonight goes," the smart side of Ty Lee says. Her stupid side would jump onto Azula's lap.
Azula rises and they walk together through the moonlit courtyard. The conversation comes as easily as it always does when their paths cross again. That might be the hardest part of their tangled relationship.
When they reach the most beautiful fountain in Caldera, Azula decides to go for it. She always gets what she wants and she does not expect that comfort to vanish any time soon.
"I am going to ask you something," Azula says, taking Ty Lee by the arm and then sliding her grip down to her hand. Azula presses the ring into her palm. "Will you marry me."
The beautiful band drops into the grass. Ty Lee is too shocked to speak for a moment before quickly replying, "No! Absolutely not!"
Azula forces herself not to gasp. Her head spins. She never would have anticipated that answer.
Panicked, Ty Lee attempts to salvage the situation by kissing Azula on the lips. She bites down and sucks and Azula pulls away.
"You should not have done that," Azula snarls. "You clearly do not want me and I am tired of wasting my—"
Ty Lee kisses her again. Azula wants to burn her for interrupting royalty, but the kiss forces those feelings back to the surface where they simmer, bubble and singe her insides.
Into Azula's neck, Ty Lee whispers, "There's only one good way to spend the last days of your life.
[X]
In the morning, Azula wakes confused and alone. She does not like to feel that way, but she understands why she cannot shake the negative sensation; the world always plays by her rules, but last night it did not. Ty Lee rejected the engagement, but they had sex right after she said no.
What happened? What were they thinking? Azula hasn't a clue.
Once she gets dressed and collects herself, she finds parchment, a pen and an inkwell. She writes three separate letters to Kun Song, Saiko and Meng Kui in order to inquire about the experimental cures the healer talked about. They know everyone and everything in Republic City; Azula knows at least one of them will have an answer.
She steals a palace messenger hawk to send them.
Hopefully, if she has more exact information, she can save Ty Lee's life, and prove that she deserves to regain Ty Lee's affection.
She goes to breakfast and finds Ty Lee there. The retired Kyoshi Warrior averts her eyes.
"What?" Azula hoarsely demands. She does not even bother with sitting down.
"I need to not need you. Whenever I'm with you, you become my life. When I'm in love in general – I'm a romantic – when I'm in love I don't think about anything but my romance. You make that even worse. If I'm worried about someone else, and have my heart controlling me, I'm never going to do what I want right now," Ty Lee explains, oddly articulately.
"What?" Azula demands again.
"I want to live it up while I can. I want to do all of the things that I didn't do before," Ty Lee says. "And you only hurt me, and you are probably lying, and even if you're sincere our relationship always is toxic. That fire is still there, but I have to ignore it if I want to be happy."
Azula clenches her fists. "I can live it up with you."
"If you love me, you'd care about my happiness more than yours."
Ty Lee wordlessly leaves, facing the wall so that Azula cannot see the tears on her cheeks.
[X]
Kun Song responds to Azula's letter first. It is long and filled with useful information. Most of the cure is done via the black market, and one of the men in charge recently fled to Caldera. Kun Song even knows just how she can track him down and find out where to go, what to get, and who to coerce.
At the moment, she is risking everything by sneaking out while on house arrest. She also is risking everything by cornering and interrogating the man Kun Song talked to her about.
"Tell me where," Azula whispers with fire in her eyes. "Tell me."
"You have infinite resources and I'm no fool. What do I get?" he smugly says.
Azula moves lightning fast and pins him against the alleyway wall by the neck with one hand and lights the other an inch away from his face.
"You'll get to keep your intact face and eyesight," she purrs so pretty. He gulps and she smirks.
"Go to Crimson Dragon Society territory and ask for Skinny Chan. He's the only one who does business with them. That's all I know, I swear. Please let me go. Please." He sniffs in so pathetically that Azula briefly considers sparing him.
Azula laughs a purely unhinged cackle.
"I'm afraid this isn't your lucky day." Before he can react she has stopped his heart with her lightning.
It was a clean death, at least.
Azula might be becoming kinder.
[X]
"Ty Lee, can I talk to you?" Azula asks when she comes across the ghost who haunts the palace with her but without her. "It's about a cure for your disease."
"I don't know if I want one," Ty Lee says, but she gestures for Azula to sit across from her.
"I spoke to Kun Song and he told me about the experimental cures in Republic City. They're illegal, but extremely effective, I hear. I tracked down someone important in the operation and he told me where to go to do business with them," Azula says. Her eyes glitter like a cat who has brought her human a dead mouse-rabbit.
"I'm not going to get prodded by dirty needles bought on the black market to stay alive for you," Ty Lee says. "What made you change your mind about wanting me back? You're doing more than just what you would do to be with a girlfriend."
Azula squirms slightly. She takes a deep breath.
"I want to have a human life," she admits.
"That's a weird word to use," Ty Lee says, laughing nervously.
"I was told I was inhuman. Well, more than once in my life by multiple people. But I started to realize that my legacy was not enough for me when my second in command argued with me. No one argued with me, but Kun Song did that night. He said I had nothing human left in my eyes. I burnt him... then fucked him. I never told him he was right, but he was."
Ty Lee slowly nods and Azula thinks she may have won. But Ty Lee just understands; that does not mean she will agree. "I won't be your fantasy or your way to make yourself feel better about what you've done to people."
Azula's fingers burn bright blue as she stands up at the speed of lightning. "I don't want you to be."
Ty Lee stops walking. "Yes, yes you do. We can be friends again. That's it."
[X]
Azula sits on the stone bench where she met Ty Lee a few nights ago. She has been staring at bushes for an alarming amount of time now. Zuko has been watching from afar and wondering if he should approach her.
He knows Ty Lee said no, and he presumes she is just distressed that she didn't get something she wants. Zuko still knows he should talk to her, though.
"What are you thinking about?" Zuko attempts as he walks up behind her.
She shifts her gaze to her feet for a few long moments.
"Maybe you can give me some advice from someone who has had a terrible life and fucks up constantly," Azula says. She then cannot hide the severity on her face. "How… how do you look at the one person you love and tell them that it's time to walk away?"
Zuko's stomach twists. He has never seen her like this. He never wants to see her like this because it is frightening to see an Azula with… feelings. A human and not a monster.
"You don't," Zuko says fiercely, hoping he will not regret it. "You don't ever do that."
