Well. I'm going to University in a month, so I really want to get this done, thankfully my muse came back today.
I've sort of given up the whole idea of different ships, I've found my A:TLAB OTP and now I have a hard time writing anything else with Sokka in it. Oh well. I'll keep going, but it's going to be more of a character study and what I think should have happened.
Here is my chapter about Ty Lee. Enjoy.
There is something about seeing a lost culture reborn that brings to mind the great triumphs of humanity and also the great failures. The rebirth of Airbending brought especially strong emotion.
Sokka was on the Island of Kyoshi when it first happened. He was sparring with Ty Lee when suddenly WOOSH he went flying much further than he should have with a normal bow. Ty Lee bounded over to help him up.
"Are you okay!?" She asked concern filling her gray eyes.
Wait.
Gray?
And he HAD been thrown halfway across the dojo.
Sokka took the hand offered him and stood up. He looked at Ty Lee. "How long have you known you could airbend?" He asked softly.
Her chin dropped, "Since I was a little girl."She responded quietly, then she looked up at him like he was going to hit her.
Sokka stepped back and dropped his hands to his sides. She looked calmer. Azula's ghost still hadn't left her and she panicked whenever she did something unexpected or better than anyone else, other than qi blocking or acrobatics, which happened a lot. Ty Lee was a talented woman.
She looked visibly calmer and took a breath.
Her partner, Ayano, ran over and glared at Sokka. She took Ty Lee's hands; Ty Lee smiled, "I'm ok." She said softly.
Ayano nodded and squeezed Ty Lee's hands before stepping away and going back to the wall. Ty Lee took a breath and returned to a fighting position. Sokka joined her.
-And the scene changed when the page break attacked-
Later that say Sokka walked out of the bathhouse shaking out his hair. He yelped and jumped when he felt a tap on his shoulder he turned to see Ty Lee standing there biting her lip.
"Hi?" He said confused.
"I don't want you to tell Aang." She looked him dead in the eyes, "I'm not ready yet, I don't want everyone to know yet."
Sokka nodded, "Ok, I get that." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm your friend Ty Lee, you don't have to worry."
Ty Lee Smiled, "Thanks Sokka." She had stopped calling him Cutie after she had seen him and Suki together and thought they were adorable. She bounded away over to Ayano who put her arm around Ty Lee's shoulders and they stumbled down the path laughing
Suki slipped her hand into Sokka's. Sokka turned and kissed her forehead, "How long have you known?" He asked as they continued down the path with fingers intertwined.
"I've known since she came to the island with us. She blew Ayano across the dojo on her first day." Suki smirked, "They've been inseparable ever since."
-And the scene changed when the page break attacked!-
A few weeks later Aang and Toph showed up on Appa, Mai and Zuko showed up on a Firenation ship for a visit and Katara came down from the north pole. The reunion was sweet and full of hugs, especially when Katara got involved.
They all gathered around Suki's table one night catching up. Mai and Zuko had finally gone a week without a near successful assassination attempt. Aang and Toph had wandered around the previous Firenation colonies and helped begin the change from colonies into sovereign states, while riding every available animal and beating up every goon they ran into of course. Katara had begun her official healer's training in the north as well as starting a school for female waterbenders, which had at least grudging support from Arnoch, his reasoning being that if Yue had been able to fight she might not have died.
The party was in full swing when there was a knock at the door, one of Zuko's guards opened it cautiously, it was a distraught looking Ty Lee who was carrying a passed-out Ayano over her shoulders. Katara and Suki rushed over to help get Ayano off of Ty Lee and onto the floor. She was bleeding out of a head wound and her arm was hanging at an awkward angle obviously broken in several places. Katara's healing hands floated over Ayano's head, the head injury being the more pressing concern; she breathed a sigh of relief, "She'll be ok, it's just a flesh wound." She examined the arm, "This is going to take time, but the breaks are mostly clean so she should have full use of her arm again soon."
With that positive diagnostic Ty Lee broke down into tears. She sobbed for a while before sniffing and hiccuping her way through the story of what exactly had happened.
"We were in the dojo we were using the fans and then I airbent and she few into the roof...and then she fell…" Ty Lee's eyes were haunted now, and not even Aang asked about her airbending even though he clearly wanted to. Katara rubbed her hands and made calming sounds. Ty Lee's shoulders started shaking again. Mai ushered her friend out of the house.
Aang looked at Sokka, who looked at Suki, who looked at Katara, who looked at Zuko who looked at Aang.
"So when were you going to tell us about her airbending?" Toph asked the question on everybody's minds.
"She didn't want anyone to know yet. She wasn't ready." Suki said firmly.
"Why?" Toph asked again.
Suki bit her lip and Sokka continued carefully, "Any time she did anything...unexpected Azula would punish her." He stopped and clenched his fists. Suki continued, "If Azula found out about her bending…"
You could feel the collective wince go through the room.
After a few minutes Aang spoke up, "I guess I'm not the last airbender anymore."
-And the scene changed when the page break attacked-
A year later Ty Lee stepped into the sun with glider in hand. She took a breath and threw it forward before jumping after it and fell. She felt the wind caress her body and hold it as if in a cushion; she angled her body towards the fast-coming grown and caught her glider before sailing up and away from the bone-crushing earth and up into the freedom of the sky.
So my thought is that Ty Lee would suffer from a little PTSD from Azula and their relationship. Ty Lee might have been the only person that Azula ever let herself care about, but she's an abusive person and abusers leave non untouched.
I'll probably write more about Ty Lee and Ayano another day.
