"Mother, I did nothing wrong and this is Zuko's fault for saying I was dead when I wasn't!" Azula exclaimed with such bravado that Zuko wanted to scream.
They were standing in front of a roaring fire, and it was impressive that the flames did not surge and consume half of the room. Because Azula literally could not have picked a worse time to show up very alive when she was supposed to be very dead; all of Zuko's friends were here for her memorial service.
His mother was so shocked that she did not move. He was fairly certain that Mai was as near to laughter as she ever got. Aang was nervously laughing, Katara was glaring, and mother had a look on her face that Zuko did not like. A face that Zuko had not seen since he was a little child and got into trouble.
Before the situation could explode, the Fire Lady walked in. "I got your room ready, Azula," she said quite confidently, her one so warm and welcoming and her eyes glossing right over the shocked and scrutinizing bystanders.
"Of course," Azula said coolly, and she walked towards Ty Lee with a very slight stagger that was so affected that Zuko stared directly into Mai's eyes, silently begging her to say something about it. But she just shrugged at him.
Azula left the room with Ty Lee and they disappeared into the depths of the palace, leaving Zuko taking deep breaths and wishing he had an alibi or at least a good reason for his transgression.
"I am as confused as you all are," Zuko said, and he genuinely thought that it was true. No one disagreed with him. "But, I'm very open to questions."
The fire crackled and he glanced around at their faces again.
This was bad.
Azula expected to be housed in her own bedroom. But she was led down the hallway to the guest wing. It was surprisingly lacking in spider-fly webs and an untraceable ice cold breeze. In fact, it felt warm and smelled like spice instead of dust.
"This place used to be so... inhospitable," Azula remarked casually and Ty Lee just clenched her jaw. "So, why can't I stay in my own room?"
"Izumi has it," Ty Lee said bluntly. Her voice was pretty, honed to be innocent, but Azula could hear the anger in her tone.
"Right, well..." Azula sighed and Ty Lee stopped walking.
"You could be staying in a prison cell, you know," she said and now her cuteness was replaced thoroughly with venom.
Azula turned around to face her and Ty Lee's stomach churned with the knowledge that this was the hallway she accidentally kissed Zuko in. They had done nothing else romantic after their wedding night, but it haunted Ty Lee now that she could see Azula in front of her.
"Why are you angry? You should be overjoyed that I decided to return to your life," Azula said, combing her fingers through her soaked hair. She was dripping on the new carpet, but it was ugly anyway. "And clearly you enjoy my daughter. You couldn't take care of a cactus in my eyes; I am impressed and grant you my approval that you became an adequate mother."
Ty Lee did not know how to respond to that, and so she continued walking. Azula followed her, now much more troubled than she was before. She did not expect fanfare or a parade for her return, but she was certain that Ty Lee would be happy. She was always happy!
Azula allowed Ty Lee to lead her to a room that she had set up. The princess walked in contentedly until she saw something that was like a spider-snake popping out of nowhere and taking a chunk out of her chest.
That was the little girl, the little Izumi, waiting on the bed, kicking her legs back and forth and sitting on her hands.
Azula stared at the little child, and then would quickly look away when she noticed her gaze had drifted there again.
The girl was very happy and therefore Azula knew she would be more than forgiven if she made up some sob story about how she couldn't give the baby what it deserved and gave it away. That she had hoped the girl would reach Zuko, because she knew he believed in the fables of integrity and honor.
None of that was true.
She just panicked. It was too hard for her, and so she quit as soon as she realized she was not a prodigious mother. Azula wanted things to be easy again... and so she gave away an infant to Ty Lee.
Granted, Ty Lee was the only person Azula interacted with for years. She did not have much of a choice.
"Izumi, you're supposed to be in bed," Ty Lee said quietly and her nose was bright red. Azula almost wanted Izumi to stay; perhaps she could provide a human shield if this went south.
"I wanna meet her!" Izumi exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with an innocence Azula was not sure if she loathed or envied. "Hi! I'm Izumi and I don't know you!"
Azula swallowed. "Hi." She had no other words save for, "I don't know you either," which was not a lie.
"How long are you staying?" Izumi asked, smiling. She was missing her right canine tooth.
"At least tonight," which was also not a lie. So long as she didn't have a noose around her neck by morning.
"Awesome! Okay, okay, I'll see you in the morning then. Nice to meet you." Izumi hopped down from the bed and leaned in to Azula on her way out. "I always wanted a fun aunt."
Azula stared after her for a brief moment before she was gone.
On the other side of the palace, "So you just gave up?" Ursa asked softly.
"Yes," Zuko lied and... he did a pretty good job. He said nothing true tonight, but most of it was just lying by omission. He didn't know why he didn't just launch into the true story, but it did not feel like his secret to keep.
"Oh." Her monosyllabic response hurt Fire Lord Zuko more than any of the questions from his friends.
Azula changed into the dry clothes Ty Lee had gotten for her. She knew Ty Lee's observation was not in interest of Azula's body but in her head. Maybe Ty Lee was right to be wary, but Azula needed at least one person on her side.
"You looked pained," Azula said as she rummaged around for something to tie up her hair with. The soft, sheer clothes against her skin felt better than anything she had worn in a very long time.
"Yeah. I'm hurt. I'm really hurt because you could've come home a really long time ago," Ty Lee whispered and Azula almost pitied her.
"You think the best in people too often. I am startled that mindset hasn't killed you yet," Azula said as she at last found a dark red velvet ribbon.
"I thought the best in you," Ty Lee said with an uncomfortable emphasis on the past tense. "Izumi's so much like you."
"How unfortunate." Azula walked to her cold bed and sat down. "I never thought I was coming back, but I did. I... hope you can forgive me."
That last part was too serpentine for Ty Lee to believe it. "You could've come home, if you really loved Iz-me. If you really loved me. You're an incredible person and I'm the only person who thinks of you not as a means to an end like your dad or even your brother or mom or anybody... and I kinda was stupid enough to think that you didn't think of me as a means to an end either."
Azula rolled her eyes. "You answer your own question. People expect me to be manipulating them, even if they continuously fall for it."
"You know what hurts worst? The fact that you are such an incredible person and I know you did bad things but so did your uncle, so did Zuko..."
"Yes, well they never killed the Avatar." Azula gazed longingly at the gold embroidered pillows.
Ty Lee chewed on her thumbnail. "I went swimming on Kyoshi Island a long time ago. Not in the bay but further inland, where there are these really fast rapids that go to a waterfall. I thought it was stupid to do it, but my friends said if I got caught in the swirly place, that instead of trying to swim and stay up, that I should go down as far as I could and put my feet on the bottom and push myself up to the surface."
"You have the wisdom of an Air Nomad Guru," Azula said sarcastically and Ty Lee sighed. "I don't need to be told that I learned from being completely and utterly destroyed by people I thought loved me. I need to be told how to repair that, because no, not everything works out in the end. I have to change things if I am dissatisfied."
Ty Lee whispered, "Almost is better than not at all."