AN: This is the longest chapter I've ever written in my life. I really hope you guys like it; I had a lot of fun writing it.
Azula wakes up feeling like death. Or like she wants to be dead. Something like that.
And the sun pressed against her closed eyelids certainly does not fill her with the strength a firebender usually feels.
When she finally opens her eyes and hisses through her teeth at the blinding light, she sees she is lying on the floor in Mai's bedroom. Comfortable, well furnished, a bit bleak when it comes to décor. Azula looks up and sees Mai getting dressed.
She tries to say something worthy of the Fire Lord but only manages, "Grruhh."
Mai finishes pulling on her black band shirt and pivots. She strides to the royal crumpled on her shag carpet. Mai gently helps her lifelong best friend to her feet, but not without an irritated sigh.
"You test my patience," she dryly says.
"Early. Bright. Don't need this," mutters Azula. She then turns to Mai. "Bathroom please before I puke disgracefully all over."
Mai helps Azula stabilize herself. "You're lucky no one photographed you. I doubt anyone wants to see the Fire Lord totally smashed at a high school party."
Azula's fingertips smoke as she contemplates burning Mai's face off. But she changes her mind. She has a question that will not leave her alone.
"Why do you help me? Why do you constantly care for me and cover for me? You're not the caring type, Mai. You aren't."
"I know I'm not. I hate dealing with the needs of others. My own are frustrating enough. But you're my best friend."
"You left me. You left me over Ty Lee."
"That was caring for you. You two were in some deep psycho killer lovers bullshit. What was I supposed to do? Just enable it?"
"Support me."
"I'm not supporting anything that'll be the death of you. You're one of the few people I slightly like, or at least tolerate."
"Bathroom status? My vision is blurry."
"Just a little bit further."
"Farther."
"What?"
"Farther is the word you use to express distance. Further is more figurative."
"Will you shut the fuck up? This is why you have no friends."
"I have friends! I have you and Katara and Jet."
"Jet hates you and thinks you're stuck-up. Katara only likes you because you're apparently good at sex. And I just stick with you because we were best friends for a thousand years."
"I deserve better than that."
"More reasons why you are hated. Not as a Fire Lord. For a crazy teenager, you're not bad at it and I don't usually compliment people. But as a person. You don't deserve that. You don't deserve anything you don't earn just because you were born a princess."
"I deserve your love because I love you. You're my best friend. You love me, you're devoted to me because I love you. Like we'll rescue Ty Lee and she'll happily marry me because I love Ty Lee. If I love someone, I deserve their love."
"Not true. You hurt all these people too. You hurt me for trying to help you with Ty Lee when you both went totally psycho for a year. You hurt Ty Lee over and over and over. And everyone else you think you love, you hurt them too. You treat people you love like they're jewelry."
"Jewelry is nice. People adore jewelry."
"Jewelry is an object and people aren't objects. I'm going to call you a car and you can get your hungover ass home, okay?"
"But they're beautiful, sentimental, amazing objects like a priceless locket given to you by your late grandmother."
"Where's my phone?"
"Please stay with me. Or let me stay. I love you and I need you to stay with me."
Mai says, "You need to go home and be with the only person you really love: yourself."
Azula's lip twists into a snarl but she shoves herself up onto her feet.
After her agonizing morning, Azula returns to her apartment and sees someone already sitting inside, sipping tea or coffee and poring over a waterbender's healing textbook. Katara.
"What are you doing in my house?" the Fire Lord demands, eyes flashing like molten gold.
Katara says flatly, "Your brother let me in."
"My brother?" Azula might as well have been punched in the gut.
"He's here. I thought you knew."
Azula rubs her temples. "I'm too hungover for this."
"Should I warn Uncle that you're doing drugs instead of hugs?"
"How did you get in here?" she demands as Katara shrinks into the background.
"I used the key. It was once my house too."
"Is Uncle with you?"
No. But he wanted me to check on you, what with Ty Lee and everything. Apparently she's your fiancée now. I guess I should say congratulations."
"I need you to leave. I'll put you up in a lovely hotel."
"You're cracking. That's what Uncle said and I believe him. You don't seem capable of running a brush through your hair every once in a while and you've dodged every public appearance that usually you'd love."
"Just get out."
"I'm staying. I'll stay out of your way if you want. I'll even leave after you find my future sister-in-law since wedding planning isn't exactly my forte."
"You don't even have a forte in the first place."
"I'm joining the military."
Azula cackles. Zuko retains a straight face. Katara swallows.
"The military?" Azula asks with a small cough.
"Yeah. And my training classes are in Caldera. The perfect place to keep an eye on the Fire Lord, apparently."
"Apparently. Look, I don't need a babysitter."
Zuko ignores her and says casually, "I like the new girlfriend. She's not the vapid, clingy type you usually prey on."
"Thank you," says Katara. "I think. But she's engaged. I'm not her girlfriend; I'm her mistress. The other woman. The sidepiece."
"The home invader," snaps Azula.
"You're engaged?"
"My PR team has asked that I keep it as private as possible for now. Until we are certain she will not be mailed to me in small pieces. I had to make her my fiancée. I had to make her a royal priority or no one was going to do anything."
"Our new Fire Lady is going to be… Ty Lee?"
"Yes."
"Ty Lee."
"Yes."
"She's made you lose your mind more than once. Father would not—"
Azula chokes on her words as she snarls, "Father is not around to give his opinion."
Somberly, Zuko states, "But you know what it would be. He never liked her."
"He liked her initially."
"He liked her before he saw what she did to you. Before you two eloped like lunatics."
"We eloped because father… just stay out of it."
Azula's phone rings and she answers.
Admiral Xen gets to the point quickly. "Your highness, will you agree to the raid on the possible terrorist cell base? We have reason to believe your fiancée is being held there."
Azula doesn't hesitate to answer, "Yes."
"I will convene the meeting. Be there in an hour."
After her meeting with her military counsel, Azula returns home and stares at the vacant fireplace. She considers lighting it but cannot bring herself to move. Katara shuffles around in the kitchen. Azula has no clue why she did not leave.
Finally, as Katara walks into the main room of the penthouse, Azula clears her throat and says, "You don't have to stick around. That kiss in the hospital never had to lead to…"
"But it did. It did lead to something, and I've seen a side of the violent, gruesome Fire Lord Azula that no one else has. You have good in you."
"Oh?"
"To put it poetically, people see the smoldering flames. And the raging winds. And they think that Fire Lord Azula is invincible. They think that she can conquer worlds at the drop of a dime. But really, she just tends to burn herself down.
Azula nearly rolls her eyes into outer space. "Did you write that down in your diary last night?"
"Yeah," admits Katara.
Azula starts to laugh. "I was being sarcastic. You really did?"
"I really did. I like to make life into pretty words, because life is rarely pretty."
"Perhaps for once I agree with you on something."
"We both are fairly good at public speaking."
"That may be the only thing we have in common."
"We're good at bending. I am the best pro waterbender in the circuit, and you are the best pro firebender in the circuit. Your flames are blue. And I'm a badass."
"Yes."
"And we're proud. I'm not going to fight to keep you. I know what we had going on. I was attracted to you and you were attracted to me. If you want Ty Lee, take her. I can find another girl."
"So noble." Azula curls her lip in distaste at the very notion. Katara ignores it.
"Should I stay the night?"
Azula waits ages to at last quietly reply, "Yes."
"I'll make some popcorn, you find a movie."
Azula tries to smile but cannot.
In the morning, Azula wakes to her phone ringing. She sits up on the sofa where she fell asleep and reaches to the side table. Quickly, she answers it and puts it to her ear, ignoring the waterbender sitting up from her sleeping bag on the floor.
"Your highness," says the aged voice of Admiral Xen, "we succeeded at our raid on the terrorist cell base. We found vital intelligence… and your fiancée."
Azula's breath catches in her throat. "You should've led with the fiancée part. Let the military deal with vital intelligence. Where is she?"
"In the hospital recovering from her injuries."
"Injuries?"
"She was held hostage. Not tortured, as far as we can tell, but imprisoned under harsh conditions. I assume she will need not only help for physical wounds but for the psychiatric ones as well. It would do her well to see you, I'm sure. She is your fiancée."
"Right. I will call a car for myself." Azula hangs up and turns to Katara. "I need to go to the hospital. Ty Lee is there."
"They got her out? She was there?"
"Apparently. I'll text you later." Azula stands up and hastens to dress herself and do her makeup. Beautiful. She must look beautiful for her bride.
When she leaves, Katara gazes at her.
Katara wants to be happy that the sweet girl was rescued from the terrorists, needs to be because she considers herself a good person. But part of her wishes Ty Lee never was found.
She thought she found someone she could be with, once she managed to coax the goodness out of Azula's currently cold heart.
But she was wrong.
After a painful morning of meetings about terrorism and the possibility of war that prevent her from visiting her fiancee in the hospital, Azula sits in the back of her limousine, wringing her hands.
"Driver, pull over," orders Azula, and he immediately does as she says. She steps out of the car and walks into the grungy gas station where she thumbs through the magazines and pulls out three for prospective brides. She purchases them and returns to the waiting limousine.
Then, they finally arrive at the hospital. Everything is a blur as Azula receives Ty Lee's room number, takes the elevator and crosses a few hallways to reach the room.
She strides inside and sees Ty Lee lying in the bed. Bandages are wrapped around her wrists and the top of her head. Her hair is without its braid, fallen loosely around her sweaty face.
"It is good to see you," says Azula, trying to conceal the overpowering emotion in her. This nightmare is her fault and she knows it.
"It's," croaks Ty Lee, "good to be seen. I worried I never would be again."
"You never have to worry again for as long as you live. As Fire Lord, I assure you."
"I'd like that," says Ty Lee, even though she knows it is a promise Azula cannot keep.
"We need to start planning the wedding," says Azula, setting the three bridal magazines down on Ty Lee's lap. Ty Lee jumps, heart flying at the small thud. It sends her into a panic that she does not quite understand.
She manages to swallow the disproportionate panic as it begins to fade. "What wedding?"
"Our wedding. To save you, I had to make you my fiancée."
"Your fiancée?" Ty Lee smiles for the first time since her rescue. That sounds like a truly beautiful thing to be.
"Yes. I did not propose, but I assume you accept."
"Of course I do!" Then, suddenly, that joy vanishes. Azula furrows her brow. "I don't know if you want me anymore, though. After what…"
"After what happened, we can resume. We can start our relationship again."
"But nothing," whispers Ty Lee, "nothing is going to be normal again."
Azula squeezes Ty Lee's trembling hand. "Normal is just a setting on the dryer."
"Like you've ever used one of those before," Ty Lee teases softly.
They both burst into a fit of awkward giggles.
Azula stays with Ty Lee for hours as doctors and nurses shuffle in and out.
Ty Lee laughs at one of Azula's joke and then chirps out, "Remember that luxury sex shop and the lube with gold flakes in it?"
"That was forever ago."
"I'm thinking about it. Suki brought me vodka with gold flakes in it as a present."
"Are you even allowed to have booze in a hospital?"
"I don't think so." Ty Lee giggles. Azula loves the sound.
Then it hits her. "Suki was here? When was Suki here?"
"She came before you. My mom called her and I don't remember talking to her from all the drugs they had me on, but I guess I did. She left me a card."
Azula glances to her side and sees the stuffed animals and flowers. She supposes she was not the first to rush to Ty Lee's side.
"Where are your parents? Why would they leave you?"
"I heard you were coming and told them to take the day off."
"Oh." Azula does not know why this makes her so angry.
Ty Lee smiles brightly and says, "So, back to the gold flake lube…"
Still in her hospital bed, Ty Lee opens her eyes and sees Suki sitting beside her bed. She keeps gazing at her with those intense, beautiful eyes. It makes Ty Lee very softly smile after the horrific nightmare that jolted her awake, sweating and shivering.
"Did you have a bad dream?" asks Suki.
"That's an understatement." Ty Lee tries to sound cheery but can't.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too. I can't wait to cheerlead again."'
"I missed kissing you. I missed being with you. With you away I realized how much I love you and I know you're apparently marrying Azula but you can say no. She didn't ask you. She didn't give you a choice. I'm giving you a choice. Do you love her?"
"It hurts to love her," admits Ty Lee.
"Does it hurt to love me?"
Ty Lee thinks for a few moments before she makes her decision.
"No." But maybe that means she does not love Suki enough. Does not love her enough for it to ache in her bones.
Suki whispers, "I just… please choose me. I'm better for you. She hurts you. It hurts to love her, just like you said. It doesn't hurt to love me and I would never let you hurt."
Ty Lee takes a slow breath through her chapped pink lips.
"You came to visit me."
"With your parents. I was really distressed by how banged up you were. I ran away and I'm sorry for that. Then Azula was here when I came back and I figured you two wanted to be alone."
"I don't know who I choose. I don't know if I'm ready to marry Azula because I don't know if I'm even ready to go back to the world after being where I was. I'm scared and confused and I just wanna be the happy, perky girl you guys know. I'm her still but I'm also really confused. Please don't make me choose who I love when I'm not ready."
"I never would," promises Suki.
Ty Lee sits up and kisses her. They lean into it passionately.
At that moment, the Fire Lord strides down the hallway and Azula looks at them, kissing, making out on the hospital bed, and she feels sick.
They look deplorably happy together. She wants to scream but cannot.
She just walks away to avoid murdering Suki.
Katara bangs over and over again on the master bathroom door in the Fire Lord's penthouse.
"If you don't open this door, I'm going to break it down!" she exclaims.
Azula does not reply.
Katara continues, "Okay, I'm breaking down the door. One more chance to just be honest about your feelings like a normal human being."
Azula wipes her tears on the back of her hand but does not reply.
Katara states, "Get away from the door if you're near it. I'm breaking it down in one, two…"
Azula unlocks the door and weaves backwards away from it just as Katara slams against it with her shoulder and stumbles across the floor, barely catching herself on the rim of the sink.
"This," says Katara through her clenched teeth, "this is why no one likes you."
Azula wipes away the tears dripping from her eyes again. "You like me."
"Barely. So, come on, what is it?"
"She wants Suki. She doesn't want me."
"You have me."
"I've fucked over my life for her so many times."
"So maybe that means she needs to fuck over Suki's life instead."
"But I've done worse to her. We're toxic. We're so toxic. But we're so good together."
"You're a bad person."
"Thanks."
"Let me finish. You're a bad person, but I wouldn't be with you if I didn't think you had it in you to be good. She's rescued. You can break off the engagement and let her be with the person she loves. And you can move past this hang-up and be good. You're never going to improve yourself if you stay with her."
"Maybe I like her because she loves me for me. She isn't just waiting for me to become the person she wants. I am the person she wants."
"But it seems, from the fact you're crying in your bathroom, she wants Suki more."
"Shut up!" Azula snarls.
Katara thinks for a moment, then lunges forward and kisses her fiercely.
The next day, "The wedding party will go on a brief trip to Sangil City, in order to take advantage of photo ops and make plans for the event of a lifetime."
Sangil City is the most populous city in the Fire Nation outside of Caldera. It also is on the other side of a gigantic mountain range.
Azula has other questions, however. "The wedding party?"
Xen clears her throat. "Whomever you and your future bride wish to be in the wedding."
"I know what a wedding party is. I am simply a little puzzled that you would arrange a trip for people who don't exist yet. Ty Lee and I have done little more than look at a few bridal magazines."
"Then find a wedding party. We are trying to make this wedding into a lovely distraction from the terrorists and the war we will no doubt soon start."
"War? We haven't had war since Sozin was defeated."
"These attacks are getting out of hand and discontent is brewing. But right now, focus on dresses and flowers and kissing your bride on camera."
"Fine. At school tomorrow, I will find a wedding party."
"Excellent."
"But if there is news of war, you will tell me immediately."
"Of course I will. You are Fire Lord and that is my job."
"Good."
As Azula gets ready for school, she sees Zuko in her peripheral vision. She sighs and spits toothpaste into the sink. Toying with her hair, she stands up and turns to her brother.
"Seeing as I have no father," begrudgingly says Azula, "ZuZu, will you take the role of the father of the bride in my wedding?"
Her brother laughs. Her eyebrow twitches. She wants nothing more than to burn his face the rest of the way off.
"Yeah," Zuko at last says. "It's such a blessed honor to see my little girl getting wed."
"Shut up. I need to go to school. You do whatever you do."
Azula finds her backpack and walks out the door.
Before English class, Azula turns to the girl in the desk beside her and inquires, "Katara, will you be my Maid of Honor?"
Katara shakes her head and almost laughs. "I think that's Mai's job. She's been your best friend since you were little kids."
"She'll say no."
"You're Fire Lord. Order her to say yes."
"And you're good at organizing stupid things like this. Aren't you always head of Prom Committee and all of that other useless nonsense?"
"Oh. Oh, now I see. You want someone to organize your wedding for you and you just thought to ask me since I only exist when you need me."
"Ty Lee is going to organize the wedding. I'm asking you because you're the only person who… who would be willing to break down a door to make sure I'm okay."
"Are we friends now?"
"I think so."
Azula does not know how she feels about that.
Katara hastily kisses Azula on the cheek before the teacher begins to lesson.
Azula feels her stomach drop.
Why does this have to be so complicated?"
At lunch, Azula sits between Mai and Jet. Katara is nowhere to be found, which may be for the best. Azula picks at her food and struggles to summon the willpower to eat it.
Mai dryly asks, "So, Jet and I are your bridesmaids?"
Azula clears her throat and crisply clarifies, "Bride's attendants. The gender neutral term, I believe."
"Whatever." Jet shrugs. "So, that sidepiece Maid of Honor of yours… is she single now?"
"Aren't you dating Mai?"
"Not currently," says Mai coolly.
"You broke up again?" Azula cocks an eyebrow.
"Yeah. This time it was me," states Mai and Jet does not react.
He just asks, "So, is the sidepiece… single? Or is she not interested in men?"
Azula narrows her eyes. "I don't know about her sexual preferences, and she's still my… my special friend."
Mai snorts. "How does special friend sound any better than sidepiece?"
"It doesn't," admits Azula. "But I think we need someone else. We have Katara as Maid of Honor and you and Jet but we really need another person."
"Jun might be up for it. I can ask her," says Mai.
"She doesn't strike me as a bridesmaid."
"Come on. She's fun," says Mai.
"You hate fun."
"I hate everything."
"Whatever. Ask her."
"Done." Mai stands up.
Azula and Jet exchange a cold glance before he follows his ex-girlfriend.
Ty Lee sits in the hospital after receiving Azula's text. She knows she has to pick her bridal party, so she calls Suki after school and sits beside the girl who makes her incredibly confused. She thumbs through bridal magazines while Suki sits quietly with her hands clasped.
Finally, "Suki, will you be my maid of honor?" requests Ty Lee.
"Of course I will." Suki forces a smile. Being maid of honor in Ty Lee's wedding to a woman as horrible as Azula is devastating, but she will make herself do it if she must.
"And the other cheerleaders are totally my bridesmaids. I had to make sure you were in before I texted everybody else. But Azula probably won't have a ton of people, so I better pick and choose."
"Absolutely Yue."
"Duh."
"And the Fabulous Four. Your Kyoshi Warriors."
"Yeah. Do you want some pudding?" Suki knows she cannot hold back her tears for much longer so she stands.
"I would." Ty Lee smiles.
Suki walks away and does not let herself cry until she is safely alone.
A week later, after Ty Lee's discharge and preparations are made, Azula and Zuko step side by side into the airport. This sector has been vacated for the use of the Fire Lord and her wedding party. Everyone else is already here. Ty Lee sits beside Yue, chatting with the four other cheerleaders she made her bridesmaids. Suki is next to Katara, both girls on their phones in another world. Jet laughs about something with the cavalier and sexy Jun, while Mai remains entirely stoic.
Everyone who will be there during the long journey that ends with a white dress and a long aisle strewn with fire-lily petals.
Beside Suki, Katara says softly, "You're in love with Ty Lee."
And Suki replies under her breath, "You're in love with Azula."
They can only exchange a glance.
After sitting bored on the plane beside Ty Lee, chattering a little bit but not saying too much, Azula sees three men and two women rising from their seats, wielding weapons. It happens so quickly even her trained reflexes have little time to react.
Hijackers. Terrorists. Fuck.
The plane has been hijacked.
A woman with a gun in one hand and a flame on the other declares, "The Fire Nation's reign of tyranny comes to an end today!"
Azula unhooks her seatbelt and lights her hands bright blue, but then the world disappears around her and she feels herself falling, feels fire against her cheeks, hears the screech of metal.
Darkness consumes her.
Azula stares up at the sky, lips parted, numb and drifting. The world is silent and she is alone in it. She feels like she lies atop ice cold, peaceful water, drifting as if on a vacation to somewhere tropical and lovely. Her eyes are glassy as she gazes at the trillion stars above. There are so many. More than she has ever seen before.
Then the pain hits her. Then the realization that she is trapped. Then the memory of the plane crash surging through her aching head.
She turns to the side and sees Mai.
"What happened?" Azula murmurs.
"Ow," is the only reply she gets from her lifelong best friend.
Slowly, the Fire Lord pushes herself onto her knees. Her eyes flash wide when she sees Mai's torn leg. The lacerations almost make a woman with a strong stomach vomit.
"Stay still. I'm going to look around," says Azula.
"I can't do anything but stay still."
"Okay. I promise I won't leave you."
"You don't have a long history of keeping promises."
"Shut up. I'll be back, okay?" Azula starts walking. Mai supposes she must trust the most untrustworthy person she has ever met. At least the horrific pain provides distraction.
Azula walks around the crash side, her ears ringing.
She counts the bodies. Four dead cheerleaders. Four dead flight attendants. Four dead terrorists. Their bodies are strewn across the forest floor, some smoldering, others just bleeding. Wreckage of all sorts surrounds their corpses. Azula barely bats an eye at the devastation. She danced with those cheerleaders for quite some time but never learned their names. The flight attendants are meaningless to the Fire Lord and the terrorists did this as a suicide attack. They got what they wanted and what they deserved.
Why should she care about any of their deaths?
She just needs to find Katara and Ty Lee and make sure Mai doesn't die.
After a few deep breaths that smell like charred flesh, burning leaves and spilled fuel, Azula returns to Mai and says, "I'll be right back. I need to find Katara and Ty Lee."
"Is…?"
"Everyone seems to be dead so far."
"Great," sarcastically says Mai through her clenched teeth.
"I'll be back." Azula rubs her bleeding head and starts racing through the woods, following the smoke billowing in the near distance.
"Azula!" screams Katara's voice. "Azula, I'm right here! I'm stuck!"
The Fire Lord runs to the side of the waterbender. She sees her hands above her head, tightly clenched by metal. Katara is bent at a painful angle as she tugs against the restraints.
In a flicker of a second, Azula analyzes the situation and comes up with a plan. She whips off her dirty, bloody scarf and holds it up.
"Okay, I'm putting this in your mouth," Azula orders.
"What?" asks Katara, eyes wide.
Azula does not ask again, she just shoves it between Katara's teeth and picks up a rock. She smashes it down on one hand and then the other. Katara spits it out as she screams. Birds vacate the trees at the sound.
But Katara swallows her fear and pain; she pulls her hands free and stares at her swollen, broken fingers and palms. She bites her lower lip and refuses to let herself cry.
"Okay. Is anybody else alive?"
"Mai. The cheerleaders are dead. So are the terrorists and flight attendants. I don't know where anyone else is," says Azula. Katara nods.
Jet's voice fills the forest. "Hey! Hey, I heard screaming!"
He confidently strides over despite his clearly injured legs and arm. His face bleeds. He turns to Katara and grabs her by the waist, pulling her smoothly to her feet. Azula clenches her jaw as she sees Katara blush from the contact.
Jet helps Katara steady herself on her feet.
"Okay, we go back to Mai, then I find Ty Lee," orders Azula, and in the panic, no one questions her orders.
They run back to the center of the crash site. Mai looks up at them.
"Your leg is nasty," comments Jet.
"I know."
"Katara, heal her," demands Azula.
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"I need hands to heal."
"You have hands."
"My hands are in splinters on the inside thanks to you. And they hurt. I can't heal anyone until someone heals me."
"Great. Mai, wait here."
"I don't exactly have another option."
"Jet, stay with her or I'll wring your neck."
"Whatever."
"Katara, we need to find Ty Lee."
"What makes you think you're in charge?"
"I was born to be the leader in any situation, including this one."
Katara shrugs. "Whatever. But if you make a questionable decision—"
"I know, I know, you'll mutiny with the help of your high horse." Azula turns and starts walking through the mazelike woods. Katara reluctantly follows her. "Ty Lee! Ty Lee! TY LEE!"
"I'm over here!"
Azula starts to run towards her fiancée but Zuko emerges from the trees, half-carrying Yue in his arms. Her legs gently press against the damp leaves lining the forest floor and she winces with each mild step. Azula rubs her lips together. She forgot all about the platinum haired cheerleader and her beloved brother.
Right behind them walks Jun. She looks the least injured of the trio.
"ZuZu," says Azula, never so happy to see him in her life.
"And Yue and Jun," he says. "We heard someone screaming."
"That was me," admits Katara.
"Have you seen Ty Lee?" Azula demands.
"No. Not yet."
"Fuck. I heard her." Azula turns towards where her fiancée called out. "TY LEE!"
No response.
"We need to gather somewhere, get a fire going, get it all together and sorted out before sundown," says Katara. Azula resents the order but cannot disagree with it.
"We're going to die," casually says Jun. "I see no point."
Katara spins to face her. "We are not going to die. We're going home."
"Whatever you want to believe," Jun says with a small laugh.
"TY LEE!" screams Azula.
"I'M OVER HERE!" calls out the perky cheerleader.
Azula starts running. Katara hobbles after her while the three survivors they just found remain rooted in place.
As they run through the woods, Ty Lee sits where she has been since she opened her eyes. With Suki. Suki, who lies crushed beneath heavy equipment. Who bleeds, who can barely breathe. Ty Lee is minimally injured despite her blurry vision and torn up side.
Ty Lee grabs onto Suki's bloody hand. "I'm gonna stay with you until they find us. It can't be too long. I mean, they keep track of the Fire Lord and stuff. It won't take long for them to find her and us with her."
Suki coughs and Ty Lee's heart does a terrified backflip when she sees the dark crimson dripping from her best friend's chin.
Azula and Katara suddenly stand behind them. The Fire Lord kneels down and seizes her fiancée's shoulder.
"We need to gather by Mai."
Ty Lee squeals, "Does Suki look like she can move?"
Azula grinds her teeth but Katara thinks quickly.
"With the help of the others we can move Mai. We'll all gather here and stay with Suki until rescue comes. It can't be more than a few hours," Katara says, starting to run through the woods, adrenaline propelling her.
Jet and Zuko carry Mai through the forest. Jun and Yue support each other as they walk. Azula stays with Ty Lee, in silence, lips slightly parted, still in utter shock.
The group of survivors gathers around Suki as the sun sets.
Time passes and no one says a word. Nothing encouraging, nothing doubtful. Everyone hates how much they keep looking at the sky, waiting for a spotlight or a helicopter or any sign someone comes for them.
"I'm dying."
"No. No you're not. They're gonna find us and stitch you up and you'll be all fine."
"I won't be fine."
"You'll be fine because I choose you. I choose you. You're the one I want, not Azula. I'll break off the engagement and we'll go to our last high school prom together and slow dance and I'll get you punch and then we'll go on a vacation to Ember Island. Or Kyoshi Island. Wherever you want."
"Ty Lee…"
"I. Choose. You. So, you can't die."
Suki coughs up more blood and Ty Lee stifles a sob. The Head Cheerleader opens her mouth as if she will say something, but more blood just trickles and she slowly slumps, limp.
Ty Lee reaches her trembling hand out and tries to take Suki's pulse.
She waits. Frantically moves around. Sobs openly.
Cannot find a pulse. Cannot find a pulse. Cannot find a pulse.
Azula grabs her and pulls her into her arms.
"She's gone," sobs Ty Lee, burying her face in Azula's shoulder. "She's gone."
Azula does not know what to say.
She just keeps holding her fiancée while looking up at the sky and the myriad stars shining above.